Teach Us to Pray! - God is a Giver!

Luke 11:11-13 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? (12) Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? (13) If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? 

As Jesus concludes his teaching on prayer, he gives us deeper insight on the nature of God.  God throughout the Bible is described as Father, because of his love, concern and giving nature towards his creation.  

As a loving Father, he knows what we want. He knows what we need and furthermore he knows how to give us those things that we need.  One of the criticisms that some have with God, is that some interpret their not receiving what they ask for as God not hearing or wanting to help.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In our text today, Jesus compares how that as earthly parents, we know how to give our children what they need, so how much more does God, our creator know how to give good gifts to us. 

God will not always give us what we want, but he will give us what we need.  But what Jesus does not say here, I believe to be equally important.  Sometimes, as a father, my child may sometimes ask for things that I know are ultimately harmful.  Do I give it to her JUST because she asks.  Certainly not.  As a loving Father, I will give her what is best for her rather than what she asks for.  I believe in this principle, Jesus is teaching the same thing.  Are there times that we think we know what is best for us (but we don’t) and ask for one thing, and God will give us something different?  I certainly think so.  I think there are times that we mouth the words and they are as if asking for a stone because we see it as bread.  What will God give us then?  A stone or bread?  According to Jesus God knows how to give us Good gifts....gifts that we need, rather than what we necessarily ask for.

I for one, want God to do what is best for me.  Therefore I must have the faith to believe that God, as a loving Father, hears me and gives me what I need.  Thank God that he does not only give me what I ask for or I would be in a world of hurt.

Reflecting His SON,  

Dennis Hogan

Minister, North Hardin Church of Christ

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

North Hardin Church of Christ

1804 Sam Stewart Dr.

Radcliff, KY  40160

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Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

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Teach Us to Pray - Ask and It Shall Be Given Unto You!

Luke 11:9-10 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (10) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 

I have always found these two verses interesting.  Nine out of ten times that I hear someone reference these verses they are referred to on their own out of the context of the other verses around them.  That is not to say they they are “out of context”, just not in their context.  However, for the purpose of this examination, we want to consider them in the context that they were originally spoken and that is:  “Lord Teach us to Pray”.

My first thoughts when reading this is:  Why?  Why three separate statements?  I see it as three levels of intensity to get what we need and want.  Keep in mind that this statement is made on the heels of the parable of the neighbor at midnight.  The conclusion to that lesson is that we are to ask without ceasing.  This takes the asking to a whole level of intensity. Yes ask, but also seek and knock as well.  As often as not, when we need help from God, there is something that we need to do to contribute to the process.  Let’s take needing a job as an example.  If we need to find a job, do we simply ask?  Do we ONLY ask?  Do we even just ask without ceasing?  Not if we want to find the job.  The manner in which God will aid us in finding a job is not just through asking...but rather through our seeking and knocking.  If we sat on the couch all day praying but never sent out a resume, never networked with industry contacts, never looked for opening on line, our asking may be in vain.  There are times that the seeking and knocking will go hand in hand with the aking

More often than not, we do not get what we ask for soon after we pray for it.  So what do we do at this point?  Give up?  Quit asking?  Certainly not.  We step up the asking to seeking.  We step up the seeking to knocking.  When his faithful servants asks, seeks and knocks, our gracious and loving father will relent and give us what we need.

Reflecting His SON,  

Dennis Hogan

Minister, North Hardin Church of Christ

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

North Hardin Church of Christ

1804 Sam Stewart Dr.

Radcliff, KY  40160

Come Visit With Us!

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.

Teach Us to Pray! - Pray Without Ceasing!

Luke 11:5-8 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; (6) For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? (7) And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. (8) I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 

Last week, we started chapter 11 and it opened with his disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray.  So Jesus obliged by using the model prayer or what is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer as an outline.  But his lesson on prayer didn’t end there.  without pause, He continued by giving the illustration in our text today.

In this parable, Jesus describes a person in need of supplies late at night, for a traveler stops by and they have nothing to feed their traveling guest.  Jesus says that the host goes to a nearby neighbor to borrow what they need to feed the guest.  Because it is late at night and the neighbor is already in bed, he is unwilling to help his friend. However, the neighbor finally relents due to the relentless nature of the asking.

When we keep this story in the context of:  “Lord, Teach us to Pray”, we can learn that God wants and expects us to pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. 

The God we serve is a generous and loving God and wants to help us, lead us and unburden us from the things of this life that can bring us down.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

The Bible goes to great lengths to demonstrate how much our God knows us, cares for us and ultimately will help us if we are faithful to him.  But the most powerful passage along those lines is this

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 

This passage says it all.  God loves those that follow him like a Father loves and cares for a child.  Therefore, like my earthly father, if I go to him and ask for his help, he will certainly do what’s best for me.  God then encourages us to pray for those things that are on our minds and cause us to be discouraged.

I have heard an old saying that I believe this passage supports:  “If it is worth worrying about, it is worth praying about”.  Feel free to go to God as much as you need!

Reflecting the SON,  

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.