56
T H E
K I N G ' S
B U S I N E S S
February, 1936
MARCH 15, 1936 JESUS TEACHES HIS DISCIPLES TO PRAY L uke . C hapter 11
value, must be verbally exact. The varia tion of even so much as one word intro duces confusion among the worshipers who seek to use it. 3. But perhaps the most convincing proof that pur Lord did not intend the prayer to be used as a form of words lies in the fact that it has no ending. It breaks off abruptly, with neither benediction nor “Amen.” This is true in both accounts. It is generally agreed by all scholars today that the ending in Matthew ( “ For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen.” ) was not in the original manuscripts, but was written into certain later documents, in order to make the prayer usable for ritualistic purposes. 4. J. Allen Miller, late professor, of Greek at Ashland Seminary, used to re mark that our Lord left the prayer un finished because the doctrine of prayer was not yet finished. Just before the cross, He added the most important item of all: We are to ask, He says, “in my name” (John 16:23, 24). This is the truest mark of Christian prayer. Golden Text Illustration Convinced of the Lord’s plan for them; those in charge o f the convention at Kes wick, England, chose to adhere definitely and faithfully to the policy o f pay-as-they- go, not simply in the matter of improve ments and building, but even to the buying of food for the tablés and feed for the stock. 'Provisions and food will not be bought unless money is in hand or in sight to pay for it, and God has greatly honored that faith and that stand. After' this plan had been followed for a year; the mention of the matter in conversation brought forth the question from a clergyman, who was rather surprised to learn o f the finan cial policy, “Would you let the stock suffer for the want of food ?” “ No,” replied Mr. Raws quietly, “and neither would the Lord. He never yet has failed us when we have trusted Him, and we don’t believe He ever can.”— Sunday School Times. When W e Pray L uke 11:1-13. Memory Verse: “ The Lord will hear when I call unto him” (Psa. 4 :3 ). Approach: For almost three years now, the disciples had gone about with the Lord Jesus. They had watched Him perform many miracles ; they. had listened as He
Lesson Text: Lk. 11:1-13. Golden Text: “ If we ask any thing ac cording to his will, he heareth us” (1 John 5:14). Outline and Exposition I. T eaching by E xample (1). A s he was praying”-—the words occur in the first verse of. our lesson. By His own example, our Lord taught the p r iv ile g e , p ow er, and blessing of prayer. One of the outstanding marks of His earthly life was habitual prayer (cf. Mk. 1:35; Lk. 5:16; 9:29, etc.). If such a practice was necessary for the man Christ Jesus, how much more needful is it for us ! II. T eaching by F ormula (2-4). In prayer, the form is not vital; our Lord gave several forms. But it is the order of prayer that is important. Re ceiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour (John 1:12), we are given the right to approach God as our heavenly Father. W e should note that it is not until we can thus say “Our Father,” in truth, that we are ready to pray. It is from our Father that the. true motives of prayer arise. First, our Father’s glory will be upper most in our minds. More than anything else, we will want His name honored upon earth as it is in heaven ; we will desire His rule and authority manifested upon earth as they are in heaven ; and we will long to have His desires accomplished upon earth as they are in heaven. Second, we will recognize our physical needs. In the prayer that we are studying today, the physical needs are all embraced in one petition—an expression of the con tinual recognition and acknowledgment of our utter dependence upon our Father for our daily sustenance. Third, we will remember our spiritual needs. We need forgiveness of our debts to God. It is our privilege to make con fession o f our sins to God and to believe in God’s promise to forgive (1 John 1 :9). We also need deliverance from tempta tion—-not deliverance from the testings that our Father allows, but from the tempta tions of Satan. Finally, we need to ask deliverance from the evil one. In the utter ance of this petition, we confess our in ability to stand against the adversary in our own strength. III. T eaching by P arable (5-8). True prayer will be confident (v. 5). If a friend may be confident of receiving the answer to his petition, how much more the* child! True prayer will be intelligent (vs. 5, 6). Clear knowledge of what is desired lends definiteness to prayer, and relieves it of meaningless repetitions. The petitioner says, “ Give.” But why? The reason is: “That I may give.” We should allow our minds to dwell upon our obligation to give, and upon our utter inability to give any thing, except as it is given to us of God our Father. True prayer will be importunate (vs. 7, 8). W e are to keep on praying until the answer comes. P e r s e v e ra n c e , when it springs from a knowledge of the will of God, will always be rewarded.
IV, T eaching by P romise (9-13).
The certainty o f receiving answers is promised (vs. 9, 10). Every one that asks, receives; none is denied an answer. We should remember that these verses apply to those who can truly say, “ Our Father,” as they present their petition. The mystery concerning answers to prayer is set forth in figurative terms (vs. 11-13). There is much that perplexes us in the matter of answers to our prayers. We pray for patience, and receive the an swer in tribulation (Rom. 5 :3) ; for strength and humility, and get the answer in a “messenger of Satan to buffet” us (2 Cor. 12:7, 10) ; for Christlikeness, and receive persecution (2 Tim. 3 :12) ; for a spirit of obedience, and sufferings become our portion (Heb. 5 :8) ; for holiness, and chastening falls upon us (Heb. 12:10). Strange and mysterious do the answers to prayer often seem to us, appearing as stones instead of bread, or as serpents instead of fish. But God always gives what is best, and all good is, contained in the gift o f the Holy Spirit (v. 13), bestowed upon all who believe. He is the “earnest” of all we shall ever receive, and the means of provision for all of our needs. Hence when we address God as “ Our Father,” we should be done with all anxiety. Points and Problems 1. Some good Christian people have been disturbed because of the very ap parent differences between the so-called “ Lord’s Prayer” as recorded in Luke 11 and in Matthew 6. Critics have not hesi tated to use these differences to- seek to prove that the Bible is not verbally in spired. The simple explanation of these differences is to be found in the quite ob vious fact that this prayer was given by our Lord on two separate occasions :.. In Matthew He is teaching His disciples oh the mountain (cf. 5 :1). Here in Luke He is praying in a certain place (11 :1). Much of Christ’s teaching must have been re peated many times in different places. How absurd to suppose that our Lord, having once uttered some great truth, never there after referred to it again! This constant repetition of His teaching accounts com pletely for all the verbal differences which appear in the Gospel accounts. 2. One striking fact is proved by the very differences which appear in the two accounts o f the prayer, namely, that our Lord never intended it to be used as a mere formWma.s it is used generally in Christendom today. Certainly if He had so intended, He would have followed the original form in giving it the second time. A ritualistic prayer, to have any usable BLACKBOARD LESSON
talked to the people ; and, most of all, again and again they had seen H im go a s i d e t o p r a y . Now, at last, the disciples began to realize how impor tant talking to God was, and they said to Jesus : “Teach us to pray.” . L esson S t o r y :
And the prayer which Jesus taught them is the one which we still use, and which we call “the Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus didn’t mean that His followers should always use this prayer, but it is to help us to remember certain things when we pray. First, we who love Jesus must know that God is our Father, and that we may talk to Him as a child would talk to his father. We must be reverent and worshipful when we pray. Because we belong to God, we are citizens in His country, and we have the rights of citizens. This means, too, that * 'V is\o*
YOUR PRAYER releases GO D S POWER
PROBING THE PROMISES B Y P R A Y E R
TH E R E S U L T
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