I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Luke. Luke chapter
11. Luke 11. I want to deal with a subject
this morning that every believer is vitally concerned about. But every believer is going to
admit, I know so little about this. It's about the matter of
prayer. Numerous scriptures reveal that
the Lord Jesus Christ often rise up long time before day, sometimes
all night, and would pray all night. That amazes me. But as our federal
head and representative before God, he did in absolute obedience
before God. That which is required of us. Pray without ceasing. Which of
us have ever done that? He did. He did. And there charged
it to our account. Have I ever prayed without ceasing?
Yes. In the Lord Jesus Christ, I have. I have prayed without ceasing.
Have I ever honored the Lord my God with all my heart and
all my soul and all my being? Yes. In the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In myself, I can do nothing.
But in Him, I can do, what does Scripture say? All things. Through Him that loved us, gave
Himself for us. The Scripture says that as he was praying, it came to
pass that as he was praying in a certain place when he ceased,
one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as
John also taught his disciples. Now there's not a believer here
that can't enter into that. You know what that disciple was
really saying? Lord teach me to pray. Teach us, yes, but Lord
teach me. I want us, I want us here. I
want God's people to be taught to pray. But I'm going to tell
you something. I want to be taught to pray. Because I know that
I struggle desperately. Our Lord then gave His disciples
a model prayer. And do you know, you never find
the apostles ever praying this prayer. But this is what He said. Verse
2, He said unto them, when you pray, say. The Holy Ghost never recorded
it. They never verbalized it. But what's being taught here,
is the concept, the attitude of prayer. A lot of people refer
to this as the Lord's Prayer. This is not the Lord's Prayer.
You look at verse 4, the Lord would never pray this and forgive
us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to
us. The Lord wouldn't pray. This is a model prayer. The Lord's
Prayer is recorded in John 17. It's high priestly prayer. But our Lord is giving His disciples
the vital aspects and attitude of prayer. Now, when we pray, He said, say, Our Father, verse
2, which art in heaven. Now, believers, when they pray,
they don't pray to angels, they don't pray to Mary, the saints,
we pray unto God our Father. Who is He? Well, the Scripture
declares our Father, the believer's Father, to be the electing God
who has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
And this prayer that we pray to our Father is heard only as
it is presented to the Father in the merit of the Lord Jesus
Christ, our great Intercessor, who by His merit and intercession
and in the incense of His glory presents the prayers of the saints
before the throne of God in their herd. So we pray unto the Father
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father. He's our Father
by adoption. He's our Father in regeneration. He's our Father by faith. We've
called upon Him. He's our Father. Hallowed be
Thy name. Let Your name be esteemed and
celebrated as holy in all the earth. Men claim to know God
and they say, I know the Lord. And I say, well, the Lord says
this is how you pray. You pray unto Him who is holy. The holy God. Thy kingdom come. Let me tell you what a believer
wants. The Lord has a kingdom. The Father chose the kingdom.
Christ redeemed the kingdom. The Spirit of God is going to
call the kingdom out. But He has a kingdom. A kingdom
is made up of people, subjects. Thy kingdom come. This is what
I want. This is what I desire. Because
this is His desire. This is His will. I know it is.
The Lord said, this is the will of the Father which has sent
me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing.
That's His will. That of all that He has given me, I should
lose nothing. This is what a believer wants.
This is what I want. I want and pray and ask, Lord,
according to your everlasting covenant of grace, save your
people. Call out your elect. Enlarge openly your church. They're your people. Thy kingdom
come. And here's the next thing. Thy
will be done as in heaven, so in earth. Lord, there is much
that you've revealed concerning your will. I pray your will be
done. But Lord, that which is secret,
that which you've been pleased to hide from us, whatever it
is, Lord, I pray your will be done. I was thinking about what
I was just talking about, about the flooding in Baton Rouge. Now I know this. I know the scripture
reveals, He worketh all things after the counsel of His own
will. I know that. So you know what I pray? Lord,
I want to thank You for Your will being manifested. I pray
You have mercy. I pray You have mercy. I pray
You have mercy on my family. There I pray you have mercy,
I pray you save your people. But I can tell you this, whatever
is going on there or here or anywhere else is the will of
God. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His will. Give us, verse 3, day by day,
our daily bread. Now this is the attitude of a
believer in praying. We're needy people. We're not
all sufficient. We don't have all ability. Lord,
we desire, we want to walk by faith. I want to believe you. I want to wait on you. Lord,
give us day by day our daily needs and forgive us our sins. I know this according to His
Word, His mercy and compassion that our forgiveness has been
wrought and applied according to the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ at Calvary. He finished the work. It is finished. He bore the guilt
of His people. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep, and the judgment of Almighty God was poured out upon
Him. And God Almighty has said, I'm
not going to impute their iniquities to them. Why? Because they were
charged to Him. And he paid it. But I'll tell
you this, knowing that he has forgiven us all of our debt,
iniquity and sins, we sin daily, don't we? John said, now if we
say we have no sins, we make him a liar. Don't say, you know. Do we need to pray for forgiveness?
Absolutely. If we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all iniquity. Father, forgive us our sins. Wash my feet today. That's what
the Lord did to His disciples. Peter said, you'll not wash my
feet. He said, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part with
me. He said, Lord, my head, my hands. He said, no, you're clean.
Except your feet needs to be washed. I need my walk. to be cleansed and forgiven daily. He has put away the debt of what
I am. Lord, put away the evidence and
that outward manifestation that I daily commit in sinning against
you. I need forgiveness. For we also forgive everyone
that is indebted to us. Brother Henry made a comment
here that I thought was so good. He said, here our Lord explains
that if we are unforgiving toward others, then we're yet unforgiving. He's not saying, Brother Henry
says, that the forgiveness of sin is conditioned upon sinners
forgiving one another. If that was the case, then my
forgiveness would be according to my works. If I would not be
forgiven unless I forgive others, then I would be depending on
myself. He said, God's not saying that. He said, but He's declaring
that grace experienced in the heart makes a needy sinner to
be gracious toward his fellow man. If He's forgiven me, then
I am to forgive others and have a spirit of graciousness and
mercy and kindness, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil." Here we are reminded of our constant need to spread
our helplessness before the Lord. A wise, taught believer realizes
the tendency to walk into danger. We sing
this song, and there's a line, it says, prone to wonder, Lord
I feel it. What believer would say, I never
find myself ever tempted to walk contrary to his will, or his
way, or his word? No, a believer is going to say,
lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil. keep us."
Now the Lord, after He had been asked by this disciple, teach
us to pray, He gave him that model prayer concerning the aspects
and the attitude of prayer. But then in His absolute mercy
and wisdom, compassion, what He did was He gave them Some
practical instruction. Now, you know, I've read some
books. I can't say I've read myriads
and myriads and myriads of books on different subjects, but I've
read some books. You take a book on prayer, a
book on prayer, you read a little book on prayer. I'm going to
tell you something. You can read a book on prayer,
something that a man said, and I'll tell you this, there will
be no instruction like you'll get from listening to the Lord's
application. But we're going to look at it
for just a minute, right now. You can read books on forgiveness, on repentance, On mercy. Read books on that. But I would
advise you, just don't waste too much time doing that. If
you want to read a book, that's fine. Go ahead and read it. But
then go back and read the account of the prodigal son. And ask
the Spirit of God to bless it to your heart. And tell me what
was more profitable. These disciples asked to be taught
to pray. And our Lord gave them some aspects
of prayer. But then the scripture reveals
that He took what He had just taught them and He gave them
an illustration. The Lord gave illustrations.
He taught in parables. He taught in lessons. He taught
in instructions like this. Now listen to what He has to
say in verses 5 to 13. I'm going to actually start in
probably verse 8 or 9. Listen to what He's got to say.
Verse 5 says, He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend? Now this is absolutely the application
of what he just said. Which of you shall have a friend,
and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend
me three loaves? Now, here we're going to learn
something about prayer. He said, when he began to teach
him the aspects, he said, when you pray, say, Our Father, he
said, now which of you are you going to approach? He said, a
friend. Which of you shall have a friend?
Here's what I can truthfully say concerning a believer in
the Lord Jesus Christ approaching the Father. Respect. We approach Him as we
have been reconciled by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
therefore realize that we come before Him in Christ, accepted
as a friend. As our friend. Accepted in the
Beloved. There's no enmity. between God
and His people. God's people. Now the carnal
mind, the unregenerate mind, the mind with which we're born,
the Scripture says is enmity against God and it's not subject,
it's not in subjection to the law of God, neither indeed can
be. But God's people, regenerated
by the grace of God, given a new heart, new spirit, how do they
come? They come to the Father as their
friend. I don't call upon Him as my enemy. I come before Him in Christ. How? We come before Him in the
Savior. When we pray, Father, we come
before You as our friend. accepted by you in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Justice has been satisfied. We're
accepted in the Beloved. His blood cleanseth us from all
sins. We're robed in His righteousness. And Father, You who said that
You've everlastingly loved us in Christ, We come to you on
a ground of friendship. That middle wall of petition
had been broken down by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
veil is open. Welcome. Welcome. But I want you to notice secondly,
when we pray, He said, which of you have a friend shall go
unto him, now listen to this, at midnight. Midnight. You know, here we're taught something
concerning the season of prayer. You know what this means? There
is no season of prayer. There is no particular season
that's better than another. Midnight, was the time of the
request. That's what the Lord, He gave
practical application concerning prayer. But to him who never
slumbers, never sleeps, He said, you know, whichever of you have
a friend, you go to him at midnight. Now do you realize how good a
friend you're going to have to have for you Go knock on their
door at midnight. Midnight! Look, I remember one time there
was a group of men, we were going to cook a hog. Jeff went over
to Carl's house and Chuck and Jeff, we were going to cook a
hog. And we were going to start real early in the morning. And
I knew, I knew when we was going to start. Two in the morning. That was the deal. Yeah, two
in the morning. And I pulled up. I got there
just moments before everybody else did. And I looked. And I thought, this is Carl's
house. Carl's my friend. But do you know at two o'clock
in the morning, I thought, man, I don't know if I ought to knock
or not. What if he didn't get up yet? Was I afraid to approach? No, I wasn't afraid. But I mean,
I just respect But he said, which of you have a friend, you go
to him at midnight and knock on his door in the middle of
the night. David said in Psalm 55, 17, evening
and morning and noon will I pray and cry aloud and he'll hear
my voice. In 1962, David said at midnight,
I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous
judgments. You ever woke up in the middle
of the night and your heart is drawn and you call on the Lord
in the night seasons? You that know Him, you know what
I'm talking about. And you know as you speak to Him, you're assured.
Lord, you hear. You hear my petition, what comfort,
what joy, the assurance of knowing I can call upon Him. At no time
does a believer ever feel, well, I can pray, it's the middle of
the night, I know He's not listening now. That ain't going to happen. No. No, He hears. Listen to David,
Psalm 63, 5-7, My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and
fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips when I
remember thee upon my bed, then meditate on thee in the night
watches. Because thou hast been my help,
therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. Everything's
worse at night. It's always worse at night. Whatever
it is, whatever it is, Oh, if I could just go to sleep,
I just didn't have to think about this. The day gets there and
it's just not as bad as it was, but in the middle of the night,
oh, I need comfort when you pray. Which of you have a friend and
go to him at midnight? But listen, thirdly, this is
what we learn about prayer. Consider how the Lord teaches
us to ask boldly. Which of you should go to your
friend at midnight and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine and his
journey has come to me and I have nothing to set before him." Is
there any need that a believer has that is too trivial? No. Is there any burden that
you have, whatever it is, family, health, whatever, whatever, is
there anything that a believer doesn't want to talk to the Lord
about? This man says, which of you have
a friend go to him at midnight and say, friend, I need three
loaves of bread. Midnight. You say, well, couldn't
you have put that off until in the morning? No. I want to tell
you, I need it right now. I need it now. Listen to the
words of our Lord. I am the Lord thy God, which
brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Open thy mouth wide,
and I will fill it. Now, I've read that scripture
before, I looked it up this morning. I wonder what does that mean?
Open thy mouth wide. It says, appeal to him in freedom,
with assurance, and tell him the whole case. Tell him all
about it. You say, well he knows. I know
he knows. I know he does, he's God. But
he said, open your mouth wide. Oh, how honoring it is to the
Lord when His people approach Him as He is able to supply all
of their needs. All their needs. Needs I've got,
burdens I've got, you don't have, you've got things I don't have.
But we all, as His people, approach Him, casting all your care upon
Him. Why? Because He careth for you. Isn't this freedom? To go before Him. When we pray,
we don't pray as one that's praying to someone that doesn't know
us. We're praying as a friend. A friend. In any season, with any need, with any burden,
The Scripture says forth, Psalm 84 11, the Lord God is a sun
and a shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory and no good thing will He withhold from them that walk
upright. Ask Him. Ask Him. Let me tell you the most comforting
place that a beggar will ever find himself. is to be at the
door of God's mercy. One that's able. One that's able. And one that cares. And then
lastly, I want us to realize the importunity, the continual
calling. Look at this. Verse 7 and 8,
He said, 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. I say unto you, though he will
not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because
of his importunity, his continual, continual, continual, he'll rise
and give him as many as he needeth. Now, we never trouble the Lord. You know that. I mean, here's
an example. Here's a, you know, two people, you know. You're
sleeping, you know, you're taking a nap and the phone rings or
something like that and you're just kind of, you know, you're
waking up and, you know, yeah, hello, yeah. Not with the Lord. He is never troubled at our asking. But there's times that he will
wisely and mercifully withhold his answer. But we are to continue
to knock at the door of His mercy. It's not that our importunity,
it's not that our continual asking is necessary for God to show
mercy. It's not that, okay, you keep
asking enough, and then if you ask enough, then I will. It's not for His sake, it's for
ours. In these blessed times, of chastisement,
I need to be made to continually ask. I need it. I need to be taught that I need
to continually approach Him and ask at the door, is there a burden
or a need that the Lord needs to hear? And He appears as though
that the door of His mercy is shut. The window of his hearing
is closed. Does it appear as that to you?
You know what the Lord is teaching us? You keep asking. You keep
asking. You keep knocking. You knock. He said in verses 9 and 10, I
say unto you, ask. It shall be given you. Seek.
You shall find, knock, it shall be opened for every one that
asketh, receiveth, and he that seeketh, findeth. To him that
knocketh, it shall be opened." Let's take the Lord at His word. When you pray, approach Him as
a friend. Approach Him in the season in
which He's drawn your heart to call. Open your mouth wide. Ask Him. The fellow said, I need
three loaves of bread. And if Almighty God has been
pleased to withhold His hand of revelation to you, and it
appears as though that He's not hearing, there's nothing happening,
what do you do? Just quit? No. He said, just
keep asking. Keep asking. He wisely has taught
us to keep knocking. Keep seeking. In closing, turn to Ezekiel 36. I've read this before. I went
back and read it a while ago and it was just such a blessing.
Ezekiel 36. Now listen, as I read these things,
I'm going to make a comment or two. I'm just going to read this
scripture and I'm going to close. Ezekiel 36, listen
to verse 26. A new heart also will I give
you. And a new spirit will I put within
you. I'll take away the stony heart out of your flesh, I'll
give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you
and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments
and do them." Now let me ask you something. Is this something
that the Lord has done for his people? Yes. Yes, absolutely. They couldn't do this for themselves,
you know that. But let me tell you what a believer
wants. Lord, I desire that new heart.
That new heart that You've given me, Lord, give me a fresh revelation
of that. Lord, You said You're going to
put Your Spirit, You're going to cause me to walk, verse 27,
in Your statutes. Lord, I want that. I want that.
I want to walk after You. You shall keep my judgments and
You're going to do them. Lord, I want to do that. I want
to be found obedient. You shall dwell in the land I
gave your fathers. You shall be my people. I'll
be your God. Lord, I want to be found with
your people. Lord, I want you to be my God.
That's what I want. I'll also save you from all your
uncleanness. Lord, wash me. Wash me fresh. Oh, God, for Christ's sake, cleanse
me. And I will call for the corn,
I'll increase it, I'll lay no famine upon you. Lord, give us
this day our daily bread. Lord, provide for us. I'll multiply
the fruit of the tree, increase the field. You shall receive
no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Lord, deal with
us in bounty according to your will, your purpose. Then shall
you remember your own evil ways." Lord, I know what I am. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Doesn't a believer say that?
Doesn't he admit that? Doesn't he admit, you know, and
your doings that were not good, you shall loathe yourselves in
your own sight for your iniquities, for your abomination. Is there
a believer that can't enter into this right here? You say, well,
I don't understand. I mean, I don't see, you know,
I don't have a problem. You know, I don't think I'm that
bad. Well, if the Lord ever reveals himself to you, you will. You
will. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord, be it known unto you. Be ashamed and confounded
for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God
in the day, that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities.
I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste
shall be built. And all these things I'm going
to do to you. And a believer says, you know, I want this.
The Lord said, this is what you're going to ask me. Look at all,
you know, verse 37, Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for
this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them.
I will increase them with men like a flock. This is the attitude
of prayer. This is when you pray, when you
pray. Prayer is such a mysterious thing. It's a mysterious, needful, needful. The Lord says when you pray,
Enter into your closet. Approach the Lord according to
His Word. Approach Him as a friend. Call upon Him as a friend. Call upon Him when the Spirit
of God brings your need and your desire for fellowship with Him
to you. Middle of the day, middle of
the morning, middle of the night, whenever. And whenever you call upon Him
as a friend, open your mouth wide and be honest with Him.
The Lord put a burden on your heart, then talk to Him about
it. How long do I talk? You just
keep talking. You just keep talking. You ask, you knock, you seek.
You know what the Lord has said? He said, I'm going to do for
you, but you're going to ask Me for it. Lord, bless the Word
to our hearts. Teach us something of prayer
for Christ's sake.