Luke chapter 11. This morning we looked at the
Lord teaching us how to pray, teaching us to pray. And we looked
at His own example. The Scripture says here in verse
1 that while He was praying, then we looked at the form of
prayer that He told us, the pattern in verses 2 through verse 4. I want to begin tonight, this
afternoon, and read beginning in verse 5 down through verse
13 to remind you of our text again. We're going to look tonight,
this afternoon, at two things. One, the way the Lord teaches
us to pray in His providence. And secondly, He teaches us to
pray by giving us His Holy Spirit. So let's read verse 5. Which
of you shall have a friend And shall go unto him at midnight,
and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend
of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to
set before him. And he from within shall answer
and say, Trouble be not, the door is now shut. 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 he will rise and give him as
many as he needed. And I say unto you, ask, you
shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened to you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? If he ask
a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he ask an
egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you 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? Now here we see Divine Providence
teaching us to pray. We saw there in verse 2 that
our Father in Heaven, we have to address Him as our Father,
which means we address Him as the One who is higher than we
are. He's above us. He's over us. He rules and He overrules. When He's pleased, He not only
rules, but He overrules. And I'll give you two or three
examples of how He overrules the wickedness of men and brings
it out for good. And this is important when we
submit ourselves to Him as our Father in Heaven. And it's important
when I say He teaches us by His providence. He brings a providence
upon us to humble us. to bring us knocking at His door,
and He takes that which may be in and of itself is evil or embarrassing,
and He uses it to bring us knocking at His door. Remember Joseph
and how the Lord overruled Joseph's brethren and their wickedness,
and He turned it for Joseph's glory and for the good of so
many people to save much people alive? You remember the Wicked
hand of the Jews that crucified the Lord Jesus and how he turned
that for our good and Christ's glory and redeemed many people
as it is this day. And the Apostle Paul, we're told
that he's one of the best examples. He says himself that he was beaten. He was arrested. He was put in
jail. They took him to Rome. On the
way there, he had a shipwreck, lost all of his cargo. and lived
years in a prison there in Rome. And yet listen when he was writing
to the Philippians how he says this, Boy, I'm sure he took great delight
and comfort in this. The things which has happened
to me have turned out rather to the futherance of the gospel. See how the Lord rules in His
providence? Our Father overrules things for
our good and for His glory. And the same Father who ruled
all of these events that I gave you examples of also rules in
His providence. to teach us to pray. And that's what I see in this
little parable here that the Lord Jesus gave us in verses
5 through verse 8. The Lord was using this as an
example of prayer and the first thing I want you to see into
this is here was a man that found himself in the providence of
God in a condition that was somewhat embarrassing. They didn't have
the communication like we have today. And he was sleeping. It
was almost midnight. And suddenly, out of nowhere,
this friend comes knocking on his door. And he goes to the
door and opens it. Oh, what a surprise! You're here
to visit us! And he said, Yes, and I'm starving
to death. And I know you've always told me that you had plenty,
so I've just sort of surprised you. But he said, I've got to
have something to eat before I go to bed. Well, this poor
fellow wasn't as well off as he'd always pretended he was.
He didn't have a loaf of bread. He didn't have a slice of bread
in his cabinet. But he looked at his friends
and said, well, come on in. Yes, I'll take care of you. Don't
worry about it. I'll feed you. You won't have
to go to bed hungry. And he realized what a predicament
that he was in. So he runs out the back door,
runs over to his neighbor's house and starts knocking on the door
and says, You've got to help me. You've got to help me. I've
got my friend that's come and I've always told him how well
I was doing, but now I don't have any bread to feed him, not
one slice. I don't have anything, he said.
He was in a predicament, wasn't he? In an embarrassing predicament. Who brought that to pass? God
brought it to pass. Why? That's the same way He does
us sometimes, is it not? Sometimes we get cold in prayer. Sometimes we get standoffish
about coming to the Lord in prayer. It's not always our reading.
It's not even always assembling ourselves together. Where do
we usually fail? Is it not in our prayers? And
the Father sends out a messenger, and He's so kind, come and commune
with me. And sometimes that don't work,
does it? We don't listen. Then He sends
another messenger sometimes in our midnights, and He sometimes
brings us into affliction, or He brings us into embarrassing
situations. Why? That we may come knocking
at His door. What would this man have been
doing if the friend hadn't have come suddenly? Well, he'd have
been sleeping. So this was a good thing, wasn't
it? It was inconvenient. It troubled him. It embarrassed
him. But it sent him knocking. And
that's why I'm saying sometimes the providence of God in our
lives will so arrange it that if we won't come just to commune
with Him, we'll come out of trouble. out of necessity, out of our
need for help. I want you to turn over to Hosea
with me. Hosea chapter 5. Hold our text and turn over to
Hosea chapter 5. If you have a Pew Bible, it's
on page 984. Hosea chapter 5. I think this is a good example
of what I'm saying. Look at Hosea chapter 5 and look
in verse 13. Our Father desires fellowship
with His people. He delights in their prayers.
And sometimes when we get sort of backward about coming to Him,
He sends a messenger. brings us knocking at His door.
And sometimes the messenger, he's not a good-looking fellow.
Sometimes it's affliction. Sometimes it's inconveniences.
Sometimes it's an embarrassing situation. But look here what
He says to Ephraim. In verse 13, Hosea 5, verse 13,
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, Then
went Ephraim to the Assyrians, and sent to King Jerob. Yet could
he not help you, nor cure you of your wounds? Now look what
the Lord, look at the step He is going to take. He desired
Ephraim to come to Him, and look what He says. I will be unto
Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah, even
I will tear and go away. I will take away, and none shall
rescue him. I will go and return to my place
till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. Look, in their
affliction they will seek me early." Isn't that what sometimes
God sends to us? One affliction or another? And look here what they said
in chapter 6 and verse 1. Here's what they said when this
messenger came. Come and let us return unto the
Lord for He hath torn and He will heal us. He hath smitten
and He will bind us up. Why did they return? Why did
they go knocking at His door? Well, afflictions. The Lord tore
them. and then departing until they
come knocking at his door. But when this friend came and
he had no bread and he went knocking at his neighbor's door, there
was two things, two things in that text that reminds us that
it's not always easy just to knock. If it was just knocking
and him opening immediately, it wouldn't be near as burdensome. But when he knocked, nobody answered. Did you notice that? Finally,
the only reason the man came and gave him bread was he kept
on knocking. And isn't that one of the things
about prayer? It's waiting on the Lord. Very
seldom, to be honest with you, in my own experience, have I
sought the Lord and He answered me immediately. And we ought
to watch for that. My goodness, don't ask Him something
and then go off and not watch and see if He hears your prayer. But most of the time, we have
to wait. And you know, brothers and sisters,
it's not an easy thing to wait, is it? All of us have waited
on company. And how many times do we go to
the door or to the window while we're waiting on some company
to come? Especially if they're a little bit late. We don't like
to wait. And it's the same thing in prayer. This guy knocked. And he listened. Nobody stared. He knocked again. He listens. He hears somebody
in there. But they're not coming quick
enough. Waiting is hard. So he knocks some more. And finally
the guy says, I'm not going to get up. And he knocks some more. And he waits. Waiting. I tell you, it's tough, isn't
it? Waiting on the Lord is tough. That's why the Scripture says,
Wait on the Lord and be of good courage. Why does it take courage? I tell you, waiting is tough.
He's a man of faith indeed, and He's a man of good courage indeed,
who can knock at our Father's door. And then when He don't
answer immediately, just to wait on Him. That's the first thing
about knocking and waiting. It's waiting on the Lord. But
it's not only waiting. That would be trying circumstances
in itself. But the circumstances. He had
to wait in. Where was He? He was outside.
What was the weather like? We're not told. But can you imagine?
It raining. A freezing rain, and here the
poor man stands outside, and he's knocking so loud, and he's
trying to get him awake. Now the neighbor's lights begin
to come on, and somebody hollers, what's going on over there? And
he gets somewhat embarrassed about it. Waiting is bad enough,
but when you're outside in the weather, and you're having to
wait, that's a little bit more trying, isn't it? David made
the statement, I waited patiently for the Lord. Remember what he
said about where he was? I waited patiently for the Lord
and He brought me up out of the horrible pit in the Mariclay. Now it's bad enough to wait,
but when you're sinking in a pit and you have to wait. And sometimes
that's where the Lord brings us to in His providence, into
these pits. And we have to wait. And it's
tough because of the situation we find ourselves in. Poor Hannah. In 1 Samuel 1, she prayed for
a child. For years she waited. And it
was bad enough for her to have to wait, but the adversary, kept
on grieving her to death. The Lord's not going to hear
you. The Lord's blessed me with children, but He's not going
to bless you. He won't hear you. For years this poor woman endured
that until finally the Lord opened the door and gave her a child. But back in our text, what kept
this man knocking? What kept him waiting? Why didn't
he just give up and go home? You know why he kept knocking?
This goes right back to Providence. Sometimes the Lord shuts us up
and makes us feel our need to such a point that we can't do
anything else but wait. He couldn't go home. He had nothing
to give his friend. If he went back home, he'd went
back home to a man who had an empty stomach. He'd went back
home and had to went to bed with a broken heart, wouldn't he?
I can't go back home. I've got such a sense of my need.
Lord, if you don't answer my need, I can't leave. That's a wonderful place to be,
ain't it? I love it when you see people.
I tell you what, it's a rough place to be when your need is
so manifested to your heart and you realize it to the point that
you can't do anything else but knock on His door and wait. But
you can remember this, when He's brought you there, He'll finally
supply your need. And that's another thing that
kept this man knocking. Not only a sense of his need,
but a sense that he whose door he was knocking on could supply
his need. I found this old poem and I have
no idea who wrote it, but I thought it fits our text very well. Talking about the Lord satisfying
the beggar's need. He satisfieth the longing soul,
and filleth the hungry with goodness. And blessed are all of those
that wait for him. And here's what this old poem
says. Encouraged by thy word, a promise to the poor. Behold,
a beggar, Lord, waits at mercy's door. No hand, no heart, O Lord,
but thine, can help or pity needs like mine. I have no right to
say that though I am now poor, yet once there was a day when
I possessed much more. Thou know'st that from my very
birth I've been the poorest wretch on earth. Nor can I dare profess,
as some beggars do, though great is my distress, my thoughts have
been but few. If thou shouldst leave my soul
to starve, it would be what I well deserve. Twere folly to pretend
I never bagged before, or if thou now befriend, I'll trouble
thee no more. Though often thou hast relieved
my pain, and often I must come again. Though crumbs are much
too good for such a dog as I, no less than children's bread,
my soul can satisfy. Oh, do not frown and bid me go. I must have all thou canst bestow. Nor can I willing be thy bounty
to conceal from others who, like me, their wants and hunger feel. I'll tell them of thy mercy's
store and try to send a thousand more. Thy thoughts, thou only
wise, Our thoughts and ways transcend. For as the arched skies above
the earth extend, Such pleas as mine men would not hear. But God receives a beggar's prayer. He wouldn't have us knocking
on His door. He wouldn't humble us in His
providence and bring us knocking. asking for a piece of bread and
then give us a stone. He wouldn't put it in our hearts
to know and feel our need of a fish and then offer us a scorpion,
would He? That's not the way He is. If
He's brought us knocking at His door, we can be assured of this.
Though He keeps us waiting to make us maybe feel our need more
and to realize His blessings better, He won't keep us waiting
forever. Finally, He'll open the door.
And brothers and sisters, when He opens that door, no man can
shut it. Seek, and you shall find. Ask,
and it shall be given to you. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. Lord, teach us to pray. Even though it humbles us in
the dust, even though you bring us into some embarrassing situation,
by your providence teach us to seek your face. And then lastly,
he teaches us to pray by giving us the Holy Spirit. He says there
in verse 13 in our text, if you being evil know how to give good
gifts to your children, How much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" Isn't it strange
that He'd put this in here connected with prayer? Because the Holy
Spirit, brothers and sisters, is essential to pray. Who can pray without the Holy
Spirit? He's called the Spirit of grace and supplications. And we've got the form. We've got the pattern. But the
pattern is just that. It's just a pattern, isn't it?
Without the Holy Spirit. But when the Holy Spirit is sent
into our hearts, the form becomes alive. You ladies know probably
what it is to lay out a pattern. You've got these little patterns
sometimes you buy at the store and you put it down on your cloth.
But what's a pattern? You can't wear a pattern, can
you? Boy, when you put it on the clothes and you've got it
all cut out and put it together, it's beautiful then. And when
we've got the form and then the Holy Spirit comes to our hearts,
boy, then when we begin our prayer and say, Our Father, it means
something, doesn't it? I've told you so many times that
I have got on my knees before the Lord or at my table or somewhere,
and I have begun my prayer, My Father. And I tell you, I was
just suddenly stopped because it dawned upon me. I realized
He's my Father. He is indeed my Father. He that's
in heaven and rules there and is over all there. He's my Father. Who is it prompted me to know
that? It's the Holy Spirit. And not only that, but He says
here in verse 5, He says the Father is your friend. He likens
the Father to a friend. That's not getting too familiar,
is it? Just making us realize, oh, He that's over all is our
Father, and He is indeed our friend. I love the way the Apostle Paul
said it in Romans 8 and 26. Listen to this. Likewise, the
Spirit also helps our infirmities. I don't know of any place our
infirmities are more evident than in prayer. That's why sometimes
it's so difficult. He helps our weaknesses. He helps
our coldness. He helps our ignorance in prayer. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought. But the Spirit Himself makes
intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And
he that searches the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
because he makes intercessions for the saints according to the
will of God." And how many times do we grow so faint and almost
ready to quit praise because we feel our imperfections? We
feel our sinfulness sometimes. And the Holy Spirit comes to
us and He reminds us, it's not about your feelings. And it's
certainly not about your merits. You think as we got older in
most occupations, you get more confident that you know what
you're doing? In prayer it ain't that way.
I don't know any more about praying today than I did when the Lord
first saved me. But here's where the Holy Spirit
comes in. And He reminds us. It's not how
you feel that's the grounds of your access to the Father. I
love it here when He calls us evil. Ain't that something? You go up to your children. I
never call my children that, do you? He knows us, doesn't
He? You mean He would call us evil?
He would. He strips us of any merit that
we think we have. And He says, this is not the
grounds of your being yearned. You have access through Jesus
Christ, through His marriage. And boy, He encourages us to
just keep on when we have to wait, when we keep knocking. Don't be discouraged. Don't faint.
Just keep on praying. He upholds us in His prayer. David said, Lord, uphold me in
Thy ways. And that's why He gives us the
Spirit. He helps our infirmities. This is a wonderful thing here
to notice. As I said just a minute ago, we grow in the knowledge
of God. We know more about Him now than
we did five years ago, ten years ago. We see more of His greatness,
don't we? His holiness, His justice, His
goodness. We know more of Him now. But
this is what amazes us, that God being who He is, is our Father. and He's our friend. And that
will never get over as long as we live. Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. Brother Randy,
would you dismiss us please?