"Teach us about praying"

If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!”

Luke 11:13 AMP

What was Jesus actually saying? Often we have heard certain verses preached, quoted, or taught about. But as a whole chapter what was the lesson, or lessons, that He was trying to get us to see.

Similar to watching a movie, or a series of shows, we can often see a lesson, or a truth, in a 30-60 second portion of the story. Yet, we will understand that small “blurb”, and its meaning, much more if we see the entire movie. If we pay attention to the entire movie.

I have noticed, in my life, that God will often speak to me about an issue, or topic, using a scripture. But if I keep paying attention, He will use song lyrics, a book, dreams, daily life scenarios, and more scriptures, to keep reiterating deeper ways for me to see and understand the lesson He is teaching me.

Often, for me, this type of continual, ongoing, teaching will go on for 2-3 days. Sometimes even longer. But I have to be paying attention to perceive the teaching and lessons He is giving me. I have to be conscious of His continual, creative, teachings to me.

Today, as I read the “verse of the day” from the bible app, I decided to read the entire chapter that the verse came from. As I did, I started to see a breakdown of the entire chapter and how it all revolved around a similar core theme.

The beginning of Luke 11 starts out with the disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to pray. Why do you think they asked Jesus to teach them this?

All of these men were Jewish, including Jesus. The Jews had several religious teachers. Their religion, their protocol, rules, and religious instructions had been set, established, and lived by for thousands of years.

“How to pray” could have been easily learned during their years of growing up. They could have, and would have, learned things like this from their Jewish parents, grandparents, and religious leaders and teachers. People that they would have known and observed since they were children.

I think they asked Jesus because they saw that something was different when He prayed. When He prayed things happened. Answers and solutions showed up. There may have been several individual reasons as to why they were asking Jesus to “reteach” them. But I think that’s exactly what they were asking. “Reteach us”.

Maybe they were really saying, “I think we were taught this wrong. The way we have seen it done, and were taught in the past doesn't seem to have the same effect as when you pray. Jesus, maybe we were taught wrong. And even though we are now adults, we recognize that we may need to start over. Maybe we need to throw away all we thought we have known and be retaught all over again.”

It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘ Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended or wronged us]. And lead us not into temptation [ but rescue us from evil ] .’ ”

[You are speaking to your Father. A God who intimately loves and cares for you. He is invested in you, because you are part of HIm. You are His child.

Recognize Him as HOLY. As being above, set apart, distinct, and superior to all things. Superior, and above, any obstacle, fear, issue, or any type of thing you may be dealing with.

Recognize that you need His Kingdom. Ask for His Kingdom. His way of seeing life and viewing life. Recognize and ask for His way of living and thinking. The ways of His realm to come into this realm.

Be ready to receive guidance, instructions, and answers to be given to you that are from His kingdom. Those answers and ways will seem foreign. Because His kingdom is different, opposite, of this lower, inferior kingdom, that we currently see and live in.

Give us daily bread. Jesus is, and was, the bread. The bread that was broken for us. God gave Israel bread, “manna”, each day. They had to go get new, fresh manna, each day. (Except on the sabbath).

Ask God to keep your mind and heart open for how, and what, He will speak to you each day. He knows what words you need to hear. Each day. He knows what you will go through. What you are going through.

He knows what you need to hear. He knows what will give you strength. He wants to daily give you strength to get through whatever you are facing. Ask Him for His word, His presence, His strength. Each day know that as you go out and look for your “manna”, you will find it. It may be in a different place each day. There may be different amounts, etc. but find, each day, the bread that He has let fall from heaven for you.

“...forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended or wronged us].” FORGIVE.

First, allow the Holy Spirit to show you any mindsets, fears, etc that you should recognize and confess. He will gladly and easily forgive you. Accept His forgiveness.

Like a Father, He just wants you to recognize what self defeating things you may have been allowing to go on inside of you. He loves you and wants your life to be full of things that will benefit you. Just like we would want for our children.

Secondly, let’s forgive others. Forgive everyone. Just as easily as God forgave you, and keeps forgiving you. Just as God can look at us and know, “They are easily deceived, swayed, confused, and often don’t really know what they are doing. They often don’t know the depths of pain, and the bad, that they are inflicting on themselves and others.”

Just as God can view us that way and still keeps forgiving us. We must forgive others. We should forgive. It benefits us. It benefits others. It benefits God and His Kingdom.

It’s also one of the main things that will determine if your prayers will be heard and answered, or not. This humble, sacrificial, forgiveness, (choosing forgiveness and love), is probably one of the key factors of why, when Jesus prayed, it was different.]

Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread]; for a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come to visit me, and I have nothing to serve him’; and from inside he answers, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’

I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence and boldness he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.

[There are so many awesome details, truths, and amazing separate teachings that could be expounded on here. But, for simplicity's sake, we see Jesus is still teaching the disciples what they asked Him. “Teach us how to pray.”

Jesus uses the figures of both a friend, and a father, to represent God in His metaphorical teachings. This is a very important and repetitive theme that Jesus often used.

Keep learning to see, view, and perceive God as your Father. As a friend. A better father than we could have ever hoped for. A better friend than we could ever imagine. “One who sticks even closer than a brother.”

God is not just the massive, invisible power in the sky, sitting on a throne and waiting to cast judgement on those who have been just a little too bad. Or more bad than He wants to allow. He’s a Father. Try to let that concept sink in for you personally. What would you do, or not do, for your children. Whether or not they are perfect.]

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!”

[Remember, although there are amazing lessons, even in very small portions of these parables, Jesus is teaching them things about how to pray.

In all honesty, I used to read this parable and feel like the latter portion of the last sentence was a little anticlimactic. (hahaha) But now I see it differently.

God, Jesus, His spirit is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit can, and does, work in both the natural and supernatural realm. The Holy Spirit is unlimited. There is no limit to what God’s Spirit can do, can give, or create.

The Holy Spirit is the same spirit that was in Jesus. The same Spirit that raised Him from the dead. The same Spirit that healed people, that fed thousands of people with two fish and some bread. And, like a Father, we can expect that He will give us everything that we need. Everything that is good for us.

Yet, it doesn't stop there. We don’t only want to give the bare necessities to our children. Although there may be times of doing that, for the purpose of learning. God is the same. No, He’s better! He gives us what we need, but also wants to give us even more.

If our child asks for a gift, something extra, something maybe they don’t “need”, we often want to be generous. We want to give our child the things they ask for. Maybe even better gifts. Gifts that they haven't asked for, because we know how excited they will be at the unexpected gift. Something “beyond what they even thought of, or imagined”.

With even more generosity than we have toward our children, God wants to be generous toward us. He wants to give us gifts that we ask for.]

And [at another time] Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was [controlling a man so as to make him] mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds were awed. But some of them said, “He drives out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul (Satan), the ruler of the demons.” Others, trying to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.

But He, well aware of their thoughts and purpose, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is doomed to destruction; and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand and continue to survive? For you are saying that I drive out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul. Now if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons [the Jewish exorcists] drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already come upon you.

When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are undisturbed and secure. But when someone stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he robs him of all his armor on which he had relied and divides his [goods as] spoil.

He who is not with Me [believing in Me as Lord and Savior] is against Me [there is no impartial position]; and he who does not gather with Me [assisting in My ministry], scatters. “When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest; and not finding any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house (person) from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the place swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in [the person] and live there; and the last state of that person becomes worse than the first.”

[Jesus cast a demon, an evil spirit, out of someone. Like a magic trick, yet better, this amazed everyone.

This is the part where Jesus is showing, giving a real life example, to the disciples about prayer. He is showing them that by living, and praying like He had taught them at the beginning of the chapter, (forgiving others and all), then this is what type of results your prayers will have.

The authority you will have because you have been asking for God’s kingdom to come. This is the type of authority and amazing things God will do in you, and through you, as you search for, find, and feed on His daily bread. As you follow God. As you constantly love and forgive others, these are the type of results and answers that will come.

He’s still teaching His disciples about prayer, but He is also teaching the observers, the religious leaders, and critics. He’s teaching them some other truths, in parables. Jesus is teaching about prayer while also teaching about the Kingdom of God. About how superior God’s kingdom is.

God, His kingdom, (the Holy Spirit, that He will give those who ask), is the “STRONGER MAN”.

Evil, Beelzebul, the devil, is the first “strong man” in the parable. But God, Jesus, who is stronger, shows up and can take all that he has from him. God overcomes the one who used to rule over us. What was impossible for us to overcome, God comes and does for us.

Again, here there are SO MANY amazing truths and teachings. Feel free to meditate on some that God may be starting to show you. Maybe He will teach you some stuff about it over the next 2-3 days.