Luke 11:1-13

Lessons on how to pray -- Luke 11:1-13: Jesus, Himself was a praying man. When Jesus finished His prayer one of the disciples made this request to Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples to pray." Jesus taught them to pray out of deep respect for God and His name. He said, "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Prayer must honor the Father and His name. Prayer also involved the coming kingdom. God wants us to seek His kingdom. When we do that, His blessings will be more than we can believe. We will have both physical and spiritual needs met in Christ. We can pray, "Give us each day the food we need." There must also be a request that our sins can be forgiven. We must ask God to protect us from having to deal with temptations that might overtake us. Jesus taught the value of persistent prayer by showing that a man who kept asking received in the middle of the night. Jesus said, "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." Persistent prayer is essential, "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. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Luke 11:9-10) The Heavenly Father is ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks. "From the passage here, it is clear that God's children should not hesitate to pray to the Father for the measure of the Holy Spirit which has been promised to baptized believers (Acts 2:38), and which is called "an earnest" of our inheritance. (Ephesians 1:13)