Teach Us To Pray
Luke 11:1–13
The disciples of the Lord Jesus watched him pray. They listened to him and observed him in prayer to his heavenly Father. As a result they were inspired to pray themselves but felt inadequate. They asked the Lord Jesus to teach them how to pray as John the Baptist also taught his disciples. Perhaps this disciple previously was a disciple of John the Baptist?
The Lord answered this request and not only provided an example model prayer but also encouraged his disciples to have faith when they pray and to persist in praying to God. He gave them an example of how evil men will give to their friends. Or how human parents, even though they are evil, give to their children. The point was how much more does God our Father answer our prayers? The Lord answers our prayers. He is listening for us to pray. The Lord Jesus encourages us to ask, seek, and knock and we will receive from our heavenly Father.
I’ve heard atheists say they tried God at one time. He did not answer their prayers and so they gave up on him. The problem with this approach is simple. They did not believe in God to start with. Scripture teaches us that anyone who comes to God must believe that he is and that he rewards those who diligently seek him. If you don’t believe you won’t receive anything from God.
The Lord provided a model example prayer for us. I’ve followed this model prayer for a long time when I pray. It is good to memorize this prayer, because within this prayer is everything we need to pray about. We are encouraged to ask for God to forgive us. We are taught to pray for our daily needs. We are taught to pray that we can escape from evil. Within this prayer we learn that God is our provider, God is our protector, and God is our portion forever. God is our Father who is in heaven. We should pray that his kingdom come and that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The Lord will answer this prayer. He promised that his kingdom will come to this earth. His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. When we pray this we are praying according to the will of God and he hears this prayer and will answer it.
Let us pray that we will be a part of his kingdom. When we pray for his kingdom to come let us pray that we may be found worthy to be a participant in his kingdom.
Luke 11:14–26
The Lord Jesus cast out a devil that caused a person to be unable to speak. The word “dumb” was used, which means the inability to speak. Once the devil was cast out of the person he was able to speak. The people wondered when they saw this. It doesn’t say they believed in the Lord Jesus but that they “wondered”. Then there was another group there who attacked the Lord Jesus when he cast out devils. They tried to tempt him and demanded that he show them a sign from heaven. They accused him of casting out devils by the power of the devil.
The Lord Jesus responded when he said that a house or a kingdom which is divided against itself cannot stand. In other words it was not possible to cast out devils with the power of the devil. These people thought the Lord Jesus deceived them with satanic power but in reality he cast out devils by the Spirit of God. These people did not want to believe in the Lord Jesus. Those who did not want to believe in the Lord Jesus were on the side of the lie which is the devil. The people on the devil’s side accused the Lord Jesus of casting out devils by the power of the devil. Notice how subtle the devil is. He is the accuser of the brethren. However, the Lord Jesus exposed their hypocrisy with a logical argument. How can a house or kingdom divided against itself stand?
He went on to illustrate his point when he said that a man’s house cannot be broken into unless you tie up the owner of the house first. The owner of a house is called a “strongman”. The strongman must be first dealt with then the strongman’s house can be robbed. The idea was that it would be impossible for the Lord Jesus to cast out a devil by the power of Satan. That would be like the owner of a house helping a thief rob his own house. It doesn’t make sense. Their accusation had no logical basis but it did not stop them.
The devil rarely uses logic and if he does it is a twisted logic taking scriptures out of context or through constant repetition. There are many lies that people believe. They believe lies not because of evidence or logic but because of constant repetition. An example of this is Darwin’s lie of evolution. It has no basis in science or logic but has been repeated so much people accept it as truth.
This is also why propaganda is successful. It doesn’t matter what the lie may be. Just keep repeating it over and over and people will believe it out of exhaustion.
The Lord Jesus gave us a brief glimpse into the invisible spiritual world. The Lord Jesus said that when an unclean devil was cast out it traveled through “dry places” and sought rest but it could not find rest so it wanted to return to where it was cast out. Not only did it return but it would bring seven more evil spirits with it.
Why? Perhaps it thought it could gain its home back again by sheer weight of numbers? I think this is a good guess. I think a lot of the power of devils lies in the multiplication of numbers. You see this principle active in the world system of politics and business. The more people you bring underneath someone’s name, the more numbers you have, the more power and influence you accumulate. This works in politics and also in the business world. It is also very active in the outward external church which bases success on how many numbers of people can be added to a church.
If someone was delivered from devils they needed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior immediately. They needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit and renounce all their sin which led to the infestation of devils. Any ground or right the devils had needed to be broken through the confession of sin and heart felt repentance before God.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Let your heart and mind be soaked and filled with the word of God. Stay in God’s word, and stay in prayer. Pray without ceasing. Read, study, meditate on, memorize and obey the word of God. Walk in the spirit and not in the flesh.
Luke 11:27–28
After he dealt with the opposition of the religious leaders it would be refreshing to hear something positive. A woman from the crowd told the Lord Jesus that his mother was blessed for having him. The Lord Jesus turned around and said a person who heard and kept God’s word was blessed. This was an interesting reply and it is worth consideration.
This woman was an early example of what we know today as Catholics. They put emphasis on the mother of the Lord Jesus. This has been a common theme in world religions since the tower of Babel and the mystery religions. This emphasis on the Queen of Heaven and the worship of a mother goddess is a thread which runs all through pagan religions and is one of the foremost symptoms of paganism in the Catholic church.
Mary said that people would call her blessed. Here the Lord Jesus said that anyone who heard God’s word and obeyed God’s word was blessed. The Lord Jesus probably knew the danger of people worshiping his mother. It was idolatry to worship any person other than the Lord Jesus Christ. When we lift up any person other than the Lord Jesus we become guilty of idolatry.
This is why it is so dangerous to give men titles and lift up the names of men. It is man’s instinct to worship self and as a result to also worship the names of men. Repent of this! It leads to strife, division, envy, and all kind of sin. It was the main reason why there were so many divisions in the outward church.
Do not be followers after the names of men (or women!). Instead, simply hear God’s word and keep it. Walk in obedience to God’s word. Do not be followers of men, but instead be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Walk in the spirit and not in the flesh. Walk by faith and not by sight.
Luke 11:29–36
The Lord Jesus said that an evil generation looked for a sign. This reminds me of how the man who was in hell asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to warn them about hell. What did Abraham say? If they do not believe the Bible they will not believe the message even if someone rose from the dead to testify. People who seek for signs usually are unbelievers. They do not believe the testimony we have before us in the word of God. Some of these people are religious and may know scripture but do not believe. The fulfillment of bible prophecy stood before them. The Messiah prophesied in the scripture stood before them and they did not believe in him.
The sign of the prophet Jonah was the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and nights, so also the Lord Jesus was in the belly of the earth three days and three nights and then arose from the dead.
God Most High resurrects from the dead. One day everyone who has died will be resurrected and stand before their creator. It is appointed to men once to die and after this the judgment awaits us.
We need to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls. We need to believe in the Lord Jesus, his words, his gospel, his finished and completed work upon Calvary. Through what the Lord Jesus accomplished in his death, burial, and resurrection we have received forgiveness of sins and redemption. All of our sins have been washed away. We have been redeemed. We are saved. Believe the word. Receive the word. Obey the word of the Lord.
Luke 11:37–54
The Lord Jesus accepted an invitation to eat at the house of a Pharisee. While he was there the Lord Jesus perceived that his host was hostile toward him because Jesus did not wash his hands before he ate. From this the Lord Jesus began to rebuke these Pharisees, Sadducees, and lawyers. He rebuked with all long suffering and authority. He was careful to point out exactly in what way they were deceiving themselves. Their focus was on outward, external religion but their hearts were filled with evil. The Lord Jesus could see into their heart and he knew they were religious hypocrites. He told them what they were. What was the purpose for this? It was to bring men to repentance. The Lord Jesus said these things not for the purpose of offending people but for the purpose of bringing them to repentance and faith in the living God.
He warned them they would be accountable, not only for their sins, but also for the sins of their forefathers, because they walked in the same pattern as their forefathers. Their fathers killed the prophets and they built their tombs. The Lord Jesus said they approved of what their fathers did.
We should think about this. Consider this deeply. Do we blindly follow the traditions of those who have gone before us, and never evaluate whether or not we are following truth? It is easy to follow the traditions of those who have gone before us. But what if they were wrong? What if what they did was actually against the Lord like those who killed the prophets?
I think we would be amazed to hear what the Lord would say about our outward religion in these last days. Let us pray and ask the Lord to search our hearts and grant us repentance that we may escape every trap of the devil.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put your faith in Jesus. Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Thank you for reading my comments on the gospel of Luke. For daily bible reading and a podcast subscribe on Substack.
