March 16, 2025

Luke 11:5-13

The Gift, Privilege & Power of Prayer

Sunday Sermons

Prayer is one of God’s greatest gifts—an open invitation to commune with the Creator of the universe. Yet, if we’re honest, we often approach it with mixed motives, distracted hearts, and uncertain faith.

In Luke 11:5-13, Jesus teaches that prayer is not only a gift but also a privilege and a source of transforming power. He urges us to ask, seek, and knock, revealing that our Heavenly Father is not reluctant or annoyed but delights in hearing from us.

Join Pastor Jim as he reminds us that God welcomes us in prayer, is more generous than we can imagine, and, through prayer, draws us deeper into His heart, His plans, and His purposes.

Speaker

Jim Thomas

Series

The Gospel According to Luke

Go to Series

Scripture

Luke 11:5-13

Topics
Growth & Discipleship Spiritual Disciplines

Sermon Notes

Luke 11:5-13

The Gift, Privilege & Power of Prayer

Pastor Jim Thomas

 

“The truth of the matter is we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives — altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. But what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it.”
Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home

1. Prayer is both a gift and a privilege.

“We have learned that prayer is both an instinct and a spiritual gift. As an instinct, prayer is a response to our innate but fragmentary knowledge of God. It is like a note in a bottle to ‘whatever gods there be’. As a gift of the Spirit, however, prayer becomes the continuation of a conversation God has started.”
Tim Keller, Prayer

“If Yahweh’s help were given only when we prayed for it, only when we asked for it, only when we had sense enough to seek it, what paupers and orphans we would be.”
Dale Ralph Davis, Judges: Such a Great Salvation

2. Prayer encourages asking, seeking and knocking.

All three verbs are in the present tense, the active voice and the imperative mood.

  • Asking acknowledges our dependence and need.
  • Seeking reminds us we may draw near.
  • Knocking expresses a faith that anticipates an answer.

“For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted. And if an infinitely wise Being listens to the requests of finite and foolish creatures, of course He will sometimes grant and sometimes refuse them.”
C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Philippians 4:6

3. God the Father is delighted when we come to Him in prayer.

“Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all.”
D. L. Moody

“Do not despair, dear heart, but come to the Lord with all thy jagged wounds, black bruises, and running sores. He alone can heal, and he delights to do it. It is our Lord’s office to bind up the brokenhearted, and he is gloriously at home at it.”
Charles H. Spurgeon, Surgery for Healing/Faith’s Checkbook

4. God is eager to give us more of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s role in our lives:

  • Convinces us of God’s truth
  • Convicts us of our sin
  • Converts us into new creations
  • Connects us to the body of Christ
  • Comforts us in all our trials
  • Conforms us to the image of Christ

“Slowly, almost imperceptibly, there is a shift in our center of gravity. We pass from thinking of God as part of our life to the realization that we are part of his life. Wondrously and mysteriously God moves from the periphery of our prayer experience to the center.”
Richard Foster, Prayer

Discussion Questions

  • Do you struggle with persistence in your own prayer life? Have you ever “given up” praying for something?
  • Is there something you need to let go of in your heart, in order to more sincerely ask, seek & knock?
  • Can you share a story of a time when you recognized God’s answer to your prayer? How did this experience impact your life?
  • What steps can you take today to improve your practice of persistent prayer?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs

“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty“ by Joachim Neander; tr. Catherine Winkworth Bailey, Mickle
“He Is Making All Things Right“ by Ben Shive, Bryan Fowler, Skye Peterson
“He Will Hold Me Fast“ by Ada Ruth Habershon and Matthew Merker
“Come Unto Jesus“ by Thomas Moore, Laura Story, Jordan Kauflin, Thomas Hastings, Matt Merker
 “Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois

All songs are used by Permission. CCLI License #2003690

Call To Worship: The Shield of Saint Patrick

I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three.

Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me; Christ to comfort and restore me; Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three, of whom all nature hath creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word; praise to the God of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord! Amen!

Confession: “I Believe in Jesus Christ”, The Apostle Creed

Leader: Who is Jesus Christ?
People: Jesus Christ is the eternal Word and Son of God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity. He took on human nature to be the Savior and Redeemer of the world, the only Mediator between God and fallen humanity.

Leader: What does “Jesus” mean?
People: “Jesus” means “God saves” and is taken from the Hebrew name Yeshua or Joshua. In Jesus, God has come to save us from the power of sin and death.

Leader: What does “Christ” mean?
People: Christos is the Greek term for the Hebrew title Messiah, mean-ing “Anointed One.” Old Testament kings, priests, and prophets were anointed with oil. Jesus the Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit to perfectly fulfill these roles, and he rules now as Prophet, Priest, and King over his Church and all creation.

Source: ACNA, Q. 48-50

Classic Prayer: St. Patrick’s Lorica

I rise today in the power of Christ’s birth and baptism, in the power of his crucifixion and burial, in the power of his rising and ascending, in the power of his descending and judging. Around me I gather today all these powers, against every cruel and merciless force to attack my body and soul, against the charms of false prophets, the black laws of paganism, the false laws of heretics, the deceptions of idolatry, against spells cast by women, smiths, and druids, and all unlawful knowledge that harms the body and soul. May Christ protect me today: against poison and burning, against drowning and wounding so that I may have abundant reward.

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