Sermon: Prayer as the Foundation

Scripture Text: Luke 11:1-13

*We apologize that the first couple minutes are missing from the beginning of this replay, but jump right in for the majority of the sermon!

Quotes for Reflection

Oaks Parish Vision
Oaks Parish pursues gospel-centered renewal through parish ministry, walking alongside our city, region, and world. This renewal is embodied in the beauty of liturgical worship, mission rooted in people and place among the least and lost, and relational discipleship that forms us into the image of Christ.

John Onwuchekwa, Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church
The first two words of the Lord’s Prayer—’Our Father’—reminds us that prayer also involves others. We are not just individuals relating to God, but part of a community with the same Father. This makes prayer a collective exercise.

N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone
What counts is persistence. There are all sorts of ways in which God isn’t like a sleepy friend, but Jesus is focusing on one point of comparison only: he is encouraging a kind of holy boldness, a sharp knocking on the door, an insistent asking, a search that refuses to give up. That’s what our prayer should be like. This isn’t just a routine or formal praying, going through the motions as a daily or weekly task. There is a battle on, a fight with the powers of darkness, and those who have glimpsed the light are called to struggle in prayer – for peace, for reconciliation, for wisdom, for a thousand things for the world and the church, perhaps a hundred or two for one’s own family, friends and neighbours, and perhaps a dozen or two for oneself.

J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke
The time and way in which our prayers shall be answered are matters which we must leave entirely to God. But we need not doubt that every petition which we offer in faith shall certainly be answered. Let us lay our matters before God again and again, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. The answer may be long in coming, as it was in the cases of Hannah and Zacharias (1 Samuel 1:27; Luke 1:13). But though it tarries, let us pray on and wait for it. At the right time, it will surely come and not tarry.

Quotes for Reflection

1. Why does prayer seem so difficult at times? How do the parables in verse 5-13 reveal the gospel’s influence for prayer?

2. How does your view of prayer change when you see it as a communal rather than merely an individual exercise?

3. How have you seen Jesus shape your heart because of prayer?