seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
And lead us not into temptation.[d]’”
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
14 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
23 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.
33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy,[g] your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy,[h] your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
47 “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. 48 So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ 50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
52 “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
53 When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.
a. Luke 11:2 Some manuscripts Our Father in heaven
b. Luke 11:2 Some manuscripts come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
c. Luke 11:4 Greek everyone who is indebted to us
d. Luke 11:4 Some manuscripts temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
e. Luke 11:8 Or yet to preserve his good name
f. Luke 11:11 Some manuscripts for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for
g. Luke 11:34 The Greek for healthy here implies generous.
h. Luke 11:34 The Greek for unhealthy here implies stingy
Well.... After Jesus taught them how to pray.... and after Jesus taught them why they should pray.... He sat down to eat with a Pharisee without washing His hands and the Pharisee lit into Him about it. Now Jesus would wash the feet of anyone who was in need but this Pharisee is upset because Jesus didn't wash His own hands before eating. This is going to give a lot of moms a measure to go by.....Suppose you all sit down to dinner one night.... Hubby in the good Christian values type of theme is seated at the head of the table..... the children around the table.... and Mother at the other end. They all bow their heads and say the Lord's prayer.... amen.... and then the hands come up to help pass the food around.... and Hubby says..... "Hey.... you didn't wash your hands"....... if one of the sons looks up at Mother and says "Pharisees clean the outside of the cup or dish but leave the inside filthy"..... then you know you are raising a preacher!
There's an idea out there that the more you pray a prayer... the more likely it is to be heard. Oh I dislike that idea.... I mean we're talking God here.... He knows how the story ends.... He knows when you are going to pray that prayer long before you think you might want to pray..... God knew that prayer was going to be prayed before the person who was going to pray it was conceived! So yep... He's going to be there to hear it the first time.
According to the commentary..... persistence... urgency... they are NOT important because God waits for passion and persistence... prayer is talking to God. I do despise it when someone gets in my ear and says the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
This is from blueletterbible.org.
Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight: In the custom of that day, a whole family lived together in a one-room house. On one side of the house was a raised platform where they all slept; down on the ground were all their animals-a cow, perhaps some sheep and goats and so forth. There was no way the man could come to the door without disturbing the whole household.
Anyone who knows what it is like getting all the kids to bed and finally getting some rest knows what an imposition this would be!
Yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs: It took a lot of boldness for the man to so shamelessly ask his friend in the middle of the night-he really wanted the bread.
God often waits for our passionate persistence in prayer. It isn't that God is reluctant and needs to be persuaded. Our persistence doesn't change God; it changes us, developing in us a heart and passion for what God wants.
Now this bit about the mute demon accusing Jesus of being Satan..... wow.... Now there had to be more to that story as well.... and this is from the same commentary.
He was casting out a demon, and it was mute: The Jews in Jesus' day had their own exorcists, who sought to cast demons out of people. But they believed that they had to have the demon reveal his name, or they could not cast the demon out.
When the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled: This is why the multitudes marveled when Jesus cast out a demon that caused muteness. According to the Jewish thinking of that day, the demon was impossible to cast out because he made the man unable to speak, and unable to reveal the name of the demon.
Sometimes things are just too horrible to face..... too horrible to call out.... or in the case of some.... to difficult to understand. How does someone confess a sin that they can't accept themselves. The first step in the popular AA twelve step program is admitting you have a problem..... that's what this is about.... Jesus got people to look into themselves and shake out those demons. He didn't have to point out each demon by name..... addiction, immorality, deceitfulness, and more..... those ignorant humans could see the demons for themselves... and once they were seen... announced.... admitted.... then the demons had no hold.
Jesus wasn't there to make nice with the Pharisees. Jesus wasn't there to be a nice [or warring] human who would conform. Jesus was only using that human body so that He could go to the Cross, be laid in a tomb and walk out. He wasn't worried about dirty hands or the rules of exorcism. Jesus was there to do away with the death sentence Adam and Eve put on the humans. While He was here He taught disciples and apostles how to help humans. Jesus wasn't here to teach or preach.... He was here on a different mission... but He had compassion for humans.... He loved them... He was there when they were designed and created.... so He taught the disciples to help the humans.
Prayer.... talking to God... helps humans
Acceptance.... knowing God is in control and we humans are pretty useless in a lot of instances
Persistence..... staying in the Word and learning more about God helps humans
Jesus didn't wash His hands..... and the Pharisees pointed that out.....
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