The Lords prayer:It came to pass that, as Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. And He said unto them, when ye pray, say Our father which are in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
The habit of Jesus to resorting to prayer as often as possible, but especially at times of great stress and menacing trouble, was well known to the disciples; but one of them at least had occasion to be convinced of the power and fervency of His prayer. When Jesus, therefore, upon that occasion, had ceased praying, this disciple, one of the later ones, that had not heard of the "Sermon on the Mount,"
stated a request to the Master that He teach them to pray, Just as John the Baptist had given his disciples such lessons. The questioner had probably been one of John's disciples, but had now finally been persuaded to follow Jesus. The Lord gladly yields to the wish and repeats, in a some what briefer form, what He had taught before (Matt..6, 9-13). As Father we address God: He is the Father of all created beings: they are his by virtue of His creation and His providence; but Father of the believers in a special sense, through the redemption and merits of Jesus Christ, (Gal 3, 26; 4, 6; 1 John 3, 1,2). His name , His word, everything that in any way designates and describes His essence, shall be hallowed, not by being made holy, but by being kept untarnished, unblemished, before the world. The believers pray earnestly for power day by day, so to comport themselves, that the name of God may be praised and honored throughout the world and not in any way dishonored or blasphemed .(Rom. 2,24. His kingdom should come to us, by the fact of his keeping us in His word and faith at all times; to all other people on earth , through the glorious preaching of the news of salvation in all the world. His will should be done. With the same willingness and eagerness as the angels in heaven delight in doing God's will, so glad should we be found to carry out all his precepts.
We pray that he would not lead us into temptation, not permit our enemies to lay traps for our unwary feet, to guard and keep us, that the devil, the world and our own flesh may not deceive us, nor seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame. The disciples of Christ of all times, who ought to be instant and expert, are still very sluggish, weak, and forgetful in spiritual things.
They must always learn over again what they had once learned, they must be taught day by day what and how they should be pray.
The importunity of prayer: And He said unto them, which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say unto him, friend lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him; and he from within shall answer and say, the door is now shut, and my children are now in bed with me and I cannot rise and give thee. Yet, because of his importunity he will rise and give to his friend as many as needed.
Note the vividness, but also the chasteness of the narrative: the friend, presuming upon the rights of friendship ; the midnight call the urgent pleading for three loaves of bread to set a meal before an unexpected guest; the displeasure of the other at the disturbance and his unwillingness to disturb the children that shared the same room with him; his pleading and inconvenience and grumbling over the matter, protesting that he cannot fulfill his request. All this is true to life. But just as true to average experience is the final yielding of the housefather, not so much on account of the demands of friendship as for the purpose of quieting the importunate disturber. The picture is strongly drawn, and purposely so, on account of the lesson the Lord wishes to convey. The importunity of the Christian prayer must verge on impudence; it must be characterized by an unwearied perseverance, by an endurance which refuses to be discouraged by a shameless disregard of God's apparent indifference. There is a climax in Christ admonition (keep knocking). The asking must be followed by an earnest seeking. And this eager searching by persistent knocking at the door. of God's heart. The result must finally be that the pleader will see his petition fulfilled. He whose knocking reverberates through the house again and again will find the doors open unto him. This is the holy importunity of prayer which Jesus recommends to us, enjoins upon us; for it is a praying, urging, a storming coming out of faith, and therefore cannot fail of its objective. "Even if a man that loves his night's rest more than his friend can be moved to yield, since he cannot sleep on account importunate pleading: how much more the best friend in heaven, who is all love toward his friends on earth.
V 13. If a Son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he ask for a egg, will he offer a scorpion? If thee being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!
Jesus draws a final lesson from the love which parents bear to their children. Whom of you, being a father,- surely he will not give him a stone! Or also a fish, surely he will not give him instead of a fish, a serpent! ! Or also a egg,--- surely he will not give him a scorpion. ( the latter being a lobster like animal lurking in stone walls.). As Jesus describes him as inhuman. No normal sane father would be capable of such cruelty. And now Jesus makes the conclusion from smaller to greater. If human parents, whose disposition of heart is by nature evil, will show so much affection toward their children, surely the Father from heaven, in His merciful goodness and grace, will give the Holy Ghost, the highest and most wonderful gift from above, the gift which includes all other spiritual gifts, to them that ask him! But, He insists upon being asked lest the gifts lose their value in the eyes of men, and lest the Christians become careless about working out their own salvation with fear and trembling. He does not force his gifts upon unwilling and indifferent hearts.
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