Luke 11:1-13 Scripture Study
By Pastor Chris Simmons – Trinity Lutheran Church, Paso Robles CA
A reinforcement/supplement study to our Sunday service meant for “Building up the body of Christ… the manifold Wisdom of God made known” (Ephesians 4+3)
For Sunday July 27, 2025
You’ve heard it said, “Just ask. The worst thing they can do is say no.” … Maybe it was when you were asking for another cookie from your parents or when you were following up on a job interview. God is insistent that you ask of Him all things! Large or small, Jesus tells us to come to God in prayer. Why don’t we? There can be many reasons. Perhaps, we are ashamed that we need help? Maybe we are wondering if we should be wanting what we are asking for in the first place? Jesus promises us good gifts from the Father and as He gives to us the gift of the Holy Spirit, so too will the desire of our hearts change.
Prayers for a blessed study.
Pastor Chris Simmons.
Discuss: Who taught you how to pray? Are there any particular prayer practices or techniques you use? Share with the group and maybe enlighten someone's prayer life!
Luke 11: 1-13
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, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
Parts of this section may seem familiar because we say it every Sunday morning as part of our prayers. In fact, if you’ve been going to a Christian Church for most of your life, you’ve been saying this probably every Sunday since you could understand it! It’s from here (and a longer section in Matthew 6:9-13) that we derive the Lord’s Prayer. Really, we know it for a good reason. When in prayer, we pray back God’s own words to us that He said we should say… sounds like a good idea to me!
In our very own Small Catechism, this prayer is divided into: an introduction, seven petitions, and a conclusion. Each line of this prayer, each petition in itself could be an entire study and sermon…but this time through the text, what I’d like to focus on is the fact that there are petitions within this prayer. A petition is a formal request to an authority with respect to a particular cause. Within this prayer, Jesus teaches us that we are asking God for God’s holiness to be among us, for His kingdom to come, to give to us our daily bread, to forgive us, to guard us from our sinful nature. All of these prayers are requests, asking to be part of God’s vision and plan. That we see His hand present in all of our needs.
Discuss: Do you have any “God stories” about answered prayers? If so, what are they? Share some with those around you.
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 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.
It’s interesting how often this section of text is separated from verses 1-5. This parable and text that follows has to do with prayer, especially in how we are to ask God in prayer. In the parable, Jesus uses a “friend” as an illustration. This is no mere acquaintance. This is a φίλος - philos. We actually know this as a word for “love” in Greek. You would know it by “Philadelphia” which is “the city of brotherly love”. A friend/philos is a friend dearly loved, even prized in a personal way. And, as you see by the parable, they better be! Waking someone up in the middle of the night, even at the risk of waking up the whole family! I have friends (and even had circumstances similar to this happen) who would come to my door in the middle of the night in need, asking for something. Just like the friend on the inside, I would give them an earful as well! But also, like the man on the inside, I too would get up and serve those I love who came to me in need. Jesus says, “yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.” What does that mean? Jesus means you came to ask this “friend” because you already know the nature of their character, by the relationship you already have, and what they have done for you in the past.
Discuss: How do you think this relates to prayer? What does it reveal about “petitions” when we ask things of God in the Lord’s prayer?
Continued Discussion: Do you have someone you would reach out to in need in the middle of the night? Who? Any stories to share? Would you rather refuse to do it and suffer? Why?
Continued, Continued Discussion: What does your character reveal about you? Are you someone that a friend would reach out to in the middle of the night for help? Has that happened to you? Any stories to share?
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.
Jesus continues with saying, “so I say to you: ASK!” Now, this isn’t the “magic spell” that you should pray for so you can get a Ferrari (although, I’m not saying you shouldn’t pray for one… whatever the Lord’s will is, right?). We are told to “ask, seek, and knock” that we are called to pursue God, and bring to Him our petitions. Yet there is wisdom beyond our wisdom, and God’s ways are beyond our ways. Therefore, when those petitions are not answered in the way we want, we trust in Him, because God gives to us only, His good gifts. Yes, God would “get up in the middle of the night” for you… and we know God went to further lengths than even that.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for 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!”
Just because you petitioned God for the Ferrari and did not deliver in the way you expected, does not mean that He doesn’t love you… but that also goes for things far closer and deeper than a sports car. Perhaps you’ve petitioned God when you’ve had a failing business. Perhaps when you or a loved one has been sick or ill. Perhaps when you’ve been emotionally damaged. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Just because God did not deliver on your petitions in the way you expected does not mean that He does not love you… God wants to give to you His goodness, His mercy. He has promised to hear our prayers and petitions, and He seeks to give to you more and more the gift of the Holy Spirit. So that we, in our prayers and petitions, can see Jesus all the more clearly. So that when we seek after God, we can see how Jesus pursued us through the cross. So that when we knock on His door, we see that it is already open, the tomb is empty, and we are welcomed home by our Everlasting Father.
So ASK… God’s answers are not dependent about how good we are, but upon the goodness of what Jesus has done for us.
Discuss: What do you pray to God for the most often?
Prayer
Is there anything you are afraid to ask God for? Why?
What is your prayer life like? What’s one small step you could take to make it different?
We are told to “ask, seek, knock”... how would you differentiate the three in your prayers? As we close today, as the disciples asked “Lord, teach us to pray” we pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever, Amen.