You see sometimes we have a problem don’t we…unanswered prayer.

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.”

Luke 11:2“He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

Jesus teaches us here the pattern for praying.

#1 dependency and #2 simplicity.

Luke 11:5 “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.’

Luke 11:7 – “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.’

Luke 11:8 - I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your persistence he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

Jesus wants us to be persistent in praying

verse 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. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

 That is the promise for praying…that is the promise that persistence pays off.

Glitch in our thinking.

Unconfessed sin

Psalm 66:18: “If I have cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened”.

It might be unexamined motives.

James 4:3 “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Uunexpected delay. 

Luke 11:11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? “Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” “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!”

The presence of God should be our focus in prayer

Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

“Prayer changes us”…

“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heavenJ esus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

Psalm 27:13-14 “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”