In this sermon, the speaker discusses the topic of prayer and admits to feeling uncertain and inadequate in understanding it. The sermon focuses on the Lord's Prayer as a foundational guide for all prayer. The speaker also shares two parables given by Jesus to emphasize the importance of persistence in prayer. The overall message encourages believers to approach prayer with the understanding that they are coming to a loving and powerful Father who desires to hear and answer their prayers.

Luke chapter 11, Luke chapter 11 if you would. We're looking at the Lord Jesus, of course, in this wonderful gospel of Luke. And in the gospel of Luke, he's presented as the Son of all mankind. We've divided the book into several parts, but basically from chapter 4 all the way to chapter 19, we are looking at the ministry of our Lord Jesus as Luke presents it. Luke divides it up into two parts. He presents our Lord Jesus as the friend of all mankind. And in that section, Jesus is very active. He's a doer. In fact, that's the section where we have 20 different miracles that he does. He's just active. He's just working. And he touches the down and outer, all of humanity, but especially those who were oppressed. And then from chapter 9, 51 through chapter 19, 27, Luke presents him as the teacher of all mankind. And we are several lessons deep into that particular section. You would expect in this section that Luke would divide his material up in topics. And so he does. So far we have looked at 3 and began to look at the 4. When he first began, he taught how we are to respond to those who reject the message. And then he changed topics and he talked about discipleship. And then he changed topics again and he talked about mission. And last week we began to introduce this wonderful topic in chapter 11, the topic of prayer. I tried to introduce that to you last time. I suppose I should begin with a confession. Because last week we looked at prayer. This week we'll look at prayer. And probably for another couple of weeks we'll be on the same topic. Having said that, I don't know a topic in the whole realm of the Christian experience where I am more in the woods than on this whole thing about prayer. I just scratch my head sometimes and wonder if I know anything about prayer. So if you'll bear with me on this, I think every now and then there's a stray ray and God gives a little bit of light. But then there's so many questions I have. And so I hope none of that will get in the way of some of these precious principles. I'm not suggesting I don't pray. I do pray. I'm just saying I don't know how to pray. And every time I try, for example, praying for our country. Oh my, what a time I'm having. I just don't know how to do it. I don't know how to pray for our leaders. You know, I go through the scriptures. I want to obey God on that. And I just don't know how to do it. So as we touch on some of these precious things about prayer, if you sense that in the background I'm a little hesitant, it's because I'm also feeling my way on some of these truths. So if you'll be patient with me. Okay, let's begin again to read the first 13 verses of this wonderful chapter. It happened while Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples. And he said to them, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins. For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. And then he said to them, suppose one of you has a friend. And goes to him at midnight and says to him, Friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine has come to me from a journey. And I have nothing to set before him. And from inside he answers and says, Do not bother me. The door has already been shut. And my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything. I tell you, even though he'll not get up and give him anything, because he's his friend, yet because of his persistence, he'll get up and give him as much as he needs. And so I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. He who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish. He'll not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he's asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? Luke chapter 11, last time I suggested that these 13 verses could be divided into these two parts. The first part is the first four verses, the Lord's Prayer. And last time, in a very general way, we looked at that. And then the rest of that section, the Lord gives two parables. In verses 5 to 13, or rather 5 to 10, he gives the parable that we just read of the selfish friend. And then in verses 11 to 13, he gives another parable of the evil father. Last week, we spent some time discussing the Lord's Prayer. And the question we tried to answer, tried to get away from all of the surface ideas, and I suggested that this topic of prayer, beginning with the Lord's Prayer, lays out for us, for our hearts, the very essence of all prayer. Let me just review that, and then we'll pick up our new material. What is the bottom line, so to speak, the essence, the heart, the spirit of all true prayer? And last week, I suggested that it was relationship. Relationship with God. Any prayer that is not rooted, grounded in relationship, is really just a spouting off of words. The Lord's Prayer wonderfully illustrates this, because all through the prayer, that's all you have, is relationship. It starts off with God the Father, and the relationship of a father and a child. And then it moves from a holy God to a sinful person. There's a relationship there. And then there's the king and his subject. Then there's the absolute monarch, the Lord, and the bond slave. Then there's the source of all, and the beggar. Give us this day our daily bread. Then there's the judge and the criminal. And then there's the shepherd, and the source of light, and the blind man. And then there's the redeemer, and the one who is captive. There's this relationship. That's all the prayer is about. As you go through the wonderful prayer, the vision of God increases. God gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger. And as you go through the prayer, man gets smaller and smaller. Until you end with, thine is the kingdom, and thine is the power, thine is the glory. And there's no counterpart for man. He just disappeared by this time. And so, whatever... That's in the Matthew account. Matthew... Absolutely. No, it's in Matthew 6. Yeah, that's the end of it. There's one more point of review I want to make. It's true that Luke leaves that out. And so you wouldn't find it in this particular chapter. When there is relationship with God. See, that's a model prayer that the Lord gave. That Lord's prayer. He's teaching us how to pray. And all prayer has that relationship. God creates in the new creation. In the one that has relationship. I don't know what to call it except size. He creates thirst. He creates desire. And whether you're coming to prayer for some physical need. Or for somebody else. Or you're interceding for loved ones or whatever. These desires must be in every prayer. And He lists four desires in the Lord's prayer. Let me once again pick up those breathings. The first, we've just summarized in this. I'm related to you Lord. I long to do your will. Whatever else, when you come in any prayer. There's got to be that bubbling of the new creation within. I want to do your will. Thy will be done in my life. Thy will be done on earth. The same way it's being done in heaven. The same way the cherubim and the seraphim. And the archangel and the guardian angels. And all of the stations of angels. The same way the spirits of just men made perfect. Those who are in heaven. How do they do the will of God? And so in this prayer is. Lord thy kingdom come. I want you to rule. I want your will to be done. By the way. If you're serious about praying thy kingdom come. In parenthesis and under your breath. You better pray my kingdom go. Because you can't pray thy kingdom come. Unless your kingdom is willing to be gone. And that's how he answers that prayer. But that's the first side. I want to do God's will. The second side that goes through this Lord's prayer is. I want to be clean. I want to be right. I want to be holy. Hallowed be thy name. Forgive my sins. My debts. My trespasses. Deliver me from evil. Lead me. Not into temptation. And so this whole prayer is. I want to be clean. And then the third side. I want God to get glory. Thine is the kingdom. The power. The glory. Do you realize. And I'm sure you do. When you have come. Just think back. When you've come to the Lord in prayer. You see how basic these things are. No matter what you're praying for. I really want God's will. I want to be holy. I want God to get glory. See he puts those big things in this prayer. And then the last side is. Lord. I'm depending upon you. For everything. That expression daily bread. Just includes all of the necessity of life. And so the one who is in relationship with God. Wants God's will. Wants to be holy. Wants God's glory. And is depending upon the Lord for everything. That is the sample. He said when you pray. Pray like that. Come in a relationship. Where God gets bigger. Man gets smaller. And you have these breathings. Out of the new creation. And out of the inner man. Out of your beautiful spirit. You say Lord I just want your will. I just want to be clean. I want you to have glory. And I'm depending on you for everything. That touches every prayer. From table grace. To now I lay me to everything in between. Okay. That brings us this morning. To our continuing discussion. After God lays out this prayer. Of the secret of all prayer. And the essence. The breathings of prayer. He gives us two parables. To illustrate his point. In chapter 11. Five to ten. I identified. That parable. As the parable of the selfish friend. And the one after. As the parable. Of the evil father. Now before we look at the details. Of these parables. Let me make a couple of observations. About both of them. As a whole. And how they relate to the Lord's prayer. And especially the principles. Of the Lord's prayer. My first observation. Is sort of a principle of Bible study. And that is. Usually when we think of a parable. We think about. An earthly story. With a heavenly meaning. We think about a comparison. We say this. Is like this. And so we take. And we make comparisons. But parables. Are not always comparisons. And a lot of. You can get tripped up. If you make all parables. Comparison. Some parables. Like the one before us. The two before us. Are not comparisons. They are contrasts. In other words. He is not saying. This is like this. He is saying. The reality. Is the opposite of this. It is not like this at all. It is exactly the opposite. Of that. It is important to understand. The heart of God. As you go through these. And to realize. He is not. Like the friend. In this parable. You know you might read it and say. Well here is a parable of a friend. God is a friend. And so this is like God. No no no. It is the opposite of that. I am going to develop that. As we go through the parable. But let me just illustrate it first. Look in verse 7. When this man came in the parable. This man came to the door of his friend. At midnight. His friend said. Do not bother me. The door is shut. I promise you friends. You will never. Go to the Lord. At any time. Day or night. When God says. Do not bother me. The door is already shut. It is the opposite of that. God is not like that friend. In verse 8. The friend in this parable. Finally responds. Because of high pressure. Because of persistence. Verse 8. He will get up. And give him as much as he desires. When this friend finally responded. It was to get the guy off his back. This guy was bothering him. It was midnight. And he would not go away. And he was loud. And he kept knocking. And he would not take no for an answer. He said. Do not bother me. And he kept bothering him. God is not a sleepy old grouch. Your father and my father. Is not going to be. More receptive. If we nag. That is not the point of this parable. The opposite is true. And so when you read this parable. Keep taking the opposite. If you are going to find the heart of God. It is not comparing. It is contrasting. We are going to come back to that. Because there is some misunderstanding about that. But try to see. That the only thing like God in this parable. Is the word friend. He is a friend. But he is certainly not like this particular friend. In the parable. Now the same thing is true. The second parable. For years I missed this. I missed the point of this. 11 to 13. Glance if you would. At verse 11. The son asks the father. For a fish. And the question is. The father will not give him a snake. Will he? And then in verse 12. The son asks for an egg. Father can I have an egg? And the parable says. The father will not give him a scorpion. Will he? If he asks for an egg. Matthew tells the same parable. And adds this. The son comes and asks for bread. And Jesus said. Father will not give him a stone. Will he? If I ask for fish. Or an egg. Or bread. To a human father. Will he give me. A serpent. A scorpion. Or a stone. And the answer is no. Now here is where I missed it. Here is what confused me. I read this and I said. Why wouldn't the father give. A snake. A scorpion. And a stone. If his son asked him. For a fish. An egg. And bread. And my answer was. He is a good father. He is a good father. That is what I thought. Good fathers won't do that. If my son asks me for something. I am a good father. I am going to give him that. If I can. But notice verse 13. Jesus didn't say. He is a good father. Jesus said. If you then. Being evil. Know how to give good gifts. To your children. It is not the parable of a good father. If you. Being evil. Know how to give. Good gifts. To your children. It is a parable of an evil father. Now. When we say evil father. He is a good father. But. We are all evil. In the sense. That. We don't know really. What is best for our children. We think we do. We are not like God. In contrast with God. Notice verse 13 please. Sort of a key here. Jesus said. How much more. Will your heavenly father give. Let's answer that question. Here you have a friend. God is a friend too. Unlike this friend. He is the opposite of this friend. God is a father too. He is the opposite of this father. How much more. Will God give. Than the best friend on earth. How much more. Will God give. Than the best father on earth. Ten times more. Twenty times more. Thousand times more. How much more. Exactly right. We could sit here all day. Adding zeros. And you would have to say more than that. More than that. Infinitely more. Than the greatest friend on earth. Is God in heaven. Wow. Infinitely better. Than the greatest father on earth. Is our father in heaven. No matter what illustration you give. Because of the infinite nature of the Lord. It is a contrast rather than a comparison. And so that is what makes this parable so wonderful. So you contrast. All friends. With the Lord. And all fathers with the Lord. Now before we look at this parable in some detail. Let me make one other general observation about both of them together. It is not surprising to me. That God told the Lord's prayer. The heart of all real prayer. And real breathings toward God. And then used these two parables. In order to enforce it and to drive it home. Why? And the answer is because these are parables. About a friend. And about a father. Now just take that fact. He tells about the Lord's prayer. You see all prayer has to do with relationship. And 95% I think of our prayer questions. Are really answered in the heart. If when we came to prayer. We actually believed by God's spirit. I am coming to my friend. And to my father. It is not surprising he followed up the Lord's prayer relationship. With the story of the friend and the father. When we bow our heads to pray. When we fold our hands to pray. How our prayer life will be transformed. Right at the start. If we just have in our mind. I am coming to a friend infinitely better than all friends on earth. Infinitely greater than all fathers. Now let me reread the first parable. And then make some comments on it. Verse 5. He said suppose one of you has a friend. Goes to him at midnight. And says to him. Friend lend me three loaves. A friend of mine has come to me from a journey. I have nothing to set before him. And from inside he answers and says. Do not bother me. The door has already been shut. My children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything. I tell you even though he will not get up and give anything. Because he is his friend. Yet because of his persistence. He will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. And to him who knocks. It shall be opened. Now before I give you what I think the message of that parable is. Let me tell you what I am quite sure. The message of the parable isn't. I don't think this parable. Or the one coming up in future weeks. We will look at it together. The parable of the unjust judge. I think it is in 17. We will come to that. I don't think the message of the parable. Is persevere in prayer. I don't think that is his point. Over and over again you will hear people say that. This friend kept coming. Or the woman kept coming to the judge. Keep on keeping on. Opportunity. Keep begging the Lord. And finally the Lord is going to answer and come through. When I was out in the Midwest. They had this thing. They talked about pray through. And there was very many all night prayer meetings. Just for interest. Anybody ever been to an all night prayer meeting? You haven't? I have been to quite a few all night prayer meetings. Some of them should have ended at 630. It just shouldn't have gone on. I have also been at some that just seemed like minutes. As we laid ourselves before the Lord. But this whole idea. I think you can pray yourself out of faith. I know I have been praying to the Lord. And then I keep repeating it. And pretty soon I am doubting it again. Then I give it to the Lord. And I believe in God. And I think I prayed myself in and out of faith. Over and over again. In that process. Here is the question. Should we keep asking God over and over and over again for the same thing? And sometimes for years. Let me answer that generally. And then I will try to nail it down for you. First of all we know from Matthew 6 verse 7. That it is not repetition that is forbidden. But what? Vain repetition. Exactly. Vain repetition is forbidden. Repetition is not forbidden. It is the vanity. It is the empty word. If we can repeat things. And it is not vain. It is not forbidden. It is always right to pour your heart out to the Lord. At all times. Even when my wife and I don't agree on some principles of prayer. I pray in a very general way. She prays very specifically. I am chicken hearted when it comes to prayer. And I will just say, you know. Thy will be done. And glorify thy name. And all that kind of thing. And I am afraid to pray for Aunt Tilly's bunion. Because I don't know God's will about Aunt Tilly's bunion. But she will do it. So you can ask her for that. She will pray for traveling mercies and whatever else you need. She just said. One time I stopped her on that at the door. She prayed before I went to a conference. And I stopped her right in the middle. And I said, you know I don't think that prayer is scriptural. And she said, you be scriptural. I am being practical. And she went right back to praying again. The point I'm trying to make is this. It's not wrong to repeat, if it's not vain word. And it's always right to pour out your heart to your friend and your father. Even if somebody comes along like me and says, don't do that. You pour out your heart before God. At all times, pour out your heart. Psalm 62, 8. Trust the Lord, O ye people. And pour out your heart before him. Sometimes words go along with the heart. And that's the idea. When your words can go with your heart. Now I know the Bible teaches there are sometimes we shouldn't pray. You ought to study when you're studying prayer. Sometimes you shouldn't pray, do. Remember, for example, in Exodus 14 and verse 15. They're crossing the Red Sea. Moses decides this is a good time to pray. And he began to pray as he stood in front of the Red Sea. And here's what God said. Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. Sometimes you're not supposed to pray. You're just supposed to go forward. When they were in the seven-year war for the land of Canaan. Joshua. Remember after Jericho. And then they thought that they trusted God for Jericho because that was big. But I can handle Ai because that's little. And they tried to handle Ai and they lost. And then Joshua fell on his face and started to pray. And in Joshua 7, verse 10 and 11. God said, Rise up. Why are you falling on your face? Israel is sinned. Don't pray. It's not time to pray. Remember when Samuel was so burdened for Saul. And oh my, he just constantly praying and crying for Saul. And then in 1 Samuel 6. If there's 30 righteous. If there's 20. He got all the way down to 10. Why didn't he say, Lord, if there's seven righteous. If there's six righteous. If there's five. Three. Why didn't he go right down to one? Lord, if there's one righteous. Will you spare the city? I don't know the answer. But I know this. He stopped at 10. And I think as you go on in the Lord. You're going to know when to pray. And you're going to know when to stop praying. In 1 John chapter 5. There's a very interesting verse. Verse 16. I won't develop it now. But it says there's a sin leading to death. Don't pray for it. Don't pray for it. If you see somebody sending that sin. Don't pray. And I'm just calling attention to. There's a time to pray. There's a time to repeat. Not vainly. And there's a time to stop praying as well. And we're to know when to do that. I told you that God was 100% opposite of this selfish friend. Go through the parable. And just keep taking the opposite. And you really get a picture of the Lord. For example. His door is always open. He's always awake. He's never bothered. Instead of being reluctant. He's infinitely willing. He invites us to come. He's not only not bothered. He invites us to come to His door. In this parable. The man kept asking and asking. And knocking and knocking. The point is the opposite of that. The parable not only does not teach. Keep on coming over and over and over again. But it teaches not to do that. Just trust the Lord. You don't have to do that. You give it to the Lord. You don't have to keep saying it over and over. I don't know if you do this. But one of the ways I get Scripture in my heart. I have favorite verses. On every topic. If I think about the virgin birth. Or the deity of Christ. Or resurrection. Or security. Every topic is my favorite verse. But then it keeps changing. My verses keep changing. As I study the topic more. And then I have my Old Testament favorite verse on this topic. My New Testament favorite verse. Then I have my Old Testament and the Gospel favorite verse. And then I have hymns to get it into my heart. My favorite hymn on this truth. One of my favorite verses on prayer. Is from the Old Testament. From Isaiah 62. 6 and 7. Listen to this wonderful verse. It says, You who remind the Lord. Give him no rest. And take no rest. Until he answers. Isn't that a wonderful picture? We're remembrances. We're to remind the Lord. It's not wrong to come before God. I know you didn't forget. But I'm reminding you. We're reminders of the Lord. Now when you do that. Or when I do that. If you remind the Lord of a promise. You don't have to keep saying. For example. Let's say I'm under the cloud of guilt. Because I've sinned. And I come before the Lord. And I say, Lord I'm a reminder now. And I'm reminding you. You said. If we confess our sin. He's faithful and just. To forgive us our sin. To cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'm coming to you now. If I leave that prayer. Under a cloud. See I came to the Lord. With a cloud of guilt. If I leave with a cloud. I'm not leaving with a cloud of guilt. I'm leaving with a brand new cloud. Called the cloud of unbelief. We're to come to the Lord. Bring the promise. Remind him. And then leave it with the Lord. We don't have to keep saying it. Over and over and over again. I told you when I began this. That in some of this. I'm in the woods. My mother. She was. She was a godly woman. But she's part of my confusion. Because she was constantly questioning. So many things. And one time I said. Well let's pray about it mom. And she said. What good will it do to pray? He's already made up his mind. And God's going to do what God's going to do. And you're not going to change it by prayer. Does prayer change the will of God? The answer is no. Prayer does not change the will of God. It fulfills the will of God. God has ordained the end. He's also ordained the means to the end. And the means is that someone's going to pray. He's ordained the means and the end. The purpose of prayer has to do with relationship. Now if this parable does not teach. Keep on coming. Keep on asking. Keep on begging. What does it teach? I think the answer is. If you look at verse 9. Ask. And it's in the present tense. Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. I think it teaches confidence. Assurance. It says this person did not get answered. Because it was his friend. But because he kept coming. I think the principle of this parable. Is boldness. It takes boldness to. Wake a friend at midnight. Pounding on his door. Even the closest friends on earth. Can be irritated. And we can push the friendship too far. And then they'll just say. Alright that's it. The point in this parable. According to Luke. The friend did not give aid. Because of friendship. But because of boldness. And I think what he's saying is this. Do I have the nerve. To come to the Lord. At any time. Day or night. And knock at his door. Do I have the assurance. The boldness. The confidence to do that. And I think the point is yes. Because he's your friend. And because he's your father. You have that boldness. Glance at verse 11 please. Suppose one of you fathers. Is asked by his son. For a fish. He'll not give him a snake. Instead of a fish. Will he? Or if he's asked for an egg. He'll not give him a scorpion. If you being evil. Know how to give good gifts. To your children. How much more. Shall your heavenly father. Give the Holy Spirit. To those who ask him. Once again this is the opposite. How does this parable. Of the evil father. Giving good gifts to his children. Tie into the. The Lord's prayer. And the essence. Of prayer. And the breathing. Of the heart. Let me quote Matthew's. Record of this. And listen carefully to the ending. Because it's different than Luke's. Verse 11 of Matthew 7 says. If you being evil. Know how to give good gifts. To your children. How much more. Your father in heaven. Give. What is good. To those who ask. Now here's what Luke said. Luke doesn't say. He'll give what's good. Luke says in verse 13. How much more. Will your heavenly father. Give the Holy Spirit. To those who ask him. Why does Luke say. That if you come to the Lord. Asking for fish. Asking for bread. Or asking for what was it. An egg. He'll give you the Holy Spirit. Matthew says he'll give good things. But Luke says he'll give you the Holy Spirit. I think the principle is this. When we really lay hold of prayer. And our heart is saying. I want your will. I want to be holy. I want to be clean. I want you to have glory. God does not answer. He answers by giving us. Himself. Himself. He is better. Than all answers to prayer. Because he's our dearest friend. And he's our heavenly father. He gives himself. When we pray. In other words. As my mother said. What's the purpose of praying? I'll tell you why to pray. To know God. To cooperate with him. To be included in his redemptive purposes. It's to take you forward in the Lord. Now what happens. When it looks like. I've come to the Lord you know. And I've brought my burden. And it looks like he gave me a snake. It looks like he gave me a serpent. It looks like he didn't answer my prayer at all. See that's the point. When we come to the Lord. He gives himself. And if it looks like I've got a snake. Be patient. He's given himself. He gives life. The life of God. And by and by we'll see. That what God allows. Is very consistent. With his love. And with his purposes. I've got six children. I've got eight grandchildren. I know God calls me an evil father. But I try. I want to be a good father. And if they ask me. I want to give the right thing. But the reality is. I am not omniscient. I don't know what's past. I might end up giving them a serpent. I don't want to. I am not omnipresent. I'd love. My son's over there in Quincy now. I'd love to be sitting right next to him. I'd love to be there. I'd love to be with my children. I can't. I'm not omnipresent. I'm not omnipotent. I don't have the funds. To give them what I think they might need. And I don't have the wisdom to give it. Your friend. And your father. My friend and my father. Omnipresent. Omniscient. And sometime it looks like. And we're going to get into that. With the parable of the unjust judge. But it looks like. God just dumped a rock on me. God has given me a serpent. Trust him. He's given you. The Holy Spirit. He's given you himself. And when it's all over. You'll see that that will take you forward. With the Lord. So those two parables. The selfish friend. The evil father. God is infinitely better than all friends. And than all fathers. I want to just introduce one more thing to you. I told you the rest of this chapter is still on prayer. But now he's going to say. If I lay hold of the essence. It's relationship with God. It's breathing out those great desires. He's my friend. He's my father. How does that relate to Satan? How does that relate to God? How does that relate to the world? And how does that relate to me personally? That's the rest of this chapter. We don't have time to look at all of it. But let me just get this. And you can meditate on this. Verse 14. Or rather let's look at verse 20. If I cast out demons by the finger of God. Then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his own house. His possessions are undisturbed. When someone stronger than he attacks him. And overpowers him. He takes away from him all his armor. On which he's relied. And distributes his plunder. We'll develop this next time. But according to that passage. What's the figure of speech used to describe Satan? And the answer is. Verse 21. A strong man fully armed. Think about Satan that way. A strong man fully armed. What title is used to describe the Lord Jesus? Verse 22. Someone stronger than the strong man fully armed. Isn't that a glorious picture of Christ? Here's the strong man fully armed. Scares me to death. Here's one stronger than the strong man fully armed. How does the one stronger than the strong. Overpower the strong man fully armed? The answer is in verse 20. By the finger of God. Isn't that a glorious picture? By the finger of God. Evidently that's a reference back to Exodus 8 and 19. Remember Moses was doing these miracles. And he threw his staff down. And the magicians imitated that. And turned theirs into a serpent. And then he turned the water to blood. And the magicians imitated that. And then he multiplied frogs. And then by God's power he made lions come. And then the magicians cried out to Pharaoh. This is the finger of God. This is the finger of God. And so it's a graphic picture of your Savior and mine. The strong man fully armed. The whole point. And we'll look at this next time. How does this tie into prayer? We're giving principle. We're saying prayer is relationship with God. Yes. When you're talking about the Lord. Prayer is relationship with God. But it's also warfare. Prayer is warfare. And that's what he develops now in this next section. It is going against Satan. It's going against the strong man fully armed. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. But against principalities and powers. The rulers of darkness. Spiritual darkness in high places. It's an awful war. Prayer is warfare. What's my hope in warfare? And the answer is one stronger than the strong. By the finger of God. It's going to overpower that strong man. I love to trace these things through the Bible. Go to Psalm 8. Look at the heaven. You ever just look at the heaven? The work of his fingers. You know who your God is? My God is my friend and father. His finger. The strongest man that the earth has ever and will ever know. Is the Antichrist. Someday the incarnation of Satan himself. Satan is going to come. The most powerful person. Full of signs and wonders. Going to be on the earth. And you know how Jesus deals with him? 2 Thessalonians 2. It says. This one. This Antichrist. He said he will destroy with the breath of his mouth. The breath of his mouth. And the appearance of his coming. He's going to show up. That's how strong he is. We have nothing to fear. So we're going to look at this next time. And look at the house swept and all of that. We'll look at that next time. But the point I'm trying to make is this. That prayer. It's relationship. But when it comes to Satan. It's warfare. And our only hope. You know you look at some of your loved ones. You've been praying for children and grandchildren. And neighbors and loved ones. You say. My Satan has just got hold of them. They're involved in this. That and the other thing. How in the world am I ever going to see some deliverance here? And the answer is. You lay hold of your friend and father. One stronger than the strong has come. And it only takes his little finger. Just the breath of God. Now see Luke goes beyond Matthew. Matthew says by prayer we can bind the strong man. Spoil is good. Luke takes it one step further. After the strong man comes in. And disarms. The stronger than the strong comes in. And disarms the strong man. And binds him up. Luke says. He distributes the spoils. We have nothing to fear. You know I say. I'm still in the woods on prayer. But I know the big things. I know prayers relationship to God. I know he's my friend and father. I know he's stronger than the strong man fully armed. And I know all it takes is his little finger. We look at our problems and say. Oh boy. This is a big one. And they're involved. Watch God's finger. Watch God's finger. And he'll be able to do it. And then we'll bind the strong man and spoil is good. But we'll talk more about that next time. Comments or questions. Bless the Lord. The strength in finances. Now let's thank him. Our father we do bless your name. Lord we know so little. But we know you. We struggle with these parables. But we know that you're not like this friend. You're the opposite of that. You've invited us to come and to knock at any time. Day or night. You're never bothered by our coming. And so we pray that you would give us that courage. That boldness to come to you at all times. And pour out our hearts before you. Then when we think about the enemy of our souls. And how malicious he is. And how he hates. And how he lies. And how he deceives and destroys. How we praise thee for the Lord Jesus. One stronger than the strong. Has come. And we thank you that it's only by his little finger. That Satan is undone. Help us to trust you. Teach us how to pray. We ask in Jesus name. Thank you for coming.