Jesus is the most profound, well-grounded Human in the history of the planet, and Luke 11 is chock-full of His wisdom. The fifty-four verses in this chapter reveal a universe of Truth; here\u2019s a sampling:<\/p>\n
Insight # 1<\/u>:<\/strong> Developing a deeply personal, intimate prayer life isn\u2019t as tough as you think.<\/p>\n \u2026Lord, teach us to pray<\/em>\u2026Luke 11:1b<\/p>\n The disciples had a ringside seat to the compassion-packed power and wisdom of the Master. Wherever He went, amazing things followed; whenever He was absent, they knew He was off praying. As a result, it wasn\u2019t surprising when they asked, \u201cLord, teach us to pray like You do.\u201d<\/p>\n His answer was simple but powerful; the expected in-depth dissertation never came. Instead He shared a short set of priorities for them to pray about, and with this, the well-known Lord\u2019s Prayer was launched. He told them:<\/p>\n Realize this: Jesus never expected His disciples to rattle off this little prayer, line by line, day after day, clocking in and clocking out. The Lord didn\u2019t present this targeted outline to be used as a magic spell, mantra, or fix-it elixir. Instead, He provided these simple prayer points as springboards by which anybody could launch into prayerful intimacy with God, just by talking to Him about these things. And in this way, He opened the door for His disciples to get as personal as they possibly could with their Father.<\/p>\n The Lord invites you, too, to use the \u201cbullet points\u201d from the Lord\u2019s Prayer to enter into deeply personal, very specific communications with Him. His door is always open; His welcome mat will never be pulled out from under you. And as you enter in, know that you\u2019re praying just the way He prescribed.<\/p>\n Insight #2: <\/strong>Persistence pays off.<\/p>\n \u2026because of his persistence he will\u2026give him as much as he needs<\/em>. Luke 11:8b<\/p>\n I\u2019ll bet you\u2019ve heard someone say, \u201cI don\u2019t want to bother God about that.\u201d Maybe you\u2019ve said it yourself, hoping the Lord would appreciate your humility. So you back away from praying about those needs you\u2019ve hoped forever that God would take care of, and you tell yourself that you can get by without. And all the while you feel more and more distant from the One you long to know.<\/p>\n But then Jesus goes and tells a parable that flips your \u201cdon\u2019t-bother-God\u201d humility on its head!<\/p>\n You see, Jesus told a tale about a persistent man who pounded relentlessly on his neighbor\u2019s door at midnight. A visitor had unexpectedly arrived; the man was out of bread and needed to feed his guest. The neighbor had already gone to bed; climbing out from under his cozy blankets was the last thing he wanted to do\u2014friend or no friend. Surely Jesus was about to rebuke such loud, demanding racket; how very impudent of this man to expect his friend to get out of bed merely to help him out of a self-inflicted jam! You can feel it\u2014you just know<\/em> what Jesus\u2019 punchline will be: \u201cAnd YOU? Don\u2019t you DARE bother God about your petty little needs! Don\u2019t you know He\u2019s busy running the universe?\u201d<\/p>\n But wait! Jesus didn\u2019t condemn<\/em> this man\u2019s boldness; He commended<\/em> it! \u201cI tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence<\/strong> he will get up and give him as much as he needs<\/em>\u201d (Luke 11:8).<\/p>\n Could it be true? Is Jesus actually saying to YOU, \u201cDon\u2019t you dare NOT<\/strong> bother God about your needs! And while you\u2019re at it, stick with it until you get your answer!<\/em>\u201d? Believe it; your bold persistence doesn\u2019t bother <\/em>Him\u2014it blesses<\/em> Him.<\/p>\n Insight # 3: <\/strong>The lit lamp and the clear eye.<\/p>\n The eye is the lamp of the body\u2026watch out, then, that the light in you is not darkness<\/em>. Luke 11:34a, 35<\/p>\n Paul once wrote, \u201c\u2026I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes\u2026<\/em>\u201d (Romans 1:16).<\/p>\n Jesus said it this way, \u201cNo one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar or under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light<\/em>\u201d (Luke 11:33). Why would anyone put a brilliantly glowing lamp in a cellar or under a basket? Could it be that they feel ashamed of the light?<\/p>\n Paul\u2019s attitude toward the gospel was the opposite<\/em> of shame; he embraced it as the power of God for salvation to everyone who believed<\/em>. Jesus likewise highlighted what a normal, healthy attitude toward the Light looked like: Not hiding it; just letting it do its thing\u2014SHINE.<\/p>\n Interestingly, right after Jesus taught about displaying\u2014not hiding\u2014the Light in your life, He said, \u201cThe eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness<\/em>\u201d (Luke 11:34).<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know how many times I\u2019ve read this section in Luke, but this time, I saw it differently. Could it be that Jesus linked our approach toward letting His light shine in our lives with the health of our vision? Could our perspective<\/em> about the Light of Jesus\u2014whether we hide it or let it shine\u2014affect the clarity of our perception<\/em>?<\/p>\n When you allow the Light to shine brightly in your life, do you safeguard your vision? By the same token, is your vision mucked up when you\u2019re ashamed of the very Truth that once set you free?<\/p>\n If you are currently experiencing overwhelming darkness, confusion, or oppression, make tracks back to the Light of the world, soak up His rays, and allow His brightness to radiate boldly once again through you. His Light is unquenchable; the only one who can block it in your life is you.<\/p>\n Go ahead\u2014pull that lamp back out from under the bed or basket where you\u2019ve been hiding it. Bring it on up from the cellar and let its beautiful radiance once again be a beacon of Life to the world around you.<\/p>\n Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, <\/em>\u201cI am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.\u201d<\/em> John 8:12<\/p>\n The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.<\/em> John 1:5<\/p>\n Insight # 4:<\/strong> Cleanness\u2014major on inner; minor on outer.<\/p>\n When the Pharisee saw it <\/em>[that Jesus had sat down for lunch without washing up], he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal<\/em>. Luke 11:38<\/p>\n Some of us seem to place top priority on how we appear to others, whether physically, socially, intellectually, or spiritually. We want to \u201cget it right\u201d on the outside no matter what might be happening on the inside. As long as we look good to others, that\u2019s all that matters. Or is it?<\/p>\n Jesus, frustratingly so to the religious folks of His day, wasn\u2019t too concerned at all about the externals. Oh, He nitpicked, but not about how people looked. He pointed His laser light on the inner workings of the heart\u2014pride, ambition, kindness, and humility before God and man\u2014<\/span>motivations of the heart.<\/p>\n He said to them, \u201c<\/em>Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness\u201d<\/em> (Luke 11:39).<\/p>\n Imagine offering your friend a steaming cup of coffee or tea in an exquisite, sparkling cup. As they gratefully receive it and start to sip the contents, they notice crusty leftovers growing mold inside just below the lip of the cup. Then they notice something wiggling around, making figure eights in the brew. A critter surfaces and winks at them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you trying to do to me???? Are you crazy???\u201d they yell as they toss your beautiful cup aside.<\/p>\n But you blink with astonishment and say, \u201cBut that cup is gorgeous! It looks so clean and sparkling in your hand!\u201d<\/p>\n This is, in reality, what we are doing when we place all our focus on how we appear to others\u2014whether physically, socially, intellectually, or spiritually. We may be a beautiful, stylish, with-it looking vessel, but beneath the surface\u2014where it really counts\u2014we\u2019ve let leftovers accumulate, growing mold and attracting critters. If this describes your situation right now, don\u2019t be surprised if someone says, \u201cNo thank you\u201d to your offered cup of tea.<\/p>\n Jesus declared, \u201cYou foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?<\/em> But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you\u201d<\/em> (Luke 11:40, 41).<\/p>\n When you pay more attention to the climate inside of you than you do to how others think you look, your outer appearance will reflect a pure heart sooner or later.<\/p>\n Then when you offer your cup of brew to someone, they will find its contents wonderfully refreshing and mold- and critter-free.<\/p>\n May you walk freely, simply, and boldly with your Friend, the Light of the world.<\/p>\n Dorothy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a9 2017, Dorothy Frick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jesus is the most profound, well-grounded Human in the history of the planet, and Luke 11 is chock-full of His wisdom. The fifty-four verses in this chapter reveal a universe of Truth; here\u2019s a sampling: Insight # 1: Developing a deeply personal, intimate prayer life isn\u2019t as tough as you think. \u2026Lord, teach us to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bk-of-luke","category-prayerperspective"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8048"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8072,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions\/8072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n