Lessons on Service, Sunday

0:00Hey kids, welcome to Junior's for Jesus. Go grab your Bibles. We're gonna be digging in and learning some really exciting stories. Let's get started. One of the things that Jesus did here in Luke 11 was to teach them the value of persistent prayer. Jesus knew just how dependent these disciples would be on their communication with the Father after He left them. And so He modeled for them the importance of persistence and prayer. It's a discipline that we'll discuss together today after we reveal the memory verse for this week. It's Matthew 10, 38, and 39. Jesus said, he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it. And he who loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10, 38, and 39. Sunday, persistent prayer, Luke 11, 1 through 8.

1:07After the feast of dedication at the temple, Jesus and His disciples left Jerusalem and returned to the region of Korea. That was a name beyond the Jordan River where He had been teaching and healing people before going to Jerusalem this time. When He returned to His work after that short absence, what did the people say about Him? John 10, 40 to 42, tells us. And He will weigh beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first. And there He stayed. Then, many came to Him and said, John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this man were true. And many believed Him there. About that time Jesus' disciples came to Him while He was praying out loud. It was probably very early in the morning. As they quietly listened, they wished that they knew how to pray like He was praying that day. When He finished His prayer, one of them asked Him to teach them to pray.

2:08Now, the prayer He taught them is almost always the same as the one that He taught the multitude in His sermon on the Mount more than a year before. In Matthew chapter six, verses nine to 13, perhaps you've already memorized that one. Jesus didn't intend for us to always use the same words, but we do need to pray the same thoughts or ideas in our own words. Compare the model prayer there in Matthew with the one spoken of here in Luke 11, verses one through four. Now, it came to pass as He was praying in a certain place when He ceased that one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught His disciples. So He said to them, When you pray, say, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us

3:11and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Now, Jesus' work in Peria was more than just teaching and healing the people that crowded around Him. He was also, as we've discussed, teaching His disciples important lessons that they needed to learn before He would leave them just a few months later. Some of His instruction to His disciples was given privately, like that about the model prayer, but the next lesson, also about prayer, was probably taught at the same time. It's a form of a parable. Check it out in verses five through eight. And He said to them, which of you shall have a friend and go to Him at midnight and say to Him, friend, lend me three loves. For a friend of mine has come to me on His journey and I have nothing to set before Him. And He will answer from within and say, do not trouble me, the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you.

4:11I say to you, though, he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend. Yet, because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. The next verse says, ask and it will be given to you. So why don't we receive everything for which we ask? Find the answer in James 4.3. You ask and do not receive because you ask a miss that you may spend it on your pleasures. And now for an application, the man in the parable ask so he could help someone else. And when we ask that way, God gives us enough for helping others and for ourselves. This podcast is sponsored by MyBibleFirst.org. Visit us for other great resources for children, youth and adults.