“Pray Boldly”
Luke 11:5
October 4, 2026
We have seen how prayer is a central theme in Luke’s gospel — he talks about prayer and shows Jesus in prayer more than any other gospel writer:
- Jesus prayed at His baptism (3:21)
- While the crowds pressed in on Him, He would often slip away to pray (5:16)
- Before choosing the Twelve disciples, He spent an entire night in prayer (6:12)
- He instructed on prayer — even teaching to pray radically (for enemies and persecutors, 6:28), not to be discouraged in prayer (18:1ff), and to pray to avoid temptation (21:36ff; 22:40, 46)
- He took the disciples with Him to pray (9:28-29)
- He prayed specifically for Simon Peter and the perseverance of his faith (22:32)
- He prayed before the trial of the cross (22:41ff)
- And His praying led to questions from the disciples about prayer more than once (9:18; 11:1)
Luke is a book of prayer, demonstrating Jesus as a man of prayer. Throughout the book, Luke is revealing the Son of Man as dependent on prayer and showing us how to pray. And all this discussion of prayer exposes our own weakness in prayer, faltering in prayer, and lack of persistence in prayer (just like the disciples who fell asleep in prayer at the most critical hour of Jesus’ ministry).
So this morning we are going to listen in one more time as Jesus responds to the disciples’ request that He teach them how to pray (11:1). He has already taught us about the content of prayer (vv. 2-4). In this passage, Jesus now teaches about the attitude of the petitioner — how should we pray, and what should our inner disposition be as we approach God in prayer? In two stories, Jesus has a simple answer —
You have access to God the Father. Pray boldly.
In order to encourage (exhort/command) His disciples to pray with boldness, He tells two stories (parables) and draws two conclusions:
- A Story to Compel Boldness in Praying (vv. 5-8)
- A Command to Compel Boldness in Praying (vv. 9-10)
- A Story to Reveal Compassion for Petitioners (vv. 11-12)
- A Promise to Compel Trust in Petitioners (v. 13)
Download the rest of this sermon on Luke 11:5.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.
