Hello and welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a congregation of the ELCA. Faith is a welcoming community: growing closer to and more like Jesus; making Christ known; joyfully serving each other, our neighbors, and all God’s creation. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org. Thanks for listening today.

Prayer is such a central practice of the Christian faith that I decided I should preach about it today. I told God that I needed a really good sermon about prayer. “Good luck with that,” he said. “You’d better get to work on it.” Today’s podcast is for the fourth Sunday in Lent, March 27th, 2022. The title of this podcast is “Pray Continually.”

I want to share a few general biblical principles of prayer based on the examples of Jesus, Daniel, and Paul. We’ll end with some specific takeaways for you and your own prayer life in the coming days and weeks. Let’s start with Jesus. Open your Bible to Luke 11:1-13.

Luke 11:1-4 [5-8] 9-13

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.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
 hallowed be your name,
 your kingdom come.
 3 Give us each day our daily bread.
 4 Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
 And lead us not into temptation.’”

[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.’ 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.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.]

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

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!”

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Thanks be to God.