Luke 11:1 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’…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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. …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!”

I think Jesus was a really interesting guy.  He didn’t do the expected.

His disciples have just watched and possibly even listened to Him pray.  Yet, when He was done, they asked Him to teach them to pray just as John [the Baptist] taught his disciples.  It wasn’t, “Lord, teach us how to pray like we just saw you do.”  Why “just as John [the Baptist]”?  Were the disciples trying to keep up with the Joneses or the Baptists?  Was their desire for earthly hills, methods of prayer, or even a liturgical prayer that was “The Jesus Brand” since John’s followers had “The Baptist Brand”?  They were in the presence of Jesus–Emmanuel, God with us!  Why were they looking at earthly hills instead of gazing beyond them to the presence of God Himself?

Jesus didn’t take the bait.

He took the whole rod of comparison–hook, line, and sinker–and then the entire earthly tackle box of prayer.  In its place, He gave them (and us) the most heavenly perspective on seeking the presence of our holy and powerful God. 

He genuinely taught them how to pray.

Just like Martha learned in yesterday’s lesson:  Seek God’s presence; listen to Jesus; and whatever you truly need to serve Him will be given to you.   Daily bread—given!  Forgiveness and mercy—given!  The ability to forgive others—given!  Protection from opposition—given!

Jesus gives a few practical examples reinforcing the priority of seeking God’s presence and then He drops the most amazing statement on them in verse 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!”

The Holy Spirit’s previous activity in Luke’s gospel involved preparing the way and pointing to Jesus as the Son of God, Savior, and Messiah.  The Holy Spirit was now being offered to disciples of Jesus who ask God, in prayer, for God’s ongoing presence with them…even as Jesus heads “Up to Jerusalem” to His death.   Just amazing!

Jesus says, many good gifts come to people who don’t deserve them—it’s how God shows grace toward our physical needs.  But the heavenly perspective is that God knows what we need most is His presence, not things.  Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

To those who were already on a journey “Up to Jerusalem” with Jesus Christ, praying like Jesus involves a priority act of worship: coming into the very presence of God, inviting His Kingdom to come, and boldly asking that He will meet our deepest needs through His ongoing presence and through this, satisfying our lesser needs—both by His grace.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

Have you ever discovered that distractions come when you’re trying to pray? Or maybe when you want to do some Bible study, suddenly the phone rings, the baby cries, your teenager decides to become an inner two-year-old, or a worry hits you square between the eyes?    Perhaps you’ve been trying to serve God in some way and suddenly it’s like Pandora ’s Box pops open and a whole bunch of awful things pounce on you and render you motionless?

Listening to Jesus is what Martha knew to do.  But serving Jesus is what Martha wanted to do.  Scripture tells us that Martha was the hostess, having opened her home to Jesus and His disciples.  What she didn’t realize is that she was about to learn three discipleship lessons from the Songs of Ascents all at once.

Distractions divided her attention.  Worries crowded her mind.  Things upset her because she wanted to do nice things for Jesus.  But Jesus tells her that only one thing was needed: Listen to Jesus.  Listen to Him and everything else that is needed will be given to you. 

Being a Type A, task-oriented kind of gal, I can relate to Martha.         I must admit that the number of people who turn this passage of Scripture into an unbiblical sitting-around-doing-nothing-approach for women kind of frosts me.   They act as if Jesus is scolding Martha:

“Why can’t you be like your sister?     She’s good and you’re bad!”  

This is so far from the truth!  Nowhere are we admonished in Scripture to sit around happily doing nothing, without a thought in our heads of how to demonstrate our love for Jesus by serving Him.

            There is a time and place for serving God!         (It comes after listening to Him.)

Rather than upbraiding her, Jesus was teaching Martha in a way she could appreciate.  He gave her the entire dump truck of discipleship lessons we’ve encountered in the Songs of Ascents in one major drop.  Listen to Me, Jesus says.  Expect Distractions.  Gaze Beyond Them.  Peace comes in My Presence.

The better part that Mary chose-for that moment-was the presence of Jesus because that is how He changes us for the purpose of serving Him.  Martha had been seeing the earthly hills of distractions and the mountain of work.  She needed to set her gaze beyond them to God’s presence since that is where we experience His peace.

The joy, wholeness, and sense of shalom (peace) required for Martha to serve Jesus properly was right in front of her eyes, there in her home, in the peaceful presence of God the Son, Jesus.