In 11:1-13 we have the Man-Savior’s teaching on prayer. If we read this section carefully again and again, we shall see that prayer means that we pray ourselves into God. When some hear this, they may say, “We cannot find such a point in the pattern of prayer set up by the Lord Jesus in His teaching. How can you say that to pray is to pray ourselves into God?” Apparently, this matter is not found in 11:1-13. Actually, in these verses we see that to pray is to pray ourselves into God.
Luke 11:1 says, “And it came about that when He was praying in a certain place, as He ceased, a certain one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.” We do not know what the Lord was praying for. When the disciples saw Him praying, they wanted Him to teach them to pray. Then the Lord went on to say, “When you pray, say, Father, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come. Give us each day our bread for the day; and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us into trial” (vv. 2-4). I have spent much time considering this brief word. My conclusion is that if we would pray this way again and again, the result will be that we shall pray ourselves into God. In other words, the issue of this prayer is that we find ourselves in God.
If we pray according to the Lord’s teaching in these verses, we shall be persons in God. I encourage you to pray, “Father, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come.” If you pray this a number of times, you will find that you are in God. This is both my understanding and my experience. From experience I can testify that to pray according to the Lord’s instruction is to pray ourselves into God.
Once we have prayed ourselves into God, what shall we do now that we are in God? We shall simply receive Him with His riches into us. As fallen human beings, we were altogether outside of God and had nothing to do with His riches. Hence, we could not enjoy the riches of God. We need to pray ourselves into God and then, as those in Him, receive Him and His riches.
When some hear about the need to pray ourselves into God in order to receive Him and His riches, they may say, “Before we were saved, we were not in God. But now we are children of God.” Yes, as believers, we are children of God. Nevertheless, we must recognize the fact that often in our experience we are not in God. We do not stay in God, we do not remain in Him. For example, before going to bed, a brother loses his temper with his wife. When he rises up the next morning, he rises up outside of God. What should he do? He should pray himself into God.
However, suppose the brother prays something like this: “Father, You are just and fair. You know that my wife is wrong. I ask You to vindicate me.” The more the brother prays like this, the farther he will be away from God in his experience. He needs to pray, “O Father, sanctify Your name. Your kingdom come. Father, give me bread for this day, and forgive me even as I forgive my wife. Father, do not bring me into that trial again.” The more the brother prays like this, the more he will find himself in God. This illustrates the point that to pray is to pray ourselves into God.
Often we are distracted from God. We may be distracted from Him simply by an advertisement in the newspaper. Because we are easily distracted from God, we should spend time every morning with Him, praying ourselves into Him. There is no need to pray in detail concerning our shortcomings. It is sufficient to say, “Father, forgive me.” There is no need to go through the details. The prayer, “Father forgive me as I forgive others,” is inclusive. The more you pray like this, the more you will realize that you pray yourself into God. Then in God you will receive the life supply.
Perhaps you are wondering where in 11:1-13 we can see the matter of receiving the life supply from the Father. The life supply is indicated in verses 11 through 13: “But what father among you, whose son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish hand him a snake? Or if also he asks for an egg, will hand him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Here the life supply is indicated by the fish, the egg, and the Holy Spirit. In verse 5 it is indicated by the loaves. If we include the loaves, we have four items of the life supply. When we pray ourselves into God, we receive His riches as our supply.
In verse 13 the Lord says that if we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? This implies that the one gift that is truly good is the Holy Spirit. Before His death the Lord told the disciples to ask for the Holy Spirit. After His death and resurrection He told them to receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). Regarding the commandments in the Scriptures for which the requirements have not been fulfilled, we need to ask. But regarding the commandments for which the requirements have been fulfilled, we need to receive.