Deep Prayer Series

(Play video of children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlBK97Q4Ae8 - timestamp .12 thru .39)

Jesus prayed a lot. According to one researcher, there are 17 times in the Gospels tell us He prayed. Among those 17 times, we see that Jesus prayed… Before He chose His 12 disciples. (Luke 6:12-13); He prayed before healing the crowds. (Mark 1:35); before feeding the 5,000. (Mark 6:41); before healing the man who was deaf and mute. (Mark 7:34); before bringing Lazarus back to life. (John 11:41-43); He prayed early in the Morning (Mark 1:35); He prayed late at Night (Luke 6:12); Jesus prayed before the cross. (Luke 22:39-42); And He prayed ON the cross. (Luke 23:34); And now He’s in heaven - where Heb 7:25 says that He constantly interceding for us. (Bruce A. Shields DD; with some modification)

His disciples couldn’t help but notice how much time Jesus spent in prayer, and so Luke 11:1 we’re told that when He finished praying, “one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray…’” And – of course - He does. And when Jesus taught His disciples this prayer, He wasn’t trying to put words in their mouths. He was teaching them what MAKES a prayer a prayer!

When I was a kid, our church repeated this Lord’s Prayer every Sunday and I’d like you to repeat it with me now: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and glory forever. Amen.”

As I was working on this sermon a question came into my mind: Why would that disciple ask Jesus to teach him how to pray? Doesn’t he know how? You’d think that praying would be as natural as breathing.

(PAUSE) Well… I have a theory about that. My theory is, that people who love God WANT to talk to Him, but too often they’re afraid they’ll mess it up, and they want to figure out how not to mess up. There’s this belief that if you’re going to pray to God, you’ve got to do it right because, if you don’t get it right… He won’t listen to you!

ILLUS: It’s kind of like a poem I once read: “The proper way for a man to pray,” said Deacon Samuel Keys, “And the only proper attitude - is down upon your knees.” “No, I should say the way to pray,” Said the Reverend Dr. Wise, “Is standing straight with outstretched arms and rapt and upturned eyes.”

A man standing nearby smiled “Last year I fell in my neighbor’s well, headfirst,” said Cyrus Brown, “And both my heels were stickin’ up - and my head was pointin’ down. And I made a prayer right then and there, the best I’d ever said. The prayin’est prayer I ever prayed was standin’ on my head.”

My point is this: you don’t have to perfect when you pray - YOU JUST NEED TO PRAY. And, for the most part, if you pray you can’t mess it up.

That said, there are couple of ways you actually CAN mess up in prayer. They are issues that can rob us of the BEST kind of prayers we can have. And right here in the sermon on the mount (and of course - in Lord’s prayer) Jesus teaches us how to avoid being robbed.

One of those pitfalls of prayer is when people end up viewing it as a magical incantation. Just say the right words… and “abracadabra, presto change-o” and you’ve got the perfect prayer. But - in the sermon on the mount Jesus says: that’s not going to work! “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Matthew 6:7

But - being repetitious in prayer - appeals to a lot of people. There’s something about saying the same thing over and over again in prayer that makes people believe they’re being more holy and reverent.

ILLUS: Years ago a lot of people would pray while repeating “O God” “O God almighty” and “O LORD” and “O Gracious Father” over and over again throughout their prayers. When they prayed, they sounded a little like this:

O Almighty God, our Father who is in heaven. Holy be your name O gracious God. Your kingdom come – O yes Lord, O yes - Your will be done (yes God), on earth as it is in heaven. O God and Father, give us this day – Oh yes Great Father - our daily bread and forgive us our debts – our wonderous Lord - as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation (Dear God) but deliver us from evil. For Yours, Great God in heaven - is the Kingdom, and the power, and glory forever. We praise You almighty God… Amen.”