God I Praise You Series

Get Connected: A Daily Pattern for Prayer

Week 1 – “God I Praise You”

Pastor Brian Chandler

Matthew 6:9-13 NAS

i.e. – Boy Who Didn’t Know What to Pray

Maybe we feel that sometimes about prayer. We don’t know what we should pray for or how we should pray.

The disciple of Christ were concerned about their prayer life. They wanted to know how to pray, they wanted to know what to pray for, and how they could pray so as to get an answer for their prayer.

The disciples here had seen and heard Jesus prayer. And it was awesome. It was perfect. It was spirit filled. It was according to God's will and the disciples saw His power and authority and His relationship with God and they wanted what He had.

So they cried out to Christ and said “Lord teach us to pray.” The goal of any good disciple was to be like their master and so with that in mind they wanted to be like Christ when they prayed.

So we have this model prayer Jesus sets forth for them. They were asking Him for a daily model for prayer. So I want to share with you over the next six weeks "A pattern for daily prayer." This pattern will help you stay focused. This pattern will help you pray in the spirit of God. This pattern will help you receive more from God in prayer. This pattern will help you grow in you intimacy with God. This pattern for prayer will help stretch your faith in God and who He is.

So let go after it. Let’s learn all that God wants us to about this very important area in our spiritual life called prayer.

Jesus starts this passage by telling them what prayer is not.

What prayer is not:

1. Prayer is not being noticed by others.

The religious leaders loved to stand in public in the temple and on the street corners. Praying out loud for everyone to hear them so that people would say… “Wow look at how holy he is. Listen to those words, I don’t even understand some of those words. Wow, I’m afraid to pray in public because I just can’t pray that kind of prayer.”

2. Prayer is not repetition of words or how many words you say.

Some people say the same prayer over and over again. Thinking there is power in the words or power in how often they say it.

Jesus just said in this passage don’t say the same thing over and over again. And churches have taken this portion of scripture, The Lord’s Prayer, and repeat it over and over again. And it can lose it’s meaning and purpose when we do that.

Jesus didn’t give us this prayer so that we could repeat it over an over again. He gave it to us as a pattern of prayer. Where the focus should go and what elements it should include.

Others pray lengthy prayers thinking the more words I pray the better chance I have that God will hear me and answer me.

Jesus says it’s not in the repetition or in the many words. It’s about our relationship to God, it’s about our heart and the spirit in which it’s given.

Jesus says when you pray. Get alone with God in private. Just you and Him. For some one on one time together. Get away from the regular noise of your day. Draw away and reconnect with God. Focus on God and who He, and your relationship too Him, and then tell him what you need. He knows it all anyway so you might as well simply tell Him.

Jesus modeled this beautifully. The disciples knew that Christ rose early in the morning and got away and spent time in private prayer with God.

Jesus knew that His disciples would never really be like Him unless this was a discipline in their daily life.

And we need to know if we do not draw away and spend time in private prayer with God, we will never really be the person God wants us to become this side of heaven. It’s just not going to happen.

i.e. – Becky T. on prayer

i.e. - i.e. When you are dating someone and your starting to fall in love, you can't want to get away from the crowds of people to spend time alone to just talk, and grow in your intimacy to each other. Michele and I.

That's how it needs to be in our relationship to the Lord. We love Him so much we just want to get away to spend time personal time, just you and Him. Just talking. Just letting Him know how much you love Him. Letting Him love on you. Working on your relationship. Growing in that relationship. Growing in your intimacy.