Lord, Teach Us To Pray (Part 1) Series

TEXT: Luke 11:1

TITLE: “Teach us to Pray -- Part 1”

TOPIC: PRAYER

OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, January 6th 2008

PROP.: LORD TEACH US TO PRAY. Each of these 4 key words holds immeasurable meaning! May we be encouraged by each of these words.

INTRODCUTION: It is good to be back with you today!

HAND OUT ‘PRIZE’ FOR SOMEONE WEARING SOCKS THEY RECEIVED

FOR CHRISTMAS. (if no one comes up, then…) If you are wearing a Christmas

tie? Christmas Shirt? Christmas shoes? SOME ITEM OF CLOTHING YOU RECEIVED FOR CHRISTMAS?

I have to show you something that I received for Christmas: (show picture of motorcycle vest) If you see me wearing this while riding my motorcycle, it’s best to just get out of my way… J

I trust that you and your family had a great Christmas! We enjoyed our time away, but it is good to come home. I listened to Brig’s sermon on CD this past week and he did a PHENOMINAL job! If you missed it, you need to ask the church office for a sermon on CD. On a side note, did you know that all sermons are recorded on CD? And if you would like a copy of any sermon, just leave a message with the church office and we’ll get you a copy. There is no cost to you and we’re happy to minister in this way.

Today we begin a series of sermons that will be focusing on becoming the church that Jesus desires! There are a series of verses that will be the foundation for the next 6 months of sermons! These verses are found in

Acts 2:42-47

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

And so for the entire month of January, I want us to focus on becoming the praying church! I want us to rededicate ourselves to become a praying church! And so it’s fitting that we start this series with prayer. Prayer needs to be the foundation of everything that happens here at Burnside.

IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF GOD’S CHURCH PRAYED? I just want to challenge you to consider the possibilities!

IF YOU GET NOTHING ELSE OUT OF THIS MORNING’S MESSAGE, GET THIS:

I WANT YOU TO GET PASSIONATE ABOUT THE POWER OF PRAYER!

So let’s be clear about what prayer is not:

Prayer is so much more than the ‘bat-signal’. You know what I mean, right? The city of Gotham is protected by the dark knight known as batman. Whenever batman’s services are needed, the people of gotham turn on the bat signal indicating their need for rescue! Prayer is SOOOOO much more than a signal for rescue. It is our DAILY communication with the creator of the universe! It seems that the only time most people pray (and certainly our country turns to prayer) is in time of crisis. A non-Christian will request prayers when he is sick. Prayer is a privilege that should be utilized at more times than just when you are in trouble!

Prayer is more than a grocery list or wish list that we spew out of things we want. God is so much more than Santa-Clause figure on whose lap we sit only interested in telling him what we want, expecting Him to pay up.

Prayer is more than a good luck charm that we rub or kiss for good luck.

There are so many verses on prayer, but perhaps the best place for us to start is found in Luke 11:1

Let’s read our text:

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."

The disciples had been with Christ and seen Him pray. They had learned to understand something of the connection between his wondrous life in public and His secret life of prayer. They had come to believe in Him as Master in the art of prayer - none could pray like him. And so they came to him with the request, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And so this is our request today: “Lord, teach us to pray!”

T.S.: To better understand the magnitude of what the disciples were asking, let’s look at each word in the phrase: