Lord Teach Us To Pray - Part One

LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY

Introduction: Last week we considered the differences between a little boy named David and a great king, named Saul. If you remember, King Saul had been told the Word of God by the prophet Samuel. But King Saul disobeyed Samuel and the Word of the Lord. The result was that King Saul lost the anointing on his life, and a “distressing spirit” came upon him and filled his life with fear and depression.

As a result of Saul’s disobedience to God’s Word, the Lord sent the Prophet Samuel to the house of Jesse to anoint his youngest child, David to be the new king of Israel. The Prophet Samuel poured THE HORN OF OIL over the head of David and brought the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon his life.

This morning, we should know that there have been thousands of books written about the little boy, David who became the king of Israel. Perhaps what David is most known for is recorded in Acts 13:22 - David became the “a man after My (God’s) own heart, who will do all My (God’s) will.”

Although that was certainly true (of David) we should also note that David’s life was not a perfect life.

In reality, David’s life was no different than ours.

His life was filled with blessings and failures, good times and not so good times. He learned early on in his life how to cry out for God’s mercy when he was lost and lonely, rejected and afflicted.

David’s life was filled with lots of emotions. Many times he would declare God’s goodness, and the next day he would ask God where He had gone.

David’s life is an example for all of us not just with his experiences in life, but (as well) his experiences in prayer. If there was anyone in the Bible who really understood the ups and downs of prayer it had to have been David.

There are many prayers of David we would want to use ourselves with what we face each day.

This morning - Let me list for you three of the six prayers that have impacted my life…

1. The Prayer of Relying on God.

There are times in life when we have made the mistake of going through certain difficult situations but we do not consult with the Lord. If we do not ask for God’s direction and help, we will find ourselves doing things on our own without God’s help.

Notice the prayer habits of David in this passage-

I Samuel 23:2 - David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?”

David relied upon the Lord with his prayers. He actually asked God’s permission to do what must have seemed to be the obvious. The Philistines were the enemy and they needed to be destroyed.

Perhaps our response would have been to say,

“Let’s go get em’! The Philistines are a nuisance, a threat to God’s people & we need to destroy them.”

In this same particular story, King Saul also asked the same question of God but did not get an answer.

David’s prayer was answered, but Saul’s was not.

David was a humble servant of the Lord and learned how to rely on God’s plan.

But Saul was arrogant and did not obey the Lord.

Therefore we must ask ourselves…each of us…

“Why are the prayers of some people answered when the prayers of others are not? Could there be an issue of disobedience to God’s Word?”

Perhaps you are like me in that whenever you hear of someone praying for a need in their life you want to agree with them and see the need met.

But what would you have done if someone (as defiant and disobedient as Saul) would have asked you to help them pray?

That’s a difficult question to answer for any of us. Some of us are faced with that question from time to time.

Both Saul and David prayed and asked God for the same thing…but God did not answer the prayer of King Saul. David was obedient to the Word of God and God did answer David’s prayer. It was answered quickly, it was simple and directly to the point:

“Go attack the Philistines…”

Listen to another similar situation that happened to David just a short while later:

I Samuel 30:8…

So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”

Again, God’s answer to David’s prayer was quick, simple and direct…

And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

I trust that you can easily see the pattern here in how God chooses to answer prayer…

Question:

• Do you rely on the Lord by praying to Him and getting an answer from Him in every difficult situation in your life?