Sermon Central
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Pray Like This
Contributed by James Beam, Jr on Nov 10, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus disciples were drawn by his intimate walk with His Father. This text reveals how prayer is shaped by what’s in our heart & in our Father’s heart.
Welcome & Theme Introduction
1. What one thing could make the church more powerful than anything else? What one thing could ensure that your life was as good as it can be? What one thing could turn your family into the place that everyone loved to stay?
2. That ONE thing is an intimate, consistent time spent every day developing our walk with Jesus. Getting to know Him better. Listening to His desire for our lives.
3. This morning, Luke shares one of the times when Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to have the kind of prayer life that he had.
4. Scripture is full of people who learned to walk closely with God and it showed in their prayer life. Listen as the young men share just a few of those Scriptures.
Scripture Reading & Prayer (Psalm 27:4-8; 63:1-5; 5:1-3, 11-12; Ephesians 3:14-19; Luke 11:1-4)
INTRODUCTION
1. An interesting question is asked in Micah 6:6 - “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow
down before the exalted God?” It’s interesting
because of who asked it—not the pagans, but God’s
own people. They must have been sensing the
emptiness of having a ritual without a
relationship.
a. What if I give what is “expected”?
(burnt offerings & year old calves)
b. What if I give what is “extravagant”?
(1000’s of rams & 10,000 rivers of oil)
c. What if I give what is “extreme”?
(offered my firstborn to pay for my sins)
2. God’s answer is two-fold:
a. Quality is not determined by quantity…
b. It is about a life born out of a
relationship where 3 things happen:
1) “Do justice” - my heart should
want to do what is right
2) “Love kindness” - how I relate to
the people in my life
3) “Walk humbly with my God” - an
intimate, real relationship with
my Creator.
c. INWARD - OUTWARD - & UPWARD (the whole
of my life is affected.
3. But man has always struggled with know how to
connect with the One who is unseen. How do
you “walk humbly” with someone you can see?
4. That’s probably why Jesus’ disciples, having
watched him when he prayed, asked him to teach
them how to do it. I believe they weren’t asking
as much about procedure as they were the
Person...it was more than ritual they desired to
discover … it was a relationship.
5. Let’s look at the story and listen to Jesus as he
teaches them about this critical part of being a
disciple.
I. OUR HEART IN PRAYER (vs. 2-10)
A. It involves perspective (vs. 2-4)
1. About who God is
2. About my desire for Him to
reign
3. About my dependence upon Him
for even the basics
4. About how a walk with Him
affects my walk with others
5. About my need for His
guidance in the spiritual
battles
B. It involves persistence (vs. 5-10)
1. Jesus tells a humorous story
(one room house / one bed)
2. The point is not to say that
God is reluctant to answer
our prayers … Jesus will
correct that misunderstanding
in a moment.
3. The point is that a close
walk with God is one that
will not go anywhere else for
our needs to be met! We will
keep asking, seeking, &
knocking!!
II. GOD’S HEART IN PRAYER (vs. 11-13)
A. We who are fathers know that when our
children come to us with a serious request, we know how to take care of
that.
B. Jesus’ point is that our Father’s
greatest desire is to give His
children everything that they need.
1. It is interesting that in
Matthew’s rendering of this
prayer, he has Jesus saying
that “our Father in heaven
will give good gifts to those
who ask Him”.
2. But Luke shares the version
where Jesus further defines
just how much the Father
loves his children … He wants
to give them the ultimate
gift … the HOLY SPIRIT!!!
CONCLUSION
1. This morning, I want us to respond together,
all of us, for a reason. This prayer that Jesus taught them was to be a community
prayer (all the pronouns are plural).
2. So I want us to sing the prayer as a way of
saying to God that we desire a deeper, more
heavenly perspective on Who He is and about
learning to walk humbly with Him. As we sing
the prayer, let’s also commit, both as
individuals and as a church family, to being
constant and persistent in prayer.
3. Then, let’s all sing a song asking God to
revive us with a new passion for Him and His
ways.
Song: The Lord’s Prayer
Song: Revive Us, O Lord
