Teach us to pray
Talk about the need to pray
Luke 11:1 - 13 (NIV) 1One 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.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
Trouble in the text: Set the stage
The text starts with Jesus praying in a certain place. Now we know from scripture that this was something that Jesus did often.
1. We see many times in scripture where Jesus would go off alone and pray.
2. Sometimes it’s important for us to just go get away ourselves and prayer amen?
3. Jesus understood the importance of this.
4. Prayer is a direct link with the Father. It’s our way of connecting with Him.
Some call it a means of Grace. What I mean by a means of grace is that God has established different way thru which we can access His grace. Grace…meaning getting or receiving something we do not deserve. And prayer is a means thru which we access this.
It’s kind of like a bank account. When you establish a bank account there are mean thru which you access your funds. You may have a few million dollars in the bank but that doesn’t help you unless you can access those funds. Now we can access these funds in different ways. One way is with a check. You can write a check to get your money. You can also use an ATM card. This can be used at most stores now. You just purchase what you want and use the card, this gives you access to the funds you have. Another way to access your funds would be to just go up to the teller at your bank and you fill out a form and then you receive your money.
Well means of grace is basically the same concept. But instead of accessing funds we access grace. The ways we access this are many. Prayer, fasting, corporate worship, bible study, the sacraments, Christian fellowship, accountability group, Hearing the word of God, stewardship, etc the more of these we use the more grace we receive. Just like the ways you can access the funds that are available in your bank account.
Now the means of grace that I am talking about today is Prayer. Now many believe this is the most vital means of grace. John Wesley also believed this, I also believe this.
We need to learn how to pray.
We all know in one way shape or form that praying is definitely something that is learned. Now for some of us it’s more natural then others. But we all have to learn.
1. Think about; for all you long time Christians and all of you prayer warriors can you remember when you first got saved?
2. How easy was it to pray? It was hard wasn’t it?
3. Prayer doesn’t come naturally for us. Prayer has to be learned.
4. Usually at first we stumble over it wondering what to say.
5. Most people can only go a minute if that before they are done. Our minds begin to wonder.
6. 30 seconds starts to feel like 2 hours,
7. Especially if you have to pray out loud on public. Now that’s a big deal isn’t it? Many of us feel so uneasy praying in front of people.
8. I can remember when I first started to say grace in public. It’s an uneasy feeling. Let alone praying in a group a people in Sunday school. No…..not the dreaded Sunday school prayer. Noooo.. Can everyone relate to me on this?
Trouble in the text: (The disciples don’t know how to pray)
We see here in scripture one of the disciples asks Jesus to teach them how to pray.
Wouldn’t you figure that they would know how to pray?
One of Jesus disciples whom the scripture doesn’t name says to Jesus teach us. So Jesus does.
It’s interesting to me that this question even came up. Wouldn’t you figure that they are with Jesus all this time and they would already know how to pray? I mean how can this be that they don’t know how to pray? They walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, and saw Him do many miracles and they don’t know how to pray? Something’s wrong.
Jesus teaches them to Pray
1. Now we are not sure why on this particular occasion the disciples took interest in Jesus teaching them to pray, but when He was finished one of His disciples asked him “Lord, teach us to pray, just as john taught his disciples.
2. During this time it was common for different leaders or teachers to teach their students to pray.
So in response to what His disciple asked, Jesus gives us this model prayer. We all have heard it; it’s the most known prayer throughout the world.
It is important to note that we see Jesus give us this model of prayer in two places in scripture. Once here in Luke and anther time in Matthew. They are basically the same prayer but given at two different times. The one in Mathew is more detailed and the one you are all probably more familiar with. But for today’s sermon we will concentrate just on the content of this one in Luke.
There are many prayers in the Bible
1. Now understand there are many great models of prayer in the bible.
2. We read through the psalms and we can see many prayers from David. We see Elijah praying on Mount Carmel.
3. This is just one model given to us by our Lord.
4. In it Jesus gives us the content of prayer.
5. Basically He teaches us what you should say in prayer. But he doesn’t leave it at that. After he gives us the content of prayer, what you should say, he also tells two stories that will describe to us the context of prayer. Basically meaning what attitude someone should have when they pray, what from of mind should they be in. These we will cover at a latter date.
1. Content of prayer
A. Glory to God
Jesus starts out by giving glory to God. He says “‘Father,£ hallowed be your name.. This shows us that when we start to pray, it is a good idea for us to bring to our mind our reverence for God.
God’s name is hollowed. Now let me explain the definition of Hollowed The word is Hagiazo which means to make holy, consecrate, sanctify now this word Hagiazo comes from the word Hagios which means sacred, Holy. Holy one, most Holy etc.
To hallow God’s Name is to recognize, regard, respect, reverence, profess and proclaim God as holy. We don’t add to God’s holiness in prayer-we treat Him as holy. Although we have free access to God, when we take advantage of His open-door policy we speak to Him with reverence.
1. It shows that we should be declaring His glory.
2. Now I don’t think it’s because God just likes to hear how hallowed He is, or how great He is, this He knows, but what it does do is it aligns us with the reality of God’s Holiness and majesty.
3. We understand that we are coming before an infinite being that is beyond our understanding and bringing this to mind is a good idea.
Isn’t God glorious though? This shouldn’t be hard to do. Just think of all the wonderful things He has done for us, before we even had a chance to ask Him. If we can think of this and still not want to give Him glory or want to praise His name nothing will cause us to.
Gods’ transcendence:
1. When we look at this part of the verse or when we pray we should recognize how completely transcendent God is…Transcendent.
2. Meaning completely different then anything we can imagine. God is the Holy other….
3. Beyond our mere mental ability to reason who He is.
4. He is the creator of all we see and don’t see.
5. Think about all the things that God has created out of nothing.
6. Think about the heavens, outer space, and all the intricate details of creation and how everything hangs in a delicate balance.
Illustration: The Moon
Think about how dependant we are upon the moon. You know something I have learned about the moon. I learned that the moon is just the right distance form the earth to help keep the earth on its axis and that if the moon was to close or further away the earth wouldn’t rotate like it does but that it would spin uncontrollably and this would cause the seasons to change real quick. One day it will be sunny and warm and the next day it will be like Antarctica. The earth wouldn’t be able to sustain life as we know it. We would die off.
But our Holy God, transcendent beyond our imagination has set the moon in place to do what it does. It not only keeps the rotation right but it also controls our tides. Without the moon many places would one day be flooded and the next day dry. We could have never have thought about that on our own.
When we look at the intricate details on life all we can do is cry Holy Holy Holy.
He says in Isaiah 55:8-9,
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (NIV)
It is impossible to define God. He is in all things, but not equated with all that is. He can never be fully grasped with our finite minds and experiences. Isaiah speaks of this when he writes,
Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? (Isaiah 40:13, 18 NIV).
God is a spirit; He is not composed of matter and does not possess a physical nature. Therefore, He is considered transcendent to man and anything else for that matter.
Isaiah had a vision In Isaiah 6:1-3 we read
1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
God’s Immanence
We see that Isaiah had a vision and it demonstrated God transcendence. He saw the lord high and exalted, and that there were seraphs calling to one another Holy holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.
1. But it also shows God is also Immanent. “The whole earth is full of his glory.”
2. He is the God with us.
3. God isn’t just a God who is so completely different then anything we can imagine and so far from us that we cant experience Him.
4. No, God is also immanent with us. He walks with us and talks with us and fellowships with us.
5. The ultimate demonstration of His immanence was that He took the form of a man and died for us.
This is what’s special about God. Here is a scripture about His immanence.
Psalm 65:9-13: You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.
Question: How does effect our prayer
Some would say, how does acknowledging this fact that we know God is transcendent and holy but also immanent and the God with us, help our prayers?
1. He is listening, He cares, He has the power
2. Well as I said before it puts our minds in proper relation to Him.
3. You see we need to not just acknowledge this but when we truly understand this and live this way we know that not only can God answer what ever prayer you ask for, but the fact that he so desires to answer our prayers.
4. God loves us from the beginning.
5. And he says ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open, for whoever asks receives, who ever seeks finds, and who ever knock the door will be opened.
Question: How does this knowledge affect our lives?
1. Well God says be Holy because I the lord thy God am holy.
2. So not just in our prayers but also demonstrated in our lives we must be transcendent and immanent.
3. Meaning we need to be in the world because we live here, this is our immanence, but we also must be transcendence by being in the world but not of the world.
When people see us we must stand apart, and be set apart, and live not like the world but live as God has intended us to live.
Peter writes, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" (I Pet 3:15).
1. We need to set God apart from everything that is common and profane, and give Him the place He deserves in our lives.
2. We need to be conscious of God’s presence, then strive to do everything for His glory.
Martin Luther posed a question in his catechism: "How is God’s Name hallowed among us?" The answer: "When both our doctrine and our life are godly and Christian."
Every believer must decide who he or she will please—God or self. We talk about that last week.
1. So often believers pray for God’s will in relation to their choice of mate, a college or career, or where to live, all important choices.
2. But none is as important of asking God for a clean and pure heart.
3. None of the other choices will bring the satisfaction we seek in life if we do not first have our hearts focused toward God
Question:
* What are we doing to "hallow" God’s Name?
* Do our prayers and our lives bring praise to God?
* When we converse, do we have holy conversations?
* Are we reaching towards praise in all we do?
* We offer God our praise by hallowing His Name and responding to His holiness.
* God wants us to be holy, as He is holy.
* He wants us to be saints-set apart from all that is profane.
* As a church, He wants us to present ourselves to the world as a community of faith, hope, and love.
Challenge: I challenge you to pray this week with the focus of bringing glory to God.
Meditate on the fact that he is holy.
Meditate on whether or not you are doing anything to help set his name apart.
Ask God to show you ways in which you can help make this happen.
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