Jesus on Prayer – 1 Luke 11 1-13.
Gladstone Baptist Church – 24/9/06 am
S1 - I have read so many books on prayer, it is not funny, but still my prayer life is pretty hopeless. I find praying difficult. Can anyone relate to me?
Over the next 2 weeks I want to look at some of Jesus’ teaching on prayer. As I began to prepare this last week for my sermon, I went to my book shelf and found that I have a heap of books on prayer and as I flicked through them, I found that I had read most of them – some good brownie points there.
I then went to the library and I found about 70 books there on prayer. There was “Power through Prayer”, “Pray in the Spirit”, “Bible based praying”, “Too busy not to pray” “The necessity of prayer”, - So many incredibly inspirational titles - “Miracles happen when you prayer”, “The Secret power of prayer”. As I read them, do you know what happened? I started to feel really guilty.
Why was that? I don’t know about you, but I’ve read heaps on prayer. I’ve heard a lot of sermons on it. I know a lot about how prayer works and why we should pray and how we can pray and different methods of prayer, but when it comes down to it, my prayer life really stinks. I am really slack at praying.
When I try to pray on my own, I get distracted – by the smallest of things. My mind wanders and before long, I can be thinking of something so far removed from what I began praying about.
When I do manage to pray regularly, I find that often they are just trite little formulas that rolls off the tongue. They are just words with no meaning – almost like a magic spell I pronounce. A bit like the graces we say or the songs we sometimes sing at church - meaningless.
When I attend prayer meetings, I sometimes resent them – not because I don’t think they are worth it, but because very few others seem to think they are important enough to come to and I resent the fact that I have to try to inject life into them, when my prayer life is bad at the best of times. At this point – I must confess that I did not attend last week’s prayer breakfast. I could give you 101 reasons why it slipped my mind, but the fact remained it wasn’t foremost in my mind to be there and I wasn’t there – And I need to apologise to you the church family for that. I do believe that praying about our new Senior Pastor is probably the most important step in this process – but unfortunately sometimes my actions don’t live up to my words.
The truth is, I do find that my prayer life is best when I am praying in groups. Maybe it is not wanting to look like a raving lunatic, but I actually find that I can concentrate and think about what I am praying for when there are others present.
Can anyone else here relate to me? Is there anyone here that struggles with prayer or would like to have a better prayer life? Let me see you – I need some encouragement that I’m not the only one that struggles with this.
S2 - The disciples didn’t find prayer easy either – They were taught prayer, but they still didn’t really understand its importance – they slept as Jesus prayed for his life in the Garden.
As I read my bible, I find some great prayers. Some people had incredible faith and spent hours in prayer. King David was a man who met God in prayer regularly. His Psalms are records of his prayers. Daniel was a man of prayer. He spent time with God every day and this is what resulted in him thrown into the fiery furnace. Paul was a man who spent time with God in prayer and praise – even when in prison.
The apostles were also men of prayer, the bible records them going to the temple to pray. But as I look into it, I don’t think that they were always prayer warriors. While Jesus was here on earth, I don’t see the disciples as great giants of prayer. I see them as people struggling with the concept of prayer.
I know that as good Jews they would be familiar with prayer - they would have learnt to pray from a young age. But often this was just ritualistic prayer. Going through the motions of the ceremony. They didn’t have the living breathing prayer life that Jesus obviously had.
Even at the end of their 3 year apprenticeship, when Jesus asked them to pray with him, they promptly fell asleep. Prayer just wasn’t a priority for them. They were like us, struggling to pray.
Today and next week, I want to take a fresh look at some of the instructions that Jesus gave his disciples. They didn’t really know how to pray – they asked Jesus for help and he gave them a model prayer –we call it the Lord’s prayer. I know we have heard this preached about many times before. I also know that most here would be able to parrot the words of this prayer off without thinking about it – but in this passage Jesus gives a model for us to follow in our prayers so we need to understand it, not just know its words. Each time I study it, I am encouraged in and challenged to reassess my prayer life.
Before we begin to look at this prayer, let’s pray ourselves …
Lord, as natural as talking is for us, prayer is not natural and for many of us it is jolly hard. As we open your word this morning, I pray that you would speak through your word and help us to see prayer in a new light. Help us to discover some principles today that would revolutionise our prayer life. And we pray this in your name. Amen
S3 – Understanding The Lord’s Prayer.
If you’ve got your Bibles there, I encourage you to open them to Matt 6:5
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: ”‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
We’d all be familiar with this prayer, but lets have a closer look at it and reflect again on its meaning.
a. ”‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
This was a pretty scandalous way to begin a prayer for Jews. Jews couldn’t even utter God’s name, let alone consider him as a father. He was holy and almighty, but here Jesus introduces him as a father – loving, concerned and interested in every aspect of your lives.
Rom 8 15 says that we “did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. [when we become Christians, we become sons – adopted into his family] And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
As a father, God is close to us – he is intimate. Did anyone watch the Steve Irwin memorial and hear Bindi giving a testimony to her father? He was her hero. He was her friend. Steve was a great Dad. But sadly, in our society, many don’t have a good picture of fatherhood. Abuse and marriage breakdown have done a lot of harm to this image. But be careful not to ascribe all the attributes of your human father to God. God is a perfect father - even better than Steve Irwin – a Dad who seeks to be near you.
But while being near as our Daddy, he is also transcendent. He is in heaven and above all else. He is our dad, but he deserves respect as the God of the universe. He is near and close and so can understand our innermost feelings, but he also is above all and so sees all things and understands how it all will work together for good.
Heaven is a wonderful place – but it is wonderful because God is there. His love, his purity, his power makes heaven the place every living person aspires to. And it is this God that we are invited to have a relationship with.
But more than that, we are to make his person, character and reputation known to others. “Hallowed be your name” Jesus prayed. To Hallow something means to make it holy and that just means to set it apart as something special and unique. Jesus is calling us to honour, revere and respect the name of God; to honour, revere and respect his character; to honour, revere and respect his reputation. And to make it known to others.
In our world today, God’s name, character and reputation isn’t honoured or revered or respected. Often in our church it is not honoured, revered or respected And sadly, in our lives it is not honoured, revered or respected either. As we pray these words, we need to remember that we are responsible for God’s name being hallowed. Firstly in our own lives, we need to set God apart and give him the place he deserves. Secondly in our churches we need to minister in a way that hallows him. And lastly in the world - People look at us and their picture of God is shaped by what they see. We bear his name - we are his children after all.
So this first line is all about recognizing who god is and committing to represent him faithfully in our own lives.
b. your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Then Jesus prays that “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
I think these are perhaps the hardest words to pray …when we pray your kingdom come, we are praying that God’s reign would be established. When we pray your will be done, we are praying that God’s sovereign will will be enacted. Established where? Enacted where?
Well on earth. In heaven, God is in total control. Every being is subject to him and his divine perfect will is perfectly executed. But on earth it is a different story. Praying these lines requires action in 2 specific places …
Firstly it requires action in our own hearts. All through lives, we are taught that you are master of your own life; that you control your destiny. But Jesus calls us to be a part of God’s kingdom and that demands we surrender our hearts and wills on earth. Are we willing for that to happen though? Are we willing to give our lives in total surrender to him?
When God comes to reside in our lives, he expects to sit on the throne. What is our role then, if God is the one ruling on the throne? Our role is as a doorman – we make sure that God’s temple is kept holy and undefiled. That is a big demotion isn’t it!!! From CEO to doorman.
Secondly, praying this is praying that his reign and rule is extended into every part of the earth. God’s will is described in John 6:40 - “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.” His will is for people to be saved. The God who made heaven and earth is not currently recognized in many parts of our world. When we pray “May your kingdom come, your will be done on earth” the question that must be asked is are we willing to help bring this about? To pray this prayer is to ask God to use our witness in this community, nation and the world to bring about an expansion of his kingdom. Are we ready and willing to do what he asks us to do to achieve this?
Many of us here, sadly only make ourselves available to serve God when He agrees to work within the conditions we place on him. We are only happy to be used if it means we can remain in Gladstone in our well paying job, if it is limited to only 10% of our earnings and if it doesn’t impose in my other interests (the gardening club, my sporting interests, my family, my renovation). But what if God called us to move away from Gladstone so we could serve him somewhere else? Would we be happy with that? For some of you it will be that you are called to stay in Gladstone and continue to minister in an area that is difficult and that demands its pound of flesh. Are you willing to do that? What if God called us to give up our well paying job or to give more than 10% of our earnings to him? What if he wanted us to dedicate more time to serving him which started to impinge on our interests? Would we be willing to do this. If we pray this pray, we need to be willing to submit ourselves to God and serve as He wills. What would we be prepared to do to bring people to a saving faith?
Do you see why I think this is perhaps the hardest words to pray. “May your kingdom come and your will be done” This is all about surrendering our lives to god and committing to serve Him where ever He asks.
c. Give us today our daily bread.
Then Jesus prayed “give us today our daily bread.” He includes our daily needs. Food – the basis of existence. God is concerned about our daily needs and he wants to meet our needs.
But notice here a few interesting things… Jesus doesn’t pray for a job that will provide a secure income stream for the next 5 years. He doesn’t even pray for enough food to last the week. But he prays for our daily bread. Fulfill our daily needs day by day. Why is that? So that we can grow in trust. You don’t have to trust God when you have a secure job and earning twice as much money as you really need to survive and have a cupboard full of food. But you sure learn to trust Him when you live one day to the next.
Jesus’ example request was for the most basic of things which most of us would take for granted. How many of us pray that God would give us our wheat-bix this morning. No – we just go to the cupboard and in so doing, we fail to recognise that God has given us all these things. I know that you earned the money working to buy your wheat-bix, but God provided you with that job, He provided you with the skills that enabled you to get that job, He provided you with the opportunities you have had in life to develop those skills. We need to recapture the humble recognition and dependence upon God as the source of all god things.
Through this prayer, Jesus, encourages humble dependence and ascribes real recognition to God for all that we have – even the mundane and normal things. It is about humbly relying on God.
d. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Then Jesus prays “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors”
The first thing you are saying when you pray this is Lord I am a sinner. I have done wrong. When you study the world’s religions, most religions have built in them a concept of penance. Hinduism and Buddhism have the concept of Karma – you’ll pay for the bad you do. Catholicism has purgatory – a place where you work off the sins of your life. But Christianity doesn’t have anything like this. Jesus says that you are forgiven if you simply admit you have done wrong and ask for forgiveness. In our prayers, we need to admit we have sinned and ask for forgiveness.
The second thing you are committing to when you pray this is that you recognise that you have a responsibility to forgive others who wrong you. That is hard to do isn’t it… Corrie ten Boom was a POW in a German concentration camp in WW2. When the war was over she began traveling and speaking sharing her Savior. And then one day, something happened, something that shook her to the very center of her being, Let me read her account to you …”
"It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there, the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsy’s pain blanched face.
He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. "How grateful I am for your message Fraulein, " he said. "To think, as you say, He has washed my sins away!"
His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendall the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.
Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man: was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.
I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.
As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that this worlds healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself."
Forgiveness is not just hard to do, but it is impossible to do in our own strength. That’s why prayer becomes so essential. If we want to experience joy and peace that comes from the Spirit of God, and then we must cry out for God’s help to help us experience forgiveness in both directions. God forgives us and then gives us power to forgive others. Jesus teaches us that if we think we can’t forgive, we probably haven’t really experienced forgiveness yet. So this is all about receiving and giving forgiveness
e. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
Lastly, Jesus prays, “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking who he can devour. He will seek to destroy us by putting before us all manner of temptations. Being aware of this fact should remind us immediately to put on the full armor of God. We withstand his attacks by being people of truth, righteousness, peace. We trust in our faith and salvation to provide protection and we defend and launch our counterattacks through a knowledge of the word of God.
But don’t underestimate or overestimate the influence of Satan. The world and our own sinful natures also have a part to play. Jesus’ words also recognise that in all these things, God is also sovereign. God’s spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted and God allows Satan to tempt you. Luther called the devil “God’s devil.” He is a lion, but God has got him on a leash and the length of that leash is determined by God. When Satan tempted Jesus – he intended to make Jesus sin, but God intended through that situation to show that Jesus could not sin and so glorify Himself. So we pray, asking God to firstly limit unnecessary temptation, but possibly more importantly, to bring us through it without succumbing to sin. It’s all about standing firm.
And we look forward to the day when God will finally defeat Satan for once and for all.
Conclusion
The Lord’s prayer was never meant to become some magic formula we recite to fix all ills. It was a model prayer to teach the disciples how to pray. And it should be used in exactly the same way today.
Our closing song this morning is going to be an arrangement of the Lords prayer. Don’t just sing these words, but meditate on their meaning and the calls they make on your life to be submissive. While the musicians make their way up to the stage – take a few quiet moments to reflect on these words and prepare your hearts and minds to come to our Father in prayer.
