Series Introduction
There’s a well known hymn that starts off with these words.
Sweet Hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer
that calls me from a world of care….
It is a well known hymn for many people. The idea of the hymn is that prayer is sweet. And the words encourage us to spend much time in prayer. It has appeal. The words wouldn’t resonate if it didn’t. But if I am honest, I struggle with the song. We know we should pray.
A 2001 Barna Research poll bears this out.
When asked about prayer, 89% of teens and 80% of adults surveyed said they prayed on a daily basis. Those numbers sound encouraging don’t they? But listen to the follow up question. How long on average do you pray? This same poll indicates that the average amount of time spent on daily prayer is less than 3 minutes.
Most of those prayers were said at meal times, a minute or two before going to bed, or were brief words whispered to God in times of confusion or suffering. Is that where prayer should be relegated? To the dinner table, or a few minutes before drifting off to sleep? That sounds less than fulfilling as far as any conversation goes; and it seems less than satisfying for prayer. It sounds less than sweet.
The struggles are not just among laity. In another poll done by Lifeway Research, church pastors were asked how satisfied they were with their prayer life.
Only 16% of pastors said they were VERY satisfied. 16% would say prayer tastes sweet to them. The rest of church leaders think of their prayer life as less than completely satisfying.
Let me ask you “are you satisfied with your prayer life?” I imagine there are many here who would say, “Not really!” And if you asked me, I would say there have been points in my life where if I answered honestly, I would have answered, “What prayer life?”
If you struggle with prayer, you are probably not alone. My goal is not to shame or embarrass you today. I know the struggle with prayer is real. What do we do with this?
We begin a new series of messages and what I hope we can do is discover ways to make our prayer life fresh again; to make that hour of prayer sweet again.
Message Introduction:
If you brought your Bibles would you turn them to Luke 11:1-13. And as you turn there, I need to ask a question. Have you ever met someone who KNEW how to pray? I’m not talking about someone who knows the churchy words. I’m not referring to people who know how to include the word “bless” in their prayers; I’m not really talking about people who useth many “thees” and “thous.”; I don’t want us to picture the preacher whose public prayers could be effectively timed on a sundial.
If we are honest those prayers can seem stale and out of touch; not sweet. The person I’m talking about is that person who when he or she prays, you feel moved to the core. Have you ever met a person who knew how to pray? As we enter our text, we meet one such person.
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.”
Do you get the feeling that Jesus KNEW how to pray? Do you see the story? Jesus prays and when he says, “Amen” his disciples ask “Will you teach us how to do that?” “Will you teach us how to pray?” It is pretty clear that Jesus’ disciples had never heard anyone pray quite like Jesus before.
Now Understand, this is different time and a different culture from today. It likely might be a natural question today. Not for Jesus disciples. It wasn’t as if Jesus’ disciples had never heard anyone pray before. They had grown up in a Jewish culture where prayer played an integral part of daily life. They would have heard people praying. They would have been taught from a very young age HOW to pray. They learned through a liturgy of prayer. They would have likely known proper form.
Observation 1
When they heard Jesus, there was something refreshing; something real about the way He prayed.
Jesus prayed different. And Jesus seems to be happy to teach his eager disciples how to pray. Because he says
Luke 11:2-4
“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.’”
It’s the cliff notes version of what we commonly hear called the Lord’s Prayer.
Observation 2
In our text Jesus is telling his disciples HOW to pray; not WHAT to pray.
Jesus is not teaching them a new liturgy of prayer to repeat over and over again. I don’t think Jesus intended people to keep praying these exact words.
Sermon Notes
Jesus starts of his teaching on prayer by addressing who God is. He says, “Our Father, Hallowed be your name.” I read that and it seem that there is an immediate tension taking place. Hallowed and Father.
In Fresh Prayers….
I. There is a tension that should exist between the familiar (Father) and the formal (Hallowed).
As children of God, we have the right to step into his throne room. We do not have to fear coming before our father to have a conversation. But at the same time, God our father requires reverence and respect (Hallowed be your name). The word hallowed means “set apart, holy, different.” His name should be glorified.
Prayer is a time with GOD! Our creator! The one who holds the keys to life and death in his hands; the all powerful, all knowing, always there God. So there should be an awareness that we are walking into his presence when we pray.
In prayer, we should maintain that tension between the familiar and the formal because God desires his name to be glorified.
Sometimes I think we miss this. We miss the Father part when we are afraid that we will offend God by talking to him. We think of God as the boss in his office and somehow we feel we might distract him if we walk in and talk to him. So we compensate by not praying, or by making our prayers conversations with people around us. But God is our father. And he WANTS to hear from us. He wants to have that conversation with us. He wants to dive into our day with us as we explore his will.
But we must be cautious not to become too familiar.
Illustration of Too Familiar…
I remember a Brady Bunch episode that I think helps illustrate this. In one episode, Greg, decides that he wants to be more grown up. So he decides one he is going to demonstrate this is by calling his parents by their first names. Dad become “Mike” and step Mom becomes “Carol.” Now dad and step mom love Greg. But by calling them by their first names, he has gotten too familiar. He begins to ignore their role as parents.
In a similar way, I think we can become too familiar in our prayers. With God’s title of Father comes a certain amount of respect. We can’t simply strut into God’s throne room thinking he owes us an audience or demand our way. I don’t think we can demand that God give us an explanation. It is in those instances where we have let the tension of formality go and we are all too familiar.
In this simple prayer, Jesus then moves from this tension of who God is to how God works in the world when he says we should pray, “Your Kingdom Come.”
If we read Matthews account, Jesus also says, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
In Fresh Prayers
II. We Invite God through his Kingdom to make the world right again.
But this only makes sense if we define the word Kingdom correctly. When we read the word “kingdom” what do we automatically insert? Most of us insert “heaven.” So we define what Jesus says by praying, “I can’t wait to see heaven.”
We think of God’s kingdom in the future sense – his Kingdom future.
Now there is an element of that. But there is also another element of Kingdom that is present when Jesus discusses the topic.
Can I illustrate this? At the end of Mark 8, Jesus turns to his disciples and he tells them that anyone who wants to be his disciple must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him. He talks about the reward of life to those who choose the cross. And then he says to them,
Mark 9:1
“I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”
Some of your texts may not have this verse marked. In some of your bibles it probably blends between chapter 8 and chapter 9 with no distinction. That’s because scholars can’t agree on what to do with the verse. Are these words the final words Jesus says in chapter 8 or is it new teaching in chapter 9?
I believe it belongs to chapter 8. And here’s why? I believe that the Jesus Kingdom has a holistic meaning. What I mean is that it seems Kingdom means much more than just heaven. Jesus has done is he has posted a Kingdom coming soon sign. If what Jesus is saying is true, then some of those who heard it must have experienced God’s coming kingdom before they died. Now remember, Jesus said this 2000 years ago.
There will be some who suggest the death Jesus is talking about is eternal death…Some will not taste eternal death before the Kingdom comes. But Jesus uses a temporary term to describe death. He says, “some of you will not taste death.”
To taste death is to sample death. The phrase “I can’t get the taste out of my mouth is just that … a phrase…taste is temporary.” So it seems to me that Jesus is talking about sampling death. Eternal death is not temporary. It seems to me that Jesus is talking about physical death. In other words, there would be some of his disciples who would not experience physical death until they saw His Kingdom come in power.
Church, I have yet to meet a living, breathing apostle of Jesus who heard those words of Jesus. So when Jesus talks about God’s Kingdom, he can’t always be talking about heaven.
There seems to be the idea that the Kingdom is a Kingdom BEFORE HEAVEN! A NOW Kingdom. I think that Kingdom is the church, US! Why? Because of what I read in Acts 2.
In Acts 2, the apostles are gathered in Jerusalem and they are praying. In the midst of their prayers they hear the sound of a mighty wind and tongues of fire come to rest on their heads. The powerful noise attracts so much attention that a crowd gathers to see what is taking place. Peter preaches a bold sermon. And the church is born.
It’s the birth of the church. In the birth of the church, we see the criteria that Jesus set in Mark 9 fulfilled. There are some who had personally heard Jesus, the disciples, who are still alive. And they experience the coming of a new kingdom with power.
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come, pre-Pentecost, he was teaching them to pray for the church to come. Is that where we leave it?
No! Because in Post-Pentecost (After Acts 2), we are asking God that we have an opportunity to influence the culture around us as the church. To make a difference in making the world right again. We are praying that God’s will be done within context of his Kingdom, the church, ourselves.
I have to admit, I like praying the easy part. And as I get older, praying for heaven to come is easy. And don’t hear me wrong, it’s okay to pray for heaven to come. But we can’t pray for the easy part and leave out the hard part.
• Jesus is teaching that
In Fresh Prayers
III. We ask that the work of his Kingdom, the church, be effective in the now through us.
That’s let thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are saying, “I want things in this earthy kingdom on earth (your church) to function the same way as things do in heaven with you wholly and completely in charge.” We want the same righteousness as in heaven. And we surrender our will to your will, God.
Transition
The rest of this model prayer reflects a transparency before God about our needs. Give us this day our daily bread. Lord we have needs that have to be met; we depend on you to meet those needs.
In my home, it’s one of the main reasons when we sit down to have a meal that we say a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving. We should recognize God as our provider.
Fresh prayers
IV. Continually recognize God as provider (Physical and Spiritual needs)
Physical needs of bread and spiritual needs for forgiveness and guidance.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. This is huge! I almost like the KJV translation, trespasses. Trespassing is going someplace we don’t belong. Trudging onto someone else’s property without permission.
There is an element where we stand before God knowing we have been hurt by other people; intentionally or unintentionally. But just as true is that we also come before God realizing that we have hurt other people, intentionally or unintentionally.
We are trespassers, too, in need of forgiveness.
The problem with stale prayers is that we like to hold onto hurts and use them against others as trespassers against us. And when we pray we pray that God helps them see how they are wrong. And we tend to forget that we are sinful people who have trespassed against God and have received his mercy. We are bitter; and bitterness is just about the opposite of sweet.
At the end of this prayer, we see a transparency taking place. And it is a prayer that is seasoned with forgiveness and confession. Going before God admitting we have been hurt, but also going before God confessing that we have been just as guilty of hurting others.
And then Jesus says pray for spiritual guidance away from spiritual traps.
When my family went to Myrtle Beach last Spring, my parents went with us. They followed behind. In one of the cities along the way, we had two options to choose. I mistakenly led us on the downtown route, through traffic. Now it’s really difficult to follow someone when there is heavy traffic and frequent stoplights. Going the wrong way was a trap.
In essence, Jesus is saying we should ask God to clear the traffic; to lead us on a path that will keep us away from the traffic of sin so that we can follow and not lose our way. We are asking God to guide us away from spiritual traps.
Application:
When I read this passage there are some questions I had to ask myself. And I think they are healthy questions for us today.
A. Do my prayers maintain a healthy balance between the formal and the familiar?
B. When was the last time I personally prayed that God’s Kingdom would be brought about through me, his church? And What happened when I did? Did I even listen for God’s response?
C. What areas in my life can I be thankful to God that he has provided for my needs physical and spiritual? What dark path has God rescued me from?
D. What are some areas where I need to be transparent to God about? Either, How others have hurt me and how I can forgive? Or How I have hurt God and need forgiveness?
E. Have I sought to express to God my forgiveness of others? Or do I try to hide bitterness that sours that sweet hour of prayer?
F. Are my prayers seeking direction and guidance? Or do I go along my merry way on the road of life and only come to God when there’s spiritual traffic?
The instructions for prayer might seem hard. But remember the amazing part. God our father likes to hear from us. In fact, like a loving father, he desires to hear from us, and to respond with kindness.
As Jesus ends his teaching on how to pray, he gives this parable.
Luke 11:
5 Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
The Point Is not that God needs to be nagged through prayer. The point is that unlike a friend who might need to be nagged, God hears and answers. We can each boldly approach God in prayer and tell him what we think we need.
Luke 11
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
God will not respond with cruelty, harshness, or callousness but with a great deal of love; and he will provide what we need.
Sweet Hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, that calls me from a world of care
And bids me at my Father’s throne make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief, My soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare, By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Conclusion: Our church concludes with prayer and share time. On this week when people shared prayer requests, I asked for volunteers to take what they had learned and lead them to a quiet place to pray with them on the spot. It was quite effective.
