TEXT: Luke 11:1
TITLE: “Teach us to Pray with EXCELLENCE -- Part 1”
TOPIC: PRAYER
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, January 6th 2008
PROP.: LORD TEACH US TO PRAY. Each of these 4 key words holds immeasurable meaning! May we be encouraged by each of these words.
INTRODCUTION: Good morning! Please open your Bible up to Luke 11. Today we continue on in our sermon series called BEING THE CHURCH WITH EXCELLENCE.
Our theme verses are on the wall. We are looking at the early church as our model for excellence. The first church was an EXCELLENT church. And the reason it was excellent was because they were devoted to some things. One of those things they were devoted to was PRAYER.
For the next 4 weeks or so, our attention will be turned to the matter of prayer.
Acts 2:42-47
“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
My desire is for us to be a people that continually devotes ourselves to PRAYER! Prayer needs to be the foundation of everything that happens here at Burnside.
IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF GOD’S CHURCH PRAYED? I just want to challenge you to consider the possibilities!
IF YOU GET NOTHING ELSE OUT OF THIS MORNING’S MESSAGE, GET THIS:
I WANT YOU TO GET PASSIONATE ABOUT THE POWER OF PRAYER!
So let’s be clear about what prayer is not:
Prayer is not a genie in a bottle. You know what I mean, right? God is NOT genie that you go to when you want a wish granted…it’s so much more than that! Prayer is our DAILY communication with the creator of the universe! It seems that the only time most people pray (and certainly our country turns to prayer) is in time of crisis. A non-Christian will request prayers when he is sick. Prayer is a privilege that should be utilized at more times than just when you are in trouble!
Prayer is more than a grocery list or wish list that we spew out of things we want. God is so much more than Santa-Clause figure on whose lap we sit only interested in telling him what we want, expecting Him to pay up.
Prayer is more than a good luck charm that we rub or kiss for good luck.
There are so many verses on prayer, but perhaps the best place for us to start is found in Luke 11:1
Let’s read our text:
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."
The disciples had been with Christ and seen Him pray. They had learned to understand something of the connection between his wondrous life in public and His secret life of prayer. They had come to believe in Him as Master in the art of prayer - none could pray like him. And so they came to him with the request, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And so this is our request today: “Lord, teach us to pray!”
T.S.: To better understand the magnitude of what the disciples were asking, let’s look at each word in the phrase: LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY!
So the first word -
I. “LORD, teach us to pray!”
As the disciples were making their request…they had come to the right place. Have you ever gone to the WRONG person to do a job you asked them to do?
Well, The disciples went to
A. The right guy for the job
They came to Jesus…and they were like: “Can you teach us how to pray?”
It was not unusual, for the disciples to come and ask Jesus to teach them something. They were so blessed! They had JESUS. CHRIST. AS their teacher! They had God in the flesh, teaching them how to do ministry. Wow. And now they were coming to Him and asking Him to teach them to pray? I don’t think the disciples fully understood what they were asking for! We know they don’t know what they are asking for…because they ask Jesus to teach like John taught his disciples…NEWS FLASH…there is a HUGE difference between John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ!
(JESUS AS TEACHER)
But none the less, whether they realized it or not…the disciples were asking the right guy the right request!
I mean, there IS NO greater teacher than Jesus! None can teach like Jesus, none but Jesus; therefore, the disciples PLEADED with Him to teach them. And we do the same thing this morning…LORD..JESUS…GOD ALMIGHTY…TEACH US!
A student needs a teacher who in patience and love will descend to the pupil’s needs! A teacher who can come to the level of his students and fully reach out to them in their moment of need! NOW do you see that Jesus is all this and so much more!!!
--Jesus was the teacher of the disciples. 16 times Jesus is referred to as Rabbi. The disciples were actually students! And so it seems only natural that they would come to Him for instruction!
His students were learning a lot from their master, and here they wanted to learn to pray. Now, the disciples weren’t foreigners to the idea of prayer. Many of them grew up in Jewish homes and therefore knew HOW to pray…but there was something different about Jesus’ prayers. And they wanted to learn to pray like Jesus prayed…with power, sincerity and significance!
Jesus was no stranger to prayer…on several occasions, we find Jesus communicating to His Father!
B. Example of Jesus’ prayers
Jesus prayed…A LOT! But I still can’t help but marvel at the prayer recorded by John. In John 17, we get the most detailed snapshot of Jesus’ prayer life!
--He even prayed for Himself, the 12 disciples, and for you and for me! All of this is recorded in John 17. The part I want to focus on is His prayer for you and for me! I don’t know about you, but I’m amazed, that Jesus with his foreknowledge, prayed for ME!
John 17:20-26
20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
--Jesus prayed for what concerned Him the most. How meaningful that we have here recorded, His prayer for his church. Jesus’ ultimate desire is for us to get along. For us to be one! To experience fellowship as close as is experienced by God the father and God the son!
The Lesson we learn from the disciples…LEARN FROM THE BEST!
Study the prayers of Jesus and you’ll soon discover how to have a better prayer life. When Jesus talked with His heavenly father, he was honest, open and sincere!
Jesus is the master of prayer! And so the disciples were asking the right guy, the right question: “Lord, teach us to pray!”
The disciples not only went to the right guy, but they also asked for the right thing: So they then asked:
II. “Lord, TEACH us to pray!”
Learning is difficult. Learning requires focus, concentration and practice!
A. The Need to be taught:
The disciples were admitting the need to be taught!
How many of you are where you want to be in regards to your prayer life? I don’t think there would be anyone so bold as to say - “Well, I’ve learned everything I need to know about prayer…”
And specifically, this morning, if you’re not where you want to be, in regards to your prayer life…take heart:
ILLUSTRATION: Think about all of the things in this life you have learned. Things you had to be taught how to do. Some things you picked up on very quickly…(like eating!)…other things took a little longer to learn. When you are taught something, it’s very rare that you immediately become an expert. And so it is with prayer. Don’t be frustrated in your prayer life if you aren’t the prayer warrior you’d like to be. As the old saying goes: practice makes perfect!
Now what I want you to envision this morning is this:
B. Imagine the results!
Imagine what would happen if every single one of us were continually devoted to prayer. What if EVERY SINGLE day…EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US prayed that Tony Newton would be completely restored and healed?
Imagine what would happen if every single one of us prayed for Jairus Churchill that the hole in his heart would be fixed by God?
--If we could but master the art of praying, just think of what would be achieved?
Ephesians 3:20,21
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
--What ever you dream would be possible with us being united in prayer, God is going to immeasurably MORE than you could imagine! We will have more sermons in the future about praying “right-sized” prayers.
But I think it’s good to keep in mind that we need to be TAUGHT.
Not only did the disciples go to the right person…not only were they asking the right thing…they ALL recognized their need…they said:
III. “Lord, teach US to pray!”
A. “Us” means everyone in this room!
This is specifically my prayer. God, allow everyone here to be committed to prayer…as individuals, as families, as a church…as your people! Allow us to become dependent and addicted to prayer!”
“US” doesn’t mean the paid staff. “US” doesn’t mean the elders or Sunday school teachers…it means YOU. It means uniting together in prayer! We will have more teaching on this in the weeks to come as well. I want to place in your hands, the tools needed for you to become an effective prayer warrior!
B. “Us” means age makes no difference!
Prayer is something so profound that Bible experts find it difficult to pray, and yet it’s simple enough children learn how to pray at a young age!
--PARENTS…how many of you have taken the time to teach your own kids how to pray. Whether it is helping them to say their bedtime prayers or saying a prayer before you eat as a family, you’ve tried to make daily prayer a part of their life. And I don’t simply mean, model prayer for them…I mean that’s important…but I mean, how many of you give them opportunities to pray out loud at the supper table or at family meetings…or whatever…how many of you actually GIVE THEM the opportunity to practice their prayer life?
IV. “Lord, teach us to pray!”
A. The mystery of prayer = GOD WANTS TO LISTEN!
Few things are as mind blowing as prayer.
God wants to hear you! Why on earth does God want to hear me? I have no idea! But what a privilege it is! And I hope that it’s a privilege that you will see not as a burden…but…MY LAND…a BLESSING!
LISTEN TO JOHN’S WORDS IN
1st John 5:14,15
14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
God desires to hear us and WILL hear us!
B. The example of Jesus’ prayer
So turning back to our text…after Jesus hears the request of his students…he gives them a model. A lot of us have this memorized. But it was never intended to be the subsitute for our own personal prayers…it was never intended to be a mantra to be chanted. Merely a model!
I want to go through those few verses and see exactly what it looks like to PRAY…
Luke 11:2-4
And He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 3 ‘Give us each day our daily bread. 4 ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
This is NOT the first time that Jesus teaches people about prayer. The first time he taught people about prayers was on the side of a mountain. It’s found in Matthew 6
Matthew 6:7-13
7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 ‘Give us this day [e]our daily bread. 12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from [f]evil.
I don’t know about you, but I can remember putting this to memory at church camp many, many moons ago. But I have never really thought through what these verses mean…maybe you haven’t either. I want to take time this morning to do just that.
Think about the first phrase: OUR FATHER
HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME - the word hallowed means sacred. Your name is so sacred, Lord, that it’s a privilege to even just SPEAK to you...it’s an honor just to address you!
I mean stop and think about these phrases…and maybe we’ve spoken them and didn’t really even put thought into what they mean!
Think about what it means to ask God to : GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD
We’re asking for our daily provision. I don’t know if I’ve ever had to pray this because I live with so much. But think about that phrase…what you’re asking God for is to provide you with just enough to get me through this day. The truth is…if God just gave us our daily bread, many of us would be angry. “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give me? Just enough for today?” But isn’t it interesting that Jesus tells us to worry about today…tomorrow has enough problems of its own? Don’t worry about tomorrow! Tomorrow will come tomorrow. Deal with today first.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION…have ever prayed that phrase and yet you were still holding onto some temptation? You weren’t ready to let go of your sin. Many times our prayers are REACTIVE…we need to be PROACTIVE with our prayers. Most of the time, we are praying: “God forgive me for the sin I just committed…” We need to praying that God would keep temptation far from us!
But the one that scares me is: FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. What we are saying is: “God, forgive me as I have forgiven other people.” That is scary because sometimes, I am not the most forgiving. Sometimes, I can carry a grudge rather well. How about you?
YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Wow. Do you understand the gravity of that prayer? Do you understand the weight and meaning and power of that phrase? What we are saying is - We want things on earth to be like it is in heaven. In heaven, YOU reign. In heaven, YOU rule. In heaven, YOU are in control!
And in our prayer life, are we after the same thing that God is after? Are we kingdom minded when we pray? Or are we after our OWN kingdom? “I want what I want and I want it now.” Is that not more like the tone of our prayers some times?
And so what we DESPERATELY need in our lives is: Lord, teach us…TO PRAY!
CONCLUSION: Today I hope you realize, that prayer is the foundation on which this church needs to built on! We need to be a people who prays to their God! Won’t you join us as we become united together as a PRAYING CHURCH! Together, let’s become warriors of prayer! With prayer, the task ahead of you is never as great as the power behind you!
