Lord Teach Us to Pray
Jesus’ disciples saw Him go to secluded places to pray many times and they wanted to learn to pray to the Father as Jesus did. The Bible tells us much about how we should pray and the attitude of prayer. Prayer is our communication line to God. It is like talking with a close friend concerning a personal matter. The conversation is just between you and the friend. It is the same way with our conversation with God.
Let’s see what Jesus had to say concerning the don’ts of prayer.
Matt 6:5-8
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.
(NIV)
When we pray, we should be having a personal talk with God. We don’t pray so that others will see us pray as the Pharisees did in the synagogues. We aren’t trying to impress anyone with our prayers, but we are praying to our Father on a one on one basis. Jesus instructed us to go into a solitary place like a room or even a closet to pray in secret. This will also eliminate all distractions. Be sure to unplug the phone or turn off your cell phone. Our prayer life with our Father should be more important than anything else, so make sure there will be no interruptions.
Then Jesus tells us not to keep on babbling on and on. God is all knowing! He knows what you are going to say before you even say it. So don’t try to impress God with all of your fancy words. There are some religions that require their members to memorize prayers and they repeat these prayers over and over again. They even use repetitious prayers for repentance of their sins. Prayer is a personal conversation with God. No one can tell you what to say. This is something that comes from the heart and spirit. Jesus shows us how we ought to pray, but the words come from us.
We should treasure this time of fellowship with our heavenly Father. Prayer isn’t a magic formula to get things from God. Communing with God in prayer is itself a reward. We have been given the right and privilege to directly address the Creator of the Universe, the Almighty, and the Alpha and Omega. What can be greater than this?
Secret prayer is always rewarded with a response from God. It may not always be the response that we wanted, but it will be the best response.
There was a man who just committed his life to the mission field and he wanted to witness to the Colombian Contras, but he didn’t know how to get into their camps without being killed. So this missionary prayed that God would grant his wish and to give him safe passage into the Contra’s camps. Praying in faith that God would answer his prayer, the missionary went to South America. When he arrived he decided to go downtown to buy some supplies that he would need in the jungle. When he walked into the store some young men came running out and knocked him down. The nearby police grabbed the young rebels and also the missionary and arrested them for robbery of the store. The missionary couldn’t believe what was happening to him. He had prayed to God for protection so he could witness to the Contra rebels, but here he is in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. After a few days in prison he realized that the majority of the other inmates were Contra rebels. He began to witness to them about Jesus Christ and led many to know our Lord. This missionary was given the opportunity to witness to a captured audience of Contra rebels and at the same time was protected from any harm that they may have caused him if they had been in the jungle. Over the next five years that he was in prison for something that he had not done, he led many Contras and guards to know Christ has their Savior. God had answer this missionary’s prayer with the best answer, but not the one that he had expected. When God answers our prayers, trust God. He knows better than us how to best answer our prayers. We need to learn to obey and follow God’s instructions.
If we are to nurture a strong bond with our Creator, we must continually communicate with Him. Prayer is the primary way of doing that. A way of prioritizing the principles of such communication through prayer is found in the acronym F-A-C-T-S.
Faith
To pray the prayer of faith we must study the word of God. We cannot believe by just trying to make ourselves believe. This is "make believe."
Rom 10:17
17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
(NIV)
John 15:7
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
(NIV)
Jesus promised us that whatever we ask for it will be given to us. This takes a lot of faith to believe. To have faith that our prayers will be answered means that we must truly believe the word of God. This means that we must constantly be in the word of God. So many Christians today thinks that it is enough just to listen to the Pastor preach the word once a week and that they don’t need to read the Bible, because the Pastor will tell them everything that they need to know. First without knowing the Word, how do you know if the Pastor is preaching the truth? Secondly, even if you went to church every Sunday all of your life, the Pastor wouldn’t have enough time to teach you everything. When you attended school, didn’t you have homework and reading assignments? We must get back into the habit of reading and studying God’s word everyday. The more you read the Bible, the greater your faith will be.
Adoration
Through adoration we express our genuine, heartfelt love and longing for God. Adoration inevitably leads to praise and worship, as our thoughts are focused on God’s surpassing greatness.
Ps 95:6-7
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
(NIV)
Tell God how much you adore Him when you pray to Him. All throughout history people bowed in the presence of kings and queens to show their adoration and loyalty to them. Isn’t God greater than any mere earthly king? Why shouldn’t we show the same adoration and respect to our King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our heavenly Father. In my secret prayer place, I am always on my knees when I pray and sometimes even raising my hands toward heaven.
Confession
While unconfessed sin will not break our union with God, it will break our communion with God. Thus confession is a crucial aspect of daily prayer.
I Jn 1:8-10
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
(NIV)
Even after we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we still commit sin everyday. This sin interferes with our communion with God. It is very important that we confess this sin in our prayers to God and ask for His forgiveness. When asking for forgiveness, be specific about that sin that you are asking to be forgiven. Yes, God knows what sins you have committed, but He wants to be sure that you know what your sins are.
Thanksgiving
Ps 100:4
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
(NIV)
We are told to enter His presence with thanksgiving and to always give thanks for all the blessings God as bestowed upon us. Failure to do so is the stuff of pagan babbling and carnal Christianity. We get in a habit of continually going to God with new request each day and forget to thank God for the answers of our request from yesterday. Be thankful in all things.
1Thes 5:16-18
16 Be joyful always;
17 pray continually;
18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
(NIV)
We should always be joyful because God is in control and He has given us the privilege of approaching the throne of grace at anytime. Pray continually and not just when you need something or are having problems. Pray and just thank God for being our father and for caring for us and loving us so much that He gave His one and only Son so that we could have eternal life even though we don’t deserve it.
Supplication
I Jn 5:14-15
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us-- whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him.
(NIV)
Many may ask "Why pray at all if God all ready know what we are going to ask for?" While our Father knows what we need before we even ask, our supplications are in and of themselves an acknowledgment of our dependence on Him. Our request should be within the will of God. As a father you care for the welfare of your children. If they came to you and asked for something you knew would harm them, then you wouldn’t give it to them. But if they asked for something that would benefit them or someone else then you would give it to them. Our Father is the same way. He knows what the outcome of our request will be. We are not to ask for things that are contrary to God’s will or teachings.
Let’s now look at:
The Prayer Jesus Prayed.
Matt 6:9
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
(KJV)
By accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we have the right to call God our Father, who is in heaven. We are also to praise God and let Him know that we do know that He is Holy and His name is above all other names.
Matt 6:10
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
(KJV)
We are to continually to be preparing for Christ’s return, when He will set up His kingdom here on earth for a 1000 years. This will be a time that everyone will be doing God’s will here on earth. Even when we pray and request things, we should always pray that God’s will and not our will be accomplished. Knowing that Christ will return to set up His kingdom on earth, we need to be busy preaching the Gospel to all of those who haven’t heard it.
Matt 6:11
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
(KJV)
God provides for our needs and we should acknowledge to God that it is He that provides for our needs and not we ourselves. Sometimes we think that because we work and make good money that it is ourselves that are providing our daily bread, but God is the one that enabled us to have the job that earns the money to by our food. We need to remember that we can do nothing without God.
Matt 6:12
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
(KJV)
Jesus paid for our debts, when He said on the Cross "it is finished." We didn’t deserve what Jesus did for us. God loves us so much that wanted to give us a way to have eternal life. We have all sinned and we all deserve death, but God forgave us our debts through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. We are also to forgive our debtors or those who sin against us. How can we expect God to forgive us if there is someone in our lives that we haven’t forgiven? Jesus gave several parables concerning this matter, so it must be important.
Matt 6:13
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
(KJV)
We are to ask God to lead us according to His will. This also means that we must be willing to follow. God will not allow Satan to tempt us more than we can withstand. When we ask God to deliver us from evil, He has all ready given us the way to be delivered. Remember what Paul told the Ephesians concerning the Armor of God?
Let’s read it:
Eph 6:13-18
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
(NIV)
God has given us all the tools that we need to withstand the Devil. It is up to us to use those tools. Keep the faith, stay in the Word and pray for all the saints.
When we pray "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever" we are acknowledging that God’s kingdom will rule forever and that He has the power to cast Satan and all unbelievers into the burning lake of fire, but through His glory, He has given everyone a way to live in His presence forever, if we will accept His Son Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Let’s start practicing what we have learned today concerning prayer. Here are some practical guidelines.
1. Make the paradigm shift. Stop seeing prayer as merely a means to ask for things. Start seeing prayer for what it really is. Prayer is enjoying the riches of a relationship with God and being able to communicate with Him.
2. Confess your sins daily. Be specific when you ask for forgiveness. Be sure there is no unforgiveness in your life toward someone. When Jesus ended His prayer, He added the following.
Matt 6:14-15
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.
(NIV)
3. Get into the Bible. Study God’s Word. Through His Word He will show you His will for you and the clearer His voice will be for you when we commune with him in prayer.
4. Discover your secret place. The secret to prayer is to have a place where you can commune with God and not be distracted by anything that is going on around you. This is a place where the only thing that happens here is talking with God. This is your special secret meeting place with God.
5. Make prayer a priority. Prayer should be the most important thing in your life. Prayer is coming into the presence of God. Just you and Him. What could be more important than this? We should look forward to our prayer time everyday, but we should always go to the Lord in prayer before making any decisions in our lives. We can and should pray many times each day, but have that one special time and place where you meet your Creator one on one in your secret place.
Please stand.
If you are here today and you don’t have that personal relationship with God that we have been talking about, then He is calling you to make that commitment now. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then there is only one prayer that God will hear from you. To be able to commune with God, you first have to believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on that old rugged cross for your sins. Come now and pray the only prayer that God will hear from you. Pray to God and admit that you are a sinner and that you will repent from those sins. Tell God that you do believe and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and you will allow Him to be the Lord of your life. Ask Jesus to live in your heart and for Him to change your life. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the prayer that opens a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father. Come now.
