1 Once when Jesus had been out praying, one of his disciples came to him as he finished and said, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
Matthew 6:9-13
9 Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done here on earth,
just as it is in heaven.
11 Give us our food for today,
12 and forgive us our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, Forever. Amen.
(New Living Translation)
How To Experience The Power Of Prayer
Part II
Luke 11:2-4; Matthew 6:9-13
Review:
I. Our Abundant Misconceptions About Prayer Prevent Us From Experiencing Prayer’s Full Potential.
1. Prayer Is Asking God For Things.
2. There Are Certain Positions For Prayer.
3. Only Prayers Of Spontaneity Are Sincere.
4. Mature Christians Know How To Pray.
"The Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." Romans 8:26 (New Living Trans)
5. Prayer Increases The Chances Of Getting What We Want.
This morning we will be looking at the demands of prayer.
II. To Obtain The Greatest Benefit From Prayer We Must Understand It’s Requirements.
Prayer is talking, singing, laughing, crying, and listening. It is about furthering a relationship with God. It’s about sincerity, honesty, openness. It’s sharing needs, desires, and even wants- communicating dreams and goals, confessing sins and hurts. Prayer is about being in love. About wanting to know everything about God and to have God know everything about us.
Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
Communication is integral to relationships, but we must know what to say, how to say it, and even when to say it. *Commercial about guy with thick head, lipstick on shirt, credit statement with $100 for a massage, bachelor party video.
Good communication is knowing what to say, when to say it, and how to say it.
1. We Must Begin With The Right Attitude About Prayer.
Not our attitude in general, but our attitude concerning what prayer is about. For some of us we have been taught so well to respect God that we over-guard our approach to Him. We’re afraid to be forthcoming for fear of offending.
Psalm 13:1 O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? (New Living Translation)
22:1 My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? Why do you remain so distant? Why do you ignore my cries for help? (New Living Translation)
18:1 I love you, Lord; you are my strength. (New Living Translation)
57:1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this violent storm is past. (New Living Translation)
59:1 Rescue me from my enemies, O God. Protect me from those who have come to destroy me. (New Living Translation)
94:1 O Lord, the God to whom vengeance belongs, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice be seen! (New Living Translation)
(A Psalm that many in a small California community are crying out.)
*Prayer is not about saying the right words. Prayer is about openness and honesty. If we’re having a good day we share it with our spouse or friends to encourage them. If we’re having a bad day we go to our spouse or friends for comfort and support.
Psalm 137 1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept
as we thought of Jerusalem.
2 We put away our lyres,
hanging them on the branches of the willow trees.
3 For there our captors demanded a song of us.
Our tormentors requested a joyful hymn:
"Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!"
4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill upon the harp.
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I fail to remember you,
if I don’t make Jerusalem my highest joy.
7 O Lord, remember what the Edomites did
on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem.
"Destroy it!" they yelled.
"Level it to the ground!"
8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed.
Happy is the one who pays you back
for what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who takes your babies
and smashes them against the rocks! (New Living Translation)
2. We Must Begin With The Right Motive.
*Bear Joke: Man, "God make this bear a Christian." Bear, "I thank you God for this meal which you have provided."
Luke 9:53-55 "but the people would not receive him, ... And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?" But he [Christ] turned and rebuked them." (RSV)
*Don’t ask God to act contrary to His nature, or to work against His will.
-last week, Prayer Increases The Chances Of Getting What We Want
If we want money, we shouldn’t pray assuming we will get it. If we are angry, we shouldn’t pray against people, or pray harm upon them.
James 4:2-3 "You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure." (New Living Translation)
3. We Must Begin With A Clear Conscience.
In regards to God: Isaiah 1:14-16 "Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil" (RSV)
6:4-7 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven." (RSV)
In regards to others: I Timothy 2:8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; (RSV)
Matthew 5:23-24 "So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God." (New Living Translation)
4. We Must Begin With Mutual Respect. (Undivided Attention)
Matthew 6:6 "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (RSV)
*Talking to a spouse with their head stuck in the TV.
5. We Must Begin With A Shut Mouth.
I Kings 19:11-12 And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. (RSV)
Closing:
Ephesians 6:18 Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere. (New Living Translation)
I Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray constantly" (RSV)
