So Many Thoughts On Prayer

SO MANY THOUGHTS ON PRAYER

LUKE 11:1-13

#prayer

INTRODUCTION… preceptaustin.org/prayer_devotionals_and_illustrations

David Jeremiah is a Southern Baptist minister and you can hear him on the radio on ‘Turning Point’ and he has also written a few books. He has a 2004 book called “Prayer: The Great Adventure.”

He says in that book, “I scoured the New Testament some time ago, looking for things God does in ministry that are not prompted by prayer. Do you know what I found? Nothing. I don’t mean I had trouble finding an item or two; I mean I found nothing. Everything God He does through prayer. Consider:

Prayer is the way you defeat the devil (Luke 22:32; James 4:7).

Prayer is the way you get the lost saved (Luke 18:13).

Prayer is the way you acquire wisdom (James 1:5).

Prayer is the way a backslider gets restored (James 5:16–20).

Prayer is how the saints get strengthened (Jude 20, Matthew 26:41).

Prayer is the way we get laborers out to the mission field (Matthew 9:38).

Prayer is how we cure the sick (James 5:13–15).

Prayer is how we accomplish the impossible (Mark 11:23–24).

What we do for the Lord is entirely dependent upon what we receive from the Lord, and what we receive from the Lord is entirely dependent upon what we are in the Lord, and what we are in the Lord is entirely dependent upon the time we spend alone with the Lord in prayer.”

I found that thought provoking since I want to talk about prayer today and again re-iterate how important prayer is for the believer in Jesus Christ. I don’t think I can say it enough. I really don’t.

What I would like to do is read 13 verses from Luke 11 today and give you all the thoughts on prayer that are included in those verses.

Let’s jump right in with the passage we call “the Lord’s Prayer.”

READ LUKE 11:1-4 (ESV)

“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 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 forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

I want to stop after these first few verses and lay out some thoughts.

THOUGHT ON PRAYER: Prayer is Learned (verse 1)

One of the first truths we notice in this passage is that prayer is not something we are born knowing how to do properly, but it can be learned and it can be taught. John the Baptist taught his followers how to pray. One of the disciples knew this and after watching Jesus pray and realizing his inadequacy in this area, asked Jesus to teach them all to pray. The disciples wanted to pray like Jesus… that is a worthy goal! Jesus did not look strangely at which ever disciple this was, but rather launched into helping the men around Him learn to pray.

For the disciples, prayer was a normal part of their spiritual lives and they knew that Jesus Christ could show them a better way. Jesus’ way is always the better way.

[GOSPEL

I mean that when I say that… Jesus’ way is always the better way. We sin and we go our own way and we end up broken and lost and hurting. Jesus’ way is to come to Him and confess sin and faith and He will forgive us because of what He has already done on the cross. Jesus’ way is Him in our lives and forgiveness. That is the Gospel.]

Anyway, Jesus knew could show them a direction in prayer that pleased God. He could teach them to pray just like others had been taught to pray. If we struggle in prayer, maybe we just don’t know how and we need to take it upon ourselves to ask. If we wonder what words to say, we can learn and then we can honor our Heavenly Father more when we pray to Him.

Jesus’ response is an example prayer that we can learn from. What do we find in this prayer?

THOUGHT ON PRAYER: Always Keep The Holy Father in View (verse 2)

As I thought about how Jesus began His prayer, my heart kept focusing on the way Jesus focused on God as our Holy Father. “Hallowed” means “holy.” When Christians pray, we pray to a Holy Father in Heaven Who is perfect and so far above us that we can scarcely imagine Who He is and how we can hope to interact with Him. He is awesome in power and perfect in His will and purpose for us.