How to Pray without Ceasing

Teach us to Pray

Luke 11:1–4 ESV

1 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.”

Several disciples were previously disciple of John, Andrew was one of them and Philip probably was the other. They wanted Jesus to teach the same way- not just by example…

our father

Catholics call this an “our Father” and recite it verbatim. but it is clear form the context that this is not how it was ment to be taken. I Jesus did not pray in certain places for hours praying a short prayer over and over again. He had relationship with GOD. and they communicated.

in fact Jesus introduced the “Lord’s prayer” in Matthew 6 with words warning about that very thing.

Matthew 6:7–8 ESV

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

To repeat a prayer by rote - thinking that the pattern of words will produce some effect or force God to do something to treat this model prayer as if it were a spell. In that case we were practicing witchcraft. I don't think that saved Catholics intend to teach by-the-way! But by promoting the practice of repeating the Lord’s prayer a set number of times.... there is a danger that some people may view it as a formula that controls God! this is especially true when it is handed out as patience prayer is seen as a punishment. God forbid. this is not at all what prayer is like. THe Lord’s pray,er was not the Prayer Jesus prayed. it was a model Jesus gave to the Disciples.

Prayer is an awesome privilege , and our adoption as God’s kids, gives our prayers the weight of a dearly loved Child talking to their daddy.

It seams clear that the Lord’s prayer is a prototype… and example of a prayer that has the essential parts for a good prayer.

Father, - understanding of our place in God’s kingdom, and our relationship to God.

hallowed be your name. - God is holy. perfect without sin or blemish. His name is the full representation of his being. - worship God.

Your kingdom come. - The kingdom of God and it’s advancement is the most important thing going on tin the world today. As we partner with God we should realize and remember his mission, that he has asked us to be a part of. DO you realize how out of touch and slef-focused it is to forget his mission and tasks he has given us in that mission, and then ask him for our needs… as if the mission is unimportant?

Give us each day our daily bread, - God know the frailty of the human condition. He has walked in our skin literally… and he knows our needs. He does not want us to be anxious about them. We are to ask him for our needs, and believe we have received them and pray in thanksgiving… not fear or with a scarcity mentality. there is abundant resources for his Children. we may not

forgive us our sins, - we were sinners, now we are saved by grace. but we still sin, and when we do we need to ask for forgiveness. He may have forgiven our sins completely, but we must humble our selves and admit our sins.

for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. - this is the requirement we have. if we are to have our sins forgiven. we would be wicked indeed if after God has forgiven us ALL OUR SIN, that we would then hold on to our petty grievances about the SIN others have done to us. we could get all sanctimonious about it, but then we are judging others, and God will judge us with the same measure we use to judge others… so we must learn to forgive others. and take every offense to Jesus and let it fall on him and not take it up. and then we will be able to freely forgive if we keep our eyes on the great gift of forgiveness Jesus represents in our lives.

And lead us not into temptation.” - DO not forget to ask for protection form the devil. We need God’s power to resist the enemy. Matthew adds “but deliver us from evil. “ - it is implied here and part of the request. Of course James clarifies for us that God is completely Good and cannot tempt anyone. we are tempted when we are lead astray by our own evil desires. so we are not really asking God to not do something he would never do. that would be silly. this is recognition that as Christians we are walking with God… he is leading us. And if we will follow him. He will not allow us to be tested beyond what we can bare… so we are asking here for that guidance, and since His faithfulness is not the issues… that we would have the strength to follow him well so we will not fall into temptation. He is a good shepherd, and he will not lead us into temptation. That would be our wandering heart. that we are asking him to protect and guide and save.

short - It is a prayer. this is why I know Jesus has much more words to say when he prays… we see that in the Garden on the night he is arrested. he prays for hours, and has many words for the father. SO I think we should expect our time with God to last as long as necessary.

I don't have that much to say - prayer is more about listening to God… you can be silent and listen. You can repeat your request if your hear and meaning is in the words. it is the meaningless repetition that has no power.

Have you been on a phone conversation were you want to get off, and the other person keeps talking and your mind starts to wander. and you start saying things like “unhah, yaeh, and I see… just to sound like your paying attention and care when you are really mind has mostly drifted away? - that would be mindless repetition.

the Truth is MINDFUL repetition is desirable. - we will see that in a bit.

but this sermon is on how to pray without ceasing.... so lets go on…

Interrupting a Friend at Midnight

Luke 11:5–8 (ESV)

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

What is this imprudence getting at in the Parable?

A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible 335. ἀναίδεια

ἀναίδεια anaidĕia, an-ah´ee-die-ah´; from a comp. of 1 (as a neg. particle [comp. 427]) and 127; impudence, i.e. (by impl.) importunity:—importunity.

insolence n. — shameless immodesty without concern for propriety or one’s own dignity.

BOLDness - shamelessness .

You have access to the friend.

but what if your first bold request does not get an answer. are you to assume “oh well it must not God’s will”?

Well it might not be God’s will. We are often guilty of praying prayers not aligned with Gods will and that is a Big problem. we need to know GOD well enough that we can ask for things that are in line with his Will.

God has infinite power, he loves us, no time of day is a time when he is sleeping, and he wants us to ask. so the point here is ask for things that you need because what would seam like an imposition to us as humans is not to Him. we need to not be intimidated for asking for big things.

Ask Seek Knock

Luke 11:9–10 ESV

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

if you do not ask, and expect God to answer your being foolish. WHy? well if he gave you what you wanted without you asking, how would you know he was giving it? Us humans think… that by our own power we did it… or it was chance, we would not know that it was GOD, we would not know to thank him, and more importantly our faith and relationship with grow further away from him rather than closer.

therefore we must ask, we must seek, we must Knock. we must pur effort into this, so that when the answer comes we fully appreciate the work of GOD for us.

So we need to be specific.and bold and big with our prayers… and we must ask with right motives and aligned with His will… so many things… but not really… if your in a loving relationship with him.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Luke 18:2–5 ESV

2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ”

What was this parable supposed to teach?

Luke 18:1 ESV

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

why is this hard to understand?

it is helpful we are told what it is about.

People get hung up on this one. for comparing God to the unjust judge in a “LIKE” kind of way. Dont get hung up on the idae that both god and the Judge are in similar roles… to power of this parable is this:

If if a bad judge will do the right thing because of persistant asking… how much more a 100% perfect and Good God.

The problem for us is that we don’t appreciate all the reasons God has for us pushing in and consistently asking over and over again and NOT GIVING UP.

The strengthening of our faith… the strengthening of others faith.

A Late Christmas Gift....

“How to Pray… the best of John Wesley on prayer.”

HOW TO PRAY: THE BEST OF JOHN WESLEY ON PRAYER

Who was John Wesley, and why should he help us understand prayer…?

John came to Christ in response to seeing Moravian prayer. The Moravian were Christians that were from an earlier powerful move of God with Nikolaus von Zinzendorf in Germany.

WESLEY BROTHERS

John Wesley, English clergyman (1703–1791), attempted to revive the spiritual life of the Church of England but instead founded Methodism, a worldwide family of independent churches. His father, Samuel (1662–1735), and his mother, Susanna Annesley (1669–1742), changed their allegiance to the Church of England quite independently of each other before their marriage in 1688. John was probably their fifteenth child, and his brother Charles (1708–1788) the eighteenth. John was educated at the Charterhouse School, London, going on to Christ Church, Oxford; Charles attended Westminster School, and also went on to Christ Church, as had their elder brother Samuel (1691–1739), an ordained clergyman, a schoolmaster at Westminster and Tiverton, and a competent minor poet.

The mother of John and Charles Wesley.

Born in London in 1669, Susanna Wesley was the youngest child of Dr. Annesley, a prominent dissenting minister who gave every attention to her education. She learned Greek, Latin, French, logic and metaphysics and was deeply interested in the religious discussions of the day.

As a young woman, Susanna once said, 'I hope that the fire I start will not only burn all of London, but all of the United Kingdom as well.5/5(1).

At age 19, she met and married Samuel Wesley, a curate in London, who was earning a meager income of £30 a year. Though Samuel had also come from a strong Non-Conformist family, the couple would later decide to renounce dissent and abide by the Church of England.

Women Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps Wesley, Susanna (1669–1742)

As a wife and mother in a small 18th century English parish Susanna Wesley herself received little recognition for how she managed her household, raised and educated more than a dozen children and coped with a sometimes impecunious, idealistic and occasionally difficult clergyman husband.

Early in her life, she vowed that she would never spend more time in leisure entertainment than she did in prayer and Bible study. Even amid the most complex and busy years of her life as a mother, she still scheduled two hours each day for fellowship with God and time in His Word, and she adhered to that schedule faithfully. The challenge was finding a place of privacy in a house filled to overflowing with children.

Mother Wesley’s solution to this was to bring her Bible to her favorite chair and throw her long apron up over her head, forming a sort of tent. This became something akin to the “tent of meeting,” the tabernacle in the days of Moses in the Old Testament. Every person in the household, from the smallest toddler to the oldest domestic helpers, knew well to respect this signal. When Susanna was under the apron, she was with God and was not to be disturbed except in the case of the direst emergency. There in the privacy of her little tent, she interceded for her husband and children and plumbed the deep mysteries of God in the Scriptures. This holy discipline equipped her with a thorough and profound knowledge of the Bible.

Susanna Wesley, mother of John and Charles Wesley, was one of their most influential teachers. She inspired much of her sons’ work, earning the epithet The Mother of Methodism.

131 Christians Everyone Should Know John Wesley

In late 1735, a ship made its way to the New World from England. On board was a young Anglican minister, John Wesley, who had been invited to serve as a pastor to British colonists in Savannah, Georgia. When the weather went sour, the ship found itself in serious trouble. Wesley, also chaplain of the vessel, feared for his life.

But he noticed that the group of German Moravians, who were on their way to preach to American Indians, were not afraid at all. In fact, throughout the storm, they sang calmly. When the trip ended, he asked the Moravian leader about his serenity, and the Moravian responded with a question: Did he, Wesley, have faith in Christ? Wesley said he did, but later reflected, “I fear they were vain words.”

In fact, Wesley was confused by the experience, but his perplexity was to lead to a period of soul searching and finally to one of the most famous and consequential conversions in church history.

131 Christians Everyone Should Know Heart Strangely Warmed

After speaking with another Moravian, Peter Boehler, Wesley concluded that he lacked saving faith. Though he continued to try to be good, he remained frustrated. “I was indeed fighting continually, but not conquering.… I fell and rose, and fell again.”

John went on to preach the word of GOD with the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. He road more than 200, 000 miles. on horse back to preach more than 40,000 sermons.

131 Christians Everyone Should Know From “Methodists” to Methodism

The moral and spiritual fervor of the meetings is expressed in one of Wesley’s most famous aphorisms: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

His powerful, evangelistic services were frequently held in the open air to accommodate audiences in the tens of thousands. Traveling on horseback, he regularly preached three or more times a day, often beginning before daybreak. Even at the age of seventy he preached, without the assistance of modern amplification, to an estimated throng of thirty-two thousand people.

https://faithgateway.com/blogs/christian-books/praying-example-susanna-wesley/

Were did he get that energy and commitment?

From God through prayer.

This booklet is teaken from his writing o the subject of prayer.

John said -

“Prayer is the most powerful of all pastimes.”

“All who desire the grace of God are to wait for it, first, in the way of prayer”

A close relationship with God is a place of powerful prayer.

Tozer for the Christian Leader January 7: The Call of God

Every person should see to it that he is fully cleansed from all sin, entirely surrendered to the whole will of God and filled with the Holy Spirit. Then he will not be known as what he does, but as what he is. He will be a man of God first and anything else second. WTA059–060