Prayer (Part 2) - “Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

Last Week, We Introduced Our Series on Prayer…

By Looking at the A.C.T.S. Method of Prayer…

And Talking about How We’re Going to Implement it in Our Worship

After Worship Sunday Morning…

We’d Like All the Men to Stay for a Meeting…

To Talk More about that

We’re Going to Carry on with this Series on Prayer

This Series is Going to Be Broken Down into 3 Sub-Series:

“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

This is the One We’re Starting Tonight

We’ll Be Learning about Prayer from Jesus

“Christian Principles of Prayer”

What Do the Scriptures Tell Us…

The Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How’s of Prayer?

“Unconventional Methods of Prayer”

Discussing Some Unconventional…

Methods/Topics/Thoughts/Questions Concerning Prayer

“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

We’re Going to Begin this Sub-Series…

By Looking at the Times Jesus, Himself, Prayed…

And Seeing What We can Learn

And Then, We’ll Begin Looking at…

What Jesus Taught about Prayer

While Looking at Times that Jesus, Himself, Prayed…

We’re Going to Primarily Stay in the Gospel Account of Luke

Luke Mentions Jesus Praying More than the Other Gospel Accounts

The 1st Time We See Jesus Pray is:

At His Baptism

Luke 3:21–22 (NASB95)

21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

It Seems that Jesus Began Praying Right After Coming Up Out of the Water

I Really Like that Sentiment:

Speaking to the Father the Moment He Saves/Adopts You

I May Begin Doing that Immediately Upon Baptizing People

It’s Interesting that the First Time We See Jesus Pray…

Is Directly After His Baptism

And as We Continue to Follow Jesus…

We Continue to See Him Praying All the Time

A Few Other Times We See Jesus Praying:

Before Choosing the Apostles:

Luke 6:12–13 (NASB95)

12 It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:

Peter Acknowledging Him as the Messiah

Luke 9:18–20 (NASB95)

18 And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” 19 They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

The Transfiguration

Luke 9:28–29 (NASB95)

28 Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.

All of These Important/Significant Events Began with Jesus Praying

Luke Goes on to Tell Us that the Apostles & Early Church…

Prayed Often as Well:

Before the Selection of Judas’ Replacement

After They were Threatened By the Sanhedrin

While an Angel was Releasing Peter from Prison

Prayer was Extremely Important to Jesus…

And it Became Extremely Important to the Early Church as Well

In Luke’s Account, Especially…

You Never Know When a Prayer Might Break Out

Jesus & His Followers were a Constantly Praying People

They Wanted to Involve God in Every Part of Their Lives

And They Believed He would Answer/Act/Respond…

For Their Benefit

And I would Argue…

Every Single Time, He Did

I Believe:

God Always Answers Our Prayers…

In the Way that will Benefit Us Best

Jesus & His Earliest Followers Teach Us…

That Prayer Ought to Be a More Frequent Practice for Us Today

Both Individually & Collectively

After Jesus’ Baptism…

The Next Time We See Mention of Him Praying is in Luke 5:16

Luke 5:15–16 (NASB95)

15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

This is Right After Jesus Heals a Leper

People from All Around have Heard of Jesus & Come Out to Him

But in Their Moments of Need…

Jesus would Often Disappear By Himself into Secluded Areas…

And Pray

We See Him Do this More Than Once…

And the Language Makes it Clear that He did this Often

They Never Tell Us What He Prays About…

But I have My Own Assumptions

One of Jesus’ Temptations is to Rescue & Rule All Humanity

We Know that’s One of His Temptations…

Because Satan Tempts Him with All the Kingdoms of the World

Every Time the Crowds Gather Around Him…

Jesus Eventually Ends Up Sneaking Off to Pray

Why?

I Believe He was Fleeing Temptation…

And Going to God for Help/Strength

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane Before His Arrest…

We Find Him Praying

Luke 22:41–46 (NASB95)

41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. 45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, 46 and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

There’s Several Interesting Things to Notice in this Passage:

He Kneels Down to Pray

Posture of Humility, Surrender, and Weakness

He Prays for God to Do His Will…

Even if His Will Doesn’t Entirely Line Up with His Own

While He’s Praying for God to Remove the Coming Suffering…

He’s “in Agony”, “Praying Very Fervently”, and Sweating Profusely

He’s Experiencing Extreme Anxiety/Fear/Stress/Dread

He Wants More than Just about Anything…

To Escape His Excruciating Death

God Sent an Angel to Strengthen Him During this Time of Temptation

Then Jesus Tells the Disciples (for the 2nd Time) to Pray

Why?

So that They May Not Enter into Temptation

Jesus Prayed When Facing Great Temptation

We Learn from Him:

When Temptation Arises, Flee to the Father

Jesus Wanted His Disciples to Pray so They wouldn’t Be Tempted

Prayer to God Wards Off Temptation

It’s Hard for Temptation to Survive a Cry for Help to God

When Jesus Cried Out in His Temptation…

God Sent an Angel to Strengthen Him

Could God Do the Same Thing for Us Today?

Will God Strengthen Us to Endure the Temptations We Face…

If We will Only Ask?

We Learn from Jesus to Pray Through Our Temptations

Let’s Look at Jesus’ Prayer in John 17

Just Before His Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane…

Jesus Prayed this Prayer:

John 17:1–5 (NASB95)

1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus Knows that His Time has Come

This Same Night He’s Going to Be Arrested & Crucified the Next Day

In this Prayer, Jesus Asks God to Glorify Him…

As He Glorifies God with His Final Act of Obedience to God’s Will

John 17:6–12 (NASB95)

6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 “Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

Jesus Says that He’s:

Taught His Disciples about Who God is

Taught His Disciples to Obey God

Taught His Disciples that He was Sent from God

Kept His Disciples Faithful to God

Now He’s Asking God to:

Continue to Keep Them Faithful - Protect Them

Continue to Keep Them United - Unite Them

John 17:13–26 (NASB95)

13 “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 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 Asks God to:

Keep His Disciples from Evil

Sanctify Them (Make Them Holy Through God’s Word):

So They’ll Be United

So the World will Believe that Jesus was Sent from God

Jesus Also Wants His Followers to Experience Glory Alongside Him

Less Than 24 Hours from His Death…

What Does Jesus Show He’s Concerned About in His Prayer?

He Wants God to Be Glorified Through Him

He Wants God to Glorify Him (Resurrection/Ascension/Enthronement)

He Wants God to Protect & Unify His Followers

He Wants His Followers to Be Glorified as Well

Is There Anything We can Learn about Prayer from Jesus Here?

Pray for God to Use Us for His Glory

Pray for God’s Spiritual Protection Over Us

Pray for God to Unite Us in Faith, Hope, Love…

So that the World can Know God & His Son Through Us

Pray for Future Salvation Through Glorious Resurrection

Invitation

Tonight in the Auditorium Class…

We Looked at a Few Instances Where We Find Jesus Praying

Jesus Prayed A LOT

I Believe Many Times Jesus Prayed to Escape & Receive Help from Temptation

Prayer Challenge:

Pray Through Temptation

Temptation is a Battle of the Wills:

The Will of Your Spirit vs. the Will of Your Flesh

Go to God & Pray for Help in Surrendering to His Will…

And Not the Will of Your Flesh