Practicing The Faith || Prayer

If you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word - Pray with me before we read.

Pray

Luke 11:1–4 (CSB)

He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,

Father, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.”

This is the Word of the Lord - Please be seated.

Good Morning, glad you are here with us today at the Seed Community Church.

We are officially starting our series on Practicing The Faith, where we look at the life of Jesus and his followers to look at how they lived the faith. So that we can train ourselves in Godliness, so that we can work out our salvation with fear and trembling. So that, ultimately we can become people of love for the sake of the world - just like Jesus is.

Because if our vision is to see the spiritual temperature of south eastern south dakota - to see the kingdom come here as it is in heaven - it starts with us following Jesus ourselves first.

An yet often, we feel stuck in a rut. We get into our routines, and then years go by and we don’t know how we got to where we arrived.

So we get caught up int he ways of the world and life - wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed. Hopefully make money so i can retire some day. Avoid the big sins. Try to take a vacation once a year. And in a lot of peoples thinking - just try and live a good life in hopes that when I die, God will see that i tried my best and let me into heaven.

There is just so much wrong with that type of life. from it’s theology, to its practice.

Yet we see Jesus live an entirely different way.

Jesus, God embodied. A human who lived in our world under an authoritarian political system that brought peace by the sword. And he shows a completely different way to live life.

In John 10:10 Jesus says this

John 10:10 CSB

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

Jesus says that he came so that we may have life - and life in abundance.

And yes, this is ultimately fulfilled in glory when we are glorified in the presence of the father - but remember, for those who are in christ - we are already a new creation. He has taken our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh.

We are called to live differently, and to be different than the world.

And so Christians are supposed to be marked by an abundant life. Marked by the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

The fruit - or the production of life from the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control.

That should be the outflow of our lives as Christians.

So take a moment, and honestly, do you see the fruit in your life?

Paul continues in Galatians 5:24-25

Galatians 5:24–25 CSB

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

This is the journey we are embarking on - the journey of crucifying the flesh, and keeping in step with the spirit. And my prayer is as we embark on this journey, God would transform us, by grace through faith, as we practice the faith - we want to attempt to answer the “how” of spiritual growth.

On the docket for today is prayer. How do we become people of Love and prayer? How do we get to what Paul writes about in 1 Thessalonians “praying without ceasing.” Some of us hear that and feel guilty, bored, and that the concept is just completely impossible. But that’s what we are called to do!

Prayer is such a vast concept that we could perhaps do a six week study all on prayer! But we will do our best to cover what we can today, and remember we will have community groups start next month which will dive in deeper to prayer.

What is prayer? The Lexham Biblical Dictionary defines prayer as

LBD: “Communication with God, primarily offered in the second-person voice (addressing God directly). May include petition, entreaty, supplication, thanksgiving, praise, hymns, and lament.”

Communication with God,

Skye Jethani takes it a bit further and defines prayer as communion with God - or being WITH God.

In the Christian and Missionary Alliance, we say that Prayer is the Primary or first and most important work of Gods people.

Richard Foster writes in his book The Celebration of Disciplines, quote

“All who have walked with God have viewed prayer as the main business of their lives.” - Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

from Jesus in Mark Mark1:35

Mark 1:35 CSB

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.

Jesus was a prayer. So was David. Psalm63:1

Psalm 63:1 CSB

God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.

In acts 6 - when the apostles had temptations to start administrating food and important matters, they instead determined it was more important for them to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry.

Martin Luther, the reformer declared

If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.

Martin Luther

Big stuff - right?

his other axiom was

To have prayed well is to have studied well.

Martin Luther

John Wesley, a major voice during the great awakening, and founding of the methodist movement

God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it.

John Wesley

Throughout the centuries prayer wasn’t for the giants of the faith a habit in their lives - it was their lives.

and yet - for a lot of us - hear these quotes and feel discouragement rather than challenged. As that feels so far from where we are. We struggle to pray before meals. We pray but we don’t feel like anyones listening. It becomes a have to, chore, like brushing your teeth, rather than communion with the almighty God of the universe.

Know you’re not alone, Dallas Willard writes

In many Protestant churches prayer and Bible study are held up as the activities that will make su spiritually rich. But very few people actually succeed in attaining spiritual richness through them and indeed often find them to be intolerably burdensome. The “open secret” of many “Bible believing” churches is that a vanishingly small percentage of those talking about prayer and Bible reading are actually doing what they are talking about. Dallas Willard

For those of us who desire the Christ life, who want holiness more and more, i believe prayer is the primary discipline we need to get after - as through Christ, when we pray, we are ushered in the presence of God. We can enjoy his presence through prayer. IT matters. And it is a part of all the other disciplines.

So let’s not be discouraged - remember that God meets you where you are at, and call you into the deeper life. It can take practice and preparation to cultivate a true deep and enjoyable life of prayer.

Prayer Through Israel’s History

To start - let’s look at the progression of prayer through Israel’s history leading to Jesus.

think about Genesis 2, where God walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve.

There was communication, in a sense prayer, but it was very personal and intimate. It was like a conversation between friends walking the park. And there are times when I walk with friends, good friends anyway, where there are these lulls int he conversation, where we are still with each other, though not talking, and yet - still very much enjoying each other. Just being in the same space means so much - communication is not exclusively verbal. It is being with someone. Prayer is much that way with God.

Because while prayer is not unique to Christianity and Judaism - many many cultures and religions pray - there are differences in many ways between our faith and others. In our scriptures and the examples we get of prayer, we learn that Yahweh is a God who listens, and is close - Think of Elijah in 1 Kings 17 and 18. In Chapter 18 of 1 Kings we get the famous scene of Elijah versus the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. And Elijah mocks Baal saying

1 Kings 18:27 CSB

At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!”

And it’s contrasted then when Elijah prays, and God IMMEDIATLEY answers with fire and consuming the offerings. God is near to his people. - he’s not a distant grumbling man in the clouds. He doesn’t need to be tricked into helping humanity - he is active throughout history.

When you look at the earliest biblical prayers, with Adam, and Noah, and Abraham - the usually stem from just a easy intimacy filled with spontaneous and unfiltered requests.

As the Biblical Narrative continues, prayer becomes more and more liturgical and fixed. Which doesn’t mean bad - the Psalms are often called the prayer book for the church - they’re beautiful. But of course, written prayers can become wrote and ritualistic - but we often learn through more rigid structure before enjoying a lot of creativity in other aspects of our lives - prayer is similar.

As the Jewish people further left the Garden, they relied more and more on intercessors like Moses, Elijah, Samuel - rather than communicating directly

Leading up to Jesus day, Jews typically would have a standard prayer they would pray - either the Shema or the Amidah.

Israelites would recite the Shema from Deuteronomy 6, 4-9, twice a day, (when they lie down and when they rise).

Daniel practiced praying three times a day, we read that in Daniel 6:10 put that up on the screen.

Daniel 6:10 CSB

When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Jewish people then, by the time of jesus in the second temple period - were practice what we would call “fixed hour prayer” or praying at specific hours. Usually morning and evening, or morning, midday, and evening.

They usually used the Shema, or the Amidah - which we talk about less, but it was a collection of 18 prayers and petitions and blessings that were offered three times a day through personal prayer and the synagogue service.

But they were not to become just rote actions. There was one quote written to Simeon that said: “Be careful to recite the shema and to pray the amidah. But when you pray, do not allow your prayer to become a fixed mechanical task.”

Jesus comes along and in that time, and he is all about prayer.

Jesus and Prayer

Let’s now consider Jesus himself, and his prayer life

And his life was big, and miraculous, and powerful. but he never forsake time with the Father in prayer. Luke 5 has an incredible scene that demonstrates this.

In luke 5:12, Jesus is going throughout the towns, and he heals a man of leprosy, and JEsus orders the man to tell no one - but to present himself to the priest and offer the appropriate things.

And we read in Luke 5:15-16

Luke 5:15–16 CSB

But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.

The news about Jesus spread - crowds come together to hear him.

Time to start a podcast, Jesus! Start a Youtube channel! Monetize the masses - capitalize on your mission now!

No, Jesus withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Communion with the Father. That’s what Jesus was about.

And his prayers were different enough that when his disciples hear his prayers they are struck and want to learn more. That’s where our scripture reading from this morning picks up.

Luke 11:1 CSB

He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

Notice - he was praying, his disciples were with him - because they would follow him everywhere watching what he did - that’s what disciples do.

He was praying in a certain place. Jesus had a certain place, a secluded place, a hide away - away from distractions and crowds and pressures. As embodied people - meaning we have bodies - where we pray, or what’s around us when we are praying makes a difference in our focus. Jesus would go away, so he wasn’t distracted and so he could focus on the Father.

When he finished praying - one of the disciples says - “Teach us how to pray. John the baptist taught his disciples - but we think you’ve got something good going on - could you teach us how to do that?”

What a beautiful and humble request. Perhaps we don’t think about prayer as something that we learn - but praise the Lord that it is - because that gives me permission to try and fail at it and get better over time!

For me growing up in a Christian home with great parents who were in ministry - prayer was just always around me - and I learned prayer by listening to them and others around me - and I found helpful tools about prayer, but it definitely was something i felt like i “should” do rather then what I wanted to do.

Like I should pray for my food before eating it, or i might choke on it and die.

But we see Jesus enjoying a relational closeness with the father through prayer, and he wants to pray, needs to pray - longs to pray.

And that’s infectious! So the disciples humbly ask: “Can I get in on that prayer?”

And theres an invitation here - as we consider prayer, and we will get into the “hows” and practices here in a minute, but the disciples ask Jesus how to pray - we should to. We should, when we pray ask: “Father - would you teach me how to pray?”

Notice, Jesus doesn’t grumbly at the disciples request: “ugh weren’t you paying attention to what I just did?”

He responds Luke 11:2a

Luke 11:2 (CSB)

He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say. . .

He just answers them. Isn’t that lovely? And notice here - Jesus doesn’t continue on saying “Pray whatever you feel like -” spontaneous prayers arent bad - but the Disciples ask him how to pray - and he gives them a prayer to pray! It’s a foundation and a building frame.

And later on, we have writings from the early church that the early christians would recite this prayer, or the Lord’s prayer three times a day.

Then Jesus begins the prayer. This is the famous “Lords prayer” as recorded by Luke, its like an abbreviated version that is found in the sermon on the mount in Matthew.

But he continues Luke 11:2

Luke 11:2 (CSB)

He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say, Father, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come.

The prayer begins, Father - your name be honored as holy - or other translations would say hallowed be your name.

I think we take for granted how revolutionary this prayer is because we are too familiar with the prayer - and it’s challenging to us for perhaps other reasons.

Jesus tells his disciples to address God as Father. In Aramaic the word would be Abba, a term of endearment and closeness, and it is still respectful. It would perhaps be the equivalent of the word “Dad” in our vernacular. This personal address to God as Father by Jesus is remarkable. In the Old Testament - Yahweh is referred to as father as metaphor, but typically not as a personal address. Jesus’ calling God “Abba” communicates an intimate closeness with God that was absent from the jewish prayers of the day.

The Apostle Paul picks up on this later, teaching his readers that using Abba in prayer showed their adoption as children of God.

Friends - this would have been shocking for these good jewish boys of the disciples to consider that they should pray with that level of intimacy with God. And yet that’s what Jesus says.

Then continues “you name be honored as holy.” This is the part that perhaps is challenging for us. The Jews in jesus day were very comfortable with the idea of God’s holiness - we don’t even know what that means. Holy means different. Special. Set a part.

So Jesus prayer starts by recognizing that God is so intimate with us, like a father to his children - and yet there is NO ONE like him. He is completely set a part and different and special. So spectacular that you can just look at him for eternity - just behold him.

We get this when we see something spectacular, we will say: “I’ve never seen anything like that! Wow!” God is that times infinity.

Notice that the prayer starts with relationship and ascribing worship to God - not asking or interceding. Just there with God and seeing him for his holiness.

Then moves to “Your kingdom come,”

Jesus teaches us to pray for the kingdom to come. Sometimes we fail to realize that our prayers actually matter.

Some of us have been taught that everything in the cosmos is locked in, and things wont be changed - so why would we even pray? Or we pray out of obedience, but not because it makes a difference. That is not the Biblical precedent. Those in the biblical narrative prayed as if their prayers could and would change the cosmos. Thats why paul calls us “co laborers with God.”

Why did Moses pray boldly? Because he actually believed his prayers mattered and could change things - even god’s mind! While God changing his mind is an anthropomorphism that’s tough for us to understand - the Bible speaks of God changing his mind in accordance with his love (you can see that in ex 32, and Jonah3).

All that said - friends prayer matters, or Jesus wouldn’t have us pray this way!

Foster writes about this

We are working with God to determine the future! Certain things will happen in history if we pray rightly. We are to change the world by prayer. What more motivation do we need to learn this loftiest human exercise? Richard Foster

So we need to rid ourselves of this stoic fatalism that some of us find ourselves in when it comes to prayer. Jesus teaches us to PRAY that God’s kingdom come.

Reading on, Luke11:3

Luke 11:3 CSB

Give us each day our daily bread.

Jesus shows us it’s okay to ask for provision - notice it’s for what we need - Jesus knows that all provision is ultimately of the Father - not a prepers basement stash. Jesus trusts the Father for provision day by day - the Father cares for his children, wants to provide and it’s okay to ask for what we need.

Luke 11:4 (CSB)

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.”

Obviously Jesus did not need to be forgiven for sin - as he was without sin, but he shows this for us to pray. We out to constantly come to God and receive the grace and forgiveness from sins so we can continue to walk and move in grace so we also have the capacity to forgive others.

Theres also a recognition of our weakness and God’s supremacy - God keep us far from temptation. I know my weakness - keep me far from places where i will be tempted to sin.

This prayer, and as it’s recorded in Matthew - served the main prayer for christians through the early church. They would pray it morning, mid day, and evening as a fixed “daily office” of prayer. They also from the time of Justin Martyr would pray during meal times - not to supernaturally bless the food - but as a fixed reminder to pray. They understood that as humans we need structure to build around to help ourselves focus.

So we too - should see this prayer as the foundation of our prayer. We can repeat it verbatim - which is beautiful - or use it as a model. And it can serve as a bedrock.

Remember - in the Garden, prayer, conversation, was just being with God, this prayer of Christ gives us the foundation to build upon, especially when we don’t know what to pray or we don’t feel like praying.

Okay

So What???

As we start taking steps into our series on Practicing the Faith, we need to remember that again, we are saved by grace through faith - what we are talking about is “training ourselves in godliness.”

I would argue that prayer is one of if not the most important practice to implement for us, as because of Christ’s sacrifice and the intercession of the Spirit - when we pray we get to approach the throne of Grace with confidence. So whether or not you “feel” like God is listening is beside the point - he is. We have access to God, the creator God of the universe and he wants to be with you and to spend time with you and speak to you.

Ultimately our goal is to become like Christ - to become a person of love for the sake of the world.

Through prayer we get ushered into the presence of the triune God who is constantly loving and serving each of the persons of the trinity. It transforms us. And the goal is to pray constantly - always having an awareness of God’’s presence and practicing his presence through the day. What a beautiful and profound ministry.

And it’s a practice - it’s something that we can learn and get better at.

Let’s get practical - how can we practice this in our own lives, outside of corporate prayer, but in a personal way as we cultivate relational closeness with the Father.

First, What Do I Pray?

If you want to cultivate prayer, but struggle with knowing what to pray, here is a basic idea of what to pray.

First, remember Jesus had a certain place he prayed in. In the sermon on the mount he talked about a prayer closet. For fixed prayer times, it can be helpful to find a place where you can be quiet and not have a ton of distractions. So find a place where you can be quiet.

Second, take time and listen and still you mind. Try and focus on God. This is a place where a written prayer can be helpful. Some people will pray the Lord’s prayer to start.

When i pray and i am calming my head down, I generally pray what has been called over the centuries the “Jesus Prayer”

I’ll pray - “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me, A Sinner.” It’s an ancient prayer, but it can help me when my mind starts to wander to focus on God.

Some take a long time and just listen, seeing if God wants to impress anything on their hearts or minds. (it takes time to cultivate a listening ear to God - but we should always start with listening). Foster writes this: “We must hear, know, and obey the will of God before we pray it into the lives of others.”

Third, I pray, and I’ll talk to God about everything on my mind and what’s affecting my spirit. I’ll pray for others, i’ll ask for my needs to be met. And I’ll always end with worship and asking God to guide my day.

You will find that as you practice praying like this - finding a solitary place, stilling yourself, and then praying, you may find at first it can feel like routine - push through for a while. You may struggle to pray for a long time, and the silence may feel defening - but we need to have faith that God is there in that space with you. And you may find that at first you think prayer is talking, but you may realize that prayer is more listening than speaking.

Second, When Do I Pray?

The Goal is to pray without ceasing, but how do we start moving that direction?

I would argue from seeing the Jewish examples and of the Early Church, we should practice “fixed hour” prayer or “the Daily Office.”

I would submit a good place to start is to pray in the morning, the mid day, and the evening.

This allows us to start our day with focusing on God, remind ourselves in the middle of the fray that God is still with us, and allows us to process through our days in prayer.

If you aren’t regularly practicing prayer - start there! Make an alarm in your phone.

For the morning, prayer and your Scripture reading goes great. Take a moment, be silent and focus on God, read Scripture, then pray to understand it and apply it for the day. then go about your day.

Then perhaps over lunch, or after lunch - find a place for 15 minutes and quiet yourself again and be with God. Pray for things that are stressing you out. Ask him what he’s up to and to help you be apart of it. Pray for your coworkers and classmates.

And then in the evening. I like to do this before bed - sometimes while i’m literally laying in bed. And I will process through my day with God. Exploring with God what went well, what didn’t what frustrated me and ask him why.

Here’s what i’ve found - when we are disciplined and structured - it leads to freedom and creativity. The more we pray, the more we will find ourselves wanting to pray.

Third, Practice Prayer

So your challenge would be to try fixed hour prayer. Practice it this week, and see what happens.

Practicing the Faith || Prayer

Final thoughts - this is about as big of a fly over as possible. So I want to encourage you to ask questions as you have them. If you want more resources on prayer - I’m happy to recommend a book, or a podcast, or to get together and help you with this discipline. Remember, if you don’t have a mentor or someone helping you with your spiritual walk, please consider asking someone! Our community groups starting next month will dig much more into prayer, this is just an invitation to start practicing with us. If Jesus often withdrew to quiet places to pray, surely we should too. As we pray, in faith, over time - we will experience his presence and be transformed.

I want to leave us with a quote I read in a book on prayer by Strahan Coleman - he writes:

We need to show up to prayer practices with faithful expectation that God is there, He loves us, and He longs to and will commune with us in that space. Those last few points are crucial. Prayer requires faith. The practices aren’t the point, but they are as important to a life of prayer as scales are to musicians. Strahan Coleman, “Beholding”

Please pray with me

pray then move to baptism