Teach us to Pray

1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

Luke 11:5–8 NKJV

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

Luke 11:9–10 NKJV

9 “So I say to 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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Prayer is not a new concept

Throughout the Bible people prayed

In the Old Testament

++Abimelech was healed when Abraham Prayed (Gen 20:17)

++Fire was quenched when Moses Prayed (Num 11:2)

++Hannah rejoices in the Lord when she prayed (1 Sam 2:1)

++Spiritual vision was granted when Elisha Prayed (2 Kings 6:17)

++Three times a day Daniel Prayed (Dan 6:10)

Prayer is important

Prayer is a catalyst

++For Provision

++For Vision

++To express appreciation

++To show devotion

Luke 18:1 NKJV

1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,

The text opens with Jesus Praying

He is praying in a certain place

One of the disciple

++Saw Jesus Praying

++Wanted do do what Jesus was doing

++Waited until Jesus was done

Jesus Modeled Prayer

He Prayed

++In solitude (Mat 26:39)

++Persistently (Mat 26:42-44)

++The heavens opened (Luke 3:21)

++He was transfigured (Luke 9:29)

The Disciple Asked

To asked expresses a personal confidence

++In an Ability

++In a Capacity

Romans 4:21 NKJV

21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

Lord Teach us to Pray

The Process of Prayer

Luke 11:2 NKJV

2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

Prayer is Inevitable

Everybody will pray

It is not a matter of if but when

1 Timothy 2:8 NKJV

8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 NKJV

13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

When you Pray, Say

Prayer is

++Not internal

++Not meditation

++Expressed verbally

Psalm 5:2 NKJV

2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray.

Psalm 55:17 NKJV

17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.

Prayer Is Relational

Luke 10:22 NKJV

22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

John 1:11–13 NKJV

11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Galatians 4:6 NKJV

6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

1 John 4:17 NKJV

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

Because of Christ

++We have access to the Father

++We have the Spirit of the Son

++We have a Heavenly Father

++We can come to Him

John 16:23 NKJV

23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.

John 16:26–27 NKJV

26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.

The Perception of Prayer

Luke 11:5–7 NKJV

Jesus picks the wrong time to ask

It was

++Midnight

++The doors were shut

++The children were sleep

++He says no

Luke 11:8 NKJV

8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

Luke 11:8 NIV

8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

Friendship was not enough

Because of his persistence

++He will rise

++He will give

The Provision of Prayer

Luke 11:9–10 NKJV

Don’t be afraid to ASK

Prayer is God’s vehicle for provision

++Asks and you will _receive_

++Seek and you will _find_

++Knock and closed doors will _open_

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