Lord, Teach us to Pray

Intro

Prayer—Why is this SUCH a BIG DEAL? Prayer is a big deal in most religions—Islam, Judaism, Buddhism in a way. RC—Prayer beads, Hail Mary’s. Anglican Church—Book of Common Prayer.

Luke 11:1 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.”

Think of all they had witnessed/been a part of up to now:

Leper cleansed; paralytic healed; withered hand restored; multitudes healed, cured of possession; centurion’s son healed; widow’s son resurrected; storm calmed; thousands fed.

They don’t say, “Teach us to heal. Teach us to miraculously feed thousands. Teach us to cure lepers, or raise the dead, or control nature.”

They saw him often prioritize prayer: Luke 5:16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Jesus wasn’t just modeling or teaching about prayer. He prayed! He needed intimacy w/ the Father, depended upon prayer.

Luther—I have so much to do that I will spend the first 3 hours in prayer! (Kinda opposite the way most of us probably think).

Overview of Prayer

Let’s read the entire prayer together:

Matthew 6:5–13 And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.]

Why brackets—In KJV. Prob. how many of you learned it. Not in NASB, ESV, NIV, NLT, CSB. Not in earliest manuscripts, added by editor later.

Not treat it as Scripture—but ok for us to recite it (think Apostle’s/Nicene Creek. Like a doxology, and it centers back on God, Kingdom.

Model, not a ritual. “Ehe Disciples’ Prayer.”

JMac—The prayer is a profound lesson on a difficult subject, given by Jesus to His disciples in an amazing economy of words.

Tertullian—It is truly the summary of the whole gospel.

Thomas Aquinas—This prayer teaches us not only to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them.

How to Pray, How Not to Pray

Matthew 6:5–8 And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Remembering the context of this prayer—in SOM—sets the tone for how Jesus models prayer.

Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

Humility is the key to approaching God. Key to intimacy w/ God. The whole sermon is Jesus’ design for Kingdom of Heaven. “ Operating, living in the Kingdom Life.

Contrast between self-righteous, looking down on others, looking like you know Jesus—and really knowing Jesus.

Don’t be like hypocrites.

Be the same person to God that you are in real life. Don’t be fake/phony w/ God (as if that would work). Real, authentic.

Don’t pray for show.

How many of you have felt, “Man, I really stunk up that prayer at CG. I sounded like a dork.” Or, I remember being in south, and they would ask someone to pray for the meal, and this man, speaking normal 2 seconds before, would say, “Let’s bow our heads. Our most heavenly and gracious Father…enthroned in the majestic heavens above, we bless Thy name and thy great bounty of provision thou hast blessed us with here today…”

God, not those around, is the audience. Don’t try to impress me. Humble yourself and cry out to God!

Seen by others—approved by others = received all you are going to get! How sad!

Public, or private?

Not an admonitiion against corporate prayers. We do that, nothing wrong w/ that. But the question, agaiin, is who is hte audience?

And—there IS a call, here in prayer—for personal, private—Jesus calls it “secret” time alone w/ God. Just you and Him. Find that prayer closet, favorite chair, screen porch, whatever. You. Your Bible. Maybe prayer journal. And God.

Secret = private, darkness. Point—eliminate distractions. Allows for focus.

Summary/Application