Lord, Teach Me To Pray

Introduction

Ever Struggled With Prayer?

Publicly?

Privately?

New convert asked you how to pray?

Luke 11:1 “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.””

We can observe that prayer is a taught thing

If it is a taught thing then its unnatural to know it without being taught

We will be using this simple and easy to memorize acronym as we break down the Lord’s Prayer P. R. A Y.

P- Praise

Luke 11:2 “So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.””

The first thing tells us to start our prayers with is PRAISE

One of the biggest benefits of starting our prayers with Praise is that it puts us in the proper perspective

Interview for a very serious job

1) well dressed

2) well spoken

3) well mannered (yes sir and no ma’am)

4) this is not taken lightly

Well, This is what we should know when approach God in Prayer Hebrews 4:16

Hebrews 4:16“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

its time for us to realize we are approaching God almighty in prayer

Things to give God praise for

He created everything and sustains us (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:15–16; Job 12:10)

His attributes are infinite—He’s all-knowing (Psalm 147:5), all-powerful (Psalm 115), and ever-present (Psalm 139)

His love is real and is shown through the gift of His Son which is why we can be called sons of God (John 3:16).

We need to

R- Request

Luke 11:2b–3 “Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread.”

The second part of prayer is REQUEST

This may well be the most well know part of prayer

When life is going wrong and one feels hopeless they usually go down and pray or even reach out to others to pray for them. Even Atheist do this

What people do not know is that is that the request that are made are broken up into two different categories

The first category Jesus tells us is request for Kingdom Needs

It can be a common habit for us when we make our personal prayers to ONLY pray for ourselves

But Jesus calls us to do more than this

For instance, Paul prayed for the Jews’ salvation Romans 9:1–4 and Romans 10:1

Romans 9:1-4a “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites

Romans 10:1 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.”

Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done over his own (Matthew 26:39).

Matthew 26:39- “He[Jesus] went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’”

the cup being suffering crucifixion

What are things we can start praying for that are kingdom-related

Evangelism

Good works

Preachers to rise

Planting churches(your kingdom come)

Obedience of the nations to God

His will to be done instead of our

The second category Jesus tells us is request for Personal needs

Now praying for our needs could be an entire sermon itself for how much there is to be said about it

I want to go through the three responses that God can give to any prayer or request

Yes- Elijah prayed for rain to cease and for it to continue (James 5:17-18) Referenced (1 Kings 17-18)

No- Again Jesus asked for the Cup to pass from him. (Matthew 26:39) Paul prayed for the thorn to be begone. (2 Corinthians 12:7)

Notice that even though their request was met with a NO it wasn’t sinful for them to ask

Don’t fear when praying!

Wait- Genesis 15:2-6 the promise Genesis 21:1-2 the answer made

Abram waited 25 years for the promise of a child after asking for it

If you are not sure keep praying

A- Asking for Forgiveness

Luke 11:4a “ And forgive us our sins For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.”

The third thing Jesus tells us is that we can pray for our forgiveness.

The ability to ask God for forgiveness is one of the greatest blessings of being His child. John writes in 1 John 1:6–9

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

good memory verse for those struggling with confidence in salvation

God knew we would still struggle with sin, even after being saved. He has given Christians a way to be continuously washed in the blood of Christ.

Jesus gives us an example of how we forgive others, saying, “For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” In Luke 17:3–4

“Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.””

Lets make three observations that transfer to our prayer

1) Us forgiving people is like how God forgives Christians

2) If we do wrong we must repent to the person whom we have wrong

3) there is no limit on how many times we can repent before it’s useless

Let us use this awesome power in our prayers to remove the terrible sins out of our lives

Y- Your Walk

Luke 11:4b “‘And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one’”

The last thing Jesus tells us is that we can pray for help in our spiritual walk

Now it is often said that Christianity is a great fight against ourselves and while that is true it forgets to mention another great enemy we have called Satan 1 Peter 5:8

1 Peter 5:8 NKJV

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Your Soul is worth more than the entire world and the devil wants it badly

Going back to the garden watch what Jesus said to his disciples when they were falling into sins Luke 22:45–46.

Luke 22:45–46 NKJV

When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

When you are struggling with your sins praying for strength to overcome them is going to be a great weapon of choice

When you are going to questionable places and hanging out with questionable people and you pray for God to help you not commit sins, it becomes a lot harder when you pray to commit those sins

Remember that God will be with you 1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Conclusion

Prayer is a taught skill that all Christians should desire and pursue to improve at

Remembering to Pray is just as easy as memorize the acronym PRAY

P- PRAISE

R- REQUEST

A- ASK FOR FORGIVENESS

Y- YOUR WALK

Invitation

The most important part of the Lord’s Prayer

“Our Father in heaven”

“Father” would be a relational term that denotes a close relationship

All of us have been separated from God and lost this close relationship for Isaiah 59:2

Isaiah 59:2 NKJV

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

if you are a visitor or a long attendee and have not obeyed the Gospel it is easy

You need to believe Jesus is the Christ

You need to Repent of your sins and turn your life to God

You need to make a public confession of Jesus being the Christ

You need to be Baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and it is when you are baptized then you are added to the body of Christ and can enjoy being called a Christian

it is at the point of Baptism we become saved Galatians 3:26-27

Galatians 3:26–27 NKJV

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.