The Heart of Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
In 6th grade,
I discovered a love for the game of basketball.
I was never great,
but I could hold my own.
I would go play pickup games at the park,
and things would flow smoothly...
shoot well, move freely.
However, when I got on the team at school,
I started that way… free.
But soon, I started to play in a calculated way.
I started thinking too much.
It really got pronounced in high school,
when I had a coach that the entire team was afraid of.
We were a great team during our youth group league...
playing many of the same guys on other teams.
But when we would play for our high school coach,
we played timidly.
We played to not make mistakes.
As a result, we did not meet our expectations.
We were so worried about doing things wrong...
that we couldn’t play well.
We were locked up.
We were anxious and sometimes fearful.
And we were not a great team.
Same with prayer,
I think we are so often focused on not doing things wrong...
that we give up...
or we don’t try at all.
When we are trying to pray “right”...
we will most likely stop praying.
B/c it misses the Heart of Prayer.
Relationship - The Essence of Prayer
Relationship - The Essence of Prayer
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
The Father’s Permission (ask, seek, knock)
ask - request, or in some contexts, demand
seek - try to find, try to obtain (mk 8:11)
Find - eureka (discover, learn)
Our Father gives us permission to ask boldly (Luke 11, friend at night, impudence)
And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,
for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?
I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
impudence - shamelessness
insolence - contemptuously rude or impertinent behavior or speech
importunity
Lord’s Prayer - “what” to pray
This next section of Luke 11 - “How” to pray
keep asking...
not to be a pest, but to ask in faith.
I think it requires great faith to continually ask.
How easily do we find ourselves asking once or twice and then giving up?
Faith (asking in faith)… are we willing to keep asking?
He will not turn us away.
This is the heart of Hannah as she prayed for a son...
But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.
But she articulates the emotion behind her prayers.
Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”
anxiety - complaint, anguish
vexation - grief, anger/fury
“speaking out of my great anguish and grief”
The Friendship of God
He is Father
And he is friend
Paul Miller’s A Praying Life
“Oddly enough, many people struggle to learn how to pray because they are focusing on praying, not on God. Making prayer the center is like making conversation the center of a family mealtime.
In prayer, focusing on the conversation is like trying to drive while looking at the windshield instead of through it. It freezes us, making us unsure of where to go.
Conversation is only the vehicle through which we experience one another. Consequently, prayer is not the center of this book. Getting to know a person, God, is the center.” (Paul Miller)
The Father’s Love - The Foundation of Prayer
The Father’s Love - The Foundation of Prayer
He loves us.
Our Father loves far more than any earthly father
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
What we can see and experience in our life on earth...
helps us understand what we cannot see.
Our earthly fathers...
as they provide...
we understand that our Father in heaven provides.
How much more...
How much greater is God the Father than our earthly fathers?
How much more?
Ex. Put a 1st grader against the biggest guy in our church.
No comparison.
As much greater as God is than our earthly dads...
he is that much more certain to answer us and give good gifts.
Do the math...
The power of a request of a child stems from the relationship.
A child in relationship with his/her father.
Father hears and responds.
It is not the power of the request.
It is not that it was phrased properly.
The response of the Father is rooted in the relationship.
Father God.
Any answer to our prayers...
Any gift given to us...
is b/c of the love of the Father for us as his children.
may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
To see the unseen
To know the unknowable
Our Father loves to hear us pray
He loves to hear from us.
ILL. 4:45pm and Kaitlyn works at 5pm.
I left early that morning, before anyone was awake.
I hadn’t seen her all day
and wouldn’t see her until she finished her shift at 10pm.
I just wanted to see her and connect with her (even if it was ever so brief).
So I drove to her work,
And I missed her before she went in for her shift.
I parked, waited until I saw her take her post outside...
I was just going to walk over to say hi.
And she see me, “Dad? What are you doing here?”
Me: “I just came to see you before you got started.”
And she ran over and met me halfway in the parking lot with a huge hug.
That made my heart full...
My heart as a dad...
I loved getting to see her...
I loved even more the reception I got.
God the Father....
loves to hear from us.
loves to know us.
loves us.
Our prayers are like incense.
And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Also in Rev. 8:3-4...
prayers of God’s people are like incense.
Paul Miller’s A Praying Life
“Jesus’ example teaches us that prayer is about relationship. When he prays, he is not performing a duty; he is getting close to his Father… You don’t create intimacy; you make room for it.” (Paul Miller)
App. How do you talk with your close family and friends?
Do you script it?
“Ok, know we will compliment each other and talk about each others good pounts.”
“Next, we will say we are sorry for all the things we did to hurt each other.”
“In this section of our conversation, we’ll thank each for all the nice that others have done for us.”
“Lastly, we’ll start asking for stuff.”
No, of course not.
We would get laughed out of the room.
For prayer next time,
enjoy the relationship with you Father.
Don’t script it.
Just get close to him… near him.
The Father’s Capacity - The Rationale for Prayer
The Father’s Capacity - The Rationale for Prayer
wisdom
basis
rationale
impetus
A child learns to ask his or her parents for help.
Children ask for food, to be changed, to be comforted.
Everything a child needs,
they must ask for it.
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Our Father wants to give good gifts.
give - (4 times in v. 9-11)
Our Father doesn't promise one thing and give another.
Our Father wants us to ask.
Our Father responds to our prayers (ask and it will be given)
Yet, he gives according to his wisdom
“He gives us what we would have asked for if we knew what he know.”
Our Father gives the Holy Spirit
** On Communion Sunday...
If after 10:30,
go straight to the Lord’s Supper.
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
“He Will Hold Me Fast”
He will hold me fast;
For my Savior loves me so,
He will hold me fast.
Benediction:
Benediction:
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.
