What Do Your Prayers Mean to God?

Luke 11:1-13

Intro:

Clip from Superman – hearing all the cries of people

What I want to say: How does God respond to your prayers? Does God respond gladly or reluctantly? This parable teaches that God will respond generously to your needs whenever they arise.

I. Prayer is learned through practice (:1)

A. You learn to pray out of every day life experiences

1. Prayer had been the habit of Jesus’ life

a) He prayed before He chose the 12

b) He prayed on the spot for Simon Peter

c) Before the betrayal in the Garden He prayed

d) On the cross He prayed for those who put Him there

2. The disciples had been observing Jesus’ prayer life

3. “Teach us to pray” – every Christian has the feeling that there is always more to learn about praying.

4. Can you imagine what it would have been like to hear Jesus pray? To hear His words to His Father; to hear the concerns of His heart; to discover what He asked about?

5. Do your children ever hear you pray? They will learn what to pray when they hear you praying. They will learn when to pray when they see you praying. They will learn the attitude of prayer as they observe you.

B. Your attitude of prayer matters (Matthew 6:5-15)

1. Cp. Matthew 6:5-8 – two details about prayer taught in the Sermon on the Mount:

2. (:5-6) Prayer is first personal and private. Don’t pray to be seen praying.

a) There is a place for public prayer but it is not to get recognition: “Oh, he prays!”

3. (Matthew 6:7)He did not tell them merely to repeat words – the pagans did that

“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. Matthew 6:7 ESV

a) E.g. one of the practices of Buddhism is to drone a sound that brings oneness with god.

b) The Christian has oneness with God and making sounds will not improve that but the nonbeliever has no such oneness with God and seeks to get His attention.

ILLUS> Our children did it and now our grandson, Zeke, does it. We were babysitting for him last week. At one point I picked up a newspaper thinking to read a bit while he played. I could sense it coming – whack! Zeke pushed the newspaper out of the way. He wanted my attention! “Come play with me, Papa!” I was glad to play with him! He did not have to beg because he is my grandson! God is willing to listen to you!

c) The natural human inclination is to think that if you want someone to understand what you want, use more words. Long prayers do not carry more weight with God.

d) He did not tell them to memorize a prayer and repeat it meaninglessly

4. While it is not wrong to pray what we call the Lord’s prayer, it is given as a model, not to limit us

5. God’s children are freed of meaningless mouthing of someone else’s words – we express our heart to God

6. There have often been times when all I can say is, “Lord, I need your help.”

II. Jesus taught five simple requests upon which to build a life of prayer. (:2-4)

A. Honor the name of God

1. A person’s name is the key to relationship – if you do not know their name, you are just strangers doing business

2. When you honor the name of God in your prayers you are lifting up God and placing yourself in proper relationship to Him: He is the Creator, you are the creature.

B. Pray for the coming of His kingdom

1. When you pray for the coming of God’s kingdom you are aligning yourself with the will and plan of God

2. Are you conscious of the Kingdom of God in your daily life and thoughts? Or do you just go on with whatever busyness presents itself?

3. This petition is asking that you would see the world as God sees it.

C. Ask for daily necessities

1. God is concerned with your needs. Bring them to Him.

2. Often we confuse our needs with our wants because here we have so much.

a) Your request for a new X-Box is not a need. Food is. Shelter is. Clothing is.

D. Confess and receive forgiveness for sins

1. Just as you ask God to forgive your offenses against His holiness, so you must be willing to forgive those who offend you.

2. E.g. today’s drama – God had the blessing but other things blocked the giving of it

3. (Mt. 6:15) Jesus linked a forgiving spirit with receiving forgiveness

4. If you are always carrying about an attitude that says, “They offended me and I will not forgive them until they do…” Then you will find God to be hard against you when you pray.

E. Ask for strength in temptation

1. That we be delivered from situations that could lead us to sin

2. This is asking Jesus for help in living righteous lives.

3. It seems like this is more and more of a distant thought in our day. We have come to a place where, since temptation presents itself, we should just give in.

The temptation to sin is all around us. I often hear people and characters in dramas talk about looking at pornography as something that is a normal activity for people. It is normal if drinking poison in increasing doses is normal. It is normal if deliberately destroying your most precious relationships is normal. It is normal if taking addictive drugs is normal. But if not, then it is mental, emotional, relational and spiritual suicide. It is sin. Run from it.

It is tragic to hear of the murder of Jessie Davis in Ohio. But there were warnings. She had committed adultery at least twice with the same married man. That adultery seems to have destroyed his marriage and unbalanced him. God does not forbid adultery to spoil your fun – He does it to protect your life! There was a way out: run!

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

4. At the moment of temptation, you can see the exit sign and walk toward it.

III. The Parable of the Friend at Midnight (:5-8)

A. The relationship of friends has limits but a father responds to his child

1. Going at midnight is not the best time to strengthen friendships

2. But going at midnight surely reveals the depth of the relationship

3. This is a good lesson from a bad example

4. Jesus told about the reluctant friend in order to make a contrast with the very willing God the Father

B. God is willing to hear and answer your prayers

1. Persistence overrules reluctance in even an uncaring person

a) If you are a parent, you know about persistent requests, “Mommy, please. Pretty please.”

b) If a reluctant friend can be convinced to help you, how much more will a willing God help you!

2. Prayer is not prying some blessing from the hands of a reluctant god

3. Prayer releases the willingness of a generous God

E.g. I wrote about this in my journal. There was a time when I was wrestling with something and I needed a confirmation that God was hearing me as I struggled. This came during a week that I was at a conference. I prayed and asked God to confirm that I was not alone in this matter. I parked my car. As I walked toward the exit I passed a maintenance worker fixing something in the garage. I was almost to the door when he yelled to me, “Are you a pastor?”. He said he and his wife keep a list of pastors and pray for one of them each month. He asked if he could pray for me. Later I met a friend and as we talked he said, “Can I pray for you?” Finally, I was crossing an open area and met another acquaintance who was running a prayer center at the conference. He asked me to stop by and started to walk off. He suddenly stopped and said, “I’d like to pray for you right now.” And he did so. God let me know that He was listening.

IV. Persistent prayer builds faith and gets answers (:9-13)

A. If God is willing then why do we have to be persistent? (:9-10)

1. God is willing to answer your prayers – so ask

a) Ask – make a request

b) Seek – give energy to pursuing

c) Knock – take an action step (pray) a response will be granted

d) Many of our needs go unfulfilled because we do not ask

e) Everyone of God’s children (not just some special favorites of God) receive answers to prayer

2. For the same reason that you pray at all: God already knows your needs but your prayer places you in a proper relationship with God as your Father.

3. “Father” – personal, intimate – child

a) A child goes to his father easily expecting a good response to his request

b) Jesus is building on the common, natural experience of loving fathers desiring to care for the needs of their children.

B. Persistence in prayer builds focus and faith.

1. Persistence sharpens Focus – because if something is not important, you will stop asking for it when you are distracted

2. Persistence is the weight training room of faith

a) By constantly coming back to God you exercise faith repeatedly

3. Persistence builds Faith – because you must continue to trust God to answer.

C. God is good (:11-13)

1. A natural father will give his children what is good for them and will not taunt them with bad things.

2. Now, if even a sinful (:13) father knows this, will not God, who is the definition of goodness, give only good things?

3. In other words, don’t be afraid to ask of God, He will only give you what is good.

Concl:

If God is glad to hear and answer your prayers, what is keeping you from praying more?
Here at GNBC we have, on average, 5 group prayer opportunities every week in our small groups. At least quarterly we have been having 6 hours of group prayer and fasting. Weekly we offer prayer in our worship.

Purpose: To illustrate that we invest our time in lesser things, when we could spend the same time on something priceless.

Props: Set up a table and cover it with cheap, miscellaneous items you might find at a yard sale. In the middle of the table, prominently displayed, is an expensive looking crystal vase.

Use: Say something like: "One morning there was a yard sale. The man running this sale priced everything at $1."

Have a partner come forward, look through the items, and ask, "How much are these jeans?"

You respond, "They're $1. Everything's $1."

He asks, "How much is this CD?"

You respond, "It's $1. Everything's $1."

After a few more similar exchanges, he spots the vase and says, "Wow, this is beautiful."

You respond, "That's a limited edition English Whittington vase from the late 19th century. It's one of only 25 in existence. It's priceless."

He asks, "How much are you asking for it?"

You respond, "It's $1. Everything's $1."

Excitedly, he pays the money and walks away holding the vase.

Application: Every day we have 24 hours. We spend many of our hours on frivolous things, yet we are offered priceless opportunities, such as time alone with our Heavenly Father. The "price" for a precious hour with Him is the same as the price of an hour wasted. Jim Butcher, Poca, West Virginia