Sermon Tone Analysis
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Prayer is vital.
Even Jesus needed prayer.
Jesus’ earthly ministry was remarkably brief, barely three years long.
Yet in those three years, as must have been true in His earlier life, a great amount of time was spent in prayer.
The gospels report that Jesus habitually rose early in the morning, often before daybreak, to commune with His Father.
In the evening He would frequently go to the Mount of Olives or some other quiet spot to pray, usually alone.
Prayer was the spiritual air that Jesus breathed every moment of His life.
And if he needed, how much more do you and I need to spend time with our Father who art in heaven?
The Bible teaches a great deal about the importance and power of prayer.
Prayer is effective; it makes a difference.
“The effective prayer of a righteous man,” James says, “can accomplish much” (James 5:16).
* Abraham’s servant prayed, and Rebekah appeared.
* Jacob wrestled and prayed, and Esau’s mind was turned from twenty years of revenge.
* Moses prayed, and Amalek was struck down.
* Hannah prayed, and Samuel was born.
* Isaiah and Hezekiah prayed, and in twelve hours one hundred eighty-five thousand Assyrians were slain.
* Elijah prayed, and there were three years of drought; he prayed again, and rain came.
Those are but a small sampling of answered prayer just from the Old Testament.
God’s supreme purpose for prayer, the purpose beyond all other purposes, is to glorify Himself.
Although nothing benefits a believer more than prayer, the purpose in praying must first of all be for the sake of God, not self.
Prayer is, above all, an opportunity for God to manifest His goodness and glory.
/“True prayer brings the mind to the immediate contemplation of God’s character and holds it there until the believer’s soul is properly impressed.”/
Jesus affirmed the purpose of prayer when He said, /“And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified”/ (John 14:13).
As with all of the Sermon on the Mount, what Jesus says about prayer was not essentially new.
The Old Testament, and even Jewish tradition, taught all of the basic principles that Jesus presents here.
Jewish commentaries and literature of that era contain many lofty and helpful teachings about prayer.
But something had gone wrong, and by Jesus’ day most Jews had forgotten the teachings of Scripture and even the sound teachings of their tradition.
Most prayer had become formalized, mechanical, rote, and hypocritical.
But when they heard Jesus pray, the disciples caught something decidedly different in Jesus’ relationship with God and they wanted what He had.
And so they came to Jesus and said, /“Lord, teach us to pray . .
.”/
This is what Jesus taught them ...
!
I. WHEN YOU PRAY DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE FATHER’S FELLOWSHIP
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