Jesus teaches about Prayer

Christ taught us to pray with dependence on God, recognizing our physical and spiritual needs that only He can supply; with faith in God, knowing He is our good and loving Father; and with persistence to God, remembering He is just. it is through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we have access to the Father so that we can pray in faith.

It is not the Lord’s Prayer, its the Disciples prayer

(The Lord’s prayer is found in John 17)

PRAY WITH DEPENDENCE ON GOD (Luke 11:1-4)

There are 4 aspects of the Disciples prayer (Matthew 6:9-13, just elaborates these four aspects of the prayer)

Reverence - “Father, hallowed by Your name...”

Trust - Give us each day our daily bread...”

Dependence - ‘And forgive us our sins...”

Deliverance - “And lead us not into temptation...”

We see similarities in Psalms 23

Reverence - “The Lord is my Shepherd...”

Trust - “He makes me lie down...”

Dependence - “Even though I walk through the valley...”

Deliverance - “Surely goodness....”

Why should God’s glory and holiness matte for our prayers? (Reverence)

ANSWER: We should be praying to reflect God’s holiness in our lives, it puts things in perspective, it causes us to be humble

Why should we ask for God to give us our daily bread? (Trust)

Matthew 6:25–26 NASB95

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

ANSWER: It causes us to rely and trust our heavenly Father

Why should we forgive others when we ask for forgiveness of ourselves? [Speaks of repentance] -- (Dependence)

Note in Matthew it says “as” we have forgiven others”

Matthew 6:12 NASB95

‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:14–15 NASB95

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

ANSWER: Part of fellowship with God is fellowship with one another. If we can’t forgive our offender who we can see, how does that reflect to others about God who is supposed to be working within us?

Why should we ask God to “not lead us into temptation” when God does not tempt? (Deliverance)

James 1:13 NASB95

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

ANSWER: It has to do with the deliverance of God to guide us in every step of the way. God does not tempt, but he “Prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies” This is to test us to see if we believe God will deliver when things look dire.

2. PRAY WITH PERSISTENCE TO GOD (Luke 11:5-8 & 18:1-8) (Switched the order of 2&3)

Both these examples speak of the same thing. Persistence! It is not enough to pray once for a need and leave it alone.

Matthew 17:21 NASB95

“But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Acts 14:23 NASB95

When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Prayer is connected with fasting with is connected with persistence.

We must also pray boldly and with confidence

Hebrews 4:16 NASB95

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Persistence is a reflection of faith in God

“Will there be faith on the earth? - there will come a time when people will not pray with persistence.

3. PRAY WITH FAITH IN GOD (Luke 11:9-13)

In order to pray in faith, you must know the will of God

How does one know the will of God?

ANSWER: The Bible, God speaking to you, (His voice)

It is important to have the Holy Spirit guiding your prayers.

1 Corinthians 2:10–11 NASB95

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

Some examples of the will of God: Salvation of loved ones, holiness, righteousness, giving

Some things that are not so clear as to the will of God: College, career/job, getting marriage, ministry opportunity

It is true that “prayer changes things”, it is also true that God uses prayer to change our hearts so that our will comes into conformity with His.

Finally, the prayer starts with “Our Father...”

“God calls us first and foremost to embrace our relationship with the Father” John Onwuchekwa (former Southern Baptist Convention pastor from Atlanta, GA wrote book “How praying together shapes the church” 2018)

So we see that we should Pray with

Dependence on God

Persistence to God

Faith in God