Sermon Tone Analysis

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“Teach us to pray”

Luke 11:1-13

Tenth sunday after pentecost - c

 

 

*Introduction:* I’d like to begin by telling you a story.

There was a man lost at sea, in the middle of the ocean, totally alone.

He cried out to God with this prayer, “O Lord my God, you are my savior, deliver me from my trouble.

Not long after the man prayed a raft of people floated by the man.

They shouted to the man, “can we help you.”

The man replied, “the Lord is my God, He is my savior and he will deliver me.

Not long after a boat came by.  “Can we help you”, they said.

The man replied again, “the Lord is my God, He is my savior and He will deliver me.

Finally a plane flew low enough to see the man in the water.

The pilot called out, “can I help you.”

The man replied one more time, “the Lord is my God, He is my Savior, and He will deliver me.

The plane flew out of sight.

The man slipped beneath the surface of the ocean, and breathed his last.

Facing God in heaven the man looked at the Lord with disappointment.

HE said, “I prayed to you to save me.”

Why didn’t you answer my prayer.

The Lord looked at the man and said, “I did answer your prayer, who do you think sent the raft, the boat and the plane.

Prayer is not always a natural or comfortable thing to do.

Most people, when asked to pray in front of other people, are a little bit afraid.

They think, “What do I say?”

How shall I say it?”

“What if I do it wrong?”

In our gospel lesson we find Jesus praying, as was His custom.

When he had finished praying, one of his disciples asked Jesus to teach the disciples how to pray.

Jesus taught them and teaches us.

He teaches what to pray.

And He teaches how to pray, that is how we should approach God our Father in prayer.

To this end he gave his disciples the words to what we call Our Lord’s Prayer.

With the Lord’s Prayer, He taught two parables about how to pray and what to expect.

* *

*I.

Teach Us to Pray - What to Pray*

                        In our Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us the essentials of what to pray.

First, He directs our attention to our heavenly Father and teaches us that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that we may with all boldness and confidence ask Him as dear children ask their dear fathers.

To our Father, who’s name is holy, we are to direct our prayer.

And what are we to pray for?

We pray for all those things that benefit us as God’s dear children.

We are to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom and His will to be done.

We pray for the bread that sustains us daily, the forgiveness of sins and the preservation of our faith in the midst of the temptations and evils that surround us.

~/~/~/ Of course we already posses all these things when we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

In Jesus, and by faith the kingdom of God has come to us.

For His sake God takes care us.

For His sake our sins are forgiven and our faith is preserved.

But if we possess all these things already, why should we pray?

The Petitions

*A.*

For God’s kingdom to come.

In the Lord’s Prayer we pray that God’s kingdom and His will be done in our lives as Christ continues to come to us in His Word, and through His sacraments.

We pray that He would continue to reign in our lives.

We pray that His will be done in us as we continue to come before Him confessing our sins and proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior.

*B.*

For Daily Bread.

In the Lord’s Prayer we pray for our daily bread that sustains us in this life.

It is a bread that is both physical and spiritual.

God our Father knows our physical need and is more than ready to satisfy them.

He has satisfied our needs all the days of our lives, as you call all testify.

When the children of Israel were in the desert, God daily provided manna from heaven.

He gave them just enough for each day.

This was God‘s food for His chosen people.

In these last days, God has taken care of our needs too.

As His chosen people, He has given us the true bread from heaven in the body and blood of His son which we receive at this alter for the forgiveness of sins.

*C.*        Forgiveness of sins.

In the Lord’s Prayer we pray for our sins to be forgiven and the preservation of our faith.

We know that in this life we daily sin much.

We humbly come before God and make confession.

Through Jesus death on the cross we know that our prayer for forgiveness has been heard and answered.

We know our faith will be preserved in this evil world.

God who started this good work in us is ready and able to bring it to completion in the day of our  Lord when we are presented blameless and Holy before God.

We pray the Lord’s Prayer to remind us of all that He has done and the blessings, both physical and spiritual, that our Lord has given us in Christ.

* *

*II.

Teach Us to Pray - How to Pray, Attitude, Luther, Abraham*

*            *Jesus gave us a wonderful prayer.

We treasure it with all our hearts.

But He knew the weakness of the human heart.

He knew that even in the best circumstances it would be hard for us to have a correct attitude toward prayer.

In many ways we fall into temptation, even as we pray.

*A.*

Vain Repetition.

One temptation is that we allow the Lord’s Prayer to vainly be repeated.

Luther once said, “The Lord’s Prayer is the greatest martyr on earth.

Many pray the Lord’s prayer a thousand times a year, and though they have prayed it a thousand years, yet have they not properly prayed one letter [of it].”

When we pray, like the disciples falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, all to often we find that our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak.

*B.*

Unanswered Prayer.

Another problem that gets in our way of our prayers is the subject of unanswered prayer.

It sometimes feels like God doesn’t really hear our prayers.

And if He does, He just doesn't answer them, at least the way we want Him to.

If we don’t believe that God answers prayer, it is hard for us to approach him confidently in prayer.

~/~/~/  God answers all our proper prayers.

These are prayers that ask for everything that tends to the glory of God and to our own and our neighbors welfare.

Yet there are times when it seems that God remains silent.

The Apostle Paul asked three times for the thorn of his flesh to be removed.

But God said, “my grace is sufficient for you.

My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will, but your will be done.”

Jesus drank from the cup of God’s judgment on the cross for our sake.

As with Paul, God’s strength was manifest in the weakness of the cross.

Jesus life was given for the life of the world.