4A The Christian Life Means Engaging In Prayer
Stand Firm: Living in a Post-Christian Culture • Sermon • Submitted
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The New Testament is clear that God’s people are to be people of prayer. Christ instructed His disciples,
41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Luke described one encounter with the disciples in which
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Paul instructed his readers to be
“devoted to prayer” (Rom. 12: 12),
to “pray at all times” (Eph. 6: 18),
and to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5: 17).
In Philippians 4: 6, he wrote,
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
In response to those and other biblical exhortations to pray, the natural question is, How should we pray? Perhaps the best answer to that question is another one: How did the Lord teach us to pray?
For that answer, we turn to Christ’s instructions in Luke 11: 1– 4.
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
Cultural Context
Cultural Context
Some background is helpful in our quest to understand the passage. The notion of personal access to God Himself, on an intimate level, was an alien idea to the Jews in Jesus’ day. They had been taught by the rabbis that God was far off. They believed their Creator was so transcendent that they could not truly experience any kind of intimate fellowship with Him. At Mount Sinai, the Israelites had witnessed the presence of God, accompanied by frightening displays of thunder, lightning, and smoke. They saw then what the writer of Hebrews later put into words-that “our God is a consuming fire” (12:29). No one could actually enter His presence except the high priest once every year, on the Day of Atonement -and even then only after a lengthy process of cleansing and preparation. By the time of our Lord, God was widely seen and as frighteningly unapproachable. The Jews would not even speak His name.
However, looking back at the Old Testament, it is abundantly clear that God did not reveal Himself in such an impersonal way. Over and over, we see that He commanded His people to approach Him in prayer-that He welcomed it. Psalm 50: 15 says,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
Psalm 91: 15 echoes that idea, saying,
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
2 O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.
And in Psalm 18: 6, David recounted,
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
There’s more. Proverbs 15 tells us,
8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
and
29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
The Old Testament also recounts many of the specific prayers God heard from His people. Hannah begged God for a son (1 Sam. 1: 10– 11) and poured out a heart of thanksgiving when He granted her request (2: 1– 10). Elijah prayed for God to resurrect the widow’s son (1 Kings 17: 21). Hezekiah prayed for healing (2 Kings 20: 2– 3). And “from the stomach of the fish,” Jonah pleaded with God for forgiveness and deliverance (Jonah 2: 1– 9). The presence of God was at the heart of life in the Old Testament. He was always near to His people, available to hear their petitions, and intimately involved in their lives.
Praise for God
Praise for God
When we analyze the components of the prayers of the people of God in the Old Testament, some key themes emerge. For example, Jewish prayers emphasized love and praise for God.
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
In Psalm 51: 15 we read David’s plea,
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Closely related to those expressions of love and praise are the themes of gratitude and thanksgiving. Jonah 2: 9 says, “I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving.” Some rabbis taught that thanksgiving was an essential element for every prayer.
Old Testament prayers also included a recognition and affirmation of God’s holiness. In 1 Samuel 2: 2, Hannah exulted,
2 “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
Prayer was an opportunity to celebrate the goodness of God’s law and His commandments, along with expressing one’s eagerness to obey them. The psalmist said,
172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
Confession
Confession
Confession was another cornerstone of Old Testament prayer, often coupled with longings for a pure heart.
6 I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O Lord,
David asked:
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
Moses interceded with God on behalf of the rebellious Israelites (Num. 14: 13– 19). In the same way, Ezra (Ezra 9: 5– 15), Nehemiah (Neh. 1: 4– 11), and Daniel (Dan. 9: 3– 19) offered prayers of corporate repentance on behalf of God’s people.
Humility
Humility
One other noteworthy hallmark of Old Testament prayers was humility. Jews often began their prayers with the phrase “May it be Thy good pleasure.” David expressed the humility of his heart with these words:
1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
And although her prayer is recorded in the New Testament, Mary’s reaction to the news that she would give birth to the Son of God exemplifies the humble perspective God’s people have of themselves and their worthiness:
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
As you can see, prayer in the Old Testament followed essentially the same structure and reflected the same emphases that the Lord prescribed to His disciples.
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
And that’s why this brief background is important— it shows that Jesus was not giving them radically new instructions. All the elements we find in the exemplary prayers throughout Israel’s history are emphasized and refined by our Lord in His instructions. He was essentially reestablishing the pattern that had been lost over the years, further illustrating that He came not to overturn or replace but to fulfill.