PoP - week 4 - "Teach Us to Pray"
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“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”
“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”
I’m glad you are all here today. I hoped that I didn’t scare anyone off after last week. Today we are going to finish this 4 part series on the Power of Prayer. We kicked off this series by defining prayer. What is prayer? Simply communicating with God. We communicate with God by simply talking to Him and also listening. Week 2 we talked about how to listen to God. Each week we’ve dug a little deeper into prayer and last week may have been challenging because we faced the tough question of “Does God listen to me?” Why didn’t God answer my prayer? God might be trying to teach us to look at our prayers through the lens of what is important to Him.
At this point we have defined prayer and examined our motives behind our prayers, but what about prayer structure? Is there a format for prayer? Where do I start? Like we said in week 1, prayer is simply talking to God so you don’t have to do anything special or follow a specific format to do that. In fact, there were three preachers who once got in a debate about the best position for prayer...
Three preachers sat discussing the best positions for prayer while a telephone repairman worked nearby. "Kneeling is definitely best," claimed one.
"No," another contended. "I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven."
"You're both wrong," the third insisted. "The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate, face down on the floor."
The repairman could contain himself no longer. "Hey, fellas," he interrupted, "the best prayin' I ever did was hangin' upside down from a telephone pole."
Sometimes we don’t get the luxury of choosing our favorite prayer position. But when we do you probably have a prayer position that makes you feel closer to God. For example, you may not feel completely comfortable or drawn into your conversation with God in the ordering line at McDonald’s at noon while someone is asking you if you want to up-size your drink. Instead you may prefer being in a quiet room, closing your eyes, all by yourself, on your knees, raising your hands, or sitting in a chair.
What we talk to God about is very similar to that. Sure we can just talk to him throughout the day about whatever comes to mind, but we also know that prayer is very important to God. He cares about how we pray. In fact, one of the disciples even asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and this is what Jesus said...
2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. 3 Give us each day the food we need, 4 and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.”
Jesus also taught this to people when He preached. It is most famously known as “The Lord’s Prayer” and typically read in the KJV and is found in Matthew…
9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need, 12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
Jesus taught this immediately after He criticized 2 types of prayer. You might remember these two types of prayer. First was a hypocritical prayer that people would stand and pray for everyone to see. Second was an empty prayer that was repeated over and over. Sadly, and quite ironically, those are the 2 most common ways this prayer is repeated today. But Jesus taught pattern of prayer so that the true power of prayer might be realized in our own lives. The power to change our lives by drawing us closer and closer to our Father in heaven. So if Jesus thinks we should “pray like this”, what can we learn from His example of prayer?
Today we are going to look at 6 prayer petitions that we learn from Jesus’ teaching.
Each of these 6 parts of Jesus’ structured prayer give us a moment where we can stop and speak with God about a specific area or topic that is important to God. The first 3 petitions are for God and the last 3 are for us. In other words, our focus should first be on God first and then on our requests. So let’s talk about each of these 6 petitions as we dive into how Jesus teaches us to pray. If you are taking notes, the first thing Jesus teaches us about prayer is…
POWERFUL PRAYERS:
PRAISE OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.
When we think of God as our Father today it may not sound like a big deal. You might feel a little uncomfortable about it or think it’s weird. At worst, maybe you feel like it is a bit disrespectful. But when Jesus taught this it would have been huge! The crowd might have even mumbled in confusion or frustration. In the OT, God was only referred to as “Father” fourteen times and those were references to the nation, not to individuals, making God as the Father rather impersonal. To further guard the distance from God they were very careful never to repeat His covenant name, Yahweh.
Then here comes Jesus and only ever addresses God as “Father”. The actual word Jesus used wasn’t even a formal word, it was a common Aramaic word that a child would use to address his father, “Abba”. We don’t have a word like that in English, but the closest translation would be “Dearest Father”. Here is an excerpt from the book, “Sermon on the Mount — The Message of the Kingdom”...
To the traditional Jew, Jesus’ prayer was revolutionary. Think of it! God was referred to only fourteen times in the Old Testament as Father, and then it was always as the corporate Father of Israel—never individually or personally. And now as his disciples ask him for instruction on how to pray, Jesus tells them to begin by calling God their Father… Addressing God as Abba (Dearest Father) is not only an indication of spiritual health but is a mark of the authenticity of our faith.
How amazing is this to realize! Jesus is wanting us to see God as our “Dearest Father.” He’s not a God who waits for us to mess up so He can punish us, He is a loving Father who has chosen us. I love the picture that Paul paints when he says…
15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
It is not only that we are no longer afraid or that we just have a new name to call God, but Paul also says that now we cry out to Him, “Abba, Father!”, “Daddy!”
6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”
This is our opportunity to tell God who He is and what He means to us. Dr. J. I Packer once wrote that “‘Father’ is the Christian name for God.” Do you know that God is your Father? Do you think of Him and address Him as your “Dearest Father”? When we pray, the first thing we should do is recognize God as who He is, our Dearest Father. Not only is He our Father, but He is our Father in heaven. And His name is holy.
Notice how even though Jesus is showing us that our relationship with God is personal and we can view Him as our “Dearest Father”, God is still sovereign and transcendent. He is still the creator of the universe. His ways are still high above our ways. He may be our Father, but He is also our Father in heaven. Jesus wants us to simultaneously begin our prayers with a foundational awareness of who God is, our Father, and honor His holiness.
The beginning of powerful prayers start with praises to God. A celebration of who He is and what He has done. There is something interesting about the word Jesus uses in this prayer to describe God’s name. We translate it as “hallowed.” “Hallowed be your name.” Why didn’t they just say, “Holy is your name?” When you look at the definition of the original Greek word you see that Jesus actually uses a verb here...
hagiazō (hag-ee-ad’-zo): to make holy
I think this is a really neat detail because you can approach this thought from almost any angle and it can have a deep meaning to you. For example you could say that God is making His name holy among us even as we speak. This could hit me as a challenge in my own life to reflect Him in a way that brings glory to His holy name, making Him holy in my interactions. In fact, Martin Luther once said, “How is [God’s name] hallowed amongst us? When our life and doctrine are truly Christian.” Maybe it’s more personal to me, a desire to make His name holy in my own heart.
The bottom line is that it is a call for me to recognize the commitment I’ve made to God. Recognizing God as our Father isn’t a one way street. For me to call Him “Father” I must realize that I am His child. Can we truly pray “Hallowed by your name” without dedicating ourselves to Him? Powerful Prayers Praise our Father. Second...
POWERFUL PRAYERS:
2. PURSUE GOD’S KINGDOM.
“Your Kingdom come...”
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Does that mean that God doesn’t have a Kingdom yet? Maybe He does, but it is way off in heaven somewhere and we are just waiting for Him to procure a U-Haul so He can move everything here. What does it mean to ask God for His Kingdom to come soon? The first thing we should realize is that there are 3 things that are true at the same time about “Your Kingdom Come.” 1: It Recognizes the past, 2: It is for the future, 3: It is for the present.
Past:
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
This prayer doesn’t suggest that God’s reign is only in the future. It is a call for a new and unique manifestation of His Kingdom in the future.
Future:
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”
Of course we all know that Jesus will return and reign in His coming Kingdom. We eagerly await His return. Especially now that things only seem to get worse and worse. His Kingdom is also for us in the present.
Present:
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
It’s already here! It’s among you! When Jesus came to earth, He brought the Kingdom of God in His own person. Christ followers today are a part of His Kingdom in the Holy Spirit. I like the way Paul says it in Romans...
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
So when we pray for God’s Kingdom to come, we are really praying for 3 things. His Kingdom that has existed since the beginning, His Kingdom in our hearts, and His Future Kingdom for those around us. Powerful Prayers Praise the Father, they Pursue Him, third...
POWERFUL PRAYERS:
3. PRIORITIZE GOD’S WILL.
“…your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is a moment in our prayers for us to acknowledge that God’s plan is in control, not ours. A moment for me to let go of everything I think is important and let God show me what is important. Have you ever loaned something that was important to you to someone? They ask to borrow your phone so you give it to them, but then just hover over it. Maybe it’s your favorite pen or something big like your car. And you can’t stop thinking about it and just want it back. This happened to me with my schedule the other day.
I’ve been trying to be more consistent with my exercising so I have been doing a cycling workout program that requires me to ride my bike almost every day. The other day when I got home from work I had so much stuff that had to get done that day that I decided to skip the ride. After I made the decision to “let go” of that part of my schedule I kept coming back to it and re-examining it. “Well, If I get this started, I should have time to go ahead and ride if it is a little shorter than normal and then I might do this other thing tomorrow.” Back and forth, back and forth.
We tend to do the same thing with God. “God I’m giving you my stress at work. I’m letting it go. Give me peace.” Then the phone rings and someone is griping about something. “God, I am giving you this decision… I am laying this sin at your feet… I’m done with worry.” But then we pick it back up again. Or maybe it’s just stuff. “God I really want a new car, but I am leaving it in your hands. Just in case, maybe I should go ahead and lay hands on that F-150 down at Wheeler.”
So how do we know what God’s will is? According to Paul we simply let God transform our minds. We do that by giving our lives to God and no longer allowing ourselves to be shaped by the world. By how society wants to define us. We let God define us...
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
According to Jesus’ example, powerful prayers give three things to God: Our Praise, Our Pursuit, and Our Priorities. The next three are for us…
POWERFUL PRAYERS:
4. SEEK GOD’S PROVISION.
“Give us today our daily bread.” I joke about praying for a new car a lot, but it’s okay to ask God for things you need. In fact, Jesus is telling us to do just that. The key is realizing the difference between a need and a desire. God want’s us to not worry about our needs, but instead to seek his daily provision of them. He is fostering in us a daily dependence on Him.
I like what Paul and Timothy said to the Philippians...
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Jesus preached about this further in Matthew...
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
Life is more than cars, clothes or even food! When we pray for daily bread we are also praying for our spiritual bread. When the Israelites were wondering in the wilderness God would send manna from heaven to feed them. They always had just enough for the day. He was teaching them that He would provide their daily needs. He wouldn’t overwhelm them and He wouldn’t starve them. When Jesus came, He taught that He is God’s bread sent for us. He provides for our spiritual needs. The physical bread is just a reminder of our need for Him.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
God wants our prayers to be powerful. He wants our prayers to be life changing. Jesus teaches us that powerful prayers start by focusing on our Father in heaven as we Praise Him, Pursue His Kingdom, and Prioritize His will. Then we seek His physical and spiritual Provision and next...
POWERFUL PRAYERS:
5. SEEK GOD’S PARDON.
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” It’s easy to pray for forgiveness. Sometimes we desperately want to be forgiven. It is such a good feeling to have that weight lifted off our shoulders. Nobody is perfect, or even good, so everyone needs forgiveness. We will even ask God to forgive us for sins we don’t even know about. But powerful prayers force us to examine our own ability to forgive. It’s hard to say, “God forgive my sins, as I have forgiven those who have wronged ME.” if I am holding a grudge. If I’m angry. If I feel hurt by someone.
32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
If you were to ask God right now to forgive you, as you have forgiven someone else, who pops into your head? Does it make you realize that you NEED to forgive someone? Your spouse? Parents? Employer? Neighbor? Friend? Stranger? Can you pray, “Lord, forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”?
Powerful Prayers first focus on God in three steps. Praising Him, Pursuing His Kingdom, and Prioritizing His will. Then the last three steps focus on us. Seeking His Provision, His Pardon, and finally...
POWERFUL PRAYERS:
6. SEEK GOD’S POWER.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” After asking forgiveness for our weakness we ask for God’s power to intervene. The way this is worded is very interesting and it gives us a good reason to dive into it and dissect it a little more. First of all, we don’t ask God not to lead us into temptation for fear that He will. That’s just mean. God isn’t mean.
That sounds like something my dad may have done in an attempt to be funny. When I was a kid, my dad loved to take us out to the lake and pull us on inner tubes behind the boat just so he could try to make us fall off. In fact, he loved playing golf, but I don’t think it was for the same reason most people play. He liked to drive the golf cart next to the golf balls to let the passenger pick them up and as soon as they would lean out to grab them he would turn real sharp and laugh as they rolled across the fairway.
13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
In fact, James challenges us to look at temptation and other trials from a different perspective...
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
When we pray for God’s power to lead us away from temptation we know that He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. According to Paul, other people experience the same temptations that you and I face. And when we do, God won’t leave us hanging. He’s probably not going to physically remove us from the situation we are in, but He will provide a way out for us…
13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
God will show us a way out and deliver us from the adversary. We face a powerful enemy, Satan. He is called “the ruler of the kingdom of the air”, “the ruler of this world”, “rulers of the darkness of this age”, and described as walking around “like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Listen to this description of him...
14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.
To face such a powerful enemy who is set on destroying everything that God loves, including you and me, we must have a greater power. We must pray “Deliver us from the evil one,” acknowledging that victory over Satan can come only through God’s power as we truly depend on Him.
The disciples watched Jesus perform miracle after miracle and witnessed Him pray powerful prayers. After one of the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, Jesus chose to give them this example. I believe He wanted us to experience the power of prayer. Which one of these steps can you add to your prayers this week? Starting with just one and gradually adding more and more, developing your prayer life, growing closer to God through prayer, and discovering the true power of prayer as it radically transforms your life.
Praise our Father in heaven.
Pursue God’s kingdom.
Prioritize God’s will.
Seek God’s provision.
Seek God’s pardon.
Seek God’s power.
Father we give you all the Praise, help us to pursue your kingdom and prioritize your will over ours this week. We trust you with our needs and we ask for your forgiveness as we forgive others. God, show up in our lives with power today as we face the adversary and trials we can’t control.