Sermon by CH(CPT) Keith J. Andrews (chaplainandrews.com)
This post is much longer than normal. It is a sermon I preached on 25 JUL 10 and will take 10 minutes to read. If you just read the bold print it will take about 4 minutes of time.
All Scripture marked ESV: The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Lk 11:1-13
For the last several weeks, I have been taking “Beginner’s Tennis” through the Chesterfield County Parks. I’m terrible—but I had a lot of fun. My teacher was very direct and offered much correction to me—his eager student.
I love to learn new things. But some of the things I would like to learn—I can’t because I have no one to teach me.
Have you ever wanted to learn a new hobby or skill and were able to sit at the feet and learn from a master?
This is where we find the disciples in our passage this morning.
They are spending their days with Jesus—a master at theology, a master at relationships, and a master at prayer. So they ask him:
“Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Lk 11:1, ESV)
Of all the skills in the Christian walk, prayer is the most powerful.
C. H. Spurgeon said; “Prayer is the master-weapon. We should be wise if we used it more, and did so with a more specific purpose.” (http://www.prayerfoundation.org/spurgeon_and_the_power_of_prayer.htm)
We all need to become people of prayer. We have a God that desires to hear from us—to hear our desires and our concerns.
As we turn to our passage this morning in Luke 11, my prayer is that we will all walk away with a renewed since of what Jesus teaches us in regard to our prayer life.
I’ve titled this message “The Master’s Teaching of Prayer”. In this passage, we see in the very first verse that Jesus has been teaching his disciples to pray much earlier than they even thought about their question.
Looking in our Bibles this morning, verse one reads;
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.” (LK 11:1, ESV)
Jesus was no stranger to prayer—and his disciples were no strangers to seeing him take time to pray:
In Luke 5—”he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”(Lk 5:16, ESV)
In Luke 6—”he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. (Lk 6:12, ESV)
In Luke 9—”he was praying alone,” (Lk 9:18a)
Jesus made a habit of prayer.
In this habit, he teaches us to:
1. Pray Frequently
Jesus took time to pray. The disciples saw this—and they saw him as an expert in prayer. He taught them by example. He taught them that it was a priority for him. He took time out to pray. He walked away from the people, who were following his every move, to speak to the Father in Heaven—and he did this frequently.
When I talk with people about their relationship with God, many will tell me that they do pray. It is a natural desire of our heart to have a relationship with God.
A 2007 Pew Research Poll found that Three-quarters of Americans (75%) pray at least once a week, while just 18% say they seldom or never pray. (http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=1002)
The Bible teaches us that we were created to have open communion with God. The original design was for man and woman to walk through the Garden of Eden in daily fellowship with God. But, man sinned against God—and our sin separates us from God.
People of all religions are praying to their God. But, you can only find a true relationship with God fulfilled through the person of Jesus Christ. (John 9:31-10:21)
Do you have a relationship with Christ today?
It is natural that we desire this relationship and it is natural that want to pray frequently.
John Piper wrote;
“Unless I’m badly mistaken, one of the main reasons so many of God’s children don’t have a significant life of prayer is not so much that we don’t want to, but that we don’t plan to….We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be a part of our life, but nothing’s ever ready. We don’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure. …If you want renewal in your life of prayer you must plan to see it.” (John Piper, Desiring God, pp150-151)
We live in a world driven by our calendar—if it is important; we put it on our calendar. We need to place prayer on our calendar like any other meeting of importance. We need to plan—time and place.
We must pray frequently, yes, but we also must;
2. Pray Thoughtfully
When we pray, we are to think through what is being said.
Jesus says in verse 2:
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,2
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.” (LK 11:2-4, ESV)
This is not to say this is the only prayer that can be said, but Jesus gives us a formula in which to start learning to pray.
Jesus wants more than just eloquent words. Matthew 6:7-8:
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Mt 6:7-8, ESV)
Jesus’ formula for prayer returns me thinking about learning to play tennis. There is your basic back hand and forehand swings, then there is the volley, two-handed back hand, the western grip, eastern grip, and other techniques that you gradually learn to use.
Jesus gives us a basic formula for incorporating prayer into our lives. As we get comfortable with this format, we begin to involve our own heart’s desire, burdens, and personalities into our prayer times. Jesus accepts us where we are. We don’t have to be the most colorful prayer giver—we can simply be the widow who only gave two mites to the temple when those around her were giving large amounts (Mark 12:41), but it was all she has. Jesus simply accepts us where we are.
But it takes effort on our part to think through what we want to pray. Jesus gives us this model as a framework to build upon.
He begins with Praise:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come. (Luke 11:2, ESV)
Then transitions to needs:
3 Give us each day our daily bread, (Luke 11:3, ESV)
And confessions;
4 and forgive us our sins, (Luke 11:4a, ESV)
And our forgiveness of others;
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.” (LK 11:4b, ESV)
Jesus has given us the basic elements of an effective prayer life: Praise, Needs, Confession, and Forgiveness of others.
We need to put thought into our prayer life. Some use a journal, some use a list, and some use prayer guides. Allow your prayers to mean something—make them much more than “empty words” and one of the surest ways of doing this is to:
3. Pray Expectantly
Luke 11: 5–
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. (LK 11:5-7, ESV)
When we ask our friends for something we need, we ask them expecting that they will say “yes”—if we don’t they are not truly our friends. This doesn’t mean that a true friend says “yes” to every request but the expectation is there that our friends will do everything that they can to help us. If you cannot ask expectantly—it doesn’t say anything about the person to whom we are asking—but our relationship to the person.
In his book “From Feet to Fathoms”, R.G. Lee, writes;
Does not prayer need more emphasis today than we are giving it in our church life? “When we depend upon organization, we get what organization can do. When we depend upon education, we get what education can do; when we depend upon culture, we get what culture can do; when we depend upon a mere financial scheme, we get what a mere financial scheme can do. When we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do.” Prayer is a vital essential. It receives too little emphasis in our world today. (p230)
We give lip service to Prayer. Luke 11:9 says:
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Luke 11:9, ESV)
We lack confidence that our prayer will be answered. We must pray expectantly. This entire passage does not once include a disclaimer. Jesus doesn’t say; “Pray for this request and maybe God will hear you.” Or “If you act a certain way then maybe God will bless you.” Nor does he say; “Don’t get your hopes up—because it may not really come true.” These are the words of shallow faith.
I believe the Bible. I believe every word is true and I open to the red letters of the Bible and read:
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:10, ESV)
We must pray expectantly.
We must pray as if we expect something to happen. This is faith—believing that the God whom you address can and will answer your prayer. Prayer without Faith is simply a wish.
As we have looked at this morning’s passage, we see that we are to
Pray Frequently, Pray Thoughtfully, and we must Pray Expectantly.
It takes practice to learn to pray. It takes faith.
We see these points in the teachings of Jesus and we are encouraged to pray all the more.
He desires to hear from us.
But we must know the person we are addressing. Luke 11:5 says “Which of you who has a friend…” and verse 11 says “What father among you…” These are close relationships the he is describing and in order for a Holy God to hear our prayers we must have a relationship with Him. The Jesus says of himself:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (Jn 14:6-7, ESV)
Do you know him this morning?
Many of us have heard about Christ, but do we truly know him?
The Apostle Paul wrote:
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Php 3:8a, ESV)
We come to know Christ first by knowing about him.
Jesus came that you may have life and have it abundantly. (Jn 10:10) All of us are sinners separated from God because of our sin and the penalty of death that must be paid. Jesus paid that penalty by dying on the Cross—rising again for our justification.
We come to know Christ then by accepting him.
As with any gift, we must accept his payment as a substitution for the death payment that we must pay. (1 Peter 3:18)
As with any friend, we must accept him and place our faith in Him to do what He has said he will do in our lives. (John 3:16)
We come to know him by surrendering our lives to him.
The Bible says:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Ga 2:20, ESV)
This morning, you have an opportunity to know Christ as you have never known Him before. I urge you to accept Him—surrender to His call this morning. He has paid it all for you.
Let us pray.