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Preaching Series on Prayer

Preaching Series on Prayer. Weekend of June 28 th and 29 th , 2014. “Lord, Teach Us to Pray”. How Do You Start Your Prayers?. Much of the time, I tend to rush into a series of requests in which I pour out my problems to God. Do you do that, too?

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Preaching Series on Prayer

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  1. Preaching Series on Prayer Weekend of June 28th and 29th, 2014 “Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

  2. How Do You Start Your Prayers? • Much of the time, I tend to rush into a series of requests in which I pour out my problems to God. • Do you do that, too? • The problem with beginning our prayers this way is that it tends to reinforce attention on what’s troubling us and our inability to fix it. • This approach might also explain the fact that after we have struggled in prayer, we are often more depressed and frustrated than when we began. Ever feel that way?

  3. How Do You Start Your Prayers? • Alan Redpath sums up how many of us feel after we have prayed. He writes… • “When we have finished praying, we can scarcely bring ourselves to believe that our feeble words could really have been heard, or that they can have made a difference in the things for which we were just praying;” • His conclusion: “We have said our prayers, but we have not really prayed!”

  4. Lord, Teach Us To Pray • Jesus’ teaching on prayer, begins with His disciples requests, “Lord, teach us to pray.” • The disciples seem to have waited, maybe some time, to ask Jesus this question; • They certainly had seen Him pray on many occasions; • They had watched as Jesus would go off to be alone to pray; • In fact, our text says, “that Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He stopped, one of the disciples made this very request;

  5. Lord, Teach Us To Pray • Jesus’ answer to the disciple’s request is what we have come to know as “The Lord’s Prayer.” • The Lord’s Prayer was not given to be some kind of ritual which can be recited while not even paying attention to what we are saying; • The Lord’s Prayer is really our Lord’s blueprint for prayer that is acceptable to God; • Jesus’ answers, “When you pray…” or Matthew says “In this manner, pray…” Ever done that?

  6. Lord, Teach Us To Pray • In other words, Jesus is saying, “Pray like this…” • The Lord’s Prayer was given to show the disciples, andus, how God wants us to pray. • It is important to recognize the difference between “how we should pray” and the “individual words of the prayer.” • There is a big difference between “saying” the Lord’s Prayer and “praying” the Lord’s Prayer. • Jesus gives us His blueprint for prayer.

  7. “Our Father in Heaven” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • Praying on the basis of a NewRelationship. • What are the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer? • Jesus is saying, when you pray, start by recognizing that this God, to whom we are praying, is our Father; • Jesus does not use the formal word for father, but rather the Aramaic word which any child might address their father; • The word is “Abba” meaning daddy, but with a slightly more reverent touch than is used today; “Our Father”

  8. “Our Father in Heaven” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • It would best be translated something like “Dearest Father;” • When Jesus addressed the God of heaven, He always used this word, “Abba” - Dearest Father; • It is interesting to note that in the Gospels, Jesus uses this word “Father” more than 60 times; • Throughout the entire Old Testament, the word “Father” is used only 14 times; • No one in all the history of Israel had ever prayed like Jesus prayed, because Jesus knew of that special relationship;

  9. “Our Father in Heaven” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • Jesus transformed the relationship with God: • From a God who is distant and unapproachable; • To a God who has an intimate relationship to us, like a Father; • This same relationship was expressed by Paul in Galatians 4:6 “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." • Wrapped up in the words “Our Father” is a new dimension of intimate communication with God, like that of a child with their earthly father; This is our Relationship to God in Prayer!

  10. “Our Father in Heaven” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • The problem comes in when we’ve had poor role models in our earthly fathers; • Perhaps your father was angry and unapproachable or even abusive; • In such cases, it is difficult to approach God as father, but NOT impossible; • One way to overcome these poor role models is to think of God as “being everything you wished your father would have been;” • God can become the fulfillment of your childhood dreams for a father who loves you unconditionally;

  11. “Our Father in Heaven” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • The beginning of effective prayer is the recognition that our God possesses: • A father’s heart; • A father’s love; • A father’s strength; and • A father’s concern for the best interests of His children; • We need to remember that it is impossible to come to God as Father unless we are born new into God’s Family through faith in Jesus Christ; • This prayer can only be truly uttered by those who are in the family of believers;

  12. “Holy is Your Name” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • Praying on the basis of a NewRespect. • When we say, “Hallowed be Your Name,” we have moved to a new level of respect and reverence for this Father, God; • We are moving up to the very heart of God, to recognize who He is and what He has done for us; • When Jesus tells us to pray “Holy is Your Name,” He is saying we are to place God on the throne of our hearts;

  13. “Holy is Your Name” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • How do we keep God’s Name Holy? • By placing God in the center of your life. • In everyone’s life, the heart is the throne room, from which all decisions, plans and choices are made. • One of two people will sit on that throne and direct the affairs of your life.

  14. “Your Kingdom Come” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • Praying on the basis of a NewPriority. • What did Jesus meanwhen He prayed “Your Kingdom Come?” • Did you know that God’s Kingdom is not fully ruling here on this earth? • The complete and full rulership of God’s Kingdom is still a future event. • So when we pray, “Your Kingdom Come” we are asking Jesus to come and establish His kingdom here on earth.

  15. “Your Kingdom Come” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • At the end of this world’s history, God’s Plan and Desires, will be done on earth just like they are already done in heaven. • To prepare for the final coming of God’s Kingdom, we are to work to make the Kingdom of God a reality in both our lives and people around us now. • We must be careful that we don’t pray for God’s rule over the world until we intend to fully allow His rule in our own lives now. • The more fully we allow God’s reign in our lives, the more He is able to use us in making known His kingdom here on this earth.

  16. “Your Will Be Done” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • Praying on the basis of a NewSubmission. • It is amazing that so many people pray “Your Will be Done” and then have not the faintest idea of what God’s Will is. • Maybe even more alarming is that even more people say these words without any intention whatsoever of seeing the Father’s Will be done. • When we pray “Your Will be Done,” we often are really asking God to change His Will and bless our will? • Instead, we need to be asking God to help us find His Will and then do it?

  17. “Your Will Be Done” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • That’s why this prayer is a prayer of submission. • That’s how Jesus used it. • All of our problems in life can be traced back to our own self-will, of doing things our way and not God’s way. • The Good News is that you and I can take all those times of self-will and doing things our own way to this Dearest Father and He will forgive us and then empower us to do His Will.

  18. “The First Half of the Lord’s Prayer” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • The first four lines of the Lord’s Prayer, that we have studied this day, all have to do with God: • Our New Relationship with God; • Our New Respect for God; • Our New Priority of God; • Our New Submission to God; • They all have an upward flow, that effects us deeply in our relationship to our dearest Father. Our Father

  19. “The Second Half of the Lord’s Prayer” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer • The last four lines of the Lord’s Prayer have to do with our well-being, each phrase using the pronoun “US.” • Give US daily bread; • Forgive US our sins; • Lead US not into temptation; • Deliver US from evil; • This is the second half of the Lord’s Prayer, that we will take up in our study next week.

  20. “The Lord’s Prayer” The Lord’s Blueprint For Prayer Comment? -or- Questions?

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