Luke 11:1 (NIV)
Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Reasons we don’t Pray…
We don’t think we have time.
Luke 10:41-42 (GW)
41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. 42 There’s only one thing you need.[a] Mary has made the right choice, and that one thing will not be taken away from her.”
We don’t think God is listening.
James 4:3 (GW)
3 When you pray for things, you don’t get them because you want them for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.
1 John 5:14 (GW)
14 We are confident that God listens to us if we ask for anything that has his approval.
We don’t think it makes a diffrence.
James 5:16 (NLT)
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Real prayer is driven by relationship, not Need or crisis.
When we pray…
1. Start with worship.
Matthew 6:9 (NIV)
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
John 4:23 (ERV)
23 But the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. In fact, that time is now here. And these are the kind of people the Father wants to be his worshipers.
2. Fully Surrender.
Matthew 26:39 (TLV)
39 Going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me! Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
3. Pray with confidence.
Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV)
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
4. Make it personal, not formal.
Matthew 6:7-13 (MSG)
7-13 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.