Lessons in Prayer Luke 11:1-4
Tomorrow is All Hallows Eve; Halloween. Tradition says it’s the time when the veil between our world and the spirit world is the thinnest. It’s a time of lights, masks and jack-o-lanterns all designed to frighten the spirits away. It is also a time of prayer; prayers of protection.
As many of you know this has been a rough year. I have prayed for my wife, for our church and for many of you who have called on me. I’ve been asked to pray for friends and family. And each time I pray I am honest and sincere in my petitions of God.
I know we’ve looked at prayer before but with all that’s happening in our lives and in our families I thought it was time to look at prayer again. But before we can look at what prayer is we should look at what prayer is not.
I have offered God prayers like I’m sure most of have, prayers that sound more like “Let’s make a deal.” We’ve all prayed things like, “God, if you do this for me I’ll go to church more often, God, if you let this work out for me I’ll be a better person.” Many times it’s as if we’re begging God for something and making promises that deep down we know we’re not going to keep.
God knows what we need, God knows what we want; Matthew 6:8, “…your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Coincidentally Matthew 6:9-13 is another version of the prayer we’re looking at. God knows what we need but as a holy God he gave us free choice so he will not force himself upon us. It is our decision whether or not to ask his help.
One more thing about “make a deal” prayers; making a deal means I have something of value to deal with. What do I have that is of value to the creator of the universe? God doesn’t need me to go to church more often. God doesn’t need me to be a better person. God doesn’t need me to give more to the needy. God wants me to turn to him and to follow Christ, when I do all these other things will begin to happen naturally.
Sometimes our prayers are angry laments; “God, I can’t believe you let my loved one suffer, God, how could you let this person I love leave me?” These types of prayers may be passionate expressions of our grief or sorrow, but we all know they’re not really prayers; they’re just angry outbursts at God because we feel powerless over our circumstances.
Now before we start feeling bad about ourselves we’re not the only ones who have trouble with praying, Jesus disciples had trouble with it too.
Verse one, “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.” Jesus always made time for prayer. He would get up before the others and go off by himself to be alone with God. First thing about prayer, we need to make time for it. We should not pray only when we have a problem. If that’s the only time we pray then when our answer isn’t exactly what we want we can start to think God care. If we pray all the time, in good times as well as bad, we start to see how God is acting in our life.
Our scripture says Jesus prayed in a “certain place,” but it doesn’t elaborate on where that is. I believe this is deliberate by the Holy Spirit. If it said Jesus was in the Temple we would be tempted to think we could only pray in church. By not specifying where Jesus prayed we are taught that anywhere is the place for prayer. I do a lot of my praying while in the car.
“When he finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray…’” At this time these men have been with Jesus for awhile and they have watched him pray many times and they still ask him to teach them and Jesus doesn’t chastise for it. Maybe someone’s new to the faith. Maybe you’ve been coming to church your whole life. You can still have questions about prayer and Jesus says that’s ok.
To teach his disciples Jesus gives them what we came to know as the “Lord’s Prayer.” You’ll notice it’s a short prayer. Our prayers don’t have to be long, Matthew 23:14, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. You…make long prayers just for show.” Long prayers are ok if you feel compelled to talk to God but if it’s because you think you need too, you don’t. If it’s just to show others that you somehow know how to pray better than them or you’re just making a production of it; then it’s doing you more harm than good because it’s not sincere.
Now as I said, this is a short prayer but over time things have been added to it till it became what we say today. Our church and many churches pray the “Lord’s Prayer” every week. I don’t necessarily think this is wrong but I do think it can cause us to just recite the words and lose the emotion behind them. It becomes less of a sincere prayer and more of a legalistic part of our service. I’ve had several conversations with other ministers and I’ve come to see this prayer not as a legalistic and absolute prayer but as our instructions on how to offer God a heartfelt and sincere prayer.
Jesus starts his prayer “Father.” How many of us start prayers with “God?” Again that’s not necessarily wrong, but don’t we think of “God” as his name, almost like “Hey Joe, listen to what I’ve got to say.” Jesus shows us we need to acknowledge our personal relationship with God. “Father” we acknowledge you as our procreator. We acknowledge you as the one who looks after us. We acknowledge you as the one we have a personal one on one relationship with.
“Hallowed be your name.” Any of you ever use the word hallowed in conversation? I think the only time I’ve seen the word outside the Bible is in the Gettysburg Address; “…we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow – this ground.” Lincoln is saying we cannot bless the land more than those who fought there did by their blood. Hallowed be your name, your name is blessed above all other names.
“Your kingdom come,” You are sovereign and we bow to your will for you are in control from your throne in heaven. We may submit our petitions to you but whatever the result we still see your kingdom and heaven as the ultimate solution.
“Give us each day our daily bread.” No matter what is happening we look to you for guidance, for provision and for comfort. No matter what we need, what we desire, what we ask; we acknowledge it is provided by you.
“Forgive us our sins as we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” This line at first almost seems counter intuitive so let’s look at this a little more. At first glance it seems a request for God to forgive us the same way we forgive others. This can be a problem. If I want God to forgive me in the same manner or frequency that I forgive others I’m in big trouble.
Some see this as our need to constantly ask for forgiveness but I believe once we accept Christ we are forgiven all our sins for all time. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” All unrighteousness, not just what I remember to mention at the time.
To me these lines are more of an acknowledgement that it is God who forgives us our sins. God, through our faith we know you forgive our sins. God, we acknowledge you have forgiven all the sins we have done and all that we will do in the future.
To me these lines are a request of God. God, you forgave my sins, I will try with your help to forgive those who sin against me. I pray the example of your forgiveness inspires and leads me in my dealings with others.
“And lead me not into temptation.” Temptation is part of our existence. Adam and Eve were tempted, Jesus was tempted, but they were not tempted by God, they were tempted by Satan. 1 Corinthians 10:13, “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can endure it.” God, protect me from the deceiver, show me the way out of my temptation and trouble, be the strength I need to walk away from what tempts me.
Our prayers should acknowledge God, our relationship with him and his sovereignty. They should be requests for us to feel him near and to recognize his work in our lives. Then, without great fanfare, ask your requests.
Here is my example of a prayer.
Lord God,
You are the creator and I am yours.
I believe and accept Jesus as my savior
And know you have forgiven my sin.
Father,
I ask you to provide me your grace and your strength
And to help me offer grace and forgiveness to others.
God,
You are sovereign over all creation and your will be done.
I come before you to ask in the name of Jesus…
And then add your requests.
Amen.
Amen is a word found in Hebrew, Greek and Arabic and from each it can be translated as “truly” or as “it is true” or “let it be so.” Amen is a fitting end to a prayer as a statement of belief that our petition has been heard and answered by God.
Prayers can be powerful. Let your prayers be sincere and powerful.
God bless you all,
Amen.