SERIES: STUDENTS OF PRAYER
TITLE: SUBJECT OF PRAYER
TEXT: LUKE 11:1
INTRO:
· It has been said that, “The barren lives
of Christians and the deadness of the church today are the result of
prayerlessness.”[1]
· "He who has learned to pray has
learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life." William Law (18th century English theological writer) [2]
· If we are ever to accomplish anything
for God in this life, it must start with prayer, and we must ask, “Lord, teach
us to pray.”
I.
Lord
a. They didn’t ask the other disciples,
or the Pharisees – they asked Jesus.
b. Every student needs a teacher, and if
we are going to be students of prayer, we should go to the Master Teacher –
Jesus.
c. Two important qualities in a teacher:
i.
Knowledge
1. The disciples overheard Jesus
praying, and realized that He knew what He was doing.
2. Too often, we get our advice from
those who struggle just like us and have no clue on what to do.
3. As God in the flesh, He prayed to the
Heavenly Father so that He might teach us from a place of knowledge and
experience.
ii.
Patience
1. A good teacher is patient.
2. If the student knew what they were
doing, and could do it without messing up – they wouldn’t need a teacher.
3. But God never gives up on us – even
when we fail at prayer.
4. He is there to pick us back up, and
continue the lesson in prayer.
II.
Teach Us
a. Not them, but
us. We must take the personal responsibility for our own devotion to God.
b. We are so quick to point out the
small deficiencies in others, but over look our major faults as – minor blemishes…quirks…no big deal…etc.
i.
Matthew 7:3–5 And why beholdest thou the
mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in
thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the
mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou
see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
c. How many prayer hypocrites are out
there today?
i.
How
many times has someone asked you, or you promised to pray for someone, and you
haven’t?
d. “Doubltless
all of our sins and mistakes and failures are prayer sins, prayer mistakes, and
prayer failures.” John R Rice[3]
e. Until we realize our need, we will
never get the help we truly need.
f. Many like to think they have prayer
mastered – BUT WHEN IS THE LAST TIME GOD
ANSWERED YOUR PRAYERS?
i.
WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU FELT THE
PRESENCE OF GOD IN PRAYER?
g. The only way to overcome the sin of
prayerlessness is to recognize it and seek to be taught by the Lord.
III.
To Pray
a. Every morning you wake up – do you
desire to pray and speak to God?
b. Many Christians do not, and therefore
they don’t pray.
c. Or if they do pray, it is powerless
and pointless.
e. This disciple was not just asking how to pray. The Lord had given the
Sermon on the Mount which outlined how one should pray.
i.
This
disciple was not asking for a technique, a system, an art form, or a ritual to
follow.
ii.
It
was not a matter of how to do it, but
he wanted to pray like Christ prayed.[5]
f. The best way to learn is to practice,
and practice makes perfect. What we learn from our teacher, we must put into
practice every day.
g. Instead of focusing on where you are
not - Start where you are and begin to pray!
h. You won’t learn to pray for 2 hours until you first have prayed for 2
minutes.
CLOSE:
· How is your prayer life today?
· Before you answer that, consider
another reason why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them – it was because
John the Baptist taught his disciples to do so.
· John the Baptist was more than just a
prophet of God, he was a man of prayer and that is how Jesus’ disciples
remembered him.
· Will people remember you as a person
of prayer?
· If not, let’s ask the Lord to teach
us to pray.
[1]
McGee, J. V. (1991). Vol. 37: Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels
(Luke) (electronic ed.). Thru the Bible commentary (143). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
[4]
Murray, Andrew, “Lord, Teach Us o Pray,” Kindle edition, location 28
[5]
McGee, J. V. (1991). Vol. 37: Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels
(Luke) (electronic ed.). Thru the Bible commentary (143). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
Prayer is so essential to a Christian's life! Just as it was for our Lord.
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