{"id":111,"date":"2010-08-01T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2010-08-01T16:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=111"},"modified":"2017-03-29T10:09:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T17:09:03","slug":"lord-teach-us-to-pray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/01\/lord-teach-us-to-pray\/","title":{"rendered":"Lord, Teach Us to Pray"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 11: 1-13<\/strong><\/p>\n

Years ago, I had the privilege of serving a dear lady as her pastor.\u00a0 Her name was Norma.\u00a0 Norma loved to come to worship.\u00a0 She loved to come to Bible class. She loved our little church.<\/p>\n

Norma had a problem though.\u00a0 You couldn’t miss it if you looked at her hands. They were twisted all out of shape by painful Rheumatoid arthritis.\u00a0 So even though she wanted to, helping around the church was impossible for her.<\/p>\n

Yet I have to think that Norma did more for our church and the people around her than we will ever know.\u00a0 You see, Norma\u00a0 loved to pray for others.\u00a0 She loved to fold those crippled hands and go to her Lord in prayer.\u00a0 In fact, every time I visited her she would say to me, Pastor, who can we pray for?<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s good for a pastor to have someone like Norma.\u00a0 Those Normas remind me not to neglect my own prayer life.\u00a0 Not to lose sight of this fact:\u00a0 what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. <\/em><\/p>\n

I imagine that’s how it was for Jesus’ disciples.\u00a0 Again and again we read how Jesus would go off to spend time in prayer with his heavenly Father.\u00a0 So his disciples couldn’t help but see that and think about their own prayer life.\u00a0 \u00a0Let’s do the same today in this Word.\u00a0 Let their request be our own.<\/p>\n

Lord, Teach Us to Pray
\n<\/strong>I.\u00a0\u00a0 Remembering what is most important \u00a0(1-4 )
\nII.\u00a0 Persistently
\nIII. Expecting good things<\/p>\n

<\/strong>I want to start by having you think of one word, Father or our Father.\u00a0 Jesus invites us to come to the God of heaven and earth as Father.\u00a0 Don’t take that for granted.\u00a0 Without Jesus, we could not do that.\u00a0 We could not come to him as dear children come to their loving father.\u00a0 For without Jesus, a big ugly wall stands between us and God.\u00a0 A wall that we built brick by brick with the many times we have offended the Lord with our sin.\u00a0 The prophet Isaiah describes so well where we stand on our own.\u00a0 You iniquities have separated you from your God.\u00a0 Your sins has hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.\u00a0 (59:2)<\/span><\/p>\n

But something has changed all that.\u00a0 Was it me?\u00a0 Was I able to tear down that wall like the people did in Berlin years ago?\u00a0 No, there’s no way you and I could remove that wall of guilt that stood between us and God.<\/p>\n

But what I couldn’t do, Jesus did at the cross.\u00a0 Brick by brick he tore down that wall as he took our sin upon himself, suffered and died.\u00a0 Brick by brick he tore down that wall as the Son of God\u00a0 redeemed us by his blood and won our forgiveness.<\/p>\n

But Jesus has done more than remove what stood between us.\u00a0 For how does he invite us to come to God.\u00a0 As Father, our Father in heaven.\u00a0 Don’t take that for granted, dear friends.\u00a0 Only in Christ can we come to God this way.\u00a0 Lord teach us to pray.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you pray, say: \u201c\u2018Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.\u00a0 3 Give us each day our daily bread.\u00a0 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.<\/span>\u2019\u201d What’s the first thing you notice here?\u00a0 This is different from what we usually pray.\u00a0 It is different from what Jesus taught in Matthew during the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 Is something missing here?\u00a0 Not really.\u00a0 It seems that Jesus wasn’t\u00a0 teaching so much a prayer to be memorized.\u00a0 He was teaching us what to pray for and who to pray for.\u00a0 He was teaching them not to forget the kind of blessings that are most important.<\/p>\n

Think about your prayer life.\u00a0 What fills your prayers?\u00a0 Is it only things like help grandma to get better.\u00a0 Give my brother a job.\u00a0 Keep me safe?\u00a0 These are things to pray for.\u00a0 But what about grandma’s faith.\u00a0 Help her Lord to trust in you.<\/em> What about your unemployed brother. He may need more than a job.\u00a0 He may need a Savior.\u00a0 Your kingdom come to him by bringing him to faith in You.<\/em> Help me to share it once more.\u00a0 And what about keeping me safe. \u00a0There are far more threatening things than an earthquake or hurricane.\u00a0 Keep me safe from those temptations to walk away from you, Lord.\u00a0 Help me to hallow your name by what I say and do as one on whom you placed your name in Holy Baptism. <\/em><\/p>\n

Do you see then what Jesus taught his disciples here, what he teaches us who can be so unspiritual in our prayers.\u00a0 Our daily bread, the things we need for everyday life is important.\u00a0 But here our Lord teaches us to remember what is most important, those spiritual blessings that have eternal importance.<\/p>\n

And did you notice?\u00a0 It’s not just about me, myself and I.\u00a0 For how does Jesus teach us to pray: \u00a0our, us, like dear Norma prayed for others. For we are not just a bunch of individuals who happen to come together in a certain place.\u00a0 We are the body of Christ. We belong to one another.\u00a0 So we pray not just for me, but for one another.\u00a0 Lord teach us to pray. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He teaches us something else here. <\/strong>\u201cSuppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, \u2018Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,\u00a0 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

7 \u201cThen the one inside answers, \u2018Don\u2019t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can\u2019t get up and give you anything.\u2019\u00a0 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man\u2019s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs<\/span>. Let’s make sure we understand what Jesus is teaching us.\u00a0 He’s not saying, if you keep pestering God, he will finally answer your prayer to get you to quit bothering him. Our Father is not like we earthly fathers can sometimes be.\u00a0 All right!!<\/p>\n

Yet Jesus is teaching us this.\u00a0 Be persistent in your prayers.\u00a0 Don’t give up seeking.\u00a0 Keep asking.\u00a0 Keep knocking on God’s door. Don’t go away after one prayer.\u00a0 Be bold like Abraham.\u00a0 Be persistent.\u00a0 And why?<\/p>\n

I can’t say why.\u00a0 But could it be that God wants you to realize how much you need his help.\u00a0 Maybe he doesn’t want you to take his blessings for granted.\u00a0 Or maybe he wants you to realize what you ought to be praying for.\u00a0 I don’t know.\u00a0\u00a0 But I do know this. Jesus teaches us:\u00a0 Keep praying and don’t give up. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened<\/span>.<\/p>\n

But what will I receive?\u00a0 What will I find when my Lord opens that door to answer my prayers?\u00a0 What can I expect?\u00a0 Listen to your Savior:\u00a0 11 \u201cWhich of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?\u00a0 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?\u00a0 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s usually safe to assume that a father wants to give good things to his children.\u00a0 Many of our fathers worked very hard, made a lot of sacrifices\u00a0 to put food on our tables, clothes on our back and give us opportunities to succeed in life.\u00a0 So what can a child expect from a father like that.\u00a0 Dad, I need this or that for school. Maybe he won’t get what he asked for.\u00a0 But dad sure won’t give him something harmful.<\/p>\n

Now think about our God who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for you.\u00a0 What kind of things does Jesus tell you to expect from your Father in heaven when you pray to him.\u00a0 Expect good things. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, some of those things don’t look so good. Many a Christian\u00a0 has prayed that the Lord would spare husband or wife or child from death. \u00a0But death came to them nevertheless.\u00a0 How could that be good?\u00a0 It seems like our Father has answered with a snake or a scorpion.<\/p>\n

Well at times like those we need to do what I do on a roller coaster.\u00a0 Grab hold of something and hold on for dear life.\u00a0 And the something to hold on to is this.\u00a0 God’s promise.\u00a0 That what he sends our way must work for our good.\u00a0 Even those things that bring tears to our eyes.\u00a0 Lord teach us to pray expecting good things<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And one very good thing to pray for is this.\u00a0 the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Don’t misunderstand.\u00a0 If you are in Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in you.\u00a0 Yet how often life throws us a curve we didn’t expect.\u00a0 How often we find ourselves worried or confused.\u00a0 We need the Spirit to give us wisdom and understanding. We need him to give us comfort and hope.\u00a0 This you can count on.\u00a0 Good things.\u00a0 as Jesus says: \u00a0how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him<\/span>!\u201d \u00a0Ask him, then.<\/p>\n

If you tell the doctor or therapist that you pray he’ll say good.\u00a0 To them it’s good if it makes you feel better.\u00a0 But prayer is more than something that makes you feel better.\u00a0 So much more.\u00a0 So let us pray.\u00a0 In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God<\/span>.\u00a0 (Philippians 4:6) \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 11: 1-13 Years ago, I had the privilege of serving a dear lady as her pastor.\u00a0 Her name was Norma.\u00a0 Norma loved to come to worship.\u00a0 She loved to come to Bible class. She loved our little church. Norma had a problem though.\u00a0 You couldn’t miss it if you looked at her hands. They were twisted all out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}