Pray

Posted by Eric Simmons @http://www.newattitude.org/beta/blog/entry.php?category=Application&id=169#jumpdown

Have you ever been in a group context and you start talking about a subject you know little about—but you talk as though you know a lot about it. And the more you talk the more painfully obvious it is to everyone that you have no idea what you are talking about. With the invention of Google it seems as though everybody is an expert with just the click of the mouse.

Have you ever been in a group context and you start talking about a subject you know little about—but you talk as though you know a lot about it. And the more you talk the more painfully obvious it is to everyone that you have no idea what you are talking about. With the invention of Google it seems as though everybody is an expert with just the click of the mouse.

I think this could be our tendency and temptation with the subject of prayer. Our Christian culture is inundated with information about. I did a Google search under the word prayer and Google pulled up almost 94 million sites dedicated to the topic of prayer. Amazon had almost 202 thousands books on the topic.

Prayer is one of those topics I think we can speak authoritatively about. But we spend little time actually doing it! Do we pray? Do you pray?

Let’s all assume for a minute that we don’t know how to pray. Let’s not think we know what we are talking about. Let’s come like children to the feet of the Father and ask along with the disciples the simple question, “Jesus, would you teach us to pray.” Let’s recognize from the beginning, whether we have been walking with Jesus for 2 months or 20 years, we need to be taught by Jesus how to pray.

A few weeks ago I preached from Luke 11:1-13 at my church. The context of the passage is that as Jesus was privately praying, the disciples were eavesdropping. There was something in the way Jesus prayed that the disciples wanted to find out about. They wanted to know how this Rabbi, this Teacher, this Savior and Prophet prayed.

What Jesus does in this passage is he directs us to 3 things that we should know when we pray.

1. Who do we pray to?

This seems like a very simple question. But I want to take a moment and really meditate on the answer. It is so simple and so familiar to us that we can easily ignore and forget whom we are praying to. Failure to remember whom we pray to will devastate our prayer life. The answer to “who?” is what motivates and moves us to pray.

So who do we pray to? God.
The eternal, transcendent, omnipotent, unchangeable, omnipresent creator.
The holy, all knowing Judge who will pour out wrath on sinful beings like us.
This is who we pray to.

Let that set in for a moment.

What does Jesus want us to call God? A six letter word that will change your prayer life: “Father” (verse 2). Darryl Bock comments that for the disciples the opening note of Jesus’ prayer was marked by intimacy and real relationship. No longer were God’s people going to be distant. No not distant, but close, like children to their father.

Does that not build your faith to pray more? To approach him more? You do not come into the presence of an angry judge when you pray or a distant creator. No, you come into a family room sit down before your precious father who is listening and you can ask him anything.

Meditate on this for all it’s worth. This is where we get the passion to be diligent in prayer. This fuels our desire to pray. This turns our heart from “I gotta pray” to “Sweet, I get to pray.”

2. What should we pray for?

When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:2-4 ESV)

In this brief, simple prayer God gives us direction on what to pray. This is not a strict formal prayer; it is a pattern to pray.

There are five bold petitions in this prayer. These five petitions reflect the heart and priorities of God for us to pray. This is what he treasures.

1. Pray that God’s name would be more fully revealed and glorified to all the world.
2. Pray that God’s rule and reign would come in fullness
3. Pray for daily provision.
4. Pray for forgiveness.
5. Pray for protection from temptation.

Look at these petitions as a whole for a moment. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but I think in the mind of God these are the most important things for us to pray about. They are his priorities for us.

Does this pattern of prayer match your pattern of prayer? Do your priorities match His? What we pray for most can be a huge indicator of what is a priority to us. Are God’s glory, God’s Kingdom, God’s Gospel that brings forgiveness, God’s dominion over evil, God’s gracious provision for his children the first categories on your mind and heart to pray for?

Prayer reveals our heart and what we really treasure. So let us treasure and delight in what God delights in.

3. What should our attitude be in prayer?

Be persistent. Be shameless in your asking and praying. Don’t stop asking. Jesus says to us today: Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking.

God is encouraging shameless persistence. Let that sink in for a moment. I know that is hard to imagine.

Goerge Mueller observed, “the great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere. If they desire anything for God’s glory, they should pray until they get it.”

Have you ever prayed like this for anything? Are there any prayer requests that you have given up on or didn’t really try? I think God is saying to start asking. The answer is near. Keep asking. What a promise.

”What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
(Luke 11:11-13, ESV)

You make requests to a generous Father who is leaning forward, ready to answer you. God is not reluctant in answering any prayer, and he wants us to persist in prayer.

But why does God make us wait so long? Why is he so slow to answer?

When the Father in heaven gives us a slow answer—when he wills that we prevail for a season—it is because he is giving us a fish and not a serpent. He is giving us what is good for us. There is something in the prevailing—the asking and seeking and knocking—that we need, that is good for us. And he knows best.

So keep asking; be shameless and persistent in your requests. God is leaning forward ready to hear you and answer you! Ask, seek, knock.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Where God leads you to pray, he means you to receive.”

One qualification: God’s answer maybe no. We must trust that God knows best when we hear no. He may say no because to answer the request would be harm to us. He may say no because our motive is selfish and not about his glory. He may say no because there is willful sin in our life that he wants us to repent of first because it is breaching our relationship with him. But here is a promise: God will answer all prayer. And his answer, even if it’s no, is for our greatest good. And he has promised to give his very spirit to those that ask. That is by far greater than anything else.

I think this passage can be summed up in one central truth.
God answers all prayers, so persistently pray about all things!

Every day God the Father invites us as his children to sit down in front of him and he says to us, “Kids, ask today, seek today, knock today. How do you want to watch me work today? How would you like me to reveal my glory and my kingdom today? Ask and you shall receive today. Seek and you will find today. Knock and I will open the door today.”

As we pray persistently we get to sit and watch the Father work his wonderful ways. Let’s persistently pray about all things.

Listen to the whole message from 10.29.2006, here.