Lord, teach us to Pray
Luke 6:12 “And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”
After His enemies, the scribes and Pharisees, started talking about….”what they might do to Jesus.”
And right before He chose the twelve apostles,…..the Lord Jesus spent a whole night in prayer.
How comforting it must have been for Him, to be before His Father’s presence, when His enemies were plotting against Him. (“They were filled with madness; and communed one with another…” Luke 6:11)
How strengthening for Him, that in the Father’s Will, He would be given eleven men that would stay with Him, till the end…(plus the betrayer, Judas. Luke 6:13-16).
His disciples must have recognized the comfort and strengthening that prayer gave Him…..for…
….one of the times He was praying, His disciples asked:
Luke 11:1 “And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Teach us to pray…..
Whether they meant, teach us the words to say….or the attitude in doing so;……Jesus did…….giving them all the things they should put into their prayers:
(Luke 11:2-4). “….Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.” He showed them, and us…..Who we are to pray to. And the attitude in coming before the Throne of grace….in reverence for all He is.
“Thy kingdom come.” Let Your kingdom come within me, and then let it come on this earth.
“Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” We are to seek after God to know His Will….and to do it in the joy and confidence….that the angels do in heaven.
“Give us day by day our daily bread.” We have needs, and God does not neglect them….we are to bring them before Him and lay them out before Him….seeking His will in all of them
“And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.” We should bring our daily sins….to be forgiven, so that fellowship will not be interrupted,….or joy, lost.
And we are to forgive others, reminding ourselves, how much we have been forgiven.
“And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” We all have those things that tempt us. All of us are faced with temptation everyday….it is what we do with it, that matters.
So He taught his disciples to pray that we would be led away….clear away from it. But if we are led astray….to be delivered from it.
Next, Jesus showed them what the attitude of prayer should be:
(Luke 11:5-8). Ask….and receive. Seek….and find. Knock….and get the door opened.
Stay after what you need….till you get it.
Then….and I thing this is both wonderful, and merciful…..the Lord Jesus showed them that God was their Heavenly Father, Who will give “good gifts” unto His children….who ask Him.
Luke 11:11-13 “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”
God will not give “look alike” answers. (Stone for bread….a serpent for an eel….and a scorpion, which curls up and goes white; for an egg.)
He gives the need,…..met.
And of all the gifts He gives….The Lord says…..seek for the Holy Spirit….in fullness.
To pray to our Heavenly Father is a blessed right of the born again ones.
To have the Holy Spirit in us….more and more as we yield to Him, is a blessed promise for our journey here, and forever.
Colossians 4:2 “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;”
Are we praying? Are we being watchful?
Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Ephesians 5:14 “Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”
We need to learn to pray,…..but the Lord is willing to teach us….
…….giving us His example….and exhorting us to stay after….do not give up on God.
(How weak our flesh is here…..but even in this, we can ask for help.)
Praise our God for all His Word to us.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 