Sermon Central
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Knocking On Heaven’s Door Series
Contributed by C Vincent on Dec 31, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: An introduction to prayer from Luke 11:1
Knocking on Heaven’s Door
JCC 03.01.10 am part 1 Prayer
If you had the opportunity, what one thing would you have liked Jesus to show you?
See miracles? The dead raised? Etc
One thing the disciples asked Him to show them
They asked Him to teach them to pray
We are not told if Jesus ever prayed with his disciples
But they observed him
But everything he did was a link to his prayer life
They were aware he was committed to going off to pray
Sometimes all night, sometimes with fasting
Usually just a few steps away from them
Like in the garden of Gethsemane
The disciples wanted Jesus to teach them prayer like John did with his disciples
John taught his disciples prayer
John wasn’t always preaching repentance
John was also known as a prayerful man v1
This is why he knew it was time for him to decease, job done
The reason for Jesus’ success was his prayer life
Apprentice, one to one, or small groups are the best way of learning; not done much these days
The best form of learning is watching, listening and applying
The disciples were observing him
Some of us have years of impressions of what prayer should or might be like
Voice, tone, language, length etc
The Pharisees taught the people self righteous prayers
They were known for their standing on street corners
The disciples knew Jesus’ praying was far more than they had experienced previously
The disciples didn’t say, ‘teach me to walk on water’, etc. They recognised they needed prayer
They heard Jesus pour out his heart and pause to listen to what the father said to him
A two-way conversation
They knew everything he did was out of his connection with heaven
They knew ‘how’ to pray, the mechanics, but they wanted to pray
We have millions of books, DVD’s, CD’s etc on how to pray, but we still don’t pray
Many find it the most difficult thing to do
The prayer meeting is the least attended. Why?
It’s because we have this mentality that we aren’t doing it right
Will God answer anyway?
Some need a prayer book with prayers written for them
Someone asked me to pray once because they didn’t have a prayer book at hand!
Prayer isn’t that important to some
Yet it should be the most natural thing for us to do; talking to daddy
Your child didn’t learn ‘how’ to talk to you, they just talked
Some prefer to come Sundays where they get fed, but not Thurs because prayer is hard work to them
Not if it’s based on relationship
It’s only difficult if you don’t know the person you are talking to
None before Jesus had ever looked to heaven and said, ‘Abba father’; not Moses, David, Samuel etc
Come like children to a father
We have baggage on our prayer life
Especially if our earthly father was, or is unapproachable
We don’t know the joy of freedom in talking and have conversation with the Lord
The art of conversing is more and more diminishing
Texting and emails are the art of conversation now
But what’s missing, is the rest of conversing: body posture/language, facial gestures
These convey much more than words at times
Sometimes we don’t have to say a word. The look is enough
You need wisdom to know how to pray
Wisdom is a powerful tool in our hands, that’s why Solomon asked for it
It helps us to weigh everything up
It’s like wool or material in clothing
You can’t knit without wool
You can’t make a garment without material
You can’t pray without wisdom
Knowing what to pray and why is the key
We must pray for specific things
Nehemiah questioned himself when faced with the situation back in Jerusalem
He thought, “What can you do about it Nehemiah?
Come, it has to be done, and you are the man that is to do it, at least, to do your bit
What can you do?”
He decided to set apart a time for prayer
It never left his thoughts for nearly four months!
Day and night Jerusalem was written on his heart
He could only see Jerusalem
Have you had times like that?
Your focus was on something or someone?
When he slept he dreamed about Jerusalem
When he woke, the first thought was, “Jerusalem!” and before he fell asleep again his evening prayer was for the ruined walls of Jerusalem
Consistently was he in communion with God
Then that moment he couldn’t hide his feelings came
Serving the King his wine, his face told it all, his communication was not with words to the King, but the King knew something heavy was on this man
“So I prayed to the God of Heaven.”
