Teach Us to Pray

Luke 11:1-13
Two men were out walking one day. One guy challenged his buddy by saying, “You claim to be so religious, but I’ll bet you $10 you can’t quote the Lord’s Prayer.” The second guy responded, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” The first guy pulled out his wallet, fished out a $10 bill and muttered, “I didn’t think you could do it!”
All that proves is that neither of those guys knew much about prayer. As we come to this passage, we may realize that we don’t know as much about prayer as we think we do. As some one has said, “If the world is ever again to get on its feet, the church will have to get on its knees.”
I was listening to an interview on the radio this morning that made a wonderful point: Since Jesus led on His knees, we must also lead on our knees.


I. PATTERN-
The person who asked Jesus to teach them to pray probably had the wrong motives
The expectation was that Jesus needed to provide some of the same things as John Baptist
It came from an immature place, but it afforded a wonderful opportunity
Matthew records Jesus’ instruction as “After this manner therefore pray ye…” Matthew 6:9
Jesus didn’t intend for this to become a ritual tradition, but rather a pattern for our prayer
This prayer was to serve as a blueprint of all prayer.
Reciting this prayer isn't bad, but it is better to understand and apply the principles of this prayer.
A. Relationship- When we pray we are approaching our heaven Father
That concept was something new to the Jewish people.
They don’t even speak the Name of God, much less call Him Father
Because of Jesus, He is our Abba, Father, our dear daddy
Our prayers are received by virtue of our being born again into God’s family
God has accepted the role of the Head of the Family who provides for His children
He is delighted when we come to Him and communicate with Him
B. Reverence- Our relationship with God means we don’t need to be formal in our prayers
But we should still recognize the holiness of God and be respectful toward Him
Rather than viewing prayer as a way to make requests, we need to see it as communication
With that in mind, we approach God in worship and devotion proclaiming His praise
Praying with reference to His will being done is recognition that His will is worthy
That, in fact, His intents and purposes are more noble than our own
Jesus was teaching that prayer isn’t about getting our way but bending our will to His
C. Reliance- We talk of living from week to week, but then it was from day to day
There was never a lot of money and there weren’t canned goods or refrigerators
Jesus taught that we can count on God to provide for us and care for us
Even in a day with grocery stores and pantries, we should recognize our dependence on God
Everything that we have is a token of God’s bountiful supply
Even more importantly than physical dependence on God is our spiritual dependence
We need God’s help to keep us on the right path spiritually
He forgives us for our sins so that we can be washed clean and He delivers us from evil
Luke doesn’t record the closing of the prayer, but the principle of God&