Summary: Jesus disciples were drawn by his intimate walk with His Father. This text reveals how prayer is shaped by what’s in our heart & in our Father’s heart.

Welcome & Theme Introduction

1. What one thing could make the church more powerful than anything else? What one thing could ensure that your life was as good as it can be? What one thing could turn your family into the place that everyone loved to stay?

2. That ONE thing is an intimate, consistent time spent every day developing our walk with Jesus. Getting to know Him better. Listening to His desire for our lives.

3. This morning, Luke shares one of the times when Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to have the kind of prayer life that he had.

4. Scripture is full of people who learned to walk closely with God and it showed in their prayer life. Listen as the young men share just a few of those Scriptures.

Scripture Reading & Prayer (Psalm 27:4-8; 63:1-5; 5:1-3, 11-12; Ephesians 3:14-19; Luke 11:1-4)

INTRODUCTION

1. An interesting question is asked in Micah 6:6 - “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow

down before the exalted God?” It’s interesting

because of who asked it—not the pagans, but God’s

own people. They must have been sensing the

emptiness of having a ritual without a

relationship.

a. What if I give what is “expected”?

(burnt offerings & year old calves)

b. What if I give what is “extravagant”?

(1000’s of rams & 10,000 rivers of oil)

c. What if I give what is “extreme”?

(offered my firstborn to pay for my sins)

2. God’s answer is two-fold:

a. Quality is not determined by quantity…

b. It is about a life born out of a

relationship where 3 things happen:

1) “Do justice” - my heart should

want to do what is right

2) “Love kindness” - how I relate to

the people in my life

3) “Walk humbly with my God” - an

intimate, real relationship with

my Creator.

c. INWARD - OUTWARD - & UPWARD (the whole

of my life is affected.

3. But man has always struggled with know how to

connect with the One who is unseen. How do

you “walk humbly” with someone you can see?

4. That’s probably why Jesus’ disciples, having

watched him when he prayed, asked him to teach

them how to do it. I believe they weren’t asking

as much about procedure as they were the

Person...it was more than ritual they desired to

discover … it was a relationship.

5. Let’s look at the story and listen to Jesus as he

teaches them about this critical part of being a

disciple.

I. OUR HEART IN PRAYER (vs. 2-10)

A. It involves perspective (vs. 2-4)

1. About who God is

2. About my desire for Him to

reign

3. About my dependence upon Him

for even the basics

4. About how a walk with Him

affects my walk with others

5. About my need for His

guidance in the spiritual

battles

B. It involves persistence (vs. 5-10)

1. Jesus tells a humorous story

(one room house / one bed)

2. The point is not to say that

God is reluctant to answer

our prayers … Jesus will

correct that misunderstanding

in a moment.

3. The point is that a close

walk with God is one that

will not go anywhere else for

our needs to be met! We will

keep asking, seeking, &

knocking!!

II. GOD’S HEART IN PRAYER (vs. 11-13)

A. We who are fathers know that when our

children come to us with a serious request, we know how to take care of

that.

B. Jesus’ point is that our Father’s

greatest desire is to give His

children everything that they need.

1. It is interesting that in

Matthew’s rendering of this

prayer, he has Jesus saying

that “our Father in heaven

will give good gifts to those

who ask Him”.

2. But Luke shares the version

where Jesus further defines

just how much the Father

loves his children … He wants

to give them the ultimate

gift … the HOLY SPIRIT!!!

CONCLUSION

1. This morning, I want us to respond together,

all of us, for a reason. This prayer that Jesus taught them was to be a community

prayer (all the pronouns are plural).

2. So I want us to sing the prayer as a way of

saying to God that we desire a deeper, more

heavenly perspective on Who He is and about

learning to walk humbly with Him. As we sing

the prayer, let’s also commit, both as

individuals and as a church family, to being

constant and persistent in prayer.

3. Then, let’s all sing a song asking God to

revive us with a new passion for Him and His

ways.

Song: The Lord’s Prayer

Song: Revive Us, O Lord