Teach us to Pray

Luke 11:1

“When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Today we take break from the old testament and retread a sermon I heard about prayer.   

When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray the way John taught his followers, he goes right into the “Our Father” prayer most of us have heard. Interestingly, Jesus’ disciples had been praying all their life in the temple. They knew how to pray the way the leaders of the day taught them. Watching John’s followers, they must have heard prayers that were different. Those prayers were somehow much better than the temple prayers they grew up with. Growing up Catholic, we prayed the “Our Father” prayer a lot along with the “Hail Mary” prayer. They became the thing to say when you prayed to God; they became a thing to do rather than a conversation with God. Being a Spirit filled Christian I look at the the “Our Father” prayer not as a prayer but rather an outline now. It points my heart and head to be aligned with the Lord rather than what I want.

If we don’t believe prayer changes the heart of God and that prayer matters then why pray at all?  We could all just sit back and say that we are all subject to God’s will with no influence OR we can pray like Jesus taught his disciples.  When you pray, God changes your heart and aligns it with his will.  God is not a vending machine for you to use when you need something.  Tragically, most of us pray that way; God give me, God heal me, God give a raise at work, etc.  Spending time with God in prayer and meditation will give you a better understanding of the heart of God and thus your prayers will align with His will more and more.  In the end, it is your heart that needs more changing, not His.  Before you go and make your vending machine prayer list, you might want to start off with your heart and ask God to change it and mold it before you rattle off a list of the “I want’s.”

Below is an outline of the sermon.  We should all attack prayer as Moses did.  Moses prayed for God to spare Sodom and Gomora and God changed his mind a number of times because Moses prayed and asked. His will was ultimately carried out. 

How to pray
1.  Prayer should be personal
• Prayer should have a personal relationship.  Kids, spouse, people you know.   Create a list
• Prayer becomes personal to you.
• Process it through your heart not through your head.
2.  Prayer should be purposeful
• An archer aims at the target so your prayers should aim at something.
3.  Prayer should be persistent
• Intentions don’t equal actions.
• Take small steps to the action of prayer.
• Don’t play ding dong ditch with God.
• Keep on and on….persistence