Teach Us To Pray
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.
2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
The number one lesson we must learn is that we have to pray. We cannot survive in life without prayer. Prayer is not elective; it is mandatory. Prayer is not optional; it is required. Prayer is not a convenience; it is a necessity.
God draws us into prayer. He invites us to pray.
Ps 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Mt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Joh 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
God wants us to pray. He loves and longs for fellowship with His people. He created us for fellowship with Him.
If He cannot draw you into prayer, He will drive you to prayer. If you sincerely ask God to teach you to pray, you may discover that suddenly you have many reasons to pray. Things may begin to happen that force you to your knees. If you really want to learn to pray, God will help you in this area, sometimes in forceful ways.
Jesus started this prayer out with acknowledgement of God, the Father - who He is and His greatness and holiness. It is always fitting and wise to start with praise. It creates the perfect atmosphere for petition.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done . . . Total surrender is the way to God's heart. We must put His will above ours. We must build His kingdom and not our own. If we seek His kingdom, our needs will be met sufficiently, and even abundantly.
Mt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
You will find that God's will for your life is much better and much more abundant that your own will is.
"Give us this day…" speaks of our total dependence upon God. What we receive, we receive from His hand - regardless how we may have obtained it.
Complete honesty with God is not only advisable, but it is inevitable. God already knows everything about your life. You might ask well confess and be honest about everything. You never fool God. You only fool yourself.
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Adam tried to hide his sin from God in the garden, and so began the decline of the human race.
"Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory…" returns us again to acknowledgement of the greatness of God. Praise is important because it keeps us mindful of our place and God's place.
"…forgive us as we forgive others…" We are told in another gospel that we will only be forgiven as we forgive others. In other words, you reap what you sow.
Unforgiveness will kill your prayer life. It will paralyze you spiritually. You cannot get through to God if you allow unforgiveness to block up your prayer life.
5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
If you want something badly enough, you'll find a way to get it. It always amazes me that people who can't seem to afford the necessities of life are able to come up with a few luxuries. (i.e. delivering groceries to a home where are crowded around cable TV. Or, those who drive in and ask for help to pay their light bill and the car is full of beer cans. Or, the church family who cannot afford to tithe or come up with money for a special outing, but they seem to find the money to rent movies.)
I have found that people can be pretty resourceful when they really want something.
Prayer works on the same principle. If you want or need something badly enough, you will find a way to pray through. Jesus tells this story of a man who needed some supplies and would not leave his neighbor alone until he got what he needed. He kept knocking on the door until he got the desired result. Then Jesus applied the principle to prayer. When you pray that way, that is, when you pray with that much resolve, that much intensity, that much determination, then you will get the desired answer.
Is that difficult to grasp?
He then said, "Ask, and it shall be given". Then sense here is to keep on asking. We see that in the context of the story and in the tense of the words in the original language. It literally means ask and ask and ask - keep on asking till you get your request.
"Seek, and ye shall find." Again, seek and seek and seek. Keep on looking until you find what you are looking for. "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jer 29:13)
"Knock, and it shall be opened." When it seems that you have been knocking and nobody's home, keep on knocking. God is at home. He is listening. He is paying attention. You just haven't knocked long enough. Or maybe your timing is off. But keep on knocking. This is what Jesus teaches us about prayer in direct answer to the disciple's request to learn about prayer.
Prayer requires fervor and diligence, sincerity and faith, honesty and passion. If you want it badly enough, you'll apply whatever it takes to get the job done.
Importunity means - force, compulsion, energy, effort, vigor, influence, persistence, perseverance, determination, resolve.
In other words, you've got to have dogged determination to achieve your objective.
Winston Churchill said, "A bulldogs nose is tilted back so he won't have to let go." Do you pray with that kind of determination?