Session #10

Luke 11:1

"Teach Us To Pray" • 12.8.09 • Jesus Christ: The Man Of God, Session #10

Intro

- We have been looking at the life of Jesus Christ this fall and we have noted His interactions with His disciples, as well as with certain Gentiles.

- We've learned more about His character and prayerfully, become more enamored with Jesus along the way.

- For the last several weeks of this year, I wanted to delve into what is easily seen as the foundation of Christ's ministry, namely His relationship with His Father.

- A quick survey of a few select verses helps us to paint the picture of Christ's priorities.

- After the feeding of the 5,000, Matthew 14:23 tells us that He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray.

- After healing the man with the withered hand, Luke 6:12 reports that Jesus again went to the mountain to pray, and "continued all night in prayer to God."

- Having performed several healings in Capernaum, Mark 1:35 records that Jesus "having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed."

- Finally, and perhaps most telling, the night before Christ's death, we find Him praying in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:44 says, "And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly."

- Whether it was late at night, early in the morning, prior to ministry or just after, Jesus was often seen praying by His disciples.

- This prompted them to come to Jesus and ask Him to pass along His secret.

• Luke 11:1 : "Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.'"

- Of all the things that the disciples could have asked for, the one thing that they DID ask for was instruction on how to pray.

- Notice that one of His disciples asked just after Jesus had completed a prayer session. What did they see on His face? What caused them to yearn for what Jesus had?

- Perhaps it was a peaceful disposition or a contented spirit. Something attracted them to seek to learn this art of prayer.

- It was something that John had taught his disciples to do as well. Remember that Jesus had inherited at least two disciples from John, one of which was Andrew.

- Perhaps Andrew and the other disciple bragged about how John had taken the time to train them in the things of prayer. It's possible that there is some "One-Up-Manship" going on here!

- Whatever the case, the Lord was more than willing to accomodate them in this matter.

- The instruction that follows has long been called "The Lord's Prayer." That is a huge misnomer, as it is definitely not the Lord's prayer, but the "Disciple's Prayer."

- You can find it twice in the Gospels. Here in Luke 11:2-4 and in Matthew 6:9-13. For our purposes, we look at Luke 11 to find the initiation of the disciples in asking for prayer instruction.

- Matthew has the more full transcript of this prayer. For our benefit, let's listen to the prayer as recorded by Matthew.

• Matthew 6:9-13 : "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

- There are four sections to this prayer. We'll cover one per week. Today, in section one, we'll cover the person of prayer.

- We'll note three items about the person of prayer and the relationship that is unveiled through the first tones of this prayer.

I. Intimacy "Our Father..."

II. Transcendancy "In heaven..."

III. Sanctity "Hallowed be Your name..."

Text

I. Intimacy "Our Father..."

• Matthew 6:9 : "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father..." : Immediately we understand that Jesus never intended this to be a form prayer.

- There is nothing wrong with memorization, nor is there anything wrong with repitition. Jesus however, is informing our prayer context.

- The disciples prayer is not an exercise in what can be memorized and simply repeated. If that were so, He would have used the word "pattern." "With this pattern..."

- He says instead, "in this manner" or with this as your tone. He begins the prayer focused on the person of God, the person that they are addressing.

- To someone of their day, this would have been a radical thought. He tells the disciples that they are to call their God, "Father." The Rabbis of that time would have been outraged.

- Nobody called God "Father." It was too intimate a term. It implied a relationship that was too close. If anything, the Rabbis found ways in their prayers to be more distant from God.

- Was this such a foreign concept? Not at all. It's a Biblical concept from even the earliest chapters of Genesis.

- Turn with me to Genesis 5. The concept of God's Fatherhood to man is quickly seen.

• Genesis 5:1,2 : "This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created."

- The Jewish people considered God to be their Father, but in a national way, certainly not personally. Jesus is returning His disciples to their rightful place.

- If their prayer is to be as effective as His, then they are to pray from an intimate place of relationship.

- It might also be noted that they were to understand that God was their Father personally, and at the same time, collectively. We come in to pray, but we are not alone in doing so. He is "Our Father."

- We pray along with other saints, from other denominational lines, who are privileged with the same invitation from God. He is the Father to all who believe in and have received HIs Son.

- John 1:12 informs us of this truth, that to all who have believed on Him, to them He gave the right to be called children of God.

- What might we gather from this information? Several things can be inferred.

- God, as our Father, is intimately aware and concerned about our needs. When we come to Him, we acknowledge that relationship.

- We come with the understanding that we are coming to our Father, who wants to hear from us and wants to respond to His children.

- He wants to speak into our lives. He wants to provide needs. He wants to bless His children.

- When I utter the words "Our Father" these relational truths form the foundation to my petitions.

II. Transcendancy "In heaven..."

• Matthew 6:9 : "in heaven..." To those who have knowledge of their Father, the next piece of information is critical.

- While His role is best defined as Fatherhood to us, in that what we infer from it is loving concern and responsibility, we understand that He is not among us.

- He dwells in Heaven. He lives in a realm that is beyond us, in a place where He rules.

- He is transcendant. He is outside of our realm of our existence. He is in a place unaffected by that which affects us. The rules and conditions there are quite different.

- Turn with me to Psalm 115. David is giving glory to the Lord and explains how He lives.

• Psalm 115:1-3 : "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth. Why should the Gentiles say, 'So where is their God?' But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases."

- Sometimes, I pray as though God is as stymied by my conditions as I am! But this is very effective in reminding me that my Father dwells outside of it all.

- He looks down into it without ever being effected, save that the one the He is concerned with is being effected by it!

- He does not live within the construct of time and space! He does not live where the rule of riches or the desire for advancement dominate.

- He is not swayed by what sways us. He lives well outside of it all.

- This is why He always comes just in time, and never a minute early!

- On the positive side of this equation, the one that we are speaking with, our Father, lives and rules heaven!

- His decrees are final. His rule is instantaneous. His way is always right, governed strictly by what He designs to have happen.

- Friends, our prayers reach another realm. We pray and the resource that we are dealing with is other-worldly. It is into heaven that we are reaching.

- Turn with me to II Chronicles 7. Upon the occasion of dedicating the temple, Solomon heard these words from the Lord.

• II Chronicles 7:12-14 : "Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

- The point is that heaven hears and heaven responds out of it's resource.

III. Sanctity "Hallowed be Your name..."

• Matthew 6:9 : "Hallowed be Your name." : The Rabbis would cry "foul." Jesus you are advocating a prayer life that makes man too close to God! This is where this last part comes in.

- "Hallowed be Your name!" Hallowed meaning, something that is set apart for only one service. It is not employed in common conversation. It is employed for one purpose.

- The name of God is to be held sacred by His people.

- We are to recogznize the holiness of God's name and that by His name, we come to make our prayers.

- This is not a statement as much as it is a request. The implication is that the one praying knows who and where His Father is.

- To the person of faith, He is known and seen through the eyes of faith. This request then is an outward expression. Let those who know me, come to know You!

- Let those who witness my life see you rightly represented. Let me hold your character in such high regard that your name will be exalted among even the most vile unbeliever.

- Let your name be glorified through my life. Let my life shine with all that your name represents to me.

- Turn with me to Matthew 5. Jesus makes a statement about this being the essential activity of each believer.

• Matthew 5:14-16 : "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

- His name is forever connected with His character. His name signals what it is that He is and what He does.

- Turn with me to Exodus 34. Moses is having a discussion with God about just who He was. Here's God's answer:

• Exodus 34:5-8 : "Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.' So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped."

- Within the name God, we have the short hand, generic term for all that His name as a concept demands that we know. He is Almighty God. He is Redeemer God. He is the Judge God.

- He is known as the God who sees. He is the God who provides. To Moses He says of Himself, "I AM." His name says it all.

Conclusion

- Prayer begins with an intimate relationship with God, predicated on His concern and responsibility toward us.

- It continues with an understanding that this God is not bound by what we are bound by, but is rather free to act in any way that pleases Him.

- Our first petition then is to hold His name in such high regard that the world around us would be forced to regard God in the greatest light!