Teach Me To Pray

[TsukikuroiMai]

Introduction

“Teach us to pray,” one of Jesus’ disciples asked him one day (Luke 11:1). Now--it wasn’t that they were unfamiliar with the concept of sending speech or thoughts up to God in heaven. Their parents had surely taught them prayers in their homes when they were children. Each Sabbath they would light their candles and pray. Each Passover they would eat the lamb, hear again the story of God’s miraculous redemption of his people, and thank him for his mighty acts on their behalf.

They were regulars at synagogue worship and knew the temple rituals. But when they saw how much Jesus got out of his prayer time, when they saw how often and how intensely he spoke with his Father, they knew they were missing something important. They wanted their prayer life to do for them what it obviously did for Jesus.

Why did he draw so much strength from that time? Why was he always so refreshed? How could they tap into that heavenly comfort and energy?

Do you share their longing? Is your prayer life sometimes unfulfilling? forced? scant? confused? nonexistent? The Bible is full of stories and passages that can guide and inspire us to a better prayer life. These little devotions will bring you an encouraging word from the Word for each day of your month.“Pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)!  

[TsukikuroiMai]

Communication Obstacles: Arrogance

Is it good to be self-reliant? Of course. If you are a parent, you have spent years and huge amounts of energy teaching and training your kids to take care of themselves. Self-reliance is good. Self-absorption is not.

I know one reason why people don’t pray much and why God doesn’t hear from me more: arrogance. When you’re pretty full of yourself and think you can do it all, praying seems like begging, or worse, a waste of time.

Jesus told a story about a farmer who thought his huge profits were realized because he was such a genius: ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” But God said to him, ‘You fool!’ (Luke 12:17-20).

I think that’s one major reason why God lets people, including his believers, suffer. It is vital that we see our limitations, our sin, our mortality. We utterly depend on God’s providing and forgiveness every day.

Practice with me: “Lord, I need you. Help me today.”  

[TsukikuroiMai]

Communication Obstacles: Guilt

When I was a kid, we always knew that when the dog slunk around the house and avoided our eyes we would soon find an “accident” in the living room. When you know that you have done wrong and offended someone, it is a powerful deterrent to wanting to have a close and intimate conversation with that person. Guilt makes you want to run away. An ashamed first couple hid in the bushes when they heard God’s “footsteps” in the garden. When we are guilty of unconfessed and unforgiven sin, one of the first casualties is our desire to pray.

Here is the beauty of a relationship with our God that is based not on our performance and behavior but rather on his grace, that is, his decision to love and forgive us unconditionally. Jesus came to this earth not to pin medals on spiritual superstars, but to rescue sinful and ashamed fools like you and me. He said once, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 ).

When you are aware of your shortcomings, when your conscience makes you sick inside, when you are too ashamed to pray, that is the very best time to pray and claim the forgiveness that was bought for you for just such a time. God’s mercy is bigger than your sin. He will never despise a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17); in fact, his particular specialty is in healing broken hearts and providing rest for restless spirits.  

[TsukikuroiMai]

Communication Obstacles: Neglect

Prayer isn’t like fertilizing your lawn, which is indeed helpful to your grass but not absolutely necessary. Prayer is one of your soul’s vital signs. It shows if your faith has a pulse.

Just as ungrateful children can get into the habit of just taking, taking, taking from generous parents, our prayer lives can suffer from neglect. We just forget. We put prayer off until later. We view it as a spiritual chore, like cleaning out the gutters, and defer it. We figure it can wait while we take care of important things.

Moses knew that his Israelites were susceptible to that same spiritual amnesia, forgetting who they were, forgetting how they were able to come so far, forgetting the One who was their very life. Shortly before he died, Moses urged them, “Be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:12).

Right now would be a great time to send a message to God to let him know how proud you are to be called his child.  

[TsukikuroiMai]

Communication Obstacles: Fear of Disappointment

I have to admit that one thing that slows down my eagerness to pray is fear. I am afraid of being disappointed. Prayer, real prayer, honest prayer, involves opening up your heart, baring your feelings, taking a risk, exposing your tender side instead of the hardened armor we usually present to the world.

The prophet Elisha’s intercession once brought a long-hoped-for son to an older woman. It was ecstasy to her soul; she had wanted so, so badly to be a mother. Then the boy grew sick and died in her arms. Mute with shock at first, she finally burst out in bitter distress, in “I knew it!” soul pain: “Did I ask you for a son? . . . Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?” (2 Kings 4:2 cool . It was Elisha’s great privilege to channel God’s life-giving power back into the boy, and he joyfully restored the boy to his mother.

But I know her fear, and you probably do too. Sometimes we may hesitate to ask God for something we desperately want or need because we assume we will be turned down.

Elisha’s wonderful ministry helps us to trust that God always gets the last word, and his last word is always one of blessing, kindness, and victory. You don’t have to be afraid to open your heart. Even if he lets you experience pain, the pain becomes the path to even greater joy.  

[TsukikuroiMai]

Communication Obstacles: Small Faith

Somebody observed once that you can tell how big a person’s God is by how big his or her prayers are. Do you get the point? Do you agree? Whom really do you worship? Is he omnipotent or semi-omnipotent? Is he the King and Lord of all or just the duke or earl of all? Is he the Master of the universe or merely a middle manager? Has Satan really been dealt a mortal blow or is it just a flesh wound?

Jesus’ disciples were once in a little boat during a mammoth storm. The boat was taking on water, and their God seemed small and remote. “Don’t you care if we drown?” At just the right time Jesus looked at the waves and reminded them that they worked for him. “Be still!” He rebuked the furious winds, “Quiet!”

To the stunned disciples Jesus commented sadly, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). The upside is that experiences like this one helped their faith to mature and grow. Their memory of such extraordinary events served them well later in life when they were called on to risk their lives for the gospel.

How big is your faith? How big is your God? How big do you dare to pray?  

[TsukikuroiMai]

Communication Obstacles: Misplaced Priorities

One of my persistent weaknesses is that I want to author my own play, the play of my life, in which I am the star, for which I would like to write the script. I can pretty much do fine on my own for a while, and then when I encounter a problem too big for me, I holler for God to show up on “my” stage, on my cue. He generally does not oblige me at such times. Hmm. Wonder why.

In the middle of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus helped his disciples to see how the universe really operates. The more you grasp for material things, the more in love you are with yourself and your agenda, the less you will achieve and the less satisfaction you will feel.

Here is a better way: “Seek first his [i.e., God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Seeking God’s kingdom means seeing yourself as God’s creation, placed here on earth for a mission, his mission. You are in his play, and he will let you know the role he needs you to play for him.

Seeking God’s righteousness means choosing to value your forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus as your most precious possession. When you have that, everything else that God thinks you need will come flowing into your life.  

[TsukikuroiMai]

Communication Obstacles: Just Talk

Maybe I’d pray more if it didn’t look so weak. When I’m praying, I must look like I’m talking to myself, mumbling impossible things to nobody. Everybody craves a sign, power, and control, isn’t it so? Wouldn’t it have been cooler if upon becoming a Christian, you got a light saber to use? or blue lightning bolts? or a million dollars in gold ingots? Instead, God simply invites you to talk to him.

Talk is cheap, right? Maybe so, but not when you address your heavenly Father in the name of Jesus. Whether you speak your message out loud, sing it, whisper it, or just think it in your head, God hears you and guarantees to process your request.

What may look like a small person simply making weak sounds then becomes mighty. The apostle James has a simple, forceful, direct way of helping us understand God’s ways. He says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

Did you grasp that? Every time you pray, you set something into motion. Every time you pray, something in the universe changes. You have never wasted a prayer in your life. Not a one falls to the ground unheard and unanswered. Your prayer talk makes you powerful and effective for God’s work and your needs.  

[cristobela]

TsukikuroiMai

Communication Obstacles: Misplaced Priorities 

One of my persistent weaknesses is that I want to author my own play, the play of my life, in which I am the star, for which I would like to write the script. I can pretty much do fine on my own for a while, and then when I encounter a problem too big for me, I holler for God to show up on “my” stage, on my cue. He generally does not oblige me at such times. Hmm. Wonder why. 

In the middle of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus helped his disciples to see how the universe really operates. The more you grasp for material things, the more in love you are with yourself and your agenda, the less you will achieve and the less satisfaction you will feel. 

Here is a better way: “Seek first his [i.e., God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Seeking God’s kingdom means seeing yourself as God’s creation, placed here on earth for a mission, his mission. You are in his play, and he will let you know the role he needs you to play for him. 

Seeking God’s righteousness means choosing to value your forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus as your most precious possession. When you have that, everything else that God thinks you need will come flowing into your life.

Actually, that's not what "seeking his righteousness" means. 

First to quote the verse, what the verse says:

• Matthew 6:33  (NIV)
  
  33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Seeking his righteousness, just like seeking his kingdom, means walking in the narrow path, walking in the way He defines as right:

• Psalm 5:8 (NIV)
  
  8 Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
      because of my enemies—
      make your way straight before me.
  
  
  
• Deuteronomy 33:21 (NIV)
  
  21 He chose the best land for himself;
      the leader’s portion was kept for him.
  When the heads of the people assembled,
      he carried out the Lord’s righteous will,
      and his judgments concerning Israel.”
  
  
  
• Job 29:14 (NIV)
  
  14 I put on righteousness as my clothing;
      justice was my robe and my turban.
  
  
  
• Psalm 15 (NIV)
  
  A psalm of David.
  
  1 Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
      Who may live on your holy mountain?
  2 The one whose walk is blameless,
      who does what is righteous,
      who speaks the truth from their heart;
  3 whose tongue utters no slander,
      who does no wrong to a neighbor,
      and casts no slur on others;
  4 who despises a vile person
      but honors those who fear the Lord;
  who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
      and does not change their mind;
  5 who lends money to the poor without interest;
      who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
  
  Whoever does these things
      will never be shaken.
  
  
  
• Psalm 72:1-2 (NIV)
  
  Of Solomon.
  
  1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,
      the royal son with your righteousness.
  2 May he judge your people in righteousness,
      your afflicted ones with justice.
  
  
  
• 1 John 3:7 (NIV)
  
  7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

So, concerning prayer, 

• Job 22:21-28 (NIV)
  
  21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him;
      in this way prosperity will come to you.
  22 Accept instruction from his mouth
      and lay up his words in your heart.
  23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
      If you remove wickedness far from your tent
  24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
      your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
  25 then the Almighty will be your gold,
      the choicest silver for you.
  26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
      and will lift up your face to God.
  27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
      and you will fulfill your vows.
  28 What you decide on will be done,
      and light will shine on your ways.
  
  
  
• John 9:31 (NIV)
  
  31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.
  
  
• 1 John 3:4 (NIV)
  
  4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
  
  
• Psalm 40:8 (NIV)
  
  8 I desire to do your will, my God;
      your law is within my heart.”
  
  
• 1 John 3:22 (NIV)
  
  22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
  
  
• Psalm 66:18 (NIV)
  
  18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
      the Lord would not have listened;

In light of all these verses, the “communication obstacle” is sin—unconfessed sin, living in sin, defiantly refusing to view something as sin even though God defines it as sin. He won't answer such a person. We have to agree with him or have a heart that wants to agree with him and is seeking to, in order for him to hear our prayer. If we hate his commands, thus love sin, he won't listen.  

[TsukikuroiMai]

The Lord’s Prayer: The Address

Jesus’ public ministry lasted for three years. He spoke to many different people on many different occasions. The four gospels preserve only relatively small amounts of his precious words. He clearly spoke about the same topics in similar language at different times. Both Matthew and Luke record slightly different versions of the magnificent prayer he taught his friends to use.

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say “[Our] Father [in heaven]” (Luke 11:1,2; Matthew 6:9).

The platform upon which all true prayer rests is to remember who you are and remember to whom you are speaking. You are addressing not an admiral or general, not a president or superhero, but your Father, your heavenly Father. You are related to him. He gave you birth and rebirth. He loves you more than you love your own children. You may claim his attention with childlike confidence because he has publicly claimed you through your baptism.

When you pray, you are not filling out a grant request to a heavenly charitable foundation. You are talking to your Father. And he loves taking care of his children.  

[TsukikuroiMai]

The Lord’s Prayer: The First Petition

To get more out of the praying experience, Jesus leads you away from you. Have you noticed how most of the petitions in his model prayer lead you to think about God’s program instead of yours? It’s not that material things are unimportant. It’s that God’s Word and ways are far more important.

Jesus’ first sentence has only four words. Don’t rush when you say them. They are a mouthful. “When you pray, say: ‘Hallowed be your name’" (Luke 11:2). God’s “name” refers not only to the various proper names that the Scripture reveals to us, like Lord or Christ. God’s name in its fuller sense is his self-revelation. It’s the sum of what we know about God’s person and work.

The word "hallow" has mostly faded from contemporary English. It means “to consider holy.” You can’t make God any holier than he is already, can you? But you can ask for God’s help to lift up his holiness in your heart and make him look good to the people around you in your life.

That means no idols. That means taking out the trash in your mind and recommitting yourself to the one Creator, one Savior, one Counselor. That means radiating the conviction to all around you, “I’m proud of my God.”  

[brother_edward]

In my Church, there is a very old story about prayer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kngXdtQcqvw  

[TsukikuroiMai]

The Lord’s Prayer: The Second Petition

It is a mistake to think of God’s kingdom as just a place. The whole earth is the Lord’s, and the heavens too. The Bible uses the term to refer to Christ’s ruling activity, his “reigning” in people’s hearts through their faith in him. When you pray, say: ‘Your kingdom come’ (Luke 11:2).

When you utter that powerful prayer, you are urging on the Holy Spirit to do his wonderful work of creating and strengthening faith in more and more people’s hearts. You are also committing yourself to that mission as his field representative.

I guess you could say that this petition is a mission prayer. You are praying that hell will be emptier and heaven fuller. You are praying that the Spirit will claim minds and hearts where the darkness of Satan used to lie like a poisonous night fog. You are praying that people who are born, live, and die slaves of sin and Satan will become citizens of the kingdom of the light of Christ.

Every material thing that you can touch with your hands will soon be taken from you as you die. The only thing you can take with you to heaven is people. Pray for them. Help them find out how wonderful it is to belong to King Jesus.