Luke 11:1-13
When we think of prayer I believe that we often have three basic responses. First is the emergency prayer. This is treating God like the emergency room in a hospital or calling 911. We only pray in an emergency and about emergencies in our life. The second type of prayer is the memorized prayer. This is the bed time prayer that we might have been taught that is said every night or a repetition of the Lord’s prayer. This is simply a memorized prayer just moves through the words that are always said without seeking a real connection with God. This leads us to the third type of prayer and that is the relational prayer. This type of prayer is where the communication is open, honest and thoughtful. This is what Jesus wanted to teach His disciples about prayer. As we look at what is known as the Lord’s prayer in Luke 11 notice that the disciples asked to be taught how to pray (1). That opening statement is important because what follows is clearly an example of how to pray not what to pray, as in just repeating the words. In teaching the disciples how to pray Jesus noted that prayer is relational (1-2) and practices dependence (3-4), persistence (5-8), confidence (9-10) and faith (11-13). So, let us pray using what Jesus taught… Father, we come today declaring our relationship with you as the one who rules our life. We depend on you for all things because we believe that you are reliable. Help us to persist in prayer because we know that you care. Strengthen our faith to declare in confidence that you are in control even when we may not see what you are doing. Thank you, for displaying to us your consistent goodness. Thank you for guiding us by your Spirit in all things because you desire a continual relationship with us. We have all that we need in you because of what Jesus has done on the cross for us, amen.
For more see LUKE or QUESTIONS & ANSWERS or PRAYER
When we think of prayer I believe that we often have three basic responses. First is the emergency prayer. This is treating God like the emergency room in a hospital or calling 911. We only pray in an emergency and about emergencies in our life. The second type of prayer is the memorized prayer. This is the bed time prayer that we might have been taught that is said every night or a repetition of the Lord’s prayer. This is simply a memorized prayer just moves through the words that are always said without seeking a real connection with God. This leads us to the third type of prayer and that is the relational prayer. This type of prayer is where the communication is open, honest and thoughtful. This is what Jesus wanted to teach His disciples about prayer. As we look at what is known as the Lord’s prayer in Luke 11 notice that the disciples asked to be taught how to pray (1). That opening statement is important because what follows is clearly an example of how to pray not what to pray, as in just repeating the words. In teaching the disciples how to pray Jesus noted that prayer is relational (1-2) and practices dependence (3-4), persistence (5-8), confidence (9-10) and faith (11-13). So, let us pray using what Jesus taught… Father, we come today declaring our relationship with you as the one who rules our life. We depend on you for all things because we believe that you are reliable. Help us to persist in prayer because we know that you care. Strengthen our faith to declare in confidence that you are in control even when we may not see what you are doing. Thank you, for displaying to us your consistent goodness. Thank you for guiding us by your Spirit in all things because you desire a continual relationship with us. We have all that we need in you because of what Jesus has done on the cross for us, amen.
For more see LUKE or QUESTIONS & ANSWERS or PRAYER
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