We have now made it to the 11th chapter of Luke and we find a familiar section of Scripture that shows us the contents of what our prayers should be like. As Jesus has continued to move through the Judean region He has certainly gathered even more people along the way but of course He still has His twelve disciples that have continued to follow along into this area. What will be important to notice in this section is that Jesus teaches the disciples a prayer that He would never pray because He never sinned and therefore did not need to ask for forgiveness of sins. So this is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer but in reality it is Jesus’ teaching of how to pray.
So with that in mind we come to this text to help us in times of prayer as well. Many of us have been taught prayers that are self centered and focused on what God can do for us in the realm of emotions and material blessings. Here we will see that the focus is not on those things but on worship to God for what He has provided and what He will provide, on His gracious mercy and on protection from falling into sinful patterns of life.
I hope that this study will help each of us to learn how to pray from how Jesus Himself taught us. With that let’s move now to our first point.
1.Jesus will GUIDE us in how to pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:1 that says And it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”
I love to notate each time I see it in Scripture that Jesus is an example to us about the importance of praying. Sadly most of us lack in this area. We may say a quick little prayer at times of distress or when something big is happening in our life but rarely is praying a normal priority for us. I say this because I have talked with many people that have told me of their personal struggles in this area, I have heard many great preachers and theologians speak of their lack in the area of prayer so with that I feel that this is something that many people lack in their walk as a Christian.
Sadly this lack of communication with God shows a lack of true worship to God. I know this may seem harsh but it is true. We may attend church regularly, we may give consistently, we may even be a teacher or preacher of the Gospel but when we lack to pray this shows our lack of trust in the God we say we follow. Kevin DeYoung said and I quote: 1Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help. End QUOTE.
Charles Spurgeon said and I quote: A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. and he also said He who lives without prayer, he who lives with little prayer, he who seldom reads the Word, and he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high—he will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren. However, he who falls in secret on his God, who spends much time in holy retirement, who delights to meditate on the words of the Most High, and whose soul is given up to Christ—such a man must have an overflowing heart. As his heart is, such will his life be. End QUOTE.
So Jesus is our example of the need to pray. If Jesus the Son of God prayed to the Father for direction and communion then we need to pray more often. In our text we see that Jesus prayed then one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”
This was not a command but rather a statement meant to show the eagerness to be like His Lord. Earlier in Jesus’ ministry He had spoken similar words from what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. There you can see the same type of prayer but not exactly. The wording is a little different but the contents of the prayer remains the same. It is these contents that we will dive into for the remainder of this study as we look down through verse 4. Let’s look at the first of these in Jesus’ response in verse 2 and our second point.
2.We must GLORIFY God as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:2 that says And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.
This must be where every prayer starts and finishes. Prayer that does not glorify God is a selfish prayer. I have been guilty of such prayers and for that I need this model for prayer to be more active in my life as well. I love the fact that Jesus does not rebuke this disciple for His statement to want to know how to pray. Jesus goes right to the point of how to pray and with that we need to take note of the contents of this prayer. It isn’t about reciting this prayer word for word in some type of ritualist act but rather the direction of our prayers.
I don’t want to feel like I am just quoting people left and right in this study but I can’t help but quote Charles Spurgeon on this very point once again. He says and I quote: Let not your prayers be all concerning your own sins, your own wants, your own imperfections, and your own trials, but let them climb the starry ladder and get up to Christ Himself. Then, as you draw nigh to the blood-sprinkled mercy seat, offer this prayer continually, “Lord, extend the kingdom of Your dear Son.” Such a petition, fervently presented, will elevate the spirit of all your devotions. Mind that you prove the sincerity of your prayer by laboring to promote the Lord’s glory. Our best prayers when we are in the best place are for our glorious King, and for the enjoyment of his Father’s smile. END QUOTE.
Our motivation to pray must be for God’s glory and not for some emotion feel good moment. The direction of our prayers is towards God and every element in our prayers is towards God and to glorify Him. That word hallowed that we see in verse 2 means to set apart as holy or to treat as holy. When we come to God in prayer we must recognize that He is the only source of everything we have materially and spiritually. God is the only God and if His glory is not the focus of our prayers then our prayer will be useless and empty.
The phrase Your kingdom come is another form of recognizing God’s rule and reign. It shows the fact that we submit to His sovereign will that is summed up in His kingdom. God’s glory is our focus of our prayers and that is evident by the fact that we desire His kingdom to rule in our lives and in the lives of others. So we must seek to come to God with the mindset of not getting what we want but glorifying Him for His majesty and sovereignty over all things.
That recognition of His sovereign reign shows up throughout this prayer as we will see in our next point.
3.Knowing that God is the GIVER as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:3 that says Give us each day our daily bread.
We must always know that God is the One who provides everything we have. Nothing we have is from our own source. Yes we may go to work, we may have a great budget to save and not over spend but if it wasn’t for God’s grace then we would not have what we have. The idea of praying to God is not so much for material items but just the recognition that He is the provider of all things is so important. Jesus says in Matthew 6:30-33 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
This prayer of daily bread is showing that we trust God to take care of us each day. It isn’t that we are looking for God to supply to us abundance or more than we need but that we trust that God will provide each and every day. This does not mean that God will not provide more than we need at times but that should never be our motivation in prayer. A prayer that seeks for abundance of wealth is a selfish prayer that will not be fulfilled.
We are taking each of these points a little at a time so that we can understand the significance of the contents. Here we see that God is our provider and we need to ask God for this provision in the position that we are humbly asking because He will graciously give.
Psalm 145:15-16 says
The eyes of all wait on You,
And You give them their food in due time.
16 You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
We understand that God does provide for non-Christian and Christian alike but this recognition of Him being the One that provides is significant in our prayers. A prayer that glorifies God will praise Him for His provision of daily food. This brings us to look at another piece of this prayer in our next point.
4.Asking God for GRACE as we pray. Look with me at Luke 11:4a that says And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
This here is something we all need every day, in fact many times throughout our day. Now I want to make clear that this forgiveness is not so we can remained saved or earn salvation in some way but rather to stay in fellowship with God. Our fellowship with God is that we know that we are in need of His grace because of our own sinfulness. This asking of forgiveness shows the humbleness of our prayers. We do not just thank God that He saved us then continue to live the way we want. We seek to live in holiness and righteousness but we will sin. When we sin we come to God asking for the forgiveness of those sins because this shows that we know we have lived in a way contrary to the way He has commanded us.
It is as John says in 1 John 1:9 where he says If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
See asking God to forgive us, cleanses us from those sins and keeps us connected to Him in the way we need for spiritual growth. But when we choose to not recognize our sins or confess them then we are saying we don’t need God’s cleansing, we don’t need God’s grace and mercy. He says further in 1 John 1:10 that If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
So even as a professed Christian, when we live in a way that does not ask for forgiveness then we have said that we have not sinned and we do not need God’s forgiveness. You may think you have His grace because you said a prayer or made a profession of faith but in reality you only make God look like a liar and His Word is not in you when you continue to live in sin without acknowledging your sins.
Another clear point we see is that a person that is truly grateful for the forgiveness that God has given will in fact do the same to others. Jesus says that part of our prayer should include forgiving others of what they have done to us, He says this in Luke 11:4 For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
Matthew’s version of Jesus’ teaching on prayer says in Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
The fact is that we as Christians cannot be unforgiving and uncompassionate to others. We ask God to forgive us of the greater offense and we also forgive others of their lesser offense towards us. This is something we must pray to God about because it is difficult at times to forgive others. Our pride, our ego, our self centered desires get in the way and therefore we need to pray to God for this as well. This brings us to look briefly at our last point for this study.
5.Seeking for God to GOVERN our path as we pray.
Look with me at Luke 11:4 with our focus on the last sentence, it says And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.
We must remember what James 1:13-14 says: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
What James says is not a contradiction to what Jesus had taught here about prayer. This idea is that we will be protected by God in every circumstance we find ourselves in. God does not tempt but we are placed in times of trial. In those times we look to God for direction and guidance to endure the trial.
Most people know what 1 Corinthians 10:13 says No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
The prayer to not be lead into temptation is our acknowledgement that God is able to and will protect us from all potential trials that will cause us to sin. All of this prayer points to the fact that God is sovereign, all powerful, the provider, sustainer and protector of our lives. I’m afraid that to many of us have been taught prayers of self centeredness that focuses way to much on ourselves. I hope as we continue in the next section that we will notice that there is only one focus that our prayers should have and that is to give glory to God for everything that He has given to us from eternal life to the food on our plate.
Disciple's Direction 