Teach Us To Pray

One of Jesus’s disciples said to him, “Teach us to pray”.  And he did.  He taught them what to say, and how often to say it.  He also gave them a prayer promise and proof of that promise.

Jesus taught his disciples that prayer should address:

God’s Preeminence. “Our Father, which art in heaven”.  Our God is in heaven, Matt 5:48, 6:1, 6:14.  He’s not like Baal, or some image carved out of a tree.  He’s not a man called father, Matt 23:9, like the Pope.  He is God, the only one, and above all that are called gods.

“Hallowed be thy name”.  In the Old Testament, Solomon hallowed the court when he offered at the dedication of the temple.  There were hallowed sabbaths and hallowed offerings.  Hallow is to make holy or set apart for holy use.  God’s is THE name.  And his name is not to be used as a cuss word.

God’s Priority. When we pray we should first consider God’s priorities.  “Thy kingdom come”.  Simeon, Anna, and Paul were all looking for the Lord’s coming.  Jesus said, “In such an hour as ye think not…”.  When we pray we should seek first the Kingdom of God.  We should be concerned that “Thy will be done”.  This is how Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.  God’s will is always better than our will.

God’s Provision. “Give us day by day our daily bread”.  This shows our daily dependence on God’s provisions.  Like manna.  In Matt 6:32-33 your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  This is why we are to seek first the kingdom of God.  Never take God’s provisions for granted.

God’s Pardon.  “Forgive us our sins”.  Before the cross, forgiving others was essential to your forgiveness.  In Matt 6:14-15 the Lord said, if you forgive, my Father will forgive, and if you don’t forgive, neither will he.  According to Eph 4:32, we have already been forgiven.  Thus, we have all the more reason to forgive.  God’s attitude about us forgiving others hasn’t changed. You’ll get bitter if you don’t, Eph 4:31.

God’s Protection.  “Lead us not into temptation”.  In Ps 95:8, we read about the temptation in the wilderness journey.  According to Ex 17:2 and Num 14:22, those wandering in the wilderness tempted the Lord.  According to Jas 1:13-14, the Lord doesn’t tempt any man.  He certainly tries us like he tried Abraham.  But he doesn’t tempt us.  However, he lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, Lk 14:1-2.

And he delivered him, as well.  “Deliver us from evil”.  Jer 20:13 delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of the evildoer.  Gal 1:4 gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world.  See 2 Tim 4:18.

A Proposition, Lk 11:5-8.  The Lord taught the disciples more about prayer when he proposed a situation in which a friend asked a neighbor for bread for his house guest.  He said that the neighbor wouldn’t give it in the middle of the night because of their friendship, but he would for his importunity.  Importunate is troublesomely urgent; overly persistent in request or demand.  The Lord encourages us to keep asking persistently when we pray.

God’s Promise.  A. S. K.  Ask and it shall be given.  Seek and ye shall find.  Knock and it shall be opened.  These are not all the promises on prayer, nor are they all the conditions.  But God promised to do these things.

Then he made this interesting comparison.  If your son asks for bread you don’t give him a stone, or for a fish, a serpent, or for an egg, a scorpion.  These are things you can expect from the devil, but not from the Lord.

Remember how Job thought that the Lord was the one that brought all that trouble on him.  God didn’t, and he doesn’t give you bad things in response to your prayers.  This explanation helps keep people from getting bitter with God.  Jesus had to teach us to pray.

God’s Proof.  “If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him”.

But you don’t see people asking God to give them the Holy Spirit in the Bible.  Do you now why?  Jesus already asked him to do it for us, Jn 14:16-18.  And God has given us his Holy Spirit, 1 Jn 3:24, 4:13.

Today, we ask him to fill us with his Holy Spirit, Acts 4:29-31, Eph 5:18, and he does.  Aren’t you glad that the Lord answered with these instructions when his disciple said, “Teach us to pray”.