Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Luke 11:1
Prayer is the Key to transformation, revival and every kind of godly blessing. The prayer life of Jesus prompted one of the disciples to ask him, ‘Lord, Teach us to pray’. This is the only time in the Gospels where we read of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them anything. Jesus, the master teacher was glad to answer their request! In Luke 11:1-13, we find that He gave them a pattern for prayer, a promise for prayer and a partner in prayer and stressed the need for persistence in prayer.
- PATTERN (Luke 11: 1-4)
In the Gospel of Luke, we have a somewhat briefer version than in Mathew, but that’s not a big issue. In Matthew 6:9-13, we have the model prayer. This gives us the Pattern for our Praying. In this model prayer there are three divisions. These will give us a good pattern for our praying.
First, PRAYER IS APPROACHING GOD. How we approach God will determine how God will answer our prayers. We must approach Him on the basis of Relationship, “Our Father, who is in Heaven.” Only Christians can really call God their Father and they are the only ones who really have access to the throne room of God. Then we must approach Him with Reverence, “Hallowed be your name.” We must learn to approach God with reverence and respect if we want our prayers answered. We will never accomplish anything by approaching God with an arrogant spirit. Also we must approach God with Resignation, “Your will be done…” We must learn that by resigning our own will and submitting to His will, we get our prayers answered.
Second, PRAYER IS ASKING GOD. In verses 11-13, we find four things that He teaches us to ask for as we pray: Give us, Forgive us, Lead us, and Deliver us. All four of these are asking God for something. I am very thankful that we can pray about everything (Philippians 4:6). It makes no difference whether its temporal things like our daily bread, or spiritual things like the forgiveness of our sins and God’s leadership and deliverance in the things of our life. When we fail to pray about anything, it is like telling God that we can handle this situation without His help.
Thirdly, PRAYER IS ADORING GOD. The prayer that God is pleased to answer is a prayer that is filled with praise, honour, and thanksgiving. Notice the closing phrase of this prayer, “For yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.” We should never close our prayer until we have adored God with praise and honour. You’ll never praise Him too much.
- PERSISTENCE (Luke 11: 5 – 8)
Jesus tells the parables friend at midnight (11:5-8) and unjust judge (18:1-8) to teach the necessity of persistence in prayer. The participants in both parables were successful in getting what they asked for because they did not give up. The friend at midnight continued to knock and beg for food until finally the neighbour got up and gave him what he requested. The unjust judge finally gave the widow her request of justice because she would not leave him alone.
God will surely reward persistence. If you are serious about revival and transformation, you will persist in prayer until heaven is opened and revival is sent. We need to PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens). Importunate prayers will certainly bring God’s answer and rewards.
During his lifetime, George Mueller recorded more than 50,000 answers to prayer. He prayed for two men daily for more than 60 years. One of these men was converted shortly before Mueller’s death and the other about a year later. This example is very encouraging and challenging to me. One of the great needs of today is for men and women who will begin to pray for things and then pray repeatedly until they obtain what they seek from the Lord.
- PROMISES (Luke 11: 9-13)
‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks find; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened, ‘We can see the certainty of God’s answers to our prayers in emphasis ‘will.’ It is not said that God ‘may’ for ‘can’ grant our requests, but He ‘will’ grant.
Jesus gives us the contrast between earthly fathers and heavenly father. If the earthly father can give whatever we ask, how much more our heavenly father will give us what we need (Luke. 11:11-13; Mat. 7:11). Jesus has also given a lot of promises regarding prayer. Read Mathew 7:7; 17:20, 18:19; 21:21, Mark 11:24, John 14:12-14, James 5:15-16, Psalm 50:15; Jer. 33:3.
God wants us to make all of our wants and needs known to him in prayer (Phil. 4:6,7). He promises that prayer makes a difference. Now, God knows what we need (Matt. 6:8, 32). Many times, he already has our prayer answered before we even say it! But that doesn’t matter. He wants us to pray about it anyway with absolute confidence.
- PARTNER (Luke 11:13)
Jesus promises to give us the Holy Spirit to be a helper in our life of prayer. In John 14:26, The Holy Spirit is called a Helper. One of His primary helps is in the area of prayer, because we are all weak in it. We know not what to pray for any how to pray. The Holy Spirit not only helps us in our prayers but also intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26, 34). One of the first signs of those baptized with the Spirit is the desire and depth in prayer. The early disciples following Pentecost received a renewed interest in prayer and cherished the sweet hour of prayer (Acts 2:42; 3:1). Receive the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13) and have your prayer life enhanced and enriched! God bless you with a sweet hour of prayer every day.
- PROBLEMS WITH OUR PRAYING
I’m sure we want God to hear and answer us when we do pray. Sometimes it is not God’s will to answer our prayers. Sometimes the timing is not right. Sometimes there is a problem on our part that keeps God from answering our prayers. The following are some of the hindrances for our prayers which we need to deal with.
- Unconfessed sin – Psalm 66:18. We must confess all our sins.
- Unheeding ears- Proverbs 28:9. We must obey God’s word
- Unconcerned attitude – Proverbs 21:13. We must have the concern for the poor
- Unholy motive. James 4:3. We must pray with right motives.
- Ungodly passion – Ezekiel 14:3. We must check our priorities
- Unforgiving spirit – Matthew 6:14-15; Mark 11:25, 26. We must forgive others
- James 1:6-7. We must believe the word of God
- Unresolved marital problems – 1 Peter 3:7. Married couples must live in harmony
- POWER OF PRAYER
Space will not permit a detailed mention on the Power of Prayer, but may the Holy Spirit remind us of a few familiar incidents in the Word of God to refresh our memory and reveal the power of prayer. When I think of the power of prayer I think of Daniel praying before he was thrown into the den of lions in Daniel 6. I think of Peter in prison in Acts 12 who was delivered because the church prayed for him. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were delivered from jail by the power of God after they had prayed and sang praises unto God. The early disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost and power after they prayed in Acts 4:31-33. Many more passages could be mentioned, but these are sufficient.
May the Lord teach us to pray like Him and make us vessels of God’s power and glory!
