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Day 43 Luke 11:1-13 Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Do you pray? Do you know how to pray? The disciples saw Jesus pray, and though they prayed as taught them by the Pharisees, they saw the power in how Jesus prayed. Is there a formula to prayer? We look at the Lord’s Prayer as the means to how we are to pray. It’s our model to knowing how to pray and ask God for our needs. Let’s look at this model of prayer. Jesus started his prayer by acknowledging his Father in heaven and giving him honor and praise. Too often we skip over giving God our praise and honor and jump right into asking for our needs, as though we were presenting a grocery list of things we need. Prayer is intimate communication with God our Father, and Jesus our Savior. It isn’t a to-do list for God to take care of, the way we expect our requests to be fulfilled by our family. Prayer is first and foremost an acknowledgment that God is God and we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:1 < Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations. First, give God praise. Next, we ask for his will to be done in our lives. Notice, Jesus hasn’t gotten to our requests yet or our needs. We are still asking God to do his will in our lives. After we give God praise and honor, and ask for his will to be done in us, then we ask for our concerns, our daily bread. Again, it’s daily. We are to come to him in prayer every day, not once a week, once a month, or once a year. Every day. Psalm 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. (KJV) Prayer is not a one-time deal. It’s constant. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. (KJV) Each part of Jesus’ model prayer, builds on the next. When we ask for God’s provision in our lives, we do so, asking God to forgive those who wronged us in any way, even as we forgive ourselves. Yes, we must forgive ourselves too. We are all sinners. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (KJV) As we ask God to forgive us and those who wrong us, we ask him not to lead us into temptation. Or, keep Satan from us so we aren’t tempted by those things which got us in trouble before we accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. Satan knows our weakness and will prey on it. We need to keep constant in prayer so we will be able to stand against him. Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. In Matthew’s gospel we read how Jesus ended this model prayer. Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. Just as Jesus began his prayer by giving honor and praise to God, he ended his prayer in the same way, showing us, it is God’s kingdom, and his is the power and glory. Jesus then went on to demonstrate how the model worked. He told the people they wouldn’t do anything bad to their children. In the same way God will never do anything bad for his children. If you accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord, you are his child. He will hear you when you pray. Though this is a model of how you are to pray, there are times when you don’t have time to pray more than ‘Jesus help!’ That was Peter’s prayer when he walked on the water and saw the waves coming at him and thought he would drown. Prayer is intimate communication between you and God in the same way you communicate with your friends and family. Let’s pray: Father, your will is for me to pray at all times, without ceasing, making my requests known to you. Help me give you praise and honor as I come before you daily for my needs and petitions. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 4 October 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay