Title: Learning to Pray
1Learning to Pray
2Think About It
- Consider Corrie ten Booms statement, Is prayer
your steering wheel or your spare tire? - What kind of prayers fit in each category?
Today we look at Jesus teaching about prayer
the importance of prayer a pattern for prayer
Steering Wheel Prayers Spare Tire Prayers
3Listen for ways Jesus said we should not pray
- Matthew 65-9 (NIV) "And when you pray, do not be
like the hypocrites, for they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and on the street
corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth,
they have received their reward in full. 6 But
when you pray, go into your room, close the door
and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your
Father,
4Listen for ways Jesus said we should not pray
- sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like
pagans, for they think they will be heard because
of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for
your Father knows what you need before you ask
him. 9 "This, then, is how you should pray "
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
5Prayer Shows Relationship
- According to this passage how did hypocrites
pray? - What will be the result or reward of their
religious showmanship? - And how do the pagans pray?
6Prayer Shows Relationship
- Examples of pagan prayers
- Tibetan prayer wheels
- Each revolution sends the prayer to the deity
7Prayer Shows Relationship
- What common or overused phrases do you hear
frequently repeated in peoples prayers? - How can we keep prayer from being babble.
- What relationship to God does Jesus stress?
- Implicit in this model prayer is the Fathers
expectation that His children communicate with
Him in prayer. Why do you like to talk to your
children?
8Prayer Shows Relationship
- Jesus specifies that the name of Jesus should be
hallowed. To hallow Gods name means - to recognize Gods holiness and
- spread His reputation throughout the world.
- How is it possible to approach God as Father
while respecting His holiness?
9Prayer Shows Relationship
- How do our relationships with our earthly fathers
influence our relationship with God, our heavenly
Father? - Two implications of this
- be a godly father it influences how your
children see God - if you had an ungodly father, you must learn to
see past that experience and know that God is
loving, wise, kind
10Listen for ways to glorify God, according to this
prayer.
- Matthew 610 (NIV) your kingdom come, your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11Prayer Glorifies God
- The Kingdom of God is the realm where God rules.
What do you think the priorities of Gods
authority and rule might be? - When God rules in our lives and in our
situations, God is glorified!
12Prayer Glorifies God
- Evaluate what kinds of concerns occupy most of
your prayer time - praise
- confession
- petition
- organ recital (list of physical needs heart,
gall bladder, bad knees ) - spiritual needs (personal, family, church)
You might ask yourself How do my prayers
glorify God?
13Prayer Glorifies God
- Jesus prays for Gods will to be done on earth,
as it is in heaven. How should Gods will
influence the way we live our day to day lives?
14Listen for basic requests that are to be included
in our prayers.
- Matthew 611 - 13 (NIV) Give us today our daily
bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
15Prayer Expresses Needs
- What are the three types of requests mentioned
here? - What other kinds of daily needs besides food do
you think might be included in daily bread? - Why do you think specific requests for
forgiveness are so often neglected?
16Prayer Expresses Needs
- What sins or offenses by others do we find
especially difficult to forgive? - Jesus talks about deliverance from evil.
Inability to forgive might be one kind of
deliverance we need. From what other kinds of
evil do we need deliverance. - Note temptations are a fact of life
- the temptation is not a sin
- the yielding to temptation is the sin
17Application
- 4.1 Analyze your prayer requests in the light of
our study - What percentage of your prayer requests focuses
on physical needs? - What percentage focuses on the Kingdom/Rule of
God? - What percentage focuses on spiritual needs?
18Application
- 4.2 When praying for others, apply principles of
the Lords Prayer - Pray that Gods forgiveness will be realized in
their lives - Pray that they will allow God to rule in their
lives - Pray that God will meet their physical and
spiritual needs
19Application
- Ask God to help you repair any strained
relationships by forgiving specific offenses - Even though the person may have offended
unintentionally - Even though they offended with malice
- Even though they might not be willing to seek
forgiveness
20Learning to Pray