Jesus Teaching on Prayer

Prayer is a time of refreshment. Howard Taylor says of his father, Hudson Taylor, “For forty years the sun never rose on China a single day that God didn’t find him on his knees.” (Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission). … More

Prayer

 

These verses contain what is commonly called the “Lord’s Prayer,” also found in Matthew 6:9-13.  It should really be called the “disciples prayer,” because Jesus could not pray it Himself since it says: “Forgive us our sins,” and Jesus could not sin. Notice that Jesus praised God first, and they He made His requests. Praising God first puts us in the right frame of mind to tell Him about our needs. It is a model prayer to show us how to pray and not something to just be repeated in vain repetition. In it we are to:

  1. Recognize God for who He is and glorify His name (v. 2).
  2. Pray for His program to be accomplished. It is not telling God what we want but asking God to use us to accomplish what He wants (v. 2).
  3. Pray that His will be accomplished. It is not to get man’s will done in heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth (v. 2).
  4. Ask for daily food (v. 3).
  5. Ask for forgiveness of sin (v. 4).
  6. Ask for deliverance from sin and evil (v. 4). Actually that we be delivered from situations that would cause us to sin.
Following the prayer, Jesus gives a parable which illustrates the fact that God will answer the prayer of those who are His children (vv.5-8). God is more than a friend, and will certainly grant our requests much more readily than the man who had gone to bed. A second brief parable shows that the Father will not only respond, but He will give us what is good for us and not what will harm us (vv. 9-12). He goes on to state that this good gift is the Holy Spirit, which is the most important gift we could have (v. 13).

Application

 

What concerns occupy most of my time in prayer?  If I make a list of my concerns, how do these  match up with the points given above?

Luke 11:1-13 (English Standard Version)


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