Jump Start # 2790

Luke 11:1 “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, on of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

How do you do it? That’s asked a lot. I’m asked that often concerning our Jump Starts. How do you do it every day? And, I think folks are looking for some deep inspiring story or that I have a cottage in the woods that I go to and crank these out. But, it’s nothing like that. Some are written from my office at home and some are written in my office at the church building. A laptop, a screen and I just type away. This must take a big portion of your day, people say. It doesn’t. Usually less than thirty minutes in the morning is all I have for these. I find when I go back some typos that I missed. I write, read it through once and out it goes. But how? How do you do that? And, I could ask the same of you. How do you look at a pound of hamburger and make a great meal? How do you sit at a piano and play a wonderful piece of music? How do you take a few boards and some elbow grease and build a store quality bookshelf?

In our passage, the disciples wanted Jesus to teach them how to pray. I find that interesting on several fronts. First, you never find these disciples asking the Lord how to preach. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel was the commission given to those apostles. This was said to fishermen. They likely never stood before a crowd to speak. Do you write down a few notes? How do you build a sermon? They may not have been good at public speaking. Yet, they never asked Jesus how to preach. They never asked Jesus how to conduct a worship service. How many songs? Where do you put the Lord’s Supper? They never asked Jesus how to appoint shepherds to the congregation. Should this be a formal thing or something casual? Just how to do it?

But the one thing they did ask was about prayer. Now, some thoughts.

First, having seen Jesus pray, they wanted to learn how to pray. Having watched someone do something is the best time to ask them the “how” question. Saw you do that, can you teach me? John had taught his disciples to pray. They knew about that. They wanted Jesus to do the same. Teach us how to pray.

Second, they already understood the basics of prayer. They were not wanting Jesus to tell them to close their eyes, bow your head, fold your hands together. These were Jewish men who grew up with prayers in the home, synagogue and in the temple. They had seen prayer. What they had not seen was prayer like Jesus prayed. Teach us to pray—means, teach us to pray like You just did. Show me how you did that. Prayer is more than just reciting requests. It’s more than reading a check list of important things. Prayer comes from the heart. It is intimate, personal and profound.

Third, prayer is something that we all can do and most never feel very good at it. We pray. We pray all the time. We pray often. Yet, if put on a piece of paper the things that we need to work on, prayer would be on just about everyone’s paper. I’ve yet to meet the person who is satisfied with the way he prays. Teach us. Show us. Help us.

Fourth, Jesus was a man of prayer. Before choosing the apostles, He prayed. Before the cross, He prayed. On the cross, He prayed. He prayed all night. Prayer was the subject of much of His teaching. Did you think to pray, is much more than a hymn. It’s a reminder. Don’t forget prayer.

Private prayer and public prayer are not the same. A few are good at both. Most are not. Prayer involves more heart than words. Prayer must be believed if we hope God will listen to it. Having asked the Lord to teach them, He does. What follows in Luke is the model prayer. Many call it the Lord’s Prayer. But that isn’t the best title. The Lord was giving this to the disciples, so it wasn’t His. And, there is little indication that He actually prayed these words. We know especially the “forgive us of our sins” section would not have been prayed by Jesus. He was without sin. But what is fascinating about what Jesus gave the disciples is short, simple words, flowing quickly. This is how you pray.

I have found one of the best ways to pray is to simply pray. Do it. You can talk about prayer, study prayer, read about prayer and cut it this way and then that way, but in the end, just pray. Pray hard. Pray often.

I wonder if we could ask Jesus to teach us something, what would it be? For the disciples it was prayer.

Roger

Jump Start # 1593

Luke 11:1 “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’”

This week our Jump Starts are going to explore the subject of prayer. Most of us readily admit that we don’t pray as much as we ought to. I’ve never met a Christian that confessed, “I think I pray too much.” Also, most admit that our prayers are too short and most times we pray about physical things and not spiritual. We’ve had classes on prayers. We’ve heard sermons about prayer. We’ve moved beyond the basic concepts of who to pray to and praying according to God’s will. We’ve studied God’s answers to prayer. We have learned about providence and patience. Still, here we are, not feeling very good about our prayer life.

Our passage this morning is very interesting. The disciples heard Jesus pray. After He finished, they asked to be taught to pray. We must understand, this is coming from Jewish men who grew up going to the synagogue and temple where they witnessed prayers often. These men came from homes in which the father was active in praying. They cut their teeth on the Psalms which records some of the finest prayers, especially of David. So, their question wasn’t explain “Pray 101” to us. Some need that. Some came from backgrounds in which people prayed to dead saints and to Mary. Some only prayed when there was an emergency. When the crisis passed, so did the prayers. In those settings, folks need to be taught the basics of praying. Why pray. What does prayer do. How prayer helps. Great lessons.

These disciples were beyond that. They understood those things. It wasn’t so much “How to pray,” as it was, “Teach us to Pray,” like you just did. Jesus was always praying. Before He chose the apostles, He prayed. He prayed all night. He prayed in the garden before His arrest. Upon the cross, His final statements were prayers. The praying Jesus was impressive. God talking to God. The Holy One praying to His Father. If anyone didn’t need to pray, we’d think it was Jesus. Yet, He did. He did for our example. He did for His sake. He did because that’s what fellowship with God demands and needs. He did because He wanted to.

I think it’s that last thought that helps us with prayer. If we view praying as a task, it becomes a task. If guilt drives us to prayer, we’ve missed something. We’ve seen at a birthday party, a child gets a toy and is so excited that he runs off to play with it. His mother hollers, “Tell grandma ‘Thank you.’” The child shouts over his shoulder, “Thank you,” and is off. The mother sighs because she does not think he really meant it. If we are told to pray and we respond as that child did, because we were told to, it doesn’t seem so genuine. Prayer is a choice. We want to talk to God. That’s what Jesus did.

So, we must begin with wanting to talk to God. Peel that layer back and your concept of God has much to do with your willingness to pray. If you think you are bothering God, then you won’t pray much. He’s too busy, we say. Jesus didn’t think so. If you think that God is mean and mad at you, then you won’t pray. You’ll be afraid of Him. Jesus didn’t see God that way.

Last week, I got the opportunity to visit an assisted living center where a retired preacher lives. I have known him all of my life and read and read many of the things he had written. I never had the opportunity to just sit and talk with him. I have preached in many, many places where he has. We know the same people. He shared with me his preaching story. It was amazing. His dear wife was ready to go to lunch and he was still talking and talking. It was so enjoyable and encouraging to me. I learned much and benefited so  much from those couple of hours with him. I wish he lived closer to me. I do believe I’d be making a regular visit to him if I could.

Now, here’s the point. I found in a person that I really didn’t know very well, a kind and kindred spirit. It was easy to talk with him. It was pleasant and helpful. Shouldn’t talking to God be the same? Shouldn’t it be easy. We have so much in common with God. On the surface it seems that we don’t. He’s eternal and I’m not. My history, my story, started in the 1950’s. God has always been. God is holy, I try but sometimes I’m not. God is focused, spiritual and often I’m hung up in this physical world. It can seem that God is so different from us. But then we realize that He knows us. He has an interest in us. He loves us. He loves us even though He knows us. He wants us to talk to Him. We do have a lot in common. He cares about my family. He loves the congregation I worship with. He wants me to do well. He wants me to know Him better. There are many things that we can talk about.

This is where prayer must begin. It starts with God. It starts with wanting to talk with God. It starts with knowing how blessed and loved we are by God. Those thoughts will shape your prayers. It will affect the tone and what you say in those prayers. Given the opportunity to spend 30 minutes with the President, of the United States,  many of us would give him a piece of our mind. If we could just have lunch with the CEO of our company, many would tell him what he is missing. We feel this way because we do not believe the President or even the CEO is looking out for our best interest. We wonder if they even care. We wonder if they even know who we are. We wonder if they even know our names. God is not like this. He does care. He has shown that He cares. He does know you. He knows your name.

Remember the Jericho story? Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified and he stopped under a tree and called out to a short tax collector that was sitting in that tree. Jesus called Zacchaeus by name. He knew His name. He knows your name. He can even pronounce it properly. Like that Zacchaeus story, Jesus wants to come to your home. You invite Him in when you pray.

Prayer is conversation. It’s is talking to God. It’s not a check list. I marvel when someone says during a prayer in church, “Lord, we pray for those we are supposed to pray for.” What does that mean? Sometimes we fly though some quick bullet points and feel that we’ve prayed. Prayer is talking. It’s talking to God. Our conversations with our children or our mates or our parents, does not follow a set check list that we must run through. Sometimes we just talk about one thing. Can’t prayer be like that? Not every prayer of Jesus was the same. David’s prayers were not the same. You don’t need to run through the same things each time. Listen to what you are saying? Does it sound like you are talking to someone or just reading a list?

When you pray for that person who is ill, talk about that person with God. Park it there. Spend some time there. It’s more than, “Lord, I pray for the sick, sister Smith and brother Jones.” And that’s it. Really? Pray for them. Spend some time on that subject. Talk to God. Envision God sitting in a chair. What would you tell Him about sister Smith? Expand that thought. Really pray.

Prayer begins with wanting to talk with God. Prayer is talking. You must remember who you are talking to. You must be kind, reverent and respectful. You ask. You don’t tell God what to do. You don’t demand. You ask. Job learned that he was out of place in the way he talked to God. We must remember that. But, oh, the wonderful value of a person that is always talking with the Lord.

We have more to say about this.

Roger

Jump Start # 1377

Luke 11:1 “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’”

I love this passage. It is so innocent and honest. The disciples saw Jesus pray. They wanted to learn how to pray. Prayer is one of those things that most of us feel like we could do better. Few that I have talked to like the way they pray. We don’t pray enough. We don’t pray about others. Our prayers are shallow. Then there are those wonderful classes about prayer. They help. They are good reminders.

Lets look into some thoughts about prayer today.

First, the request to be taught to pray came after Jesus prayed. They heard and then they asked. John 17 is one of the longest prayers of Jesus that is recorded. There were prayers on the cross. We know that He prayed all night. Jesus prayed often. He prayed before He chose the apostles. Jesus is the model to look to for prayer. He understood that prayer keeps our relationship with the Lord alive and vital. We need to talk to God.

Second, prayer is something that must be learned. It’s not natural and that’s why we often fail. It’s not that praying is hard, but it is in the sense to remember to pray not only about the big things in life but also the little things. Prayer is not about getting what I want but rather, inviting God into my life. It is God’s will becoming my will. Following a prayer ought to be a prayer of thanksgiving. We thank God for answering our prayers. Prayer is not always about getting. Prayer is praise. Prayer is thanking. Prayer is seeking Heaven’s help.

It is interesting to me that the apostles never asked Jesus how to preach. Peter and John were fishermen. They weren’t accustomed to standing before crowds and speaking. They would. They would speak before officials, opponents and those that cherished every word that they said. They never asked Jesus how to preach. They never asked Jesus how to do a miracle. They would be sent preaching and confirming that word with miracles. Just what are the steps to healing someone? They never seemed to ask that. I would have. Just how do you raise the dead? Never asked that one. How do you grow faith? How do you grow a church? How do you appoint elders or shepherds in a congregation? What’s the best way to serve the Lord’s Supper? How do you get people to be stronger? Tons of questions that they could have asked, but it seems like they never did. But this one, teach us to pray, seems so simple. Maybe prayer builds a relationship with the Lord that would take care of many of those other questions. Maybe we don’t pray enough.

Third, in asking about prayer, they were not asking about the fundamental and core principles of prayer. For instance, they were not asking about “Who do we pray to?” They were not asking about reverence in prayer. They were not asking about praying to God instead of praying to man. Those that asked this question were Jewish men who grew up praying. Prayer was part of the fiber of Jews. In the home, synagogue and temple activities, prayer was a common sight. These twelve had heard prayers all of their lives. They understood the basics of prayer 101. What they were asking was how to pray like Jesus prayed. He really prayed. He prayed all the time. How do we do that? That’s the key question.

Fourth, what follows is what the world calls the “Lord’s Prayer.” The “Our Father, who art in Heaven.” Calling this the Lord’s prayer is somewhat true, because this came from the Lord. When asked, this is what He answered with. But, it is unlikely that Jesus ever prayed this Himself. He would not have asked for the forgiveness of sins, since He was without sin. Jesus never sinned. Only a sinner needs a Savior and forgiveness. It might be better to refer to this prayer as a “Model prayer.” It’s not so much these very words, but rather the thought, the faith, the trust that is found behind those words.

You’ll notice a few things about this prayer. First, it’s short. For one who prayed all night, Jesus offers a sample prayer that contains only 37 words, five sentences. Short. A prayer doesn’t have to be long to be good. There are times that a long prayer may not be the best. There are times a short prayer may not be the best. The best prayers come from the heart, not the number of words counted in that prayer.

You’ll also notice that the words Jesus uses are simple. No one has to run to the dictionary to find the definitions. Not here. It seems that these words were natural. The crowd Jesus taught and the make up of the disciples was that of the common man. This is not to say that they were unintelligent or dumb. They were not. This prayer is using words that they would have used. Every once in a while, you might here someone using 16 cylinder words in his prayer. One must wonder if the guy talks that way all the time or if he is trying to impress someone. You’ll never impress God with big words. God knows more than you ever will and God can speak and hear every language that ever existed. So, it often comes down to trying to impress those who are listening. Don’t do that. If your natural vocabulary includes big words, that’s fine. Don’t use words in prayers that you don’t understand. Pray in private like you pray in public. Pray in public like you pray in private.

You’ll also notice in this example Jesus gives us, that our prayers praise God (Hallowed be Thy name). Prayer includes physical things (our daily bread). Prayer involves spiritual things (forgiveness of sins). Prayer asks God to help us (Lead us not into temptation). Together, there seems to be a balance here. Not all prayer is about physical things. Not all prayer is about spiritual things. Not all prayer is about praise. Not all prayer asks God to help us. Different needs. Different concerns. Praying for physical things is not wrong.

You’ll notice that this prayer understands the place and nature of God. It is God who gives daily bread. It is God who forgives. It is God who leads us not into temptation. God, right there in our daily lives. God, not very far from us.

You’ll also notice the use of “us” in this model. Give “us” “our” daily bread. Forgive “us” “our” sins. Lead “us” not into temptation. The “us” and “our” reminds us that we are all in the same boat. There is not one of us that could say, I don’t need to say those things. There is not one of us that could conclude, you need to do that, but not me. No, you do need this. It’s a “us” and “our” type of situation.

You’ll also notice that this type of prayer could and should be prayed often, even daily. The bread that was prayed for was a “daily” bread. It was not the month’s quota of bread. It wasn’t the year’s supply of bread. It’s today. Tomorrow, we’ll need to ask the Lord for bread again. This tells us that we’ll be repeating some prayers, maybe often, maybe every day. Before the bread arrives, there were folks who baked it. Before that, there were folks that processed the grain. Before that, there were folks who harvested the grain. Before that, there was a farmer who planted the seed. In all of this duration, there was the right amount of rain and sunshine, provided by the Lord, to grow the grain. There was a period of time between the day the seed was planted and the day the person took a bite of the bread. The same could be said of fruit. Similar things could be said about meat. There were many steps and many blessings from Heaven before the food lands on our table. God was involved all along the way. That is simply something to consider.

Teach us to pray. What a profound question. What a great step in recognizing the position of God, the trust of our hearts and the goodness of the Lord’s blessings.

Pray…It just makes a person want to stop what they are doing for a moment and thank the Lord.

Roger

Jump Start # 1119

Luke 11:1 “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

Lord, teach us. The apostles had the true heart of a disciple. They wanted to know. They wanted to learn. The question about prayer came after Jesus prayed. I’m sure they were amazed at the way Jesus prayed. I’m sure they wished that they could pray like that.

“Teach us to pray” is an interesting expression. First, it comes from the apostles who grew up going to the Temple and hearing priests and their own dads pray. They had been praying most of their life. This question was beyond the basics of prayer. It involved more than “Who do you pray to,” reverence in prayer—they had that. This was things that they were taught as young boys. Some need to know that. Some have never learned. Some were taught that it’s ok to pray to dead saints and to Mary. They need to see that was never done in the Bible. Only God is prayed to. There are some “mechanics” and basics to prayer that everyone must begin with.

“Teach us to pray” involved not so much “How” to pray, but “to” pray. Jesus was praying often. He prayed before selecting the apostles. He prayed before He healed. He prayed in the garden. He prayed on the cross. He was a man of prayer. He referred to the Temple as the “house of prayer.” Praying was a huge part of Jesus life. A few pages later in Luke, Jesus would tell the disciples to pray at all times and not to lose heart. The key was prayer. We sing a hymn that asks, “Did you think to pray?” If we are honest, the answer sometimes, maybe most times, is no, I forgot to pray. I worried. I got upset. I became bothered. I was stressed. I got angry. I lost sleep. I couldn’t eat. I talked to my friends about it. I did everything except pray. Jesus wasn’t like that. Prayer was His first choice. Prayer was as natural as breathing.

This is the heart at what the disciples were asking. How do you do that? How do you know to pray? How do you pray first? Prayer, faith and remaining calm go together. Prayer and faith involve trust. That trust leads to peace within. The more one prays the greater their faith and the greater they are at peace.

How Jesus answered the disciples question is as interesting as their question. He gave them an example of a prayer. Most call this the Lord’s prayer. There is no indication that He actually prayed this—there is a line that He would not have said Himself. I not a huge fan of borrowing someone else’s prayer. Many books I read often have a prayer by the author. That’s nice, but it doesn’t do much for me. Pray must be personal, genuine, heartfelt and relevant. Your prayer will not be my prayer. We may pray about the same thing but not the same way.

Jesus is showing the disciples a prayer. It’s a prayer that recognizes and praises God. It is prayer that deals with physical things, such as daily bread, and spiritual things, such as forgiveness. It is so simple that this prayer fits today as well as in the first century. It’s a prayer that works on a Monday as well as a Saturday. It is a brief prayer. The words are simple. The thoughts are reverent.

Choose prayer. Choose prayer before you speak. Choose prayer before you make a decision. Choose prayer when you are bothered. Prayer invites God into your world, your life and your heart. Prayer reminds you to consider the spiritual side of things. Something may look good on paper, and everyone can give you a thumbs up to what you are planning, but praying about it now makes you consider the spiritual side. Then and there things may look differently. What was great on paper may not be the best choice when you look at it from the spiritual side. Praying often helps us to see that side.

Prayer also has a way to reminding us that we belong to God and we are accountable to God. We are not alone, nor are we free to do whatever we feel like. Choices come with consequences. Prayer reminds us of God. We shall stand before God some day. Remembering God helps keep our attitudes in check. Prayer helps us to remember that God’s will always trumps my will. God has a plan. I must fit into His plan and not believe that God is working to fit into my plan. What I believe may be Plan A may actually not be God’s Plan A. Paul wanted to preach in Asia. God said NO. After that, he went to Macedonia. That was God’s plan. Similar things may happen to us.

Teach us to pray. This is done by looking at Jesus. This is done by seeing how He followed the will of His Father. Prayer, faith and obedience worked well with Jesus and they will work well with us when we are taught.

Pray. Pray often. Pray deeply. Pray about others. Pray and believe.

Roger

Jump Start # 488 

Luke 11:1 “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.’”

  The word “disciple” means a “pupil or student.” The followers of Jesus were demonstrating that by wanting to learn. They wanted Jesus to teach them to pray.  A couple of interesting thoughts come from this.

  First, coming to Christ isn’t the last step in the journey. After one becomes a Christian, there are things to learn. The mere fact that one becomes a Christian doesn’t automatically give them the attitude that they should have, nor does it solve every problem that they face. Communication problems in marriage does not magically disappear if the people involved are Christians. I sense sometimes that Christianity is viewed as a wonder pill that turns miserable lives into bliss. Discipleship is a growing, learning and becoming process. A Christian is constantly shaping and reshaping his heart to become more and more like Jesus.

  This is why a person can experience different spirits and attitudes among Christians. Some are learning and growing and becoming more like Jesus and others aren’t working so hard at it. Since Christianity is a learning and growing process, we will not all be at the same place at the same time. Maturity levels, knowledge levels, growth levels vary among us, and it shows. Some act very Christ like. Others, not so much. So if a person has quit growing, becoming, even though he’s been a Christian for decades and decades, someone much younger and newer in the faith, but who has the heart of a disciple, may indeed be more Christ like than the older person. Growing, becoming, learning should never end…never!

  The second thing we see here is that the disciples wanted to know how to pray. They asked this after Jesus finished praying. Understand the disciples were Jewish men who grew up hearing prayers at home and praying in the synagogues and temple. They knew “how” to pray. It wasn’t the mechanics that they were asking—such as: Pray reverently…pray in faith…pray to God, not angels or people. They knew those things. But hearing Jesus pray, they wanted to pray like that.

  The prayers of Jesus were focused and powerful. He often prayed hours on end and we struggle with five minutes. He prayed first, not last. He prayed before He chose the apostles. He prayed before His arrest and death. He prayed on a mountain top while the disciples endured a storm on the sea. Jesus was a man of prayer. He believed in it. He used it. Even at the very end, while upon the cross, Jesus was praying.

  The reaction after Jesus preached the sermon on the mount was “never did a man speak like this.” I get the impression that the disciples reaction after Jesus prayed was, “never did a man pray like that.”  Jesus prayers were connected directly to His faith. The larger the faith the easier the prayers. Prayers and thankfulness are also connected together. The more thankful a person is, the more they pray.

  What follows in Luke is a model or sample prayer. It’s short. The words are simple. It covers the common needs both physically and spiritually. It’s not the kind of prayer that we’d expect. We’d assume it’d cover about 40 verses instead of three. We assume that the words would be extensive and filled with depth. We’d assume the disciples would be overwhelmed to the point that they’d say, ‘there’s no way we can remember all that.’ But it wasn’t. Thirty-seven words—that’s all. Easy to memorize. Easy to use.

  The prayer connects the disciples to Jesus and to God. Jesus calls God, “Father.” A term of affection, relationship and closeness. There are only a few people who get to call me “dad.” It’s a special term defining a special relationship. In Matthew’s account of this prayer, Jesus begins by saying, OUR Father, who art in Heaven… Not MY Father, nor YOUR Father, but OUR. Jesus connects Himself with the disciples. He does that throughout this short prayer. It is “OUR” daily bread. It is lead US not into temptation.

  Prayer tends to do that. It connects us with God and the ones we are praying about. There are common needs to all of us—whether we are rich or poor, famous or not. Forgiveness, food, favor are all blessings that all of us need for God.

  Jesus shows us that a person doesn’t have to be complex or impressive in his prayers. Speak from the heart. Be genuine. Be honest. Be yourself, yet realize that you are talking to God.

  Lord, teach us…what a great attitude to have. Each of us would be better if we could say the same. Lord, teach us to be the parents we should be…Lord, teach us to love you…Lord, teach us to long for your book…Lord, teach us to forgive others…Lord, teach us to be patient, as you are…

  Lord, teach us…

Roger