Jump Start # 295

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 disciples followed Jesus for three years. They heard Jesus teach and they witnessed His miracles. They were curious and often didn’t understand things and they asked Jesus numerous questions. But this is the only time that they specifically asked Jesus to teach them something. Teach us to pray is what they asked.

  I’ve often wondered if I could have spent time with Jesus what I would want Him to teach me. As a preacher I’d like to know how I ought to preach. His understanding of the Bible is amazing as the two men on the road to Emmaus found out. Jesus had such compassion, especially for the hurting and the outcast. To learn to see people as Jesus saw them would be incredible. The disciples wanted to learn how to pray.

  You must understand that the people asking Jesus this are Jewish men who were acquainted with the prayers in the temple and the synagogue. In fact, they surely had grown up in homes where their fathers said prayers on the Sabbath day. They had heard prayers all their life. They had seen the rabbis pray and possibly even the priests. So, their question involves more than just the mechanics of prayer, such as: pray to God; talk reverently and humbly. Those are things they knew. They understood that you don’t pray to people, living or dead, but only to God.

  Our passage indicates that this request came after Jesus had prayed. What they were asking was ‘teach us to pray’ as you pray. Jesus prayed often. Jesus prayed all night. Jesus prayed specifically. Prayer was as natural with Jesus as breathing. Before the apostles were chosen, Jesus prayed. Before many miracles, Jesus prayed. Before His arrest, He prayed. Upon the cross He prayed. Jesus was a man of prayer. He called the temple ‘the house of prayer.’

  The disciples saw in Jesus what they hadn’t seen else where and that prayer stayed with Jesus. He didn’t just pray in synagogues and in the temple, but in boats, mountain tops, in houses and before He ate. Jesus found every setting as a place to pray.

  Praying this much and this often does something. First, it keeps you very close to God. You are constantly reaching up to God. God isn’t confined to a building. It also has a way of reminding you that it is God’s will that is to be accomplished, not ours. We can sometimes forget about God when we have a desk full of papers and a mountain of phone calls to return and there are meetings we have to attend to and then there are the kids and doctor appointments and bills to pay and the dog has to go to the vet and it’s time for an oil change and on and on our days go, so filled with this world that God isn’t on our radar. With Jesus it was different. God was ever present. Prayer does that. A prayer before work begins. A prayer as you enter the meeting. A prayer for the kids. A prayer for this and a prayer for that. All of this will bring God back into your world where He needs to be.

  Following this request, the Lord showed them how to pray. Many call it the Lord’s prayer, more accurately, it’s a model prayer. Jesus would not have prayed for forgiveness since He never sinned. This is not what I would expect Jesus to deliver as a prayer.

  First, the prayer is very short. It is made up of 37 words. A person can say this in a couple of minutes. Next, note that the words are very simple. There are no “big” words in this prayer. Thirdly, the prayer is saturated with God. It begins with God but sprinkled all through this is thoughts of God. God’s name is hallowed. It is God’s kingdom. It is God who gives the daily bread. It is God who forgives. It is God who leads. The prayer is concerning God in our lives. Fourthly, the prayer combines the physical and the spiritual. Praying for daily bread and forgiveness of sins within the same breath.

  This prayer isn’t a one size fits all. This is not intended to be the one prayer that we pray throughout our life. This is an example. This is a model. Years ago in the back of some dictionaries a person would find an example of a model letter. These letters were not to be copied word for word and sent, but used as a format to follow. This is what this prayer is.

  Now, let’s think a moment about our prayers. Do we only prayer about physical things? Do you only ask God for things in our prayers? Do we bring God into our world through our prayers? The number one thing that most Christians admit that they need to improve upon is their prayer life. We need to pray more, pray deeper and above all, pray like Jesus.

  Our Jump Starts will continue more with this theme. This is a start.

Roger

Jump Start # 73

Lk 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.”

  What follows this request is what is commonly called ‘the Lord’s Prayer,’ or I think more accurately, ‘the model prayer.’ Jesus set this prayer as an example. There is a statement in that prayer that He would not have prayed Himself, ‘forgive us of our sins,’ Jesus never sinned.

  The request itself is most interesting. The disciples had seen Jesus praying. He did that often. Sometimes escaping the crowds, getting alone and often praying for hours. His prayer in the garden before His arrest illustrates the intensity of which He prayed, as His sweat became blood. John 17 records one of the longest prayers of Jesus, praying for unity among His followers. I think the request of this disciple was very honest and natural. It came from the heart of Jewish men who grew up saying prayers. Yet Jesus prayed differently. He prayed often. They wanted to learn to pray like that. So do I. Among most Christians, our prayer life is one area that most of us feel could use some help. We tend to pray shallow prayers. We tend to say the same thing. We tend to ask more often than thank and praise. We need some help, I know I do.

  It is interesting that these disciples had seen Jesus preach, but they didn’t want to know how to do that. They saw miracles and they didn’t seem to want to know how to do those. But prayer was personal and something they were already doing, they wanted to do it like Jesus.

  Jesus’ answer is simple. In Matthew’s gospel, the Lord says to go into the closet and shut the door and pray. Alone. Honest.

  The model prayer in Luke is 37 words. It begins with God. It acknowledges His holiness, His kingdom, and that we are dependent upon Him, even for our everyday food. It seeks the mercy of God and asks for help in temptation. Short, to the point, relationship based, true and honest is this prayer. One aspect of this prayer has been fulfilled, the kingdom has come. Prayer is not a “to do list.” Prayer is not a  “wish list” sent to Heaven. It’s talking with God. It’s communicating. It begins by realizing the position of God. Respect, devotion, and dignity must come when addressing God. He is not ‘the big guy in the sky,’ He is God. He is the Almighty, the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

  Prayer is faith based. It is more than believing what I pray about will come true, it is believing in God. It comes first with a relationship with God. We understand how awkward a situation is when an estranged child comes and asks for money. That’s hard to do. It’s hard to give when the relationship stinks. Is it any different with God? Prayer is one aspect of our relationship with Him. We walk with God. We read and follow His word. We become His people, and we talk (pray) to Him. The deeper your faith, the more you will pray. I find through the years, I pray less about myself and more about others. I also find that I pray less for physical things and more for spiritual things. Spiritual health is much more important than physical health.

  There is a line from the movie, ET, which says, “ET call home.” We need to do the same. We need to “call home.” We need to pray more, deeper and spiritual. How’s your prayer life? Think about it today. Send some short prayers to Heaven as you go about your day. It’ll make a difference, both to you and to God.

 Roger