Turn with me, if you would, to
Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. Let's read verse 12, this is
speaking of our Lord. And it came to pass in those
days that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night
in prayer to God. That's holy, isn't it? That's holy. That is all full. That is full of all that God
would go up into a mountain and pray all night long. If the pure and spotless Son
of God did that. How much emphasis should we wicked,
wretched sinners put on prayer? Prayer to Him. He continued all
night. Turn with me over to Luke chapter
9. Luke 9, again, speaking of our
Lord, verse 18 says, And it came to pass as he was
alone praying. He was alone praying. Verse 28
right here says, And it came to pass, about an eight days
after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James and
went up into a mountain to pray. Our Lord was constantly praying
to God the Father. Constantly. constantly. God's particular people, those
that he chose to call from death to life. Those that he chose
to redeem and regenerate for the soul that God has purposed
to save. True heart prayer is one of the
first signs of life. All right. For the soul that
God has purposed to save. True heart prayer is one of the
first signs of life. Not this open show for everybody
to see. He went up. God went up alone. Alone. I'm talking about something that
is between a sinner and God. True heart prayer. True heart prayer. That's one of the first signs
of life. Let me show you that in Acts
chapter 9. Go with me over to Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9 verse 1 says,
And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters
to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this
way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound
unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus, And suddenly there shined round about him a light
from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling
and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And
the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it
shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed
with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And
Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he
saw no man, but they led him by the hand, and brought him
into Damascus. And he was three days without
sight, And neither did eat nor drink." Now can you see the condition
of this man? Here he is in his pride and in
his arrogance, a leader of religion, went to the high priest in the
temple and got letters saying it was legal for him to start
killing followers of Jesus Christ. And God came to him. And buddy,
God shook him. God opened his eyes by way of
blinding him. And now here he is. He can't
see any man and he has not moved from his place. He cannot eat
anything. He hasn't eaten for three days.
He didn't drink anything for three days. Verse 10, And there
was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and to him said
the Lord in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, I am here,
Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise,
and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire
in the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold,
he is praying. I'm dealing with it. I am dealing
with this man. Do you want to know how you can
tell I am dealing with this man? He is sitting there with his
mouth shut and his eyes closed, begging God not to kill him for
his sin. That's how you can tell. Behold,
he's praying. Saul of Tarsus was a leader of
the Pharisees. He was a religious leader. Are
you telling me he'd never prayed before? That is exactly what
I'm saying. He had never prayed before. For the first time in his life,
from the depths of his soul, It's more important than food
and water to him. He is begging God for mercy. I need mercy before I can have
food and water. May God cause sinners to start
praying. I mean praying. I'm not talking
about this lip service that people do. The scripture calls it vain
jangling. Hail Mary full of grace. My mom said pick the very best
one. That's all it is. God is good. God is great. Let
us thank him for our food. That's all it is. I pray God. I mean this. I pray God will
break sinners. I pray God will break sinners. People come to church to get
saved. No other reason to go to church.
You go to church to get saved. You go to church to make sure
you're saved. You go as an insurance policy
for salvation. But the truth of the matter is
when God actually deals with a sinner, the first thing he
does is he makes him lost. That's the first thing he does.
He makes him lost. Just like he did for Saul of
Tarsus. There was no doubt in Saul's mind, I am a lost sinner
before God. He knew this Bible better than
any of them. He knew the Bible better than
any of them. He was devout. He got up and
read it. And now he realizes, I'm a lost
man in the hands of an angry God. Oh, may God show more of us that. May God show more of us that. Once we see that, behold, we'll
start praying. We will start praying. Now, prayer
is one of the most mocked things that I know of in religion today. Prayer. I don't have any social
media accounts, but I do acknowledge that they're a way for people
to stay in touch with each other, and I've been on them. And I have seen how people love
to post their problems and their drama so that they can get a
lot of attention and comments. They fish for that attention
and that comment. And people will say things like
this. Okay, I can't tell you what it is right now, but I need
all my prayer warriors out there. You ever seen something like
that? And here come the comments. On it. Done. Consider it prayed. Already prayed. The whole thing
has such an arrogant attitude about it. Such an arrogant attitude
about it. It's like they're all saying,
we're about to ambush God with this thing. Whatever that is
that your problem is, we're all about to take it and cram it
down God's throat. Oh dear God. Does that, just
mentioning that, does that make all of us want to fall on the
ground? Oh, dear God, dear God. That is so far from true prayer. That is the opposite of true
prayer. That is not even in the same
category as prayer. True prayer is an attitude that
God creates in the heart of the child. It's not a word. Somebody can say, God is great,
God is good. Let us thank him for our food.
Amen. That's not prayer. Somebody can say, God is so great.
God is so good. Let's all thank him for the food
we ate. There's a difference. There's
a difference. There's a dear believer, a precious,
precious believer. She attends another church she
has for decades and decades. Her brother does not attend a
church where the truth is preached, where the scriptures are preached,
the true gospel is preached. A while back he was in the hospital
and she was there with him. And in walked a woman who was
this man's pastor of the church that he attended. And she talked
and visited with him while he was in the hospital for a minute.
And this believer said everything about this woman was just so
arrogant, just so arrogant. And she got, you know, she was
there for a little while and she said, Okay, I gotta go. Let's
all bow our heads. I'm gonna pray. And this is what
she said. God, it's me. When I was told that, this is
the first thing that went through my mind. If I was that believer,
I would have wanted to get out of that room as quickly as possible
for fear that God would send a lightning bolt right inside
that room and strike that woman dead. Oh, dear God, that type of arrogance
is not prayer. Why am I saying all this? Why
am I spending our precious time on this? Because that's all you
hear now. That's all we're confronted with
now. That's what people are promoting
as true heart prayer to God and it's not and God won't hear it. God will not hear it. That vain
entitlement, God won't hear it. The noise of it will not go past
the ceiling. It will not. How do I know that? How can I say that? Look with
me at Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah 1 verse 13, our God said,
bring no more vain oblations. This vain worship, this self-worship. You know, contemporary worship
is self-worship. Contemporary songs are self-songs. They want to get away from how
great thou art. Bring no more vain oblations.
Incense is an abomination unto me. The new moons and Sabbaths,
the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with it. It is iniquity. Even the solemn meeting, your
new moons and your appointed feast, my soul hateth. They are
a trouble unto me. I am weary to bear them. And
when you spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when you make many prayers,
I will not hear. I won't do it. Your hands are
full of blood. In Psalm 101, the Lord said,
Him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. I won't put up with it. I won't. You know what all this causes
me to say? This is what every bit of this causes me to say. I'll show it to you back in our
text now. Go to Luke 11 where our brother read. Luke 11 verse 1 says, 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. Now, can you envision being in
the company of the Lord while he was praying? listening to
him pray. And when he ceased, when he said,
Amen, the only thing you could think is, I need to learn how
to pray. Can you imagine? Lord, would
you teach us to pray? Would you teach us, Lord, how
to pray? Would you teach us what to pray?
Would you teach us what attitude we should approach you with?
Lord, teach us to pray. My desire this morning is that
the Lord will, to some degree, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. Verse 2, And
He said unto them, When you pray. When did our Lord tell us to
pray? 1 Thessalonians 5, he said, pray without ceasing. Pray without
ceasing. Pray always. Every time it comes
across your mind, acknowledge God in it. The good things, the
bad things, the hard things, the easy things, acknowledge
God in it. Always. Verse 2, he said, when
you pray, say, And in Matthew's account, it
clarifies the fact that our Lord said, after this manner, pray
ye. Meaning, don't just repeat these
words and turn them into vain jangling. After this manner,
in this attitude, say, our Father, which art in heaven. He said,
first thing, humble yourself. Humble yourself. The only heart
that God will hear is a humble heart. That's the only one. A broken heart and a contrite
spirit. That's the only one. Look with
me at Luke 18. Luke 18, verse 17, our Lord said,
Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. Not coming in. Whoever does not
receive it as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. Men love to see themselves as
being so wise. so wise in everything, but especially
in the things of religion and God. Look with me though over
at Romans 1. Turn over a few books to Romans
1. Romans 1 verse 21 says, because that when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God. Not as God. Neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened,
professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. By professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools. They were not wise. They
were not wise. Had they been wise, they would
have professed themselves to be fools. That's what they would have done.
And then verse 22 would have read, professing themselves to
be fools, they became wise. Our Lord said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes. The Apostle Peter said, humble
yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that
he may exalt you in due time. There's only one attitude that
God Almighty will accept, only one. And that attitude is broken,
childlike humility. Broken humility. Go back to our
text. Luke 11. Verse 2, And he said unto them,
When you 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. Hallowed means holy. Holy. Holy means just and right. True prayer, true prayer says,
Heavenly Father, everything you do is just and
right. Everything you do when things
don't go the way we want them to go. Quite often, people get
mad at God, you hear it all the time, sometimes they'll even
come out and say, I'm so mad at God right now. Oh, don't do
that. Don't do that. Do not do that. That is not the work of God on
the heart of his child. Who are we to reply against God?
Look with me over at Job 1. Job chapter 1. Now Job had it
all. We know this story, don't we?
Job had it all. He was rich. He was a happy man.
In one day, in just one day, Job lost it all. He lost all
of his livestock. He lost all the houses and the
buildings on his land. He lost every single one of his
ten children. Every single one. Verse 20 says,
Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head. Job was
sad and it's okay. Job could not have been human.
Job couldn't have had one ounce of love in him if he was not
heartbroken over this loss. He was heartbroken and it's okay. But verse 20 says, Then Job arose,
and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon
the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my
mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. You know what he just said right
there? Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. Everything you do is just and
right. With absolute broken sorrow in
his heart, everything you do is just and right. Verse 22 says,
In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. If you
have a margin on that, it says attributed folly to God. By the grace of God, by that
keeping hand of God, he never got mad at God. Never. There's
a priest named Eli, and he had two sons who were also priests,
and they sinned against God. They were an abomination to God.
And God came to Eli's servant, a young man named Samuel, and
God said to him, I'm going to kill Eli's two sons for the sin
that they've committed against me. Eli knew that God came to
him. So when he got up the next morning,
Eli asked him, what did God say to you? And Eli did not want
to tell him. I can tell you from experience,
telling the truth sometimes can be the hardest thing a man ever
has to do. He didn't want to hurt Eli. He
loved him. He didn't want to tell him. Eli
said, God do the same to you and more if you don't tell me.
And he said, God said he's going to kill your two sons for the
sin they've committed against him. And that man was so sad.
That man was so broken. But this is what he said. It
is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Let him do what seemeth him good. Hallowed be thy name. Just and
right is everything you do. Lord, teach us, teach us truly
to bow and honor your holiness, your perfect, just, right holiness. Look with me now back at the
text. They said, Lord, teach us to
pray. He said, say this verse three. Give us day by day our daily
bread. Acknowledge God's hand in everything. That's what. And that's where
religion goes so wrong, they don't acknowledge God's hand
in anything, especially the work, the the gift of salvation. Our Lord is the giver of all
things, and we do need food on our table. We do, and we give
Him thanks for it. But there is a bread that man
cannot live without. It's not a bread of this world.
It's the bread of heaven, Christ Himself. He said, I am that bread. That living bread, life-giving
bread. Lord, give us Christ. They said, would you teach us
to pray? He said, say this, Lord, give
us Christ. Give us Christ. Every day. Day by day. Lord, if you don't
give us anything else, please give us Christ. Please give us
Christ. Give us the Lamb of God. Give us the substitute for sinners. Give us man's only hope. Some people are going to hear
this and God's Spirit is going to move on them and they are
going to cry out from the depths of their soul, Lord give me Christ. Some people are going to hear
this and then they are not going to give it a second thought until
They stand before that judgment throne of God. And at that moment,
they're going to realize, I needed one thing while I was living
on the earth, and I didn't get it. One thing. I need Christ. I need Christ. I need Christ. My desire, my
desire, honestly, is that God would teach us to pray. Lord, don't let me waste my prayers. Don't let me ask for the wrong
things. Lord, my career's great. But don't let me spend all my
time begging for this and begging for that. Give me Christ, please. Please give me Christ. I'm saying this. This is coming
from one center to one center. Give us Christ. I urge us all. I don't have an outline today. I have a message. I have a message
from the oldest to the youngest, from those who have been here
the longest to the newest person in the door. Let's all cry out. Give me Christ. Give me Christ. I mean from the heart. Lord,
give me Christ. And if I don't know what that
means, teach me. And if I don't see the urgency
of it, show me. Show me. Lord, give me Christ. You know, someone sees all this
from a distance and they think, how can you people be, I got
to commend you, y'all are pretty devoted. No, we're not. We're
beggars and we have nowhere else to go. There's no other place
of bread. Give us Christ, Lord, give us
Christ. Verse 4 says, and forgive us our sins For we also forgive
everyone that is indebted to us. I just told you a minute
ago that there are prayers that God won't hear. There are prayers
that God will hear. This is one of them. Go with
me back over to Luke 18. Luke 18 verse 10 says, Two men
went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other
a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus within himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast
twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. He prayed, I thank you that I'm
better than other people. That's what most every soul on
this earth believes. I may not be perfect, but I am
better than him. It's pride, isn't it? That's
all it is, pride, arrogance. God will not hear that. Only
the heart that God touches, only the heart that God humbles will
say this right here, verse 13, and the publican standing afar
off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God himself said, I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
God said mercy only comes one way, through the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. God said, I'm going
to kill my son. And then I'm going to shed the
blood of that spotless Lamb of God and take that blood and pour
it on every sinner that I've chosen to save. And when I look
at you in judgment in that day, as you stand there, when I see
that precious blood of my lamb, I'm going to show mercy to you.
I'm going to show mercy. Lord, give us Christ and forgive
our sins. However important anything seems,
I promise it will not be of any importance on that day. Give
us Christ and forgive our sins. Back in Luke 11, Lord, teach us to pray. Our Lord
said at the end of verse four, say this, lead us not into temptations,
but deliver us from evil. Now, to finish up. We were in
Isaiah one back in Isaiah chapter one. This is what our Lord said
in verse nine, he said, except the Lord of host. had left unto
us a very small remnant. We should have been as Sodom
and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. If God had not
chosen to save a very small remnant, we all would burn in fire and
brimstone. That's what he's saying. If God
had not chosen to save a small remnant. Now, I want to make
this point very clear. When you go to a carpet store
for the purpose of buying a remnant, How much carpet do you expect
to bring home? Enough to do your whole house? Maybe enough to bind and make
a rug for one room in your house. Isn't that right? Our Lord said
He is going to save a small remnant. Our Lord said, broad is the way
that leads unto destruction. Narrow is the way that leads
unto life and few there be that find it. Few, just a small remnant. God is not going to save everybody. God is not going to save the
religious masses. I deeply, deeply want God to
deliver me. I want God to deliver me, but
if God does not deliver me, only a small remnant is going to be
saved. And if God does not deliver me,
I must still say, hallowed be thy name. I must still say it. You are just and right. You see, I don't deserve deliverance. I'm just being honest. I don't
deserve deliverance. I have sinned against God. I don't justify myself. I'm a
sinner against God. And if He casts me into outer
darkness, if that's what He does with me, if He throws me into
eternal damnation and hell's fire, He's just and right. But while there is still breath
in me, And while there is still breath in you, let's all beg
God to make us his child. Let's all beg God to give us
Christ, our heavenly bread. Let's all beg God to forgive
us our sins in the blood of his lamb and deliver us from eternal
evil. And here's why. Here's why. beg, cry, pray. Lord, teach us
to pray. Teach us to pray. Here is why. Turn over to Galatians 4. Galatians 4 verse 4 says, But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are
sons, Because you are sons, because you are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. True prayer is not the cause
of salvation. It is the first sign of life. Behold, he prayeth. If God throws me in hell, he's
just and right. So start praying. Start praying. Lord, teach us to pray. First
of all, teach us to pray. Don't let me forget. Let me start praying. Let me
start praying. Lord, let me start praying. Here's why. If we cry to our Father begging
for redemption and adoption, if we cry, then it means we already
have redemption and adoption. It is not us truly crying from
the depths of our souls. This wretched soul would never
do this. I will not have that man reign over me. But God, who
is rich in mercy, sends the Spirit of His Son in here and Christ
starts crying. Lord, teach us to pray. Teach
us to pray. Verse 7 right here says, Wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then you're
an heir of God through Christ. Lord, teach us and cause us to
pray. Let's all stand together.