Would you turn to Luke 11? Remember,
Bob Pruitt, he's going to have his hip replaced tomorrow at
Central Baptist Hospital. Everybody remember him in prayer. Luke chapter 11. I've entitled
this message, Teach Us to Pray. Verse 1. 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. 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. Give us day by day our daily
bread. And forgive us our sins, for
we also forgive everyone that's indebted to us. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil." It was a disciple
who made this request, teach us to pray. Somebody once said,
we never read where the disciple said, teach us to preach. But
they did say, teach us to pray. Now when he makes this request,
teach us to pray, he confesses that he didn't know how to pray. He didn't know how. And he was
totally dependent upon the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Now how much instruction and encouragement we need in this
thing of prayer, because it's so easy to grow lax. It's so easy to become formal,
and it's so easy to think, what is the use? How many times have
you thought within yourself, my prayers are never answered?
My prayers are never answered. Seems like they're not getting
any further than the ceiling. What is the point in continuing
in prayer? I dare say there's not one of
us who has not thought that from time to time. What is the use? And that's why we are instructed
in the Word of God to watch unto prayer. To pray without ceasing. To continue instant in prayer. to always pray. I love that encouragement. Men
ought, you're one of them, aren't you? Men ought, how often? Always to pray and not to faint,
not to lose heart. Turn with me to a passage in
Acts chapter 12. I think that this is such a clear picture
of myself. Acts chapter 12. Now Peter was in prison. Herod
had killed James and he intended to kill Peter to please the people. And we read in verse five, Peter
therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing
of the church unto God for him. Now here the church is praying
for Peter. They're praying for his deliverance.
Now, if you go on reading this passage of scripture, Peter was
miraculously delivered and an angel came, opened up the door
and brought him out. Peter didn't even know if it
really happened. He had pretty much had to, is this real? Is
this real? So now pick up in verse 13. Now
Peter comes back to this group that's been praying for him.
And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to
hearken named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice,
she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter
stood before the gate. And they said unto her, you're
crazy. You're mad. What have they been
praying for? This! It happens! She comes and tells him, you're
crazy. Makes me think of that group
of people who got together, there was a famine, no rain, and they
got together to pray for rain and a little boy asked, where's
your umbrellas? Now, When and how God answers
is up to Him, but we are to continue instant in prayer. Men ought always to pray and
not to lose heart. Now, the Lord asks, or this man
asked the Lord, teach us to pray And our Lord does, and this is
where he gives what is called the disciples' prayer. Now this
is in the Sermon on the Mount, and it's right here, and what
an important, important passage of Scripture. In the Sermon on
the Mount, he said, after this manner, therefore, pray ye. Have this attitude of heart.
You see, prayer is not just saying the right things. It's an attitude
of heart. You know, your attitude can pray without saying a word.
You might not even know what to say. But there's an attitude
of prayer. He says, after this manner, therefore,
pray ye. And here in this passage of Scripture,
he says, when you pray, say. Our Father which art in heaven.
Somebody says, well, we shouldn't just repeat that prayer. Well,
I don't know what's wrong with it. I don't think you can beat
it, can you? This is the most glorious prayer a man can ever
pray. This is the way the Lord taught us to pray. As long as
I understand what it means, this would be fine to repeat ten times
a day. Now, you say, well, would that
become robotic? Well, it shouldn't. It shouldn't.
This is to be the attitude of my heart at all times, asking
for these things. Now, let's go over and look in
Matthew chapter 6 for a moment. I want us to see how the Lord
tells us not to pray. Matthew chapter 6, verse 5. Now, when thou prayest, thou
shalt not be as the hypocrites, as the actors, the pretenders,
For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and the corners
of the streets, that they may be seen of men." How many times
have you gone into a restaurant and watched people pray? Now,
I've done it, and I know why I did it. I did it to prove my
courage, to show how I would pray no matter what people thought.
But you know, the Lord doesn't encourage anything like that,
does He? He says, don't pray to be seen of men. If that's
what you're after, you've got your reward. They've seen. And
what a miserable reward that is. What if men have seen you?
That's not much of a reward. He says in verse six, but thou,
when thou prayest, enter into thy closet where nobody can see. And when thou has shut thy door,
pray to thy father, which is in secret. and thy Father, which
seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." Now, here's a promise. Verse 7, but when you pray, use
not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they
shall be heard for their much speaking. Now, before I go on,
if I'm going to understand anything about prayer, here's what I need
to understand first. I need to understand why I'm
heard. These Pharisees, These vain heathen think they shall
be heard because of their much speaking. Maybe saying the same
thing over and over again. Maybe that'll work. No, I'm to
understand that there's only one reason my prayers are heard.
My prayers are heard for Christ's sake. Not because of any earnestness
in them. Not because of any eloquence
in them. Not even because of the vehemence and the desire
of them. They're heard for Christ's sake. They're heard because the
Lord Jesus Christ, my great high priest, takes my prayer and presents
it before the Father, and it's a sweet-smelling savor to Him
through Christ. You see, you can't pray without
some understanding of the gospel. It's impossible to pray without
some understanding of the Gospel. When I pray and thank God, God
is a God who hears and answers prayer. He hears my prayer. I'm
called upon to pour out my heart before Him and He hears and I
understand why He hears. It's not because of anything
in me. I understand that. It's for Christ's sake. And this
gives me some confidence in prayer. I can have some boldness to come
into His presence and ask for things because I'm not coming
in my own name. I'm coming in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I don't think I'm heard because
of my much speaking. I'm heard for Christ's sake.
An understanding of the gospel is essential in this thing of
understanding prayer. Now look what he goes on to say.
Verse 8, Be not ye therefore like unto them? For your father
knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him. Isn't
that wonderful? The Lord knows exactly what you
need. You don't need to say anything
about it. You don't know what you need, but He does. Isn't
it wonderful to know that He knows exactly what you need? And I want you to think. He says,
your father. He's my father. That means I'm
his child. This is every believer. I'm a
child of God. He's my father. And, you know,
I've got one child and I'm greatly concerned about anything that
she's concerned about. Anything she needs, she needs
and I want her to have it. Our Father knows exactly what
we need. Now, you have needs right now.
Needs that you're aware of. Needs that you're not aware of.
You know the Lord knows about every single one of them. And He is going to supply all
your need. All your needs and all your need. Now, verse 9. After this manner, therefore,
pray. Ye, this is the attitude of your
heart. He's not giving a form of prayer
at this time. He's just talking about, this
is what you pray about. When you truly pray, when you,
when you truly have communion with God in prayer, this is what
you're to pray. This is the attitude of your
heart. He says, our father. Notice first the word our, not
my father, our father. You know, we're never just individuals
in this thing, are we? We're the church. We're the body
of Christ. What I pray for myself, I pray
for you. And if I'm not praying for you,
it's not real prayer. I mean, there's a love for the
people of God, our Father. I don't say my Father, I say
our Father. I'm looking at some children of God here. Our Father. And notice how he's addressed
our Father. Now, this speaks of a relationship.
Our Father. Our Father which art in heaven. He's my Father. Now, He's not
everybody's Father. This thought of the universal
fatherhood of God is foolishness. You know, the Lord looked at
some people one time. He said, you're of your father the devil and the less
of your father you'll do. He's not everybody's father,
but He's every believer's father. Our Father. which art in heaven,
and if he's my father, that means I'm his child." Now, this speaks
of a special relationship, doesn't it? I'm his child. Is the Lord Jesus Christ the
Son of the Father? So am I, because I'm united to
Him. Just as much as He's a son, I'm
a son. Hebrews 2.11 says, both he that
sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all of one. I'm one with him, therefore he's
not ashamed to call me brethren. I'm one of his little brothers.
See, it's little brothers and little sisters, but we're children
of God. I'm a child of God by virtue of union with Christ.
I'm a child of God by virtue of the fact that he adopted me.
We've received the adoption of children. He made me one of his
children. But not only am I a child by adoption, I'm a child by birth.
I was born into the kingdom of heaven. I remember when I was
a kid, I used to think, boy, it'd be difficult to be adopted. I
didn't understand that. I thought, you know what, all
the different things that are involved in that. And indeed,
they're worth it. But I'm thankful for adoption,
aren't you? Thankful for people adopting
children. But this is more than adoption. I'm also birthed into
the kingdom of heaven. I'm a child by? His nature being
given to me. Born of God. Born of the Spirit.
And I'm a child of God by faith. You're all children of God by
faith in Christ Jesus. If you find me somebody who trusts
the Lord Jesus Christ as they are all in salvation, I'll find
you somebody who's one of His dear children. Our Father which
art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Now in true prayer, there is
a knowledge, there is an understanding of the living God. Hallowed be
thy name. Now what's the name of God represent? It's not just talking about his
name like Jal or El or Jehovah or Elohim or all the different
names that we have for him in the Bible. It's not just the
audible name. The name of God is his attributes.
It's the person behind the name. Hallowed, holy, reverend is Thy
name. His name is His justice. His
justice is a holy justice. His name is His sovereignty,
His absolute control. His sovereignty is a holy sovereignty. His name is His love. His love
is a holy love. His name is His wrath. His wrath
is a holy wrath. His name is His power, His omnipotence,
and His power is a holy power. His name is His wisdom. His wisdom
is a holy wisdom. He's holy. This is His chief
attribute. His holiness, every attribute He has can be described
like this. Holy. His holy love, His holy
justice, His holy grace, His holy mercy, His holy power, everything
about Him. He's holy. And when we pray,
we know who He is. We're not praying to a God we
don't know. Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed, holy is Thy Name. And then we pray from our hearts.
Look in verse 10. Thy Kingdom come. This is what
I'm praying for. When I truly pray, I'm praying
for His Kingdom to come. The Kingdom that He's promised
will come. That time when every knee is
going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. Everybody's going to know Him.
Everybody's going to bow before Him. That time when everybody
is made to bow, where there's no opposition to Him anymore.
All opposition has been put down. All unbelievers have been put
away and sent off. And everybody willingly bows
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's the kingdom He's talking
about. Don't you long for that? That time when you no longer
see Him. That time when you no longer have unbelief, everything
that's opposite to Him is put down. And there's nothing but
bowing to His Lordship. Thy Kingdom come, the King of
this Kingdom. Thy Kingdom come. Now the first
part of this prayer, you'll note, deals with the God we worship.
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom
come. Thy will be done. Now, this is,
if I don't pray this, I'm not praying. Thy will be done. I want the will of God to be
done. Now, what is meant by the will of God? Well, the will of
God's the will of God. First, there's His will of decree. And this is very important, His
will of decree. Whatever He's decreed comes to
pass. Whatever happens, happens because
He decreed it. He's in absolute control. He's God. This is what we call
the sovereignty of God. God has a will. God has the power
to make sure His will comes to pass and God always does make
His will come to pass. His will is done. That's His
will of decree. But notice what our Lord tells
us to pray. Let your will be done here on earth just the way
it is in heaven. Now, there's God's will of decree,
His sovereign purposes, and there's also God's will of command. Now,
what is God's will of command? Well, right off the bat, talk
about the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt, thou shalt not. That's
God's will of command. Now there's only one place where
God's will of command is done perfectly. Unceasingly. Willingly. With
no hesitation. Cheerfully. Think of what it's
like in heaven. Turn to Psalm 103 for a second.
Hold your finger there and turn to Psalm 103. Here's what's going on in heaven. Verse 20. Bless the Lord, ye His angels,
that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of His Word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye His
hosts, ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure. Now you think,
we don't know much about angels. I know they're mighty beings.
And I know this, whatever God says to do, they do it. and they're
glad to do it, and they do it cheerfully, and it's their delight
to do it, and there's no hesitation. And you think of the glorified
spirits in heaven, believers, whatever, they always do His
will. Now, here's what He's telling us to pray. What's going on in
heaven? We want it to be just like that
right here on earth. Perfect conformity to His will. And I pray that His will be done
in my life. Lord, don't leave me to my will. The worst thing, absolutely the
worst thing that could take place for me is for God to leave me
to myself and just say, do what you want. Go on, leave me to
myself. If he did that, I'd go to hell
for sure. I don't want my will to be done.
I want his will to reign in me. Take my will. and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is thy own. It shall be thy royal throne."
The worst thing, the worst thing that could happen to me is for
God to leave me to myself. Cause your grace to reign in
me. I tell you what, I want to be a robot. I flat do. I want
to be a robot. I want to just do His will. Somebody says, well, what do
you believe in making people into robots? Is that a bad thing? Would you
like to be programmed to do God's will? I mean, you do it willingly,
I realize it, but I want Him to cause me to do His will. Turn
us again, O God of hosts, cause thy face to shine, and we'll
be saved. Lord, let your will be done in
everything. There was a lady who was dying,
and she was in her hospital bed, and somebody said, well, do you
want to live or do you want to die? And she said, well, I just
want the Lord's will to be done. He said, well, I know that, but
if it was your choice, what would you have? She said, well, I'd
say, Lord, whatever your will is, that's what I want. And that's
the believer's attitude. Thy will be done. It's the good and perfect and
acceptable will of God. Oh, Lord, let your will be done. That is the desire, the cry of
my heart, not my will. but thine be done." Thy kingdom
come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Now, the second part of this
prayer is with regard to our needs. First, it's with regard
to the God we worship, our Father. who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Now the second part of this prayer
has to do with our needs. And these two things that he
mentions covers everything. Temporal needs, physical needs,
and spiritual needs. Give us this day our daily bread. Now, that covers everything we
need temporally, everything we need physically, and we're encouraged
to pray for that. Give us this day our daily bread. Now, would to God we could just
not worry about tomorrow. Just forget tomorrow. Give us
today what we need. And tomorrow, once again, we'll
pray the same thing. give us today what we need, our
daily bread. Now that just covers everything,
doesn't it? He's not just talking about bread, but everything we
need physically, emotionally, everything in this life, we're
called upon to pray for it. You know, the Lord said, or Paul
said, the Lord said through Paul, be careful for nothing. But in
everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. There's nothing that's too insignificant
to pray about. No, it's not. Do you know everything
about you is important to the Lord? He's your father. He's
your father. He loves you. He's a lot better
father than you are. Now, you think you care for your
children? He cares for his children a whole lot more than you care
for yours. He's the great father. Now, give us this day our daily
bread, all of our physical needs, And remember, He knows what we
need before we ask, and He'll give us what we need. But we're
encouraged to pray for it. You know, if you're sick, pray
for healing. Ask Him to do something for you,
whatever's wrong with you. Now, it's up to Him how He's
going to answer. And you know, if you know the Lord, you know
that whatever He does is best and right. And you can submit
to that. What if you're sick and He says,
no, I'm not going to heal you. Well, it's best, isn't it? You're
in his hand. You know that whatever he does
is best. However he answers, it's just fine. But what a privilege
to be able to come to him regarding our daily bread, every physical
need. We're encouraged to pray. Your
financial situation, everything, nothing that you can't pray about. No problem is Too big or too
small. And then spiritual needs. That is under the forgiveness
of sins. We pray for our daily bread and
then we pray, Lord, forgive us of our sins. as we forgive those
who are indebted to us. Forgive us of our sins. You know,
I heard a preacher say recently, you don't need to pray for the
forgiveness of sins if you've already been forgiven. Yeah,
you do. The Lord teaches us to pray this constantly. Can you
ever pray without saying, Lord, forgive me of my sins? I can
never come into His presence without some awareness of my
sinfulness. But this covers everything. This covers my need for forgiveness,
justification, His grace, His mercy, sanctification, preservation,
every blessing I need spiritually. That's included in that. I'm
asking the Lord to bless me. You know, all the blessings that
we get spiritually, we're going to ask for. I ask Him for a new
heart. I ask Him for faith. I ask Him
for repentance. I ask Him to enable me to persevere.
I ask Him for all these things. We're to ask for every spiritual
blessing. So, we come into God's presence,
we know the God we worship, and we ask Him for all temporal needs
and all spiritual needs. Now, the third part of this prayer
has to do with our fears. Our fears. I love to see little
boys say, I'm not afraid of nothing. Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are. Our fears. Now, with regard to
our fears, He teaches us to pray. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Now that covers our fears. Temptation. Temptation. And that can mean two different
things. Temptation can mean trials. Trials God's going to send your
way. God did tempt Abraham. That's what the scripture says.
God did tempt. He tested Abraham. And regarding
trials, regarding difficult things, I'm instructed to pray, Lord,
don't let me be tried. Don't let me be tried. I don't
want to be tried. I really don't. I don't ask for trials. I don't
want to be tried. I want to just believe God, don't
you? I want to believe God without having to be tried and just believe
what he says. But I think what he's principally
talking about, lead us not into temptation. It's the temptation
to sin. Now, here's the fact of the matter.
If you're tempted to sin, you will sin. Now, that's true. Anytime you're tempted, anytime
I'm tempted, we will sin. We never just... I've defeated
that. I mean, in your mind, just the
fact that you can be tempted is sin in itself. If you're tempted,
you'll sin. So here's what I pray. Lord,
I know that if I'm tempted, I'll fall. Let me not be tempted.
Put a hedge about me. Put restraints upon me. Keep
it from taking place. Because if you don't keep it
from taking place, I will fall. I'm sure of that. I think of
that passage of scripture in Galatians chapter 6, where it
says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, could that happen
to you? Overtaken. by a fault, a sin,
a trespass? If a brother be overtaken in
a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Now that brother who's tempted,
If you know yourself at all, you know that you'll fall worse
than he did. And you're completely unable
to look at him in moral superiority and looking down your nose at
him. And what your prayer is, is Lord, keep me from being tempted. Because I know sure as I'm a
foot and a half high, if I'm tempted, I'll fall. Lead me not into temptation. And then the second thing he
teaches us to pray, there's the first fear, the fear regarding
temptation, trial, temptation to sin. And here's the second
fear. He said, we're taught to pray,
deliver us from evil. Deliver us from evil. Now let's
go back to Luke's account, Luke chapter 11. What's he mean, deliver
us from evil? Now the Lord is speaking to His
disciples at this time. Remember, it's a disciple who asked Him,
teach us to pray. And He goes on to say some things
after He gives this prayer. But look what He says in verse
13. He's speaking to His disciples and He says, if then, if you
then... What's it say next? Being evil. Would that describe you? Pray, Lord, deliver me from evil. Here's the one I'm first talking
about. I am the evil one. I believe
that about myself. I really do. I need delivered
from myself. Deliver me from evil. Deliver
me from the evil of this world. And deliver me from the evil
one, Satan. I'm no match for him. And if
he... Lord, deliver me from him. Deliver
me from myself. Deliver me from this evil world.
And deliver me from Satan. Now, there's our prayer concerning
our fears. Lord, lead me not into temptation,
but deliver me from evil." Now, here's our confidence in prayer. Look in verse 4. Well, hold your finger there
and go back to Matthew 6. Matthew's account says this and
Luke's account doesn't. It says in verse 13, For thine is the kingdom. That
kingdom we're praying for, it's thine. And thine is the power. You have the power to make your
kingdom come. You've got the power to make
your will be done. You've got the power to give me my daily
bread. And you've got the power to forgive me and put away my
sins and give me all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. You've got the power. to deliver
me from my fears. You've got the power to keep
me from temptation and deliver me from evil. For Thine is the
kingdom and Thine is the power and Thine is the glory forever.
Amen. Now go back to Luke chapter 11.
After our Lord has taught us to pray, He gives us some amazing
encouragement. Verse 5, now He's still teaching regarding
this thing of prayer. And He said unto them, Which
of you shall have a friend? And shall go unto him at midnight,
and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend
of mine in his journey is come to me, And I have nothing to
set before it." Now you put yourself in this fellow's place. He's
in bed and somebody comes over at midnight and says, give me
three loaves. How does he respond? Verse 7,
and he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not. The
door is now shut. My children are with me in bed.
I can't rise to give thee. If you're in need at midnight,
come on over. You know, the last time I talked about this, I said,
if you're in need, don't anybody come over my house at midnight.
Well, and I thought, boy, you know, what if somebody really
needed to come? And then I thought, well, I'm like a monster, you
know, sometimes. If you need to come over, come
on over, but make sure you need to. I mean, you know, let's,
but come over. But at any rate, this guy, he
said, no, no, no, I'm already in bed. Now, verse 8, I say unto
you, though he'll not rise and give him because he's his friend,
yet because of his importunity. That word means shameless persistence. Shameless persistence. No. Let me have three loaves. I set
them in bed. No. I need the three loaves. Let
me have them, please. No! I sure need them. Will you let me have them? Shameless
persistence. Now that's the encouragement
the Lord gives us to continue in prayer. Shameless persistence. I say unto you, though he'll
not rise and give him because he's his friend, yet because
of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth."
The fellow finally says, he's going to drive me crazy. He gets
up and gives him what he needs. And you know, our Lord's not
like that. That's a human story, but our Lord's not like that.
Verse 9, and I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. I've asked and I didn't receive.
Do you expect me to believe the Lord or you? And maybe you wasn't asking.
Everyone that asks. That's the condition of a sinner
asking for mercy. Everyone that asks, receives. He that seeks findeth, and him
that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that's a father, will he give him a stone? Of course
not. Or if he shall ask a fish, will
he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will
he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, How much more shall
your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
Him? Now this is going to give you
and I some direction right now what to ask for. Lord, give me the Holy Spirit.
Give me the Spirit of God to enable me to believe. Give me
the Spirit of God to enable me to repent. Give me the Spirit
of God to enable me to continue in the faith. Give me the Spirit
of God. Now there's what I want to ask
for. You know, don't ask the Lord to change
somebody else. Ask Him to change you by His Spirit. Ask Him to give you the grace
to follow after Him by His Spirit. How much more shall the Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? So I'm asking right now, Lord,
give me Your Spirit to believe Your Gospel. Give me Your Spirit
to cause me to obey You, to walk in Your ways. Give me the Spirit
of God. And He promises all who ask this
prayer, He gives His Spirit to. I hope that's been an encouragement
to us in this thing of prayer. Men ought, don't forget, men
ought always to pray. Does that mean me? Yes. You're in that group. Men ought
always to pray and not to faint. Let's pray.