Author: Don Guthrie

 To teach us to pray, Jesus must teach us what to desire. “You want me to teach you to pray? pray for kingdom to come in this world!”, says the Lord.   Ask that the order that exists is heaven, without sin, without anything contradictory to the will of God will set up on the earth.  It is God’s promise.  It is something that must come gradually and progressively into the life of every child of God.   This morning in worship, we will think together about Peter who desired to serve God, but was a dismal failure so long as he trusted in himself.  Christ’s mercy to Peter was to answer his desire by teaching him a new life.  “Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)  Friend, do you desire the kingdom?  If you do, then you can count on God’s help!  Will you ask  Christ to  rescue and restore you as He did Peter?

“Ask and it shall be given to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Have you discovered the generosity of God?  Have you settled by faith that God is infinitely able and graciously willing to GIVE you (to give YOU) all that is needed for life and service to Him?   “Let him ask of God who gives to all men generously and without reproach and it will be given to him.”  (James 1:5)  The Lord’s Prayer is actually evidence of the giving heart of God.  The words of Christ came as an answer to a request!  The disciples said,”Lord, teach us to pray” and He did!  It was immediate proof to them (and to us) that He will respond when we ask!  Prayer, for Jesus, was a matter of TRUST.  He knew the Father.  He trusted the Father.  He asked the Father for what He needed.  Dear friend, will you let Him teach you to pray with deep trust in God’s faithful response?

Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell the same sweet, sad story.  The night before Jesus died, He went to Gethsemane to pray.  Though He hungered for human companionship, no one would face this hour with Him.   Alone, He prayed, “Not my will but thine be done.”  This truly is the Lord’s prayer!  His heart-broken and courageous words are the very spirit of prayer.  We know the Father heard Him.  We know by the calm strength that filled His heart as He emerged from this tearful hour.  By His example the Lord was teaching us how to prepare for our own suffering.  All of us have crosses to carry, wreaths of thorns to wear.  If we want the inflowing strength of God in the hard moments of life, we must find it where Jesus did.  When we face loss, we must also go to Gethsemane. Lord teach us to pray!

Some Christians resist the use of the Lord’s Prayer as prayer.  The reasons are too many to discuss here.  One for which I have some sympathy is that the words of Christ may become “meaningless repetition.”  It is not always so but the danger sign will be that we rush through the prayer without careful thought or reverence.  We will “say the prayer”–not realizing that the Lord was not so much giving us words to say as subjects to discuss with our Father.  There are 7 subjects, 7 requests that we make.  His name, His kingdom, His will.  Our need for food, forgiveness, guidance and deliverance.  Today friend, will you consider what you are saying to God?  Ask yourself!  Which of these subjects is more a matter of words than heart for me?  Since it is Saturday, perhaps the Lord will give you time to slow down for the privilege of prayer.

Part of prayer’s purpose is to give us God’s wisdom.  Whenever Christ had decisions to make, He found time to be with the Father, and taught us, by example, to do the same.  (Read James 1:5)  The night before He called the Twelve, “He went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night.” (Luke 6:13)  In this way, He teaches us how we, also,  may get clear insight into the circumstances and choices that we face.  We must bring our plans and our purposes to God’s throne.  We must test our desires against His larger will.  “Do nothing large or new–nothing small or old. . .until you have have asked in the silence of a secret place, ‘Lord what would you have me do?’ ”  (Alexander Maclaren)  Friend, when we pray “lead us not into temptation”, do we realize that we must also commit the time to hear the Lord’s voice when He answers our prayer for guidance?

“In the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out to a lonely place and there he prayed”. (Mark 1:35) Jesus taught us to pray as much by his example as by his words.  Mark records a vivid picture of Christ’s first day of ministry in Capernaum.  It was a busy day, crowded with human need.  He teaches.  He heals a man.  He goes to Peter’s home and heals his mother in law.  There is almost no time to rest.  Then, as night falls, he is beseiged by a new crowd of new needs.  How did he restore His energy?  A few hours of sleep and then up to be quiet with the Father.  Prayer was Christ’s refreshment after toil.  It was His rest.  It was His renewal.  All of us who have busy and stressful days ought to learn a lesson from our Savior.  “He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul”

“After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.” (Matthew 14:23)  The prayers of Jesus remind us that he was a man.  Just as He sat down by the well because he was tired (John 4), and he wept because he was sad (John 11), Jesus prayed because He needed help.  It was less a religious duty, more a daily source of power and guidance. What an encouragement!  No life is so high or holy that it becomes self-sufficient.  We never outgrow our need for God’s daily assistance.  We “pray without ceasing” because our needs never do.  Today as we approach the throne of God, let us do so with the assurance that it is as the Father intended.  It is not unusual for us to need Him.  Jesus did.

Prayer requires effort.  It is often the hardest job of the day. It is engagement with God.  It requires determination and honesty.  Read Genesis 32.  In verse 11 Jacob prays, “deliver me from Esau, for I fear him”.  Later in the same night (vs 24), he begins to wrestle with an unknown assailant  (identified as God in vs 30).  In some ways,  Jacob was doing what he had always done, fighting for his life.  But this time he was fighting in a new way, he was struggling with God, holding on to God, determined to have his answer from God.  It was hard work, and God could have ended the match at any time.  Instead, the Father  seems to welcome and honor his persistence.  In a few hours we will gather for worship. ( John 20–doubting Thomas).  Would Thomas have been closer to God for not expressing his doubts?  Do we gain anything by not being honest, by not wrestling?  I am praying for you this morning.  See you in a few hours.

If prayer is an expression of helplessness (see yesterday’s blog), it is also an act of assertiveness. If it requires us to admit our weakness, it also, and at the same moment, insists that we recognize our strength, our standing with God,our opportunity to “use” our relationship with God for His purposes.  Read Genesis 18.  Notice how Abraham bargains with God for the salvation of the righteous. ” Will you spare the city for 50 righteous?”  40? 30? 20? 10?  On and on he pushes the argument and each time God grants his request.  It leads us to conclude that God, all along, was looking for an advocate, a human being bold enough to express God’s  deepest intention (mercy).  Prayer is service to others.  Prayer is service to God.  Will you pray today with all your strength?  Will you believe God that He has made you His child and that you have influence before Him that should be used in His service?

“Only he who is helpless can truly pray.”–Ole Hallesby   From birth we aspire to self-reliance.  Adults celebrate it as a triumph when children learn to do something on their own: go to the bathroom, get dressed, brush teeth, tie shoe laces.  We continue this pattern as adults.  We like to pay our own way, live in our own houses, make our own decisions.  Until we meet Christ who challenges the very idea of self-reliance.  “Apart from Me you can do nothing”.  Asking for help lies at the very root of the Lord’s prayer.  The prayer itself is a string of requests.  Admitting that we need help and that we are not spineless whiners to ask for it can be a huge breakthrough for those who want to know God.  “Prayer is our declaration of dependence” says Philip Yancey.  Needing God is not a bad thing.  Jesus knew this better than anyone.