Luke 11:1-13
Teach Us Prayer
The disciples came to Jesus with a request. They wanted to pray like
John the Baptist prayed. It is strange that they did not ask, "Lord,
teach us to pray like You pray," but they did not. Still, John must
have been some kind of prayer warrior.
The request made of Jesus is a full request and I am sure that what
we have recorded here is only part of the whole story, but it is a
good start.
I see three points in the text.
\\#1\\ That we ought TO pray.
\\#2, 5-13\\ HOW we ought to pray.
\\#3-4\\ For WHAT we ought to pray.
I. \\#1\\ The disciples request was to teach them TO pray.
Luke 11:1 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.
A. Prayer is hard.
1. Not the talking to God part but most all the rest of it.
a. Keeping ourselves pure enough to have any right to
even ask God for a thing is hard.
b. And doing the praying is hard.
(1) That is strange since most of talk most of the
day either to others or two ourselves.
(2) Yet, it is somehow more difficult to talk to God.
2. Jesus did not deal with what it takes to get us to pray,
but let me share some of what I have learned.
B. It seems that it is against our nature to talk to God.
1. I am not certain why it is but it seems to be.
2. Yet, I have learned three things can get us to go against
our nature to pray. In fact, these things make praying
easy.
a. Great needs move us to pray.
(1) For some it requires catastrophic needs but for
others, lesser needs may work.
(2) The threat of death is a need that moves many to
pray.
(3) Financial misfortune is a need that moves some to
pray.
(4) Emotional turmoil or heartache is a need that
moves some to pray.
(5) We see these kinds of catastrophes even leading
the unsaved to pray.
(a) On 9/11, just about the entire Congress meet
on the steps of the Capitol Building and
prayed. US Citizens flooded churches.
(b) As I understand it, one senator declined to
join in silent prayer after the Los Vegas
shooting on Monday for he thought it was an
empty gesture unless Congress did something
to restrict the citizen’s ability to
purchase weapons.
(6) 9/11 does demonstrate the problem with need being
our motivation to pray.
(a) Once the need becomes old, the praying
stops.
(b) Needs alone are not sufficient to drive us
to our knees and keep us there.
b. Great want moves us to pray.
(1) I am not talking about our want for things but
our want to pray.
(2) When we want to pray, praying becomes easier.
(3) The problem is the flesh just doesn’t want to do
spiritual things.
Matthew 26:41 …the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak.
(c) What can make us want to pray so badly that we
pray?
(1) We must have a strong spirit, at least one
stronger than our flesh.
(2) God has given us many things that help in
that quest.
i. Bibles that contain the truth.
ii. Pastors to preach truth at us.
iii. Churches with people who demonstrate
the spiritual life.
iv. A world of other people’s needs. These
needs will never run out!
c. Great conviction moves us to pray.
(1) The last thought was our wanting to talk to God.
Conviction is when God wants us to talk to God.
(2) Conviction itself is pretty tough.
(3) It is God dealing with us so hard, that we chose
to yield to Him.
Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he
receiveth.
Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.
(4) Of the three needs, conviction is the best. If
God deals with you about a sin and your
surrender, you are much more likely to stay
surrendered.
(d) When God convicts us about praying, we will
pray and want to do so.
C. Here is the thing.
1. The last two needs are the better needs to move us to
prayer, but most stay at the first.
2. The only thing that drives them to their knees are needs.
3. We know that God wants us to pray.
4. Consider this - If God wants us to pray and the only thing
that motivates us to pray are great needs, what is God
going to do to get us to pray?
5. Don’t put God in that situation.
II. Jesus’ first lesson was HOW we ought to pray.
A. \\#2\\ We ought to pray with reverence.
Luke 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye 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.
1. The irreverence of this world can be seen everywhere.
(nation, flag, private property, morality, President,
church, God)
2. God is not One to be treated with irreverence.
a. I know that Jesus, God, came in the flesh.
b. I know He walked among men to show us more that God is
more than holiness, more than power, more than
sinlessness.
c. But even when Jesus walked on the earth, those who
knew Him best still reverenced Him.
3. God is not a Santa Claus you can impress with your
goodness, or a grandpa that you can wrap around your
finger, or Monty Hall that you can make a deal with.
4. He is God, holy, sinless, omnipotent.
a. Come to God low and in humility.
b. Come to God in fear and respect.
c. Come to God with gratefulness and thanksgiving.
d. Come with reverence.
5. What does it mean to pray with reverence? I am not sure,
but here I think it means:
a. Do not pray thinking God has messed up, that God has
failed you, that God has made a mistake.
b. You can pray with confusion.
c. You can pray with disappointment.
d. You can pray for short periods of time with doubt and
anger.
e. But I don’t think it is ever wise to go tell God He
made a mistake.
B. \\#4\\ We ought to pray with forgiveness.
Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also
forgive every one that is indebted to us….
1. Jesus did not make a very big deal out of forgiveness here
but He does elsewhere.
2. God will not even grant us forgiveness if we are not
giving forgiveness to others.
Mt 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses.
a. I do not know how to explain that theologically, but
one possible explanation is that you are not God’s
if you can’t forgive others.
b. One thing is for certain: If God will not give
forgiveness to the unforgiving heart, He certainly
won’t give answers to prayers.
c. We should not be stingy with forgiveness, but should
be looking for someone whom we may forgive as much as
God has forgiven us.
C. \\#5-10\\ We ought to pray with perseverance.
1. Why does God make us pray for so long?
2. Maybe it’s because God wants to see how badly we want it.
3. If we don’t want a thing badly enough to keep praying
until it comes, God might figure we don’t want it badly
enough for Him to give it.
III. Jesus’ second lesson was WHAT we ought to pray for.
Luke 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive
every one that is indebted to us. And lead us
not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
A. \\#3\\ Daily provision.
1. What a blessed people we are!
2. When was the last time you had to pray down the food you
would eat that day?
3. Why were previous generations more godly? more thankful?
more reverent? Because they did.
4. Why does God work more in third world countries like the
Philippines? Because they still do.
B. \\#4\\ Daily forgiveness.
1. Let’s copy that word from \\#3\\ to \\#4\\, DAILY.
2. Unfortunately, many treat praying for forgiveness like
they treat praying for provision.
3. They just assume it will be there.
4. I understand that theologically when Jesus died on the
cross, He was dying to pay for all of our sins; but I
also understand that unconfessed sin breaks our
fellowship with God and hinders God’s blessings.
5. I fear that there are a lot of Christians who will get
into heaven only to stand before the Lord naked and bear,
for all eternity to have no rewards to offer to Him.
6. Keep short sin accounts.
C. Daily guidance.
1. Again, I will apply that word daily.
2. Every Christian has three enemies:
a. One you live in - the flesh.
b. One you live on - the world.
c. And one who is determined to destroy you - the devil.
3. In that kind of a battle scenario, don’t you think you
could do with a little recognizance?
a. Why not have God telling you what the enemy is up to?
b. \\#2Kings 6:8-12\\ Syria’s plans were being revealed
by Elisha.
c. With all due respect to Elisha, a greater than he has
come!
4. One of the wisest moves you will ever make as a Christian
is to seek God’s guidance every day!
How important is prayer? Very! It is way we communicate with God
and one of the ways that God communicates with us. Let’s put God’s
lessons into practice!
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