Title: Lord, Teach Us to Pray (Luke 11:1) Meta: Can you imagine beholding Jesus Christ praying in perfect communion with His Father? It is a staggering thought; how He would have prayed. If you would have seen Him you also would have asked, "Teach me to pray!" Tags: Luke 11:1,prayer,teach,believer 1 00:00:00,518 --> 00:00:01,998 Blessed be the Lord. 2 00:00:01,998 --> 00:00:04,438 For those of you who remember Eric Liddell the runner, 3 00:00:04,438 --> 00:00:07,933 it was in a sense celebrated in the move "Chariots of Fire." 4 00:00:07,933 --> 00:00:10,034 A lot of you are way too young to know he is, 5 00:00:10,034 --> 00:00:11,978 but hopefully you do. 6 00:00:11,978 --> 00:00:14,436 After his splendor, if you want to call it that, 7 00:00:14,436 --> 00:00:16,998 of winning the gold medal, 8 00:00:16,998 --> 00:00:18,726 he goes to China, right? 9 00:00:18,726 --> 00:00:21,775 To serve the Lord Jesus Christ and die there. 10 00:00:21,775 --> 00:00:23,679 They were sending him off, 11 00:00:23,679 --> 00:00:26,056 and as he got into the open carriage, 12 00:00:26,056 --> 00:00:28,156 and they were going to take him to the ship 13 00:00:28,156 --> 00:00:31,502 to sail to China where nobody would celebrate him, 14 00:00:31,502 --> 00:00:32,936 he leaned out of the carriage, 15 00:00:32,936 --> 00:00:34,657 and he sang that hymn 16 00:00:34,657 --> 00:00:36,004 with this powerful voice 17 00:00:36,004 --> 00:00:38,278 so all of his friends and everybody could hear: 18 00:00:38,278 --> 00:00:39,885 Jesus Shall Reign 19 00:00:39,885 --> 00:00:41,943 So I never will sing it again I don't think 20 00:00:41,963 --> 00:00:43,168 without remembering that 21 00:00:43,168 --> 00:00:46,805 just phenomenal truth in him. 22 00:00:46,805 --> 00:00:48,428 Grace. 23 00:00:48,428 --> 00:00:50,868 I'll read quickly a verse 24 00:00:50,868 --> 00:00:52,131 out of Luke 11. 25 00:00:52,131 --> 00:00:54,300 If you want to turn there, you can, 26 00:00:54,300 --> 00:01:00,854 and I'll try to be succinct here. 27 00:01:00,854 --> 00:01:04,281 Luke 11:1 28 00:01:04,281 --> 00:01:06,204 "And it came to pass that as He, 29 00:01:06,204 --> 00:01:07,626 (this being the Lord Jesus), 30 00:01:07,626 --> 00:01:10,540 was praying in a certain place, 31 00:01:10,540 --> 00:01:12,574 when He stopped (or when He ceased) 32 00:01:12,574 --> 00:01:15,177 one of His disciples said unto Him, 33 00:01:15,177 --> 00:01:23,811 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.'" 34 00:01:23,811 --> 00:01:28,093 When you read through the Gospels, 35 00:01:28,093 --> 00:01:30,693 and you see the man Christ Jesus, 36 00:01:30,693 --> 00:01:33,221 it is stunning - page after page, 37 00:01:33,221 --> 00:01:34,962 chapter after chapter, 38 00:01:34,962 --> 00:01:40,204 to see, hear, behold all that He was saying and did. 39 00:01:40,204 --> 00:01:41,839 Think of this today. 40 00:01:41,839 --> 00:01:44,121 It helps us. It helps me. 41 00:01:44,121 --> 00:01:46,593 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 42 00:01:46,593 --> 00:01:49,232 in His total humanity 43 00:01:49,232 --> 00:01:52,232 prayed all the time. 44 00:01:52,232 --> 00:01:53,791 I've had Christians years back 45 00:01:53,791 --> 00:01:57,238 ask me, "should we really make that big of a priority about prayer?" 46 00:01:57,238 --> 00:02:01,061 It's kind of staggering that somebody would even ask that question. 47 00:02:01,061 --> 00:02:02,827 But you think, you young people, 48 00:02:02,827 --> 00:02:04,766 that are perhaps new in the faith; 49 00:02:04,766 --> 00:02:06,421 those of us, by the grace of God, 50 00:02:06,421 --> 00:02:09,154 who are down the road further; 51 00:02:09,154 --> 00:02:11,852 prayer is constant. 52 00:02:11,852 --> 00:02:13,484 The Lord Jesus Christ prayed, 53 00:02:13,484 --> 00:02:16,387 and can you imagine when the disciples 54 00:02:16,387 --> 00:02:18,740 would come and find Him and He's praying? 55 00:02:18,740 --> 00:02:21,971 We say, "I wish I was there when Lazarus was raised from the dead." 56 00:02:21,971 --> 00:02:24,182 "I wish I was there when..." People say that. 57 00:02:24,182 --> 00:02:27,044 But can you imagine beholding 58 00:02:27,044 --> 00:02:29,129 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 59 00:02:29,129 --> 00:02:31,488 in perfect communion with His Father 60 00:02:31,488 --> 00:02:32,543 in prayer? 61 00:02:32,543 --> 00:02:35,732 It's a staggering thought how He would have prayed. 62 00:02:35,732 --> 00:02:37,026 And we tend to think of Him 63 00:02:37,026 --> 00:02:40,405 in the garden in those latter hours. 64 00:02:40,405 --> 00:02:44,266 Wouldn't you have said to Him, 65 00:02:44,266 --> 00:02:46,820 teach me to pray? 66 00:02:46,820 --> 00:02:50,261 Oh Lord, that's what they said, teach us to pray. 67 00:02:50,261 --> 00:02:52,796 So just a few thoughts 68 00:02:52,796 --> 00:02:55,887 from the life of our great King and Savior. 69 00:02:55,887 --> 00:02:57,891 Where did He pray? When did He pray? 70 00:02:57,891 --> 00:02:58,984 He prayed everywhere. 71 00:02:58,984 --> 00:03:00,409 He prayed all the time. 72 00:03:00,409 --> 00:03:02,330 You don't have to go to a special place. 73 00:03:02,330 --> 00:03:04,510 We don't have to make a pilgrimage somewhere. 74 00:03:04,510 --> 00:03:06,212 Here, in my car driving here, 75 00:03:06,212 --> 00:03:08,640 this morning when I woke up when I was wide awake 76 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:10,105 and my dear wife was sleeping. 77 00:03:10,105 --> 00:03:12,116 And I'm thinking I don't want to wake her. 78 00:03:12,116 --> 00:03:13,962 So I just lay in bed. 79 00:03:13,962 --> 00:03:15,752 Right? 80 00:03:15,752 --> 00:03:17,400 I still pray with my teenagers. 81 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,786 Sometimes I pray over them when they're asleep. 82 00:03:19,786 --> 00:03:21,153 You see, beloved, 83 00:03:21,153 --> 00:03:23,701 anywhere at anytime. 84 00:03:23,701 --> 00:03:24,820 Mark 1:35 85 00:03:24,820 --> 00:03:28,256 "A great while before day, Jesus went out and prayed." 86 00:03:28,256 --> 00:03:30,514 Meaning in the middle of the night. 87 00:03:30,514 --> 00:03:31,593 Luke 5 88 00:03:31,593 --> 00:03:34,094 "Jesus withdrew into the wilderness 89 00:03:34,094 --> 00:03:38,012 and He prayed." 90 00:03:38,012 --> 00:03:39,639 Matthew 14 91 00:03:39,639 --> 00:03:42,708 "He went up into a mountain apart to pray." 92 00:03:42,708 --> 00:03:44,499 You see the pattern? 93 00:03:44,499 --> 00:03:46,476 He's always communing with the Father. 94 00:03:46,476 --> 00:03:49,769 Always crying out to God, His Father. 95 00:03:49,769 --> 00:03:52,618 Praying full of the Spirit 96 00:03:52,618 --> 00:03:54,723 in perfect communion with Him. 97 00:03:54,723 --> 00:03:55,444 We can learn. 98 00:03:55,444 --> 00:03:57,361 We can lay hold of these things. 99 00:03:57,361 --> 00:03:58,419 He's told us to pray. 100 00:03:58,419 --> 00:04:00,073 He told the disciples to pray. 101 00:04:00,073 --> 00:04:02,880 Here's how you're to pray. 102 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:04,236 And then, of course, 103 00:04:04,236 --> 00:04:09,612 at the end of His days before the cross, 104 00:04:09,612 --> 00:04:11,065 in the latter hours, 105 00:04:11,065 --> 00:04:12,935 He went to Gethsemane and 106 00:04:12,935 --> 00:04:14,742 He knelt down and prayed. 107 00:04:14,742 --> 00:04:17,182 Perhaps the most powerful scene 108 00:04:17,182 --> 00:04:19,488 of prayer in the history ever. 109 00:04:19,488 --> 00:04:21,166 We would say yes, it is. 110 00:04:21,166 --> 00:04:24,984 Jesus praying before the atonement. 111 00:04:24,984 --> 00:04:26,457 So you pray anywhere, 112 00:04:26,457 --> 00:04:28,248 at anytime, 113 00:04:28,248 --> 00:04:29,973 and not be held back. 114 00:04:29,973 --> 00:04:31,672 You're going to have days of joy. 115 00:04:31,672 --> 00:04:32,899 Pray. Sing unto God. 116 00:04:32,899 --> 00:04:34,583 You're going to have days of heaviness. 117 00:04:34,583 --> 00:04:36,308 You're going to have days of struggle, sickness. 118 00:04:36,308 --> 00:04:38,240 You're going to have days of being laid off from work. 119 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:39,343 Friends that hurt you. 120 00:04:39,343 --> 00:04:40,694 Pray. You're seeking God. 121 00:04:40,694 --> 00:04:42,155 You're communing with Him all the time. 122 00:04:42,155 --> 00:04:43,578 It's like it should be an 123 00:04:43,578 --> 00:04:45,774 uninterrupted line of communication. 124 00:04:45,774 --> 00:04:47,565 This generation probably gets it, 125 00:04:47,565 --> 00:04:50,626 because they always want to be wired in. 126 00:04:50,626 --> 00:04:51,886 In my childhood, 127 00:04:51,886 --> 00:04:53,364 there were a lot of times when 128 00:04:53,364 --> 00:04:54,670 you weren't dialed in. 129 00:04:54,670 --> 00:04:56,154 You didn't have any connection. 130 00:04:56,154 --> 00:04:58,975 But in Christ and in communion through the Holy Spirit, 131 00:04:58,975 --> 00:05:04,786 we have constant access, right? 132 00:05:04,786 --> 00:05:09,516 We have access to Him. 133 00:05:09,516 --> 00:05:11,122 He's brought us nigh. 134 00:05:11,122 --> 00:05:12,976 So where and when? 135 00:05:12,976 --> 00:05:15,311 Anytime. Anywhere. 136 00:05:15,311 --> 00:05:17,784 And who do we pray for? What do we pray for? 137 00:05:17,784 --> 00:05:19,426 All things. 138 00:05:19,426 --> 00:05:20,967 All people. 139 00:05:20,967 --> 00:05:23,539 You go in today and get gas on your way traveling home, 140 00:05:23,539 --> 00:05:24,989 and you meet an attendant, 141 00:05:24,989 --> 00:05:26,341 and you can tell that they're struggling 142 00:05:26,341 --> 00:05:27,390 and you speak a word to them. 143 00:05:27,390 --> 00:05:28,513 You get back in the car and say 144 00:05:28,513 --> 00:05:31,150 Oh Lord, have mercy. Have mercy on him. 145 00:05:31,150 --> 00:05:35,181 Come, Lord. Let the word of Christ come alive. 146 00:05:35,181 --> 00:05:36,277 Quicken it to him. 147 00:05:36,277 --> 00:05:39,478 So praying for others. 148 00:05:39,478 --> 00:05:42,335 The little children are really not here in the full measure 149 00:05:42,335 --> 00:05:43,749 right now, are they? 150 00:05:43,749 --> 00:05:45,709 Can you picture the crowds 151 00:05:45,709 --> 00:05:48,353 bringing little children to Jesus Christ? 152 00:05:48,353 --> 00:05:50,363 And we think of Him laying hands on them 153 00:05:50,363 --> 00:05:51,227 and the text says, 154 00:05:51,227 --> 00:05:52,804 Matthew, "they brought unto Him 155 00:05:52,804 --> 00:05:57,488 little children that He should put His hands on them and pray." 156 00:05:57,488 --> 00:06:01,417 Wow. 157 00:06:01,417 --> 00:06:02,950 And He did. 158 00:06:02,950 --> 00:06:05,363 He prayed. 159 00:06:05,363 --> 00:06:06,590 Mack knows these things, 160 00:06:06,590 --> 00:06:08,534 but when you hold your grandchildren, 161 00:06:08,534 --> 00:06:09,870 there's a different feeling you have 162 00:06:09,870 --> 00:06:12,581 as a man holding a grandchild as holding your own child. 163 00:06:12,581 --> 00:06:15,773 As precious as holding our children have been through the years, 164 00:06:15,773 --> 00:06:19,296 but the thought of holding a child 165 00:06:19,296 --> 00:06:21,642 a little one and praying for him, 166 00:06:21,642 --> 00:06:23,452 Jesus Christ is our example. 167 00:06:23,452 --> 00:06:25,101 We should pray. 168 00:06:25,101 --> 00:06:28,238 We should pray all the time for others. 169 00:06:28,238 --> 00:06:31,288 Jesus prayed for Peter. 170 00:06:31,288 --> 00:06:33,556 Lee Dodd, one of our beloved elders, 171 00:06:33,556 --> 00:06:36,072 spoke on this text recently 172 00:06:36,072 --> 00:06:38,409 about Jesus's restoring Peter, 173 00:06:38,409 --> 00:06:40,569 but before Peter rejected Him, 174 00:06:40,569 --> 00:06:41,602 remember? 175 00:06:41,602 --> 00:06:45,030 Jesus said, "I have prayed for you." 176 00:06:45,030 --> 00:06:48,910 What must Peter have felt about that? 177 00:06:48,910 --> 00:06:51,328 "That your faith fail not." 178 00:06:51,328 --> 00:06:54,042 Praying for him, interceding before the event happened, 179 00:06:54,042 --> 00:06:55,688 knowing what was to come, 180 00:06:55,688 --> 00:06:59,164 Jesus Christ, our great High Priest 181 00:06:59,164 --> 00:07:02,223 and Savior praying for Peter. 182 00:07:02,223 --> 00:07:05,859 And lastly, He prayed for the disciples. 183 00:07:05,859 --> 00:07:06,902 John 17 184 00:07:06,902 --> 00:07:08,525 Read it today if you get a chance. 185 00:07:08,525 --> 00:07:10,722 I was reading it this morning. 186 00:07:10,722 --> 00:07:12,770 The flow of words, 187 00:07:12,770 --> 00:07:13,827 intercession, prayer, 188 00:07:13,827 --> 00:07:15,683 this whole crying out of Jesus Christ 189 00:07:15,683 --> 00:07:16,909 for the disciples. 190 00:07:16,909 --> 00:07:18,179 He said I pray for them, 191 00:07:18,179 --> 00:07:19,325 remember to the Father, 192 00:07:19,325 --> 00:07:20,331 I pray for them, 193 00:07:20,331 --> 00:07:21,538 and listen, 194 00:07:21,538 --> 00:07:26,104 and for them also which shall believe on Me. 195 00:07:26,104 --> 00:07:28,528 I think that's us. 196 00:07:28,528 --> 00:07:29,296 Right? 197 00:07:29,296 --> 00:07:31,423 Right, brother? It is. 198 00:07:31,423 --> 00:07:33,795 That means, that He is continually, right? 199 00:07:33,795 --> 00:07:36,768 At the throne making intercession, right? 200 00:07:36,768 --> 00:07:38,837 Forever. For us. 201 00:07:38,837 --> 00:07:40,657 But He was praying for the disciples, 202 00:07:40,657 --> 00:07:42,506 and He was praying for the days 203 00:07:42,506 --> 00:07:45,345 of His church growing and the saints that would come 204 00:07:45,345 --> 00:07:46,945 in the days ahead. 205 00:07:46,945 --> 00:07:48,444 That's us. 206 00:07:48,444 --> 00:07:50,703 So when we go to prayer here, 207 00:07:50,703 --> 00:07:52,831 we can learn from our great Savior, 208 00:07:52,831 --> 00:07:54,457 and we can enter in with faith, 209 00:07:54,457 --> 00:07:56,243 with delight, with joy, 210 00:07:56,243 --> 00:07:59,318 to let the high praises of God be in our mouth. 211 00:07:59,318 --> 00:08:00,654 Worshipping Him. 212 00:08:00,654 --> 00:08:01,825 Knowing that He hears. 213 00:08:01,825 --> 00:08:07,271 Knowing that He loves to hear the cry of His children. 214 00:08:07,271 --> 00:08:11,275 Lord Jesus, teach us to pray.