I have heard a lot of questions about prayer from folks in our church during this season of prayer and fasting that we have been doing as a church. Prayer can be a hard concept to grasp. It is quite literally, otherworldly. But let me ask you a question today: do you think God wants you to pray? Do you think he wants you to understand it and not be confused?

I just need to say this off the start: the enemy desperately wants you to give up on prayer. That, and that alone should convince you to persevere and keep going. Figure this out, fight for this weapon. He is so scared of a church that prays. He is terrified when the believer steps into their authority and identity through prayer. Any thought or notion you have to quit prayer is directly from the pit of hell. Reject that. Fight for this. It is everything.

Our God is so good. He isn’t hiding the secrets of prayer from us. Instead, I believe it is us who are not taking steps to grow in our prayer life.

Luke 11:1-13

The Pattern of Prayer

The fact that this disciple asked about prayer means it is not something learned automatically on our own. Prayer is not natural. Prayer that is effective is taught and learned. Can I just first start our message this morning by saying, there is no shame in not knowing how to pray or feeling uncomfortable in prayer situations. The only shame is when we don’t ask to be taught and spend years of our Christian lives in ineffective prayer.

We see here something very famous, often called: “The Lord’s Prayer”. Now a word of note for us today: Jesus isn’t saying that our prayers must be exactly word for word as he says it here and to be repeated that way. This is instead a template for us. He is helping us to shape our priorities in prayer so they are centered on the right things.

We start with who God is addressed as: “Father”. Prayer happens between a Father and his children. It is a family conversation with intimacy to it. We are praying from a position that needs to be understood: Child of God in Heaven, Our Father.

Two things follow this: that the name of God is honored, or a section of praise, and for his kingdom to come. We pray for God to be honored not only in us, but in our world. We pray for the fear of the Lord in our nation and beyond. A recognition of God’s position. Then, for his kingdom to come. In heaven, is God’s will always done? Yes! This is what we are praying for. John Stott famously said: “The purpose of prayer is emphatically not to bend God’s will to ours, but rather to align our will to his.”

Your prayer life changes when it’s God’s wishlist and not your wishlist. We focus on the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of men. Then we ask for three things: (1) daily bread, (2) forgiveness of sins, (3) and protection from temptation. Where is our dependance for these very real needs? (notice I said needs and not wants, big difference), upon God.

This is the pattern. We pray for God’s kingdom, then for men’s needs. This structure gives us direction in our prayer instead of going all over the place. And in so doing, it guards our hearts as well.

The Persistence of Prayer

A pattern of prayer doesn’t make you a prayer warrior, persistence does. To truly pray, we must persist in prayer with determination and grit for the things of God. Not determination and grit for the things you want. Determination and grit for what God wants. We can’t ask for something once and then go live our lives like we never asked anything of Him. Persistence gets results.

A great example of this from our day for you. Suppose someone called you at midnight and it woke you up. Your first thought is, “who is calling me at this time of the night?” They call again, let’s check the caller ID. No name in your phone, who could it be? They call again, they aren’t going to leave me alone, I better answer the phone it must be important. The callers persistence gets the assistance.

Ask, seek, knock. All of these verbs have continuous connotations to them. We don’t start and stop them, we continue them in faith and in persistence. Do we twist God’s arm when we do this? Nope. Do our hearts change in trust to God and adherence to his will? Yep. Every time.

This is not a formula to bend God’s will to ours. This isn’t a performance activity to show God how serious you are and then maybe he will listen. This is utter dependence upon your God and dedication to his purpose and his will. It is surrender. It is humility. It is saying God, I have nowhere else to turn and I don’t even want to turn anywhere else. Teach me, show me, I trust you, I love you.

The Provision of Prayer

Any parents in here giving their kids poisonous snakes instead of their gummy vitamins in the morning? Of course not. The reason why a majority of you aren’t praying is because you have bought the lie from the devil himself that your heavenly Father doesn’t care about you. You wouldn’t say you think he is evil, but your actions are saying you believe he is. You are claiming that God doesn’t care. Can’t help, or won’t help, and you are bitter. So you’ve stowed one of the greatest weapons God has ever given us: prayer.

Matthew’s version of this passage says this same thing: “How much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.” But Luke gets more specific: “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

God gives his children the best answers to their prayers: He gives Himself. He pours out his Holy Spirit upon us to discern, and to walk in obedience, and to heal and to be the people he has called us to be. Best of all, he gave his Son Jesus on the cross. This Father you are praying to, he gave his one and only Son to hang on a cross, draped in your sin to build a bridge to come and get you. But we think our Father won’t give us good things? Or what we need?

All the provision we need is found in the gospel. It is found in the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. All that we need, all of our desperation and longing is satisfied and complete in the personhood and work of Jesus Christ. All that you need to live in obedience to Him and walk in His goodness is found in the Holy Spirit that he pours out on you in abundance. Your provision is found in Jesus and already answered.

Conclusion

Do you want to know the biggest issue I see with people who are struggling in prayer? It is how the person sees God. So many of us believe that God is our boss and not our Father. And that is why we are frustrated with prayer. With a boss we work hard and then we get benefits and salary. There is an expectation: “if I do this for you, you have to do this for me.”

But with a Father, it is completely different. Who has had their father tell them something that you didn’t understand at the time but later, as you grew older, you began to understand. Kids can’t conceive what the Father is doing, but they must trust.

If you are frustrated with prayer, then God might be your boss and not your Father. He wants to be your Father. But he doesn’t owe you anything. Will he hear your prayer? Yes. Will he respond the way you wish him to? Probably not. God’s ways are higher, his wisdom is infinite, and he has information about this world and this life you might never fully understand.

In just a week and a half it is Good Friday, I really hope you join us for service that night. But on that night, Jesus is praying. He is praying for the Father to release him from the process of going to the cross. Many would say Jesus’ prayers aren’t answered that night. But they are! The world is saved, humanity restored. A bridge is finally built to the Father. What a day! But for Jesus… it wasn’t a great day. Your Father loves you, but you have to trust Him. Let Him lead your life and answer according to His will and His will alone.