How to Actually Pray

Today on frontline with JD Greer about your kingdom, and your will be done.

What were doing to surrender ourselves to pursue God's agenda on earth is not supposed to be getting God help us in all of our agendas is supposed to be seeking to join God where he is working that one thought will revolutionize your prayer life at night with Pastor Judy here. As always, I'm your host Molly benefits and we are so glad you're back with us today.

Over the next two days were going to walk through the Lord's prayer together here on the program.

Most of us can recite it but do we really know what we're praying and how to use it as a guide for all of our prayers. We know you don't want to miss a single message here in the program. So if you ever find yourself falling behind.

You can catch up on previous broadcast online dating career.com but for now grab your Bible and let's learn more about how to actually pray for Katie Chapter 11. If you got your Bible this week we are in the second series on prayer called ask the title of the series comes from Paul Miller's observation in a book called the praying life. The best book I've ever read on prayer makes an observation in the book that you could summarize all of Jesus's teachings on prayer. You could summarize them by simply saying just ask last week we saw that Jesus instructed us to pray desperately boldly persistently and trustingly.

We got issues. We have issues of told you when it comes to prayer explained before that we often are prayers filled up little things that just don't make sense, or we repeat phrases or God's name or the board just over and over and over again.

Father God, I just want to thank you Father God as father gobbet you…… Or maybe your small group you got will be called a prayer lecturer they're kind of praying. But the more lecturing everybody else and gossiping about other people while they do it, how we got the freeze-frame. Lord, I beseech you to be with Rachel and her new boyfriend as they deal with purity.

Lord I know that you called us to purity in our innermost parts, Lord. Sometimes I just see lust in their eyes.

The Lord help them. John Chris John Chris says that your have somebody or small groups ask you to pray for something that's just so home that you think no, I'm not praying for that reason, a person of my small group said the other day. Would you pray for my son. He's in the finals of a karate tournament. I thought, what exactly am I supposed to pray.

Jesus, when Connor steps out on that mat. Would you just guide his foot into that of a little boy's face.

Jesus be the great physician that you are and just render his opponent unconscious Lord and I'm still not sure what were doing when we pray for our food. Lord bless this food in the hands that prepared it. Why just the hands why not the whole body. But see, that's a question you're not allowed to ask inserts next time you pray over a meal, try asking God to bless the theater the kidneys of the people that prepared it to see what kind of looks that get you in your small group. So anyway, all that to say I'm really grateful we got a story right here in the New Testament where Jesus specifically explains to the disciples how to pray. This is going to give us is a prayer outline or maybe you prayer template if you will that really ought to shape all of the prayers that you pray leads the extended prayers that you pray. It is encouraging to me.

I told you that the very first thing that Jesus dealt with what he taught on prayer was the problem of unanswered prayer room went last week. This week to deal with what is perhaps the second greatest obstacle to people praying and that is simply the admission.

I don't know how to pray for both of these questions would been in Luke 11. Remember, this discussion began with the question that Jesus was asked how Jesus Luke 11 verse one was prayed in a certain place. When he finished one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray like John taught his disciples. Jesus said to them okay when you pray, say, tell him what they're supposed to go through when they pray before we get into that bell. I want you just to notice that we do have to be taught how to pray. Notice that Jesus did not just say oh you don't need to be taught to pray just say whatever you want all the prayers that Debbie will prayer the same in all equally acceptable before God. You see the truth is there not there is a specifically Christian way to pray.

In fact, in the Gospel of Matthew is recording of the same teaching. Matthew tells us that before Jesus gives his disciples instructions on how to pray. He first gives them some instructions about how not to pray to real quickly jump Bayer to the book of Matthew. You can stay there and lube with me to show you what Jesus says in the way not to pray every religion usually teaches its adherents how to pray. But there is something fundamentally different about Christian prayer is what what what Jesus says in Matthew when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles three Gentiles.

They are just people who don't know God, the biblical God heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles. For they think that there can be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you even ask him.

It is interesting to me that one of the only times of prayer that Jesus criticizes our prayers that are too long to which many of you said amen right but just remember he never one time said anything about sermons that are too long okay to say and that is the one that Albert the Civil War did Jesus have against long prayers exactly what CDs prayers thought that they would be heard because of their much speaking or their many words. They thought that the because they prayed a certain amount of time because they use certain phrases or because they fasted because they got themselves into some spiritual state that then God would hear them know it's interesting that almost every single religion in the world teaches some version of this if you will repeat enough Hail Marys, if you will recite enough verses from the Koran chance from the Bhagavad-Gita if you will yell loud enough that God save yes Lord yes Lord enough, then God will hear you, that word many that Jesus uses their before many words literally in Greek means anxious ways I can hear me that I use the right words to pray long enough have broken through my spiritual and I forgot to hear me know Jesus as you. By contrast, you pray to a loving father father who knows what you need before you even ask him a father who cares about his children more than you care about yours and only thinks about them with good. I know the summit family who adopted a number children from the South Asian country. One of them was adopted when he was a little bit over five or six years old and the mom said that she often got frustrated and just heartbroken because the little boy would try to manipulate situations to get his way. Instead of just asking her for what he needed and she said she said I'm heartbroken because he still thinks like an orphan. Most of the time even though now he is a beloved part of the family see you and I have been adopted into God's family, but a lot of times we still approach God like were an orphan. We approach God is that we have to make ourselves worthy as if we were really his beloved children adoption is a one time decision of the parent that does not fluctuate with the behavior of the child.

You and I have been made children to the finished work of Christ, and there's nothing we can add to that number we can take away from it. And there's nothing anymore. We need to do to entice God to hear us. It is given to us fully in our position in Christ.

Prayer begins by embracing the fatherhood of God by JI Packer the theologian says if you want to measure how much someone really understands Christianity find out how much they make of the fatherhood of God, how much they treasure it how much it means to them and you know how much they understand Christianity so it's no surprise that that's where Jesus starts with this prayer back in Luke is the first thing that you're going to say is our father, our father Paul Miller, the praying life is how we approach God in prayer is where we demonstrate whether we really do understand the gospel is when we slow down the pray were immediately confronted with how unspiritual we are your Phyllis minister. I think I can I use my words in a monastery that I can really ask this in master for the right motives cannot asking really for kingdom purposes not to start really analyzing and I feel totally unspiritual and he goes on says in contrast, children never get frozen by their selfishness, that is, they are totally self absorbed magic. My kids never come in as a dad. When I ask you, but I just like on my heart's not right when I'm asking Madison off like I'm not really loving and generous for my siblings is coming like that is what I want. I will encounter but never did. I just want this for me right ligament self absorbed.

Jesus tells us to become like a little child. We pray for little children ask for little or nothing to say was on their minds. They had no awareness of what is appropriate or inappropriate. This isn't just a random observation about how parents respond a little children. This is the gospel it's the gospel. God accepts us with all of our mass because of the finished work of Christ, we come to him as children goes on to conclude private personal prayer is one of the last great bastions of legalism in a Christian's life not told you a few weeks ago to some of you have a hard time with concepts like this because you had such a strained relationship with your dad maybe your dad was quick to anger.

Maybe he was inattentive to you.

Or maybe he was absent altogether, but I encouraged you a few weeks ago to stop seeing your heavenly father, the lens of your earthly one and flip it. Instead, start evaluating your earthly father for the lens of your heavenly one.

Maybe your earthly dad didn't care. Maybe he looked at you more as a nuisance than anything else but seat your heavenly father can't stop thinking about you. He dances over you constantly was singing any so attentive to you that he knows even when a single hair falls in your head. Your earthly father may have been self absorbed by your heavenly father was so into you that he absorbed your pain on the cross so that you would not have to face the eternal consequences of your choices. He's the real heavenly father. So you go before the throne of God boldly and you say to the God of the universe. I've got a need dad and you just tell them what's on your heart without all the posturing without obsessing about how unspiritual you are poor without obsessing about whether or not you're saying the right words. What Jesus is telling you were going to approach the God of the universe as a child of their father, and you say dad, I've got a need and that father who watches over you and looks at you so tenderly is ready to respond your needs are put the posturing and just believe the gospel.

After Jeannie. The Bible calls us to honor our parents and one way that we can do that is by praying for them little children often see their mothers and fathers as the ones with all the answers until we grow up that we realize our parents are just like regular people in need of prayer. About five things to pray for your parents will help you to pray reach intentional prayers for your mother or father be they biological or adoptive working or retired family or for married or separated believers or unbelievers whenever the situation if we want to let them out. We need to pray this book is one of three that we are offering an event of this month which includes how to pray for our. Our children and our community will send our thanks for your gift to the ministry right now to give us a call at eight 335-1520 were checking out@jeanniegreer.com. Now let's get back to her teaching for the day after our father, our father, second phrase, hallowed be your name, hallowed be your name. Before I explain this limit is point out that I think it's interesting that before we get into any request in the prayer which is what comprises most of our prayer times request, we have are several phrases that focus on our relationship with God. What that shows us is that prayer is more about being in right relation to God that it is getting through some laundry list of needs that God already knows about anyway, hallowed be your name should precede any request that we make of God. Adoration of God precedes request of God.

This is a request for God to be hallowed first in our eyes and then threw us for him to be hallowed in the world's eyes by what God does in us and through us now know what your question is you I bought hallowed me. I knew of a guy who grew up in in a Catholic Church. You said that until he was eight years old. He father God's name was Howard present what you think that a civil reset every week. Our father who art in heaven, Howard Beale name. So now is not going to meet hallowed in this context means most beautiful, most beautiful God is better than anything you're asking them for many of us approach God like only a means to an end God get me out of this jam, God give me healing help me do well on this test got me this job.

But seeing God is how loader holy means seeing him is greater then all earthly gifts to me saying to God.

God, I would love to have the new job. I would love to have a healed body but God you're better than any of those things and if I don't get them.

Yes, I'll be a little disappointed but it's not going to affect my joy. It's not going to affect my confidence in life because God father I have you the greatest of all possessions.

One of my favorite quiet time books is called the Valley of vision not go through it from Don, much of the middle of it right now. It's a book of Puritan prayers from the 16th and 17th centuries were these Puritans prayed during times of great persecution for God to open up a Valley of vision to them where they could see God and it was a God. When we walked to the valley of the shadow of death can't open our eyes in this valley to see you because if we see you then.

We will fear no evil because we will know that you are with us turned this valley of the shadow of death into a Valley of vision. Let us see you because then it will be enough. That's what you mean when you say, hallowed be your name, God, show me how much of a possession you are and how rich a treasure. I possess and you.

The other thing that hallowed means here in this context is most worthy most worthy. This is the recognition that the point of my life is to give glory to you. If the recognition that life in all these requests that I'm making are not really about me or prospering me there about your name, your kingdom see a lot of times we rush right into prayer forgetting why we exist in the first place, you and I exist for the glory of God. That means that God is not our servant that we put to work for our purposes, or as I've explained. He's not a piñata and your prayer is not a walking stick, which you whack God and just the right way with your prayer now to him comes the candy that you need for your party try to illustrate this to you by urging you over the years. I think of your life in many ways, as if it were a movie. Movies always have a major character and some minor characters not explain what happens of the minor characters is not nearly as important as what happens to the major character because the story is defined by and carried by what happens to the major character. For example, most of you in this room have no idea who big dark lighter is that you don't know who he is only the geekiest of Star Wars nerds knows who big dark lighter is, but he was the X wing pilot in the first Star Wars movie who shielded Luke Skywalker from getting shot so that he could destroy the death Star. That means without big dark light or the whole Star Wars saga.

All 52 movies wherever they are out there now would never have gotten off the ground you've never heard of him is like the unsung hero Star Wars is about him. There's no story. You never heard of yet. I would suggest to you that he could be here with us today back from his grave in a galaxy far far away, he would probably say I don't care that you don't know me because my small sliver of the story was only there to serve the purposes of the main character Luke Skywalker God's glory is the main character of our lives and we recognize that the point in all things that happen to us is to put us into a theater into a situation where we can give glory to God, so that other people would say hallowed be his name is a God might hallow his name before others by prospering you so that you can leverage your success to extend his kingdom and so that you can give God credit for what he does in your life, but he also he also might hallow his name by letting you suffer so that you can show everybody in the midst of your suffering that you can have joy even in bad circumstances or bad help because he is better than help or anything else you're asking him for you see the point of our lives is not living and dying are prospering or failing. The point is, giving glory to God and sometimes God is glorified. Yes sick people get well sometimes is glorified with sick people suffer well and yes even when they die. Well, so we say God hallowed be your name is your third phrase were supposed to use her third and fourth. I guess together here.

Let your kingdom come in your will be done here.

What were doing is surrendering ourselves to pursue God's agenda on earth she prayers not supposed to be getting God help us in all of our agendas is supposed to be seeking to join God where he is working that one thought will revolutionize your prayer life if you will say it's not here for Meda to get God help me with my agenda. I'm here to get on God's agenda and when I figured out that on how to pray to to keep things here to accomplishing this.

1 pray the Scripture Scriptures how we best know what God wants to do in the world to see. Our faith is supposed to function like a wire that connects the power of God to the thing that needs it. Imagine a paramedic big appliance. This is totally lifeless and I got up a power source that has inputted onto energy. I take the why you're not getting that power to this appliance. That's what we do when we add our faith in God's promises we are adding our faith to the thing that releases it in the situation that needs it. Here is what the officer on the summons or the prison started heaven with her, by having you really want to have a predatory by having just start with one that starts in heaven because then you're praying in a way that releases God's power.

It means you should know the Bible and pray. Scripture that's what it means just what Mark Batterson says he says one thing is certain, our most powerful prayers are hyperlinked to the promises of God as you there like: 51 four hyperlinked mates come, you know, when you're reading something in the Internet it's got like underline on you clicking little total another article right what it means is that when we listen to your prayers to hear in your prayers. A passage of Scripture I could click on metaphorically speaking, and I could go to the place of the Bible where the thing that you're praying is promised by God. And guess what happens then and also start linking the power of God when you know you're praying promises of God. You can pray with holy confidence to give you a couple really practical suggestions on this right to him first one is when you spend time in the word and encourage you to do something that I do and that is as you're reading the Bible you highlight certain things in the Bible it stand out to you… Then you jumpstart your prayer time by going back and pray the things that you highlight because what you're doing is you're taking the things you saw on the word, and you're praying them into existence that we use an acronym here to encourage you in your Bible study the document to you on the acronym is here and it's a way that you should read the Bible.

Here H2 for highlight highlight what stands out to you as you read, it is examined. Make sure you know it means a is applied. Figure out where it applies your life are respond in one of the first ways you responded by praying that into existence. Pray the Scripture is the other application point memorize Scripture know my favorite prayers are those who lay Scripture all throughout their prayers. When I hear them pray. I just follow the Scripture and I can hear one phrase is gonna go right into another. When can I know they're using the words of Scripture. Not that you want to make a pastors dream come true. Then you make it where every time I hear you pray I just hear the promises of Scripture that are writing your prayer for you and you know how much better prayer would be if you committed a bunch of versus the memory that you could just bring those words to bear in every prayer that you offer, with 10 verses that you want to memorize over the next five months that you can just begin to insert into the prayers that you pray so that you are praying the promises of Scripture that would bring so much energy and so much excitement and so much confidence in your prayer life so memorize Scripture prayer.

That's the first thing is is is pray to Scripture I'm second thing number two on this.

Pray with the Holy Spirit. You see, the spirit is the one who's responsible for extending God's kingdom on earth in the spirit of the one who knows the will of God. So what when we say, your kingdom come in your will be done.

That is a request for the spirit to make it known to me. I am praying with the spirit for the extension of God's kingdom of her knowledge of his will. Prayer supposed to me. Listen to this. A two way conversation has the Holy Spirit reveals what he wants for God's kingdom. The spirit is supposed to spray through you to let me encourage you to develop the habit. Listen of listening prayer. Most of us think of prayers only talking think of is a two way conversation whether some talking and there's also some listening while you pray now I know I know I know I know we gotta be careful here.

I know I know we gotta be careful here because with all kinds of evil regarding your thinking God and the like, as I believe in God.

But here's what I know is when I know I have told you something before there are 59 times that the Holy Spirit of God shows up in the book of acts that do not.

Of the 59 times he shows up in acts and 36 of the 59 he is speaking lately. Here's a frustrated first pray for me is is is it doesn't usually tell us how he speaks just that he speaks and that's what when I wonder how he speaks to act 13 to the Holy Spirit, said to the church. Separate bonus was all for the work of the ministry, I say that if I get like I can learn on the phone the same time, like will you always said yes that will be awesome. That's not what happened right.

I don't know, and I think the ambiguity is intentional because I think are supposed to be a great deal of humility about what we think were hearing from the spirit because more havoc has been wreaked in the world. Following the words God just told me than any other phrase jugular supposed to be some humility about how we think the spirit of speaking to them when we said thus says the Lord. We had a chapter and verse to prove it. But you can't therefore use that to say that God no longer speaks to his people on earth because that's the theme of the entire book of acts, and I'm sorry your quote open to different maxima are now you cannot convince me that the only book that God gave us. That is has stories in and of what looks like a walk with the spirit is filled with a bunch of stories of people whose experiences have nothing in common with us give a spirit raid to the church in the book of acts, the supposed praying through us today so here's my my suggestion for you if you began your prayer time by just saying that God I don't want to just praying to you today I want to praying with you today. I want to pray to the father with the spirit listening to a powerful message on prayer from G3 or here on Senate night so Jenny a lot of time praying for my kids that often find myself praying the same things over and over. So how can one of the short bugs that were offering five things to pray for your kids. Help me get my meaning both as I've become apparent. To be honest with you become less confident some of my great series on parenting. The one thing that I have grown in over the years is how to pray for them and knowing what Scripture teaches me to pray for them. Can't tell you how comforting it is when you get teenagers yet young kids like yours, Molly, toddlers, and sometimes you like to do here and then to be able to open up something that walked me through the instruction promises in Scripture say pray this for your kid is part of a three book bundle that would give away how your kids up with your parents not to reach out to us would love to get this to you think it will be a blessing to your set when you donate the ministry today. Suggested amount $35 or more. And now every time you have it on the radio, eight 663-3550 T training forgive and request the five things to pray bundle online.com I'm not even event to continue this study. Be sure to listen again to