Learning to Walk Like Jesus, An Intro to Prayer
Text: Romans 8:25-27, Like 11:1
OUR FIRST STEP:
WE MUST LEARN TO PRAY AS JESUS PRAYED
Footnotes:
Why does a child hold on to their parent’s hand when
they first learn to walk?
A child’s first steps are most often taken holding onto
the parent’s hands.
So it was with Jesus. He was always going to the Father.
He sought direction, help, and guidance.
He sought and received the steadying hand of His father
to guide His steps.
We need God to help us to learn to pray as Jesus prayed,
and to walk as Jesus walked, to live as Jesus lived
WE MUST BEGIN BY ADMITTING OUR WEAKNESS,
Our dependence, our need for His hand to hold us.
WE MUST ADMIT OUR WEAKNESS
1. I do not know how to pray as I should
We need to be taught to pray (Luke 11:1)
The Spirit helps us in our weakness (Ro. 8:26-27)
The Spirit intercedes for us
Footnotes:
The Bible gives clear instructions on how to pray and how
not to pray:
We are to avoid mindless repetitions (Mt 6:7)
We are to avoid making a show of it (Mt 6:5)
We should not be prideful in our prayers ( Luke 18:10-12)
The Bible offers many models of prayer in both the Old
Testament and the New.
Jesus himself provided a model prayer for us in Mathew 6:9-13
2. I do not know what to pray
What do I say to worship God?
Do I need to ask for forgiveness every time?
What should I ask for, or not ask for?
Footnotes:
Over the next two to three months we will explore the prayer
requests of the early church, and the prayers mentioned in the
epistles. Perhaps we can learn from the model of what they
prayed for, to learn what we should pray.
3. I do not know why to pray
I do not see the need for prayer
I do not get much benefit from prayer
I do not understand the practice of prayer
I do not know the purposes of prayer
I have not been “successful” in prayer
Footnotes:
Scripture encourages us to be devoted to prayer. (Ro 12:12, Col. 4:2)
The early church modeled a devotion to prayer. (Acts 2:42)
Most of us have not practiced prayer as it was taught and
demonstrated in scripture, so our experience is not consistent
There is much misunderstanding about prayer and its purpose.
Hang on we’ll get there.
4. I do not pray very much
The practice of prayer was an essential and defining
characteristic of the early church.
Today, it is largely absent in our churches, our homes,
and our lives
Footnotes:
Perhaps we have lost our devotion to prayer because it has not
produced the results we desired.
James tells us that we ask and do not receive because we ask
with wrong motives.
We will never persist in prayer if of a sense that we “ought to pray.”
Two Great Hinderances to Prayer
1. THE LACK OF UNDERSTANDING ABOUT PRAYER
Praying with wrong motives Influenced by false teachings
Unfamiliar with the scriptural teachings about prayer
Not familiar with the biblical models of prayer
2, THE LACK OF A TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Footnote:
Read Romans 8:26-27
Prayer is a conversation with God
The ultimate purpose of our prayer is to glorify God
The primary result of our prayer is a deepening
relationship with God
Footnote:
Where the desire to deepen the relationship with God
is present, prayer will always be found
We will never persist in prayer
because we know we ought to pray.
We will only be devoted to prayer when:
1) we acknowledge our need of Him &
2) when we so desire to fully know Him
THAT WE ARE DRIVEN TO PRAY