Pastor Jon began our teaching series on the spiritual practice of Prayer. To do this, Jon taught us from the words of Jesus in Luke 11:1-4 —
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
Pastor Jon pointed out a couple of things to begin with:
- As a church, entering into this practice of prayer together is invitational. There is no compulsion or anything forcing you to engage this practice. Remember, “grace is opposed to earning, but not effort.” We are focussing on the action of effort, not the attitude of earning as we seek to grow in prayer.
- There is no other practice or time when the disciples specifically asked Jesus to teach them. Prayer, or learning to pray, is hard! And it will take time.
Jesus opens this model prayer with the words “our father.” Before going any further, we must acknowledge the significance of these words. At no point before was God referred to in the intimate way of father or “daddy.” This shows us that prayer is relationship! Prayer is not transactional. This intimate, relational nature of prayer is what distinguishes prayer to God from all other forms of religious prayer in the world.
These words also show us that prayer is specific to God. When we hallow God’s name, we are proclaiming that his name is set apart. It has been said that hallowing God’s name is more for us than it is for God - it helps us place God in his rightful place in our soul and mind as we approach him specifically in prayer. This knowledge of God profoundly alters our prayer life.
There is not a single society on earth that doesn’t have a form of religion and prayer. All societies feel some sense of a greater being and prayer is the response to that being. Pastor Jon shared a quote with us that captures this well, “instinctive prayer is like an emergency flare in reaction to a general sense of God’s reality.”
In an effort to define prayer, Pastor Jon shared with us a definition from Tim Keller. Prayer is, “a personal, communicative response to the knowledge of God.” Tim Keller has also said, “…only before God can you know and become your true self.” Prayer is our personal response to God and it is only through this relationship of prayer with God, our Father, that we can truly and rightly see ourselves. A goal of prayer is to know who you are because Jesus tells you who you are.
As we pray, we can struggle with the effects that other relationships in our lives have had on us. For some of us, perhaps we have not had a father figure we looked up to - which can easily influence how we view God as a father. Working through this is challenging and will take time. This is the beauty of the struggle of prayer and in striving in community alongside trusted others. Tim Keller has said it took him roughly 3 years to experience the consistent relational intimacy of prayer he longed for.
Some have asked, do you always have to pray God’s word? To illustrate this, Jon likened prayer to a sponge. When you get the sponge wet, you can remove if from water and spread out its effect as it serves its purpose. But eventually the sponge (our prayer rhythm) dries up and must return to the water (the word of God) for refreshment, renewal, and ongoing fruitfulness.
Pastor Jon ended our time together by sharing a few ways to pray using the scriptures and some quick tips for prayer. Here are some ways you can incorporate and pray from God’s word:
- The Lord’s prayer (the text for this week)
- The Psalms
- The general scriptures (prayers of Paul and others)
- Singing (this is why we care about what we sing to God
- Liturgy (prayers and practices of others in the church)
- Applications (references in the attached prayer guide)
Here are some quick tips for you as you approach the practice of prayer (explained in detail in the prayer guide):
- Start small
- Thing subtraction, not addition
- You get our what you put in
- Remember the J-curve
- There is no formation without repetition
We need God. Personally, at Redeemer, in our relationships, etc. We must treat prayer is a lifeline and necessity if we are to remain in God’s will and follow Jesus. Join us as we seek to know Jesus through prayer together as a community over the next few weeks!
