The Disciple Learns to Pray – Dr. Charles Stanley – Called to be a Disciple – Part 7
The Disciple Learns to Pray – Dr. Charles Stanley – Called to be a Disciple – Part 7
Once a person becomes a Christian, there is no greater lesson to learn than how to pray. In Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples came to Him and asked Him how to pray. Jesus, being the great Teacher, recognized that their request was an important one. He immediately gave them a model prayer to follow.
In this message, Dr. Stanley breaks down the Lord’s Prayer phrase by phrase. We can learn how to pray effectively by using the very model that Jesus Himself gave to His disciples.
If your prayer life is stale, weak, or even nonexistent, this message can help you understand what it means to pray like Jesus prayed.
This message is part of the series “Called to be a Disciple.”
with a message from God’s word here’s Charles Stanley if you’ll turn to Luke chapter 11 and let’s read the first 13 verses together Luke 11: 1-13 we’ve been in a series on discipleship and this morning the disciple learns to pray and it begins and it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place when he ceased one of his disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples and he said unto them when you pray say Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come
thy will be done as in heaven so in Earth give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we also forgive everyone that is in indebted to us and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil and he said unto them which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine in his journey has come to me and I have nothing to set before him and he from within shall answer and say trouble me not the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed I
cannot rise and give thee I say unto you though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth and I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be open unto you for everyone that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened if a son shall ask bread of any any of you that is a father will he give him a stone or if he ask a fish will he for a fish give
him a serpent or if he shall ask an egg will he offer him a scorpion if you then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him now the apostles had watched Jesus watched every single facet of his life because they knew there was something of the supernatural touch in his life they could not understand they knew him to be the Messiah and yet in spite of that there was something very very unusual they could not Overlook it was the
custom of their day for a rabbi that is a teacher of his disciples whoever he may be to teach and instruct his followers in some type of prayer one that they could repeat repeat over and over again so when they watched Jesus Time After Time pray and they had seen him out praying all night by himself and no doubt wondering how does he do that all night long many times you’ll find the Lord Jesus Christ setting apart a time in order to pray for something specific he went out the scripture says early in the morning before the day to
pray to talk to the father before he chose those 12 Apostles he prayed all night long there were many many times he spent all night in prayer seeking the father’s guidance and direction that group of Apostles saw in him the supernal power of God and they saw also I believe in him something that was so evident to them after he spent a long period of time in prayer they could see something happening in his life and in his ministry that just AED them so upon one occasion the scripture says that after he’d been praying one of them said Lord
teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples they wanted what he had they wanted the sense of Fellowship that he had with the father they could see a sense of Oneness between him and God that they wanted and they knew that the key to that Oneness was in his prayer so they said to him would you teach us to pray as you pray now when you look at that word and I want you to keep your Bible open if you will when you look at that word pray here and what it means it means to be like a dog before someone now you say well now what in the world’s
that got to do with praying and you just watching to be like a dog before someone now in the day in which our Lord Jesus Christ lived and which this was written shepherding was a part of their livelihood and so the shepherd usually used his dog to do the greater part of the work I remember several times we were in New Zealand back past summer I would be we would be driving along and I would just stop OD by watching a Shepherd send his dog into the flock and just watch that dog round that flock up and and carry them exactly the direction
he wanted them to go what he’s saying here is the dog the Master’s dog stands beside the master he takes his orders from his master he obeys his master he is dependent upon his master for sustenance and guidance he was obedient to his master and what he’s saying here is simply this these apostles were saying Lord teach us to be obedient and subservient to you teach us to be available to you teach us to depend upon the father as you are dependent upon the father teach us to be as obedient unto you and to the father as you are to the
father as the shepherd dog is to his master we want to lay down before you we want your complete guidance we want absolute dependence upon you now when you recognize that the meaning of prayer and that the word simply means that to be like a dog before someone subservient to someone obedient to someone waiting for direction then most of the praying we here could never be heard of God egotistical proud praying backed up with a life of sin a person who does not know Jesus Christ as Savior who knows nothing of obedience nothing of Holiness of life
nothing of submission to the will of God is an absolute contradiction in terms of the whole concept of Prayer in the scriptures so when they said Lord teach us to pray like John taught his disciples they were not saying would you simply teach us some words to say would you teach us whether we should kneel lie down or stand up would you teach us where we should pray in the home or on the highway they were talking about an attitude they were talking about a relationship they were talking about obedience and submission and Oneness
with the father and I say to you my friend that most praying never even reaches the ceiling we joke about it reaching the ceiling it never leaves the human mind that speaks the words because the attitude behind prayer that reaches the heart of God must come from a life of obedience and submission unto him one that is looking to him for sustenance for everything the only prayer that can be Prayed by a lost man is the Prayer of Salvation asking for the Forgiveness of his sins and the surrender of his life to him so that if you’re one of those
persons who is misinformed about praying that anybody can pray anytime anywhere and be heard of God all you’ve got to do is to get in trouble and God’s going to hear you my friend he will not you can analyze rationalize you can exag isog you can do anything you want to to the scriptures the only prayer that God is going to hear is the prayer of one who is first of all a child of God unless it is the prayer to become a child of God and then the prayer of a clean obedient heart he says if I regard iniquity in my
heart he will not hear me if all the people who claim to be praying were reaching God there’d be a spiritual revolution in America like we have never seen before the problem is it is the mouthing of words it is the repetition of things we’ve learned but it is not a dialogue between man and God it is not a conversation where we speak to God and God speaks to us in return prayer was never meant to be a monologue where we just tell God our problems and simply lay them all upon him and then walk away and nothing in return when they said
Lord teach us to pray they were saying Lord teach us to be as dependent upon the father as you are did you get that when they said Lord teach us to pray they were saying Lord teach us to be as dependent upon the father and to trust him for everything guidance provision sustenance in the life as dependent as you are you teach us how to have the same attitude now in response to that he taught them two things and that’s what I want us to discuss because I believe that a true disciple in order to be a true disciple
you must not only have him as your savior have him as your Lord let him reproduce his life through you if that is happening you’re going to know how to pray and I do not believe a person can learn a greater lesson this life once he’s a Christian than to learn how to pray and if I should ask you how to pray what would you say if I should ask you how would you instruct someone else in praying what would you say and my friend listen to me with all of your heart listen no man can talk to God and be heard of God whose heart is not right
with God it is the very attitude of dependence upon Him of submission to him and they recognized in him in Christ that he had a relationship that they desired so they said to him would you teach us to pray as you know how to pray to the father and he says yes and yes what he did and let’s look if you will beginning in verse two because here he gives them a pattern of prayer it does not mean that every time you pray you’ve got to to pray this prayer it does not mean that every time you pray you have to pray all
of this but he gave them a pattern which prayer should include and he said and you and I have quoted this from the time we were a child Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as in heaven so in Earth now you’ve already discovered that’s not the same uh uh that’s not the same indication that we find in the Book of Matthew only a couple of differences toward the end but I want us to look first of all at what he told them to focus their attention upon and probably
one of the greatest errors in our praying we find here now remember he is teaching a group of Apostles that that chosen Core group of his how to pray if you and I are going to learn how there’s no better place to go than right to this passage to see what he said to them in answer to the request Lord teach us to pray he said all right if you want to learn how to pray pray in this manner and then he began now let’s look to see what he says first of all he deals with the father secondly he deals with man
and the first thing he deals with about the father is praise to him notice what he said Our Father which art in heaven now to a Jew that was absolutely amazing because first of all a Jew in that day did not have the understanding that he could could pray to God the Father Jehovah Elohim Yahweh how could he pray to him and say our father there was no Concept in that in that Apostle’s heart that God would have the intimate relationship though they had seen and heard Jesus praying and they knew that he could talk about an intimacy with the
father but when he said to them you as a Believer you as a disciple you as an apostle can likewise pray Our Father suddenly the those Apostles recognized they had the privilege of penetrating a relationship and a family life that they never understood our father that means that I’m part of the family of God our Father not Elohim not Yahweh not these tremendous words for God that often times they would not even speak except under certain conditions Our Father indicating that I am a part of the family of God now my friend listen if
you’re not a Christian listen carefully if you’re not a Christian how in the world can you approach God by saying our father my father you can’t say that unless you’re part of the family how do you get in the family you get in the family by being adopted by God into the family by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that was shared at the cross in your behalf so that the man who says but I believe that anybody can pray God will hear anybody he will only hear the believer unless the man who’s praying is
praying for salvation so he said to them first of all I want to focus your attention upon the object of all praying and what is that it is to approach God the father now someone says well can you not pray to the Lord Jesus Christ you can what about praying to the Holy Spirit you can because all three of them are one but the pattern of the scripture is that you and I are to approach our heavenly father like we would approach an Earthly father who loves us as he loves us Our Father which are in heaven the relationship the intimacy and then
the Majesty of our father Our Father Who Art in Heaven not just our Our Father period but Our Father Who Art in Heaven Our Father who is the source of everything man needs Our Father who created the heavens Our Father who stretched out the skies Our Father who made this ball of dirt we call the Earth Our Father who is the initiator of all of creation and the sustainer of everything that he’s made what was Jesus saying to those Apostles he’s saying you are praying to one who is high and mighty Above All Things who is the
creator of all mankind who’s the sustainer of all things therefore now listen therefore you need not come to him and beg you’re talking to one who has an inexhaustible Supply because you’re talking to Our Father who is in heaven he says that the disciples approached the God In Prayer pray is my my father Our Father Who Art in Heaven not Who’s down here on my level but who art in heaven but praise God after Pentecost listen after Pentecost they could pray Our Father Who Art in Heaven and who is in my heart living through me
through the Holy Spirit you see the one thing Jesus did in the beginning of that prayer was to focus their minds upon the fact that God is the object of their prayer and secondly he is the adequate source of everything that they need and thirdly they are an integral part of the family of God and you see so often even Christians today have a far away look between them and God God is out yonder somewhere way out yonder somewhere somehow maybe we’ll be able to get through that’s not the relationship the
Bible talks about here is the initial pattern he gave them to pray now you and I dwell and dwell with the Holy Spirit and we have the spirit of God within us who is able and ready to pray through us the petitions of our heart in a Divine Heavenly language that man often times cannot even utter he says you to pray Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed holy be thy name he says you’re approaching not only a god of Might and majesty and power but you’re approaching a God who is Holy now listen how in the
world could we ever conceive of the fact that a sinner unsaved by the grace of God could ever approach a holy God absolutely transparent absolutely perfect Beyond human description not one iota of anything but Perfection within him how in the world can a lost man approach a holy God he cannot except he approached him through the blood of Jesus Christ asking for the Forgiveness of his sins once he approaches him through the blood of Christ and his sin is taken away then he’s a child of God and he’s a son in the family coming to
speak to the heavenly father he says Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name holy not only is the name of God but why did he say his name because his name represents everything that God is hallowood Holy is the name of God now my friend often times people pray casually and carelessly and when I hear somebody say I don’t know whoever wrote that song God helped the man who wrote it about the man upstairs that’s probably been the theator of more of more people’s uh careless attitude about
the Holiness of God we talk about well I just talk to him every once in a while we don’t just talk to him somebody every once in a while he’s God he’s holy he’s righteous he knows no evil he tolerates no evil he hates everything within me that is not of him but notice he never hates the believer and he doesn’t hate The Sinner he hates what destroys us he hates what tears us down and he was saying to these Apostles When you pray you are to pray to a god of majesty and might and creation and glory and honor you’re
talking to a father who is Holy now I believe that the reason Jesus included that in the prayer was this that he knew now watch this he knew that as they had seen him talk to the father and the reflection of the father and him that in order to talk to God now watch this in order to talk to God and to be heard of him means that I’m going to be fellowshipping with him and if I am gazing at him and fellowshipping with him and that Fellowship is a true communication and I’m getting through and he’s getting through what’s going to
happen the Holiness within him will become the Holiness in my heart as Jesus is released and liberated through me and through you in his prayer he was saying to them you’re talking to one whose Holiness and righteousness has separated you from him but through whom speaking of himself the two of you can come together and you can become one in the family of God he said you to pray Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name he speaks first of all of the praise and worship that is to be his and then the work he says thy kingdom come
notice what he said he said when you pray he said pray thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven thy kingdom come how many of our prayers are like this Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name and then we get off on ourselves but you notice he gave them a pattern he said first of all you to praise God you to praise him you are to look to him and honor him as the holy Majestic God that he is then you are to pray concerning the kingdom of God the work of God not only his worship
but his work he says thy kingdom come now listen the the Bible teaches that Jesus will come and establish his kingdom you and I watch this we are doing Kingdom work but we are not bringing in the Kingdom we are a part of the kingdom of God we are a part of the family of God we are a part of the of the work of God and we are his vessels and his servants through whom he is sharing the wonderful message of redemption and salvation and he says when you pray pray thy kingdom come now what is the work of the Kingdom
all over the world this morning God’s kingdom work is going on because people believe him people love him people share what they have in the work of the kingdom and he said to them when you pray he said you to pray concerning the kingdom work and I wonder how often you do that I wonder how often you pray for the Fellowship of the church how often you pray for the leadership of the church how often you pray for the pastor how often you pray for Missions around the world how often you pray for God’s work how often you pray for people to be
saved by the hundreds and the thousands of the millions every Lord’s day everywhere in the world while it is 12:00 noon here it is night somewhere else while we’re asleep at night somebody’s preaching the gospel somewhere around the world how often do we pray for the kingdom work and he knew he was going to be teaching them more and more about praying because he said upon one occasion he says as he looked out upon the fields of harvest he said pray ye that the lord of the Harvest he will send lab into the work into the
kingdom work you and I are a part of the kingdom and we’re a part of the work a part of the message that the Lord Jesus Christ intends to share with everybody everywhere he said the the disciple is to pray not only in praise to the father but he’s also to pray for the work the work of the father and the kingdom then he said thy will be done as in heaven so in Earth our prayer is to include worship toward him our prayer is to include the work of the kingdom and our prayer is to include the will of the
father now if you and I took the time we could stay on that one prayer I believe for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks because of what he has involved in such a few words he said we’re to pray Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come and then he said as it is in heaven your will is being done so be it here in Earth and that is that the disciple who prays must first of all not only worship the father and praise him not only must be concerned about the work of the Kingdom around the world but
he likewise and notice what we said about the definition of prayer likewise he must be willing to submit to the will of God now listen is it not hypocrisy to pray thy will be done as it is in heaven so it be on earth and at the same same time knowingly and willingly resisting the will of God in our hearts my friend if you and I analyze prayer as the Lord Jesus has taught it most of our praying never gets beyond the lips how can we expect God to hear prayer that comes out of disobedient rebellious Hearts when he says the
pattern of prayer that reaches glory is the pattern of prayer that is submissive in will to the perfect will of the father what the father wants done in heaven we want done down here here what he commanded Us in the scripture we must be obedient to here and so much of our praying never gets beyond the lip never gets beyond the human mind oh the words may reach somebody else’s ears but my friend the message will not change Hearts nor will it influence God he says as that dog stands beside his master waiting for the Master’s move and I have
seen those dogs go right in the middle of a flock of sheep and Route out the very one the master wants and bring him right to the master that dog is trained trained to be obedient and subservient to and dependent upon the master what is he saying he’s saying that when a disciple prays when you and I pray to the father we must go to God with the spirit of obedience and submission to the father’s will period and therefore it is mandatory upon us to find out what his will is and if we do not know we must ask him Lord
show me your will how shall I pray about this but he said men are to pray in this manner now there are lots of prayer books you can get all kinds of books with prayers where people pray but this is the prayer that Jesus said we to pray he says we to pray as your will is in heaven so be it done upon Earth now how can I pray that unless I’m willing to pray first of all as your will is in heaven so be it in my heart and as it is true in my heart then it will be true among the hearts of those about me and as we travel in our business as you
travel in your school as you travel on the campuses in your community if we are praying for the will of God to be done on Earth as it is in heaven that demands first of all subservience to the master or my prayer is vain Glory my prayer he says is sounding brass and tinkling symbol my friend it matters not how long you pray if the attitude is not yielded to him the prayers are of no avail whatsoever so he said to them if you’re going to pray if you’re going to have fellowship with the father if you’re
going to have power with him then first of all you must pray and point your prayer first of all to him Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as it is in heaven so be it here upon Earth then having praised the father and having taught them to focus their attention upon him and hallow him and to reverence him and to acknowledge Him as the source of all things and to acknowledge their dependence upon him then notice what he said he changed then from the pattern of looking upon him to
looking within at one’s needs now he mentions three things first of all he mentions praying for present need he said then you pray give us day by day our daily bread give us day by day our daily bread that is we are to Look to Him notice again what does that dog do that dog stands beside his master’s side he’s obedient to the master but he is likewise dependent upon the master to feed him what he needs and so what happens he’s praying give us each day day by day as the need arises our daily bread now so
often people say well are you to pray for material things you are how do you know that you are because that’s exactly what he’s say said he said you to pray day by day as the need arises for our daily bread remember what the Lord tried to teach that bunch of Israelites out in the wilderness he said I’m going to feed you every day but I’m only going to give you enough for one day on the day before the Sabbath there’ll be enough to take you through the Sabbath to the next day but there’ll only be enough for one day
and they did just like a lot of folks do they crammed and they packed and they stored and the next mon they woke up and going to eat that and had worms in it it was decayed they could not eat it now the Lord only promises what we need as the need arises he says a true disciple will ask only for the daily need now what did we say we said that dog is dependent upon his master that dog doesn’t that dog doesn’t expect his master to give him a week’s food at one time just a meal at a time that does not mean that we to go around
in poverty saying well I’m just going to look to him just for the next meal don’t know where it’s coming from it doesn’t mean that but he means the attitude of prayer is the attitude of absolute dependence upon him whatever he wants to give and how but as the need arises the second thing I want you to notice not only present need but past sins listen and forgive us our sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us he says we’re to pray for the Forgiveness of our sins we are to ask
the Lord to cleanse us to Pardon us for our iniquities for transgressions that we have committed listen I’m telling you dear friend there is no way to be heard of a holy God when I have sin residing in my heart that’s why he said when you pray pray Our Father Who Art in Heaven holy is your name holy is your environment Holy Is Everything About You holy are your attributes how can a Believer who has Sinn Disobedience and bitterness and animosity in their heart approach a holy God and expect to be answered he can
not and my friend I wish I knew how to say that strongly enough that all praying from bitter Hearts all praying from hearts of animosity all praying up from hearts that have willful known sin contained within the human heart is of absolutely no avail cannot be heard will not be heard is a waste of energy in words you you know what happens a fellow just tries to defy God it’s all I’m going to pray anyway as if that’s going to make God here then I want you to notice not only does he say present needs secondly past sins but future
trials watch this he says and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil someone would say would God lead you into temptation and induce you to sin never now watch he’s not saying that we should pray for God not to induce us to do evil because he would never do that he simply saying that the disciples prayer every day not only should include present need and past sins but also future trials there will be times of Temptation and trials that will approach every believer now he says when that happens he says lead me through this
lead us not into it and he he doesn’t mean by that a plea for God to refrain from from allowing these things to confront us because they’re always going to front us Jesus was tempted everywhere you go there’ll be Temptations and trials and heartaches he says but in your prayer our prayer is present need past sin and future trials and temptations we are to ask for the Lord’s protection and watch care and sensitivity to Temptation and protection in time of trial lead us not into temptation he says but Deliver Us from
Evil that is when we are confronted with these things we’re asking for his deliver and his protection in times of trial Temptation and tribulation he says the disciples prayer is first of all to approach the father then to deal with daily need then he taught them a great lesson then he said to them he gave them illustration he said now suppose a man comes to one at night and because of the law of the land a host was responsible for for providing the bread the needs of the one who had come to visit he does not have anything
because the bread’s only baked a day at a time they didn’t keep it overnight and so his cupboard is empty he goes out to ask someone else for bread now in those days their doors were left open and they didn’t close their doors and lock them like we do all the progress we have we’ve shut each other out they left everything open and when a man closed his door at night time that meant he and his family were asleep now if you’ll read that it says my family and I gone to bed what he means by that is this in
those days you usually everybody slept together and sometime they brought the animals and the chickens and everything else and then they just had one place for these for the uh livestock and some other place for the folks to sleep and so literally what he said was true that if I get up and answer that man’s plea I’m going to wake up the whole family because he had his family all around him he said now I I can’t do that but then the scripture says not because this man was his friend but because of his
importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needed now let me tell you what Jesus was not saying he was teaching persistence in prayer he said here’s the pattern Our Father which are in heaven he says that’s the pattern you ought to gauge your praying by but secondly he says there must be persistence in your praying not just one time but keep on and keep on and keep on now he was not saying if you will pray long enough and hard enough and intensely enough you will convince a God who is unwilling to to change his mind
and do what you want him to do he was not saying that but here’s what he’s really saying he’s saying in the persistence which you and I are to utilize in our prayer that is keep on talking to him because many times he’s not going to answer the first time first of all the Situation’s not right secondly we’re not right to get the answer and thirdly he’s going to utilize someone else and work in their life to bring the answer to pass there many times our prayer requests are legitimate
they’re right they’re in the will of God but the timing is not right he says keep on praying when he delays a prayer often times he’s teaching us patience teaching us trust that if he says he’s going to do a thing if a thing is the will of God he’s going to do it keep on praying and when you’ve got the victory you can stop praying and start praising the Lord now persistent praying is not begging persistent praying is bringing before the Lord what I have the legitimate right to bring before him it is bringing
it to him in faith recognizing his Holiness Rec recognizing my relationship that I’m in the kingdom and that I’m in the father he says we’re to pray and then he says ask and the and the tense of the verb is ask and keep on asking seek and keep on seeking knock and keep on knocking for everyone that is asking will receive he that is seeking will find he that is knocking will will have the door of Supply open to it and then he gives a beautiful a beautiful example he says now what father of you if his
son comes home in the afternoon says Dad I want a hot dog and what do you do you give him a stick he said you wouldn’t do that or if your daughter comes home and she says I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich what would you give her a stone you wouldn’t do that or if she comes in she says I’d like to have a a cheese omelet for an afternoon snack what would you give her a piece of card board no he says if you then being a sinner know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will a
loving inexhaustible Divine gracious Heavenly Father give to those who ask him of the holy spirit so what is he saying he’s saying my friend simply this that a disciple in order to be a true disciple must know how to pray and how is he going to pray he’s going to approach first of all his father praising him worshiping him talking to the father about who he is then about the father’s work the kingdom then about the father’s will submissive to him then he says turn those prayer requests upon your own
needs present needs daily whatever they might be sins the Forgiveness of my sin the Forgiveness of my brother and then he says future trials and temptations bring those to the Lord asking for his protection and his watch care and as you persist as you keep talking to him he because he loves you he because he loves you not because you’ve persuaded an unwilling God but he because he loves you if a man will rise to meet the need of a brother here how much more will the heavenly father who’s never sleep who
has an inexhaustible Supply who has the key to unlock the Treasure House to all that he has for you at any moment you’re willing to believe him by faith he says if you then being evil know how to do that for your children how much more will the heavenly father do for those who love him he will give them the Holy Spirit now my friend however much God is able to use you will be directly related to your knowledge of how to pray to get through the God and your Persistence of staying with it and your faith to believe that
God is who he says he is holy God inexhaustible knowing No Boundaries and who is willing to give his children every good and perfect gift and my friend when he taught us how to pray he taught us how to get on the inside of his heart and get what he’s got but most of all become what he is heavenly father if we would be honest all of us would have to pray the same prayer that these Apostles request Lord teach us to pray teach us the necessity of it how dependent we are upon you and then teach us how thank you for giving us such a
beautiful and yet brief and concise prayer that we could memorize and recall not in order simply to repeat to you daily not as some magic words we put on the end of what we’ve made our request for but rather a simple pattern including the things that we ought to remember about yourself about our needs and about your wonderful willingness to hear us and to answer us now father I pray that you’ll teach us how dear God teach us how but even equally to teaching us how teach us to do it Lord send whatever is necessary into
our lives to get us on our knees keeping us there because that’s where life becomes the sweetest and most fruitful most enjoyable and most fulfilling in absolute and total dependence upon you speak to our hearts today and I want to ask you for somebody here who’s not a Christian somebody who’s never trusted you as Savior they’ve been saying words that they thought were right they’ve been talking to you about their needs not realizing that we cannot detour around your son get what you have for our own selfish
desires so I want to ask you for people today who are unsaved who’ve never received Christ as their savior that in these these moments there would be the confession the admission the submission the committal of his or her life to Christ in a simple prayer Lord Jesus forgive me of my sins I’m turning my life over to you today and I want you to have your way in my life whatever that means speak to that heart and give him the courage to step out and make public that confession of their faith and then father we ask
you today we ask ask that each one of us might review our own prayer life and that you would help us to go back to that passage and have you to teach us again the simple pattern the necessity of persistence that we might become power in thy hands to work your perfect will for we ask it in Jesus name and for his sake amen
