Keys to Prayer: encountering god & unlocking his Power in Our World

Keys to Prayer Series March 5: Session 1 – Understanding Prayer March 12: Session 2 – How and What Do I Pray? March 19: Session 3 – Pray Like This March 26: Session 4 – Praying by the Book April 2: Session 5 – Taking Prayer to the Streets Saturday, April 8 – Prayer Walking Walnut Ridge Tomorrow at www.WalterNorvell.com: “Jesus on Pray”

“Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray “Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. He did not speak much of what was needed to preach well, but much of praying well. To know how to speak to God is more than knowing how to speak to man. Not power with men, but power with God is the first thing. Jesus loves to teach us how to pray.” -- Andrew Murray

Use 2 Timothy 3:16-17 as our guide Ask God to: Teach you – show you the most important lesson He has for you. Rebuke you – show you any immoralities or false teachings. Correct you – show you what He wants to add to or remove from your life. Train you in righteousness – show you what Bible verse or spiritual truth He wants you to apply to your life this week.

Matthew 6:5-15 Ch. 6 Theme: Bringing Kingdom Life into the Real World The Lord’s Prayer or The Model Prayer? 7 petitions 3 phrases relate to God; 4 phrases relate to a person’s need. Verbs are entreaty imperatives of request: We can never command God.

Introduction: Jesus’ First Lessons Verses 5-8: “when you pray” used three times. “your Father” used three times. We pray in secret so we can meet the Father. Jesus teaches us to enter into the Father’s living presence. # of words is unimportant; a faithful heart is all important. Are you willing to say, “Lord, teach me to pray?”

“This in short is the way I use the Lord's Prayer when I pray it “This in short is the way I use the Lord's Prayer when I pray it. To this day I suckle at the Lord's Prayer like a child, and as an old man eat and drink from it and never get my fill. It is the very best prayer, even better than the psalter, which is so very dear to me. It is surely evident that a real master composed and taught it. What a great pity that the prayer of such a master is prattled and chattered so irreverently all over the world! How many pray the Lord's Prayer several thousand times in the course of a year, and if they were to keep on doing so for a thousand years they would not have tasted nor prayed one iota, one dot, of it! In a word, the Lord's Prayer is the greatest martyr on earth (as are the name and word of God). Everybody tortures and abuses it; few take comfort and joy in its proper use. -- Martin Luther, 1535

“Our Father in heaven,” ACTS God must be addressed because we are praying to a specific person. The address puts God in His place and us in our place. Though He loves us ultimately, we are different from Him. ACTS

“Hallowed be your name.” “Hallow” = “let you name be sanctified” or “be held in highest regard” or “uniquely respected” We are to recognize the difference between us and God. This petition asks that God root out and destroy any idolatry in us. ACTS

“Your kingdom come,” ACTS This petition is that God save and bring people into His kingdom. The kingdom of God is His rule and reign in the hearts of humankind. It is the acceptance of God’s kingdom and the rejection of all other kingdoms in our lives. ACTS

“your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This petition is for the discernment of God’s will and for our faithful, immediate obedience to it. Where? Wherever we are: homes, playgrounds, schools, stores, businesses, workplaces, city streets, etc. We are asking that His rule come to be in effect in all the areas and spaces of our lives. ACTS

“Give us this day our daily bread,” Literally what we need to sustain our bodies. Figuratively what we need to live our lives for Jesus. Think “birds and lilies.” (Matthew 6:25-34) God is in our every today. This is living a life of child-like faith. ACTS

“and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Debts (sins, trespasses) All forms of rebellion. They are debts because there is a price to pay for rebellion. One sign of a relationship with God is that we are able to emulate His actions. ACTS

“And lead us not into temptation,” Temptation (trial, hard testing) Keep things that may destroy our faith away from us. Yet any trial that comes has a special function in God’s plans. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “Bad things” are not God’s preferred way to deal with us. ACTS

“but deliver us from evil.” Evil (the evil one, Satan) God loves to spare his children and will always do it upon request unless he has something better in mind. The best protection from sin and temptation is to turn to God and depend upon his direction. ACTS

Are you willing to say, “Lord, teach me to pray?” What did God . . . Teach you? – show you the most important lesson He has for you? Rebuke in you? – show you any immoralities or false teachings? Correct in you? – show you what He wants to add to or remove from your life? Train in you righteousness – show you what Bible verse or spiritual truth He wants you to apply to your life this week? Are you willing to say, “Lord, teach me to pray?”

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Keys to Prayer: encountering god & unlocking his Power in Our World