Luke 11:1

Introduction: How is your prayer life? Occasionally, it does me good to take inventory on my prayer life? Do you need to? Let’s face it, the purpose of prayer is to have a relationship with the God of the Bible….by talking and listening. This starts as we turn from our sin and trust in Jesus’ precious, cleansing blood and receive Him as our Lord and Saviour. Instead of “SWEET HOUR of PRAYER” our culture has changed it to “SWEET MINUTE of PRAYER”! (guess that’s better than nothing). Is that the way to really build a meaningful LOVE RELATIONSHIP? So Why and How should we pray?

 

1. Why should we PRAY?
(“Lord, Teach us to pray”)
• Why? Because we have not because we ask not (James 4:2)
• Why pray? To keep us from falling into temptation (Matt 26:41 – “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak”)
• Why? Because we have an enemy (“Deliver us from evil…” Matt 6:13)

 

2. How should we PRAY?
(“Lord, teach us to pray”)
• Pray in Jesus’ name (John 14:13, 14)
• Pray according to the will of God (1 John 5:14, 15)
• Pray in Faith ( Matt 11:22-24)
• Pray for God’s glory (John 17:1f)

 

Conclusion: Quantity and Quality go hand in hand when it comes to praying. Do you want just 30 seconds a day/week with those you love? Or more like 30 minutes to an hour or more? How does our Heavenly Father feel….. when we just go to him when we’ve got a “flat tire” – or when we want Him to heal us or get us out of trouble, which is ok as long as we have a RELATIONSHIP with Him? But as a parent or a friend, we want to spend time with those we love. We’ve all enrolled in this SCHOOL of PRAYER…. graduation is when we get to heaven!

 

So…”Lord teach us to pray.”
Love y’all,