On Prayer: Jesus on Prayer
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: Jesus gives us perfect instruction on how we should pray.
With Impudence
With Persistence
With Faith
With Impudence
Jesus instructs us to pray with impudence and confidence in the Father’s heart.
Luke 11:1-13 ESV
”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." And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"“
We come to God in prayer to know him, through experience, as our holy, gracious and loving Heavenly Father.
A life of worship and prayer is the end goal of all of our spirituality - everything begins and ends with our relating with God (John 4:24).
Colossians 1:15-16 ESV
”He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.“
You were made by God and for him -
The 1647 Westminster Confession begins with:
What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.
The importance of church community in “our daily bread…”
It’s one thing to hear about someone, another to know them through spending time with them in their presence and in the company of those who also know them (example).
“In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets... Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend. They can then say, as the blessed souls say in Dante, "Here comes one who will augment our loves." For in this love "to divide is not to take away.”
-C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
Relating with God in his word and prayer is how you learn his mind, his heart and his priorities - his plan for our lives.
All of the zoe life of God comes out of that place and should inform our business (what we do with our time, our work and what we pursue).
Our hearts and our lenses must be first shaped and aligned with Jesus in prayer.
“First, Thy name, Thy kingdom, Thy will; then, give us, forgive us, lead us, deliver us. The lesson is of more importance than we think. In true worship the Father must be first, must be all.”
-Andrew Murray who ministered for 60 years in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa in his book, Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Impudence can be defined as a boldness, audacity or even brazen disposition.
The more time that we spend with Jesus, in his word and in prayer, the more confidence we have in his goodness, his kindness, his ability and his willingness to do miraculous things for his people and Kingdom.
When we have confidence, we dare to ask for amazing things.
“God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil.”
— E.M. Bounds
With Persistence
Jesus tells us to pray with persistence.
Luke 18:1-8 ESV
”And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"“
Persistence is equated with faith in the mind of Christ.
People can be disappointed through unanswered prayers.
God will never contradict his truth, nature or will and never obligates himself to answer prayers that are not for his glory and our ultimate good.
What we think is good and what God knows to be best are often worlds apart.
The Christian must learn to trust God - this is the nature of faith as we walk with Jesus in the unchanging nature of his Kingdom purposes.
We must first know the word of God, to make sure we are aligned with the heart of God, before we choose to be persistent with God.
1 John 5:13-15 ESV
”I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.“
“We will never be happy until we make God the source of our fulfillment and the answer to our longings. He is the only one who should have power over our souls.”
-Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Woman
With Faith
Jesus modeled that we receive faith and power for each day of Kingdom work when we start with him in prayer.
Mark 1:35-39 ESV
”And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.“
It is not enough to simply think about prayer or agree that it is good - we must get up and actually pray!
God wants our first and our best of each day!
What you give God in the morning sets the course for everything else.
“The amount of time we spend with Jesus — meditating on his Word and his majesty, seeking his face — establishes our fruitfulness in the kingdom.”
— Charles Stanley
Time with Jesus in the Word and prayer illuminates the gospel, draws us to the cross and sets us on fire for God’s kingdom purposes.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher