“Praying Like Jesus Part #2” Pastor Kent Munsey

8/23/15 | 12pm Service

Main Scripture: “So He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Luke 11:2-4 [NKJV] RECAP of Part #1: There are only 17 references to Jesus praying and most of them are in the book of Luke. From these passages, we can learn how to pray like Jesus. Here are the take-aways: 1. WHAT we can expect when we pray: Luke 3:21-22 - “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” [NKJV] When we pray, we can expect Heaven to open up, the Holy Spirit to come down, and the Father to speak.

2. WITHDRAW often to pray. Luke 5:16 - “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” [NKJV] Jesus withdrew often to pray. “Often” means it was His habit. We need to spend time alone with God everyday. 3. WAITING for clarity is a necessity. Luke 6:12 - “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” [NKJV] Jesus prayed all night over his decision of whom to make his disciples. We must pray with the same intensity until we receive clarity from God. 4. WHEN you can’t get away, pray anyway. Luke 9:18 - “And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” [NKJV] There’s not always time to be isolated in prayer; however, it’s essential that we maintain our connection with the Father, even when we can’t get away from the crowd. 5. You WILL be changed. Luke 9:28-29 - “Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.” [NKJV]

When Jesus prayed, the appearance of his face was physically changed. This happens to us when we pray--it transforms our hearts and attitudes. Prayer may not change your circumstances, but it will change you. -----

Introduction: When we read the instructions for something, the information doesn’t really sink in until we go through the motions of using them. Pastor Kent used the example of the air-board he bought for his sons. The instructions sound simple enough, but they don’t really make sense until you put them into practice and ride the air-board. Prayer is the same way--it only works when you work it, meaning we have to practice prayer in order to develop a rhythm and lifestyle of connecting with the Father and seeing all the benefits of a relationship with Him.

Main Points: 6. Prayer Works when you work it It was the custom for a Rabbi to teach his disciples a simple prayer for them to use habitually. The Lord’s Prayer according to the Gospel of Luke teaches us how to address God and gives us a template for how to pray. a) How we are to address God:

- We are to see God as our heavenly Father. He is good, faithful, and does not let us down. He is for us, not against us.

- The very first word tells us that in prayer we are coming to a father who delights to supply his children’s needs. (Galatians 4:6, Romans 8:15, 1 Peter 1:17)

b) How to order our prayers:

- “Hallowed be your name...” We must note the order of the Lord’s Prayer. Only when we give God his place will other things take their proper place. Honoring God takes precedent over our needs. We are to praise him before we give him our requests.

- Psalm 100:4 “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” [NKJV]

- The name means the whole character of the person as it is revealed and known to us.

- Psalm 9:10 “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” [NKJV]

- That means far more than knowing that God’s name is Yahweh. It means that those who know the whole character and heart of God will gladly put their trust in him.

c) Prayer covers all of life:

- It covers present need - “Give us this day our daily bread” -He instructs us to ask that he provide for everything we need to survive the day. He will take us further than we could go on our own. This goes back to the story of the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:11–21). Only enough for the needs of

the day might be gathered. We are not to worry about the future, but to live one day at a time.

- - It covers past sin. - “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive

everyone who is indebted to us.” We get out of balance in our prayer life when we don’t understand or believe that we are forgiven. We can pray with confidence that we are forgiven and skip the circles of guilt and shame.

- - It covers future trials. - “Do not lead us into temptation” -We

may not be able to escape our trials but we can meet them with God. Temptation means any testing situation. It includes far more than the mere seduction to sin; it covers every situation which is a challenge.

7. Who is praying for you Luke 22:31-32 - “And the Lord said,[a] “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” [NKJV] -Jesus prays for us when we are tempted! Our sin is not surprising to him, and He is waiting for us to return to him. In fact, he tells us to strengthen our brothers when we get back from sinning because he knows our faith will grow through our trials, and even through our failure. 1 Corinthians 10:13 - “God is faithful, Who will not suffer [allow] you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation

also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it." [NKJV] -Not only is Jesus praying for us, but He is also constantly providing us ways to escape our temptations. He wants us to succeed because He loves us that much, and He wants good things for us. 1 John 2:1 - “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” [NKJV] -Jesus intercedes for us when we sin -- He is the great Intercessor, Interceptor and Defender John 16:23 - “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” [NKJV] -Jesus Presents our Prayers to the Father, and the Father answers his children’s prayers. *God can MOVE mountains, but when we pray we CAN MOVE GOD* 8. Prayer gives us a WILL For What We Don’t Want To Do Luke 22:39-42 - “and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” [NKJV]

- Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives to pray before his crucifixion. He is so distressed over his coming pain that He is sweating blood as He prays, asking God for another way.

Hebrews 12:2 - “Looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” [NKJV]

- Jesus found a supernatural will for what was in front of him. God provided him peace about his crucifixion by giving him divine revelation of the joy in his resurrection ahead.

- Prayer has the power to give us the will for what we do not want to do.

- When Jesus said, “nevertheless not my will but your will be done,” he said it in a tone of trust - tone matters when we pray.

Conclusion: Life’s hardest task is to accept what we cannot understand; but we can do even that if we are sure enough of the love of God. When we pray like Jesus, we’ll find the will for what we do not want to do. Matthew 17:20 - “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” [NASB] If we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. Prayer gives us the right perspective on our mountains. In the face of “I don’t want to,” God gives us a prophetic picture (“the joy set before him”) to give us a peace and a will for what we do not want to do.

Additional Scriptures: Galatians 4:6 - “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” [NKJV] Romans 8:15 - “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” [NKJV] 1 Peter 1:17 - “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;” [NKJV] Exodus 16:11-21 - “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’” Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered

much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.” Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.” [NKJV]