Lord Teach Me How To Pray?

Chapter 35
(Luke 11:1-13)

I do not do well meeting new people for I am not good at small chat, so I can seem unfriendly or pompous to those whom don't know me well.  I want others to see the love of God in my actions and these characteristics do not reflect it, so I have been observing my wife who is very friendly to all and trying to follow in her footsteps.  

A wise man is one who seeks to be taught by those who have achieved more success in an area than themselves.  The disciples here in Luke 11:1 realize that prayer is Jesus power source and want better results so they say Lord teach us how to pray.  Jesus now gives them an outline on how to communicate with God effectively.  

First He addresses God as Father, making it personal.  Prayer is not just the method of getting God to do things for us, it is how we build our relationship with Him.  He created us for fellowship and as His partners to rule the universe with.  It is a mutual relationship of two hearts being shared together as one.

Secondly in Jesus outline on how to pray, "may your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  It is not about our will, but His will, which is Heaven on Earth, the restoration of all things.  So as we draw near to the Father we can expect Him to lay on our hearts the things on His heart He wants us to speak forth into the Earth.  This is called intercession where we stand in the gap for others partnering with God to advance His kingdom.  

The bible says if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness then all things will be added unto us, so thirdly we now pray "give us this day our daily bread."

This is praying the all things that we need for our family and ourselves.  The bible promises we shall not be in want so if we believe that we receive when we ask for it we shall have it as long as our motive is right.  

The fourth area in the Lord's prayer is forgiveness.  The forgiveness of our sins through the shed blood of Jesus is what has removed the wall of separation between us and God, un-forgiveness brings back that wall, so our prayers are not heard.  We therefore must be forgiven daily by confessing our sins and forgiving those who have sinned against us.  We should pray for the Lord to keep us from temptation so we won't even have a reason to be separated from God.  For it is only by His grace that we walk victoriously.  

Jesus now gives an example to help us better understand prayer.  The main point of the example is persistance.  We see with Daniel there was a delay in his prayer being answered because of spiritual warfare.  So we must understand prayers will not always be answered instantly, there is a process, and the enemy will try to bring resistance.  Persistant prayer is when we keep on believing, which takes walking by faith and not by sight, for the promise is "for everyone who asks, receives, who seeks, finds, and to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."

The Holy Spirit is our supply source to all that is in Heaven, the more we pray the more the Spirit comes alive in our life.  So our main prayer daily needs to be Father give me more of your Spirit.