Teach me to pray luke 11:1-4

Lord teach me to pray Luke 11:1-4

Prayer, it’s one of the pat answers to every problem. Yet how many times are people taught how to pray. Jacob has been trying hard in his chemistry class, the big test is tomorrow and he needs to get a good grade. He wants to ask God for help but how? How do you start and when do you stop? Do you say hello God, this is Jacob, then wait for a beep or something? When you’re done do you just hang up on God?

One of the elders in a church I served prayed in King James, another elder prayed and it was like poetry so beautiful and eloquent. I wonder who taught them to pray. I find more people are like Jacob. Does God hear me, or have I really lost it and I am just talking to myself?

1.      Teach us to pray

a.      Found only in Matthew and here in Luke.

b.      Never referred to again

c.       If you start it out congregations will finish it

d.      Start it in a nursing home and people who have forgotten everything else will finish it.

e.      Not meant to be recited, it is meant to be an outline.

f.        Focus on vs 1 “Lord, teach us to pray”

2.      Teaching others how to pray

a.      Take time to explain prayer, what it is and what it’s not.

b.      It is not running down a shopping list

c.       It is like talking to a friend.

d.      There are time to speak and times to listen

e.      Lead them in prayer then let them pray

f.        Do I stand, kneel or sit in a chair?

g.      Do I fold my hand and whisper or raise my hands and shout?

3.      Study the prayers in the Bible

a.      John 17

b.      Psalm 108:1-6

c.       Psalm 109:1-5

d.      Psalm 28:1-9

e.      Psalm 23

f.        1 chr 4:10

g.      Mark 14:32-37

There are no magic words that get God’s attention. There is no format that is needed. Just share your heart and mind with God like you would a close friend and know He hears you.

Teach them to pray.