“Lord, Teach Us To Pray”
Text: Luke 11:1-13
7-27-2025
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Do you have an active prayer life? I’m afraid that most of us would have to confess and say “No.” Unfortunately, aside from saying “Come, Lord Jesus” before our meals, the majority of us don’t pray much outside of our church services. That’s sad and it’s dangerous. And the reason why we don’t pray is because like the disciple in our Gospel reading, we don’t know how to pray. He saw this great need in his life and said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Perhaps it’s time we made the same request? Well, God’s Holy Word can instruct us in how we should pray and rest assured, in the process, we’ll certainly benefit from having a more active prayer life.
I don’t normally do this, but I came up with a list of things that we need to learn about this essential practice of Christian prayer, much of which we can glean from our Gospel text for today. We’ll start by defining what prayer is and what it isn’t. #1: Prayer is essential for a Christian. Martin Luther once said, “Let the man who fails to pray not imagine that he is a Christian.” That leads to #2: Prayer is not optional. Christ commanded us to pray for our own good. Prayer is the lifeblood of our faith. Jesus is theSon of God and He regularly prayed during His time here on earth. If prayer was essential for Him then what makes us think we can do without it?
#3: Prayer is a conversation with our loving, heavenly Father. The Catechism reminds us that when we approach God in prayer, we ought to come to Him like a child talking to their loving father. In our text, Jesus is trying to instill that kind of confidence. He says that an earthly father will listen his children and give them good things. God is an even greater and more loving Father and will also listen and give His children every good thing they need.
#4: Prayer is not a panic button for us to use only in an emergency. It shouldn’t be our last resort. When we’re facing a crisis or a hard decision or some kind of a need, our first reaction should be to ask God for help and direction. But how many of us do that? Don’t we normally try to fix things or figure them out on our own? And when things continue to deteriorate and get desperate, then we finally decide to call on God. I was counseling with a young man once and I asked him if he went to God in prayer with all his problems and decisions. He said, “No. In my adult life I’ve made all my decisions based on my gut instinct.” I replied, “Well, if God knows everything, then doesn’t it make sense to consult with Him about making these important decisions?” His answer floored me. He said, “Nope. I’ve done alright on my own. Why should I change?” How sad. He was content to fly by the seat of his pants, blindly feeling his way through the maze of life. The problem is that he wasn’t doing so well with his little plan of following his “gut instincts.” He was facing a major crisis in his life and he was hurting badly. And yet, he refused to go to God and ask for direction and comfort.
But let’s be honest, haven’t we all done that at some time or another? Which leads to #5: Like a loving father, God wants to communicate with you about everything in your life. He’s ready to listen to your concerns, your worries, your problems, and your difficult decisions. He wants you to ask for help and guidance. God says in Psalm 50:15 “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” That’s His promise. Which leads to #6: There is nothing too big or too small to talk with Him about. Even the things that might seem trivial, God wants to hear them. Not just your troubles. God also wants to hear from you when your heart is joyful.
Think of it this way. If you’re the parent of a kid in college, how happy would you be if the only time your child called was to ask for money? Or worse yet, to ask you to come and bail them out of jail? Yes, as loving parents we want to help our kids. But we also like to hear how classes are going, their friendships, their good days and bad days. God is no different. He wants to have a regular, open conversation with us. He doesn’t want to be treated like an ATM machine that you only go to when you need money. He isn’t your personal genie in a lamp who appears to grant you 3 wishes whenever you want. No. He’s a loving Father who wants to have a very personal relationship with you. He wants to communicate with you daily and prayer is how that happens.
#7: Prayer is powerful. James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” Folks, that’s not just referring to our prayers here in Church, said by a Pastor. No, your personal prayers are just as powerful and effective. Years ago, I walked into a nursing home in Ft. Wayne. An older lady in a wheelchair saw my clerical collar and motioned for me to come over. She told me about a problem she was having and asked me to pray for her. I said I would, but I encouraged her to pray also. She replied, “God will listen to you before He’ll listen to me.” That broke my heart. I tried to convince her otherwise but I couldn’t change her mind. Listen, I don’t have any special connection with God. He listens to you just as readily as He listens to me. The prayers of ALL believers are heard equally by God. And they’re equally powerful because of the powerful God we’re calling upon.
Okay, so there are some things that prayer IS and ISN’T. But there are several more things we need to learn about prayer before we close. #8: Rest assured, Satan will try to distract you each time you pray. Have you ever started to pray and pretty soon your mind is wandering off? It’s frustrating. But you’re not alone. It happens to all of us. Luther liked to tell a story about St. Bernard—not the dog, but the real Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Anyway, Bernard complained to a friend that he wasn’t even able to finish the Lord’s Prayer without his mind wandering. The friend smugly assured Bernard that he didn’t have that problem. So, St. Bernard bet this man that he couldn’t pray the Lord’s Prayer without getting distracted. The prize was a beautiful horse. The friend took the bet, concentrated really hard, and started saying the Lord’s Prayer. But before he reached the end of “Hallowed be Thy name” he began to wonder whether a saddle would come with the horse. He stopped his prayer and conceded victory to St. Bernard.
Luther loved this story because he struggled with the same problem. And there’s no reason to think that you and I won’t have it too. The key is: don’t quit praying. That’s point #9. You see, Satan wants you to give up. He wants you to neglect this powerful gift of God. In 1540, William Cowper wrote: “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.” The devil knows how powerful and effective our prayers are. And it’s a weapon in our arsenal that he doesn’t want us to use. Don’t give in to him by quitting. When you’re distracted, stop and ask the Holy Spirit to rein in those thoughts. Keep a pencil and paper nearby. If something pops in your head during your prayers, write it down, remove the distraction, and move on.
Garth Brooks had a famous song with a line that went, “Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers.” Garth should stick to music because this is bad theology. That leads to point #10: God hears and answers ALL of our prayers. God answers them in 3 possible ways: Yes, No, or Wait. The problem is that when the answer No or Wait that’s not what we want to hear and we automatically assume that it means He didn’t hear our prayer. But if we trust in a loving heavenly Father like Jesus describes in our text then we can accept these answers because it just means that He has something better planned for us. All we need to do is trust and wait patiently for Him to reveal His will to us.
The Bible tells us that people pray in many different bodily postures. Point #11 addresses which one is best for praying. Believe it or not, some Christians have time to argue about this. There were 3 Pastors who were debating this issue. One said kneeling was the best. The other said lying flat out on the floor was best. And still the other said standing with your hands lifted towards heaven was the best. A telephone repairman happened to be in the next room and overheard the argument. He stepped around the corner and said, “All of you are wrong. When I’m 50 feet off the ground, hanging upside down by my safety belt, THAT’S the best posture for a sincere prayer!” Seriously though, the posture of your body is not important. The humble, trusting attitude of your heart is.
One last thing. Jesus tells us in the Gospel, “Ask and it will be given to you...” He’s talking about asking God in prayer for anything according to God’s will. The problem is that we don’t ask. Prayer is such a powerful resource for us Christians but it tends to go untapped. So, point #12 is: Remind and encourage each other to pray often.
Well, there’s so much more we could learn about prayer. Suffice it to say that like the disciple in our text we need to constantly be going to Jesus and saying, “Lord, teach us to pray!” I hope that you will have a deeper appreciation and desire to pray regularly. Go to God, your loving Father, and share your deepest thoughts and concerns, your hopes, and your dreams. Go to Him in prayer and confess your sins, knowing He will hear and forgive you for Jesus’ sake. He wants to shower you with His many, many blessings. They’re yours for the asking. So, go to Him in prayer and ask. Then rise up and go about your day with confidence knowing that God has heard you and has promised to answer you according to His good and gracious will. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!