Thanks to Brian for his lovely welcome, and good to be back with you, to worship with you, and share God's word with you, and to share your good news of a new pastor coming in March, Philip Bowles. We've been praying for the church here, and we're delighted with you and God's answer to your prayers. And I don't want to start a three-week series so that we have some continuity and some flow in what we're looking at. It's found in Luke's Gospel, Chapter 11, the series of sermons I've based this passage. This is the foundation passage, Luke's Gospel, Chapter 11. Just while you're turning that up, It's Luke's gospel, it's a reference to the life of Jesus, of course, and what he's been about. In the previous chapter, it began with him sending out his disciples, 70 of them, two by two on a mission, coming back, rejoicing in their exploits in the power of God and the Lord Jesus himself rejoicing over them. And then it finishes up in verse 38. We'll read in from there into chapter 11. We were told it came to pass as they went that Jesus entered into a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. And it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, when ye pray, say, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins. For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And we'll just jump down to verse 27. of chapter 11. And it came to pass as he spoke these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him, blessed is the womb that bore thee and the breast which nursed thee. But he said, yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. This is the word of God and may we not only hear it but keep it too. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for affording us the privilege of opening Holy Scripture, hearing it read publicly, and now the opportunity to digest its exposition and understanding it to grasp its relevance to our own lives in the 21st century and to see that this book we handle is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It goes right through our being, right to the very thoughts and intents of our hearts. May we receive it as of God. Amen. The dynamic jewel of true discipleship is devotion to the word and prayer. And Luke, of course, in his gospel, doesn't miss or dismiss that dynamic duo. All the way through this gospel, you're alerted to your duty to hear and believe the word. The very last incident of chapter 10, which we read, emphasized that fact once again, as Mary sat at Jesus' feet to listen closely to what he taught. And Luke, of course, comes right back to it in that last passage I read to you, the little excerpt in chapter 11, verses 27, 28. But before that, he sets down Jesus teaching about prayer for the disciples' life. Many people in this chapter, chapter 11, will contrast with the trusting soul, and on the other hand will exhibit a self-reliant, Christ-rejecting attitude. You can read it in its length and breadth at your leisure. But those who would be followers of Jesus must be faithful, not just in the word, but in prayers. To grow in faith, we need to put deep roots down in prayer. We must follow the Lord Jesus in that behaviour. We cannot afford to ignore the essential part that prayer plays in the Christian life. The life and practice of our Lord will not permit it. Young man was courting a young woman and he went into the local shop to buy her chocolates. It happened to be a pharmacy that was selling them. He purchased three boxes, small, medium, and large chocolates. The pharmacist asked him why the three boxes. He explained, well, I'm going over to my girlfriend's tonight for dinner. Afterwards, I'm planning to kiss her goodnight. If she refuses to let me, I'll give her the small box. If she just lets me kiss her on the cheek, I'll give her the medium-sized box. But if she lets me lay one on her, I'll give her the biggest box of chocolates of the three. And that night he arrived at the girlfriend's home, he met her parents, he sat down to dinner, and before the meal he begged for permission to say grace. And then he went on this very long elaborate prayer about forgiveness and grace and mercy. And it lasted all of five minutes. And when he eventually stopped and said the amen, the girlfriend said, wow, you never told me you were such a religious person. And nervously he whispered back to his girlfriend, you never told me your father was the local pharmacist. So to him, prayer was an instrument of appeasing the father of his girlfriend. What is it to us? What is prayer to you? Do you believe that you need to change the oil in your car as a necessity, or get gas appliances in your house checked regularly as a must, or use deodorant as a good thing, or having a clean house as a top priority? And if you do think of it like those things, how often do you get them done? Are you regular, consistent, faithful to see to it that it gets done? Let me ask, on the other hand, how many of us think prayer is good, essential, a must in our lives? Then are we getting it done faithfully, regularly? And if your answer is yes, I bet there's still more room for improvement. I know there is in me. And it's for that reason that Jesus' instructions about prayer in Luke chapter 11, verses one to four are always a welcome additional help for his disciples. The whole section right down to verse 13 is a learning process for these men who want to know more about prayer. But they have to begin somewhere, so why not right here? And I'll provide you with a PowerPoint next Wednesday night, but here is the simple outline of verses one to four from my perspective. You have here a life of prayer, verse one. and a prayer for life, verses two to four. We'll follow that this week and next week. First of all, a life of prayer, the impression it makes, verse one. The notable Anglican Puritan from London in the 17th century, Thomas Brooks, tells us, and I quote, the power of religion and godliness lives, thrives, or dies as private prayer lives, thrives, or dies. Well, in the godly religious life of Jesus, prayer lived and thrived and it never died. Luke 11, 1, it testifies to this fact. One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray the way John taught his disciples. Jesus' entire life was permeated with prayer. That was the fragrance of his life. And it's not a hidden gem in Luke's record. His prayers are scattered liberally everywhere you look, everywhere he has gone in this gospel and in the various conditions of life that he's met with. Prayer was a top priority, a sacred duty that nothing would ever dumb down. Suffice to say, Jesus made much of this spiritual activity. Don't take my word for it. Besides praying at his baptism, frequent removal to be alone with God, choosing disciples and hearing Peter's confession of his messiahship after prayer vigils, praying ahead of the amazing changes at the transfiguration, and the joyful prayer issue when the disciples come back from mission, apart from all that evidence that's in Luke's gospel. Jesus' life of prayer is witnessed repeatedly in all of the Gospels. He prayed at his first preaching tour in Galilee, Mark chapter 1, before and after feeding the 5,000 and before feeding the 4,000. His prayers were sought for children who were brought to him. Heaven heard from him at Lazarus' grave as he faced the nearness of the cross. He prayed at the Last Supper. He prayed so Peter wouldn't totally destroy his faith under trial, but would actually be restored from his failure. And still the Gospels were not done. He agonised in Gethsemane. He even cried out from Calvary's cross. After the resurrection, Jesus prays with companions that he met on the way back to Emmaus. And again at his ascension, Luke chapter 24. And many of you will recall his greatest, longest recorded prayer, the high priestly prayer of John chapter 17. Yes, Jesus prayed in life, in death, and beyond. It was no passing fad or temporary hobby. It was attached to him like the belt that held his clothes in place. It was a fixed part of life every day. Communion with God was never treated as a secondary issue for Jesus. It was always front and center of his experience. Like the air he breathed had to be pure and holy surrounding the throne of God. His prayer life was regular. It was on big occasions, it was on little ones. They were during crises or merely a matter of thankfulness to God for food. He pleaded in public, he pleaded in private. He used certain places like the Garden of Gethsemane or on certain places like the one on named here in Luke 11. He could complete his prayers or they might be interrupted by something happening. It didn't matter. He didn't mind. So long as his heart was in it and the purpose of prayer was being fulfilled. This one taught here was simple and short and to the point. But the one in John chapter 17 is long, much longer, more involved and filled with a depth of teaching and truth for the entire church. Length. never equated with powerfulness or productiveness in prayer. He prayed sincerely, honestly, passionately, and the Bible tells us he was always, and I repeat, always heard. All of that to say that Jesus' life was a life of prayer, who could ignore it or miss it. And of course it makes a deep impression on the disciples inevitably. Just as an aside, are you aware that your own prayer life or prayers can impact those who are listening? That's worth remembering. Verse one informs us that observing the Lord Jesus at prayer awakened in his followers this need for lessons on prayer. They knew that John the Baptist taught his followers and they didn't want to have anything less than John's disciples. And since the pattern prayer here is also found over in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, we may get a clue as to what was going on in the disciples' minds. For Jesus underlines the poor quality praying that they've been used to from the Pharisees. It was hypocritical, it was pompous displays of self, camouflaged as pious religion. They liked to preen themselves like peacocks, praying publicly to be seen, to be celebrated by lesser beings. On the face of it, of course, offering God their supreme and superb devotions. but amounting to nothing more than vain, repetitious, empty words, no better than the effort of pagans, said Jesus. Now if Jesus' men had been fed a diet of that kind of stuff as prayer, then it's understandable why listening to Jesus pray made such an impact. It wasn't what they were used to. It actually sounded different, more honest, true, sincere, pure, godly, and simply right. I'm tempted to ask why did it take the disciples of Jesus so long to ask his help for prayer? They'd been seeing him at it for quite a while now, and look. Was pride their problem too big to make a humble request for help? Was it fear prevented them coming to him for an education? Could it have been lack of faith or sheer laziness about prayer? Perhaps even busyness, no time to bother about something so vital. Had they become too used to relying on Jesus' immediate presence to fix things? Or were they, on the other hand, relying on their own gifts too much now that they'd been experienced in evangelistic missions? Too independent to yield control to God. And we thank God that at least one of them plucked up the courage to seek help. And we're very grateful for their question. We need this assistance. None of us can pray properly. We all struggle to know how or what or when or where or whatever. Prayer doesn't come easy to any of us. And noticeably, they didn't ask to be taught how to preach or do miracles. We need most help in our prayer life. Often because we're slow to it, we're lazy about it, we're hindered in it, we're hiccupy, we're infrequent, we're inattentive, we're short on faith kind of prayers. One night a dad heard his young daughter speaking in the bedroom of her home. He was all alone in there and the door was ajar enough for him to see her kneeling beside her bed. It was the posture of prayer, he knew that. And he paused to hear what kind of things she prayed about. He overheard her reciting the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, et cetera. She just kept on repeating it over and over. And he felt uncomfortable about interrupting her, but curiosity got the better of him. He walked into the room and he asked, sweetheart, what are you doing? Daddy, I'm praying, of course. But what are you praying? The alphabet, he asked. Well I started my prayer but I wasn't sure what to pray. I decided to just say all the letters of the alphabet and let God put them together whatever way he thinks is best. Now clearly that child needed some teaching on prayer as do the disciples and if we're honest we ourselves. Joanne Shetler was a Wycliffe Bible translator in the Philippines a number of years ago. She couldn't help notice how the new Christians in the tribe that she'd been working with didn't pray the way they should. So she prayed, Lord, do whatever it takes to teach these people to pray. A month after that, she was in a helicopter accident that almost killed her. But those Christians, those Filipinos started to pray fervently, Lord, don't let her die because our book isn't done. That's the Bible translation she'd been working on. If John the Baptist, that miracle baby, Messiah's herald, the greatest of the prophets and the martyr, if John the Baptist needed to pray, then surely we do. If Paul, the mighty missionary apostle and writer of nearly a quarter of the New Testament begged heaven's assistance, then who am I to let on I don't need help? If the very son of the living God with his busy schedule and despite his numerous successes in ministry, if Jesus needed to pray, then we definitely do as well. But we need help. And Jesus applies what we're lacking in the model prayer that follows here in verses two to four. This is Luke's version of the commonly called Lord's Prayer, probably better labeled the Disciples' Prayer. So I want to start on it this evening, and I want to come to the second point that I made earlier. First of all, the life of prayer, the impression it makes, that's the Lord's life of prayer, and the indelible mark it left on the disciples in verse one. Now verses two to four, the prayer for life, the expressions it takes. It's John MacArthur who says of this particular prayer, in fewer than 70 words, we find a masterpiece of the infinite mind of God. He alone could compress every conceivable element of true prayer into such a brief and simple form, a form that even a young child can understand, but the most mature believer cannot fully comprehend. Astoundingly true. And we'll discover that as we read through it. Bible commentator and translator Trent Butler said, all prayer is application and amplification of this prayer. All prayer is application and amplification of this one prayer. And I think he's on to something. This is probably the most important prayer in the Bible, second only to John 17. Another author sees all the architecture of prayer in place in front of us here. It is the primary teaching tool of Jesus about prayer and how it should be done. And you will ignore it at your peril. But if we learn it, we will wish to love it and live it out. Its principles will become a part of our practice every day of the Christian life. In that regard, many people want to know if we should be reciting it off by heart all the time or not at all. When I attended Bangor Grammar School many years ago, I was there for seven years and I heard this repeated by pupils every single morning during assembly. That's approximately 1,300 times over the seven-year period. I really don't need anyone to assist me to memorize it. It is drummed into my brain. It was mouthed endlessly, almost heartlessly by many of my fellow pupils. So much so that I just simply stopped saying it in the assembly. But I'm not saying a blanket no to reciting this prayer. In criticizing the aimless, empty way, many go about using it as some kind of formula. I'm not dismissing it altogether. The key here is your heart attitude. Many sermons, many hymns, other acts of worship can be carried out in similar empty fashion. It all depends on our heart condition. We can say it coldly, callously, and indifferently. The words are coming out, but they mean nothing. And that kind of approach is clearly wrong, and it was never, I repeat, never our Lord's intention when he taught this prayer. In the context of Matthew 6, he even goes out of his way to contrast the way his people should pray with those who vainly go over the same thing again and again without any sincerity, any truth in the inner being. So if you want to recite it, do, only make sure you do it with honest and sincere heart. Don't ever let it become like a child's nursery rhyme rolling off your tongue without meaning. That said, let's come into Jesus' classroom for a great lesson on prayer. The request is for teaching, and the word used for taught in verse 2 occurs 220 times in the entirety of the New Testament, mostly with teaching scripture. The disciples make the request to be taught because they are disciples. A disciple is one who learns, who makes the mental effort to grasp things, to be instructed, to be catechized, to remember what he's been taught. That's why I said, come into the classroom. We're in the classroom now. And in clearest words, Jesus provides us with a pattern that is both memorable and useful always. There are essentially two parts to the model, vertical and horizontal, those that address God and those that address our own needs. Just as the whale, the dolphin, and the porpoise have to come up for air, so the believer has to pray to get to breathe heaven's air. And this prayer enables us to do that. And because our Lord taught it, we can be sure it will be in accordance with God's will. I'm going to go through two parts slowly starting today with the vertical dimension, the God word elements that stand out right up front in verse two. And there are three of them and I've summed them up as follows, but I'll only get through the first one. Intimate relationship, absolute reverence, ultimate rule. First of all, and just for this evening, the intimate relationship. The ideal way to pray as a Christian is to call God your father. And right away you'll have noticed that Luke's record of the prayer differs a little bit from Matthew 6. He actually drops the doxology, yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. But those omissions are not a problem if you accept that we're dealing with two separate occasions in Jesus' ministry. And I believe that that's a pretty certain assumption. Because one is during the Sermon on the Mount, the other is a teaching opportunity after Jesus' own prayerfulness. One is given in Galilee, the other as Jesus heads for Judea. It's not impossible for any teacher to give the same lesson more than once in slightly different format or to a different audience. In fact, some of Jesus' sayings are spoken in various contexts for that very reason. Just pause now and ponder this opening lesson from our perfect teacher. He says, prayer is intimate. is a relationship. Since Jesus spoke in Aramaic, this Greek word pater would have been aba, a term used in other parts of the Gospels. It was the familiar address of a child, of course, to his father. And Jesus is encouraging us to use it for our heavenly father. A child would have used it in Jewish societies. He grew up into manhood. He would use it over and over in the common interaction with his father. One writer suggests we could probably paraphrase it to say, dearest father. It's a word of endearment, affection, and respect. And by it, Jesus gave new freedom and freshness to our prayers. Such an approach was not the done thing among the Jews when speaking to God, and Jesus was aware of that. Father turns up about 14 times in the Old Testament, but it's always in a corporate reference to God as father of the nation Israel. It's never used in this quite familial way. The direct, the simple, personal, relational address here is unique to the teachings of Christ. This was a novelty, this was totally new. As has been said in Luke chapter 10 verse 22, only some know God in this very special manner. Quote, no one knows who the Father is but the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. This is a high privilege of relationship to God. It's brought about by grace. And it reflects the Lord's awareness that He would atone for our sins and bring about our forgiveness and salvation. He would die in our place and make certain our part in the family of God. And that's why I don't think every Tom, Dick and Harry should utter this prayer. This is a family issue. This is about our knowledge of God as Father to us through faith in His dear Son. The Father becomes dear to us because the Son has made Him so. We love the Father because we love the Son. The Son has brought us to the Father by His blood sacrifice on our behalf. And we celebrate every day the fact that we're in the family of God as a consequence. Now remember the Apostles asked this question. John the Apostle must have been listening in the lesson very carefully. He tells us our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, and even erupts in 1 John 3 in wonder at this wonderful truth. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God. One commentator captures the essence of this intimacy from an incident in the old Roman Empire days. Roman Emperor was doing his victory march in Rome with all his conquering soldiers and, of course, the defeated prisoners. All the streets of Rome were alive with cheering people held back only by legionnaires stationed to prevent anyone running out in wild hysteria. But at one point along the route, the Empress was elevated on a platform with her family, watching her husband receive these accolades from the crowds. And as they observed things, the emperor's son, a little lad, jumped down, crawled through a legionary's legs, and headed straight for his father's chariot. The soldier, of course, acted quickly, scooped the boy up, told him he couldn't do such a thing. You can't do that, boy. Don't you know who that is in the chariot? That's the emperor. You can't run out to his chariot. That little boy laughed at the soldier and answered, he may be your emperor, but he's my dad. And that's the wonder of a Christian prayer life. We come not in crass fear of God. We come with hope and the knowledge of our loving Father. We come as His children, welcomed, invited, permitted to come freely. When I pastored a church in England for eight years, I did most of my studying from home. And my two children, Timothy and Lindsay, were very young at the time. And I said to my wife distinctly, I said, look, it doesn't matter what I'm doing in the study. If Lindsay or Timothy want to see me for any reason, let them come. I wouldn't have offered that to anyone. That's the intimacy of familial relationship. Are you still amazed by that grace? If not, you should be. payment was made in the life's blood of God, the Father's unique Son. So you didn't receive a spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. And because you are sons, Paul told the Galatians, God has sent forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out what? Abba, Father. Someone commented, unlike such terms as omnipotence and omniscience, words that have the feel of computer software, Abba calls us to the most intimate terms with God. And if it drenches our everyday life, we will embody God's goodness to an orphaned world. Jesus actually uses the term Father 66 times in his ministry and prayers. In one fell swoop, he has presented prayer in an unadorned and an explosive fashion. This is not how God was ever approached before Christ came. This is new. This brings with it all the delight of living before one who cares about me deeply. Our Heavenly Father knows what we have need of. All the hairs of our head are numbered by Him. We needn't worry with one so great, looking down with kindness towards us in all of our interests. And I encourage you as I close to pray this way, with this keen consciousness of God as your Father. And if you do pray, Our Father, Today, don't live like some orphan the rest of the week. Leave everything in his hands. Rest secure in his purposes and power. Keep the strength that comes from knowing he is present with you. I don't know about you, but I think our Lord teaches us very well. We are to call God Father. That's so simple. Who could have missed the message tonight? You don't need a theology degree to understand that. You don't have to wax long or eloquent to come to him. Just cry out to your gracious Father and loving Lord. If the first disciples heard Jesus pray and pray this way, and then they heard this lesson and these lessons on prayer, then I expect they pray this way as well. I give you the prayer life of Jesus and the impressions that it made. and the prayer for life at its very beginnings and the first expression of it, our Father. What a teacher of truth Jesus is. What a practicer of this teaching. The exemplary teacher, the exemplary prayer. May God enable us to learn it well and approach him often as little children to their very big Father. Let's pray. Like Mary at the Lord Jesus' feet, Father, we think we've been listening well. We think we've heard the message. It now remains to be seen if that is so, as we go to prayer. Help us by your spirit to that end, to learn well and to live out what we've learned. For Jesus' sake, amen.