according to Luke 11, verses 1-4. So, at least twice in Jesus' ministry, He gave His disciples what we commonly refer to as the Lord's Prayer. We're going to look this morning at how it's given in Luke 11. And then in the following weeks, we'll see how it's given in Matthew 6. They're a little different, but obviously they're related Also, if it helps, there's an outline provided for you, so if that will aid you in following along, that's available for you. Luke 11, verses 1-4. Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. And when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. And He said to them, when you pray, say, Hell would be Your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Father, this morning we want to echo the prayer of the disciples and we want to ask You to teach us to pray. Many of us in this room have been praying for decades But we admit, we freely confess that we still have much to learn about prayer. So may we learn from the Master. May we learn from Jesus Himself as He teaches His disciples. And I pray that our prayer lives will grow and improve because of this prayer and because of this series. May Your blessing be upon it. And may Your blessing be upon us. We ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen. May you be seated. When you're on vacation or traveling long distance, sometimes it's fun to read the road signs that you find along the way. And I've come across a few. I'm going to Terre Haute, Indiana to visit my mom. There's a side road and there's a sign that says 19 miles per hour. I kid you not. No one took a spray can. That's exactly what it says. And that kind of gets your attention a little bit. As a family, we like to go to Savannah, Georgia, and then we like to go to Tybee Island. And on the way out to Tybee Island, we see a turtle crossing. And I always get a kick out of that sign. You don't see that in Illinois. Years ago, when I was in college, I was visiting a friend of mine in Houston, Texas, and we were going to his sister's apartment, and it was an apartment complex where they had a chain link fence, and they had a gate that was also a chain link fence, and it was closed, and you had to enter a code before you went in, and the sign said, warning, forced entry may cause damage to your vehicle. And I remember thinking, wow, it's a good thing they have a sign up. I was going to go right through that, but now that they put that sign up, I think I won't go back. In Alaska, there are many long, dirt roads that you have to travel. And there's a sign along the highway that says, choose your rut carefully. You'll be in it for the next 200 miles. Now, if I were to ask you about your prayer life, I wonder how many of you would say, I feel like I've been in a rut. for a long time, and I'm having difficulty escaping." Well, you may be comforted to know that you're not alone. Perhaps that's how the disciples were feeling about their prayer life, which is why they asked Jesus in this passage, Lord, teach us to pray. If you think about it, it's a little bit of an unusual request. These disciples, who were all Jewish, have been taught to pray since they were young kids. Since they were little boys and could put syllables together, their parents had taught them how to pray. So why would these grown men, who had been praying their whole lives, ask Jesus to teach them how to pray? Well, I think at least one answer to that request is given in the context of our passage. Now notice how Dr. Luke sets up the request by the disciples. This is what he says in verse 1. He says, Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. Now stop right there. We know that Jesus would just pray in different places. Maybe he would kneel down. Most Jews actually stood. And most Jews prayed out loud. Most likely, Jesus was praying out loud in the Garden of Gethsemane. We know what Jesus said. That could have been revealed to the authors of Scripture. Or perhaps that's just eyewitness accounts. The disciples heard Jesus praying. We're told that He just went a stone's throw from the disciples and He was praying. And we know from other places that the Pharisees loved to stand at the street corners and pray. And they would pray out loud so everyone could hear them. So that was a very common way of praying. And most likely, Jesus prayed out loud so the disciples could hear Him. Martin Luther always prayed out loud. Martin Luther said that he even wanted the devil to hear him when he prayed. On one occasion, Philip Melanchthon heard Luther praying when he came around the corner and he stopped dead in his tracks. He was awed by what he heard. And he went home and he wrote down in his journal these words, Christ is God. What faith! What spirit! What reverence! And yet, with what holy familiarity did Master Martin pray? Philip Melanchthon, Luther's understudy, was just awed when he heard Luther pouring out his heart to God. And if Philip Melanchthon would be awed by Luther praying, imagine how he would have been awed if he could have heard the Lord Jesus Christ Himself praying. Coming before His Father and storming the mercy seat with His requests. Now, I think that's probably what happened on this occasion. Jesus was praying in a certain place and the disciples could eavesdrop on Jesus praying. And then we're told that when He finished, as soon as He was done, one of the disciples with boldness, speaking for all the disciples, said, Lord, teach us to pray. Now if I can read between the lines just a little bit, I think this disciple is saying something like this, Lord, we've been praying our whole lives to the God of Israel. Our prayers don't reflect the passion the conviction, the confidence, the sincerity that your prayers do. Jesus, you pray in a way that we have never prayed. Can you help us to get out of our prayer ruts? Can you help us to pray in new and fresh ways? We want to pray like you. Paradoxically, with reverence accompanied by an audacious persistence in our prayers. And Jesus was more than happy to help them. And He answered their request by giving them the Lord's Prayer. Now, everybody knows the Lord's Prayer, right? Maybe, maybe not. Kind of a great story. This is from Ken Davis's book. He says, John Cassius was one of the nation's finest speakers. He was one of the inspirational leaders of the Chicago Bears during their glory years. There's a few of us here who can actually remember the glory years back in the 80s. And he often gave short talks to the players on game day. As John tells it, Mike Vicka was about to deliver a locker room pep talk one day. And then he looked up and he saw defensive tackle William Refrigerator Perry. He could not help but see him at 338 pounds. The fridge stood out, even in a crowd of pro football players. Dicka gestured to the fridge. When I get finished, he said, I'd like you to close with the Lord's Prayer. And the coach began his talk. Meanwhile, Jim McMahon, the Braskin outspoken quarterback, punched John Cassius. Look at Perry, McMahon whispered. He doesn't know the Lord's Prayer. Sure enough, Barry sat with a look of panic on his face, his head in his hands. He was sweating profusely. Everybody knows the Lord's Prayer, said Cassius to McMahon in disbelief. After a few minutes of watching the refrigerator leaking several gallons of sweat, McMahon nudged Cassius again. I'll bet you fifty bucks Fridge doesn't know the Lord's Prayer. As John Cassius tells the story, He stopped to reflect on the absurdity of it all. He said, here we were sitting in chapel betting 50 bucks on the Lord's Prayer. When Coach Zicka finished his pep talk, he asked all the men to remove their caps. Then he nodded to Perry and bowed his head. It was quiet for a few minutes before the fridge spoke in a shaky voice. Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Cass has felt a tap on the shoulder. It was Jim McMahon. Here's the 50 bucks, he whispered. I had no idea Perry knew the Lord's Prayer. Not everybody knows the Lord's Prayer. But even if you do know the Lord's Prayer, just because you can recite the words of the Lord's Prayer doesn't mean that you understand what you're saying. And it certainly doesn't mean that you plumb the depths of the Lord's Prayer. I don't think it's possible to plumb the depths of the Lord's Prayer because it is pregnant with meaning and insight. And we're going to try to discover some of that in the next few weeks. Now, why are we going to spend eight or nine weeks going over the Lord's Prayer? Because it is the greatest prayer in the world. I'm going to say that again. It is the greatest prayer in the world. The title I've given to this series, and you can see it in the handout, is The Prayer of Prayers. That title was suggested to me by the Puritan Tom Watson. And he made the comparison with the book Song of Songs. Sometimes it's called Song of Solomon. Sometimes it's called Song of Songs. And what Song of Songs simply means is that song is the best of all the songs. And Watson said, this is the best out of all the prayers. Therefore, it can rightfully be called the Prayer of Prayers. So we're going to look at why the Lord's Prayer, why the prayer of prayers is the greatest of all the prayers in the world this morning. And I have three answers this morning as to why it is the greatest prayer in the world. Number one, it's the greatest prayer in the world because this is the prayer that Jesus prayed. This is the prayer that Jesus prayed. Now, over the years, I've listened to a lot of messages on the Lord's Prayer. I've read a lot on the Lord's Prayer. And again and again, people want to refer to this as the disciples' prayer. And what they say is, this is the prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples. And He said, this is how you are to pray. And I can say, okay, But I'm a little uncomfortable with that, to be honest with you, because it gives the implication that this is what the disciples are to pray, but Jesus is praying something different. That's inconceivable to me, that Jesus would say, well, I'm praying for these things over here. I'm praying for these concerns, but I want you guys to pray about these things. Wouldn't Jesus say, this is what I pray about. This is how I pray. Now, I want you to imitate me in prayer. And I think that's exactly what we have here. Now, just think about what is being prayed for in this prayer. First of all, the very first petition after the Father is addressed, Jesus says, pray how it will be thy name. In other words, He's asking that God's name would be exalted, that it would be glorified, that it would be lifted up. In John 12, 28, Jesus prayed, Father, glorify Your name. That's another way of saying the first petition of the Lord's Prayer. In Mark 1, verses 14 and 15, Jesus said, Repent and believe the good news. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Now, I couldn't find an example where Jesus is praying for the income of the Kingdom, but His whole life was a presenting of the Kingdom and bringing the Kingdom, because He Himself was the King. So I find it inconceivable that Jesus would bring the Kingdom, but not pray for the Father to bring it in, in and through Him. And how about, Thy will be done? That's exactly what he prayed for in the Garden of Gethsemane. And how about, give us this day our daily bread. Didn't he pray that before he fed the 4,000? And then before he fed the 5,000? Didn't he pray? We're told that he prayed. Wouldn't he pray to the Father to provide bread, multiply bread, do whatever it took to feed His people, to provide the nourishment that they need? And then let me just drop to the last petition. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. And again, isn't that what he was praying for in the Garden of Gethsemane? Isn't that what he told his disciples to pray? Watch and pray that you don't fall into temptation? And he not only prayed for himself, but he also prayed for Peter. He said, Peter, Satan is after you this week. But I prayed for you. I prayed for you that in the end, you would be delivered from the evil one. Didn't Jesus pray these things? Of course He did. Now, I skipped over number five, and that's the one really that people struggle with the most. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And people say, Jesus never had to get down on His knees and say, Father, forgive me. I sinned today. And I say, you're right. Jesus never had to pray, forgive me my debts. But that's not what the request says. The fifth petition is not, forgive me my debts. The petition is, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Jesus prayed, forgive us our debts. Jesus identified with the people of God. Remember when John the Baptist was in the Jordan River and calling people to himself? Baptizing them with the baptism of repentance? And then Jesus came? And he said, baptize me. Remember what John said? I need to be baptized by you. And Jesus said, let it be done that we may fulfill all righteousness. Jesus underwent John's baptism, the baptism of repentance. Why? Because he needed to repent? No. Because the people of Israel needed to repent. And he was identifying with his people because he was one of them. And because Jesus was one of His people, He would pray to the Father, forgive us our debts. Because He was one of God's people. So Jesus prayed every single one of these petitions. And now He's coming to His disciples. And basically, He's saying, in essence, this is what I pray for. When I come to the Father and I pour out my heart to God like He saw me do a little while ago over there, this is what I'm praying for. I want you guys to pray the same thing. And then he led them petition by petition through the Lord's Prayer. So we want to do the same thing. We want to pray the Lord's Prayer. Because we're disciples of Christ. We want to pray the same things and we want to pray like Jesus Himself, the Master Prayer Warrior. So this is the prayer of prayers. This is the greatest prayer. This is the prayer that Jesus prayed. This is also the greatest prayer because this is the prayer that God loves. This is the prayer that God loves. Going a step further from point number one, we could ask the question this way. Why did Jesus pray these things? Why did Jesus pray these things? And imagine this if you can. Just engage your imagination. The triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in heaven and they're having a prayer meeting. And Jesus says, tell you what, let's take prayer requests. And the son turns to the father and he says, Dad, Abba, what could I pray for you? What is on your heart? What is a pressing interest to you? I want to pray about those things. Dad, how can I pray for you today? And what would the Father say? We don't have to guess. We know what the Father would say. The Father would say, Son, this is what I want you to pray for me. I want you to pray that my name would be glorified. that my name would be lifted up, that it would be exalted, that they would stop blaspheming my name, using it as a common curse word, but only use my name with the utmost reverence and use my name for praise, adoration, and worship. That's what I want you to pray for. And then I want you to pray for my kingdom to come. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden, they were dethroned and Satan took upon his throne. But I want him to be defeated. I want you to be established as the king of kings. And I want ruling and reigning with you, my people. And I want you to pray that my kingdom would come, that Satan's kingdom would be dethroned, that my kingdom would come, that it would advance, that it would grow, that the nations, all the nations, would come and find shade under the tree of my kingdom that's going to grow and grow and grow. I want you to pray for my kingdom. And I want you to pray that My will is done on earth as it is in heaven. The angels do everything that I call them to do. They do it fully. They do it joyfully. But on earth there's such rebellion against Me and My will. I want you to pray that My will is done on earth just as it is here in heaven. And that people wouldn't just do it reluctantly, but that they would do it joyfully because they know that My will is good. Pleasing. Perfect. Would you pray about those things? Because those are the things that are of interest to me more than anything else. And Jesus would say, I'd be more than happy to pray for those things. And then the Father might say, you know what, but I love the family. I want you to pray for My people that they would have the necessities of life. Pray that they would have the bread that they need, which means that they have the work that they need so that they can provide bread for their family so they don't go without. And pray for their forgiveness so that their consciences can be cleansed and the guilt can be lifted. And pray that they would be forgiven as they forgive others so that there's no bitterness, there's no unforgiveness in my kingdom. And it's not going to be easy because it's a battle out there. They're going to be prone to temptation, so pray that they would be delivered from temptation. And they don't always realize it, but they're involved in a spiritual battle, so pray that they would be delivered from the evil one, that they would have the strength to win the battle. That's what would take place, wouldn't it? Doesn't it just take a little bit of sanctified imagination to see that taking place? That's what the Father would ask the Son to pray for. And then the Son, in turn, is asking us to pray for that. I think another way of looking at it is if you were perfectly filled with the Holy Spirit, and you got down on your knees and you said, Lord, lead me to pray as I ought to pray, you know what would come out of your mouth? The Lord's Prayer. Because the Lord's prayer is a perfect prayer. It's also a Spirit-led prayer. This is the prayer that God loves. Which means this is the prayer that touches the heart of God. Because this is what's of interest to Him. So we should pray these things. And let me give you one more reason why this is the prayer of prayers. because this is the prayer that must shape our lives. That's very important. This is the prayer that must shape our lives. Now, going through the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 and here, and Luke 11, everybody concurs that Jesus isn't giving His disciples a prayer. They're just, let's say, in a meaningless, rote way. What He's providing them with is a pattern in which to pray. It's a pattern. It's a way of guiding His disciples when it comes to prayer. I don't want you to miss this. This is very important. This is not only to be a pattern for our prayers to follow, this is to be a pattern for our lives to follow. We're not only to pray that God's name would be glorified, we're to seek that with everything within us, right? What did Paul say in 1 Corinthians 10.31? Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for what? For the glory of God. That's not just a prayer request. That's supposed to be a driving request in our lives. And we're not just to pray for God's kingdom to come. In Matthew 6.33, Jesus said that we are to seek first God's kingdom. in God's righteousness. Don't just pray. Seek the Kingdom. How you can advance God's Kingdom. How you can be a part of leading other people to Christ so that they can be born again and enter into the Kingdom of God. And then, of course, we're not just to pray that God's will is done. We're to do God's will and ask that God would make His will known to us and then give us strength to carry that out even if it's difficult. So this is to be a pattern for our lives. This is the prayer that is to shape our lives. Now, I know some spiritual people think, I don't need a pattern. You know, I just get down on my knees and I just pray about whatever comes to mind. If you just do that, you know what prayer you're probably going to follow? What theologians call the give-me prayer. That's meant to be a joke. You know what a give-me prayer is, right? Lord, give me this. Lord, give me that. Lord, give me the other thing, right? And if you're not careful, your prayer life can just turn into a wish list and God just becomes a means to an end. God just becomes a person who grants you everything that you want. And in order to help us not to do that, The first three petitions have to do with the Father. His name, His kingdom, His will. And the second three petitions have to do with our needs. But notice that it's plural. Not just my needs. So even there, we're not to be selfish. We're not just to pray, give me this day my daily bread. We're to say, give us this day our daily bread. Even in asking for that, we're to pray for our brothers and sisters in church and around the world. So we're to pray for one another. That's very important. Now, don't misunderstand. You can pray for anything and everything and you should. You should. I've said that before. I'm not contradicting what I've said earlier. Pray about everything. However, it does help to put that in a proper context. Put all our requests in the larger framework of God's glory, God's kingdom, and God's will, so that when we get to our requests and our needs, which are legitimate, we put them in their proper framework so they're not just selfish petitions. So we say, Lord, provide for me and my family so that we have the strength to do what You're calling us to do. Forgive us so we're not overcome by guilt and we can freely serve You And may we forgive others. And on and on. So a proper framework is okay. Because it may be that if we're not careful, we're praying for all these things that we want, and the Father may say, okay, I understand what your agenda is, but how do those things relate to the things that I desire for you? He might even say, is there any relationship? Or does what you want have nothing to do with what I want? This prayer in the order is very important. So I think we all need some kind of framework. On one occasion, D.L. Moody was criticized for his method of evangelism. A man came up to me and said, I just really don't like the method that you use for evangelism. And D.L. Moody just said very humbly, you know what? I'm not too crazy about my method either. Why don't you tell me about your method for evangelism? Maybe you have a better one. What's your method? And the man said, well, I don't have one. And Moody said, well, tell you what, I think I'll stick with my prepared method rather than your no method. Perhaps the same could be said of prayer. Perhaps it's better to have some method rather than no method, because Because then we're just up in the air. Where do we begin? I think most of us, we need some kind of method. We need some kind of structure. Perhaps many of you have heard about the Acts prayer, A-C-T-S, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. Many people use that. I've heard that taught more than once. But I'm going to submit to you that the best pattern is the one given by Jesus Himself. Let's follow this as a pattern for our prayer life. And I think, again, that most of us need some kind of pattern. When we enter into our prayer closets, as it were, and we get down on our knees, we need to have some kind of pattern, some kind of structure to guide us in our prayer life. And this can prove very helpful. Martin Luther had a barber who became a good friend of his. And his barber asked him how he could pray. And Martin Luther wrote a little book, A Simple Way to Pray. And Martin Luther suggested to his barber that he take the Lord's Prayer and he just take it phrase by phrase and use it as a guide to prayer. And Martin Luther said that he prayed the Lord's Prayer every day of his life. Now, he didn't just pray the Lord's Prayer. He also prayed the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments, many of the Psalms, other passages of Scripture, of course, and you can implement a lot of things But he prayed the Lord's Prayer every single day. And I think that is very helpful. At the beginning of this message, I asked if your prayer life was in a rut. Now, usually when we say it, it has a negative connotation. If you come up, my prayer life is in a rut, usually that just means it's not going well. But ruts don't all have to be negative. I can use it that way. There can be negative ruts and there can be positive ruts. What I use for my Bible reading is the One Year Bible. I've been using that for over 20 years. It just guides me in reading through the Bible. And after 20 plus years, it has become a well-worn rut. And I don't have any intention of getting out of that rut. I really mean that because it has served me well. It has proved to be a good rut. Otherwise, I'm just going to be, what should I read today? A little bit of this, a little bit of that. I've asked many Christians, have you read through the Bible? People have been Christians for 20 years. They say, I've never read through the Bible. I know they're reading the Bible, but it must be that they have no plan. They don't have a guide to lead them down the road so that by the end of the year, they can say, okay, I finished reading through the Bible. Let's start all over again next year. Some ruts are good. Martin Luther would say the Lord's Prayer is a great prayer rut. If you want to get in a rut when it comes to prayer, choose this one. Because in a sense, everybody does choose their ruts. And if you don't choose wisely, you might unwittingly, not even knowing it, choose unwisely, and it might not be a good guide. I encourage you to use the Lord's Prayer as a guide. And I don't do this very often, but if I could give you a little bit of homework, use the Lord's Prayer as a guide for this next week and every single day. Pray the Lord's Prayer. And before you get overwhelmed, let me give you yet another quote from Martin Luther. This is what he said. The fewer the words, the better the prayer." That's liberating, huh? And then he said, Few words and much meaning is Christian. Many words and little meaning is pagan. And he's commenting on what we'll see in Matthew 6 next week. where Jesus tells His disciples, don't be like the pagans who just babble on and on and on and on, because they think they'll be heard for their many words. He says, your Father knows what you need even before you ask Him. So, just go to Him and say, Father, this is what I need. When my children are hungry, they just come up to me and they say, Dad, I'm hungry. Can I have a sandwich? You know, it's like, Dad, I'm hungry, and they don't go on and on. They just ask, okay? So, again, I'm just trying to liberate you, okay? Your Father knows what you need even before you ask, so go to Him this week, and when you get to give us this day, our daily bread, just say, Father, this is what I need, and just tell Him what you need, and then move on, okay? He's your Father. He doesn't need a lecture. He already knows what you need. He's a Father. That should change everything right there. You're going to a Father. And next week, we're going to talk about how significant that is. We address God as our Father. Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank You for this prayer given by our Lord. We're so thankful that He gave it to His disciples so that through them it could be given to us. Father, I want to ask that You will guide us in our prayer times in the week to come. Father, may Your Spirit be present. Father, help us to see that we need to pray about Your needs, Your concerns, as well as our own. So, Father, we just ask that this would be a great guide and that You would teach us to pray and that You would help us to grow as prayer warriors. We ask this conference in the name of Jesus. Amen.