Sermons
May 22nd, 2022 by Pastor Solley051522AM Opening the Floodgates of Prayer
Sub. Prayer
Theme: The model prayer
Text: Luke 11:1-4 , 9
“Opening the Floodgates of Prayer” Luke 11:1-4 , 9
Introduction
It seems that the Holy Spirit has been leading to preach on prayer quite often of late and prayer is the subject of the message this morning. We are going to use a familiar portion of Scripture as a text, the model prayer as found in Luke. – Luke 11:1-4 , 9 In verse one we find a disciple asking Jesus to teach them to pray. – Luke 11:1 – That phrase “Teach us” is found only seven times in the Bible, but each time it is found it carries some meaning. The parents of Samson asked God to “Teach us what we shall do” in reference to their yet unborn son. Moses asked God to “Teach us to number our days” according to Psalm 90:12.
I. Here Jesus is asked “Lord, teach us to pray”: Luke 11:1 This is the sixth time that phrase is found in the Bible which is the number of man. Could it be because prayer is essential to the well being of all people?
A. These men were already men of prayer: They were men of faith and that made them men of prayer.
1. Their custom before they met Jesus was to go to the temple at the hour of prayer whenever possible: That continued after they met Jesus, after the cross, after the resurrection. They were men of prayer before this request was offered up to Jesus.
2. Many of them were disciples of John the Baptist and John pointed them to Jesus: They were men of prayer already.
B. But they saw something in Jesus as He went to prayer: Luke 11:1 Jesus went to a certain place to pray and then Jesus was in a certain place in prayer. A place close to the Father, so close that every prayer Jesus prayed was answered in the way that He prayed.
1. It must have seemed as of the floodgates of prayer were always open to Jesus: Jesus said while praying before the tomb of Lazarus “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always:” It must have seemed as if the floodgates of prayer and answered prayer were always opened upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. And how they now wanted that some power in prayer: Luke 11:1
II. And so Jesus gives them a model to follow: Luke 11:1-4 Two things this model is not. (1) These are not magic words to repeat in order to get what we want from God as many treat them. When that happens it is vain repetition which we are warned against. (2) This is not the Lord’s prayer as Jesus prayed for us today. That is found in John 17.
A. But this is a model of how we should pray: I believe it is the way that Jesus prayed. Not these words, but this after this fashion.
B. I also believe because Jesus told us to pray after this fashion that this model can open the floodgates to answered prayer in our lives: Not granting every wish we have, but opening up the type of prayer life God wants us to have.
PROP: Do we want the floodgates of prayer to be opened for us? TS. Here are five things we need to put into practice..
Body
I. The floodgates of prayer are opened by relationship: Luke 11:2 We pray to our Father, That means there is a relationship.
A. This relationship begins when one comes to a true and genuine saving knowledge to the Lord Jesus Christ: Not when one believes in God, believes in heaven, believes in hell, believes the Bible. One cannot have a relationship with God apart from believing those things but the Devil also believes those things and he and his children are not children of God.
1. We all, because of our sin nature start out as children of the devil: Jesus said when talking to those who denied Him in John 8:44
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
2. We become a child of God through Jesus Christ when we confess we are sinners, repent of sin, and trust Jesus and Jesus alone for forgiveness and salvation: Rom 8:1-2 , 14-16 This relationship begins with salvation in Christ.
3. If you are not born again you have no relationship with God, He is not your father, and your prayers are ineffective: There must first be that relationship with God the Father through God the Son. Relationship.
B. But this goes beyond just being saved or born again: This speaks of a closeness with the Father. – Rom 8:15 – The word Abba points to a closeness, not just a relationship. It is used only three times in the Bible. Jesus used it while in prayer in the garden, it is used here, and then in Gal 4:6 where the Bible says “ And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” It speaks of a closeness, not just a relationship.
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ILL. We all have had or have earthly fathers. Some are closer to their earthly fathers than others. For some they have been fairly close, others very close. I was always fairly close to my father. During some teen years not so close. Then after mother passed very, very close. We have all had or have earthly fathers, some closer than others to their father.
1. Our heavenly Father wants us to be close to Him: Rom 8:15 He wants us to abide with Him, to trust Him, to walk with Him, to consult Him in all things, to spend much time with Him. Our heavenly Father wants us to be close to Him.
2. The closer we are to our heavenly Father the sweeter the relationship: This opens up the floodgates of prayer.
3. It is on display daily just how close you are, I am, to our heavenly Father: On display by the way we live and what we do.
a. How much time did you spend talking to your heavenly Father in prayer this past week?
b. How much time did you spend allowing your heavenly Father to talk to you through His Word this past week.
c. Did you allow His Spirit in you to guide you daily?
d. Did you rush to His house this morning because you love to be where He says He is?
4. What is the level of your relationship with your heavenly Father today: It is on display daily, that closeness or lack thereof.
C. The floodgates of prayer are opened by relationship: Luke 11:2
II. The floodgates of prayer are opened by acknowledgment: Luke 11:2 To acknowledge God is in heaven and we are not. This is speaking about more than location. God is in heaven and we are on earth, but it speaks about more than location.
A. This speaks about authority, about God having authority over us, over all: Luke 11:2 As the creator of all, the one who knows all, the all powerful one, as God, God is sovereign and has full sovereignty. The Bible says that God, not man, is the possessor of heaven and earth in Gen 14:18. God is on the throne, we are not.
1. In Psalm 33 we find this picture of the sovereignty of God: Ps 33:6-9
2. This anthem will sound for all eternity: Rev 19:6
3. God is the one in control of all, has authority over all, and does all things well: Not man.
ILL. In those teen years when I was not as close to my earthly father as I should have been the problem was that I wanted to be my own boss, I knew more than he did, I could do things better than he could, see things he could not…None of that was of course true but that attitude in me put a great strain on our relationship…
B. We need to realize, even in our prayer lives, that God is on the throne and we are not: If not we will come demanding of God, ordering God, telling God what to do and when to do it. We need to be very careful in prayer not to try and switch places with God.
1. The Bible is clear on how we should approach God: Heb 12:28-29
2. We are to be in awe of God, to fear God: Those closest to God do fear God. – Ps 5:7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
a. I know how I am to approach God. – Heb 12:28-29
b. Only a fool will not fear God.
3. I am to stand in awe of the holiness of God: Luke 11:2 That is what it means to say that His name is hallowed. To be humbled by the holiness of God.
4. To see God as King: Luke 11:2 Be very careful not to switch places with God. Reverence God and see Him on the throne.
C. The floodgates of prayer are opened by acknowledgment: Luke 11:2
III. The floodgates of prayer are opened by submission: Luke 11:2 “Thy will be done.” If God is our Father and we have a close relationship with Him, if we do acknowledge His sovereignty over all including us, we will submit to our heavenly Father. We will be found praying for the will of God to be accomplished in all that we ask.
A. This is the example of Jesus: Mark 14:36 This is one of the three places the word Abba is used pointing to the closeness between God the Father and God the Son.
1. We know this is the hour of greatest need in the life of Christ: And what did Jesus ask for? – Mark 14:36 – The will of the Father.
2. Jesus was willing to submit to the will of the Father in all things and at all times: Mark 14:36
3. David was a man after God’s heart and what was His desire in life, in prayer: Ps 40: 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
4. There was a willingness to submit to the will of God: That submission opened the floodgates of prayer.
a. We know of the prayer life of Jesus as recorded in the Bible and that is just a small window into His prayer life.
b. We find the same with David as we read the Psalms. A willingness to submit to the will of the Father.
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B. How willing are we to submit to the will of God in our lives as we bring our requests before the throne of grace? I at times find it very difficult to form those words because one should not say thy will be done if he or she does not mean it.
1. When praying over a loved one are we willing to submit to the will of God? Knowing they may not be healed.
2. When praying over children are we willing to submit to the will of God? Are we willing to place them in His hands?
3. When faced with tough decisions are we willing to submit to the will of God? Knowing that His directions will be the best for us.
4. How willing are we to submit to the will of God? The Bible says in 1 Thess 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
5. When we complain, when we refuse to give thanks, we are not submitting to God’s will for our lives:
6. As the angels in heaven submit to His will we need do so as well: Luke 11:2
C. The floodgates of prayer are opened by submission: Luke 11:2
IV. The floodgates of prayer are opened by petition: Luke 11:3 God wants to hear from us in prayer, wants to see us bow before Him, wants to hear each need. – Luke 11:3
A. If Jesus needed to pray is an often asked question: I can’t answer that but I can say that Jesus did pray.
1. The Father wants to hear our voices in prayer: Luke 11:3 ; Ps 28:2
2. The Father says “Call unto me and I will answer thee”: There are often times when the words are hard to find because the trouble is so great, but God wants to hear from us. Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
B. What then is the scope of things we should pray for? Jesus said men ought always to pray. Men ought always to pray about everything all the time.
1. We cannot weary God by coming continually before Him in prayer: The woman who came before the unjust judge did weary him, but we will not weary the Lord.
2. Never should it be said of us what is said of those believers addressed by James: “Yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
3. Daniel knelt and prayed three times a day, three sessions of prayer daily: God heard the voice of the prophet.
4. David prayed morning, noon and night: God knew the voice of the shepherd boy made king.
5. God wants to hear your voice in prayer: The big things, the little things, God wants to hear and answer your prayers.
6. But we need to pray: Perhaps no one needs to hear this more than I do, we need to pray.
7. How much time do you give to God in prayer each day? What if God made that public knowledge? How many of us would be ashamed for others to know exactly how much we are given to prayer? Or should I say how little time we are given to prayer.
C. The floodgates of prayer are opened by petition: Luke 11:3
V. The floodgates of prayer are opened by forgiveness: Luke 11:4 Of the five points of the message this morning this perhaps the hardest for us to accept and practice. The floodgates of prayer are opened by forgiveness.
A. This is taken a step farther in the account in Matthew: Matt 6:11-15 In Matthew forgiveness is made a condition of answered prayer. – Matt 6:14-15 – I say that because the Bible tells us in Ps 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: To be unforgiving, to refuse to practice forgiveness is sin and when I harbor sin, keep sin, it hinders prayer.
1. My Scofield study Bible states this is on legal ground in his study notes: That under law forgiveness has to be granted in order for it to be received but now under grace because we have already been forgiven we are to forgive. I don’t see it that way.
a. Not that we cannot be forgiven because we don’t forgive because we are under grace and have been forgiven.
b. But prayer can be hindered, my relationship with my heavenly Father be hampered because of an unforgiving spirit in me.
2. Notice how we are to forgive: Eph 4:30-32 We are to put away those things found in verse 31 and put on verse 32. – Eph 4:31-32
ILL. I had a very good friend, a mentor, tell me one time you don’t have to forgive unless forgiveness is asked and contrition shouwn. That is something else I cannot find in the Bible. – Eph 4:30-32
3. Of the five things we are looking at this morning that unlock the floodgates of prayer this is perhaps the hardest to practice:
B. Even those closes to Jesus had a hard time with forgiveness: Luke 17:3-5 This is one command that Jesus gave them and at once they asked for the increase of faith to obey it. – Luke 17:3-5
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1. The Christian who claims to have never had a problem with forgiving is not being honest: Our flesh wants to keep things, to harbor things, to hold onto something until we get our opportunity to get even.
2. All the while this is what is taking place: Heb 12:15 Bitterness destroys.
a. But it is never the one you are bitter towards.
b. Bitterness destroys the bitter one.
3. Look in the Old Testament at what bitterness did to King Saul: Saul became bitter toward David and who was destroyed?
C. Many of us need to get on our knees before God and ask for our faith to be increased so we can forgive as Jesus did:
D. The floodgates of prayer are opened by forgiveness: Luke 11:4
Conclusion
I. The floodgates of prayer are opened by relationship: Luke 11:2 We pray to our Father, That means there is a relationship.
II. The floodgates of prayer are opened by acknowledgment: Luke 11:2 To acknowledge God is in heaven and we are not. This is speaking about more than location. God is in heaven and we are on earth, but it speaks about more than location.
III. The floodgates of prayer are opened by submission: Luke 11:2 “Thy will be done.” If God is our Father and we have a close relationship with Him, if we do acknowledge His sovereignty over all including us, we will submit to our heavenly Father. We will ne found praying for the will of God to be accomplished in all that we ask.
IV. The floodgates of prayer are opened by petition: Luke 11:3 God wants to hear from us in prayer, wants to see us bow before Him, wants to hear each need. – Luke 11:3
V. The floodgates of prayer are opened by forgiveness: Luke 11:4 Of the five points of the message this morning this perhaps the hardest for us to accept and practice. The floodgates of prayer are opened by forgiveness.