← Life.Church with Craig Groeschel
Life.Church with Craig Groeschel
What Jesus Actually Said About Prayer | How to Pray: Part 1
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You know you should pray more—but it can feel like a chore, or like it just doesn't work. What if the problem isn't your effort, but your aim? Let’s learn how to pray like Jesus.
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Welcome to Life Church. We're so glad you're here. Easter is coming soon and we'd love for you to celebrate with us at Life Church. You can find service times and get a sneak peek of what you'll experience at Life Church. Easter. We've got another encouraging message for you this week. Let's go to it right now.
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Well, in 2004, there was a man named Matt Edmonds. Now, Matt Edmonds is one of the greatest American sharpshooters of all time. And so it's the 2004 Olympic Games, and he's getting ready to win another Olympic gold medal. He is in the final round and all he has to do is hit the target, doesn't have to hit a bullseye because he's given himself such a large lead. And so as he's getting ready to take the final shot and celebrate gold, he lines up his feet, he builds his base, he steadies his aim, fires bullseye. Except Matt wasn't celebrating and he watched as his name moved from first place down to eighth place. Because in some weird mix up, in some weird accident, what Matt did was he hit the bullseye, but he hit the wrong target. And I wonder how often we can do the same thing when it comes to prayer. Like, have you ever thought, if prayer really worked, why don't I do it more? If my prayers actually change things, why at times is it my last resort rather than the first response? Why don't we pray more? I think that's because at times we don't actually know what the purpose of prayer is. I think it's really interesting when you look at the disciples lives Jesus, closest followers, the ones who were with him 24, 7, who had breakfast with him, lunch with him, ate dinner with him, the same people who were in the boat as Jesus walked on the water to them. The same people who were there when Jesus took just a few loaves of bread and a few fish and fed thousands of people. The same disciples who watched Jesus open the eyes of a blind guy, heal the sick, raise the dead. The one who saw Jesus do miracle after miracle. And when they come to ask Jesus a question, it wasn't about any of that. The one question they asked Jesus was teach us how to pray. And that's why over the next three weeks, we're going to be in a series called how to Pray, where we're going to look at some questions it seems like we all have at times. Like, have you ever thought, how do I pray and actually know God is hearing my Words. When it comes to prayer, is there a special formula that I'm supposed to use that makes it more effective? How do I know when I'm praying that I'm doing it right? I love when you think about the life of Jesus. He doesn't just teach it, but he also lives it. And in a moment, we're gonna look at some scriptures from the life of Jesus. But before we do that, I wanna pray today, and so would you pray with me. Dear Lord, what a gift it is that we would get to be in relationship with you. And so we are open to what you would want to say to us today. Speak. Lord, we love you. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Well, before we look at what Jesus teaches, I want to show you how Jesus lived. If you have your Bibles, this is in Luke chapter five. What you'll see is it says Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and did what? Pray. Okay, next verse. This is Luke chapter six. One of those days, Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God. Luke chapter nine, it says once when Jesus was praying in private. And then another few verses later, it says Jesus took Peter, James and John with him up a mountain to pray. Last one. One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. It seems like all throughout the life of Jesus, his experience with prayer was a lot different than ours because it wasn't just some obligation that he had to do. It was something that he really enjoyed. I love what Dallas Willard says when he defines prayer. He says that prayer is an intentional conversation with God about mutual concerns, about talking about things we both care about. And for the sake of this series, we're going to say that prayer is simply talking with God. Prayer is talking with God, not just to God, as a lot of us are used to doing, but prayer is talking with God. And I wonder if it's so easy to define, why is it often so challenging to do? Have you ever thought about that? Like, maybe you're like me when it comes to prayer and you sit down and I'm sitting in the morning, I'm like, okay, God, let's do this thing. This is gonna be awesome. And so I'm sitting there, and then all of a sudden I'm like, oh, my goodness, I forgot to send that text, that really important text. So I pick up my phone and I start typing out that text. And then I'm like, I might as well look at the weather while I'm here so I can figure out what I'm supposed to wear today. And then 30 minutes later, I kid you not, I'm watching a guy build a tree house in the middle of nowhere. How did I get here? I'm distracted. Maybe for you, when it comes to prayer, you're distracted. And maybe for some of you, when you think about prayer, you're not distracted, you're disappointed. Because you've tried to pray time and time and time again and it just hasn't worked. And you think, God, are you even out there? Do you even hear me? Are my words making a difference? Like maybe for you, you've applied for that job or, or you really have been praying about that college you want to get into. And so time and time and time again you're praying, and still no acceptance letter. Or maybe for you, and this is something that I see as a youth pastor at times, is there are parents who have seen their kids walk away from the faith, and so they're asking, lord, would my kid come back to church? God, would they be reminded of how loved they are by you? And yet nothing seemed to have changed. Where you're not distracted, you're disappointed. And it seems like we all know that prayer is this great virtue that we should strive for, but it's not always the life giving reality that we experience. And that's what I want to show you today in scripture, what Jesus teaches us. He gives us this framework or model for prayer. And. And so I'm gonna ask you at all of our life church locations, would you stand with me as we read God's word together? If you're able to, across every life church location, would you stand with me as we get to pray a prayer prayed for generation after generation. So would you pray this with me? We're gonna pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we've also forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Great job. You may be seated. I think this is a prayer that we've heard from Jesus, whether you've seen it on a coffee mug or you grew up in a really liturgical church that read it week after week. And it's something that oftentimes we're all familiar with, but we don't actually know what maybe precedes it. And so what I want to do, if you have your Bibles, I want to show you what comes before this prayer. Because before Jesus gives us this framework for prayer. He actually teaches us how not to pray. So if you have your Bibles, open with me to Matthew chapter six, and we're going to start in verse five, here's what Jesus says when it comes to how not to pray. Jesus says this, verse five, and when you pray. So he's assuming that the people he's talking to have already started trying to pray. Because what he's doing is he's talking to an audience of, yes, his disciples, but also many more listeners who have come to listen to him give this sermon on the Mount as you might have heard it. And so he gives this. When you pray, he says, do not do this. First, do not be like the hypocrites. Why? Because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen. But others, truly, I tell you, they've received their reward in full. And so right here, Jesus starts with, don't be like the hypocrites. And in the original language, what that word meant would have been like someone who was a stage actor, someone who was a performer, someone who wore a mask to perform in front of other people. And so what Jesus is saying is when you pray, it's not about performance, it's not about putting on a mask. I want the real you, he says in verse six. But when you pray, go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father who's unseen. Then your Father, who sees what's done in secret, will reward you. So number one, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. And then he keeps going. In verse seven, he says, and when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, because they think, because of their many words people, they will be heard. Verse 8, do not be like them. For your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So right from the beginning, Jesus says, when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to perform. And don't be like the pagans who think that because they use so many different Polish fancy words, God will hear them and move on their behalf. And what Jesus is trying to show us, and if you're taking notes, this is the first point, is when it comes to prayer, God wants your heart. When it comes to prayer, God wants your heart. Not the perfect polished package put together. You who uses these big words in prayer because you think that God will maybe be impressed because of your fancy language. Like, sometimes you come to prayer and you're like, I don't even use these words. When I'm talking to my friends. But Holy Reverend, Thrice Amazing Father, Deity in the sky, would you just hear me? And you're like, I don't even know what half of those words mean when I say them. I just feel like I'm supposed to say them when I pray. Don't be like the hypocrites who love to perform. And don't be like the pagans who try to manipulate God because of their many words. God wants your heart because the purpose of prayer. And I would encourage you, write this down. This is the sermon in a sentence. So if you're taking notes, write this down. And I'm gonna encourage you. If you're not taking notes, write this down. The purpose of prayer is not to get something from God, but it's to be with him and become like Him. The purpose of prayer is not to get something from God. It's to be with him and to become like Him. And so that's when. When Jesus teaches us to pray. He says this in verse 9. Then this is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven. See, right from the beginning, what Jesus does is he directs your attention to your view of God. How do you view God? He starts with, our Father directs your attention straight to your view of God. Why? Because he knows how you view God will affect how you pray. How you view God will have a direct correlation on how you pray. And I wonder for you, when you think about the one you're praying to, what's he like when you pray? Who are you talking to? Is he somebody who's trustworthy? Is he somebody who cares about the little things in your life? What kind of mood is he in? Does he like you? Because I think at times we don't recognize or stop long enough to pause to think, who am I talking to? And if we're not careful, at times we have this fragmented view of who God is. We don't understand. So maybe you're like, God, I know you're really busy up there with all these things going on in the world, but I need help for this, like, one little thing. Would you help me? Maybe you have this flawed view of God where you're like, I've messed up one too many times, God, I know you hate me. There's this little guy down here, but would you please help me? Maybe for you, when you think about God, he's like this cosmic vending machine where you push the button and you get what you want. You ask for it, and you expect it. You push the button and he's going to answer it because you said so. Maybe for you, God's like this policeman in the sky who's just waiting to catch you when you mess up. What's God like? Because what Jesus starts with is Our Father. Because number one, when it comes to prayer, God wants your heart. And the second thing is that prayer is relational. Our Father. I had the best dad growing up. The best parents. In fact, here's a picture of my dad and my brothers. If you're wondering, I'm the cute one on the left laughing. Okay, I know mamas aren't supposed to have favorites, but I'm a mama's boy. My parents favorite. I promise if you ask them, they'll probably say the same thing to all three of my brothers. But I'm gonna own it. And my parents were present all my different things. My dad was there at my baseball games, basketball games, soccer games, school recitals. And when I was growing up, my brothers and I. I remember whenever my dad would come home, we would be so excited. And so we would grab his coat off the hall tree. We would put on his oversized shoes and his hat, put it on backwards. Cause that's how he wore it. And we would run out the driveway, be like, dad's home, Dad's home. And grab his lunch pail. We were so excited. And then as I continued to grow up and grow older, my view of my dad began to get skewed. Cause I correlated affirmation and affection with accomplishment. It was nothing he did. I just felt like I was more seen and loved when I did things. I got more attention. And so when my dad would come home later, as I got older, I remember as a teenager, we would, my brothers and I, we would do this little trick where we'd leave the screen door open so we could hear his big white Diesel truck as it pulled around the corner. And when we heard his truck, what that meant was, dad's coming. We've got to turn the TV off. We've got to turn the video. Put the video games away. We've got to pretend like we're busy. Dad, I'm sorry I never told you that. We would try to make it look like we were being productive so that he would be happy with us right when he walked in the door. And what I realized is that I can often do the same thing when it comes to my relationship with God. And it's honestly something that God is still continuing to remind me of. Not just up here, but here. That I'm loved unconditionally. That I don't have to achieve anything before he says, I love you, that it's not about works and doing. He wants to meet with me. Our Father. I love when you think about Jesus having the Old Testament Bible. As you read through the Old Testament Bible, you recognize that there's a lot of names for God. Some you're like, I don't know how to pronounce that. I don't know what it means. And then you look it up and you recognize it gives more insight to the goodness and the character of who God is. Jehovah, Jireh, God our provider, Jehovah, Rapha, God our healer, Jehovah Nissi, God our banner. You have names like Elohim, el Adonai, El Shaddai. Old Testament names like Lord, Creator, King. And out of all those names that Jesus had to pick from, then, one name he uses for God more than any other, Father Abba. Language of intimacy. Because what Jesus wanted you to see is that when it comes to prayer, it is relational. And I think there might be some of you who, when you think about God as father, it's not good thoughts that come to mind because you had a broken relationship with your earthly dad. Like maybe for you, your dad, your father was manipulative, and so he would give you things or use bribes just to get you to do what he wanted. And so you don't know how to freely receive love. Or maybe for you, when you think about God as father, your father left when you were younger, and so you don't know what it looks like for a father to be present with you. Or maybe when you think about God as father, you had an angry or an abusive dad. And so honestly, that word makes you perk up a little bit, get on edge a little bit where it doesn't feel safe or trustworthy. If that's you, I just want to say I'm so sorry. And I believe that God grieves those wounds with you. The things that frustrate you frustrate him as well. The things that were done to you. The hurt that you carry is not how he wants you to see him. In fact, no matter how great your earthly dad is, he could never carry what only your heavenly Father can. Because the purpose of prayer is not just to get something from God, it's to be with him, to be with him relationally. The perfect Father, the one who is good and compassionate and gracious and kind and present. And oftentimes we know what present means, like in our minds, but we don't know how to experience the presence of God continually throughout our day as we talk to him. I remember I. I heard this story about this pastor who was called out by this older gentleman's daughter before he's passed away. And she said, hey, would you mind coming and praying with my dad before he passes away? And so the pastor's like, of course, yeah. Let me come out there. And so he walks into the hospital, he knocks on the door, and he says, this is interesting. There's a chair sitting by the bed. Were you expecting me to come? And the older gentleman said, no, no, no. Close the door. Let me tell you something. When it comes to the chair, I just talk to it like Jesus is in the chair next to me. He's like, let me explain before you think I'm just crazy and a lunatic and weird. And so he says, when I was growing up, I grew up in church, and I would hear these elegant sermons about prayer. The only problem was I often didn't know what they meant. So one day, in frustration, I went up to my pastor and I said, hey, could you help me understand this prayer thing? Because I don't. I hear it. I don't know how to do it. And he's like, yeah, let me just give you this book on prayer. This will solve all your problems. So the older man took the book home, and he's reading it, and he's like, by the third paragraph, I had to Google 12 different theological words. This is, like, so useless. And so he brings it back to the pastor. He's like, thank you. And under his breath, whispers for nothing. And he said, I just kind of gave up altogether. Until one day, one of my friends and I were talking, and he says, oh, like, when you pray, just have enough faith to believe that Jesus is in the room with you. Because he says that he'll be with you always, even till the end of the age. And so just talk to him like he's in the chair next to you. And the older gentleman said, I liked it so much, I just began doing it every single day for a few hours. And is that right, Pastor? Is that what I'm supposed to do? And the pastor's like, yes, that's amazing. Just talk to God like he's in the room with you, because he is. And so then the pastor prayed with him, and he left. And a few days later, the older man's daughter called and said, hey, I just want to let you know, my dad passed away. He went to heaven. And the pastor said, did he go peacefully? She said, he did. Except the strangest thing happened. I don't know if you know anything about this, but right before my dad passed, he breathed in a big breath of air, he lifted himself out of his bed and he laid his head on the chair next to him. Because he had enough faith that Jesus was in the room, that his last act on earth was to lay his head on Jesus lap before he went to heaven. You have a loving father who is so near to you, one who wants to spend time with you. Because the purpose of prayer is not just about getting something from God, it's about being with him and becoming like him. So in prayer, what do we learn? Number one, we learn that in prayer, God wants your heart. The second thing we learn when it comes to prayer is prayer is relational. And then the last thing that we'll learn today is that prayer is formational. How you pray will change how you live. Because this is what Jesus says when he teaches us to pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. And I don't know about you, but that word hallow is not something that I typically use in my vocabulary. It's not something in the day to day that comes up. Jesus, what do you even mean when you say hallowed be your name? Essentially, what we're praying when we say that is Jesus, would your name be recognized as holy? God, would I recognize your name as holy, as good, as compassionate, as loving, as forgiving, as kind? God, would I recognize your name as holy? And what tends to happen as this becomes your prayer is just watch the way you will be desperate to continue to get into the presence of God. As you begin to see God for how beautiful and lovely and righteous that he is, you will be wrecked for anything else you say. God, I want to be with a God like that, who loves me, who wants to spend time with me, a God who smiles when he thinks of me. And how many of you know, you become like the people you hang around with? And so the more you're around God, the more you begin to become like Him. The more you spend time with him, the more you embody the fruit of the spirit. You become more loving, more kind, more peaceful, more generous, more compassionate, more caring. You become who you hang around with. And so as you make that your prayer, God, would I recognize you as holy for who you are. Watch the way it begins to change your heart and transform your life. Watch the way you begin to live it out. And people become affected by the way that they see God because of how they see him in your life. God would. I recognize you for who you are and then it moves you to what I represent you as you are. Because God, not only do I want to see it, I need people to know your goodness and your kindness and your beauty. He's the prince of peace. He's the fullness of joy. He's the living water from whom you drink from. You'll never thirst again. He's the bread of life, the one that sustains you when it's hard. He's the good shepherd, the one that will lead you by still waters, the one who gives you rest. He's gentle and humble in heart, the one who is generous, the one who is near to the brokenhearted, the one who cares for the overlooked, the burdened, the orphaned, the widow. That's who he is. Because the purpose of prayer was never about getting something from God. It's about being with him and becoming like him. And so I want to invite you as our church family over the next three weeks, as we lead up to Easter, to make a decision to a declaration that in your life you are going to start the practice of prayer. If you have not yet. And for those of you who are like, I already pray, I wanna challenge you to take a step of faith over the next three weeks in prayer. Maybe for you, like, I pray in the morning and then I go about my day. And so you're gonna start praying morning, noon and evening, maybe there's some of you, you're like, I'm continually aware of the presence of God, but I'm gonna start challenging myself to be bold in faith and praying over one person every single day. Maybe for you, you're like, I'm in a season of a two year old, a four year old and a six year old. I barely got five minutes in my day. And so when you're driving on your way to the grocery store or to drop them off at school, you're going to just have a private conversation with God every day over the next three weeks. We're going to continue to talk to a God who is relational, who is loving, who is present, who wants to be near you. About four years ago, I moved away from home. And so every Christmas I get to fly home to see my family again. And what's so interesting is every time I get on like the last leg of the flight, so I lay over, I get on the plane, this, like anxious anticipation and excitement begins to stir up in my soul because I get to see my parents and my brothers and I get to go home. And then I Land in Long beach. And I see the palm trees. And I'm like, this is it. I'm so close. So I get off the plane, I'm bobbing and weaving around people, respectfully, of course, and I run to the curb and I hug my parents, and I'm so happy to see them. And then every single time this happens, we pull into my neighborhood, and I begin to get flooded with these memories. As we drive down the street I grew up on. There's Luis's house over there where we used to play basketball in the driveway all the time. There's that curb that I fell off my skateboard on and busted my elbow. And these memories begin to come back. And then I get inside, and my brothers are there. The bacon's already cooking. I could smell it as I walk in. And something settles in my soul, because I'm home. That's what prayer is. It's coming home to a God who loves you, who wants to be near you, who wants to spend time with you. So when you pray, pray like this to a relational God who is loving, to a God who is holy, to a God who is for you, and let that God shape you and draw near to you. And so, Father, what a gift it is to love you and to be loved by you. God, as we continue to explore this question on what is your heart for prayer? Would you speak to us and show us, enlighten us as we get to just talk to you freely? What a gift. No one looking around at all of our locations. For those of you here, and I hope this is all of you wanting to take a significant step toward prayer, you're here saying, I want to commit to every day over the next 21 days to pray, to talk to my father relationally, knowing that he cares for me, knowing that he's near to me. And I want to caution you, don't just raise your hand because other people are doing it for you in your own space before God, saying, I want to talk to him every day, I'm going to make that a commitment. I'm going to make that a priority. I'm going to have a plan. If that's you, would you just raise your hand so I could pray for you? Father, thank you so much. For those who are saying, I want to know you more, I want to talk to you continuously. God, as they draw near to you, we know that you'll draw near to us. And so over the next 21 days, God, would you do more than they can imagine? Would you show up in spaces that they might have forgot you were present. Overwhelm them with your love and with your kindness.
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And still in a attitude of prayer, no one looking around, every head bowed and every eye closed. We talked about today how prayer is relational. And why we say that is because there is a God in heaven who wants a relationship with you. And there are some of you today who, if I were just to sit down and honestly ask you, what does your relationship with God look like? You might have said, I don't really know Him. Maybe for you, this is your first time in church and you're just hearing about this God who is so loving and kind and near. Or maybe for you, you've wandered off a little bit, you've gone off from your faith and you're coming back today and God is drawing near to you. You feel him stirring in your heart and in your soul. He is a relational God who desires to be in relationship with you. Why? Because he created you. He wants to know you. And what happened is sin. The Bible says we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, AKA our relationship with a good, holy, perfect God was fragmented, was broken. And out of his desire for a relationship with you, he sent his Son, Jesus. The Bible said God so loved the world, and this includes you, that he gave his only Son not to condemn the world, not to shame the world, but so that the world might be saved through him, that includes you. And so at all of our locations, if you're saying, God, I need your love, I can't fix myself. I recognize I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. Jesus is the one that you call on. Because as you call on his name, God hears your prayers. He forgives your sins. And so if you're here today ready to make that decision, you're recognizing God, I need you. I can't fix myself. I'm done trying. I'm done running. I'm ready to choose you today. God, I need you. If that's your prayer today, what are we gonna do? We're simply gonna take a step away from our life of sin and take a step toward God. The Bible says, here I am. I stand at the door and knock whoever would let me in. I will come and eat with you and you with me. God wants to be in relationship with you. And so if you're here today and online, you can type in the chat if you're ready to say yes to a relationship with Jesus, to say, jesus, I need you, Jesus, I trust you, Jesus, I am putting My hope in you Jesus, I give you my life. That's your prayer. Lift your hand high right now at all of our locations. Lift your hand. Yeah, right over here. I see you in the back. Welcome to the family of God. Yeah, right over here. I see you. Welcome to the family of God. The Bible says the old is gone. Yeah, right back here. Congratulations. Welcome to the family of God. Anyone else saying, jesus, I give you my life. I recognize I'm a sinner in need of a savior. Jesus, I give you my life. Well, church, we're going to pray with those making that decision today. And would you pray with me? Dear Lord, I give you my life. I recognize I'm a sinner in need of a savior. Forgive me of my sins and fill me with your spirit so I may love you and serve you all the days of my life. It's in Jesus name I pray and all God's people said together, amen and amen and amen. Congratulations. Welcome to the family of God.
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We are celebrating with those of you who just made the decision to follow Jesus. Make sure you check out the show notes for helpful resources and next steps. One great next step is making plans to attend Easter services at Life Church. You can find all the info you need, including service times and locations at Life Church Easter. We'll see you back here next week for another encouraging message.
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Sam.