Teach Us to Pray! - Pray Without Ceasing!

Luke 11:5-8 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; (6) For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? (7) And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. (8) I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 

Last week, we started chapter 11 and it opened with his disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray.  So Jesus obliged by using the model prayer or what is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer as an outline.  But his lesson on prayer didn’t end there.  without pause, He continued by giving the illustration in our text today.

In this parable, Jesus describes a person in need of supplies late at night, for a traveler stops by and they have nothing to feed their traveling guest.  Jesus says that the host goes to a nearby neighbor to borrow what they need to feed the guest.  Because it is late at night and the neighbor is already in bed, he is unwilling to help his friend. However, the neighbor finally relents due to the relentless nature of the asking.

When we keep this story in the context of:  “Lord, Teach us to Pray”, we can learn that God wants and expects us to pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. 

The God we serve is a generous and loving God and wants to help us, lead us and unburden us from the things of this life that can bring us down.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

The Bible goes to great lengths to demonstrate how much our God knows us, cares for us and ultimately will help us if we are faithful to him.  But the most powerful passage along those lines is this

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 

This passage says it all.  God loves those that follow him like a Father loves and cares for a child.  Therefore, like my earthly father, if I go to him and ask for his help, he will certainly do what’s best for me.  God then encourages us to pray for those things that are on our minds and cause us to be discouraged.

I have heard an old saying that I believe this passage supports:  “If it is worth worrying about, it is worth praying about”.  Feel free to go to God as much as you need!

Reflecting the SON,  

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.

Teach Us to Pray! - The Model

Luke 11:1-4 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. (2) And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. (3) Give us day by day our daily bread. (4) And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. 

Prayer is one of the greatest blessings that God has given to his children.  It is hard to put into words the value of this gift.  However, If you wanted to get a face-to-face meeting with the president of the United States, you had better think again, because there is no way that a normal citizen could every get to see him.  For that matter, you would not have much luck if you wanted to see the governor of the state.  However, our loving, compassionate, gracious Father has given us the opportunity to go to him at any moment and as much as we deem necessary, to petition our concerns.

After Jesus’ disciples witness him praying, they come to him and ask Jesus to teach them to pray as well.  Jesus then gives them this model to follow.  In Matthew’s account of the model prayer, Jesus actually said to pray after this manner...

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

Often I hear people call this the “Lord’s Prayer”, but actually it not a prayer that he offered, but rather a pattern to follow.  So what is the pattern that we should follow?

Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name:  God is to be addressed with reverence and respect.  All too often these days, I hear people pray to in a manner that they sound like they are talking to a buddy.  We are not talking to a buddy.  God is NOT our equal!  God is our creator and is deserving of our respect and our prayers , and the manner that we address him in those prayers, should reflect that respect.

Thy Kingdom Come:  Jesus teaches us to pray for his church.  Specifically for them at that moment in time, they needed to pray for the coming of his kingdom,  For us, now that the kingdom has been established, our prayers should be different, yet it still needs our prayers.  We need to pray that the gospel is spread throughout the word.  That the lost is hearing it, and that the church will continue to grow.

Thy Will be done:  In order for us to legitimately pray this, we have to mean it.  In order to mean it, we must be willing to set aside our own will for God’s.  We cannot go and mouth the words “Thy Will Be Done” and not care about what God wants.  Neither can we go through the motions of pretending to care about what God wants, only to disregard it for doing what pleases ourselves.  If we want to take advantage of the power of prayer, we will have to truly follow God’s will

Give us this day our daily bread:  Here God teaches us to ask for the NEEDS of this life.  God wants to be the giver of such necessities (Matt 6:33).  I do not believe, however, that bread is a literal term here, but rather a representative word to refer to the sincere needs of this life like food, shelter, clothing, jobs, improved health etc.

Forgive us our sins:  While prayer is not the ultimate means to the end of forgiveness, to those that forgiveness have been granted, prayer is an avenue of expressing our sincere regret, and contrite spirit and repentance.  The bible often tells us that we should as for forgiveness from our Father.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:  Like other aspects of prayer, the power of this portion, lies partially in our willingness participate.  It just does not seem reasonable to ask for assistance, all the while living in a complete opposite manner.  Does it seem reasonable to ask God to lead us not into temptation and to deliver us from evil, if we have lead ourselves into that same temptation that we want deliverance from?  Is it logical to ask to God to help us not to lust while sitting in a strip club?  If we want deliverance, if we want to be lead, we must do our part in controlling our environment to the best of our ability.

If we follow this pattern, this outline, this general guideline for our prayers, we will find them to be more effective.

Reflecting the SON,  

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.

Making Better Choices!

Luke 10:38-42 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. (39) And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. (40) 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. (41) And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: (42) But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. 

Life is full of choices. For that matter, each day is virtually one choice after another.  Many choices we make and never really comprehend that we have made a choice.   We simply make them instinctively.  First thing in the morning, when our alarm rings, we have the choice of hitting the snooze, jumping out of bed, or turing off the alarm and going back to sleep.  We then have the choice of taking a shower first, getting a cup of coffee, eating our breakfast, taking the dog out, waking the kids, and the list goes on and on.  Each of those things may need to be done, but the order we do them is a choice that we make.  And that is just the first 10 minutes of our day.  The rest of our day is really no different.

Most choices that we make are inconsequential.  What do I want to wear?  The blue suit or the gray suit?  In the big scheme of things, choices like that are not going to effect our lives.  What we have for lunch may effect our waist lines differently, but 20 years from now, one particular mea, on one particular day won’t make any difference.  We make so many of those choices each day that I wonder if we minimize all decisions as being inconsequential.

In our text this morning, we find Jesus having a very human moment.  He is having dinner with very close friends; Mary and Martha.  The two sisters apparently were quite different, largely because of the choices that they make.  Martha (vrs 40), as Jesus arrives, does what comes natural to her, she goes about preparing for the meal.  She had choices.  That was the one that she made for herself.  On the other hand, Mary (vrs 39) decided to sit and to listen to Jesus teach.  After a while of seeing the results of their choices, Martha decides to complain to Jesus that Mary isn’t helping with the service of the evening.  Jesus’ response was, I am sure surprising, because he tells her that the choice that the sister made was the BETTER choice!

This event in Jesus’ life is a great lesson for us.  Martha probably thought that the decision that she made to fix dinner was a good choice.  But the choice was based upon the physical.  Mary however made a better choice because her’s was based upon the spiritual.  All too often, we are confronted with decisions where we can choose to focus on the physical things of this world or to focus on the spiritual.  Clearly, Jesus wants us to be more mindful of the spiritual.  

Several years ago, the company I worked for had a golf tournament on a Sunday morning.  I had a co-worker question me for missing the tournament for going to worship.  This is the principle.  We must focus on the spiritual rather than what I might want for personal enjoyment or entertainment.

Choices, like one lunch, one day may be, in and of itself consequential, but they create a pattern in our lives that govern the direction that we take.  That can be be VERY consequential!

Reflecting the SON,  

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.

Go and Do Likewise!

Luke 10:29-37 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? (30) And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. (31) And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. (32) And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. (33) But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, (34) And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. (35) And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. (36) Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? (37) And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. 

In our last lesson, we saw that the most important of God’s laws is to love God with ALL of our heart, soul, mind and strength and then to 'love thy neighbor' as ourselves.  So that statement...to love our “neighbor”, prompted the question of verse 29....“Who is my neighbor?”

To answer the question, Jesus tells his famous parable of the “Good Samaritan”.  In this parable, Jesus compares three people:  A priest, a Levi and a Samaritan.  Two of these men were not only 'religious', they were part of that day's religious leadership and at least theoretically, had dedicated their lives to the service of God. The third guy is generally considered to be an enemy of the Jews.  Each of the three men mentioned, passed by a traveller who is in desperate need of assistance because he was beaten and left for dead by thieves.  The two religious experts, who we would assume would be tender-hearted to the situation, see the injured traveler but pass by and ignore him.  On the other hand, the Samaritan, who we would assume would not care because of the emnity between the two peoples, takes him, cleans him up and uses his own money to care for him.  Once the story is told, Jesus asks a rhetorical question:  Which of the three men were neighbors to the injured man?

The first observation that needs to be made is this...Being “religious” is never enough!  Just because one “belongs” to a religious organization is not sufficient to being saved.  Jesus didn’t excuse the priest and Levi because they were religious. In fact, the entire parable is a criticism of them because they should have been more loving.  We must not rest upon our “spirituality”. Instead, we must realize, our relationship with God gives us greater responsibility.

The second point is Jesus‘ attack on prejudice.  Unfortunately, we still have a serious problem of this in our country and even among religious people. We must learn to see all people as people.  Not “them” or "us".  All men were created in the image of our God!  If God sees us all as being worthy of his Son, who are we to think otherwise?  To take it one step further, who are we to tell God that he is wrong that a particular race, class or a person of a particular socio-economic status is not worthy of our love or help?

Lastly, the main point that Jesus is trying to make is that being neighborly is an ACTION.  Notice Jesus’ command in the very last part of verse 37.  Jesus doesn’t say go and “feel” likewise.  He said...”Go and DO likewise!”  God loved...so he Gave.  If we love, we too must give, do and act.

May we mimic the behaviors and characteristics of our Master!

Reflecting the SON,  

Dennis Hogan

dennis.hogan@icloud.com

Questions, comments or  further explanation?  Contact me at:  dennis.hogan@icloud.com

If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward 

their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.