The Lord's Prayer

Please do take a seat. And if you have a Bible, it would be wonderful if you could turn to Luke 11. Luke chapter 11, and we're gonna read the first 4 verses. You'll notice that verse 2 has a footnote, which says that This is sometimes, and some manuscripts has to phrase our father in heaven. So that's how I'm gonna read it as per what we looked at last week.

Luke chapter 11. 1 day, Jesus was preaching in a certain place. When he finished, 1 of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. Just as John taught his disciples. He said to them, when you pray, say, our father in heaven Hello, be your name.

Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily breads. Forgive us our sins. For we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.

Well, good morning. My name's Pete Woodcock and 1 of the pastors of the church. We started this, series last week. Tom started it last week. We're gonna have a look at the lord's prayer, and we will be breaking it down and looking at each of the phrases in it as we go along.

Tom started with the introduction to this lord's prayer that Jesus gives in the sermon on the Mount in Matthews's gospel. And it's a very powerful introduction telling us really what prayer is and and what it isn't. And he he talks about in that introduction. Jesus says, don't be like the Hippocrits. And as we were seeing last week, the Hippocrits, the us.

What they're doing is they're not praying at all. They're dressing up. They've got the postures of prayer, They've got the religiosity of prayer. They're on street corners. They're raising their hands or whatever it is they're doing.

And, it makes them look godly, makes them look holy. And Jesus says they have their reward. And their reward is that people think they're really good people, they're really holy people. But they're not praying, they're not praying at all. And, and then there's another group of people that Jesus calls the pagans.

It's the false religions. And again, It's not how to pray. There's babbling. There's noise. There's constant repetition.

There's round and round going on and on and on. To try to get god's attention. And Jesus says, both of those are not praying. We need to come to the father. We need to come to god the father.

So that's the first introduction, and you see that in Matthews's gospel. Luke in telling the same, event about Jesus, gives a different introduction. It's not that It's different, but he he adds something else. And you see it there, and that's what we're looking at, in luke, chapter 11 verses 1 to 2. Let me read those again.

1 day so this is a this is Luke's, showing us Jesus' introduction. 1 day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, 1 of his disciples said to him, lord teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. He, that's Jesus, said to them, when you pray, say. So the introduction to the prayer, then we're gonna look at the Tom's just given me introduction, because he really wants to get into the meat of it next week.

So I've got to make up a sermon on lord teachers to pray. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Don. But it made me pray.

Lord, teach us to pray. No 1 asked Jesus how to do anything else, actually. It's quite surprising, isn't it? No 1 said lord teach us to walk on water. No 1 said lord teach us to feed the hungry.

No 1 even said, lord, teach us to preach. And so this is the only subjects that people said, how do you do it? Lord teaches to pray. And I think even in that there's something good. Because not all of us will be able to feed the hungry walk on water or even preach, but actually all of god's children can pray, all of them.

So lord teach us to pray. It's a great prayer itself. Lord teach us to pray. It's a good prayer, and I want to encourage us by the end of this sermon to pray that prayer. Lord, teach us continue to continually to teach us to pray.

We need to keep learning How to pray. So I think I think the request is a is is a is a great prayer in itself because many of us are uneasy about prayer. Let let's be honest about us. To to to 1 degree or other, we we feel a bit unworthy to pray. Do you feel like that?

I know, I've I've I've slipped up in that sin again. I'm unworthy to pray, or I'm act inadequate to pray, or I don't feel qualified to pray. And I'm I'm not even sure what I should pray, and how I should pray. Or our prayers turn into the the same old rumbling words that are a bit like babbling on, and it's all about sort of almost crossing our fingers and and wishing to luck and hoping that god will answer what we want him to answer. It it it becomes like that.

So lord teach us to pray is a really good prayer, actually. And yet in all my years in Christian Ministry, I've never had anyone ask that. As at least I can't remember, I can't remember ever anyone in church saying, would you teach us how to pray? Now That may well be because I'm a very bad example. I get that.

But it's interesting. I've never had anyone say How do we pray? Notice Jesus disciples, they asked this question after they'd they'd obviously seen him and heard him praying. There was something about Jesus prayer that made them say, lord teach us the prayer. If you read the gospels, You'll find very often Jesus is teaching people how to pray just by his praying.

1 of the things I think he says is, If you're busy, you must pray. He teaches his disciples when he prays that He's too busy not to pray. In March chapter 1, Jesus had this incredibly busy day. You can go through it. He's seeing 1 person after the other.

He's ministering to 1 person after the other. Probably many hundreds of people and he's dealing with them on a personal basis, and he's dealing with all their needs. And then we're told in Mark chapter 1, Very early in the morning, so the next day after he's absolutely exhausted himself very early in the morning while it was still dark. Jesus got up left the house and went to a solitary place where he prayed. You see, he's too busy not to pray.

He's so busy. He has to get up early in the morning to pray. And then we're told this, Simon, 1 of the disciples, Simon Peter, Simon and his companions went to look for Jesus. Where is he? He got up early in the morning.

And when they found him, they exclaimed everyone's looking for you. Don't you know the world is hurting? Don't you know that there's loads of people that we need to minister to? Don't you know the urgencies of some of the diseases and the demon possessed people that are around, don't you know the urgencies of the world and you're having a nice devotional time, Jesus? So what Jesus is doing there, I think, is saying to his disciples, listen.

I am too busy not to pray. It it's been said. When we work, we work. When we pray god works. And I think Jesus is already teaching his disciples that.

Prairieless people, you see, cut themselves off from god's power. And that will result in feeling overwhelmed with the work. That will fit get result in being overrun and beaten down and feeling defeated. So we need to pray. And busyness It's not a reason not to pray.

It's the reason to pray. And a world that's confusing and hurting and pains and don't know what to do is the reason we need to pray. So lord teaches to pray. What a prayer. Lord teaches to pray.

So I'm gonna break that down, and we'll look at various subjects. First of all, lord teaches to pray the simplicity of prayer. It's simple. Look at verses 1 and 2 again. 1 day, Jesus was praying in a certain place.

When he finished, 1 of his disciples said to him, lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. He said to them, when you pray, say, and then it's what we call the lord's prayer. There's nothing complicated here. Did you notice that? It's just very simple.

There's nothing weird. He doesn't say, well, let's think about posture. He doesn't think about posture. He doesn't talk about kneeling. He doesn't talk about raising up hands.

He doesn't talk about the direction where you need to pray in. When you pray, you need to look at east or west or whatever it is you wanna do. He doesn't talk about clothing. He doesn't talk about, well, when you pray, you need to wash yourself in certain ways. He doesn't say that when you pray, you need to separate men and women.

He doesn't have any kind of strange religious things to do. It's very simple. It's not about atmosphere. What you need is to get the candles out. You need to get the smells up.

You need to get the timing right. You need to have special days of prayer. You need special religious people to help you to lead you in prayer. There's nothing about performance at all. When you pray, he says, when you pray, what's the next word?

Say. Say. Now that might be obvious, but increasingly in Christian circles, it isn't obvious. Increasingly, it's common now to assume that real heart prayer, and I'm quoting, goes beyond words into the inner temple of silence. Yeah?

Couldn't be more buddhist. It's certainly not Christian. Real prayer is silence. People form the best prayer when they're silent. Jesus says, when you pray, say.

Yeah? And it's very important because there is a whole load of stuff. I looked up Christian prayer, and evangelical Christian prayer. And I've got some quotes here. I better not tell you who they're from, but let me just quote them.

This this is what's coming in. This is what's happening. I mean, this is how we get this unchristian stuff. We just don't read Jesus. We read other people.

Here we are. Here's a very famous woman, a mother from Italy, beginning with tea. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence. We cannot put ourselves directly in the presence of god if we do not practice internal an external silence. Jesus said, say.

Silence is the language of god. It is also the language of the heart. Jesus said, say. By the way, the Bible opens with god speaking. Silence is the room Jesus told us to enter into when we pray.

No, he didn't. He said, say. Now I understand we have to get away from noise, and I understand that Jesus went to a solitary place, and sometimes we need to go to a solitary place. I understand that, but it's not the silence of words that's being suggested here. Last week, we were down, seeing some family members in in Devon, and we went to the local church.

And, the the the vicar there, Victor Carol, her name was, seemed to base herself on the vicar of Dibley. She was very lovely, personally, very lovely. But what she told us about, was, in her sermon was about the retreat that she'd just been on. And the the retreat was a Christian retreat place where you had to be silent, but not only silent. You weren't allowed to take any lit or any phone or anything.

You couldn't take a bible. You mustn't take a bible. You just had to be silent And I liked her because she broke the silence in what went on her phone and then looked up a Bible verse, which I thought was better than just being silent. But even, isn't it wasn't just quiet? She was told she wasn't even allowed to think She said you weren't allowed to even reflect.

You had to just empty your mind. Where do we get this non Christian nonsense stuff from? Jesus says, say. When you pray, say Father, hallowed be your name. They are words that you can understand.

So it's not just speak. It's speak words you understand. They're not ecstatic out of this world, supposed holy spirit language. Are they? They're clear words we understand.

The first word is father or our father. Because we're speaking not to a force, Not to an energy, we're not sort of tapping into the power of the universe somehow that's an impersonal force, We're talking to someone as Christians that we know and that we love and that we're in the family of. That praying isn't some mystical journey. We're not engaging in some kind of mystical quest. Where we empty our minds, we're speaking to father whom the son has brought us into as we'll see a little later on.

We're speaking to the 1 who saved us from hell. Personally, we're speaking to the 1 who has saved us from sin and self and brought us into the family of god. And with gladness given us the Holy Spirit. And so we speak to a father like a child sensible words. We don't come to impress him.

He's our father. Nobody can impress god anyway. So that's all a silly thing. We come as dependent children to a loving father. Carl rang me up today.

I didn't even know it was father's day because no 1 told me. But Carl, 1 of 1 of my children rang me up, just like to say. And I'm sure bought me a present, that often happens from 1 of them. And it and it he rang up and said hello. Happy father said, I didn't even I didn't even know, but he just talked to me normally.

Yeah. Because we have a relationship. The other 1 didn't bother. Except when she wanted an iPad the other day, and it was dad. Yeah.

But, you know, you speak normally. And Jesus is saying prayer is just simple. Can we get this? It's simple. There's no high sounding words.

You don't have to have a degree in theology. There's no massive theological word you've got to use. It's there's no beautiful rhetoric and get into some kind of poetry. There's no religious mysticism going on here where you enter your mind There's no complicated reasoning going on here. It's a very beautiful prayer because prayer is so simple.

It's playing words. It's father. I mean, it's very odd sometimes in prayer meeting. Where you have someone that suddenly uses words and phrases they don't normally use. Why do we do that?

Or suddenly some people put on funny, funny voices, don't they when they pray? Yeah. And it's odd, isn't it? I mean, I've told you this before, but I now it's in my head and I can't get it out. But I remember an aussie when I was in Australia.

He he he was a real aussie. Alright, mate. Yeah. Yeah. Alright.

And then when he got up, it was like, you know, g'day, everyone. Gonna pray now. Father. And it was like, what's happened? He's he's turned from an Australian.

He's turned into into something Chinese. It's bad. Sorry. It was weird. Or or or or this prayer is simple.

And not only is it simple and you use a normal voice with it. But, actually, it's not a long prayer. It's very short. Jesus says in this introduction, as we saw last week, in Matthew, don't babble. It's not eloquent, long winded.

C h c h spurgeon said some brethren pray by the yard, or if you don't know what yard is, it's a meter. Some brethren pray by the meter. But true prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single grown father, before god, may have more fullness of prayer in it than fine or or or oration of great length. He he had once at his prayer meeting, and there were m thousands would go to his prayer meeting.

1 brother stood up and was praying for a very long time. And he said, well, he stood up and said, well, while the brother is finishing off praying, let sing him number 71. And, you know, it doesn't have to be long. It's short. When you pray, say, Now, Jesus is answering their request.

Lord, teach us to pray. Notice it's teach us to pray. It's not teach us a prayer. So although this is a prayer, it's a model prayer. It's not something that you're meant to rattle out all the time.

And the funny thing is that some people do that. They take this prayer and use it as a, a babbling on. You know, they they they say the hail Mary's, and then you come to this prayer, and you just say this prayer. Or every week, they say this prayer. It's actually a model prayer.

When the architects make a model of of of the building that they're going to build, it's a model. It's a picture. It's not the real thing. Or it's a skeleton prayer that you flesh out, and it's brilliant for that. And I want to encourage you to use it as a skeleton prayer If you listen to Anne's prayer, Anne based her prayer clearly on the lord's prayer.

Now you may not have heard that, but structure was her her the lord's prayer, I think. Yes. There you go. I know her. I know her very well.

But that's what I do. It's a wonderful thing because it's so short you can memorize this structure. And when you're riding your bike or walking, you can go through it. It's a model prayer. It's simple.

It's short. It's structured in ways that you can memorize it. When you pray, Say father. Hello, be your name. It's god centered prayer that we'll we'll see this as we go through.

Our father, it reminds us who god is in heaven. It's all about him that we're praying. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done.

It sets us straight first that the world and my life should be about god and his holiness and his will and his kingdom. But not only that, it's it's god centered, but it's about real life. Give us each day our daily bread. Where we need you to feed us, forgive us our sins, for We also forget, forgive everyone else's sins against us. Lead is not into temptation.

It's about the reality of life. I'm tempted. I'm tempted not to forgive. I'm tempted to forget that I've been forgiven of all my sin. Look, lord, help me, feed me.

And then it's not just about me and all my wants, our father. Lord teaches to pray the simplicity of prayer. That's my first point. Here's the second point. Lord teach us the need to pray.

Law teaches to pray simplicity. Lord teaches the need to pray. From birth, we've been learning the rules of self reliance. And we're we're constantly pushed into this self sufficiency. Taught it again and again.

And prayer flies in the face of those deep seated values of self. That's what real prayer does. It's an assault on human autonomy. It's an attack on independent living, and we need to pray to tell us that. It's an attack on people who are on the fast lane, and they're determined to make it on their own.

To be their own person. Prairie is an embarrassing interruption to the self. And that's why we need to pray. It's alien. To our proud human hearts.

If you don't pray, however nice and humble you may come across, you're a proud person. You think you can make it without god? So teach us to pray teach us the need to pray because it will change everything. Prayer In a sense, we we when we ask teachers to pray, we're actually really asking, change our whole perception. Change our whole life, Jesus.

So prayer is needful for salvation. You you won't be saved. You won't be a child of god without prayer. How can you become a follower of Jesus without asking him? How can you how can you be a Christian without pleading for mercy, asking for mercy, asking for grace, asking for forgiveness.

You can't be a Christian, a follower of Christ without saying, hell, hell. I need help. I can't rescue myself. I I'm not sufficient. You have to put pride down to be a Christian, to start as a Christian.

We'll carry on that way. We need grace and forgiveness. Prior is a sign that we're children of god. Romans chapter 8 verse 5. Wonderful.

Listen. The spirit, because when you become a Christian, you don't just say words The spirit of god lives in you. The spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. It's the spirit that made you a son, and listen, and by him we cry abba father. It's by the if you're crying, Amber, the Holy Spirit of God lives in you.

The power of god lives in you. So in this model prayer, it teaches us priorities that we should live by. So prayer itself is changing our priorities. Our our priorities are about god kingdom, not my kingdom first. They're they're about my needs to be able to fulfill that will.

Pre shows me how vulnerable I am. Can I get through this day without god? It was 1 of the things that very much struck me, and some of you have been there way before me. The the the when I had surgery, how utterly vulnerable I was? And that most of my life is covering up my vulnerability.

I'm so utterly vulnerable. You know, people people had to, you know, put me down and wake me up. The woman, the ineffortis woman started telling me off when I came round, because apparently I'd stopped breathing. Wasn't my fault? I'm just vulnerable.

Yeah? We're just so utterly vulnerable. You have to be washed by a a nurse. It's you have to be injected and and so utterly vulnerable. Well, prayer shows me.

I'm vulnerable. I need god. I need none other than god, the father. If I walk out into the day without god, then I'm gonna be dragged into the thinking that the world is all about me, that this what life is all about me, that it's my kingdom, it's my will that counts. And I'll be so small minded.

I'll be taken up with the small things. It'll be that I need to provide daily bread for myself. Not rather than rely on god to provide it for me. It will be that I will be able to deal with sin and temptation on my own rather than god help me lead me not into temptation. Guide me out of that route.

I'm naturally attracted to it. Without prayer, I won't be able to forgive people that have hurt me. Won't be able to love people. I think I'll cope with the evil 1 on my own. I'll cope with satan on my own.

We need prayer continually. We are always children in this life, and we constantly need father to help us. We are apprentices in life and continually need the master to guide our hand. As we work out life. We are never ever created to do life on our own.

Lord, teach us to pray the simplicity of prayer, lord, teach us the need to pray. It's a good prayer, ain't it? Thirdly. Lord, teach us to want to pray. Teachers to want to pray.

Do you wanna pray? When prayer time comes around, there's a Julia disinterest this turns upon us, isn't it? Isn't it? You can do talks about all kinds of things in your filler room. Yeah?

Sex. Thousands of people come. You know? Almost anything, prayer. Big busy today.

There's a thousand and 1 good and even innocent reasons that present themselves when prayer comes up. I'm busy. Well, we've just seen. If you're busy, you have to pray, bed, and tired. Jesus got up early.

TV, box set, work, books. Theology. You gotta study the Bible. Now what's the reason for this? We sort of wanna pray because we're god's children.

If we're the children of god, we wanna talk to the father, but we also don't wanna pray. What's the reason for this? Well, the devil Is 1 reason? The devil knows that prayer is a major power if we're ever gonna live the Christian life, and so he wants to stop that. He knows the devil that the only people that renew their strength and run and don't don't give up and don't get weary and walk and don't get faint.

Are those that renew their strength as they wait upon the lord in prayer? He knows that. Therefore, he's determined to stop it. As the old hymn says, satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. So he wants to stop it.

Now look, let's get this. We need to ask the lord to help us to want to pray because prayer is not just a formula as we've seen, of religious sentiments, but it's calling upon a real father god who actually wants to change us and is invested in that change. He wants to intervene in our lives, like a good father and trainers. So when we pray, lord, teach us to want to pray, It's a really, really good start because real prayer will change us, will redirect us. James, chapter I think I've put some of these, texts up.

Is that James? Yes. James chapter are gonna reel off a load of tech now? Whoever's doing that? Are you doing that?

Who's doing that? Brilliant. So James, chapter 4 verse, who says, you do not have because you do not ask. Yeah. It's so simple, isn't it?

I mean, 1 of the re 1 of the reasons for unanswered prayer is prayerlessness. You haven't asked. Yeah? You haven't asked, so you don't get. But real prayer, you see, is asking not just for things, but asking to change us.

You don't have. You're not changed because you you haven't, do you wanna stay the same in your Christian life? Or do you wanna grow? Then lord teach us to want to pray because then we're asking. For instance, we'll ask you to change my selfishness.

Way. That's nearly happened. Change yourself is look at James chapter 4 verse 3, the next verse. Look, when you do ask, when you ask, Do not you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives. You're not really praying because you've got the whole wrong motive here.

You haven't started off with god and his will first. You gone straight into what you want. And then he says, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask for wrong motives. So part of prayer, part of really wanting to prayer to pray is to say, lord, I want the right motives, and part of being taught to pray in particularly the lord's prayer is putting out the priorities first.

It's not all about me and what I want. And so prayer is changing us from a selfish motivation? Or or or or look at this next verse in proverbs. Lord teach us to want to pray to change the way I treat people. It's interesting at prayer and and how we treat people go together.

Look at Proverbs, 21. It says whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered. So part of real prayer is realizing that I need I need to have an unselfish life. I need to love the poor. I need to look out for poorer people around me.

And if I don't, I won't really pray. So real prayer is beginning to change their selfishness. Look look at this 1, husbands. Who's a husband here? Hands up husbands.

Right up. Yep. Hands you wanna be a husband. Hands up if you wanna be a husband. Right?

You wanna be a husband. Right? Right, husbands. Listen to this 1 Peter, listen to 1 Peter. Listen to this.

See how prayer and and living with your wife go together. Listen. Husbands, in the same way be considerate, as you live with your wives and treat them with respect, you don't respect your wife. You're not gonna be able to pray as he's gonna say in a minute, and teach them with respect as the weaker partner. It's not saying they're weaker in mind or anything like that, And we've done a sermon on this, and you can go and listen to it.

But you treasure them. They're you you you honor them, and you love them as someone weaker. You don't lord it over them. Look. So, treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

You see? Your prayers are hindered if you mistreat your wife. God won't listen. Why should he listen? So prayer and changing are to go together.

Prayer is meant to change you, give you different priorities. At Lord, teach us to want to pray to change the way we view sin, look at Isaiah. Again, connection with prayer, 59. But your iniquities have separated you from god your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear you. So if your lord teach me to want to properly pray.

And as I want to pray, as I understand prayer, and as I follow that model prayer, that I am not treating sin lightly. I'm not just saying words up to heaven. I'm seeing that actually sin has broken a relationship here. Now before I move on to the next point, let me speak to those who don't pray. If you don't pray, you're in great danger.

You're not on talking terms with your maker. Something wrong there? The weakest info infant can cry out. The newest little baby I've forgotten the name. What's the newest little baby we've just heard?

What? Elise. What's that mean? I don't know. It means I'm a weak baby and I cry out.

The weakest infant can cry. A lease can cry when she's hungry. Is a she, isn't it? Yeah. Okay.

The poorest beggar holds out his hand for charity. Lord, make me like that. Lord, make me like that. Make me want Don't let me stay hungry. Don't let me stay the same.

Don't let me be selfish. Don't let me misuse my wife. Don't let me treat sin lightly. Lord, teach us to want to pray so it changes my whole perspective. Fourthly.

Where are we? What's the time, brother? Okay. Fourthly. Lord, teach us, The privilege of prayer.

Teachers the privilege of prayer. Think about it. Isn't it incredible? What an can there be any more privileged person than someone who's a finite, sinful person like you, can talk to a mighty god We've just had the birthday honors of the king, haven't we? You know, some of those people are gonna they're called Knight, they can they can they're gonna go and see the king and talk to him.

Do you think they're gonna just give that up? The utter privilege that we can talk to almighty God. Think of that, Ben. You. Someone who lives in a little place called Tolworth.

Who works in a little box at the end of his garden. Yeah? Doing rubbish. Just making colorful things for little people. Yeah.

You can talk to a mighty god in your little box in the garden. How extraordinary? How extraordinary? There's a a verse to look at. I love this verse, and I think it helps us with prayer.

It's not primarily about prayer. There's a lot of stuff that is about in ephesians too, and I'm not gonna deal with it. But I think it's a very helpful line that you can take out of its context and actually use for prayer. Look at it. It's so wonderful.

It's absolutely beautiful. For through him, the hymn there is Jesus Christ. For through him, Jesus, we both the both there is due and gentile. For through him, we both have access to the father by 1 spirit. It's such a lovely line about the privilege of prayer.

Just think about that line. For through him, Jesus, the son, for through him, we can come to god in prayer. For through him, we have access. It the it should humble us. But what a humbling privilege?

Look at this verse, from Hebrews, chapter 10. Therefore brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus. By a new and living way opened up for us through the curtain, that is his body And since we have a great high priest over the house of god, let us draw near to god. Now there's tons of old testament references there. But the idea is that we can come to the most holy god.

Why, how, when, by the blood of Jesus Christ And because of Jesus Christ suffering and dying for our sin and atoning for us and cleansing us we can come into the present. We can draw near into the presence of god and not just god that we're intimate with him. We now call him father god. Fig of the privilege of that. It's a blood bought privilege.

God has done all of the gospel stuff. Jesus has done all of that stuff on the cross. Jesus has bled and died so that you Can walk into god's presence? That's the gospel. That's a blood bought privilege, isn't it?

And the more you understand what Jesus has done for you, the more you understand that you can come and pray. Whoever you are, and whatever sin you've done. Because Christ, you don't come on your own benefits, You don't become because you're good. This isn't pride here. This has got nothing to do with being arrogant.

It's to do with what Jesus has done with sin. He's crucified it. He's damned it. He sent it away. The spirit of god has cleansed us.

Blood bought privilege. That's a privilege in it? Well, have a look at the next phrase then. Through him, Jesus Christ the son, we have access to the father. Access to the father.

You can come to god the father anytime you like anywhere. What an utter privilege because of what Christ has done? The beauty of prayer here, John in his letter says, what great love the father's shown towards us? In that he has called us his children. You are a child of god through Jesus.

What a privilege? What a privilege? What a privilege to come to god as father? But look, just we just round it off. For through him, that's Jesus the son, we have access to the father by 1 spirit.

It's by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We can't pray without the Holy Spirit. We've already seen that it's the Holy Spirit that causes us to be adopted as sons and that by him, we cry abba father. It's the Holy Spirit that's working in our hearts that changes us, so that causes our stupid, wayward, undisciplined way, and brings us to mind that god is our father. And so let's pray.

It's by 1 spirit. Do you see the privilege of prayer? It's a triune privilege. It's a 1 god, 3 person privilege. The privilege of prayer is not just you saying words, although you do need to say.

We are utterly involved with god when we pray, and god is utterly involved with us when we pray. Do you see that? Father, son, holy spirit, through him, to the father. By the spirit. The whole trinity, the whole trinity, the whole love of god is involved in us praying.

Prairie isn't just speaking to god. We're taken up with god. We're brought into the presence of god. We're changed by god. God is working in us the plan of god is in action in us as we pray.

That's the privilege of prayer. That's what happens at the prayer meeting. It's not just us asking for things, although we should do. When we gather at the prayer meeting in that little hub, then Cambry Park Road, once a month. We're not just asking.

It's through him. We have access to the father. By 1 spirit is power going on there. So let me finish them with some application. It won't take long.

Let's pray that prayer. Lord teach us to pray. We need to keep learning. Don't you? Do you?

Well, pray that prayer. Why not pray it now? In fact, I'll ask some people to pray it in a minute. Or what about have you got any ideas to help us pray more? How can we encourage each other to come to the prayer meeting?

How can we encourage each other to pray more? Have you got ideas? Houston years ago, used to have tri prayer triplets. Do you remember those things? It's good, isn't it?

It's not just you and another person. That's a bit intense. But you had prayer triplets or 4 blitz or whatever they're called. You you have a few of you, in other words. You mean together, just pray.

You don't have to talk about much. You just pray. Anybody wanna do that? Obviously not. What about it?

Maybe you wanna get a couple of people say, Hey, we just try it for a month or something? You know, not every day, you know, once a month. Let's try it once. Think up some things. It's not just up for the leadership to think up, pray.

How do you pray more? Or what about praying this right now? Here we go. You can say it after me in your in your mind. Law teach me to pray.

Lord teach us to pray. Not just me, but us as a church. We need to be a praying church. You pray that? Lord.

Teach me to pray. Lord teach us to pray. Father teach me the simplicity of prayer. Father teach us the simplicity of prayer. Father teach me the need of prayer.

Father teach us the need of prayer. Father teach me to want to pray. Father teach us to want to pray. Father teach me the privilege of prayer. Father teach us the privilege of prayer.

Further encourage us to pray. Help us to pray lord. Lot of we ask that these these works would just not be for now for this moment. But what we've heard today would impact our prayer life going forwards. Would you encourage us today to morrow this week to pray?

Would you give us opportunities to pray? Would you encourage us into prayer groups or to the prayer meeting or to, pray as a family at home. Lord, we we are but we are overly thankful for this opportunity that you give us to pray to our holy god. Oh, men.