Teach Us To Pray Part 1
Series: Teach Us To Pray
June 13, 2021
Andrew Youngblood
Episode Notes
Sister Farmer Picture
Like every other spiritual discipline, prayer is about practice, not perfection.
- What’s something that we can start doing now in our prayers that can help us?
Pray Honest Prayers - When we pray, we need to be honest with ourselves about God, and honest with
God about ourselves.
Honest with ourselves about God
- Our prayers are shaped significantly by who we think we’re praying to, so we need to be honest
with ourselves about who God is.
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about
us…Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, “What comes into your
mind when you think about God?” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. ― AW
Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy
- What is the God you are praying to like in your mind? What’s His character? What kind of God
is he?
Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV)
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name…
How scripture describes our loving and holy Heavenly Father:
- Slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. (Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Ps 86:5; Ps 86:15; Joel 2:13)
- Provider everything good & perfect, & wants us to depend on Him (James 1:17-18, Matt 7:11, Phil
4:19)
- God of justice, righteousness & mercy (Deut 32:4, Ps 11:7, Isaiah 5:16, 1 Pet 1:3, Deut 4:31, Eph 2:4)
- One who brings healing and wholeness (1 Pet 2:24, Ps 147:3, Ps 34:17-18, Matt 11:28, James 5:14-
15)
- Disciplines out of Love, not unchecked anger or rage (Ps 94:12; Prov 3:11–12; Jer 30:11; Heb
12:3–11)
- He listens and responds to the prayers of His children (Ps 66:17-20, Isaiah 65:24, Mark 11:24, 1 Pet
3:12, 1 John 5:14-15)
Colossians 4:2 (NLT)
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.”
Honest with God about ourselves
Luke 18:9-14
The Pharisee...prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers,
adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the
tax collector … would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on
me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.
“It is no use to ask God with factitious (fake) earnestness for A when our whole mind is in reality filled
with the desire for B. We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.” ― C.S.
Lewis, Letters to Malcolm
Pray what you’ve got; not what you don’t have - Jon Tyson
Action Step: What do you have that you can practice this week?
Like every other spiritual discipline, prayer is about practice, not perfection.
- What’s something that we can start doing now in our prayers that can help us?
Pray Honest Prayers - When we pray, we need to be honest with ourselves about God, and honest with
God about ourselves.
Honest with ourselves about God
- Our prayers are shaped significantly by who we think we’re praying to, so we need to be honest
with ourselves about who God is.
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about
us…Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, “What comes into your
mind when you think about God?” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. ― AW
Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy
- What is the God you are praying to like in your mind? What’s His character? What kind of God
is he?
Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV)
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name…
How scripture describes our loving and holy Heavenly Father:
- Slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. (Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Ps 86:5; Ps 86:15; Joel 2:13)
- Provider everything good & perfect, & wants us to depend on Him (James 1:17-18, Matt 7:11, Phil
4:19)
- God of justice, righteousness & mercy (Deut 32:4, Ps 11:7, Isaiah 5:16, 1 Pet 1:3, Deut 4:31, Eph 2:4)
- One who brings healing and wholeness (1 Pet 2:24, Ps 147:3, Ps 34:17-18, Matt 11:28, James 5:14-
15)
- Disciplines out of Love, not unchecked anger or rage (Ps 94:12; Prov 3:11–12; Jer 30:11; Heb
12:3–11)
- He listens and responds to the prayers of His children (Ps 66:17-20, Isaiah 65:24, Mark 11:24, 1 Pet
3:12, 1 John 5:14-15)
Colossians 4:2 (NLT)
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.”
Honest with God about ourselves
Luke 18:9-14
The Pharisee...prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers,
adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the
tax collector … would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on
me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.
“It is no use to ask God with factitious (fake) earnestness for A when our whole mind is in reality filled
with the desire for B. We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.” ― C.S.
Lewis, Letters to Malcolm
Pray what you’ve got; not what you don’t have - Jon Tyson
Action Step: What do you have that you can practice this week?
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