Closer: Talking to God
What is your relationship like with prayer?
Sometimes, it might feel like we are approaching a heavenly father telling Him all that we want and need when what He’s trying to do in the moment is very different.
One of the reasons we might have a weird relationship with prayer at times is that we don’t really understand what it is, and we might even struggle with it, but why is that?
1. We see it as boring. It is boring compared to the rest of our lives, which are emotionally, intellectually, and physically overstimulating. We’ve become incredibly productive but also have become unable to be still. So, when it comes to putting away distractions and sitting quietly, we either find it boring or avoid it altogether because it doesn’t fit our daily routine.
2. We have replaced the need for it. With all our advancements, many of the things we used to pray for have now been replaced with our better knowledge.
So, what did Jesus think about prayer?
Luke 11
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
It's very interesting what the disciples are asking Jesus. Of all the things they could ask Him to teach them, the only thing recorded is that they ask Him to teach them to pray.
They are asking for Jesus to teach them how to pray like He does. Jesus prioritizes prayer, and the disciples recognize this.
And if the request, Lord teach us to pray, was where the disciples started, it’s where we can too.
If the men who lived physically with Jesus daily asked Him to teach them, we have the same opportunity and invitation.
Jesus makes some revolutionary claims about God because of the language and framing He uses. The first claim is that God is Father.
Jesus is the first person recorded in the Bible to explicitly address God as Father. Meanwhile, the Old Testament occasionally refers to God as Father collectively.
How we address or call one another is directly linked to relational access. Only certain people call you certain things. For example, only your kids can call you mom or dad. There’s an intimacy in this relationship that is exemplified by that title of calling.
The idea of God as Father is wonderful for some because we have a very safe, unique relationship with our earthly fathers, but what about the ones who have experienced earthly Father wounds?
For some of us, some days are better than others, but in many ways, this trauma becomes a limp that we learn to walk with. It’s a scar that we always carry. And because of these realities, we project those experiences onto God, assuming that God will act the same way because He shares the same title.
God, our Father knows this and then starts off by saying, “Regardless of your circumstance, the failures and shortcomings of your own Father, I still want you to see me as Father. That I am someone that cares for you and desires relationship with you. I want you to see me not as impersonal or uncaring but as loving and gentle, compassionate and crazy about you so when you come to me, come to me like a child comes to their dad.”
It's not that God removes the pain, He redeems it.
One of the ways He redeems pain is through our prayer life, by putting Himself in a relational position and reminding us that He is a kind, present, Father who loves us very much.
“Father, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come.”
Hallowed is an old word that means sacred or holy. This is probably the line that gets most overlooked and misunderstood, but it’s the line on which the entire prayer hinges.
God is drawing a line in the sand. To hallow something is to set it apart, to worship it, to look at it as our source. By attaching this statement to the prayer, Jesus claims that we cannot pray to Him as an intimate, close Father unless we also value and worship him as Lord. Because God is Father, but God is also Holy.
This is a tension we see in our Christian culture today.
Some of us love the idea of a gentle, intimate God who’s always there for us, loves us, and wants what’s best for us. With that view alone, God becomes our therapist. On the other hand, some of us see God as a tyrant who’s constantly powerful and mighty, but distant. We respect Him, but we can’t know Him.
But we can actually have both.
We can have a loving relationship with a God we worship and respect because of WHO teaches us to pray.
In Jesus, God comes near to us. He shows us His heart for humanity, that desire for intimacy and close relationship is offered to us because of Jesus. In the Cross, we see Him sacrificing Himself for us when we could do nothing for ourselves.
And because Jesus has done this, we can now approach God, respond to His love, and hallow His name above every other name, not only in how we pray but also in how we live our lives.
As Jesus is giving us this model of prayer, He provides words and phrases to pray, but what He is actually giving us is glimpses of God’s character and nature.
God reveals Himself to us through prayer.
God puts Himself on display. Jesus says, “When you come to God in prayer, come to Him like a child because he is a Father. Come to him in reverence because he is Holy. Come in humility and submission and alignment with his Kingdom. Come to him knowing that he will provide whatever you need and come to him regardless of what you’ve done because he forgives. Come to him for direction and guidance because he leads us.”
When we see Him for who He is, our source of life, provision, and health, everything becomes easy, but sometimes we settle for just getting by.
We choose the microwave dinner prayer and miss out on the feast God has prepared for us – a deeper relationship, greater connection, and His presence filling every corner of our lives.
So, how do we position ourselves to receive this?
Create a rhythm of prayer
These parameters will help you develop a rhythm that will work for you, be consistent, and be something you can come to every day.
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Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
Sometimes, it might feel like we are approaching a heavenly father telling Him all that we want and need when what He’s trying to do in the moment is very different.
One of the reasons we might have a weird relationship with prayer at times is that we don’t really understand what it is, and we might even struggle with it, but why is that?
1. We see it as boring. It is boring compared to the rest of our lives, which are emotionally, intellectually, and physically overstimulating. We’ve become incredibly productive but also have become unable to be still. So, when it comes to putting away distractions and sitting quietly, we either find it boring or avoid it altogether because it doesn’t fit our daily routine.
2. We have replaced the need for it. With all our advancements, many of the things we used to pray for have now been replaced with our better knowledge.
- We don’t need to ask God to provide – money can do that.
- We don’t ask God for our health – science supplies that.
- We don’t seek God for wisdom – ChatGPT has us covered.
- We don’t need God for direction – culture will dictate that.
So, what did Jesus think about prayer?
Luke 11
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
It's very interesting what the disciples are asking Jesus. Of all the things they could ask Him to teach them, the only thing recorded is that they ask Him to teach them to pray.
- These are first-century Jewish men; they knew how to pray.
- They were religious followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- They prayed three times a day.
They are asking for Jesus to teach them how to pray like He does. Jesus prioritizes prayer, and the disciples recognize this.
And if the request, Lord teach us to pray, was where the disciples started, it’s where we can too.
If the men who lived physically with Jesus daily asked Him to teach them, we have the same opportunity and invitation.
Jesus makes some revolutionary claims about God because of the language and framing He uses. The first claim is that God is Father.
Jesus is the first person recorded in the Bible to explicitly address God as Father. Meanwhile, the Old Testament occasionally refers to God as Father collectively.
How we address or call one another is directly linked to relational access. Only certain people call you certain things. For example, only your kids can call you mom or dad. There’s an intimacy in this relationship that is exemplified by that title of calling.
The idea of God as Father is wonderful for some because we have a very safe, unique relationship with our earthly fathers, but what about the ones who have experienced earthly Father wounds?
For some of us, some days are better than others, but in many ways, this trauma becomes a limp that we learn to walk with. It’s a scar that we always carry. And because of these realities, we project those experiences onto God, assuming that God will act the same way because He shares the same title.
God, our Father knows this and then starts off by saying, “Regardless of your circumstance, the failures and shortcomings of your own Father, I still want you to see me as Father. That I am someone that cares for you and desires relationship with you. I want you to see me not as impersonal or uncaring but as loving and gentle, compassionate and crazy about you so when you come to me, come to me like a child comes to their dad.”
It's not that God removes the pain, He redeems it.
One of the ways He redeems pain is through our prayer life, by putting Himself in a relational position and reminding us that He is a kind, present, Father who loves us very much.
“Father, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come.”
Hallowed is an old word that means sacred or holy. This is probably the line that gets most overlooked and misunderstood, but it’s the line on which the entire prayer hinges.
God is drawing a line in the sand. To hallow something is to set it apart, to worship it, to look at it as our source. By attaching this statement to the prayer, Jesus claims that we cannot pray to Him as an intimate, close Father unless we also value and worship him as Lord. Because God is Father, but God is also Holy.
This is a tension we see in our Christian culture today.
Some of us love the idea of a gentle, intimate God who’s always there for us, loves us, and wants what’s best for us. With that view alone, God becomes our therapist. On the other hand, some of us see God as a tyrant who’s constantly powerful and mighty, but distant. We respect Him, but we can’t know Him.
But we can actually have both.
We can have a loving relationship with a God we worship and respect because of WHO teaches us to pray.
In Jesus, God comes near to us. He shows us His heart for humanity, that desire for intimacy and close relationship is offered to us because of Jesus. In the Cross, we see Him sacrificing Himself for us when we could do nothing for ourselves.
And because Jesus has done this, we can now approach God, respond to His love, and hallow His name above every other name, not only in how we pray but also in how we live our lives.
As Jesus is giving us this model of prayer, He provides words and phrases to pray, but what He is actually giving us is glimpses of God’s character and nature.
God reveals Himself to us through prayer.
God puts Himself on display. Jesus says, “When you come to God in prayer, come to Him like a child because he is a Father. Come to him in reverence because he is Holy. Come in humility and submission and alignment with his Kingdom. Come to him knowing that he will provide whatever you need and come to him regardless of what you’ve done because he forgives. Come to him for direction and guidance because he leads us.”
When we see Him for who He is, our source of life, provision, and health, everything becomes easy, but sometimes we settle for just getting by.
We choose the microwave dinner prayer and miss out on the feast God has prepared for us – a deeper relationship, greater connection, and His presence filling every corner of our lives.
So, how do we position ourselves to receive this?
Create a rhythm of prayer
- Be consistent – When will you pray? Where will you pray? How long will you pray?
- Be content – Know and live out that God is holy, sovereign, the provider, and forgiving.
- When will I pray and spend time drawing closer to God?
- Will it be the morning, evening, or afternoon?
- Where will I do this? How long will I do this?
These parameters will help you develop a rhythm that will work for you, be consistent, and be something you can come to every day.
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter below or follow us on Instagram.
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
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