Be a Watchman on the Walls: Pray!

As we enter the seventh week of this series, "Secrets of the Kingdom, Parables in Luke's Gospel" we stumble upon one of the more humorous parables that Jesus told. It is a parable that drives home the importance of a much neglected subject: prayer. How desperately we need to be reminded and motivated and moved to pray!! E.M. Bounds said, "What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use; men of prayer, men mighty in prayer." Martin Luther said, "Pray as though everything depends upon God and then work as though everything depends upon you." It is much easier to work than it is to pray, because prayer is the real work! We must learn to pray before we go to work! John Bunyan said, "You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed."

We need prayer. In Luke 11:1-13, we see the disciples being motivated and moved to pray. There are three ways that the disciples were motivate in Luke 11 that we will see this week and that I hope will motivate us all to devote ourselves to prayer.

First, we see the disciples motivated by a Person. The greatest motivation to pray is found in the example of Jesus Himself. Jesus was God, but he was also man, and he was a man who made prayer a priority. If Jesus, God in the flesh, saw fit to pray as much as he prayed, we should be motivated to pray as well. It was actually this personal example of prayer that motivated His disciples to pray in this chapter.

Jesus was a man of prayer. We see him praying as he is baptized in the Jordan by John. We see the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descend on him in bodily form, and voice testify from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. Jesus began his ministry with a 40 day fast in the wilderness. In Luke 5:16 we learn that "he would withdraw to desolate places and pray." He prayed all night long before he chose the 12 disciples that he named apostles. He prayed over the 5 loaves and the 2 fish and was able to feed 5000 with it and still have 12 baskets of leftovers. He was on the mountain praying when the appearance of His face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white and He was seen talking with Moses and Elijah. The disciples witnessed all of this and finally in Luke 11, verse 1 they say, "Lord, teach us to pray."

The disciples are moved to want to pray like Jesus prayed. How did He teach them to pray? There were six areas of prayer that He instructed them to focus on. I will list them just briefly.

1. The Person of prayer is the Father in v2a, "And he said to them,"When you pray, say: Father."

2. The Praise of prayer is pointed out in verse 2b, "hallowed be your name."

3. The Priority of prayer is identified in verse 2c, "Your kingdom come."

4. The Provision of prayer is described in verse 3, "Give us each day our daily bread."

5. The Pardon of prayer is found in verse 4a, "and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us."

6. The Protection of prayer is found in verse 4b, "And lead us not into temptation."

We must learn to pray, as Jesus taught us to pray, focusing on what he taught us to focus on. We must follow His example in prayer. We must understand the person of prayer, for it is in that person, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we find great motivation and encouragement to pray.

Here are some things that I would love for you to pray for. Will you be a watchman on the walls for these requests?

Isa 62:6-7 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.

Pray for the men who are on the mission trip to Columbus, MS this week.
Pray for the team that is returning from the DR Tuesday
Pray for me as I am in revival at Oakview this week.
Pray for the mission trip to India April 20-30.
Pray for the Mappila people of Kozhikode India that God would begin preparing their hearts and their minds to hear and respond to His Gospel. Many Muslims around the world are having dreams and visions of Jesus just prior to the arrival of a mission team. Pray that the Mappila Muslims of Kozhikode will begin having dreams and visions that will encourage them to seek the truth.
Pray for the men who will travel to the DR in May

Please forward this along to everyone in your inbox to ask them to help us pray.