(sermon outline for Sunday January 18)
Luke 11:1-4
Central idea: To grow in your faith you can practice the discipline of listening attentively and talking honestly to God.
1One 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."
2He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' " Luke 11:1-4 NIV
As we are encouraged to grow in our daily practice of prayer, consider the following focal points:
- Prayer is dialogue not monologue.
Prayer is ongoing and open-ended conversation with God.
If we really want prayer, we’ll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we’ll begin to have time to listen. And as soon as we listen to what’s going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves.... Thomas Merton
- God can handle brutal honesty in your prayers.
Some of us pray highly agnostic prayers as if we are speaking to a pompous and yet naïve deity who wants to be flattered and pampered but who is out of touch with the real world. And yet, the genuineness of fervent and faithful prayer is contingent on transparency and honesty.
- Prayer is unpredictably dynamic.
In our efforts to pray it is easy for us to be defeated right at the outset because we have been taught that everything in the universe is already set, and so things cannot be changed. –Richard Foster
- You will never graduate from the school of prayer.
Prayer is learned through a lifetime of practice. There are no experts. We are all students.
- Jesus prayed for you.
In Jesus’ prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus prayed for his current disciples, and all of those who would come to follow him in the future.
In Luke 22:31, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Satan has desired to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that you will be strong.”
Summary: Just as Jesus taught his early disciples to pray, Jesus wants you to listen attentively and talk honestly to God.
