Lord, Teach Us How To Pray Part 2 (Luke 11:5-8)

It's good to be with you this morning. Have your

Bible's turned with me. Luke chapter eleven. This morning, Luke

chapter eleven. We started last week a series in prayer

and this morning Jesus and Luke chapter eleven is teaching

his disciples how to pray, and this morning he's teaching

us how to pray. And this morning we will continue

this to this series. We're going to do this this Sunday,

and next Sunday we'll be wrapping up this. Jesus a

little teaching on prayer here. So last week we looked

at as Jesus gave us kind of instructions of how

to pray. He taught us the Lord's Prayer, and that

was we saw in Luke chapter eleven. It's an abbreviated

version of the Lord's Prayer. Many of you are familiar

with that, maybe recited dad as a child or just

growing up in different times. Jesus gives an abbreviated portion

of that as an instructions as an outline for how

we are to pray. And so we walked through that,

and in that there's kind of different. He broke down

prayer in kind of two parts. Things that we are

declare in prayer. And then things that we are request

And last week we looked at He says when we pray,

we should declare together in prayer that God, you are holy,

just thought that song said, Lord, you are holy, omnipotent, almighty,

coming King. And that's the second part of this prayer.

And not only we declare that He's holy, but God

that You're coming again, just as that song says. And God,

we ask you, We request, Lord, let your kingdom come. Come,

Lord Jesus come. So those are things that we should

pray and declare in our prayer. And then he asked.

He instructed us that we are to request certain things

in prayer, and we looked at those last week. We

are request daily provisions. God, we need you to provide

and our every need. God, we are to request from

the Lord in prayer that forgiveness. Lord, we need forgiveness.

We need forgiven us the things that we've done against You,

a holy God. And then third, we are to request

that God would deliver us from Tintabo. Knowing that every

day all of us faced different temptations to give into

certain sins, that we should ask the Lord in prayer,

God deliver us from these temptations. Well, last week he

kind of walked us through the instructions of a template,

if you will, of how to pray now this morning.

In this passage scripture, he continues on, he gives us

a parable, and then this parable he teaches us what

our attitude should be in prayer. So just not how

we should pray is important, but what our attitude should

be as we approached. The Lord heard the story of

a pastor one day, and this was in the fourteenth century,

and he was walking down the street and he met

a beggar and he said to the beggar, God give

you a good day, my friend. And the beggar answered him,

I thank God that I've never had a bad one.

Pastor kin struck by that, and he says, well, God

give you happy life, my friend. And the beggar says,

I thank God that I'm never unhappy. Pastor again just

kind of stood up in amazement. He said to him,

he says, what do you mean. He says, Well, the

beggar says, he says, when it's fine, I thank God,

when it rains, I thank God. When I have plenty,

I thank God. And when I'm hungry, I thank God.

And since God's will is my will, whatever pleases him

pleases me, And so why should I be unhappy when

I'm not? The pastor looked at the beggar in astonishment,

and he said, who are you? He says, I'm a king?

He says you are. He says, where is your kingdom?

And the beggar said him, the kingdom is in my heart.

You know, it really is all about our attitude how

we approach different things. Where there's a good day, a

bad day, whether it rains or whether its storms, or

whether it's a great day and it's sunny like it

is today, or whether we're in a financial mess, or

whether we're God's blessed us, or whether we're having some

problems at work, or whether we're having a good day

at work, whether we're having a good day at home,

but whether bad day, on whatever it is, our attitude

about everything changes everything. But not only does it change

how we approach life, but attitude and how we approach

prayer really does matter. And as we come to this

pastor of scripture, Jesus is teaching how we approach Him

in prayer really really does matter. You know, As a

pastor Chuck Swan Dahl said, attitude is everything, and really

our attitude how and how we approach prayer really really

is important so much so Jesus taught on it. So

let's stand together. Let's read chapter eleven of Luke. Starting

of verse five is Jesus instructions of how we should prayer,

pray and our attitude in prayer. That's the way he says.

And he said to them, which of you has a friend,

will go to him at midnight and say to him, friend,

lend me three loads. For a friend of mine has

arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set

before him, and he will answer him. From what do

not bother me? For the door is now shut, and

my children are with me in bed, and I can't

get up and give you anything. I tell you, though,

you will not get up and give him anything because

he's a friend. But yet because his impudence, he will

rise and give him whatever he needs. I will tell

you I ask, it will be given to you seeking,

and you will find Monck and it will be open

to you. Just pray together, Father, We thank you Lord

for this morning. We thank you Lord for this passage scripture. God,

I believe you led us to this morning to your

word and Lord. Today, Lord, what we need is found

not in my words, but in your word. And so Lord,

we ask Father, that you might speak to us. Lord,

just as you long to teach your disciples how to

pray and what their attitude should be in prayer, God,

you long for us today to learn how what our

attitude should be in prayer. So Lord teaches Father today.

May our hearts be open, the Lord to your word.

May our hearts be open to your spirit to move today. Lord,

I pray today that I'm a fallen man, and Lord,

I desperately need Lord, you to feel me that I

might deliver. Lord, not my word, but yours. So Lord,

may that may I decrease and may you increase this

morning in and through me. Lord, May you speak today. Father. Lord,

we love you, We long for a Lord you Today

in your name, we pray, Amen, you may be seated.

As we come to this passage of scripture, it is

a parable. So it's very important that Jesus is using

this story to explain a biblical truth to us, and

he uses a parable of a and then this parable

it kind of has three characters who kind of walk

you through this so you can kind of understand really

what's going on. The first character we see in this

passage scripture is a traveler. A traveler a lot of

times in historical times, biblical times, they would travel because

it was so hot during the day, they would travel

at night. And so here this traveler is traveled at

night and they've gone into a town. It's eight and

they go to a friend's house that they know to

stay the night. And that was the custom. There was hotels,

a holiday in a hotel six back then, and so

when you would go travel into a city to visit,

you would stay with a friend that you would have

in that city. And so that's what happens here. He

goes into a village, he has a friend there, he

goes in the middle of the night to stay at

a friend's house. And it was, by the way, it

was a cultural requirement at the time that if you

went to a friend's house and you stop, no matter

when it was that they were obligated as your friend

to have you stay the night with them. And also

it was an obligation that they would provide a meal

for you. So that's what happened here, and that brings

you into the next character in this passion of scripture,

and that's the host. This is the one who they

go to his house, and he is the one who

opens this door to his to this traveler. He's responsible

for providing them a place to stay. He's responsible for

providing them a meal. Scripture tells us in this parable,

they come to his house, he's arrived on a journey.

But the problem, says in verse six, here a friend

of mine has arribbing on a journey, and I have

nothing to set before him. We know in biblical times

they would make bread typically first thing in the morning.

It would be a basket of food, a basket of bread,

and it was enough for today. In this passage, here

this traveler goes to this host, and he gets to

his host. The host opens the door. But the problem

was all the bread that they'd made for the day

is now gone. So now there's a requirement, right, the

requirement that he's to host them, but is a requirement

that he is to feed them, and he has nothing

to feed them with. And so that brings into the

next character in this passage scripture, and that is their

grumpy friend. That's the neighbor, a friend who lives in

the community. He decides that because he's got this traveler's

come state his home, he must go to his friend's

house and he must ask him for bread. And that's

the scenario here right, This travelers come, he's come to

a friend's house in this city. He's he's now his

friend who's hosting, has no bread, and so he goes

to his grumpy friend in the middle of the night

when his kids are in bed asleep, and he goes

and asks them for food. In this passage of scripture,

I think is very important as you come to this parable,

Jesus is using this parable, and he the subjects in

this parable are the disciples. So in this for you

and I, it's you. He's he's wanting you to put

yourself in the shoes of the host. And listen what

he says. Here. You see that in verse five, and

he said to him, which of you, which of you

here this morning, who has a friend who will go

to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend

me three loaves. What Jesus wants you and I to

do one of these hearers the disciples? In this parable,

he wants you to put yourself in the shoes of

the host. You have a friend who's come over, you're

obligated for them to stay in your home. You're all

beigated also provide them for a meal. But you have nothing,

And so therefore you leave your house and you go

and approach another friend for something you need. And then

that he wants you to get into mindset of what

your attitude would be like as you're going to your

neighbor's house, and he's wanting you to draw upon the

imagery of how you might approach a friend in that

same attitude that you have by approaching your friend for

this need is the same attitude by which you're to

approach God the Father in prayer. Now, you remember last

week as you prayed your pray Holy is your name

or your Kingdom Come. But there's different petitions that you

pray to the Lord. Right, pray, God, I need you

for my daily needs. God, I need you for forgiveness

of sin. God, I need you to deliver me from temptation. Well,

how do we go to God the Father in our attitude?

What shall attitude be when we go and ask these petitions?

And the very first thing that Jesus teaches teaches here

is our attitude and prayer is first weird, pray desperately.

You know, here's this passive scripture. You have to see it.

In the middle of the nights, somebody comes to the door.

He goes to this door, and he realizes his travelers come.

He didn't know it. It's unexpected. He realizes that now

that they're there, that there's no food in the house.

There ain't the hot top pockets in the freezer. I mean,

there's no bread. There's nothing that he has. And so

there's a desperation. I've got to provide for these these

guests in my home, and I have nothing. And so

as he's going to his neighbor's house, is he's going

to his friend's house. There's a there's a sense of desperation.

If I don't have it, Lord, I don't have it

in the house. I don't have it in my life.

I need my friend to desperately provide for the needs

of my life. And when we go to God the

Father in prayer, the Lord is teaching us. The attitude

by which we are to go into prayer is we

are to go in de handed desperably for the Lord

and say, Lord, I don't have the very elements of

my life, needs of my life. I don't have them

of my own possession. God, I need you to provide.

That's this a desperation, you know, It's very different if

you think about sometimes as we pray. I'll be honest

with you, as I've been thinking about this series and

studying over the last few weeks, I really believe God's

led us to this because I do think many times

when we pray, we don't pray desperately. Why do I

say that, because many times reality is, as I said

last week, we feel like we've got a lot of

things already. We've got food on the table, we've got

the hot pocket in the freezer, we've got the needs

that may be the basic needs of our life. We've

gotten the skills, we've got the abilities, we've got the

four O one K, we got it, whatever it may

be in our life. And so really, many times when

we just go Lord, it's not really God, we really

really need you. We just want God, you to bless

what we're doing. It's kind of like the story of

Jacob and he Saw And I never told you this

story before. Here Jacob is is his brother's threatened to

kill him, and he's going to go back home and

he's going to see his brother, and his brother's bringing

the army with him. And so David, I mean not

David Jacob is on his way. And so he divides

his camp and to the three different parties, and he's

got a plan of how he's going to pease the

wrath of his brother, right, and he and acts his plan,

and then he goes to the Lord and say, God,

may you bless my plan. And many times that's the

way we approach prayer. God, I know my plan of

what I'm gonna do in this situation with this relationship. God,

I know my plan of how I'm gonna provide for

this need in my life. God, I have this plan

of how I'm gonna fix that problem. But work got

to have that plan of how I'm gonna fix the

issue that I'm battling right now with this relationship, or

got to have this plan of how I'm going to

get out get through this problem. God, I just need

you to bless what I'm going to do. Instead of

going to God and say God, I can't fix this.

I can't fix this relationship problem. God, I can't fix

this financial problem. In my life. God, I can't fix

this problem at work. God, I can't fix this. And God,

I'm coming you desperately saying God, I need your provision

in my life. I'm infty. God, I don't have it.

I don't have the skills, i don't have the ability. God,

I'm desperate for you to provide for me. That was

Hannah right. Hannah was barren, she couldn't have children, and

she went to the Lord in prayer and saying she said, God,

I need you God, I'm desperate for you to move

in my life. I ask you today, as you think

about praying and you think about the petitions that we're

asked the Lord, God, provide me my daily provision, my

daily bread. God, forgive me, God, deliver me from temptation.

What part of those prayer are you desperate for God

to provide for you today? Just wandered today as you

came into this room. What is one air of your

in life today that you cannot fix on your own?

What is one provision today that you can't provide for yourself?

And in prayer? How desperate are you to go to

the Lord and say, God, I really need you to

provide this for me, God, I can't do it. What

area of forgiveness or you said, God, I've been trying

to clean up this thing in my life and I

do it over and over and over, trying to fix

the things that I've done. God, I can't do it.

I can't clean myself up. I can't fix this. God,

I really need your forgiveness. I kind of I've been

trying to right all the wrongs in my life, and God,

I finally realize I can't do it. My only hope

is got I really, really, I'm desperate for your forgiveness.

What area there are you struggling with in temptation where

you say, God, I've tried to do all the different

things to avoid this temptation, and God, I really need

you to deliver me. God, I'm desperate for your deliverance.

You see that this morning God wants us to come

to him in prayer with attitude of Lord, I'm desperate

for you, desperate for you. It's only this attitude prayer,

prayer of desperation. There's also this prayer of confidence. Confidently.

You notice in verse five he says, which of you

who has a friend who will go to him at midnight?

And say, friend, lend me three loaves. There's this imagery

of this passage of Jesus saying we are to go

desperately to God, the Father and prayer, but we are

to go confidently. The confidence says it is built upon

a relationship. What is the relationship. It's a friend. This

is someone that as he is a Milanite and he's

in desperate trouble. He's he has a guest who's come

there's he needs to provide food for them. He's desperate

because he has no has no bread. What am I

going to do? How am I going to fix this? Well?

Who am I going to go to to give help

provide for me? Well, a friend thinks. I've got another

friend that lives in the city and another neighbor that's

down the street, and I can go to him. I

have a relationship with him. Listen, when I go to

his house and knock on the door at midnight and

they say who is it? I call out my name.

He he knows my voice, he knows my name. Why

because I have a friendship with him, I'm confident when

I knock he won't answer. Why because he knows my name,

he knows my voice. And we have a relationship with

one another. You know, it's you think about this and

in our life, if we were called in an area

where we were in trouble and we really needed help,

we wouldn't go to someone we didn't know, or maybe

our grumpy neighbor. We would and go to our neighbor

who's a new neighbor that we've never met. We wouldn't

go to a complete stranger. No, if there was a

time of desperation, you're going to go to a trusted friend,

someone that you can count on, someone you know who's

going to answer, someone that you know who will be

there for you. A few years ago, Brandy was headed

to a wedding with I think Nana and Peep's actually,

and they were headed out to it was I think

in Clemson, and we were living in Myrtle Beach near

Myrtle Beach at the time, and we had a little

Honda Odyssey van and they got to Columbia and the

transmission went out. They were stuck, and I remember thinking,

what am I going to do? How am I going

to get them home? How am I going to get

this van home? And so I called a trusted friend

who had a brand I think a one year old

Ford f three point fifty Duley truck. And I said, hey, friend,

I need to borrow your truck. And you know what

he did. I'll be right over. He hand him the

keys of his brand new truck and says, take it

and keep it as long as you need it. And

I got in his big truck and headed to Columbia,

got it on a trailer and brought it home. But

I tell you that I didn't go to my other

neighbor down the street, who I'd never met before, and said, hey,

can I borrow your truck? My wife's broke down in Columbia.

Just let me see the keys and I'll may be

back in a few days. No, I didn't do that.

I went to someone that I knew was a friend.

I knew someone could be trusted. I knew someone who

would be there for me in the time of need.

And the Bible says, as we go to the Lord

in prayer and we're on our way and we're desperate

for needs, we can go confidently to God the Father,

and we know that he is a friend, and we

have a personal relationship with him. And because we have

a personal relationship with him. He knows our voice when

we cry to him, He answers when we pray to him.

He could be trusted and we should go to him

in prayer confidently, knowing that he is a friend. I

love this imagery and Exodus. We see great men of

God who pray and talk with the Lord confidently. One

of the examples we see is Moses. It says, and

the Lord yessays, speak to Moses face to face as

a man speak to his friend. I wonder today, what's

your prayer life like? If you confidently go to the

Lord in prayer? Do you converse with the Lord as

you converse with your friend. Do you have that relationship

that you as Mosestad speaks to the Lord face to face,

friend to friend. Do you see God as a God

that is approachable as a friend. Do you have that

confidence that I know if I go the Lord, that

he will answer me and I can go to him

with my needs. Go. I tell you today, the Lord

wants you to know his voice. The Lord wants you

to bring you your cares confidently to him. He wants

you to know as you cast your cares upon him,

he what cares for you When you pray will you

pray desperately? Will you pray confident? With confidence confidently. Lastly,

as we look at this passage scripture, the last aspect

of this prayer, the attitude that we have in prayers.

We are to have a boldness and prayer. We are

to pray boldly. Listen to the passage scripture in verse six,

this friend of mine has arrived on the journey, and

I have nothing to sept before him. Verse seven says,

and he will answer from within. So as we look

at this neighbor that he goes through his friend, who's

this that he goes to for bread? You see how

this friend of his response, the friend says, do not

bother me. The doors now shut. My children are with

me in bed, and I cannot get up and give

you anything. So you see in this passage here is

he's putting them. He's getting disciples to be put themselves

in the shoes of this one who has this need.

And he says, you go to your friend's house and

you knock on the door. And biblical times like this,

it would be a one room house and you would

have a kind of a I would you know a

chimney that would be in the middle, right, that they

would heat the house with and everybody would sleep around that.

The father would typically sit sleep in the middle, and

the kids would sleep around them. Right. And so here

he is. He goes to the house the imagery that

Jesus gives you, knock on the door. The dad's laying

in he's asleep. He hears his friend call, and he says,

I can't get up. No, I'm not gonna get up.

My kids are asleep. And if I get up, you

can imagine at the toe around children, right, and I

may wake up and make wake up my whole family,

you know, because I got to get up, I got

to get around them. I'm probably gonna wake them up.

And then I've got to get the bread, and then

I get to get to the door, and then just

you're gonna wake up my entire house. And so that's

the response. He's he's a little bit irritated. He's a

little bit grumpy at the at his neighbor coming and

disturbing his home in the middle of the night. But

look at what he says in the passage the Bible says,

I tell you this, this grumpy friend will answer you.

And why will he answer you? Listen to the imagery

of the passage. I tell you, though, he will not

get up and give you anything because he's your friend,

but because of his because of his impotence. What does

that mean? That word means boldness. It's it's the term

it comes from this, this this termined Greek. It means boldness.

It means shamelessness. It's the the idea that this neighbor

has the nerve if you will to come and wake

me up in the middle of the height, wake up

my whole home. He is so bold to do that,

and has caused his boldness because of his nerve to

ask something like this in the middle of the night.

That's why the friend answers. Now hear me the day.

As you look at this passive scripture, he's not saying

that God is a grumpy neighbor or a grumpy friend.

What he's saying here is he's saying, if your grumpy

friend will answer you because you're so bold, how much

more gracious God will answer you when you're bold to pray.

It's the same imagery in Luke chapter In Luke chapter eighteen,

he tells another parable. It's very similar, and let me

read it to you, he said, He told them a

parable in the fact that they ought to always pray

and not lose heart. He says, in a certain city,

there was a judge, And listen to the description of

this judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And

there was a widow in that city who kept coming

to him, saying, give me justice against my adversary. And

for while he refused. But after where he says, though

I neither fear God nor respect man. Yet because of

this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice,

so that will she not beat me down by continual coming.

The imagery there and this story is, here's this persistent

widow who comes to this judge who doesn't fear man,

doesn't fear God. Yet he finally gets into this woman

why because she's persistent, And he says, just as much

as a wicked judge will answer you, how much will

gracious God answer you if you go to him persistently.

It's the same imagery in this passage. If your grumpy

neighbor will answer you because you can be so bold,

how much will gracious God when you're boldly go before him?

How much will he answer you? Because he's not grumpy.

He is gracious, and he's good, and he's good, and

he loves you and I and so much so when

we go to the Lord in prayer, we should go

to the Lord desperate, to go to the Lord with confidence,

and we should go to the Lord boldly. God. I

know you're good. God, God, I know you loved me. God.

I know that you're concerned about the affairs of my life. God.

I know your word says, cast my cares upon you,

because you care for me. So God, I come to

you boldly and I declare bold prayers to you. God.

I think we see all kinds of biblical examples in

the Bible of people who boldly prayed to God. You

remember Moses prayed boldly God that that he might forgive

the how Israel had made the golden calf. He boldly

stood before God and said, God, turned your anger away

from them. I wonder who today that you see? You're

living a life rebellion to God, and you might go

to the Him and boldly, cold to the Lord, said God,

might you forgive them? God, might you might move in

their life? How may you be like Elijah? Elijah before

the prophets of bel prayed that God fire would come

down from heaven, that people would see the glory of God.

How might you boldly say, God, might you move in me?

Might you move in our community? Might you move and

you might come down and like fire in Bethesda, And

might you move in our church? That people all over

this city would see you God to know you. Lord?

Might you pray boldly like Esther, who was back her

life was backed up to the wall with attacks from

the enemy, and she says, I will boldly stand before

the Lord and stand for God in this moment, maybe

right now, students, teenagers who you feel like you're living

in a school where everything's opposing your faith, do you say, Lord,

I'll be bold for you and I'll stand for you

in the midst of a world where everyone else seems

like they're against you. Lord, May you maybe pray boldly

like David, who sinned against God by having an affair,

and who's boldly came the Lord and says, God, hide

not your face from my sins. Lord, blot out my iniquities,

creating me a clean heart. Old God, renew a right

spirit in me. Some of you may this week just

you know, really messed up and I you go boldly

before the Lord, said the Lord. Today, Lord, I boldly

ask you forgive me cleanse me. Maybe today you're struggling

with the God's will for your life. You've got your

way and God's telling you to go another way. It

may today you might be bold and pray the prayer

of Jesus Lord, not my will, but thy will, Lord,

be done. I'll ask you today, the Lord says, as

we pray, there's certain instructions of how we're to pray,

but it's also the attitude by which we pray. How

desperate are you when you go to the Lord in prayer?

How confident are you approaching the Lord as a friend,

do you have a relationship with him? And how bold

are you in prayer? Hudson, you know this month we're praying,

we have this prayer emphasis month, and we have the

Hoosier one prayer journals that we're asking you to pray through.

We're asking to pray for your lost loved ones. So

when you know that doesn't know the Lord and we're

asking you to pray for them this month, I wonder

how boldly you are praying for them? Heard of Hudson.

Taylor was eighteen years old, he was lost. One night

he or one day, he went into his father's library

and he had there was a track there, a gospel track,

and he read it, and after reading it, he couldn't

shook off the message of the track. So fiddly he

fell to his knees and he prayed to receive crisis

as savior. His mom was out of town, had been

gone away for like ten days cell phones and telephones

and stuff back then. So after a few days she

came back in town. And as soon as she came

in town, he went to his mom and told her

the good news. And she said, listen to this. I

already knew, she said, ten days ago, on the very day,

if you're telling me that you read the track, I

spent the entire afternoon in prayer praying that the Lord

would save you. And I prayed until the Lord assured

me that my wayward son had been brought into saving faith.

I tell you that's a bold prayer. I wonder today,

how bold are you and your prayers? And you know

that just as God is gracious to hear you when

we're bold, because He is a good God, and he

loves you and cares for you. You know, I think

as we wrap up today and we think about this message,

attitude is everything right? I wondered today. I remember, look,

we were talking about the Lord's Prayer, and we at

that last week, and it's sad that sometimes one of

the greatest enemies against prayer is just going through the motion. Right.

We don't have the right attitude. We're just kind of

going through the motion. And I remember one of the

memories I have of doing the Lord's Prayer was I

used to play in a church league softball team many

many years ago when I was at a pastor in

a church in South Carolina, and we would ever game

we played in that church league softball game, at the

end of the game, the two teams would come together

at the picture's mound and we recite the Lord's Prayer.

And I remember thinking that was I'm gonna be honest

with you, that was such a joke. And the reason

why is because we just played a game. Half people

are yelling each other, opposite team talking, jump to each

other almost throughout the whole game, fighting mad and at

the end of the game we come together and pitching

his mouth, our father, you can't already look at the

guy across from you because you're so mad. You you

just threatening a few months ago, I mean a few

minutes ago, you're gonna put him in the face. And

then you're standing together our father and I have a

hell to be your name, and I thought, this is

such a joke. You're just going through the motions, right,

And that's attitude is everything you know. In the Bible,

there is a time where the Lord says he won't

hear our prayers. And you know what it is. It's

when we pray and we're just going through the emotions.

It's actually in Isaiah. He's talking to the people of

visual and this is what he says. In Isaiah one,

chapter twelve. He says, when you come and appear before me,

who's required this trampling of my courts, bring no more

vain offerings incenses of abomination to me, your new moons,

your sabbath, and your calling of convocations. I cannot endure

the iniquity and solemn assembly, your new moon's feast, your

pointy feast, My soul hates that have become a burden me.

I am weary of bearing them. Now listen what he

says when you spread out your hants. I will hide

my eyes from you. Even though you make prayers, I

will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. What

is Jesus? What is the Lord talking about? When we

just come in the church and we just come in

prayer and we just go through the motions, my heart's

not in it. We're just going through the motions. We're

just going through the motions of praying the prayer, just

like we went through the motions of praying the prayer

on the softball mound that day, just as much as

we're guilty of doing it on the soft ball field. Listen,

if we're real honest as believers here today, sometimes we

approach prayer just going through the motions. We sit at

the kitchen table and we say prayer. We just go

through the motions. We come here on Sunday morning as

we say prayer because we put it in an order service,

and we just go through the motions. You sit in

your pews and you hear the prayers, and you just

go through the motions. But you may not even know

what we prayed. Your mind may be somewhere else. Listen.

The dangerous thing about prayer is when our heart and

our attitudes are not in it, and we're just going

through the motions. And in those moments, the Lord says,

when we lift up our voices to him, he will

close our ears. He wants listen, listen. He wants us

not to just go through the motions, but he wants

us to have the right attitude of prayer, of saying, Lord,

I'm desperate for you. I want to just go through

the motions really today, he Lord, Today, I'm desperate for

you Today. Lord, I want a relationship with you. Huh.

I want to come to you confident that Lord, I

know that you know the needs of my life and

you will answer. And God, I want to come to

you in boldness. Oh Lord, there's some really needs in

my life and I need you. So today as we

ten is going to come up lead us in the song,

and I'm going to lead you through a time of prayer.

I challenge you today, don't go through the motions. Now

you're out to a prayer, be a prayer of desperation,

of confidence. And today, Lord, I boldly ask you you

pray with me. Lord. We love you, We thank you

Lord for today lead us. Lord, we pray in this time. Lord,

may we not walk through the motions today. May we

not offer up vain prayers where we're just going through

the motions of this moment or this place in our

order of service. But Lord, may we truly now Lord

seek you, or may we approach you Lord desperately this morning? Lord?

May today this morning we Lord be confident Lord that

you will answer that. Lord, you are a friend that

could be trusted, and Lord, you long for us to

cast our cares upon you. Lord. Today, may we be

bold in asking you for forgiveness of sin, Lord, to

deliver some temptation to save our lost loved ones. Lord,

whatever it may be, Lord, may we be bold to

go before you. Lord. Lord, we love you today. Lord,

I pray for Lord this time that Lord, we won't

just pray prayers in vain, but Lord, we would Lord,

seek you openly and honestly. Lord. Today, Lord, we love you.

We thank you Lord this more, this passage you led

us to. In your name, we pray Amen Jesus, pain

and all to him.