Lord, Teach Us To Pray

[0:00] The words I want to take as a text this evening would be the words of Luke chapter 11 and verse 1. What it says there, And it came to pass that as he, that is Jesus, was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

[0:25] But particularly the request, Lord, teach us to pray. Lord, teach us to pray. Even though the disciples belonged to the church of the first century, they asked the Lord to teach them to pray.

[0:42] And as disciples belonging to the church in the 21st century, we should still be making that same request as we are this evening. Lord, teach us to pray.

[0:55] Because, you know, I don't think there's any one of us here this evening who honestly feels that they have mastered how to pray. Because when it comes to prayer and speaking about our prayer life, I'm sure that many of us, if not all of us, we would say that prayer is one area in our Christian life that we always feel is lacking.

[1:18] And that's something, it's something that we don't do enough of, or it's something we think that we don't persevere with. And I don't know about you, but I often question my attitude before the Lord, even when I pray, where I wonder, am I earnest enough in my prayers?

[1:34] Am I sincere enough in my prayers? Am I genuine in my prayers? Or am I just praying with words, and my heart and my mind are elsewhere? Friends, prayer is a difficult topic to talk about, and I don't know why your minister gave it to me.

[1:51] And yet, you know, the truth is, we're probably better at talking about prayer than we are actually engaging in prayer. But as you know, over the years, there have been many books written on prayer for us to read about and learn about.

[2:05] A couple of classics would be E.M. Bowne's book, Power Through Prayer, or Andrew Murray's book, With Christ in the School of Prayer, and I recommend that you read them.

[2:16] But there's one book which I was given a few years ago, and it's fascinating to read because it's just a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions, and it's a book called The Valley of Vision.

[2:30] The Valley of Vision. I don't know if you've heard about it. It was first printed in 1975 and compiled by a Reverend Arthur Bennett, who was the canon of St. Albans Cathedral.

[2:42] And The Valley of Vision, as I said, it's just a collection of prayers taken from the works of different men. Works such as men such as Thomas Watson, Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, Isaac Watts, David Brainerd, Augustus Toplady, and the well-known Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

[3:00] And of course, when you read the prayers of these great minds and great men, well, for me anyway, when I read them, my heart immediately sinks because I feel that my prayers are so inadequate and so insufficient in comparison to their eloquence, the way they write these prayers.

[3:18] And yet these prayers, they were written and they were recorded for us, not to make us feel inadequate, but to stir us up and to encourage us and enable us to seek the Lord in prayer.

[3:32] But as we said, prayer is a very difficult topic to talk about. And personally speaking, even as I stand before you this evening, I feel like a complete hypocrite. But it's good to talk about prayer, even though prayer is very personal.

[3:47] And it is personal. Prayer is very personal. Even when I was training for the ministry, I'll be honest with you, I was often criticised by the way I prayed.

[3:59] I was often challenged more than once for praying with thee and thou rather than you and your. But I don't think you can tell anyone how to pray. We can certainly give advice and guidance as we're doing this evening.

[4:13] But prayer is personal. Prayer is personal. It's you speaking to the Lord. And even though we say that prayer is personal, yet at the same time, prayer is public, as it was this evening.

[4:27] Because when the church comes together for prayer or public worship, there is always public prayer. And in certain situations of public worship, such as a wake or a funeral, we're very familiar with the fact that there's pastoral prayer, pastoral public prayer.

[4:44] And so there's three areas I'd like us just to think about this evening as we consider the topic of prayer. I'd like us to think about the areas of personal prayer, public prayer, and pastoral prayer.

[4:59] And I hope this covers the topic that is set out for me. So personal prayer, public prayer, and pastoral prayer. So first of all, public prayer.

[5:11] The disciples were told they came to Jesus and they said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. Now when the disciples came to Jesus asking, Lord, teach us to pray, they did simply because they had this personal relationship with him.

[5:28] As disciples, they had a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And as disciples, they were followers of Jesus and they sought to learn from the encouragement and even the example of Jesus.

[5:42] In fact, that's why the disciples wanted to be taught how to pray. Because at various points throughout his ministry, the disciples saw Jesus praying. He was always praying.

[5:54] He would go off on his own, praying. Therefore, the prayers of Jesus, they were an encouragement and an example for the disciples of Jesus in teaching them how to pray.

[6:05] And you know, the same should be true of us as disciples of Jesus. The prayers of Jesus should be an encouragement and an example to us because we too have a personal relationship with him.

[6:20] Because like the disciples of the first century, we not only know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we've also come to know this same Jesus as our mediator and also our high priest.

[6:34] And as our mediator, Jesus, we know that he stands between God and man and he stands between God and man as the man, Christ Jesus. That's what Paul says to Timothy.

[6:46] But more than that, the Bible reminds us that Jesus is our great high priest who has passed through the heavens and yet the wonderful thing about him is that he became like us in order to relate to us.

[7:00] And our Jesus, he was touched with a feeling of our infirmities and was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. And you know, my friend, it's because of, it's all because of who Jesus is that we're invited to come boldly.

[7:16] That's what it says in Hebrews, Hebrews 4. We're invited to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may first of all find mercy and then find grace to help in our time of need.

[7:30] And you know, the wonderful truth about our mediator and our great high priest is that he ever lives to make intercession for us. That's the truth about Jesus tonight.

[7:41] He ever lives to make intercession for us. But you know, what makes our relationship with Jesus very personal is that even though Jesus promises that we have the privilege of prayer, he also gives to us the assurance that as our mediator and our high priest, tonight, he is praying for us.

[8:04] Tonight, Jesus in heaven is praying for us. And you know, my friend, you know, it's the greatest encouragement that if we ever feel lonely or we ever feel that people aren't praying for us, we can always be assured that Jesus is praying for us.

[8:18] He's our great high priest. And in his high priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus, we're told, he prayed to his father saying, I am praying for them.

[8:30] I'm not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours and yours are mine and I am glorified in them.

[8:43] And you know, this is what makes prayer very personal and reminds us that our relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Saviour is very personal. Because, you know, my Christian friend, Jesus is not only our personal Lord and Saviour, but he's also our personal mediator and high priest.

[9:03] And it's because of who he is that Jesus encourages us to pray and he also gives us an example to pray. But, you know, we should not only view prayer as personal, we should also see it as a privilege.

[9:19] It's a wonderful privilege. Our catechism, and I'll refer to the catechism again and again, it's a wonderful document and it's good to read it and reread it. Our catechism asks, what is prayer?

[9:32] And it says, prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for the things agreeable to his will in the name of Christ with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.

[9:45] Prayer is the privilege, the great privilege of having an audience and even the attention of the God of heaven. He is the creator of the universe.

[9:57] We have the attention and the audience of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. But what's remarkable is that through God's Son, who is our Saviour, our Lord, our Mediator and our High Priest, through him, we're able to address the God of heaven as our Father.

[10:19] And you know, that's what I love about prayer. That we're not addressing God as some distant deity whom we know nothing about and whom we can't get close to.

[10:32] No, the wonderful thing is we're able to draw near to our Heavenly Father and we have the promise that when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. And that even when we pray, we have the assurance that He will listen to our prayers.

[10:46] He's our Heavenly Father and He's more than willing to listen to our prayers and petitions. And even as we read in Matthew 6, He knows what we need of before we even ask.

[10:59] You know, is that not why the psalmist in Psalm 116, He says, I love the Lord because my voice and prayers He did hear. I, while I live, will call on Him who bowed to me His ear.

[11:15] My friend, it's the fact that we have the assurance that God will hear us when we pray. That's why Jesus encourages us. And that's why Jesus gives us an example to pray.

[11:27] And that even when we pray, we're to pray to our Father. Our Father. And notice the example from both Matthew and Luke, Matthew 6 and Luke 11.

[11:41] Jesus, He doesn't teach us to pray to Him. And He doesn't teach us to pray to the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught us to pray to God as our Father.

[11:53] We're to pray to God the Father in the name of God the Son by the enabling of the Holy Spirit. And that's the encouragement and the example that Jesus has given to us.

[12:06] And it was given to us, as we commonly call it, it's set out for us in the Lord's Prayer. We've been taught to address God as our Father, which art in heaven.

[12:21] And again, the Catechism, it reminds us that these opening words of the Lord's Prayer, they teach us our Father, which art in heaven. They teach us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence as children to a Father, able and ready to help us that we should pray with and for others.

[12:42] And this is what's beautiful about prayer, that we're to come to God as little children, seeking to draw near to our Heavenly Father. And we're to address God as our Father, not only because that's how Jesus taught us to address Him, but also we're to address Him as our Father because we ourselves are the children of God.

[13:06] We've been loved and called as God's children. It's not what John reminds us in his letter, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God.

[13:23] as the children of God were to come to our Heavenly Father as sons and daughters of the King, assured that we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ and that because of all that we have this personal relationship with God the Son, a privileged access to God the Father and it's all because we have received that spirit of adoption.

[13:45] all three persons of the Godhead are working together in the fact that we have this privilege in prayer and as children of God we have received the spirit of adoption in which we are able to cry Abba Father.

[14:04] The word Abba I'm sure we're familiar with the words of Romans 8 where Paul says that we're able to cry Abba Father. The word Abba is just the Hebrew word for Father.

[14:15] So it's literally Father, Father. But what Paul affirms to us in Romans 8 is that because we've been made alive by God the Holy Spirit and united to Jesus Christ God the Son we are made a child of God our Heavenly Father and now we're able to cry Abba Father and what's wonderful about our Heavenly Father is that he knows his children.

[14:41] He knows you all. He knows your needs. He knows your desires. He knows what's best for you even when you don't know it yourself. And you know what I always find so comforting is when Paul goes on to say that our Heavenly Father understands even the groanings which cannot be uttered.

[15:05] You know my friend our Heavenly Father understands the sighs and the sorrows. He understands the trials and the tears even when we have no words to pray.

[15:18] And that's what I find so humbling that he understands the groanings which cannot be uttered. And that's what David discovered in Psalm 143. It's my mother's favourite psalm.

[15:32] She would always sing But you know it's beautiful for thou well understandst all my complaint and moan.

[15:56] Our Heavenly Father understands even the groanings which cannot be uttered. And you know it ought to remind us and even reassure us that prayer is personal.

[16:07] Prayer is a privilege. But prayer is also private. Because as Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount when you pray he says go into your room shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

[16:29] But as we all know private and personal prayer it's very difficult. Because in the day and age we live in we're so busy we're so busy that we feel we don't have enough time for prayer.

[16:42] Of course if we're honest we can find time to do plenty of other things. But prayer is one Christian exercise that we often neglect. Yes we can pray throughout the day asking for the help and the support of our Heavenly Father but we should also do as Jesus encourages us and as he led by his own example we should set aside time in the day to pray and to read the Bible.

[17:09] And it's a very hard exercise. But along with fellowship prayer and Bible reading that's the diet of the Christian. Fellowship prayer and reading the Bible.

[17:20] And you know if we neglect these things we're starving our soul. It was J.C. Ryle who said Bibles read without prayer sermons heard without prayer marriages contracted without prayer journeys undertaken without prayer residences chosen without prayer friendships formed without prayer the daily act of prayer itself hurried over or gone through without heart.

[17:47] These are the kind of downward steps by which many a Christian descends to a condition of spiritual palsy or reaches the point where God allows them to have a tremendous fall.

[18:01] You know my friend is it any wonder to us that Jesus says to us that we ought always to pray and not to give up. We're to persevere in prayer.

[18:13] We're to persevere in the privilege of our personal prayer life. We're to persevere. So that's the first thing we see about prayer is that it's personal. And personal prayer it's a privilege it's to be private and we're to persevere in it.

[18:30] But as you know prayer is also public which is what we see secondly. Public prayer. So personal prayer and then public prayer. We'll read again in verse 1.

[18:43] It came to pass that as he Jesus was praying in a certain place when he had ceased one of his disciples said unto him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them when you pray say our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as in heaven so on earth.

[19:04] Give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

[19:16] So as Jesus continued to teach his disciples to pray he not only taught them by giving them this framework for prayer in the Lord's prayer but as we read in Matthew chapter 6 earlier on from the Sermon on the Mount Jesus also warned his disciples about acting like the Pharisees when praying.

[19:40] Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount he says beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them for when for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven when you pray you must not be like the hypocrites they love to stand in the street in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others truly I say to you they have received their reward.

[20:08] Jesus said that the Pharisees they loved to make long public prayers so that people would listen to them and just think that they're so holy. But Jesus said do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do for they think that they'll be heard for the many words but your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask him.

[20:31] Jesus taught his disciples he taught them and us that public prayer is not to be a parade of our pride public prayer is not to be a parade of our pride rather public prayer is to be a humbling experience that we are not to find easy.

[20:54] Now I don't know about the other men who are here this evening but I don't find public prayer easy. When your minister said you're starting the evening by praying my heart sank.

[21:06] In fact I would go as far as to say that it's the part of the service that I always dread when I have to lead in public prayer. But you know I take comfort from the words of the experienced preacher Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones he said if you've never had any difficulty in prayer then it's absolutely certain that you've never prayed.

[21:29] If you've never had any difficulty in prayer then it's absolutely certain that you've never prayed. My friend public prayer is not to be a parade of our pride it's to be a humbling experience.

[21:43] Now I don't want to go into why I believe that only men should lead in public prayer meetings and not women but I will say that it's all based upon the creative order that man was created before woman and moreover every time public prayer takes place in the Bible it's led by a man and every time public prayer is mentioned in the Bible it's men who are called upon to lead in prayer.

[22:10] That said I have heard women praying not in a public meeting but in a more private setting. I've heard my wife praying and other women praying and I would say that they're far more spiritual and more eloquent than I am.

[22:28] But as we said public prayer is not to be a parade of our pride it's to be a humbling experience. But what I've often found is that our personal prayer life it affects our public prayer life.

[22:43] Because if we're not praying personally that can often be revealed and reflected when we're praying publicly. But of course public prayer is not personal prayer.

[22:55] You're not you're not praying on behalf of yourself in public prayer you're praying on behalf of the public you're leading the public in prayer. Therefore public prayer it's not a place to speak about yourself but lead in prayer and to speak on behalf of all who are present.

[23:14] Public prayer is not the place to engage in personal prayer and talking about private sins or talking about personal matters. But that said it's good to be specific in prayer.

[23:28] It's good to pray about specific circumstances in your community or specific situations in the congregation because as someone once said generalities often sound like trivialities generalities often sound like trivialities where something is said in prayer just for the sake of saying it but you know we're to give thought to public prayer because we're leading others into the presence of God our heavenly father and you know there's another catechism which helps us in this question 99 in the shorter catechism what rule hath God given for our direction in prayer and the catechism says the whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples commonly called the Lord's Prayer and what the catechism says there is that the whole

[24:31] Bible the whole Bible is of use to us as we lead in public prayer you know most of the Psalms are prayers Psalm 90 was a prayer of Moses Psalm 86 was a prayer of David and that you know there are many other prayers in the Bible Daniel's prayer and all these prayers we can learn from them in order to form and fashion our own public prayers as the catechism teaches us the whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer you know my friend the Bible is our prayer book in which we're made to see that we're to come to God with adoration confession thanksgiving and supplication the Bible is our prayer book and it reminds us of acts I'm sure you've heard of that acronym acts adoration confession thanksgiving and supplication and we're to find reason for all of it in the Bible adoration confession thanksgiving and supplication in fact when you think about it when you really think about it what pleases

[25:42] God most what pleases God most but himself because there's no one like him and there's no one like his word his word is unchanging it's perfect therefore in many ways we should learn to pray God's word back to him we should learn to pray God's word back to him we should learn to memorize some of the Psalms memorize passages of scripture memorize the promises of God and pray them back to God that's how we're to plead the promises of God we're to pray them back to God the catechism teaches us the whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer but you know what can often be a danger in public prayer is that we say plenty but we ask nothing we say plenty but we ask nothing we can pray about sin and about salvation but our prayers can be completely devoid of supplication we can talk about sin and salvation but not mention supplication and that's not prayer as my friend J.C.

[27:00] Ryle he once said a prayer which only contains thanksgiving and profession and asks nothing is essentially defective it may be suitable for an angel but it's not suitable for a sinner and so our prayers they have to acknowledge sin and salvation but they also need to be full of supplication acts adoration confession thanksgiving and supplication our prayers need to be full of supplication and they need to be specific because as we said generalities often sound like trivialities therefore it's good to be specific in prayer it's good to pray about specific circumstances and situations and you know that's why it's good to share prayer requests with people around you or those in the congregation it's good to talk about the news that's going on talk about those who are sick or struggling or sorrowing it's good to mention them and to pray specifically for them and to pray for one another and you know what I find helpful is the prayer requests that we receive each week from the mission board where we're to be praying for one another we can often be guilty of being introverted and isolated as congregations but you know it's good to know a little about another congregation a congregation that we've probably never even heard of and yet we're in the same denomination and it's good to know a little about these congregations and receive these specific prayer requests for us to pray for them it's nothing new this is nothing new because

[28:42] Paul repeatedly asked the churches to be praying for one another how often do you read in Paul's letters where he says to the churches brethren pray for us and so it's good to publicly pray for one another but another area of public prayer which we don't tend to address is the length of our prayers I always remember the old elder in Stornoway Cicero I don't know his proper name I'm sure you do he used to always encourage the men to publicly pray short but spiritual prayers and even personally Cicero he would advise I remember speaking to him once as a young Christian when I was first converted he encouraged us as young Christians to pray short but spiritual prayers throughout the day because as Paul encourages us we're to pray without ceasing we're to pray short but spiritual prayers and again this isn't something new it was the 18th century preacher and hymn writer

[29:47] John Newton he said it's better that the hearers should wish the prayer had been longer than spend half of it or a considerable part of the time wishing it was over and you know I always remember even in college the professor Donald MacLeod he was saying to us as students when we were sitting in practical theology he was talking about pulpit prayers and I don't know if I've mastered this one yet but he said to us always remember that for the first five minutes your people are praying with you the next five minutes your people are praying for you but anything after that your people are praying for you to sit down and you know another point I read before Spurgeon who wrote in his book only a prayer meeting it's a brilliant book if you get a hold of it only a prayer meeting he writes about the occasion when one of the men in his congregation they took so long praying that Spurgeon eventually stood up and told the man to sit down and finish the rest at home so I hope your minister has never done that to you but you know public prayer is important but it's not an opportunity for parading out pride it's an opportunity to lead a congregation to publicly do as

[31:09] Jesus teaches down in verse 10 everyone that asks receives he that seeks finds and to him that knocks it shall be opened and so we're considering three areas of prayer personal prayer public prayer and lastly pastoral prayer pastoral prayer we see in verse 11 Jesus says if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father will he give him a stone or if he asks for a fish will he for a fish give him a serpent or if he shall ask an egg will he offer him a scorpion if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him now in these verses Jesus highlights the care and compassion of our heavenly father by using the illustration of a relationship between a father and a son and he emphasizes that if an earthly father knows how to give good gifts to his children then how much more will our heavenly father give good gifts to his children the children of God and with this

[32:28] Jesus he shows us not only the care and compassion of our heavenly father but he's also showing to us the pastoral heart of God but Jesus shows us the pastoral heart of God for a purpose as he's doing with the disciples he's teaching us how to pray Jesus is teaching us that we need to pray with care and compassion he's teaching us that we need to be pastoral in our prayers we need to have a pastoral heart that personally prays for those who are either caught in sin or facing sickness suffering or sorrow we need to be pastoral in our prayers of course this applies to all of us but it particularly applies to those who have taken up the office of elder whether a teaching elder or a ruling elder prayer because you know the teaching of the new testament in Acts chapter 6 is that deacons were appointed in order that the elders could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word and as we know

[33:37] Paul he certainly had a pastoral heart and he engaged in pastoral prayer because in every letter you read whether it's the letter to the Philippians or the Colossians or even the Thessalonians Paul is reminding these churches that he's praying for them and even tells these churches what he's praying for them and you know as members but more specifically as elders we should be personally praying for those in our congregations daily and when we're praying for them we should be telling them that we're praying for them because you know there's nothing wrong with telling people that you're praying for them we should tell those who are caught in sin or sickness suffering or sorrow we should tell them that we're praying for them what's worse is telling someone that you are praying for them but you're not or that you will pray for them but you don't and yet we should be telling people that we're praying for them and praying for our congregation so as elders we should be devoted to prayer and the ministry of the word we should have a pastoral heart that prays for those who are caught in sin or facing sickness suffering or sorrow and much of my thoughts there are drawn from a book that

[35:00] I read before I entered the ministry it was a joint book called On Being a Pastor written by Derek Prime and Alistair Begg and in the book as the title suggests they talk about various issues on being a pastor and to be honest it's the best book that I've ever read on giving advice about the pastoral ministry but they've got a whole chapter on prayer and when it comes to prayer Derek Prime and Alistair Begg say that as elders they say we pray routinely for the membership of the congregation and have a pastoral care list that's updated daily and they say one unique benefit of praying regularly and systematically for those for whom we have a spiritual responsibility it's that it prompts concern and action in other words if you're praying for those in your congregation if you're praying for them systematically and continuously well they will already be on your mind and you'll be pastorally sensitive towards their situation and towards their circumstances and you'll continuously ask how they're getting on and pray informatively and you know this model of regularly and systematically praying for those in your congregation you know should be a challenge to us to make us think about and even act upon how we carry out pastoral prayer as elders and as a congregation but pastoral prayer it's not only personal it's also public because when we're called upon to publicly lead in pastoral prayer whether it's at the bedside of someone who's sick or awake or a funeral you know it's a very difficult situation to be in

[36:55] I never find it an easy situation to be in but at the same time as prayer is it's a privilege it's a privilege that we're able to pray with or for someone who's sick or who's grieving and we're able to bring them to the father of mercy the god of all comfort praying that he'll sustain them and give them that grace to help in their time of need of course if the sick are dying we're not to pray that they'll get better or if the person is dead we're not to pray we're only to pray for the living we're not to pray for the dead and the reason I mention that is because I've heard both I've heard people praying for someone who's dying praying that they'd get better or someone who's dead praying for the person who was dead so we're to be very sensitive in the way we pray especially at wakes and funerals you know our prayers are not an opportunity to give a eulogy of the person who died prayer is always to god there's no point telling god all about the person because god knows who they are prayer is to god it's not to man that must always be our focus in prayer it's not a eulogy but as we said public pastoral prayer is very difficult and as Derek

[38:17] Prime and Alsterbeck teach about pastoral prayer they say that those who take prayer seriously also take seriously their preparation and thought for prayer so those who are to lead publicly and pastorally in prayer they're to take it seriously and take seriously their preparation and their thought for prayer but the last word I've gone on too long the last word I'd like to suggest for pastoral prayer is pray for your pastor pray for your pastor it was Spurgeon who encouraged his congregation to pray for their pastor and he said you're to pray for your pastor even before you've prayed for your own family and he said this is because your pastor is always under spiritual attack from the devil now I'm not going to make the same request for your pastor he might make that request for you but I'll leave you with the words of my good friend J.C.

[39:19] Ryle if you ever have any book on J.C. Ryle I suggest you read it J.C. Ryle says if we would have good ministers we must remember our Lord's example and pray for them their work is heavy their responsibility is enormous their strength is small let us see that we support them and hold up their hands by our prayers so pray for your pastor and so this evening although we've only scratched the surface of a topic that is vast we've covered three areas of prayer personal prayer public prayer and pastoral prayer but you know as disciples of Jesus our persistent prayer should be as the disciples asked Jesus Lord teach us to pray Lord teach us to pray so may the Lord bless these few thoughts to us we'll just close in a word of prayer heavenly father we give thanks for this wonderful privilege and being able to call upon thy name to call to the

[40:33] God of heaven the God who hears and who answers prayer and we marvel Lord that thou art one who hears your voice when we realize that we are so sinful we are so undeserving of the least of thy mercies and yet we're able to come to thee as little children and to know that we receive good gifts from our father in heaven Lord help us then to ask that we might receive help us Lord to seek that we might find help us to keep knocking that the door will be open to us bless us Lord as thy people help us to be known as a praying people to be those who are conscious of our community and conscious of the needs of our own congregations to be praying for them to be bringing them to this throne of grace that they might find mercy and that grace to help in their time of need Lord undertake for us then we ask go before us then we pray taking away our iniquity and receiving us graciously for Jesus sake

[41:37] Amen Amen Amen Amen