Delight in the Word: Teach Us to Pray - Adoration Matthew 6:5-9 

What is the Delight in the Word Series?

Just as the title says it is further reflections on our weekly sermon. It is here each week, where you can find a brief summary of the sermon, resources, and some discussion questions to contemplate.

Teach Us to Pray - Adoration Matthew 6:5-9 

This week, we began a new sermon series called Teach Us to Pray. Prayer is foundational to the Christian life and, yet, many Christians struggle to live prayerful lives. The good news is that we are not left to ourselves to grow in this area of our faith. In fact, Jesus’ disciples once asked, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:2). Over the next six weeks, leading up to Easter, we will look at how Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and learn from Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17.

This week the sermon began with an introduction to the concept of prayer, what is prayer and what does Jesus have to say about it? Timothy Keller says that “Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started through his Word and his grace, which eventually becomes a full encounter with him.” If prayer is a conversation with God, the question then becomes how do I converse with God?

Jesus begins to teach us how to converse with God in Matthew 6, where He reminds us that we must look inward at our hearts attitude. We must not pray to be seen by others or impress God but to pray with humble and sincere hearts, without pretense, and in secret. God already knows what we need before we pray.

We must also remember who it is that we converse with. If we remember to whom we pray, our hearts respond with adoration because we know that it is a privilege to be welcomed into conversation with God who is in heaven and who is our Father.

“What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!”

 Resources 

Song

What a Friend I Have in Jesus - The Worship Initative, Shane & Shane, Hannah Hardin

Sermon

Our Father in Heaven by Tripp Lee

Books

Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God- Timothy Keller

A Simple Way to Prayer by Martin Luther

Reflection Questions 

• How does knowing that God is our Father help you to pray?

• How does praying in secret help us have a right attitude before the Lord?

• What encouraged you in your prayer life from the sermon?