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HopeLives365

Mark Finley

How to Pray Like Jesus (Impact Others now!)

Have you ever wished that you had a more effective prayer life?

Have you ever wished that your devotional life were richer?

Have you ever wished that your devotional life would be fuller?

At times do you go through your day and feel almost a little spiritually barren.

You wish that your prayer life had much more vibrancy to it.

I think all of us have felt that way at times as Christians.

I felt that way in my own personal life, this longing for a deeper spiritual experience, this longing to know God in a more intimate way.

Recently, as I've been studying the Gospel of Luke, I've discovered 7 major instances in the prayer life of Jesus that have made an impact in my own prayer life.

And this morning we're going to journey through the Gospel of Luke.

Luke was a convert to Christianity, no doubt.

Luke was baptized by Paul when Paul visited Antioch, and Luke was a Gentile Christian who was a physician, touched by the Gospel, changed by God's grace.

Luke wrote Luke, the Gospel of Luke, in about AD 60.

Now the Gospel of Luke focuses more than on any other gospel on the prayer life of Christ.

If you have your Bibles, take them in turn to Luke chapter 1.

And we begin with Luke the first chapter.

I've outlined each text for you in the study guide and left lines where you could write notes if you so desire as we journey through this study.

You're looking at Luke the first chapter.

If you have your Bible, I invite you to turn to it.

If you don't have your Bible, you can look up at the screen and pick it up there.

But Luke chapter 1, you may, if I asked you, who wrote more in the New Testament than any other writer.

You would probably say, Paul, well you are partially right.

Paul wrote about 13 books out of the 27 in the New Testament.

But as far as content is concerned, Luke wrote more.

He wrote the book of Acts with 28 chapters.

So as far as volume, Luke, this Gentile physician who never met Christ personally, wrote more in the New Testament from volume.

There is an insight here that we want to take a look at.

Luke chapter 1 verse 1, in as much as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us.

Verse 2, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us.

He says, I learned the truth of the gospel from eyewitnesses of Christ.

I can imagine that Paul and Luke visit Ephesus where Mary, the mother of Jesus, lived the last part of her life.

And Paul says to Luke, would you like to meet Mary?

And Mary sits, And Luke sits at the feet of Mary, and Mary begins to share with him the teachings of Jesus and the parables of Jesus.

And Luke is taking notes, because what does Luke say here?

I can imagine that Paul introduces Luke to Peter.

And Peter tells Luke the story of the cross from an eyewitness account.

And Paul introduces Luke to Thomas and the other disciples.

And here, Luke is writing all that down and Luke says, verse 3, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you in orderly account most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

Paul says, Luke says rather, look, I learned these things from eyewitnesses of Christ.

And Theophilus, I'm sharing them with you so you can write them down, so you can know the certainty of the things that you have been instructed.

Now the word Theophilus is an interesting word.

So Paul writes the Gospel of Luke and he shares it with Theophilus.

Now if you look at the word Theophilus, Theo comes from the word God and Philophilus comes from the word phileo meaning lover of.

So the word Theophilus means a lover of God or a friend of God.

So the entire purpose of the book of Luke, you'll never read it again the same way, the entire purpose of the book of Luke, when you read the miracles, when you read the parables of Luke, when you read the teachings of Jesus in Luke, the entire purpose of the book of Luke, when you read the miracles, when you read the parables of Luke, when you read the teachings of Jesus in Luke, the entire purpose of the book of Luke is so that you and I will become friends of God.

When we study the prayer life of Jesus in these 7 vignettes, these 7 scenes of the prayer life of Jesus, the purpose of our study is so that we are drawn closer to God.

So that we, our hearts will beat with this intimate friendship with God.

As we study here, we notice something else.

Now the Greeks had no idea or concept at all of a relationship with God.

You could never have a relationship with 1 of the Greek gods.

In this gospel, Luke presents a revolutionary concept.

Jesus, the divine son of God, dwelt in human flesh and he desires to have a relationship with us.

That is totally foreign from Greek thought.

In the Greek concepts of God, God is distant.

The gods are far away and you can never have a relationship with them.

You come to them, the Greek gods, in offering sacrifices.

The Greek gods demand something from you they do not desire a relationship with you so Luke in writing this gospel, this Luke who desires to portray a God that longs to have a relationship with us, is portraying something that is revolutionary.

We begin our study of Jesus' prayer life and we're going to look at 7 scenes in Jesus' prayer life and say what do we discover from those scenes.

The first time in the Gospel of Luke that we see Jesus praying is in Luke chapter 3 verse 21 and 22.

And I call this section prayers in filling.

Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized and while he prayed, now notice the expression, The 3 words you want to notice are, while he prayed.

The heaven was open, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove upon him.

The temptations in the wilderness were before him.

The devil would tempt Christ in every way possible.

And here, before Jesus faced the temptations of Satan for 40 years, 40 days in the wilderness, The Spirit of God filled Jesus' life.

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

Now you'll notice in verse 21 and 22 of Luke 3, while Jesus prayed the Holy Spirit descended upon him, You'll notice in Luke chapter 4 verse 1 that he's filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit strengthens, sustains, and supports us.

The Holy Spirit encourages, enlightens, and empowers us.

The Holy Spirit instructs, informs, and impresses us.

The Holy Spirit convicts, corrects, and converts us.

So, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, when we're weak, the Spirit of God strengthens us.

When we need encouragement, the Holy Spirit is there to give us encouragement, lift our spirits.

When we need enlightenment, the Holy Spirit is there to enlighten us.

When we need instruction, the Holy Spirit is there to instruct us.

When we need correction, the Holy Spirit is there to correct us.

The Holy Spirit fills us as the Spirit filled Jesus as we pray.

As we seek God in prayer, a divine transformation takes place in our life.

When we are discouraged, the Spirit of God brings encouragement.

When we need enlightenment, the Holy Spirit brings light.

When we need strength and we are weak, the Holy Spirit brings strength.

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How to Pray Like Jesus (Impact Others now!)

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