Grace to You

John MacArthur: We do recognize that the beginning of our prayers, that we are entering into the Holy of Holies, and while there is familiarity and love, and care, and a personal relationship of affection and generosity, we are also entering the holy presence of God.

Phil Johnson: Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. When you think of a good father, what words come to mind: protector, provider, authority? Well, the truth is, God is the epitome of all those qualities, and that should have a profound impact on how you go to Him in prayer. Today on Grace to You, John MacArthur shows you how Jesus taught his followers to address God in prayer. More than just words to recite, this model prayer teaches you how to pray in a way that honors the Lord and blesses you. Important stuff. The title of today's lesson, Prayer and the God Who Hears You. And now here's John.

John MacArthur: I would invite you to turn in your Bible to Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11, verse 1. And it came about that while he was praying in a certain place, after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples."

He said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation.'"

A little bit of background on what's going on in this context. The reality of personal access to God Himself on an intimate level was somewhat convoluted among the Jews in Jesus' day. They had been taught by the rabbis that God was far off, that God was so transcendent that they could not really experience any kind of intimate fellowship with Him. He was frighteningly unapproachable, and they were used to realizing that no one could actually enter His presence except the high priest on the Day of Atonement, and that only with the proper preparation. God appeared on Mount Sinai. The Israelites had seen His presence there accompanied by frightening displays of thunder and lightning and smoke, and because God is, after all, the writer of Hebrews says, a consuming fire.

But this had been stretched to I think an unfair point in the time of our Lord, because if you go back into the Old Testament, it was very clear in the writing of the Old Testament that God was approachable by His people. The rabbis even said, "The holy one yearns for the prayers of the righteous."

Psalm 50 and verse 15 says, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will rescue you and you will honor me." Psalm 91:15, "When he calls to me," says the Lord, "I will answer him." Psalm 145:18, "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him." Psalm 18:6, "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God for help. He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears."

Psalm 65:2 says, "Oh, thou that hears prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." And there's an indication that access to God was broader even than just the Jews. A Midrash commentary on Psalm 65 says, "A human king can hearken to two or three people at once, but he cannot hearken to more. God is not so, for all men may pray to Him, and He hearkens to them all simultaneously."

"Men's ears become satisfied with hearing a little, but God's ears are never satiated. He is never wearied by men's prayers."

Some rabbis taught that prayer was greater than sacrifice. And some rabbis believed that prayer should be constant, not just when a person is in need. In fact, there's a statement in the Talmud that says, "Honor the physician before you have need of him." You shall pray and not just when in prosperity. And not just when in need rather, but when in prosperity. Before misfortune comes, anticipate and pray, says the Talmud.

And when you look at the Old Testament and begin to analyze the components of the prayers of the people of God in the Old Testament, when you see what the Old Testament calls them to do in their prayers, it breaks down to a number of things. Jewish prayers had several elements. First of all, we could say love and praise. Psalm 34:2, "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 51:17, "Oh, Lord, open my lips, my mouth shall show forth thy praise." And then there was, very closely related to that, gratitude and thanksgiving. Jonah says in the second chapter and verse 9, "I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving." This was a very typical way the Jewish people prayed, and the rabbis said, "Through all prayers, there must be thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is never to be discontinued," they said.

There was also in prayer an affirmation and recognition of God's holiness. We are to pray, said one rabbi, realizing that the glory of God is before us as if the Shekinah was present. There is also to be in prayer the affirmation of one's desire to obey God, to please God. And that basically is what Psalm 119 emphasizes, such as "My tongue will sing of thy word, for all thy commandments are right." Prayer is a celebration of the goodness of God's law and the goodness of His commandments, and the eagerness to obey them.

Another component that was a part of Jewish praying was confession of sin and the longing for a pure heart. Psalm 26:6, "I will wash my hands in innocence and go about thine altar, O Lord." Psalm 51, that great prayer of confession on the part of David, is an illustration, a very familiar one to us. And we're reminded that the psalmist says, "Who can ascend to the hill of the Lord, but he who has clean hands and a pure heart?"

So the Jews understood the components of prayer which are familiar to us. They also understood that prayer was to be unselfish. The highest Jewish prayers were those offered on behalf of the community. There was a great sense of solidarity among the people of God.

They saw themselves as a covenant people, as indeed they were, and they saw God's redemptive purpose as collective on behalf of them all as the seed of Abraham. In fact, one of the things the rabbis used to say was, in praying to God, they would say, "Let not the prayer of the traveler find entrance to thee, O Lord."

Interesting prayer. "Let not the prayer of the traveler find entrance to thee, O Lord." Travelers might be praying for fair weather when the people of God needed rain. In other words, God, don't pay any attention to the prayers of the strangers if they interrupt the purposes that you have for your people. So they prayed with a view to collective benediction and blessing.

They also marked their prayers by perseverance. They did pray with importunity. They did pray with pleading. And you see a number of those kinds of things. I would say that Daniel chapter 9 is a wonderful indication of the pleading of the man of God who goes over the same things repeatedly and and and does all those kinds of things that emphasize a heart that is wholly given over to the urgency of this.

Another illustration, Moses prayed for the mercy of God even after God said to him in Deuteronomy 3, "Enough, speak no more to me of this matter." But he kept speaking. In fact, after the sin of the golden calf, Moses interceded for the people of Israel for 40 days. Now, there's some importunity in prayer. The Jews knew what it was to plead with God.

And I suppose at the end, the pervasive attitude in prayer that was righteous prayer among the Jews was humility. They often began their prayer, "May it be thy good pleasure." Now, the reason I give you just a little bit of a fast rundown on Old Testament prayer is because I want you to know that Jesus here is not giving some new instruction never known before.

However, we are to commune with God. It is not going to be any different than those who have been communing with Him all along. All the elements that we find in proper Jewish prayers are emphasized and refined by our Lord in His instruction, and here again is a wonderful illustration that He came not to overturn anything. He came not to replace anything, but to fulfill. And so, in this text of Luke 11, we come to Jesus' specific instruction on how to pray.

This can be compared with the other version of this instruction in Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 to 13. They are not the same incident. The Matthew account happens much earlier in Galilee. This one, no doubt, in Judea, months later. Here again, Jesus is repeating His instruction.

And the question that launches it is at the end of verse 1, "Lord, teach us to pray." Teach us to pray. They didn't say, please notice, "teach us a prayer." They said, "Teach us to pray." This is not a prayer. This is how to pray.

It follows that we learn from this a structure to prayer. A pattern that we can follow. This is a model for praying. The Lord is not saying, "Occasionally, or daily, or once in a while, or every Lord's day, at the end of the the prayer that you pray in the pulpit, lead your people in this prayer."

He said to them, "When you pray," or literally, "Whenever you pray, pray like this." This is a skeleton that you're going to hang all your praying on. This is a framework that provides the structure for all our prayers. I found it so helpful many, many years ago when I went through teaching the wonderful gospel of Matthew to spend an awful lot of time in the version of this prayer that appears in the sixth chapter, and to learn this structure and this framework, which has been the constant structure and framework for my praying ever since. Occasionally, I actually say or sing the Lord's Prayer. But that's not the point. It's not wrong to do that. It's wonderful to do that, because you need to be reminded of that structure.

But that's only the framework. And I want you to see just exactly what this framework is. Because this, dear friends, is what it really means to pray the way Jesus taught us to pray, which is to say, this is what it means to pray in the Spirit, to pray consistently with the will of the Spirit, who desires that we pray the way we've been instructed to pray. And I know you're going to know many of the things that I'll tell you, but perhaps this will be a reminder.

Let's go back to verse 1 and just get the setting. It came about, very general indicator here, we don't know when or where this occurred. But it came about that while He was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught His disciples." It was a regular part of our Lord's life to be in constant communion with His Father. No doubt, the disciples experienced that with Him all the time. But on this occasion, when Jesus is at prayer, they ask Him to teach them to pray, as they were hearing Him pray. They must have been watching, they must have been listening. And they wanted to know what was the structure of His own prayers.

And they bring up the fact that John, John the Baptist, had taught his disciples to pray. It was known then by everybody that John the Baptist's followers prayed. And whoever asked this question said, "You know, we ought to know how to pray too." And so, to that, Jesus responds, "When you pray," no set time, no set posture, "whenever you pray," present subjunctive. "Say," say, from Lego, in the broadest sense.

And here the framework begins. First thing, "Father." God is called Father 65 times in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and 100 times in John. Something has happened to bring God near, to open up this filial relationship among us and this parental relationship with Him.

The Greek is pater, but the Jews used the Aramaic and probably said Abba. When you pray, start out this way. Daddy, Papa. That, by the way, is still used today in Hebrew speaking families, the term of tender affection, family love. And rabbis used to note that the first words that a child ever uttered were Abba and Imma.

So here is a model, a pattern, a format, a framework for prayer that begins with addressing God in a way that the Jews really never did. Collectively they did, but individually they did not. This invocation says that you have the right to approach God, the creator, the sovereign, eternal, holy One, and to call Him Papa. To the conventional wisdom of the Jews of that day, this is frighteningly presumptuous.

But God is so eager to introduce Himself in this way, and we are reminded again, aren't we, of the seventh chapter of Matthew, where God presents Himself as a father who responds to His people. "What man is there among you when his son asks for a loaf will give him a stone? What if he asks for a fish? He won't give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to good give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?"

It's not presumptuous to call God Father. He wants to be called Father, and the most intimate sense, and our Lord Jesus instructs us, "That's how you pray to Him." In fact, in John 20 and verse 17, Jesus said, "Tell the brethren, this is after the resurrection, I go to my Father and your Father." Just an amazing reality.

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Abba Father again is is Paul's reference in telling us how to approach God. He is our Father. God is not the apatheia God of the Stoics, unable to feel anything. He's not the ataraxia God of the Epicureans, living in perfect indifferent serenity. He is not the God, say, of Thomas Hardy, who called God the dreaming, dark, dumb thing that turns the handle on this idle show.

He's not the God of the deists who wound up and went away. He is Abba Father. And that settles the matter of fear, and that settles the matter of hope, and that settles the matter of loneliness, and that settles the matter of resources. Every time you pray, Father, you're not lost in the crowd.

Think about the story of the loving Father. I prefer to call it the story of the loving Father rather than the prodigal son, because it is really about the love of God for a returning prodigal. In Luke 15, when he comes back, the magnanimous affection of the Father for this disobedient child is overwhelming. All he wants is to be a servant, and the Father will have none of it. But the ring on his finger, kill the fatted calf, put a robe on, let's have a party to end all parties.

You're that son. That's right, you are that son. And the Father's arms are open to you, to embrace you and to fall on your neck and kiss you. He is our Father in the truest sense. And that's where all prayer begins, and it means we're not lost in the crowd, and it means He cares, and He is the source of everything, and His resources are unlimited.

Well, let's just call that God as source. That's where we start. But even more intimately, God as Father. Secondly, I want to see the next statement here, "Hallowed be thy name." Let's just say that's God as sacred. God as sacred. And it's good that this comes right away, because we could get a little sentimental with Father, couldn't we? It's really a very important balance. "Hallowed be thy name."

While we are so thrilled to have this kind of access to Abba, while we can rush into His presence and cry out Daddy and lay out all the issues of our hearts before Him, it is also incumbent upon us to understand that His name is to be hallowed, and that is to say, He is to be honored above all things. This is not just long live the king. This is not just God save the Queen kind of stuff. This is not a casual bit of religious jargon, although it certainly I suppose becomes that because of its familiarity to us. This is a statement that recognizes the enormous respect that is required when you enter God's presence.

The Jews took this to an extreme level, to the point that they would not even speak the name of God. They wouldn't say the tetragrammaton. They invented ways to refer to God without saying it. It was too holy to speak. We do recognize this at the beginning of our prayers, that we are entering into the Holy of Holies, and while there is familiarity and love, and care, and a personal relationship of affection and generosity, we are also entering the holy presence of God.

And you understand that. What does it mean when we talk about His name? Let's just talk about that for a minute. The name of God is simply that which refers to His character, His nature, His attributes, His personality, and His works. Psalm 9:10 says, "Those who know your name put their trust in you." If you really know who He is, you certainly are willing to put your trust in Him.

So His name is all that He is. What we do when we come to God in prayer is affirm the fullness of the glory of His person. Psalm 20 and verse 7 says, "Some boast of chariots and some of horses, but we boast of the name of the Lord our God." Jesus in John 17:6 said, "I have manifested your name." What did He mean? He meant, "I've manifested you, your person, your power, your truth to the men you've given me out of this world." I've put you on display, on exhibit. Jesus revealed what God is, His true nature. God in the past spoke through the prophets. Now He speaks through His Son. So the name is not a title. It's the total of the person.

So when you pray, you go to God as Father. But immediately you become aware as you draw into intimate presence, which is made available to you since the veil has been ripped, that you are entering the presence of the all-holy God.

Phil Johnson: You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Today's lesson is called Prayer and the God Who Hears You. Thinking about this issue of prayer, you know, in times of crisis, you'll often hear people giving comfort to others, telling them, "Our prayers are with you." But what exactly does that mean, and what should it mean when a Christian tells people they can count on his or her prayers when the person is facing trials? Well, we asked John that question a while back, and here's what he said.

John MacArthur: Well, the New Testament is pretty clear on the fact that we're to pray for one another. When somebody tells me that our prayers are with you, I I want to believe it. I want to believe that they're praying for me. Paul pled with people in his letters to pray for him. He said, "Pray that the word, the truth would have free course." We are called to pray for one another. That's a biblical command. As we face our trials in life, it's encouraging to know that people are praying for us. Not just because it's nice to know you have friends, that that's not what prayer is.

It is nice to know you have friends. But when you say you're praying for me, you are literally moving the muscles of omnipotence. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, it says in the book of James. God answers prayer. You have not because you ask not, the Bible says. Call on me. I'll show you powerful things. You are my children. Heaven's resources are ready to be dispensed in response to your prayers. Whatever you ask in my name, the Father says he will hear and grant that request. We have all kinds of promises of heaven's response to our prayers. So when someone says, "Our prayers are with you," it's got to be more than just some kind of sympathetic comment, or some kind of indication of, "I like you," or, "I care about you." It should be a real, true interest in interceding for somebody else.

Phil Johnson: That's right, friend, and it's kind of convicting. And about interceding for others, if I could ask a favor, do pray for the team at this radio station. And while you're at it, consider writing them a note to express your gratitude for their airing of Bible teaching programs like Grace to You. You'll encourage them more than you know. And keep in mind that we want to hear from you as well. If God has used Grace to You in your life, write a note to tell us about it when you have an opportunity. You can address your letter to Grace to You, PO Box 4000, Panorama City, California 91412. Or even quicker, email your letter to letters@gty.org. That's letters@gty.org. And again, thanks for your prayers. We need faithful friends like you to bring us before the throne of grace. And let me encourage you to visit our website, gty.org. There you will find thousands of free Bible study resources. That includes blog articles, daily devotionals, the reading plan for the MacArthur Daily Bible, and more than 3,600 sermons from John MacArthur's decades of pastoral ministry. All of those sermons are free to download in MP3 and transcript format. To take advantage of these free resources or to order a copy of John's book on prayer, titled Alone With God, visit gty.org. That's our web address one more time, gty.org. Now, for the entire Grace to You staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for making this broadcast part of your day. Be back tomorrow as John MacArthur continues his line-by-line look at the model prayer Christ left for his followers. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.