Praying With the Rabbi
Luke 11:1-4

Prayer is an invitation to God to intervene in our lives, to let His will prevail in our affairs; it is the opening of a window to Him in our will, an effort to make Him the Lord of our soul.

Jewish life was saturated with prayer. Jesus placed a priority on prayer.

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

This prayer expressed the essence of his own deep commitment to the Father.  Think for a moment about the Lord's Prayer (Lk 11:2-4);

" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. g
And lead us not into temptation.' "

Jesus' words are so Jewish. His teaching on prayer relies on classic themes that still resonate with Jews today.

I. The Lord's prayer reflects Jewish tradition by using the phrase "our Father" rather than "my Father."

A. Jewish prayers tend to involve corporate prayer for the needs of the whole community.
B. In Hebrew, the word for bread not only refers to all food but God's sustenance as a whole.

1. When we pray this way we are asking God to provide for all our needs.
2. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." (John 6:35). Jesus himself is God's provision for all our needs.

C. Together, "deliver us from evil" and "lead us not into temptation," are a plea for God to protect us from the evil that is both within and without.

II. How Not to Pray

A. Jesus warned about praying "in vain" by babbling on and on.
B. We have been given the awesome privilege of speaking to a God who is truly listening.

III. Sensing God's Presence

A. To many people God seems remote and unconcerned, living light years away in another dimension called "heaven."

1. Our Western world has been heavily influenced by Enlightenment philosophers who pictured God as a being who set the universe in motion and then sat back to watch it tick.
2. But the Bible reveals a God neither distant nor uncaring but one intensely interested in the world he has made.

B. The idea that we are continually in the presence of God is greatly emphasized in some branches of Judaism.

1. There is a Hebrew word that conveys the idea of being profoundly aware of the One to whom you are speaking as you direct your heart toward heaven.

Ideally, each of us should live every day with a profound awareness of the fact that God is present, desiring to speak and work through us at every moment. This week try to find a way to increase your awareness of God's presence.