When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He didn't give them words to recite. He gave them a roadmap known as the Lord's Prayer. Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah explores that roadmap to be used for your journey. Toward praying in a way that pleases God and embraces His priorities.
Listen as David introduces today's eye-opening message, Intersections of Prayer. Have you ever experienced a time when you were praying and you lost Track of what you were doing, lost track of what you were saying, didn't seem to have a plan. Do you know the prayer can be planned, it can be organized. And one of the things that I think is beautiful about the Lord's Prayer is that He doesn't tell us to pray the prayer as we would memorize it, but He says, Here's the prayer and here's the organizational plan. And His plan is: you begin with praise, then you deal with priorities.
You pray for protection. You deal with personal relationships. And you end with praise. And provision is in there too.
So, this is the outline. There's six steps to this, and we're going to talk about these steps during the next two days as we close out this series on prayer. We've called this lesson the intersections of prayer. I have a little diagram of this that I pasted inside one of my Bibles.
So that when I would pray, I could follow this outline. I would spend time in worshiping the Lord. And then I would ask the Lord to help me with the things I'm dealing with, the priorities of life. And my prayer would be, Lord, help me to do this on earth as it is done in heaven. Help me to have a heavenly perspective on what I do.
I asked the Lord to help me with the relationships I had and to keep short accounts with those who have a problem with me. And I have a problem with them sometimes too. And then I prayed for protection. And of course, all of these things are in the Lord's Prayer, and they give you a structure for your praying. I can't tell you how important that is.
And that's why I hope you will get. This series on the Lord's Prayer, if you haven't already ordered it, and especially this last practical lesson on the intersections of prayer. Hey, we're going to get started with that right now. I'll be back with more information about what's happening this month, but right now, here is part one of the intersections of prayer. One of the great passions in my heart in these days is that.
truth that we teach truth that we hear. Is often lost to us when it comes to the practical application of it. While there may have been a time in my life as a pastor when it would have been very satisfying to me to have someone come up and say to me, you know, I heard your series on the Lord's Prayer, and it was. very good or it was very helpful and I enjoyed it or whatever. That might have been a blessing to me, but anymore.
It is far more important to me to hear people say, I took the truth that we studied together, and I want you to know how it's changed my life. how it's become a part of my daily practice. There is not anything that I know of that is more threatening to those of us who are believers. more frustrating to many of us if we're honest. Than the elusive nature.
of effective prayer. Years ago, when I was starting out in the ministry, someone gave me Andrew Murray's book called With Christ in the School of Prayer. I read it many times, and I still think it's probably the best book on prayer I've ever read. But somewhere in that book, I remembered him saying that if you do not learn how to pray when you're just starting out as a Christian. you may end up stumbling at it all of your life.
And I know a lot of Christians who, if they were honest, would say, that's a pretty good way to describe my prayer life. I sort of stumble at it. I do all right for a while, then I don't do so well. As far as having any ongoing, consistent, effective ministry of prayer, it's just really not there in my life. And I must confess to you, as your pastor, that for many years as I started out in the ministry.
I felt a sense of great defeat at this point more than any other place in my life. I could work hard and I could prepare and I could preach and I could visit and I could do all those other things, but the sense of satisfaction out of an effective, Ministry of intercession and prayer was missing. I read books. In fact, I think I have well over a hundred books on prayer in my library. And I listened to tapes.
And I finally realized that Prayer, like some other things in life, is only learned through the practice of it. You can't learn how to pray in a book. You can't learn how to pray listening to a tape, even to a message or a series of messages like we have been sharing with you in these days. And so, as I finish these discussions on the Lord's Prayer, my real heart is that I might be able to take what we've learned. and put it in a way that you can take it now.
and make it a part of your life. We need to constantly be learning more and more about how we can be more effective in prayer. I'm going to tell you quite honestly that since God really began to deal with me about this several years ago. I am always in the process of reading a book on prayer every day of my life. I'll take a new book and read a chapter on it every day along with my Bible study.
I heard someone say it like this.
Sometimes we need to prime the pump. And maybe that's what this is all about. But I know that if I'm constantly being refreshed on the importance of prayer. from men and women that I respect. It helps me to pray more effectively and not to lose my fervor and my desire.
So many times when I've talked with Christian people about their prayer life, they have said to me, Well, you know, Pastor, I don't know, I just sort of pray, but it doesn't go anywhere. I don't have a plan. I don't have a system. You know, after a while, it just seems like I'm mouthing the same old words that I mouthed before, and I just wish I could get a handle on how to pray.
Well, I don't know if you've ever felt a kinship with the disciples, but I want to welcome you to their club today because I think that's what was going on in their hearts. When one day they came to the Lord Jesus and they said to him, Lord, Teach us to pray.
Now, if they already knew how to pray, they wouldn't ask the Lord how to teach them to pray. They obviously were struggling with prayer. They had seen the Lord Jesus pray. Obviously, he had sensed the power and impact of his prayer life because he often got up a long while before dawn and went alone to pray. It is amazing to me that the disciples didn't ask Jesus, teach us to do miracles, Lord.
Or teach us to preach, or teach us to teach. But, Lord, teach us to pray. For we sense that you know how to pray and we don't, and would you teach us? And when they asked that question to the Lord, he responded by saying, When you pray, Say this. That's exactly what it says in Luke's account.
I know we've made a big deal about the fact that this prayer is not to be said in rote. And I really believe that you can get into a habit of just saying the Lord's Prayer, and it doesn't have any meaning at all. But I think what the Lord was saying is this, if you really understand what this prayer is all about and you can pray it with understanding, pray this. Say this.
So here is our Lord's prayer kit. Here's what the Lord said we're to do when we pray. And I have tested this. over a number of years. I have prayed.
Through. This outline the Lord has given us. in Matthew and in Luke. And I can tell you, there's hardly anything. that touches life.
That is not touched upon by this prayer. This prayer Will involve you in just about every relationship you will ever know with your Father in heaven. Let me illustrate. When you say our Father, You are having a father-child relationship with God. When you say, hallowed be thy name, you're having a worshiper-deity relationship with God.
When you say thy kingdom come, you're having a subject Sovereign relationship with God. When you pray, thy will be done, you're having a servant-master relationship with God. When you say, give us our daily bread, you're having a beneficiary-benefactor relationship with God. And when you pray, forgive us our trespasses, you're having a sinner-savior relationship with God. And when you pray, lead us not into temptation, you're having a pilgrim guide relationship with God.
Throughout this whole prayer, what this is all about is your relationship with God in heaven. And every facet of it is a part. of this prayer itself. And one day it will be one part of the prayer that you need, and another day a specifically different part of the prayer. But as you pray the prayer and as you begin to understand how the prayer outline works.
There will never be a time in your life, no matter what you're experiencing. That you will not know the blessing. of your relationship with God in heaven. We learned back at the beginning of this series that before we start the journey and get to the intersections of prayer, there's a couple of things we need to remember. They're very simply put.
We're not to pray like the hypocrites who love to stand in a public place and be seen for their praying. And we were reminded that our prayers are to God, not to all the people who are listening.
Sometimes, as you listen to people pray, you know they're not really praying to God, they're praying for all of us. And then we're not to pray as the heathen. Who repeat things over and over again because they think that through their vain repetitions they're going to be heard. Don't pray as the hypocrites, don't pray as the heathen, but Jesus said, when you pray, pray. Pray like this, begin first of all at the intersection of praise.
If we were left to ourselves, Without this instruction, I can promise you that we would both start and end with ourselves. For our natural self-centeredness. Knows no boundaries. In fact, much praying that goes on among Christian people is exactly like that. We begin with our needs and our wants and our grocery lists of problems, and we rush into God's presence, and before we even hardly say a good and Nice hello.
We have dumped all of our problems on God. It is no accident that the Lord Jesus says to us, When you pray, Pray like this. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. And the psalmist says, Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts. with praise.
The entryway into the presence of God is through the court of praise. were to hallow his name. That was something I had not done. And I'm still learning how to do it better. I gave you during the series the list of the Jehovah cognate names from the Old Testament.
Jehovah said, Kinyu, the Lord our righteousness, Jehovah Machedesh, the Lord our sanctifier, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace, Jehovah Shema, the Lord who never leaves us, Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our healer. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our provider, Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. Jehovah Rohi, the Lord our shepherd. And you say, well, how do we use those? Let me just say to you that every day you could focus on just one.
And I'm not going to role model prayer because that doesn't seem quite right, but I can just sort of, if you'll let me for a moment, express to you how this works for me. Maybe you begin by saying, I don't know how you address God when you talk to him in the morning. I usually say good morning. I guess that's all right. Good morning, Lord.
I just want to Take some time this morning. To give praise to you that you are my righteousness. God, I'm a sinner. I have got no standing before you at all. But your Jehovah said, Kinyu, my righteousness.
And God, I want to praise you. that one day you went To the trouble to send your Son, the Lord Jesus, to the cross and pay for all of my sin and give me righteousness which I don't deserve. And you, dear God, you are my righteousness, and I praise you for it. I want to begin my prayer time just focusing on the fact that I was a sinner lost. And bound for hell, had it not been for your intervention, God, and I love you for that, and I praise you.
That's a pretty good start, isn't it? There's another one on there that I've been enjoying. Lord. You are Jehovah Rapha. You are my healer.
I cried out to you, God, for healing, and you healed me, and I thank you, God, and I want to praise you today for who you are. What a different entrance into prayer. Then, Lord, here I am, and let me tell you what I need. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. And into his courts with praise.
In fact, if you look at this list of Jehovah cognates from the Old Testament, There's hardly a problem you will ever face that does not fall into the category of these names. Jehovah said, Kinyu deal with all the issues of sin in your life, for he is your righteousness. Jehovah Machedesh deals with all the issues of spirituality in your life, where he's your sanctifier, he makes you holy. Jehovah's Shalom deals with all the issues of security in your life, where He's your peace. Jehovah Rapheh deals with all the issues of sickness in your life, for He's your healer.
Jehovah Jireh deals with all the issues of shortage in your life, for He's your provider. Jehovah Nisi deals with all the issues of significance in your life. He's your banner. You find your significance in him. And Jehovah Rochai deals with all the issues of stability in your life because now you've got a shepherd who takes you through every direction.
He's Jehovah God. Worship him. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And I worship you for who you are. Another way you can focus on that, and you can expand upon this yourself, is you can go through the Bible and find all the attributes of God.
There's probably 19 or 20 of them, depending on which list that you look at. And you can spend some time each day praising God for the different aspects of His nature that are reflected in His attributes. Praise him for his love. I don't know which of these appeals to you, but I spend a lot of time thanking God for His long-suffering and patience with me. That's one that I focus on a lot.
Aren't you glad God's long-suffering? that he doesn't have a short Temper. Praise him for his nature. I could spend a lot of time on this, but I won't. Let me just tell you that Marcus Dodds, who was a great preacher of another day.
He said this after praying through this process. He said, This morning I found it easy to worship. For God seemed near and living as a second person with me. His majesty so patent that humility was natural, His holiness and love so evident that my soul was turned from all other objects. I did worship.
And I worshiped God. When you began to pray by worshiping, Everything changes. I cannot express that to you in strong enough terms. It is the missing ingredient in most of our prayers. We have not cultivated the art of worshiping God.
We have not worked hard through our journals and through our reading to comprehend the greatness of God and to all over again keep falling in love with Him and worshiping Him and saying to Him what we know to be true of His nature. Enter into His courts with praise. Intersection number one is praise. And then Of course, we move from praise to priorities. Your kingdom come, your will be done.
on earth as it is in heaven. This is simply saying in essence That we have decided to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And understand that when we do that, everything that we need will be cared for. To put another way, men and women, when I pray this prayer as a part of my daily prayer routine, what I am saying is this: Lord, bring heaven down to earth in my life. Let your kingdom be reflected in all that I do.
Lord, not my will, but thine be done. I want your will, your perfect system of priorities in my life. And it makes so much sense to do that, especially at the beginning of the day. Because most of us rush into the day with all of our plans and goals and our lists and to-dos. How many of you have a to-do list?
Do you ever keep those? I mean, I got it in a computer and I got it on a yellow tablet. My wife has one for me, as most of you guys. You know, we all have little to-do lists. I don't have a problem making the to-do list.
What I have a problem is trying to decide what to do. Are you with me? What to do first, what to do when, what to do for who, what to do. How do you get your priorities straight? And I want to say something to you, and I want you to hear me, and I want you to hear me at a little deeper level than maybe you would listen otherwise.
If you do not pray the priorities of God into your life, your priorities will be wrong. They will be wrong. They will be messed up. They will be inverted. They will be upside down.
They will be human-centered, not God-centered. You will destroy everything that's close to you, even when you're not trying to do it, if you don't pray God into the priorities of your life.
So every day You go through this, and you can make up your own list if you want to, but I've mentioned this to you before. You say, God. I'm here before you today and I want your will in my life. And really, I know that more important than anything else is that I be right. For God, if I'm wrong, everything else is wrong.
And so, I want you to help me continue to see the vital importance of my relationship with you. Lord, I don't want to neglect that. In light of all of the other pressures in my life, help me to see. that it takes discipline to be godly. And that I must involve myself in a routine daily basis, cultivating the spiritual growth of my own life, where I am a person and I have a relationship with you.
And then Lord, I need to help me. to build strength into the relationship with my wife. That we might Know the joy that you've intended us to know that we might stay close and there might not be any drifting apart. God, help me to be a good husband. And then Lord, for my children, because I'm a parent and I have a relationship with them.
And how many of you know that some days one of your children needs more prayer? Then the other. You can let this one float over here today, but you better work on this one right here. You know what I'm talking about? You know, every one of my children has been at the top of the list at one time or another, not necessarily because of problems in their life, but because of needs they have.
How easy it is for us as Christian people, let me just say this, I know it's true. We're godly people and we don't pray for our kids. Why? Because we don't have a place for it. We don't have any way to put it into the process.
And if you don't want to pray this list of priorities, get your own. But somewhere, you are a parent and you have a responsibility to your children. And then I changed this up a little bit because my friend told me that I could replace pastor with provider and it would work for everybody.
So we decided to do that. And that means I have a responsibility in my job. Do you pray about your job? Do you pray about your profession? You go to God every day and say, Lord, Here I am.
I'm going back into this den of wolves again, this den of thieves, or wherever it is you work. And I got to try to hold forth for you. And then the last thing on the list is your participation in other things. All I'm saying to you is this.
Somehow, in the process of your prayer, you have to work through your priorities. And I think that's what Jesus was talking about when He said to His disciples: when you pray, say this. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Pray your priorities.
The only way I know to keep my priorities straight is to pray them every day, every single day. I can have a great list and I'll make a new one when the year starts. I'll have some different things I want to do, but if I don't pray my priorities every day, They go away real quick. Have you noticed that? They don't stay focused.
I know about all the little day timers and the organizational charts and all these things you can do and how they tell you to write out your priorities and get a mission statement and all that. Let me just tell you, you can do that if you want to, but if you pray your priorities, you won't have to do any of that. Because every day before God, you will go through this list. and it will help you keep them in sync. And if you don't do that, you'll have a hard time.
your priorities will shift. to the pressure of life. Can I get a witness? You know what I'm talking about? Your priorities will shift and they'll fit into the little space that life creates for them, and you will not be God's person.
as you want to be. Then Provision. Intersection number three. I got some things, Lord, I need. Give us this day our daily bread.
Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you. This is the time now, having worshiped God, having focused your priorities, you come and say, Now, Lord. Here are the things that I need.
I've been learning a lot about me. But I've learned, and maybe you'll identify with this, sometimes when there's a lot of things on your mind, The first thing when you wake up in the morning, those things are all there. Have you noticed? I don't know what there is about getting up in the morning, especially maybe you thought about them during the night or before you went to bed. And I've had to find a way to release those things.
And I release a lot of them right here. When I'm praying, if I'm using my journal, I will just sit down and say, Now, Lord, I got this sense in the back of my mind that there's some things that are bothering me, some needs we have. as a church I mean, we got a lot of places for needs to grow. In the church, in the college, in the school district, at Turning Point in my own personal life. And so I just started, Lord, I'm gonna release these things to you right now.
And I get my little computer and I got a little thing that makes bullets, you know, when you make the little bullet. I just put them all down. As fast as I can, I just write them all down. And as soon as I write them down and I see them, it's just like I'm giving them to God.
Now I said, Lord, here's my needs. These seem overwhelming to me, especially when I don't really crystallize and focus on them. But when I give them to you, they don't seem like that much, for you're the God of heaven. And I give my needs to God. And I say, Lord.
Give us this day our daily bread. And you remember when we studied this, we talked about the fact. that we have to distinguish between our needs and our wants. You know, God may want you to have a Hyundai. And you want A Cadillac.
Some people think that God's obligated to answer your fantasies. Lord, give me my fantasies. No, no, no. No, your wants. Mm.
Give us our bread. Then when you do that You can give that to God. That's what happens when I release this list to the Lord in the morning. I give it up to Him, I don't worry about it anymore. We'll be back with more on the Intersections of Prayer tomorrow.
I hope you'll be sure to join us. And don't forget, we're running out of time for you to get a copy of the book for the month of August, which is Everything to God in Prayer: Guided Prayers for Your Deepest Needs and Biggest Dreams. This beautiful hardback gift book is our way of saying thank you for your investment in Turning Point during the month of August. What that means is when you send a gift of any size to this ministry, it is our wonderful privilege to return to you this book that we know will add value to your life, encourage you in your walk, and strengthen you, especially this month, in your prayer life. This beautiful book, Everything to God in Prayer, is yours for the asking when you send your gift this month.
As we come to the end of the month of August, I want to just thank you for being with us as we've studied prayer together. It's been motivating, encouraging, and challenging. And I hope it will make a difference in your life. That's always our goal. and we'll see you right here tomorrow for the next edition of Turning Point.
For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series, Prayer the Great Adventure, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected: our monthly Turning Points magazine and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at DavidJeremiah.org/slash radio. That's DavidJeremiah.org slash radio. or call us at 800-947-1993.
Ask for your copy of David's new book, Everything to God in Prayer, Guided Prayers for Your Deepest Needs and Biggest Dreams. it's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible. In the English Standard, New International, and New King James Versions. Complete with notes and articles from Dr.
Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website, davidjeremiah.org/slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we conclude the series Prayer: the Great Adventure on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
