Luke 11:2-5  “A Manual on Prayer”

Our greatest need is to pray. When asked, Jesus gave his followers a simple manual consisting of three basic elements of prayer followed by these words: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”[vs 28]

First; begin at the beginning:  Hallow the Father’s name for he is holy and abides in heaven: “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.” [Ps 11:4]

Secondly; seek God’s forgiveness for sins of omission and commission so that you are able to forgive others. “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.” [1Jn 1:9]

Lastly; seek God’s protection and direction so that we remain faithful. Claim the promise that Jesus has “Disarm[ed] the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” [Col 2:15]

We ask then how should we pray? Pray shamelessly and with confidence: “let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.”[Heb 4:16] for “we have boldness and confident access to God because of Christ’s faithfulness” [Eph3 :12]

Prayer is how we remove the barriers that keep us from true fellowship with God so the question is: how does your prayer life measure up?