Jack Graham - How to Pray the Jesus Way

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TOPICS: Prayer

Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 6. Now prayer is the most basic of religious practice. All religions, every religion that I know prays in some way. But the question is: Who is the God who hears our prayers? And if there is a God who hears our prayers, how do we get through? How do we know that God is hearing and answering our prayer? Because not every prayer is a godly prayer. Not every prayer is a righteous prayer. Not every prayer is a biblical prayer. So Lord, we, like the disciples say, «Lord, teach us to pray».

Of all the things that inner circle of believers could have asked Jesus, they could have said, «Lord, teach us to preach or teach us to teach or teach us to perform miracles». And yet the one thing they said, «Lord, teach us to pray». They saw in Jesus the passion and the perseverance of His own prayer life. They knew He prayed differently than the self-righteous prayers of so many people that they had seen around them. And so they said, «Lord, teach us to pray like this». And so in the midst of the greatest sermon ever delivered, known as the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus took time, and in other passages, to teach on this subject of prayer. If I said to you, «I’m about to give you the most profound thought that you could ever think as a Christian», alright?

The most profound thing you could think about as a Christian… all right, here it is. Are you ready for this? God answers prayer! Now if that is true, and I believe it’s true according to God’s Word and my own personal experience, and what I’ve seen in the lives of so many. If because that is true, why is it that we have such a struggle to pray? Why don’t we pray? The Scripture says «You have not because you ask not». I mean, if you really believe, if God Almighty answered your prayers, you would pray like never before.

You say, «Well, I prayed and it didn’t happen. I prayed and it didn’t work». Well, you know, when we pray there are basically three answers, maybe four. One is, yes, and you get the answer immediately or in due time. The other is no; God does say no. Have you ever thanked God for unanswered prayers? Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham once said, «I thank God for unanswered prayer. If it hadn’t been for unanswered prayer, I would have married the wrong man five times»! So God says, «No». Sometimes I think with our prayers, the Lord may say, «You’ve got to be kidding me! They really asked me that»? It’s like your kids sometime. They ask you things and you’re like «I can’t believe you asked that».

But really the third answer to prayer is… wait. And God may say wait because He’s going to do something better and more than you can ask, dream, think or imagine. You know that. And so God does answer prayer in His own time and in His own way, according to His own will. So we pray in the will of God. We brought a message on that in our ESSENTIAL series: How to know God’s Will. So when we’re praying in the Word of God, through the will of God in the name of the Son of God, we can know that our prayers are answered. And we ask the question: «Does everyone pray to the same God? Are we all praying? Aren’t we all on the same path to find God? Aren’t all the religions of the world equal? Aren’t we the same? Is the god of Islam Allah the same as the God of the Jews Yahweh»?

Well, the answer is an absolute no! We do not pray to the same god. Recognize there are true and false religions. Jesus said, «I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, no one comes to God except by Me». And so when we pray, we do not pray to Allah. We pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you say, «Well, that’s narrow, that’s restrictive». Well, the Bible is narrow in this truth, and therefore, our biblical worldview is what enables us to say with confidence and certainty that Jesus is Lord; that our God and Father has given us His Son and His Spirit lives within us; and God gave us this all through the Jewish people.

You say, «Why do we love Jewish people? Why do Christians care about Jewish people»? Well, God has chosen the Jewish people. God chose the Jewish people and He called them and it’s a covenant that He has made with them. And in the promise that He has given the Jewish people. And through the Jewish people all the world has been blessed. How so? We’ve been blessed in that our Bible comes from Jewish people, all the authors of the Bible save one, are Jewish. From the psalmists to the prophets to the Patriarchs, to the preachers of the New Testament, the Apostles, all but one, and that was Luke, the physician who gave us the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. But all are Jewish people.

So God gave us our Bibles through the Jewish people. God gave us salvation, the Bible says, «Salvation is of the Jews». Jonah said that from the belly of the fish. A Samaritan woman talking to Jesus said this to Jesus, that salvation is of the Jews. We know this. Our salvation came through the Jewish line, the Messianic line. We have a Jewish Savior. Jesus is Jewish. Many Jewish people don’t know that. Many Jewish people think that we worship a Gentile God. No! We’ve been grafted in; we have been included as followers of Yeshua and we are a part of the family of God because we are now in the new covenant and we are a part of God’s eternal plan.

So the history of Israel, the destiny of Israel is all in the message of God’s Word, the Bible, and therefore, we have great love. Our salvation is because of what has happened in Jesus through the Messianic line, through the Davidic line, through the promises of God. And if God denied His promises, these are ironclad promises! If God denied His promises to the Jewish people, then all the promises of God would be invalidated. They would be untrustworthy. We have to ask the question: Why do so many people hate the Jews? Why do these terrorist organizations hate the Jews and want to destroy the Jews? Well, God gave Israel the land, chose His people.

And so there is the land of Israel. We’ve been many times. We’ve been so many times and met both Jews and Palestinian Christians and Muslim people in the land. And not every Muslim person is for the extermination of the Jewish people. I would also say that not every Muslim person is a terrorist, but we know these terrorists are Muslims. And so they worship Allah. They worship a different god. They worship a false religion. Again, there’s true religion and false religion according to the Bible. That’s just not what I say because I’m a Christian, but it’s what God’s Word teaches, and we are submitted to the Word of God.

You have to ask the question: Of all the land, you know the land of Israel is about, it’s about the size of New Jersey, and it’s really not even about, is about the whole land but even in the land, why, you know, all the end time events that are going to take place in the Middle East and in the world, why is the focus on Israel? Why is the focus on Jerusalem and not just Jerusalem, but a little plot of land called Mount Moriah, about 14 acres; the Temple Mount where now there is a Muslim place of worship there on top of the Temple Mount. And that is a very controversial area in Jerusalem today. So it’s about Israel, it’s about Jerusalem and it’s about that little place, that little piece, that little parcel, the very place where Jesus died for the sins of the world.

Right there. And it’s all coming to a conclusion, a climax there in Israel. We’re seeing this come to be, and it’s a whole other theme and a whole other message, talking about Israel and prophecy and the future. And we’re seeing, I don’t know if this is the Last Days, or these are the Last Days, and the Last Days in the sense that since the cross, we’re in the final epoch of human history. Maybe I should say, I don’t know if we’re in the end of days, but I do know this: that if it’s not the end of days, it’s the days of the end, because all the signs and the signals of the Last Days, the final days of human history we are seeing in even these events that are coming to pass in the Middle East right now. But it all gets down to the extermination.

And Satan has always hated the Jewish people. He’s tried to destroy them. In Egypt first, as slaves, and then in occupation by Babylonians and later by Romans and then scattered to the ends of the earth all over the world. And yet these minority people, this small little group of people compared to the world, I mean, they still exist. I mean, back in the ancient times you had the Hittites and Amorites and Jebusites. You never heard, you never met a one of them! They are extinguished! They are gone! But the Jews, you can meet them on every street corner and every community in America and around the world. God has preserved His people. Why? After all this onslaught. And why are they hated so much?

We did a very special 30-minute program on Israel and these events in the Middle East that are happening today with Hamas. And we asked a Jewish Rabbi, a Messianic Jew. For those of you who don’t recognize that term: Messianic Jew. That means a Jew who has trusted in Messiah, who has believed in Messiah. So this Rabbi is a believer and follower of Jesus. His name is Jason Sobel. I’m going to give you a clip of it because it’s answering the question that I’m raising today. «Why does Satan, why do so many people hate the Jewish people»?

Watch this: Rabbi, you know every time history repeats itself, I feel like we pay a higher price. And there is so many Christians right now who are so concerned. And I think the question we’re all asking is: Why is there such demonic hatred toward the Jewish people? Rabbi: Yeah, absolutely. I mean I think antisemitism, first and foremost, is a spiritual issue. And I think we have to understand the spiritual roots of antisemitism. There’s a number of reasons, think about it for a moment. The foundation of Western Civilization is Judeo-Christian. It’s rooted in the Ten Commandments; it’s rooted in the Old Testament. And there, there are promises to Israel that God would sustain them as a people.

If you can destroy Israel, you can say God’s a liar; the foundation is faulty; God doesn’t exist; those promises aren’t true. That’s an aspect of it. Another aspect of it is, you know, the enemy hates everything that God loves. And God has a love and a covenant and a promise to the Jewish people. I grew up in New Jersey. There’s a lot of Mafia guys there, «Forget about it. You talkin' to me»? You know, right. And if you can’t get to somebody, what do you do? You get to their family. And so, we can’t, you know, Satan can’t get to God, so he gets to God’s covenant people, you know, the Jewish people. And I think there’s another key point, too, which is that Jesus is very clear in the Gospel of Matthew, He’s not going to establish the kingdom unto the Jewish people say, Matthew 23:39, «Berukhim ha-ba' be-shem Adonai». «Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord».

That’s basic until the Jewish people welcome Him as the Messiah. Well, if you can destroy the Jewish people, you can either prevent the Second Coming or delay the Second Coming by having Jewish people lose faith, right, in God, or not want to turn to Jesus as a result of persecution. So for all these reasons, you know, I think this is the historic spiritual root of antisemitism. And as I’m speaking of our love for Jewish people, because we love the Jewish people, we pray that every Jewish man, woman, boy and girl like the Rabbi Jason Sobel would come to personal faith in Jesus Yeshua. And like the Apostle Paul, we pray. Paul prayed, «I would be willing to die and go to hell… to be accursed if my brothers and sisters in the flesh could come to faith in Jesus».

So we have a heart and a love. The Gospel went «to the Jew first and also to the Gentile». And so we have a love. So when we say we love Jewish people, we don’t back up from the fact that Jewish people need Jesus and they need Jesus now! And I’m praying that in the midst of all of this conflict in the Middle East, that many Jewish people will find Christians in their lives who will share the love and the hope that we have in Jesus. And while we’re supporting Israel over there, make sure you’re supporting your Jewish neighbors and Palestinian people in your neighborhood through the midst of this. Because many are living in fear. The whole thing of antisemitism is rising again in Western Europe, across America.

So pray that God will use this to bring many to salvation. Salvation is of the Jews and salvation is for the Jews. Never forget that. And thank God, we get to be included in God’s family. So Jesus has taught us to pray. In Matthew chapter 6. «When you pray», verse5, «you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. And truly, I say to you, they have received their reward». In other words, their prayers aren’t getting above the ceiling; just talking to themselves. «But when you pray, go into your room, and shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them. For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him».

So three quick points out of this passage. When we pray, we want to pray the Jesus way. «Teach us to pray, Lord». «How do you pray»? Jesus said, «Okay, do it like this». First of all, pray sincere prayers. He said don’t be like the hypocrites who just pray to be heard. They like hearing themselves; self-righteous prayers. I like the way this is given in The Message, a paraphrase of the New Testament. It says: «And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for 15 minutes of fame. You think God sits in a box seat»? No! When we pray, we pray sincerely, not with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy means to put up a mask or to wear a mask; to put on an act.

So, prayer is not an act; it is not a performance. Jesus said pray sincerely. Then He said when we pray, we are to pray secretly. He said: Go into your closet. Don’t just be praying because you want to be seen of man and thought of as being spiritual because you pray. Now this is not an objection to praying publicly. As I’ve already said, when we sing, we’re praying publicly. We offer public prayer. Jesus did this; Jesus prayed in public. So when He says pray in secret, He’s saying pray to the Father who is in secret. Get alone with God. Make time in your day; make time in your life. Pray secret prayers. Do you have a time alone with God when you are praying, when you shut the door and shut out the world?

I prefer, much prefer the being of the day, before the world rushes in, to open my Bible and ask God to speak to me, and then I turn off of Scripture to prayer in my own heart to Him as we pray in secret. This is how we’re to pray. So we’re to pray sincerely. We’re to pray simple prayers as well. Pray simply. He said don’t be praying with all kinds of… Some of you think if you don’t pray in King James English, you’re not really praying. You know, if my children come to me and said something like, «Hail, father, it’s greatest to be in thy presence. Wouldst thou taketh me to the local hypothecary and purchase for me a cone of cream»? I would say, «What»? No, they come, «Hey, dad, take me to the ice cream store»!

So when you pray, you can pray simple prayers. And you can also pray shorter prayers. Now, I know there’s depth and length and all of that and there’s time that we pray and we fast and we persevere in prayer, and we pray longer prayers. I’m not diminishing that. But when you read your Bibles, most of prayers of the Bible are short prayers. There are hundreds of prayers in the Bible, and they’re very quick, they’re very short. The longest prayer in the Bible is the prayer that Jesus prayed, takes less than three minutes to read it and pray it.

That’s John chapter 17. But some of the most profound prayers in the Bible are like the prayers the thief on the cross prayed. «Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom». Or like the publican, the tax collector prayed in contrast to the elitest words of the pharisee. He said, «Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner». We just pray short prayers and God often does His deepest work in the shortest prayer. Sometimes we hurt so bad, we don’t know how to pray; the Holy Spirit prays with us. We talked about that in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the most profound praying just simple «Help»! «O, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear; All because we do not carry everything, everything, everything to God in prayer».

And so prayer is to be simple. It’s a simple thing. If you’re a veteran believer, been praying for years, or if you’re just a child getting starting, simple prayers offered to a great God through Jesus Christ can change the world, can change your life. Amen? And then praying scriptural prayers. So that’s what this prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, the model prayer, the disciple’s prayer, why Jesus gave us. Because He didn’t say when you pray, pray in these words; He said, pray in this way, and then He gave us punctuated principles, if you will. Each sentence in the model prayer, the disciple’s prayer, the prayer that our Lord gave, Each sentence is principle of praying.

Whether you’re praying for forgiveness, or whether you’re praying for God’s will to be known and done, «Your will done in my life»; whether you’re praying for God’s protection, «deliver me from evil»; or whether you’re just starting where you start which is «Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name». The focus of prayer is not me; it’s Him. And we come to Him in dependence and the focus is on the Father. And the way we know the Father is through Jesus, His Son. John 1, verse 12 says: «As many as received Him (Jesus), to them gave He the right to be called the children of God». Well, isn’t everyone a child of God? Absolutely not!

«Well, God made everybody, correct»? Yes, well, He made cockroaches and rats and snakes, a lot of things that aren’t His children. We’re children by faith in Jesus Christ. We become a part of His family through Jesus Christ our Lord. So that’s why we make the audacious claim from Scripture that Jesus gave us. That the way to the Father, and the only way, not the best way, not a way, but the only way is through Jesus by trusting in Him. «There is one Mediator between God and man (the Scripture says), the Man Christ Jesus».

We don’t pray through Mary. We don’t even need somebody else to pray for us. It’s good to have others praying for us. We’ve all been buoyed and strengthened, blessed by the prayers of others. And yet, you don’t need anyone to pray for you. You can pray, you can go directly to the Father through your relationship with Jesus Christ. And all the provision of God is yours, but, when you ask. And in due time, whether it’s «yes» or «no» or «you got to be kidding»! or «wait, something better is coming», God will answer your prayer. So, «You have not because you ask not». So keep on praying! Jesus said keep on asking. He said, «Ask, seek, and knock». More teaching on prayer in Jesus. Ask! Have you ever noticed? A-S-K. There it is. Ask, seek, knock. It’s right there. Just simply ask. So pray simpler prayers and pray scriptural prayers. When I pray, I often turn promises of God into prayers.

For example, or great passages into prayers. If I am walking through, let’s say Psalms 23, then I would pray: «Lord, You are my Shepherd. And today I put my life in Your hand. I know that You will provide everything I need in my life because You are guiding me. And, Lord, You’re leading me in the paths of righteousness. Lord, may I walk in your righteous steps today. May I live in the Spirit today». And you see what I’m doing. I’m personalizing the passage. I’m making it my own. I’m turning a promise into a prayer, a passage into praying. You can do that with so many of the scriptures that we find in God’s Word. You can pray the Scriptures. And this is the most powerful praying of all. Taking God at His word.

Corrie ten Boom who was a great supporter and sympathizer of the Jewish people back during the Second World War, during the holocaust. She and her family hide Christians. If you’ve never seen The Hiding Place, it’s a great old movie; it’s a great book. But she and her family, and she survived the holocaust, her sister didn’t, her family didn’t. She did. She became a powerful witness of the Gospel of Christ and a wonderful Christian. And she is reported to have said, «Sometimes when I come to a promise of God and I see it there and I want to claim it. I want to take God’s word, I hold up my Bible, I point at the promise and say, 'God, there it is; You said it. Read it for Yourself! '»

And we hold God to what He said, because God will never lie. You claim a promise from God and you act in faith on what God has prompted you to do, you will pray like never before. There’s a hold Book to pray. So pray simpler prayers, pray sincere prayers, pray shorter prayers, pray secret prayers, and pray scriptural prayers. Did you know that the prayer that Jesus gave us is really a prayer for the Second Coming? He said, «Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven». And in these days, in these deadly, dangerous days in which we’re living, we pray like John at the end of the book. «Even so, come, Lord Jesus». We pray like Jesus taught us to pray. «Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven». We’re praying for Jesus to come. And He’s coming, and He’s come soon. Are you ready for the rapture? Are you ready for the return of Jesus?