Bible Text: Matthew 6:5-15 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: A Master’s Class in Prayer, Matthew

1.  “I would rather teach one man to pray than 10 men to preach.” (Charles Spurgeon)

-“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.  He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion.  He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” (Samuel Chadwick)

-“The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history.” (Andrew Murray)

-Sir Isaac Newton said that he could take his telescope and look millions of miles into space.  Then he added, “But when I lay it aside, go into my room, shut the door, and get down on my knees in earnest prayer.  I see more of Heaven and feel closer to the Lord than if I were assisted by all the telescopes on earth.”

2.  Prayer is not just for the super-spiritual; it should not be complicated; it should be as natural as breathing.

3.  As in other areas of Jesus’ life and ministry the disciples were impressed with His practice of prayer in contrast to the dead religious practices of that day.  That led to the disciples request in Luke 11:1:  “Lord, teach us to pray.”

4.  The Biblical/theological bases for prayer are:

-God’s attitude toward us is that of commendation not condemnation (Romans 8:1)

-God expects us to pray and requires it (Romans 12:12; Colossians 4:2; 1 Timothy 2:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:17)

-God has agreed to answer prayer (John 16:24; 1 John 5:14,15)

-We have, in Jesus, a faithful and merciful High Priest (Hebrews 4:15,16; 7:25)

-The Holy Spirit prays for us when we don’t have the words (Romans 8:26)