Praying With Your Bible Open: The Practice of Biblically Saturated Prayer in Public and Private

Sermon Outline
Luke 11:1-13
August 15, 2010

“Praying With Your Bible Open: The Practice of Biblically Saturated Prayer in Public and Private.”

I. The foundation [or “divine direction”] for Biblically saturating the practice of public and private prayer [Luke 11:1-13]
*The divine revelation from Jesus concerning the practice of prayer [vv. 1-4] so that his people might increasingly respond derivatively and dependently [v. 2 “When you pray, say”] and persistently [vv. 5-13] in prayer.

II. The dilemma of not Biblically saturating the practice of public and private prayer.
*The dilemma in prayer and worship [public and private] is that our response to God is often not shaped by the Word of God [Acts 4:24-26, 29].

III. The delight of Biblically saturating the practice of public and private prayer.
*Praying the Bible with an emphasis on the prayers of the Bible.
Herbert Lockyer, All the Prayers of the Bible [1959]
Prayers of the Bible: With Their Answers [1855] Collected by a Church Member published by A.S. Barnes & Company [google books]

*Learning from others who help us to practice praying the Bible. The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotionals [1975]

*Singing the Bible as prayer.

more derivative and dependent than innovative and independent

Prayer, if I'm reading Luke 11:2-4 correctly ["Pray like this"], is more derivative and dependent than innovative and independent. Prayers are our words and thoughts conforming themselves more and more to God’s Word as we progressively become more conformed into the image of Christ. Doc from Sunday's Sermon, Praying With Your Bible Open: The Practice of Biblically Saturated Praying in Public and Private [8.15.10.].

On the necessity of Public Pastoral Prayer

I'm really excited about gathering together for prayer tonight. There is a kind of holy safety and quieting comfort that comes from a desire desire to devote oneself to the public gathering of the local church for prayer [Acts 2:42]. In preparation for our gathering I was reading Stuart Olyott's little work entitled, Reading the Bible and Praying in Public. It's only 22 pages; however these are rich meditations. He writes:

"We have grossly over-estimated the prayer life of our people. Countless numbers of brothers and sisters hardly pray at all. We can stir up their appetite. If our public prayers draw them into glory, and leave them with ravished souls, they will want to pray more and better." Stuart Olyott on the necessity of Public Pastoral Prayer

Hope to pray with many of you tonight!

Doc

Hearing One Another

One of the implications of Christians speaking to one another while they are singing [Colossians 3:16] is that they hear one another. Christian singing is like a conversation. We may be speak the same words, but we're speaking those words intelligibly to each other as we admonish ourselves in love, peace, thanksgiving, wisdom, and in the name of the Lord Jesus. If the accompaniment overpowers the singing of God's people, than the Christian conversation becomes difficult to hear, and the encouragement that comes from clearly hearing brothers and sisters around them communicating with them lessens. So let's not take our cues for congregational singing from the culture. Attending a loud concert is one thing. It's the performance of a group on a stage not meant to accompany singers. That's cool for Montage Mountain on a Saturday Night. But the corporate singing of God's people on the Lord's Day is something quite different and absolutely unique to the Church. Doc's Journal, August 8, 2010