LEARNING TO PRAY JESUS’ WAY

LEARNING TO= PRAY JESUS’ WAY—Part III

Luke 19:1-1= 0

Learning to Pray Jesus’ Way—this is our th= eme as we examine three passages from Luke’s Gospel this month and as we foc= us on lifting up our church in prayer. Now, when you hear that title, most of you probably think of the Lord’s Prayer, also called the Model Prayer—the one Jesus taugh= t us to pray.

So each service has included a focus on the Lord’= ;s Prayer—and that also includes this service, as you will see in just a moment. We’ve prayed it= and played it and sung it and reflected on it during these Sundays while lookin= g at three passages unique to Luke’s Gospel—all of which give us some insight into prayer.

This is Part III today, but if I gave the message a se= parate title, it would be: “Prayer Changes People.” We often hear that “Prayer C= hanges THINGS.” And certainly = it can and does. But far more often,= prayer changes PEOPLE—it changes you and me in relation to the things about us—the challenges and sadnesses and opportunities that we encounter daily.

Prayer changes people—it changes us. Now, with that, let’s turn t= o our Scripture passage for today, the story of the “wee little man” Zacchaeus that every Sunday School teacher worth his or her salt has shared with their children. Luke 19:1-10

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was= a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6So he came d= own at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw th= is and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here= and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because th= is man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to sa= ve what was lost."

“Okay, preacher,” you may be saying, those= other passages we read from Luke, those other stories that Jesus told talked about prayer—first, the “Persistent Widow” who keeps going back= to the judge until she gets justice, reminding us to pray and never give up.

And last week, the Pharisee and the tax collector pray= ing in the temple, reminding us to be honest with ourselves and completely honest before God as we pray. We can= fool everybody else, but we can’t fool God.

Both of those stories spoke specifically about prayer.= But that’s not true for Zacc= haeus’ story. So, you’re right= . It doesn’t really mention pr= ayer at all.

But what do we have here? A face-to-face encounter between Zacchaeus and the Lord. And e= ven though it doesn’t mention prayer specifically, it comes close on the heels of these two other passages about prayer, and I think this story also= has something to teach us about prayer.

1. First = of all, it reminds us to PRAY AS ONE WHO IS PRIVILEGED. For folks lik= e you and me to have any relationship with God at all makes us privileged charact= ers— “PC’s” as they used to say. Prayer is a privilege, and those o= f us who know God and practice the spiritual discipline of prayer are truly privileged people.

Zacchaeus was a PC.&n= bsp; He got to speak to Jesus. He spoke with Him by way of an actual face-to-face conversation! You and I have not had the opportu= nity to stand in the physical presence of the Lord and talk with Him as we would= one another.

One day we will. He has promised that one day he will come for us and take us to wher= e He is. For now, we see through a= glass darkly--but one day, face to face. For the time being, though, our means of communication with the Lord= is prayer.

Zacchaeus’ meeting with Jesus was face-to-face.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The conversation was up close and = in person—at least, after he came down out of the tree, it was. And my point is, however the encou= nter happens, whether face-to-face or through prayer, it’s a privilege—one of the most amazing privileges we have in life.

The Almighty Father God invites us to bring every hope, care, and concern we have in life to Him.&= nbsp; If you are a person who prays, who values the privilege of prayer, t= ry to imagine life without it. D= oes that thought sadden you, does a genuine sense of loss grip your spirit when= you think about not being able to pray?

Maybe God considers prayer to be a privilege as well.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Given the fact of how much He love= s us, He probably does. He wants to= have this communication with His children.

Our children have been rather scattered this summer= 212;all three of them out of the country at some point, and we valued every communication with them and from them.&nbs= p; It’s like that when you love somebody, and God is a good Father who loves His children. He wa= nts to hear from us.

Of course, prayer also gives God access to our lives.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> In those prayer times, the Heavenly Father makes known His plans for us. God designed prayer to meet our needs, but prayer is also

a means for God to accomplish His will in us.

Those two things are actually one in the same. What God wills for us is also what= ’s best for us. It’s just = hard sometimes for us to understand this—just like there are times when children don’t understand the instructions of their parents.

Usually in time, they come to see that their parents h= ad their best interests at heart. Well= , even moreso does our Heavenly Father want only what is best for us. You follow that, don’t you?<= /p>

Notice in the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus, J= esus takes the initiative. “= Come down from that tree, Zacchaeus. I’m going to your house today.” Did Zacchaeus deserve that? No, and he knew he didn’t! This was all privilege.

I’ll say it again. If you have God in your life, if y= ou commune with the Father in prayer, count yourself privileged. Millions of people don’t kno= w the Lord, they have no concept of communing with Him in prayer. So recognize the privilege you hav= e and don’t neglect it. Make = it your aim to pray--Jesus’ way.

2. Pray a= s one who is privileged. But here&#= 8217;s the other thing I want you to see about prayer in Zacchaeus’ story. We must PRAY AS ONE WHO IS OPEN TO CHANGE. Prayer changes us. If we sincerely pray, if we pray Jesus’ way, it will change us.

If we mean it, for example, when we say “Thy Kin= gdom come, Thy will be done,” hang on.&nb= sp; It’s no telling what God might do!

I could say more about this, but instead, I want you t= o listen as Marcus prays the prayer Jesus taught us to pray:

“Our Father who art in heaven..."
"YES?" (voice off stage with booming bass and reverb)
"(pause) Our Father who art in heaven..."
"YES? WHAT DO YOU WANT, = MARCUS?"
"Who is this?"
"WHO DO YOU THINK IT IS?
"Well, not too many people I know sound like that!"
"I SHOULD HOPE NOT"
"Come on now, who is this really?"
"THIS IS YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN."
"Right... come on now, who are you?"
"THIS IS GOD... DO YOU WANT ME TO PROVE IT?"
"No, no, no, that’s all right, I’ll take your word for it.= .. but why have you started talking to me now? You’ve never done this before."
"BUT YOU DID CALL ME."
"Hey, I was just praying."
"WELL, HERE I AM. SO…WHY DID YOU CALL?"
"I didn’t mean anything by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayer for the day."
"GOOD, GO RIGHT AHEAD."
"Hallowed be thy name..."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?"
"By what?"
"BY ‘HALLOWED BE THY NAME.’"
"I mean... I mean...I don’t know what I mean. It’s just part of the prayer.= What does it mean?"
"IT MEANS ‘HONORED, HOLY, WONDERFUL.’"
"Thank you, Lord. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth a= s it is in heaven.’"
"DO YOU REALLY MEAN THAT, MARCUS?
"Sure, why not?"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?"
"Doing? Not much, I guess. I just think it would be great if you got control of everything down here, li= ke you have up there."
"HAVE I GOT CONTROL OF YOU?"
"Well, I am the Youth Minister here.&= nbsp; I’m around the church all the time, except when I’m off somewhere with them. I visit = people in the hospitals, I lead Bible studies, and I just got back from a fantastic mission trip to Mexi= co!"
"THAT’S NOT WHAT I ASKED YOU. WHAT ABOUT THOSE BAD HABITS OF YOU= RS—THINGS THAT YOU KNOW ARE IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH MY WILL IN YOUR LIFE?"
"But Lord, I’m at least as good as most of the people in this church!"
"EXCUSE ME. I THOUGHT YOU WERE PRAYING FOR MY WILL TO BE DONE. IF THAT= IS TO HAPPEN, IT WILL HAVE TO START WITH THE ONES WHO ARE PRAYING FOR IT--LIKE YOU, FOR EXAMPLE."
"Oh, all right... I guess I do have some hang-ups...now that you menti= on it. YOU could probably name several other problems."
"GOOD. NOW WE’RE GETTING SOMEWHERE. WE’LL WORK TOGETHER, Y= OU AND I. SOME TREMENDOUS VICTORIES CAN BE WO= N. I’M PROUD OF YOU."
"Look Lord, I need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than= it usually does. ’Give us this day our daily bread...’"
"YOU MIGHT WANT TO CUT DOWN A LITTLE ON THE BREAD."
"Hey, I weigh less than the preacher!"
"YEAH, HE’S NEXT. = BUT WHAT I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER IS THAT PRAYER IS A DANGEROUS THING. DO IT AND = YOU CAN WIND UP BEING CHANGED! IT= ’S TOO LATE TO STOP NOW... KEEP ON PRAYING. I’M INTERESTED IN THE NEXT P= ART OF YOUR PRAYER (PAUSE)... WELL, GO ON."
"I’m afraid."
"AFRAID? OF WHAT?"
"I know what you’ll say."
"TRY ME AND SEE."
"And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass agains= t us..."
"WHAT ABOUT-----?"
"See, I knew it! I knew you would bring them up! Lord, you know the lies that have b= een told about me, and they continue until this very day. I have lost friends because of them= , not to mention what has been done to my reputation. I know I shouldn’t wa= nt to get even with them, but ..."
"FORGIVE THEM. THEN I WILL FORGIVE YOU. THEN THE HATE AND SIN WILL BE THEIR PROBLEM AND NOT YOURS. = SETTLE THE MATTER IN YOUR HEART AND BEFORE MY THRONE."
(petulant) "But Lord, I can’t forgive them."
"THEN, I CAN’T FORGIVE YOU.
(pause)"Okay, I know you’re right. You always are. MORE than I w= ant revenge on them, I want to be right with you. I forgive them. Anyway, I’m tired of always feeling miserable. Now that I think about it, no one can cause me to feel miserable without me allowing it to happen. But, please help me, Lord, to forg= ive them and for my life to show that I have."
"WONDERFUL! SO HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW?"
"Hmmm…not bad. Not bad at all. In fact, I feel pretty good! You kn= ow, I don’t think I’ll have to go to bed so uptight tonight. Maybe I won’t be so tired now from not getting enough rest."
"GOOD! WE’VE ACCOMPLISHED A LOT. NOW GO AH= EAD AND FINISH YOUR PRAYER.

Alright. “Lead us not into temptation,= but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory forever."
"MARCUS, DO YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BRING ME GLORY? WHAT WOULD REALLY MAKE ME HAPPY?&qu= ot;
"I’m not sure, Lord, but I know I want to please you. I can see = what a mess I’ve made out of my life. And I can see how great it would be= if I truly followed You."
"WELL, YOU JUST ANSWERED MY QUESTION."
"I did?"
"YES, YOU DID. THE THING THAT BRINGS ME GLORY IS FOR PEOPLE LIKE YOU TO TRULY LOVE ME. = AND I SEE THAT HAPPENING BETWEEN US, NOW THAT SOME OF THOSE OLD SINFUL ATTITUDES = ARE EXPOSED AND OUT OF THE WAY. THERE’S NO TELLING WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER."
"Lord, I’m ready to see what you can make of me.”
"GREAT! LET’S KEEP WORKING ON THIS TOGETHER.
"Amen."

Well thanks, Marcus…and God.

Prayer changes people—it changes us! When Zacchaeus climbed the sycamor= e tree that day, the privilege of a face-to-face meeting with Jesus was not the on= ly thing he wasn’t expecting.

I doubt that he anticipated all the changes Jesus brou= ght to his life: giving half of his possessions to the poor, overhauling his ethic= al standards, making a fourfold reimbursement to all those whom he had defraud= ed.

It was a new day in Jericho because Zacchaeus was a new man, a changed man. Life got better for everybody in t= own that day because Jesus got hold of Zacchaeus’ life.

What if you and I go about the privilege of prayer Jesus’ way—how might it change us, and make us better? How might the lives of those aroun= d us improve as a result—I’m talking about the people in our family, or at sch= ool or work, and how about our brothers and sisters at church?

Maybe we’ve been guilty of asking God to change things, when what really needs changing is US. Things will get better, friends, w= hen WE do.

So, pray. Pray Jesus’ way. Let us pray= as people who are open to change. We’ll all be the better for it!

“Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the Potter, I am the clay= . Mold me and make me after Thy will= , while I am waiting, yielded and still.” Hymn No. 2= 94