We have a scripture reading tonight from Luke chapter 11, verses 1 to 13.
I'll read the text for us, and then David will come and preach from it.
So this is God's holy word in Luke 11, verses 1 to 13.
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished,
one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.
And he said to them, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins.
For we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation.
And he said to them, which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him,
friend, lend me three loaves.
For a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.
And he will answer from within.
Do not bother me.
The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed.
I cannot get up and give you anything.
I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything, because he is his friend,
yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you.
You seek, and you will find.
Knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks,
it will be opened.
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
Instead of a fish, excuse me, if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
This is God's holy word.
David.
Well, we're going to turn with me to Luke chapter 11,
to those verses that Corey read for us just a moment ago.
So, this is our sixth, I think, sermon on discipleship from these middle chapters of Luke's gospel.
And as you'll have gathered, we're touching the subject of prayer this evening.
Now, many years ago, during one of his visits to Scotland,
the American evangelist, the latter half of the 19th century,
is a man called Dwight L. Moody.
He had a number of visits to Scotland, came to Edinburgh, I think, in the 1870s.
Quite an impact, his ministry and mission.
And anyway, at one of his visits, he was asked to speak at a primary school here.
And so, he turned up, and the kids were all there,
and he asked the youngsters a rhetorical question.
He asked them the question, what is prayer?
And much to Moody's astonishment,
almost all the children's hands went up in the air.
Hundreds of them.
And he called on a boy near the front,
and the boy said,
prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God,
in the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit,
with the confession of sins,
and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies.
That's the answer to question 98 in the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
And Moody, who was taken aback, responded,
be thankful, son, that you were born in Scotland.
Well, I don't think I'm overstating things
when I say that we now live in a Scotland
where prayer is perhaps less well understood.
And yet, nonetheless, the concept of prayer
prayer has still quite a measure of cultural currency.
You may have seen slogan emblazoned on buses and billboards
across the city that say, you know, try praying.
An evangelistic initiative designed to try and get people thinking about God,
exploring what it means to be a Christian.
Well, that slogan, try praying, simply begs a number of questions, doesn't it?
Try praying, but to whom?
Try praying, but what?
Try praying, but how?
And I think our text this evening provides us with an answer to those kinds of questions.
Because here we discover the disciples
learning about prayer from Jesus Himself.
We read in verse 1 of our passage,
Jesus was praying in a certain place.
And when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him,
Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.
Perhaps these men had been trying to pray,
but had left them unsure, uncertain about what they were doing.
It may be that as they were confronted with the prayer life of Jesus,
it prompted curiosity and desire.
Then Jesus, they saw someone who spent time with God.
He was a man of prayer.
And it was common among the rabbis of that time
to have a special prayer for their own followers and disciples.
Probably, I think, that John the Baptist followed this custom.
And so here, Jesus, the disciples rather turn to Jesus
and ask Him how they should pray.
Lord, teach us to pray.
Now, there's a lot in these verses.
And I've already edited down this sermon drastically.
You'll be glad to hear.
So, we have to move through things fairly quickly.
But in these verses before us tonight,
we have Jesus giving His disciples the Lord's Prayer.
And following that, giving them further teaching
on this important subject for His disciples.
And I want to mention, I usually have three things.
I've got five things tonight about prayer and Christian discipleship.
So, the first is this.
The disciple is to pray intimately.
And He said to them,
When you pray, say, Father.
Father.
That is the starting point.
Not Almighty God, not eternal sovereign,
though He is both,
but Father.
That's the word that fell from the praying lips of Jesus
during His earthly life.
And it's the word He now places on His disciples.
All through the Gospels,
Jesus calls God His Father.
The word used, an Aramaic term, Abba.
An everyday word, a homely word, a family word,
secular word.
Word of tenderness, intimacy, dear Father.
No Jew would have dared to address God in this manner.
For to say Father was to claim sonship.
It's a breathtaking presumption.
Except that here, it is Christ's own gift to His disciples.
And what the Gospels make clear to us
is that Jesus enjoyed a special relationship
of divine intimacy and fellowship with God.
And the reason for that, of course,
is that Jesus was God's Son in a unique sense.
God was uniquely and specially His Father.
Jesus' manner of addressing God, His Father,
just part, really, of a larger picture
in which He claimed in many different ways
to be uniquely one with God.
His relationship belonged to the life of God
from all eternity.
I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me,
He tells His disciples in John 14.
And yet here, the astonishing thing in the Lord's Prayer
is that Jesus authorizes His own disciples
to repeat the word Abba after Him.
He teaches His followers to address God
in the same way.
Through Jesus and only through Jesus,
His followers now enjoy something
of that close and special relationship
with God as their Father.
Now, of course, it may well be that
for some of you here,
or people you know,
and their experience of fatherhood
has been less than positive.
Some of you may have had absent fathers,
fathers who were brutish or abusive.
For many people,
the idea of fatherhood
is laden with negative connotations.
And of course, to varying degrees,
human fatherhood is always flawed
and far from perfect.
I can say that as a father.
But that is not the case with God.
He is the perfect Father
who loves and cares and protects
and delights in His children
at all times.
It's one of the key ways
in which the New Testament writers
describe what it means to be a Christian.
It is to receive His love
and become a child of God.
Those who repent,
place their faith in Jesus.
Those who vow allegiance
to Jesus Christ as Lord
are said to be born of God
and to have been adopted
into His family.
They enter into a new relationship
with God as their Heavenly Father.
A new access, as it were,
a new type of relationship
to God is opened up
through Jesus Christ,
the Eternal Son.
Ben Packer in his book,
Knowing God, writes this,
If you want to know
how well a person
understands Christianity,
find out how much he makes
of the thought of being God's child,
having God as his Father.
If it is not the thought
that controls his worship
and prayers
and whole outlook on life,
it means that he has not
understood Christianity
very well at all.
Father is the Christian name
for God.
I wonder to what extent
you think of God
as your Father.
Outside of Jesus,
we have no right
to call God our Father,
but in Jesus Christ,
united to Him,
we have every right.
It's one of the great privileges
of discipleship.
Remember John writing
in his first letter,
he says,
How great is the love
the Father has lavished upon us
that we should be called
children of God.
We think of that famous story
of Jesus
and how the Father welcomes
His wasteful,
prodigal son
instead of meeting
His Son with anger
and hostility.
Remember,
we read these great words
later on in Luke's Gospel.
Luke 15, 20,
While he was still
a long way off,
his father saw him
and felt compassion
and ran and embraced
and kissed him.
Instead of the prodigal
being disgraced
and shamed by his father,
it's the father
who shamelessly runs out
to meet him
and lavishes love upon him.
And this is what God
has done for us
in the Gospel
through Jesus Christ.
He has run out to meet us
and He's thrown His arms
around us
and He has welcomed us
into His family.
In Christ,
He has endured
the shame and disgrace,
our shame and disgrace,
that we might be welcomed
as sons and daughters
of the living God.
Those of us
in the far country
might be welcomed home
and enjoy intimacy
with God,
that we might call Him
our Abba Father.
And if that does not
move us to worship
and to pray,
my friends,
then what will?
We sometimes sing,
don't we,
how deep the Father's
love for us,
how vast beyond all measure,
that He should give
His only Son
to make a wretch
His treasure.
So to take this word
Father
on our lips
is a great
and wonderful privilege.
A small wonder
that in the
ancient church
the Lord's Prayer
was prefaced
by these words
of introduction,
grant that we
may dare
to call Thee
as Father
and to say
Our Father.
It's in Jesus Christ
alone
that we can dare
to call Him
Father
and to pray
with the intimacy
and closeness
that that relationship
allows.
Pray
intimately.
The disciple
is to pray intimately.
Secondly,
the disciple
is to pray
reverently.
There's two petitions
that follow.
Hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Intimacy
does not exclude
reverence.
And these
two petitions
focus attention,
you'll notice,
on God's name
and His kingdom.
The first of these
expresses a desire
that God's name
be hallowed.
And to hallow
means to treat
or consider something
as sacred or holy.
Calvin writes,
we would wish God
to have the honor
He deserves.
Men should never
think of Him
without the highest
reverence.
His name is to be
considered holy
and sacred.
It's not to be
disdained.
To treat God's name
in a careless,
thoughtless manner
is to despise Him
and to despise
all that He stands for.
The psalmist
tells us that
God is exalted
above all things,
His name
and His word.
And the name of God
is shorthand
for all His attributes
and works.
The Heidelberg Catechism
says of this petition,
hallowed be Your name,
it says,
grant that we might
rightly know You
and sanctify,
glorify,
and praise You
in all Your works,
in which shine forth
Your almighty power,
wisdom,
goodness,
righteousness,
mercy,
and truth.
Grant us also
that we may
so direct
our whole life,
our thoughts,
words,
and actions,
that Your name
is not blasphemed
because of us,
but honored
and praised.
The petition
is asking that
God would be seen
and acknowledged
for who He truly is,
that we would see Him
in His greatness
and glory,
and others would see Him
also,
to be one of the great
concerns of our hearts
and lives.
Hallowed be Your name.
Father,
hallow Your name
in my life.
Hallow Your name
in our church.
Hallow Your name
in my family,
in my heart,
in our land,
in the dark places
of this world.
This is the great focus,
isn't it?
One of the great focus
of Christian discipleship,
this hallowing,
this honoring
of God's name.
There's a story
told some years ago now,
a group of American tourists
that were in London
that were being shown
around the Houses
of Parliament,
and as they were being
taken along
one of the corridors there,
Lord Hailsham,
at that time
he was the Lord Chancellor,
and he appeared
on his way
to some official reception.
He was attired
in all his regalia,
finery.
He cut a pretty
impressive figure
as he strode
along the corridor.
However,
as he strode
along the corridor,
and as he drew near
to these tourists,
he saw standing
behind them
the man who was
the leader
of the opposition
at that time.
It was a guy
called Neil Kinnock.
And so,
wanting to speak
to him,
he raised his hand
and he called out,
Neil!
Whereupon,
all the American tourists
dropped to one knee.
Now,
you know that's a true story,
don't you?
You know that's true.
That kind of behavior
seems anachronistic,
unusual to us,
even humorous.
That kind of deference
and display of submission
before another
seems out of place
in our day and age.
And yet,
you know,
while that may be true
in relation to other people,
it is certainly not
inappropriate
in relation
to the living God.
Showing him
honor quite literally
involves us
bowing the knee
before him
as king
and publicly
acknowledging
his greatness
and glory.
To reverence
the Lord
as king
means having
an eye
on the king
and an eye
on his coming
kingdom.
That's something
we must not lose
sight of.
Your kingdom
come.
God's kingdom
is coming
one day
in all its
fullness.
And that's what
we look for
and pray for
when we take
the second petition
here upon our lips.
Our eyes are being
fixed
ahead
onto the far horizon.
Our great hope
as God's people
does not lie
in this world
ultimately
or with the rulers
and powers
of this world.
Our aim
is not to build
this world's kingdom
but rather
to share
in the glorious
reign
and triumph
of Jesus Christ.
The one
who has already
established
an everlasting
kingdom
through his life
and death
and resurrection
and ascension.
He reigns today.
He rules
over all things
now.
And all of human
history is moving
towards
an end
when that will
be fully revealed.
The kingdom
of our Lord
Jesus Christ
and that new
heavens and earth
in which righteousness
dwells.
Our hope
lies in the ruling
and reigning
Christ
who is coming
again.
Yes,
our eyes are on
the king
who is great
and whose name
is to be hallowed
but our eyes
are also
on his kingdom
that is
surely coming.
It's part of
what it means
to be a Christian.
We've bowed
the knee
and we have
given up
the reins
of our lives
to our great
king Jesus Christ.
And so
when we take
his name
upon our lips
we dare
not forget
that.
And so
as disciples
we must pray
intimately
and reverently.
Third thing
the disciple
is to pray
dependently.
A number
of petitions
follow.
The next one
give us
each day
our daily bread.
It expresses
doesn't it
dependence
on God.
When we pray
these words
we are saying
that we are relying
and leaning
upon God.
We are looking
to God
to meet
our needs.
We are not
living our lives
our way
we are living
our lives
God's way
and under
his authority.
In the words
of this prayer
we are acknowledging
that we are not
masters of our
own destiny
and that our lives
are in God's
hands.
Perhaps it's
true
in our
affluent
western culture
and affluent
western churches
that we have
lost sight
of something
of that reality.
Our culture
is often
one of
self-sufficiency
and independence.
Maybe that's
why prayer
is low
on the
list of
priorities
in many churches
because in prayer
we turn away
from ourselves
to God.
In prayer
we express
our weakness
and inadequacy.
In prayer
we acknowledge
that we don't
have all the
answers
and that
we are
not
in control.
Dr.
Ol
Hallisby
who is a
Norwegian
theologian
he once
wrote a
famous little
book on
prayer.
It was
very popular
when I
was a
young
Christian
and it
was published
by IVP.
And in that
little book
on prayer
he says
this.
He says
there are
two aspects
to prayer.
One is
faith
the other
is helplessness.
prayer is
for the
helpless.
This is what
he writes
I never
grow weary
of emphasizing
our helplessness
for it's
the decisive
factor
not only
in our
prayer life
but also
in our
whole relation
to God.
Our helplessness
should make
us attached
to God
and make
us more
strongly
dependent
upon Him
than words
can describe.
The Bible
teaches us
that God
Himself
is the
ultimate
source
of every
good
whether it's
food
or clothing
or work
or leisure
or strength
or friendship
or family
or whatever.
And God
doesn't owe
us these
things.
They're
gifts of
His grace.
He wouldn't
be unjust
in withholding
them from
us.
For we
are ungrateful
creatures
often taking
His gifts
for granted.
And so
give us
each day
our daily
bread
are words
that are
kind of
antidote
to that
kind of
attitude
because they
acknowledge
our absolute
dependence on
God
for each
day
and for
each meal
that we
enjoy.
Now
these words
are not
to be read
as a promise
that God
will always
supply His
people with
bread
and that no
Christian will
ever starve.
They're a
reminder to us
rather that
our lives
are ultimately
in His
hands.
We're
dependent on
Him and
His Word.
The issue
here is
trust and
dependence
because
disciples of
Jesus
constantly
acknowledge
their own
need of
God and
His grace
and they
do that
day in
and day
out.
His care
extends of
course beyond
our daily
bread to
our need of
pardon and
forgiveness.
Verse 4,
forgive us
our sins.
We
ourselves
forgive
everyone
who is
indebted
to us
and lead
us not
into
temptation.
Our
great need
before a
holy God
is that
divine
forgiveness
would so
embrace
our lives
that a
spirit of
forgiveness
would rule
in our
hearts.
For
without it
we run
the risk
of becoming
bitter and
hard-hearted.
Not just
God's
provision,
His
pardon,
but also
His
protection.
Lead us
not into
temptation.
Guard us,
guide us,
O God,
keep us
from the
one who
is the
enemy of
our
souls.
You see,
these petitions
cover the
very fabric
of Christian
life.
Our
God is
Jehovah-Jireh,
the one
who provides.
And very
often it's
our ordinary
mundane
needs that
become the
arena for
God to
display us
great wisdom
and power
and provision.
Our
emergencies,
our
difficulties,
our needs
should drive
us towards
God in
prayer,
that we
might acknowledge
His provision
and pardon
and protection.
Because it's
knowing God,
who He is,
and what He's
like that will
drive us and
move us to
pray these
words.
It's His
sheer,
abundant
goodness that
should draw us
to call on
His name,
knowing that He
is our
Heavenly Father,
knowing that He
loves us with
an everlasting
love,
knowing that He
has promised to
provide for us.
these things
should make us
come before
Him and
pray
dependently,
intimately,
reverently,
dependently,
fourth thing,
shamelessly.
There follows,
you'll notice,
a story,
a parable,
sort of the
whole subject
of kind of
asking for
help.
A friend
who disturbs
his neighbor
at midnight
in order to
borrow some
bread for
an unexpected
guest.
In that
culture,
day,
time,
age,
people didn't
use knives
and forks
and spoons
to eat the
used bread,
essential part
of any meal.
In Middle
Eastern culture,
the providing
of hospitality
to visitors,
very important,
matter of
honor,
an inability
to provide
for a guest
reflected badly
on a family,
perhaps even
on a village,
the kind of
obligation,
a duty to
provide food
and hospitality
to a guest.
And this is
what lies behind
the story
that Jesus
tells.
This man
doesn't want
to bring
disgrace on
his family,
so even at
midnight,
he goes to
his friend,
he asks for
bread.
He's prepared
in his
desperation
to be rude,
demanding
of his friend,
and Jesus
explains the
point of the
story in
verse 8,
I tell you,
though he will
not get up
and give him
anything because
he's his
friend,
yet because
of his
impudence,
he will rise
and give him
what he needs.
The ESV
translates that
word as
impudence,
other translations
sometimes use
the word
persistence.
I think the
word is better
understood as
shameless,
a sense of
audacity and
boldness to
go beyond
what is
socially
acceptable.
This man's
actions in the
story are
embarrassing,
getting his
friend and
family out of
their beds at
midnight to
ask for
bread.
And it's
this shameless
attitude that
wins the day.
In the west of
Scotland, where I
come from, we
have a saying that
someone has a
brass neck.
It means they're
not worried about
what anyone else
thinks.
Shameless people are
willing to do
anything.
They don't care
what other people
say.
Some of you
might remember
there was a
film many years
ago called
Out of Africa.
Robert Redford,
Meryl Streep.
And Meryl Streep
played Baroness
Karen Blixen.
And I won't
go through the
whole thing, but
she's been trying
to save the
Kikuyu tribe
from being put
off their land
by the
authorities.
And everything
she does
fails.
She doesn't
get a response
to any of her
letters and
petitions.
And then she
attends a
reception for
the new
governor of
Kenya.
And she goes
in this long
line of people
waiting to be
introduced to
the new
governor.
And out of
desperation,
she disregards
the proper
protocol.
In front of
all the
assembled
dignitaries
guests, she
throws herself
on her knees
in front of
the governor
and begs
for the
Kikuyu tribe.
She begs
the governor
to give his
word that he
will look into
the matter.
It's an
embarrassing
situation.
And then
suddenly the
governor's wife
stands up
and says,
you have
my word.
Her
shamelessness
won the
day.
And the
point of the
story is not
to tell us
here that God
is like the
reluctant friend
at midnight.
He's quite the
reverse.
When we come
with our prayer
requests, he
doesn't say,
I've had
enough.
Stop
bothering me.
He doesn't put
us on hold.
You don't
listen to all
that terrible
music.
It doesn't
screen our
calls.
It doesn't
close the
door.
So don't
let any
sense of
modesty
or hesitation
keep you
back coming
to your
heavenly
father.
At every
midnight in
life, we
always have a
friend, a
father to
turn to.
This story is
really about
laying hold
of God's
willingness,
not overcoming
his reluctance.
Pray
intimately,
reverently,
dependently,
shamelessly,
be bold.
And then
finally here,
pray expectantly.
And I
tell you,
ask and it
will be given
to you.
Seek and you
will find.
Knock and it
will be opened
to you.
Everyone who
asks receives.
The one who
seeks finds.
And to the
one who knocks,
it will be
opened.
There's some
staggering
promises,
aren't they?
Ask and it
will be given.
Seek and you
will find.
Knock, it
will be opened.
Not vague
hopes.
Declarations
from the
words of
one who
could not
ever lie.
What then
does the
father give
to his
children?
Not always
what we ask
for in our
short-sightedness,
but always
what is
for our
good.
He calls
us to
come to
him and
to ask
him.
Here's
Charles
Spurgeon.
He says,
it is well
said that
asking is
the rule
of the
kingdom.
It's a
rule that
will never
be altered
in anybody's
case.
If the
royal and
divine
son of
God
himself
cannot
be
exempted
from it,
you and
I cannot
expect to
have the
rule relaxed
in our
favor.
God will
bless
Elijah and
send rain
in Israel,
but Elijah
must pray
for it.
If the
chosen
nation is
to prosper,
Samuel must
plead for
it.
If the
Jews are
to be
delivered,
Daniel must
intercede.
God will
bless Paul
and the
nations shall
be converted
through him,
but Paul
must pray,
and pray he
did without
ceasing.
His epistles
show that he
expected nothing
except by
asking for
it.
are you
asking?
Our
denomination,
the Free
Church of
Scotland,
has recently
launched a
call to
prayer entitled
Engage
2026.
It invites
all of us
really to
identify ten
people and
to pray for
them urgently,
faithfully,
persistently,
trusting God's
power and
timing,
watching for
the opportunities
that we might
have to share
the good news
of Jesus.
Very simple
vision.
Ten thousand
Christians across
our congregations,
each committing
to pray regularly
for ten
individuals,
family,
friends,
colleagues,
neighbors,
perhaps even
people we
struggle with.
And that will
see a hundred
thousand people
brought before
God in
prayer.
what an
impact that
may have
for the
cause of the
gospel in
Scotland and
further afield.
And we'll
hear more about
it in the
following weeks.
Will you
take up that
challenge?
What
father among
you,
says Jesus,
if his son
asks for
fish,
instead of a
fish,
give him a
serpent.
If he asks
for egg,
give him a
scorpion.
If you
then who
are evil
know how
to give
good gifts
to your
children,
how much
more will
the heavenly
father give
the Holy
Spirit to
those who
ask him?
Our
father knows
what we
need.
He knows
what our
loved ones
need.
He knows
what our
nation
needs.
And what
better gift
could there
be than
the Holy
Spirit
himself?
The down
payment of
our gospel
inheritance.
The guarantee
of final
glory.
Yes,
we often
ask for
health and
provision and
relief,
and these
things are
not wrong,
of course.
But the
father's heart
is set on
giving himself
in the
person of
his Spirit.
And to
pray as
Jesus taught
is to
enter into
the very
life of
God,
dressing the
Father through
the Son by
the Spirit.
Many of us
struggle.
Yes, I
understand that.
We pray
little because
we believe
little.
We ask
little because
we expect
little.
Tim Keller
relates a
story.
I don't
know if
it's a
true story,
but I
have no
idea where
it came
from.
I could
never find
the source
of it,
but it's
a great
story,
so I'll
tell it.
And it's
a story
about
Alexander
the Great,
who was
once approached
by one of
his generals,
and the
general needed
money for
his daughter's
wedding,
I think.
And so
in front
of all
the other
commanders and
generals and
advisors,
he asked
Alexander for
what was
an astronomical
amount of
money.
And one of
those occasions
when, you
know,
everybody's
watching just
gasped,
their jaws
dropped,
you know,
held their
breath.
That amount.
they awaited
Alexander's
response.
But contrary
to all
expectations,
Alexander
didn't go
ballistic.
Instead,
he told the
general that
he was very
happy to
give him
the money,
sent him
off to his
treasurer or
paymaster to
collect what
he needed.
And this
really confused
all of
Alexander's
advisors,
the other
generals,
they just
don't get
what's
happening
here.
They say
to him,
why did
you give
him the
money?
It was
such a
huge sum.
And
Alexander
tells him,
he says,
this man
has done
me a great
honor.
And asking
for such
a big sum,
he shows
that he
thinks I
am both
fabulously
wealthy
and incredibly
generous.
John
Newton
wrote these
words,
thou art
coming to
a king,
large
petitions
with thee
bring,
for his
grace and
power are
such,
none
can ever
ask
too much.
great God
we worship.
He is
fabulously
wealthy
and he
is
incredibly
generous.
And the
extent of
his abundant
wealth and
generosity
are laid
out before
us in the
gospel.
They are
spread before
us on a
table of
bread and
wine.
Our
Father in
heaven who
spared not
his own
son but
gave him
up for
us all.
what stops
you coming
to him
and calling
on his
name?
What keeps
you from
him and
from the
place of
prayer?
Peter says,
cast all
your anxieties
upon him
because he
cares for
you.
He cares
for you.
This is what
the Lord's
supper,
isn't it?
This is what
it reminds
us of.
God who
cares.
Come to
him this
evening and
be renewed,
refreshed by
the Father's
grace, the
Father's love,
the Father's
care, the
Father's
forgiveness.
Plead his
gracious name.
Try praying
intimately,
reverently,
dependently,
shamelessly,
and expectantly.
Let's pray.
Lord, grant
us your
grace and
mercy
that in
all our
weakness and
frailty and
failure we
may look not
inward but
outward to
you, the
living and
eternal God.
Lord, expand
our hearts,
fill them
with faith
and trust
and confidence
in you.
Renew
us,
refresh us,
and grant
us the help
of your
Holy Spirit,
for we ask
it in Jesus'
name.
Amen.