God will do more than we ask... if we ask more. Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 18:1-14 1. View God as Father. Matthew 6:9 (NIV) “This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” Romans 8:15-16 “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” 2. Praise should always precede petition. Matthew 6:9 “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.” 3. Keep asking. Luke 18:2-7 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” Luke 11:9-10 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 18:8 “I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” 4. Pray believing. Matthew 21:22 says, “You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” James 4:3 “And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” 5. Approach God with a heart of humility. Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Rabbi Simeon “If there are only two righteous men in the world, I and my son are these two; if there is only one, I am he!” James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” Ephesians 3:20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”