Play God-Co Prayer Video
Article- PC World- filled w/truth- unlike spurious gospel- Mac World- listed 10 highly over-rated high-tech products and 10 that received little publicity- are greatly underrated. In the same vein- relying on- strength/wisdom of man is highly overrated and the significance and power of prayer is highly underrated.
When experience difficulties- often feel we must do something ourselves to solve the problem.
In most situations we would be far ahead of the game to 1st engage God through earnest prayer.
2 Cor 1:8-11
Paul’s life- spared because of prayer- his/others.
Introduction
Talk about prayer as continue w/SOTM series-Mt 5-7
This morning- look at- Lord’s Prayer- Mtt 6:9-13.
Repeat the Lord’s prayer after me …
Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. NASU
V7-9
Jesus said- This is how we should pray, not,
This is what we should pray.
Not wrong to memorize and pray the Lord’s prayer, but we must guard against empty repetition.
In Lord’s Prayer- find six petitions.
The first three are concerned directly w/God …
His glory, His kingdom, His will.
Only after we have focused on God does Jesus introduce three petitions concerned w/man …
our material, spiritual, and moral needs.
Before examining six petitions- look at first line.
First Line: Our Father Who is in heaven
First word … OUR! Not MY Father.
We are not called to serve God in a vacuum/alone.
When- Bible talks about becoming- disciple- speaks in terms of becoming a child of God.
Rom 8:14-17
We are called- be part of the corporate Body of Christ.
We are obviously called to individual, secret prayer.
However, there is a time to …
pray for others, and not just ourselves, and
pray with others, not just by ourselves.
Concern-some try- walk w/God alone-not part of body
Second word … Father.
Calling God Father was foreign to the Jews who always spoke of God in more exalted terms.
He was the Sovereign Lord/King of the Universe.
When Jesus uses- term Father- not in general sense that God is- Father of all men/we are His children.
Distinction between- children of God and the world.
1 Jn 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. NASU
We become His children through faith in His name.
Our Father Who is in heaven- in this we see-God is-
personal- Our Father,
loving- Father is a term of endearment
powerful- Our Father who is in heaven.
He is not only good, but He is great. John Stott
In this prayer we begin to understand that God is above us- He is the center of all life, not us.
The prayer says … Our Father who is in heaven.
To the Jews- God was so exalted that He was beyond personal relationships.
Today, however, He has become so much our friend, that we have lost a sense of His transcendence.
Transcendence- outside of ordinary human limits or experience- God is other than man.
We have treated God too casually- become irreverent.
Petition 1: Hallowed be Your name
Names have significance in the Bible- they tell us something about the person.
Names of God reveal who He is …
God the Most High, God Almighty, I AM.
1Pe 3:15 But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord ... AMP
Set apart- same word as hallow- sanctify.
God’s name is to be treated as holy and something altogether other/different than who we are as men.
There is a sense where you could say …
God work in me to make me holy, so I can see your holiness/glory.
The more we see of our own sinfulness, the clearer we see God’s holiness, and the holier we can become.
It is seeing my sinfulness that points to God’s holiness.
We are constantly being pressured to conform to the self-centeredness of our culture- as a result …
more concerned about our name than His name.
Petition #2 Your kingdom come
First, must recognize that God is always sovereign and rules over all creation- whether we pray or not.
As He is already holy so he is already King, reigning in absolute sovereignty over both nature and history. John Stott
This is serious prayer, but perhaps- take it too lightly.
If we were living in a state of poverty and persecution, we might be more inclined to pray this seriously.
The Kingdom of God is that place where God reigns.
To pray His Kingdom come is to pray that …
1. His Kingdom would grow through the witness of the church in the world
2. The end of the age would come soon and Jesus would return to rule the earth
Petition #3 Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
As pray-committing to two important responsibilities-
1. To learn all we can about His will
How do we do this?
Study His Word, know what the Bible says.
Ro 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. NASU
2. I will do His will
Jas 1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. NASU
If is folly for man to resist the will of God and great wisdom to desire to do it.
We have looked at the first three petitions
As disciples- my primary concern, before my needs-
God’s glory, God’s reign, God’s will.
Now we turn to the last three petitions- needs of men.
Petition #4 Give us this day our daily bread
Bread is a symbol for …everything necessary for the preservation of this life, like food, a healthy body, good weather, house, home, wife, children, good government, and peace. Martin Luther
Jesus- talking about- necessities of life- not luxuries.
In Jesus day people were paid daily for their labors.
Often the pay was so low, not any left over to save.
So effectively- pay enough to buy food for that day.
In that system- followers of Jesus had to trust God for work each day to provide necessities for that day.
Bible clearly indicates-God is the source of everything
Jas 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. NASU
God is the source, but He does not owe us anything.
Out of His love/grace- provides for people.
Likewise- government- not our source- does not owe us anything- get beyond entitlement mentality.
Today we do not live as precariously as they did.
However, our abundance- produced- a thanklessness towards God’s blessings/provision.
We have taken his gifts for granted; and then when they begin to dry up we complain and call in question the very existence of this beneficent God. DA Carson
Petition #5 And forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors
John Stott …
Forgiveness is as indispensable to the life and health of the soul as food is for the body.
Jesus enlarges this even further …
Mtt 6:14-15
Sin is pictured as a debt.
If someone sins against us they incur a debt.
If we will not release them from that debt by forgiving them, God will not release us from our debt of sin.
The point in the Lord’s prayer is not so much if I forgive someone, then God will forgive me.
I cannot earn forgiveness by forgiving others.
Having forgiven others is an indication that we have seen our own sin before God and repented of it.
Forgiving others is denying our own feelings of being done wrong, and forgiving as God would forgive.
The Christian life is a life of self-denial and willingly taking up our cross- we gain our life by losing it.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
St. Francis of Assisi
Petition #6 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil
In other words, God, do not lead me into temptation, but lead me into righteousness.
God lead me away from activity, attitude, or action, that gives the devil opportunity in my life.
Lead me into that place where I can experience your protection from the evil one.
As we go to God for physical provision, we must also go to him for moral and spiritual provision.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
Conclusion
As followers of Jesus-must learn-importance of prayer
Our first concern, before my needs, should be …
God’s glory, God’s reign, God’s will.
Once that is established, then I can pray for my needs-
Material- daily bread
Spiritual- forgiveness of sin
Moral- deliverance from evil
As we pray this prayer we are expressing our dependence on God in every area of human life.
In this prayer- see the God-head- it is through the …
Father’s creation and His provision
that we receive our daily bread,
Death of Jesus Christ
that we can be forgiven,
Power of the Holy Spirit living in us
that we are delivered from the evil one.
