Summary: Part 1 of the Lord's Prayer, or the Model Prayer. God is our Heavenly Father and we should acknowledge His person, perspective, and we should render our Father praise. This is the great opening to the Model Prayer!

THE LORD’S PRAYER

1 – BUT HE’S MY FATHER

This morning, we are continuing our emphasis on PRAYER, that we begin 2 weeks ago

And what we’ve been doing, is saying that for us to…

--see a breakthrough

--have a move of God

--rise up as a church like never before

--see loved ones saved

--find God’s will

--see delivereance

--see souls saved

Then we must, answer the call to prayer

And I believe that God is calling our church to prayer

He’s calling…

--this pastor

--the Administrative Council

--Sunday School Teachers

--Women’s Ministries

--Youth Ministry

--Prision Ministry

--Usher Ministry

He’s calling ALL of us to PRAYER

And so, I invite you to join with me, as we PUSH – PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS!

AND TODAY, I can’t think of a better way to teach us about prayer and how to pray, than to begin to look at the model prayer, or what we commonly know as – THE LORD’S PRAYER

For you see, this 65 word, 2 minute prayer cotains the SPIRITUAL DNA, that encapsulates all…

--the promises

--the provisions

--the protections

--the potential

And all the PROBLEMS that we face

And so, this morning, we’re going to look at THE LORD’S PRAYER

Today, we begin with the first phrase: OUR FATHER, WHICH ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BY THY NAME!

Let’s stand and read…

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) 9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

There are a couple of things I want to point out to you as we think about the Lord’s prayer….

First of all, it was given, IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST

And that was a request of the Disciples found in…

Luke 11:1 ( KJV ) 1And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Evidently, there was something about…

--the Master’s prayer life

--the results that they saw He had

--the communion they saw He had with God Almighty, His Father

--the glow on His face

And it created a hunger in their lives, and they said LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY

I want you to know something this morning and that is that EVERYONE should ENTER the school of prayer, but no one GRADUATES from the school of prayer!

And no matter…

--how many years we’ve been in the church

--how many good deeds we’ve done

--how many books we’ve read

--how many Sunday School lessons we’ve taught

We still need to say, LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY

Secondly, I want you to understand that Jesus was teaching the WAY to pray, not the WORDS to pray

You’re not to repeat this prayer verbatim, mindlessly over and over again as though that in itself has some merit

NO – the words, expressions, and pharases are like the train tracks, that lead you into the presence of God!

No, Jesus even warned about this…

Matt. 6:7 (KJV) 7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

And notice the themes of this prayer…

--Acknowledgment and Worship (Our father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name)

--Submission and Petition (thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread)

--Forgiveness and Repentance (forgive us of our debts, as we forgive our debtors)

--Guidance and Assurance (and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen.)

All that we need in this world today is found in this 65 word, 2 minute prayer

Someone said that prayer is…

--our greatest power

--our greatest privilege

Therefore it ought to be our greatest passion!

If we fail as a church, it will not be because of…

--people

--property

--prospeirty

It will be because of prayer

And so, let’s look at the first part of this prayer: OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME!

Let me give you three things as we unfold this prayer

First of all…

1. WE SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THE FATHER’S PERSON

Now, understand, that when Jesus instructed us in this prayer, He doesn’t open up talking about…

--the place of prayer (for you can prayer anywhere)

--the period of prayer (for you can pray anytime)

--the posture of prayer (for you can pray standing, or kneeling)

But He opens up this prayer pointing us not to a…

--place

--period

--posture

But a PERSON – and that’s our heavenly Father!

Because when Jesus instructed His disciples to pray that way, it was an absolute mind-boggling thing to the Jewish mind

They had known Him as…

--the mighty Elohim

--the creator of Genesis

--the Lord of hosts

--all the Jehovah-names

But never before, had they been taught to see God as their father

In the Old Testament God is only referred to as Father fourteen times, and every time it is in reference to the entire nation of Israel, never to an individual. The three greatest men of the Old Testament, Abraham, Moses, and David, never called God "Father" in a personal way. Yet, 167 times in the gospels, God is called "Father." Over 60 times, and in every one of his prayers, Jesus called God, "Father."

God is not just a creator and you are the created, like a robot

You see, I can create a bird house! But that does not mean that I'm its father

It means that I'm its creator

But when I and my wife produce a child, that's a whole different ball game

And that's what the implication is with Father God

He's not just some God

--unaware

--abject

--displaced

--far

But He's a father, and as a father, that implies that I'm his child

And there's not ONE PARENT among us who is not concerned about every detail in their child's life

A little boy was very uneasy about the sounds of thunder and lightening outside, and so as his mother was putting him to bed he asked if she would sleep with him because he was afraid. She said, "Son, I can't do that. I've got to go to bed with your father. You'll be all right." A few moments later the little boy looked back at his mother and said – "The big sissy!"

Our God is not like that, and that’s why Jesus said we should acknowledge Him as OUR FATHER

And as our Father, He cares about us…

--intimately (every hair is numbered)

--affectionately (despite our failures, He still loves us)

--passionately (He wept over Jerusalem, Song of Songs 6:13, return, return, return, return, O shulamate)

--personally (he knows our name, our frame, He was the fourth man in the fire!)

In the Old Testament, when the priests came back from captivity, they lost the records and they couldn’t determine who their fathers were

And that’s a sad situation when you don’t know who your father is

But Jesus wanted us to know in this prayer that we should acknowledge his person – He is our father

Romans 8:15 – "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

We should, first of all, acknowledge the Father’s person

Secondly,

2. WE SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THE FATHER’S PERSPECTIVE

Throughout the Gospel's, Jesus is giving us a view of the Father. He consistently refers to our "Father in heaven." Why?

• Matthew 5:16 – "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

• Matthew 5:45 – "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

• Matthew 5:48 – "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

• Matthew 6:1 – "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven."

• Matthew 7:11 – "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

• Matthew 7:21 – "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

The answer to the above question is found in the word – PERSPECTIVE

When you’re in a traffic jam, you can’t see

But the man in the helicopter has a perspective

And our God is a Father who is in heaven, and He has a perspective on…

--our job situation

--our financial situation

--our future

• Isaiah 55:9 – "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

He is our Father in Heaven and He has a perspective that we don’t have

Notice in this prayer, we have the proper perspective…

--He is the Master, we are the servants (our Father in heaven)

--He is the provider, we are ones in need (give us our daily bread)

--He is the judge, and we are the guilty (forgive us our debts)

--He is the one who has a plan, and we are the ones needing direction (and lead us)

We should…

--acknowledge the Father’s person

--acknowledge the Father’s perspective

And finally,

3. WE SHOULD RENDER THE FATHER’S PRAISE

Hallowed by thy name – that’s praise and worship

We should approach the Father with a spirit of worship

You remember when I said that the Father loves us…

--intimately

--affectionately

--passionately

--personally

That’s the way we ought to praise Him!!

--intimately

--affectionately

--passionately

--personally

Someone said…

"When you pray, you seek God. When you worship, God seeks you." -- Unknown

IN CLOSING

Will you…

--acknowledge the Father’s person

--acknowledge the Father’s perspective

--render the Father’s praise

There is an old Roman story which tells how a Roman emperor was once enjoying a great victory. He had the privilege of marching his troops through the streets of Rome with all of his captured trophies, and his prisoners behind him. This emperor was marching with his troops; the streets were lined with cheering people; the tall legionnaires had lined the streets' edges to keep the people in their places. At one point on the triumphal route, there was a little platform where the empress and her family were sitting to watch the emperor go by, and all of the pride of his victory. On the platform with his mother was the emperor's youngest son, just a little boy. As the emperor came near, that little boy jumped off the platform, burrowed through the crowd, and tried to dodge between the legs of one of those legionnaires, so he could run out on the road to meet his father's chariot. The legionnaire stooped down and stopped him; he swung him up in his arms, and said, "You can't do that. Don't you know who that is in the chariot? That is the Emperor. You can't run out to his chariot." The little lad looked at the legionnaire and laughed and said, "He may be your emperor, but he is my father."