Instruction in Prayer
Prayer • Sermon • Submitted
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· 43 viewsThe Lord's Prayer is a model and description of how we should approach the Lord in prayer.
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Introduction
Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
I am glad you have come to be with us tonight and I hope that our time of corporate prayer has been beneficial and a blessing to you in some way.
I would like for you to start turning in your Bibles to .
In just a few moments we are going to be looking at verses 9-13.
Tonight we are going to continue on the same subject that we started this morning.
Just as a reminder, this morning we were looking at on the subject of Prayer and Praise.
Tonight we are going to take the conversation a bit further but tonight we are going to be looking specifically at the subject of Prayer.
In , Jesus spends some time instructing the disciples on the act of prayer.
Now, I do want to say this though before we begin looking at some of the finer points of prayer, there is no “formula” for prayer.
Prayer is in itself our conversation with God.
The only true requirement for prayer is approaching God with a sincere heart and a sincere desire to connect with Him.
While there are different types of prayer-prayer in itself is how we connect with God and how our relationship with God grows and matures.
In Jesus’ example, he is not telling his disciples, “repeat these words and you will magically connect with God.”
In fact in the verses before our focal passage, Jesus tells the disciples . . .
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6:7
And “babbling” here can mean many things.
It can mean the chants and weird rituals that you sometimes see people engaged in.
But “babbling” also means “meaningless talk.”
Getting in the habit of saying the same prayer over and over again and it just ends up being meaningless words.
We see it all the time.
We sometimes even do it.
We do it at home and we do it in the church as well.
That is not prayer, that is “babbling.”
The second thing Jesus says is that they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Have you ever seen anyone doing this?
They have these long, flowing prayers, full of words but no real meaning.
They think that the longer they pray the better.
The truth is, you can pray for 1 minute or 100 but if your heart is not in it, it is meaningless.
When we pray, we say what is on our heart, nothing more, nothing less.
Sometimes it takes a while, but sometimes it doesn’t.
Jesus tells us . . .
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
God already knows so just say what’s on your heart and move on.
Finally, another group that Jesus addresses are the hypocrites, or “the actors.” The ones who are pretending.
Jesus says . . .
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
Matthew 6:
Ever seen anyone like this?
Just putting on a show.
They will pray these long, flowing, loud prayers, but all the time stand around all puffed out like a peacock, strutting around for everyone to see them.
None of this is what prayer is meant to be.
And this is why Jesus instructs the disciples here on prayer and the pattern to follow when they pray.
He tells them (and us). . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Our Father in Heaven
Our Father in Heaven
So, again like I have already mentioned, just reciting the Lord’s Prayer or any prayer is not what Jesus had in mind when he set out to instruct the disciples.
He is telling them here in verse nine This, then, is how you SHOULD pray.
He is telling them that this is the pattern that your prayers should be following.
And the first part of this pattern is worship and reverence before God.
Jesus says in the last part of verse 9, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
The first thing we should be doing in our prayer acknowledging God as the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
When we enter into prayer we need to remember that we are entering into the very presence of God Almighty.
We should be approaching God like Isaiah . He writes . . .
Isaiah 6:1-
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
He witnessed God high and exalted, seated on a throne.
The train of his robe filled the whole temple.
God is surrounded by angels flying about crying out Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory!
These angels were worshipping God in his very presence.
And we should be doing the same thing when we pray.
We also need to approach God reverently, with fear and awe.
Jesus tells that God’s name is hallowed, or “holy and reverent.”
The Jews revered God’s name to the point that they would not even speak it.
In fact it was blasphemy to speak God’s name.
It is a violation of God’s commandment to use His name in vain, which involves more than just the cuss word too.
To use God’s name in a worthless, futile, or useless manner is taking God’s name in vain.
The act of disrespecting God’s name is using God’s name in vain.
Instead we are to hallow God’s name.
We are to use it reverently and approach God reverently.
The angels in Isaiah cried out Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory!
Your Kingdom Come
Your Kingdom Come
So, we are to begin with:
Worshiping God
Revering and respecting God’s very name and nature.
The next thing Jesus says is . . .
10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
This is an acknowledgment of God’s majesty, God’s power, and the fulfillment of God’s promises to God’s people.
Jesus preached that we need to repent for the kingdom is at hand.
When we pray, we should acknowledge that God is the God of all the universe.
That God is the Creator and all things are ultimately under the power of God’s plan.
When we pray we should acknowledge that God’s ultimate plan for the universe will come to pass.
When we pray we need to be acknowledging that Jesus Christ is returning and that God’s kingdom has come and is coming.
When we pray we should be acknowledge that God’s will is not limited to heaven but also will be fulfilled on earth as well.
The reason being is when we acknowledge it, we accept it, and the TRUTH BEGINS TO SINK IN.
And that truth is that Jesus is the only way, truth, and life.
Jesus is the truth and that truth is the only thing that can set us free from the bondage of sin and death.
In order to accept it, we must first acknowledge it.
Also, another part of acknowledging God’s will in our prayer life is how we live our lives.
We should be living in the power of our prayer.
If we really believe “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” as the KJV puts in then we should be obeying God’s will in our lives.
We should be obedient to the call of God in us and through is in every aspect.
We should be acknowledging God’s kingdom in how we live our lives, every single day.
So, let’s keep going.
Give Us This Day
Give Us This Day
Give Us This Day
Give Us This Day
So far the pattern is:
Worshiping God
Revering and respecting God’s very name and nature.
Acknowledging God’s Kingdom and God’s will
Next, Jesus says . . .
11 Give us today our daily bread.
Matthew
Jesus here is talking about our prayer for our provisions.
We pray for our needs and the needs of others to be met.
Remember though Jesus has already said in verse 8 . . .
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
If God already knows, then why ask?
Praying for our daily bread is not a “gimme, gimme” prayer.
Remember that when we pray, we share with God what is on our hearts.
We are supposed to bring ALL things before the Lord.
This is how we communicate and connect with God.
By bringing these things before the Lord we are acknowledging that God is the only one that can do anything about it.
We are acknowledging that all blessings come from God.
We are acknowledging that we cannot fix it.
And we are trusting God with it, whatever it is.
It humbles us and strengthens our faith all at the same time.
It informs us and everyone else that God’s grace is sufficient to sustain us today and every day.
Forgive Our Debts
Forgive Our Debts
So, thus far we have when we pray we are to . . .
Worshiping God
Revering and respecting God’s very name and nature.
Acknowledging God’s Kingdom and God’s will
Pray for the daily provisions and needs of ourselves and others.
Next Jesus tells us to pray that God will . . .
12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Now Jesus here is not talking about paying off our mortgage or credit cards.
He is telling us that we should ask forgiveness of our sins.
Like we talked about this morning, when we ask God to forgive us, we come to the place where we have humbled ourselves before the Lord.
We have come to the place where we are like Isaiah when he says . . .
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
We acknowledge that we are unclean, that we are unworthy, that we are sinners, and that we cannot save ourselves.
We come the place where we realize that we need a Savior and that Savior is Jesus Christ.
And when we come to that realization, we know that if we are standing in the presence of God Almighty, as long as we have unclean lips, we are ruined.
And it doesn’t matter if you are praying for the 1st time or the 101st time, every time we approach God in prayer we need to spend some time allowing the Holy Spirit to search us for anything that is unclean, impure unpleasing to God.
Allow the Holy Spirit to root out that sin that is buried deep in our soul and to get rid of it.
Jesus says something else here too though.
He says forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
In other words “forgive our sins Lord for we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.”
In fact in verse 14 Jesus says . . .
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Now, our forgiveness is not earned like a merit badge.
There is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness.
It is the gift of God through love, mercy, and grace.
What Jesus is saying here is that if we do not have the ability to forgive others, then we have never really been saved.
God has not forgiven our sins, because we did not approach God with a repentant heart.
When God saves us, God changes our heart.
And the new heart that God gives us has the capacity and desire to forgive others.
If there is someone in your life that you cannot forgive, then regardless of what they have done, YOUR HEART IS NOT RIGHT WITH GOD.
That is a harsh statement, but it is true and it is exactly what Jesus is talking about here.
Our capacity to forgive.
The prayer is “Father forgive us, give us the ability to forgive others.”
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
So, thus far we have when we pray we are to . . .
Worshiping God
Revering and respecting God’s very name and nature.
Acknowledging God’s Kingdom and God’s will
Pray for the daily provisions and needs of ourselves and others.
Pray for forgiveness and the capacity to forgive.
And finally . . .
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
The last part Jesus instructs the disciples in doing is acknowledging their frailty and weakness.
In the flesh we are powerless.
Jesus teaches us that. . .
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
By praying for God’s protection and God’s deliverance, we are protecting ourselves from the attack of the enemy.
We are aware of the danger and aware of where our help comes from.
Our prayer begins with worshiping and acknowledging God and ends in our acknowledgment of our utter dependence on God for all things.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So, when we pray, this is how we will pray.
Not necessarily these words, but following this pattern.
And tonight this is how we will pray.
Each of you have a copy of the Lord’s Prayer.
We are going to pray this prayer together, but as we do, instead of reciting words on the paper, pray from your heart.
Know and acknowledge what Jesus meant when he gave this prayer to the disciples.
Stand and pray with me . . .
, KJV
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.