Prayer For A Life That Reflects God As Father

Sermon on the Mount  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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The Sermon on the Mount exposes the state of the heart of the believer.
First, the Beatitudes (vv. 3–12) provide us with a description of the ideal character of the true believer.
Then after two convicting metaphors (vv. 13–16) we are given six illustrations of the surpassing righteousness to which we are called (vv. 20–48), a righteousness that supersedes and fulfills that of the scribes and Pharisees—and indeed that of the Old Testament.
This exposé of the heart brings us to an honest admission of what we really are, and it is not a pretty picture.

I Love the prayers in the Bible

Ephesians 1 ESV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
…John 17:20-26…Psalms
Ephesians 1
Ephesians 1

15 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit,v of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.

Philippians 1 ESV
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
Preaching the Word: Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom Jesus’ First Illustration: Almsgiving (vv. 2–4)

Men who do works so they will be seen by men receive the applause of men. Those who do works for God’s glory receive God’s smile. The reward for the latter is overwhelming—and always will be.

Preaching the Word: Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom Jesus’ Second Illustration: Praying (vv. 5–7)

Jesus was not condemning public prayer. He was condemning the desire to be seen praying publicly. The early church thrived on public prayer, as the opening chapters of Acts so beautifully attest (see 1:24; 3:1; 4:24ff.). Jesus was emphasizing that prayer is essentially a conversation between the believer and God. It is intrinsically private, not exhibitionist. Man is to shut out every distraction and focus on God. In verse 7 Jesus added further advice: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” Our Lord was not and is not impressed with a lot of words. He is impressed with what the heart is saying.

Preaching the Word: Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom Jesus’ Second Illustration: Praying (vv. 5–7)

Perhaps a few questions would help us. Do I pray frequently or more fervently when I am alone with God than when I am in public? Is my public praying an overflow of my private prayer? What do I think of when I am praying in public? Am I looking for “just the right” phrase? Am I thinking of the worshipers more than of God? Am I a spectator to my own performance? Is it possible that the reason more of my prayers are not answered is because I am more concerned about bringing my prayer to men than to God?

Preaching the Word: Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom Jesus’ Second Illustration: Praying (vv. 5–7)

Perhaps a few questions would help us. Do I pray frequently or more fervently when I am alone with God than when I am in public? Is my public praying an overflow of my private prayer? What do I think of when I am praying in public? Am I looking for “just the right” phrase? Am I thinking of the worshipers more than of God? Am I a spectator to my own performance? Is it possible that the reason more of my prayers are not answered is because I am more concerned about bringing my prayer to men than to God?

How Not To Pray

Holman New Testament Commentary: Matthew A. Seek Your Reward from God, Not from People (6:1–18)

Prayer is not for the purpose of informing God. Rather, prayer expresses to him (and to ourselves) the fact of our impotence to meet our own needs. Biblical prayer is an act of faith, an expression of dependence on God. Meaningless repetition signifies dependence on oneself to manipulate or badger God into compliance.

Holman New Testament Commentary: Matthew A. Seek Your Reward from God, Not from People (6:1–18)

When are believers guilty of meaningless repetition? For example, we add “in Jesus’ name” as a mere punctuation mark at the end of our prayers. Would not it be better actually to pray in Jesus’ name (with his authority, according to his will), instead of merely adding the phrase? We can pray in Jesus’ name without using those words.

When we pray over meals or with our children at bedtime, do we really think about what we are saying? When we sing the words of a song of worship to the Lord, do we really mean them?

Pray Like Jesus Not Merely What Jesus Prayed

Not Merely What Jesus Prayed

How We Should Pray

The Lord’s prayer is a pattern for a servant in the Lord’s Kingdom.
Holman New Testament Commentary: Matthew A. Seek Your Reward from God, Not from People (6:1–18)

This, then, is how you should pray (6:9). The pattern of meaningful prayer is to begin by majoring on the person and nature of God and his kingdom interests, coming to personal requests and needs only secondarily.

Jesus says “this is how “you should pray” … as opposed to the techniques of the religious hypocrites and the Romans and Greeks who thought their loud voices were necessary to awaken their pagan gods and the repetition of words served to remind their gods of what their situation was.
Preaching the Word: Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom Jesus’ Second Illustration: Praying (vv. 5–7)

we need to remember that God sees all. The psalmist in Psalm 139 says, “If I make my way to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (v. 8). He sees and knows all. He knows the words that are forming on our lips. Each day we should pray something like this: “God, because you know all things, you know my motivations. God, help me to live my life for you.”

Preaching the Word: Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom Jesus’ Second Illustration: Praying (vv. 5–7)

“Throughout the whole of this day, everything I do, and say, and attempt, and think, and imagine, is going to be done under the eye of God. He is going to be with me; He sees everything; He knows everything. There is nothing I can do or attempt but God is fully aware of it all. ‘Thou God seest me.’ ”

No where in the Old Testament is God referred to as Father in terms of having a relationship with HIm.

But when Jesus came on the scene, he addressed God only as Father. He never used anything else! All his prayers address God as Father. The Gospels (just four books) record his using Father more than sixty times in reference to God. So striking is this that there are scholars who maintain that this word Father dramatically summarizes the difference between the Old and New Testaments. No one had ever in the entire history of Israel spoken and prayed like Jesus. No one!

Our Father In Heaven (verse 9)

Holman New Testament Commentary: Matthew A. Seek Your Reward from God, Not from People (6:1–18)

The plural pronoun our indicates that prayer should be an expression of corporate desires to God, and should often be prayed in fellowship with other believers.

To the traditional Jew, Jesus’ prayer was revolutionary. Think of it! God was referred to only fourteen times in the Old Testament as Father, and then it was always as the corporate Father of Israel—never individually or personally. And now as his disciples ask him for instruction on how to pray, Jesus tells them to begin by calling God their Father, their Abba!
Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 155). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 155). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

To the traditional Jew, Jesus’ prayer was revolutionary. Think of it! God was referred to only fourteen times in the Old Testament as Father, and then it was always as the corporate Father of Israel—never individually or personally. And now as his disciples ask him for instruction on how to pray, Jesus tells them to begin by calling God their Father, their Abba! As Jeremias says:

… in the Lord’s Prayer Jesus authorizes His disciples to repeat the word abba after Him. He gives them a share in His sonship and empowers them, as His disciples, to speak with their heavenly Father in just such a familiar, trusting way as a child would with his father.

Addressing God as Abba (Dearest Father) is not only an indication of spiritual health but is a mark of the authenticity of our faith. Paul tells us in Galatians 4:6, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father!’ ” The impulse to call on God in this way is a sign of being God’s child. Romans 8:15, 16 says the same thing: “you received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” True believers are impelled to say this.

Do you know that God is your Father? Do you think of him and address him as your “Dearest Father”? If you cannot answer in the affirmative, it may be that he is not your spiritual Father and you need to heed the words of Scripture and come into relationship with him through Christ. “Yet to all who received him [Christ], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Dr. J. I. Packer considers one’s grasp of God’s Fatherhood and one’s adoption as a son or daughter as of essential importance to spiritual life. He writes:

“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God.”

Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 156). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

God’s Fatherhood helps drive home the reality of our forgiveness.

the sense of God’s Fatherhood helps drive home the reality of our forgiveness. It is significant that the first word to fall from the prodigal son’s lips when he returned home was “Father”: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you” (Luke 15:21). And those words were followed by forgiveness. The more deep-seated our sense of God’s Fatherhood, the deeper will be our sense of forgiveness—the wholeness that comes from being loved and being forgiven.

Knowing God as Father also brings confidence, security, and wholeness into our lives.

Falling into our father’s arms because we trust Him and never even imagine that He won’t catch us.

have sentimentalized God’s fatherhood so much that they have little concept of his holiness. Many Christians are flippantly sentimental about God, as if he is a celestial teddy bear.

Sovereign and reigning, he surpasses all that is human. He is our Father and our King! We can affectionately call him “Abba,” “Dearest Father,” but we do it with a deep sense of wonder and reverence.

He is our Father, but he exceeds our earthly fathers in every way because he is “our Father in heaven.” He always understands. He is always caring and loving. He never forgets us. And he always comes through for us.

God Our Father Shows Pity

“Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” ()

God the Father Shows Mercy

Psalm 116:5
Psalm 116:5 ESV
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
Psalm 103:8 ESV
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Psalm 103:8
Jonah 4:2 ESV
And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
1 Peter 2:10 ESV
Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 1:3–9 ESV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:3-9
1 Peter 1:5–9 ESV
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

God Our Father Loves Us

John 3:16–17 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
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