The Lord's Prayer (pt. 1)
The Lord's Prayer • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 30 viewsGod’s relationship to us to us is corporate. God’s relationship to us is personal. God’s relationship to us is transcendent. God’s relationship to us is absolutely unique. https://youtu.be/gKMoFtWQkbE
Notes
Transcript
Pray.
This morning we begin a brand new message series on prayer. Prayer is one of our core values here at FBC Laredo. We value prayer. Prayer is not just the duty of the pastors and deacons. Prayer is the duty of all believers. It is to be our main business. Nothing happens without the power of prayer. Prayer is where the power is in our lives. A life without prayer is a powerless life.
There are two accounts of what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” in the Scriptures. One is found in and the other is found in . The account in gives us the context surrounding this model from Jesus for prayer.
Jesus was praying. We don’t know what he was praying about, but he was praying. Could you imagine what it would be like to hear Jesus pray? You would hear him pouring out his heart before God his Father. We know from other prayers of Jesus which are recorded in the gospels, Jesus’ prayers were deeply personal and passionate. On this occasion, Jesus was praying in a certain place. We don’t know where, but likely it was close by to where Jesus spent most of his time in Galilee.
When Jesus finished praying, one of his disciples made a request of Jesus. The unnamed disciple said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” Jesus was asked to teach his disciples to pray and so he scheduled a special weekend seminar to explore the subject of prayer. No, he didn’t do that. He called a special meeting for prayer. Nope. Jesus was asked to teach his disciples to pray and so he called up the book publisher to get his thoughts on the matter in print. Nope, he didn’t do that either. When asked to teach on the subject of prayer, Jesus gave them a model. He said, “You should pray like this.”
Before we get into the model prayer itself, this statement, “You should pray like this” really got me thinking. Do we pray like this? I think many of our prayers and invocations are, unfortunately, thoughtless babblings. We wonder why our prayers aren’t effective, but we really didn’t put any thought into what we were saying and on top of that, we aren’t following the example of our Lord. He said, “Your Father knows the things you need before you ask him. Therefore, you should pray like this:”
Let’s read it together.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
This morning, we are going to look at the first petition of the six petitions in the model prayer.
“Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.”
“Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.”
If you are taking notes this morning, the first thing I want you to see about this is that God’s relationship to us is exclusive.
1. God is exclusive. (Our Father)
1. God is exclusive. (Our Father)
God is our Father. He is not everyone’s Father. Not everyone has this personal relationship with God. God is the creator of everyone and everything, but God is not the Father of everyone. Jesus got into an argument with the Jews about this subject in John chapter eight.
Jesus was teaching the people and many were coming to believe in him. As he was teaching them, a controversy arose because Jesus indicated that the people were still in bondage. He was talking about being in bondage to the lies of the evil one, but they didn’t understand what Jesus was saying. They claimed they had never been enslaved. Jesus told them that they were enslaved to sin which was causing them to reject the truth. They didn’t want to listen to his word. Then, he said this:
44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:
Everyone born into this world is born apart from God. The relationship between God and mankind is broken and would stay broken unless someone did something about it. Jesus came to redeem us and make us alive. He made it possible for us who were apart from God, to become part of God’s family. He came so that God could be our Father. He came so that you could be saved from your sin. He came to repair the broken relationship we have with God. He came to raise us up and by his grace adopt us into his family. When we, by faith, believe in Jesus, God becomes our Father.
2. God is personal. (Our Father)
2. God is personal. (Our Father)
“There is an old Roman story which tells how a Roman emperor was enjoying a triumph. He had the privilege, which Rome gave to her great victors, of marching his troops through the streets of Rome, with all his captured trophies and his prisoners in his train. So the emperor was on the march with his troops. The streets were lined with cheering people. The tall legionaries 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 in all the pride of his triumph. On the platform with his mother, there was the emperor’s youngest son, a little boy. As the emperor came near, the little boy jumped off the platform, burrowed through the crowd and tried to dodge between the legs of a legionary and to run out on to the road to meet his father’s chariot. The legionary stooped down and stopped him. He swung him up in his arms: ‘You can’t do that, boy,’ he said. ‘Don’t you know who that is in the chariot? That’s the emperor. You can’t run out to his chariot.’ And the little boy laughed down. ‘He may be your emperor,’ he said, ‘but he’s my father.’”
Some have commented that this title for God is like calling God “Daddy”, but really it isn’t. This is about the personal nature of the relationship we have with God. He is our Father. He is the one who provides for us, protects us, and secures us. He leads us and counsels us in the ways of wisdom. He is the one we run to when things get hard.
I recognize, not everyone has a human father who is a good example of our heavenly Father. You may not have experienced a kind, gentle, and loving father in your life. What you are offered this morning is an opportunity to see God in a new way. Maybe your human father failed you miserably, but you can have a heavenly Father who will never leave you or forsake you. You can have a heavenly Father who knows you, loves you, and will meet all your needs. You can have a heavenly Father who will never fail you. God is exclusive. God is personal. God is transcendent.
3. God is transcendent. (Our Father in heaven)
3. God is transcendent. (Our Father in heaven)
Transcendent means that God exists apart from and is not subject to the limitations of the material universe.
Transcendent means that God exists apart from and is not subject to the limitations of the material universe.
Jer
23 “Am I a God who is only near”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away?
24 Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?”—the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”—the Lord’s declaration.
God is beyond our understanding. He is not subject to nature or nature’s laws because he made everything that exists. He formed everything out of nothing. He spoke the worlds into existence. He is the first-cause; the uncaused Cause. The God who desires a deep and personal relationship with us is also the all-powerful God of the universe. God is eternal. He has always existed and will always exist. He is more powerful than anything.
God is both knowable and unknowable. Unless he reveals himself to his creation, it could not be known that he exists. Yet, God continually and generously reveals himself to us in ways we can understand. This is a paradox. The unknowable and unsearchable God desires to be sought and known. God is exclusive. God is personal. God is transcendent. God is absolutely unique.
4. God is absolutely unique. (Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy)
4. God is absolutely unique. (Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy)
Holy means different or separate.
Holy means different or separate.
A holy thing is different from other things. A person who is holy is separate from other people. The temple was holy because it was different than other buildings. God’s day is holy because it is different than other days. God’s name is holy because it is different than other names. It is to be treated as different than all other names. God’s name is absolutely unique. God’s name is Yahweh.
The Jewish people understood the quality of the absolute uniqueness and holiness of the name of God. In the Hebrew Scriptures, they didn’t write the name of God. They substituted the world LORD (Lord in all capital letters). They thought by writing God’s name on paper they were not treating it with the respect it was due. To this day, observant Jews do not pronounce God’s name; instead they replace it with a different term. The point is that God’s name is not to be profaned. It demands a unique place because God’s nature and character demand a unique place.
Now that we understand the invocation at the beginning of Jesus’ model prayer, how does it impact our prayer life?
Appeal to God through his nature and character.
Appeal to God through his nature and character.
Sometimes, you need to approach God because you belong to him. You are his and he is yours. Somebody is hurting you. Somebody has wronged you. Somebody isn’t doing right and you invoke God as your Father. You are in pain and you need help and guidance. Appeal to God as your Father. You are confused and you don’t know which way to go. Talk to your Father. For many of us, this is probably the way we invoke God the most. We talk to him as Father.
However, there are other times when you are going to appeal to the Almighty God of the universe. I don’t know if you have noticed, but we need rain. We invoke the Almighty Creator God to provide rain to nourish the earth. When you are sick and need healing, you appeal to the God who made you to fix you and bring you healing. God is in sovereign control of all things. Nothing is outside of his dominion. We can come boldly before the throne of grace seeking God to intervene on our behalf. Appeal to God through his nature and character.
If you are going to approach God in this manner that Jesus taught his disciples, then you are going to need to know the nature and character of God. You are going to need to know him as he has revealed himself to us through the Scriptures. If you have better understanding of who God is and what he is like, then you will gain a clearer picture of how he interact with us. You will begin to speak with him in more personal ways. You will recognize that God is wholly other and yet he is right there with you. You will desire to see God truly honored and worship as God in the world today.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
Pray.
Father God, we recognize our need to come before you in prayer. You desire to hear from your children. You want to have a personal relationship with each one of us. You have promised to supply all of our needs according to your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. You have promised to protect us and provide for us in ways that only you can. Some of us today are in need of physical healing. Others of us are in need of emotional healing. Some of us are facing difficult circumstances in our lives. We ask you to move in our lives. We ask you to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We ask you to give us wisdom and peace, In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
As we continue in an attitude of prayer with heads bowed and eyes closed in reflection, perhaps you are here this morning and you have never made the decision to follow Jesus. You have never made the decision to give Jesus control of your life and right now, you are just living for whatever makes you happy. You are running from one relationship to the next, one experience to the next, and one empty promise to the next. You can’t find happiness and you can’t find satisfaction because you are trying to find peace and happiness apart from Jesus. Let me tell you. You will never find what you are looking for unless you give your life to Jesus, unless you place your faith in him.
perhaps you are here this morning and you have never made the decision to follow Jesus. You have never made the decision to give Jesus control of your life and right now, you are just living for whatever makes you happy. You are running from one relationship to the next, one experience to the next, and one empty promise to the next. You can’t find happiness and you can’t find satisfaction because you are trying to find peace and happiness apart from Jesus. Let me tell you. You will never find what you are looking for unless you give your life to Jesus, unless you place your faith in him.
Let me tell you what Jesus has done for you because he loved you so much. Jesus was born of a virgin and without sin; Jesus became sin for us. You are a sinner. Your sin leads you to do ungodly things and separates you from the God who loves you. We have a sin problem inside of us. Jesus went to the cross and shed his blood. He died and he rose again. He did all of this because he loves you and he wants to save you from your sin. He wants to transform you, so you can experience his goodness, so we could experience his grace. He wants to heal you and bring peace to your life.
To reject Him is to reject life. To delay this decision is to continue on the way that leads to destruction.
CSB
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
God, in his love decided to give mankind the opportunity to escape the wrath of his judgment. Jesus came and laid down his life for us. God expressed his love for humanity and paid for the sin of mankind through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
promises,
CSB
13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
The word “call” means “to appeal unto.” Lost sinners who come to Jesus for forgiveness of sins, believing that He is the Christ, the Son of God, will be saved.
CSB
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
The amazing grace of God, no matter how bad you have been, no matter how dark your life is, no matter how many people you’ve let down, when you call on Jesus, he hears your prayer and he will forgive every sin and make you brand new.
This morning, if you are here and you know that you need God’s forgiveness for your sins; realize that you are not here by accident. Will you surrender your life to God and experience his forgiveness? Please bow your heads and close your eyes. Will you pray this prayer with me expressing that you are trusting in God’s ability to forgive you and save you?
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for my sins, make me new. I ask Jesus to be my Savior and to be the Lord of my life, first in every way. My life is not my own, I give it to you. Thank you for new life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, would you raise your hand?
Pray.
If you prayed to receive Jesus, please come to the front of this worship center and let us pray with you and celebrate your new life in Christ. If you want to pray for someone you know who needs to receive God’s gift of salvation, you come and get on your knees asking God to reach into that person’s life. Maybe you need to come in rededication of your life to God as we are on the verge of a new year. This is a time for you to respond to the call of the Holy Spirit in your life.