Prayer as Worship
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Outline the upcoming messages - Prayer as Worship, etc… (Use the Sheet)
The next 40 days - or 6 weeks will be centered around the different aspects of the Lord’s prayer.
9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘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.’
Define Prayer - The most basic definition of prayer is “talking with God.” Prayer is not meditation or passive reflection; it is direct address to God. It is the communication of the human soul with the Lord who created the soul. Prayer is the primary way for the believer in Jesus Christ to communicate his emotions and desires with God and to fellowship with God.
Prayer can be audible or silent, private or public, formal or informal. All prayer must be offered in faith, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. As the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia puts it, “Christian prayer in its full New Testament meaning is prayer addressed to God as Father, in the name of Christ as Mediator, and through the enabling grace of the indwelling Spirit”. The wicked have no desire to pray, but the children of God have a natural desire to pray.
That natural desire of believers to pray should lead into the desire to worship because to pray is to worship.
With this first message we will look at prayer as Worship:
3 points to watch for in this message are:
I. Prayer is a testament to God’s authority
II. Prayer is a testament to God’s sovereignty
III. To pray is to Worship
I. Prayer is a testament to God’s authority
A. But what is authority? Authority is defined as: the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience That’s basic and simple. Someone who can tell someone or something else what to do.
But how does that work with God? Psalm 135:5-6 says:
5 For I know that the Lord is great And that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
Here the Psalmist is acknowledging and testifying to the fact that God has all authority in heaven and on earth. in verse 5 he says The Lord is above all gods, he is placing God in His rightful place above all else. The other gods can’t even stand before Him. In verse 6 he says the Lord does whatever He pleases, which, means He can suspend time, fix what is broken or make thing work out according to His will and He can do it wherever He likes. Heaven, earth, in the seas or all the deeps, in other words, under the earth. This is God’s authority and we should acknowledge that authority when praying.
B. “Our Father who is in heaven” is an acknowledgement of His place in the world and His place in our lives.
When we follow the example Jesus gave us in the Lord’s prayer Mat 6:9 “9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” we are acknowledging God’s authority, and putting Him in the proper place in our lives. We remind ourselves that He is the sovereign Lord, not ourselves. Only Our Father who is in heaven can do the things He can do - that’s authority.
C. We offer prayers to the only One capable of hearing and acting on our behalf.
We are in-capable of acting on our own in many cases. Only He has the authority to change the outcome of something in our lives. When we are sick and hurting, our lives become a mess or we simply don’t know what to do. When the doctor says its cancer there isn’t a lot to do. We can fight it with all the chemicals and treatments the doctors have; we can change our habits, but ultimately the cancer will win without the intervention of the Great physician. He is that Great physician and He can hear and act in accordance with His will to change the outcome of a situation.
II. Prayer is a testament to God’s sovereignty
So what is Sovereignty? - Sovereignty is Defined as: supreme power especially over a body politic (kingdom); or freedom from external control : AUTONOMY Psalm 103:19 “19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.” Explains this idea rather well. The verse tells us where His throne is and that His sovereignty is over all - not just a few kingdoms or people groups but all. In most verses in the Bible this idea of sovereignty is translated as “the throne” in the Old Testament or “Kingdom” in the New Testament.
So, in the Lord’s prayer when we say:
A. “Hallowed be Your name” it is an acknowledgement of His sovereignty
Hallowed means to be sanctified, to be made Holy. The Greek word is hagaizo - it’s only used twice in the Bible, Matthew 6:9 and Luke 11:2. Both for the same instance - the first verse of the Lord’s prayer, the Matthew version and the Luke version. When we say “Hallowed be Your name” we are acknowledging the truth that God is Holy, He is sanctified and set apart. There is no sin in Him, nor is there any sin around Him. If we don’t acknowledge His sovereignty then our hearts may hold onto the idea that I am on the throne of my life, I am in charge not God. Then God is only someone or something that I use to try and get what I want. I just ask for stuff, I don’t need to worry about doing what He wants me to do.
B. We acknowledge and honor His sovereignty when we pray in His name.
What does it mean when we pray in His name? Basically it means we are calling on His authority, the authority of the Sovereign Lord as our own. What do you think would happen if we prayed in our own name, or in the name of one of the many other gods that are out there? Basically you would be acknowledging your own authority or the authority of that god. Unfortunately you and that god can do nothing for you.
How do we know that praying in the name of Jesus will do anything for us?
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
That’s pretty clear. He who believes will do greater works than Jesus did; if we ask in His name. Why? To glorify the Father. The Father receives the glory when we praise and worship Him for answering the prayers we speak in the name of Jesus.
Another reason to pray in His name is that He is our mediator with God. Heb 9:15 says:
15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
He established the new covenant that gives us access to the Father through prayer. He mediates this new covenant as our heavenly priest, perpetually sitting at the right hand of the Father. There is no one else to turn to - Jesus is it. Every time we partake of communion together we are remembering that covenant that was established by Him.
Along with being the mediator of this new covenant:
C. His sovereignty uniquely qualifies Him to hear our prayers Psalm 121:2 says:
2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
My help comes from the Lord. What about yours? Do you wait upon the Lord for the help you need? Since He made the heaven and the earth He knows how everything works. A better way to prove His sovereignty is with Colossians 1:16-17 which says:
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
This verse says it all. By Him all things were created, in other words - Jn 1:1-3 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” It was all His doing together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Everything from nothing - the word of His mouth.
Both in the heavens and on earth; that includes everything that was created. The angels, anything that is in the heavens, the earth and everything on it, and the seas and everything in them. Visible and invisible - this covers everything down to the pieces and parts of a molecule and every individual cell of our bodies and even the things in the spiritual realm that we can’t see.
And then we have thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities - He knows what is going on with the kingdoms of the world. He set them in place and He puts people in positions of authority to bring about His will. It was all created through Him and for Him. This is His kingdom, He before all things and in Him all things hold together. His power and might hold things together. He is in all things, that includes believers, non-believers and all things that are just substance. To Him be the glory and the majesty forever and ever.
III. To pray is to Worship
A. The act of praying is an act of worship when we faithfully trust an almighty God with our prayers
The act of prayer is an act of humbling oneself before the thing we are praying to. In humbling ourselves we are worshipping the one we are praying to. In worshipping our heavenly Father through prayer our hearts should be in the right attitude. An attitude of humility. Even though we may be angry, we may be scared, we may be disoriented or confused we still need to be humble. In humility we can trust through faith. If we don’t go before the Father in faith trusting Him we won’t believe that He can help or do anything for us. We need to remember what Jesus said: Mt 19:26
26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
If we don’t believe all things are possible with God we won’t even pray.
B. To pray is to worship
Any time we do something that glorifies the Father it is an act of worship, singing, giving, doing something for others, and yes praying. Every time we pray we are worshipping our God. If we make prayer a habit, a habit which is practiced all day long we will be in a habit of continuous worship. If we are constantly worshipping our heavenly Father through prayer all day every day there won’t be any room for other gods or idols to draw our hearts away from the Father. Psalm 95:1-7 says:
1 O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also.
5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice,
We truly are the sheep of His pasture, let us worship Him through prayer. Prayer that acknowledges His authority, His sovereignty and His place as King above all kings and Lord above all lords.
Exit: Tell the what I told them - Action points...
Prayer is an act of worship where we talk with our heavenly Father. Mt 6:9
9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
So, let’s remember to acknowledge God’s authority and sovereignty as our Lord when we pray. Let’s remember that He has the power and authority to change our situations because of who He is. Let’s remember that when we pray we must pray in the name of Jesus Christ because He is the mediator of this new covenant between God and those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Let’s remember that God hears our prayers and will act in accordance with His will. Let’s remember that we must pray in faith, without faith we won’t believe and trust that He can act. Most of all let’s remember that prayer is an act of worship, an act of worship that we can practice all day long. We can talk to the Father continuously throughout the day.
So worship our Father who art in heaven every day through prayer.
Let’s pray.