Pray and Forgive(6)

Main Idea: Attitudes, rather than words, matter to God.

Life Application: Unless we are forgiving, our praying is pointless.

INTRODUCTION

Whenever I want to learn how to do something the right way, I go to the person who can show me what I want to learn how to do. If I desire to do it well, I find someone better than average. It would not make much sense for me to go to someone who does not know how to boil water without scalding it to learn how to prepare a four-course meal! All around us are so-called experts on almost every subject. These shining lights of colossal knowledge have all the answers. If you disbelieve it, ask them! Some of them have never done much of anything, but they are self-proclaimed geniuses. Anything worthwhile takes time and effort to learn how to do it effectively and efficiently.

In spiritual matters, we must move forward from where we are, not where we hoped we would be by now. No one moves the clock of life backward for a do-over. There are no mulligans in the game of life. However, God gives us opportunities to adjust what we need to change and to start anew when we fall or fail. Because God loves us, He offers us forgiveness and grace. God also invites us to enter his sacred presence through a sincere and simple prayer. Jesus, who knew how to pray better than anyone, gives us a model prayer. We get to learn from the best how we should pray!

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:7-15 (NIV)

Transition Statement: Our attitudes when we pray, rather than our many words, matter to God.

· Pray with purpose. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard for their many words.

One of the misconceptions in the time of Jesus that persists to the present is that effectual prayers must be long-winded. They must also sound spiritual to gain the attention of God. Jesus destroyed this misunderstanding by saying the Father already knows what we need before we ask for it! If this is true, why should we pray if God knows our needs? Prayer changes us and brings us into conformity with the plan and purpose of God. Often, our prayers bring God down to a human level as we eloquently inform him of what we want and need. How arrogant to think we need to remind God of what He should do!

Jesus was not condemning all repetitious prayers since he prayed the same prayer three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. God honors secret, simple, and sincere prayers. We do not need to work up our emotions when we pray or try to display a spiritual “depth” to impress God. How foolish to think our finite minds and feeble spirits can drum up anything that gets the attention of God! Jesus condemned those prayers consisting of mere human verbosity without a heartfelt attitude of repentance and contrition.

· Pray with reverence. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come; your will be done.

At this point in the history of Israel, God, or Yahweh, was not referred to as a father figure. Jesus referred to the heavenly Father as Abba, indicating an intimate relationship. In this context, Jesus did not say, “My Father,” but “our Father,” signifying the prayer should be “prayed in fellowship with other disciples” (Carson). To enter the presence of a holy God, our Father should bring us to a place of confession and submission. In our hurried lives, we often race into the presence of God with our shopping lists of wants and needs. We ask for this and demand that without taking time to humble ourselves before approaching the throne of our Father. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are saved (Prov.18:10). God, our Father, is holy and should be treated with reverence and awe. Before we ask for anything, we should thank our Father for everything he has done and what he is doing, and what he will do. God, our Father, is not impersonal or aloof but personal and present.

When we pray your kingdom come, we acknowledge the eternal nature of the kingdom of God. It is not based on the sands of politics but on the foundation of the Word. As we pray for this kingdom to advance, we understand all earthly kingdoms will fade away and cease to exist. To further pray, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven recognizes our need to surrender to the will and purpose of God. There is no place for our stubborn wills as we consecrate ourselves to the sweet will of God.

Our dependence on natural and spiritual sustenance echoes when we pray: give us today our daily bread. The bread we received yesterday is not what we need today. This prayer for daily bread includes everything we need to sustain our lives. However, it covers our necessities, not our selfish wants. Are we content with the bread our Father gives, or do we covet something better? While this prayer does not absolve us from labor and work, it does express our ultimate dependence upon God for everything we need for life and godliness.

· Pray for deliverance and with forgiveness. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

To petition our Father not to lead us into temptation may sound confusing since God never tempts anyone to sin (Ja. 1:13). Should we pray not to be led into temptation if God promises not to tempt us? Some have said God does test us but does not tempt us. While that is true, we must not separate leading from delivering!Because we will face temptation, even as Jesus faced it, we can pray for deliverance, not only from evil but from the evil one. Even though our enemy can cause us distress and discomfort, he cannot go one step farther than God allows! Our enemy is strong, but his power is minuscule when compared to the might and strength of our heavenly Father! No wonder Satan “trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon their knees!"

If you forgive, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. While we expect the forgiveness from God to be thorough and complete, we qualify our forgiveness with stipulations on how we will forgive—a quid pro quo arrangement. Is the lack of spiritual vision and fervor in the church today a result of members holding unforgiving attitudes toward each other? Do we carry an entitlement attitude that refuses to be the one to offer forgiveness? “Forgiven people forgive. It may not be easy, it may take time, it may require help from others” (Blomberg). Jesus minced no words when it came to forgiveness. It is not an option but a requirement if we want to receive forgiveness from our heavenly Father.

Transition Statement: If we want to pray effectively, we will pray with purpose, reverence, and forgiveness.

CONCLUSION

When we read the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, we see its threefold nature—natural (daily bread), spiritual (forgiveness from sins), and moral (deliverance from evil). God honors secret, simple, and sincere prayers. When we pray this prayer, we move from a self-centered way of life to a God-centered lifestyle. As children of God, we realize we pray to a living and personal Being and not a mechanical incantation. We do not pray to change the mind of God but to bring our will into complete conformity to His perfect will for us. “A praying church is stronger than the gates of hell” (Bounds). Let us pray!