The Model Prayer pt. 1

Let’s take a quick, simple poll. I’m not good with math or statistics, so I’ll keep this to just one question: Who here tonight would agree that your prayer life has room for improvement?

We have been looking at a portion of the Sermon on the Mount I’ve been calling the “Secret Life of the Believer”. We are still in this section, but we’re taking a natural break for the next several Sunday evenings.

We began last time we were together looking at the motivation behind our prayer life. The section concerning prayer is the longest of the the three sections, extending from verses 5-15! Verses 5-8 deal specifically with the “Why” of prayer - the motivation behind it (Public prayer), and the necessity of it (private prayer). Verses 9-15 deal with the “How” of prayer. Read these verses with me, I’m sure it will sound very familiar to you...

Before we dig into this rich passage I want to point out one critical mistake made by many Christians. Jesus does not say in this passage, “Pray this prayer” ( in Luke He does, but to a different audience at a different time). That would be counter intuitive, considering He had just condemned dead, recited prayers.

What Jesus says is when you pray, structure or pattern your prayer in this fashion. This is common called the “Lord's prayer”, but really it is our model prayer. In other words, when you pray, your prayer should include these elements. Adoration, supplication, thanksgiving, etc. All these are laid out in this model.

When you pray you are to no shut down your mind, but engage it! You need to consciously consider the following elements:

Recognition

Resignation

Requests

Requirements

Reverence

Tonight we will only examine the first one: Recognition

When you pray you must recognize to whom it is you are praying!

Matthew 6:9 KJV 1900

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

You are praying to your:

Father - Personal Relationship

What a precious truth Jesus is teaching here: God is not some far away false god made of stone or metal, He is your Father!

This idea was unheard of to the Jews in Jesus’ day.

Can I say, that I am afraid our generation today has taken the thought of God being our Father for granted so long that the very term has almost lost its meaning. There are some today that teach “the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man” - that God is everyone’s father (some truth to that as He is everyone’s Creator), and that we are all part of the family and will go to heaven (no truth in that last phrase at all!)

Christian, you have a personal relationship with God! It speaks of:

Closeness

If I wanted to speak with the POTUS there are some steps I’d have to following steps:

Contact the White House

Schedule a meeting

Pass an FBI background check

Pass a Secret Service background check

Drive to DC

Go through a thorough physical check before enter the WH

Wait outside the Oval Office until my scheduled meeting

Enter the office Only when called, and then only with a SS escort

Once I’m in the office in front of the POTUS, I will only have about 2 minutes to say my piece

Then I leave, a lot quicker than when I entered

But he is not my Father!

As a child of God, I can go to my Father ANYTIME I want!

As a child of God, I can speak to my Father AS LONG as I want!

As a child of God, I have a close, personal relationship with he God of heave and earth, the Creator of the Universe!

It is my privilege as a a child of God to enter His presence!

But shame on me when I fail to take advantage of this closeness.

How often to you rush into your prayer time, in a hurry, got a lot to do?

How many times have you “prayed” to God, but if I was to ask you what you talked about you couldn’t tell me?

Prayer is not intended to be a one-sided conversation.

“Pastor, I don’t hear from God.”

Do you give Him a chance to speak, or is your prayer time your time to complain, and give your “want list”

Your prayer time should be precious because of the closeness of your relationship, but remember the closeness you have been given speaks of the...

Costliness

Jesus had to die so that you could have this relationship.

Church, God will not hear the prayer of a lost person.

Recently I read a book on Mormonism

At the end of the book the author gave the testimony that he was not a religious person.

He stated that there had been times of crisis in his life that he did pray to God.

Listen to me, the only prayer an unsaved person can pray that God will listen to is the prayer of repentance.

Personal prayer and communication with God is reserved for His children ONLY

Your privilege to pray comes at the expense of the life of Jesus Christ!

When you pray, you are praying to your Father, but not just your Father, but your...

Heavenly Father - Place

Jesus said in John 14:1-3

John 14:1–3 KJV 1900

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Consider the next time you are praying that you are praying to your heavenly Father.

This speaks of His kingdom. This speaks to His promise that you have a home in heaven with Him. This title speaks not only of a place, but of the privilege!

Have you ever considered the thought that when you bow your head on earth, you are entering, literally, the throne room of heaven.

If we could just wrap our tiny minds around that wonderful truth, it would revolutionize our prayer life! You would not go barging into Buckingham palace to meet the the king of England, yet, here we go charging into God’s throne room in heaven as if He owes us His time!

Let us go reverently into God’s presence, but let us go boldly Hebrews 4:16

Hebrews 4:16 KJV 1900

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Christian, you don’t just enter the throne room of heaven when you pray, you may enter with boldness! Let it be known that the word boldness does not speak of arrogance, but of confidence and assurance, but there is much more to it. The word “boldness” means that we can come to God with frankness or bluntness.

Aren’t you glad that when you enter the throne room to speak with God you don’t have to “fake” it? You can speak with Him as freely and directly as you can a dear trusted friend! Remember He is your Father, but He is more than than, He is your Heavenly Father! He created you, He cares for you, He has prepared a place for you, and He desires fellowship with you!

Do not take for granted your prayer life! Do not take for granted the amazing privilege of going before God’s throne.

He is your Father, He is your Heavenly Father, and lastly, this verse explains to us that He is our...

Holy Father - Position

When you pray to God you must remember you are praying to your Father, but not just that, your heavenly Father, but also your holy heavenly Father.

When we understand this truth we will no longer rush through our prayer time, no longer barge into His presence. Instead we will, as we are commanded, come boldly, but not arrogantly.

The realization that we are praying to a holy and righteous God will encourage us to filter our prayers through His holiness. What do I mean by that? By this I mean, first...

God is not obligated to answer us based simply on our asking

Our asking must be filtered through His will for us.

1 John 5:14 “14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:”

Confidence, is the same word translated in Hebrews as “boldly”

Here it tells us that if our prayers are going to be answered, they must be in the will of God.

God will not hear us if we have sin in our lives

Psalm 66:18 “18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear me:”

Because God is holy He can, and will withhold answer to prayer until we deal with the sin in our lives

Thank God for 1 John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Church, this “name it and claim” crowd doesn’t have a clue what they’re talking about! You have no right to tell a holy God what to do for you, or how to do what you want, or how to answer your prayer. God is holy.

Conclusion:

I’m thankful that God is my Father, and I pray that I never forget the cost of what was paid so that I could have that personal relationship.

I’m thankful that God is my Heavenly Father. I’m grateful that I will get to spend eternity with Him in heaven, and I am grateful that I get to enter His presence today.

I’m thankful that God is my Holy Heavenly Father. I’m glad He is not like me. See I’m unholy, and because I am unholy, I cannot save myself. I’m thankful I have a holy God who sent His holy Son to die in my place so that I can have a relationship with Him, so that I can be with Him for eternity. I’m grateful for this today, and I hope you are.

You say, “Pastor, my prayer life is not what it ought to be.” Well, guess what? Neither is anyone else’s! I have good news for you, your prayer life can be better!

“How can my prayer life be better?” By taking a look back at what we have discussed and answering three questions:

Do you have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ? My friend, this is step one because it is the most important. If you cannot say for sure you know Jesus as your Savior, then this is where you get off. Let’s talk after the service and get this straightened out.

Are you guilty of just barging into the throne room and not taking into consideration that you are entering the presence of God? Are you rushing in, spewing out some empty words, and then rushing out? Friend, you need to slow down! You need to realize when you bow your head on earth, you are entering heaven's gates!

Are you guilty of violating the holiness of God? Maybe your prayer life is struggling because your requests are not in accordance with the will of your holy God.

Let us take a few moments to do business with God together...