Pray Like This
Notes
Transcript
Who did y’all talk about today in Bible?
Just a few chapters after that there buddy Daniel had something similar happen to him when he refused to listen to the king’s voice over God’s voice…
Prayer is important! It’s how we converse with God. Praise God, He helps us know how to pray!
“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him. “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
First, how not to
First, how not to
vv5-7
Don’t pray for applause.
For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Our motivation matters. Not just for others, but for how it goes for us as well.
When I was in high school and college, there were a few times that I tried to get into working out. I’d keep it up for a couple months and then it always fell by the way side. My goal in working out then was to look good. I was trying to turn into Chris Hemsworth right? I wanted to look like Thor. More specifically, I wanted girls to notice that I looked like Thor.
After I tore my Achilles I started working out again for the first time in like a decade and I’ve been keeping it up for about six years now. My motivation isn’t for other people to notice now. Don’t get me wrong, I want Kristen to notice, but at the same time… she’s stuck with me right? For thinner or for fatter. But my real motivation has been to keep myself healthy and in functioning shape so I can keep running around and doing things I enjoy.
That motivation for others to see didn’t lead to a good reward. But when I stopped doing it to impress others that changed. It’s a similar lesson that Jesus is teaching here. Don’t live by God’s commands to gain the praise of people because that reward falls so short.
So we pray to God, for the purpose of building our relationship with Him. Not to be heard by others! How do we pray then?
Like this
Like this
Our Father
Acknowledge who you’re praying to.
Hallowed be your name
Offer Him praise. Ask for him to help you honor Him and make his glory known.
You Kingdom come
I want to look forward to the day Jesus comes back. I want to live for that Kingdom, not this one.
I want this world to look more like his Kingdom, so I want more people to follow Him.
Your will be done
We seek his will. We align our will, our desires, our heart with his through prayer.
Prayer is not about bending God to our will, but bending our will to His. Aligning our hearts with his.
Any of you have a better plan than God? So pray for his plan to be done!
How do we know his will so we can pray for it? It’s in the book!
Praying for his will is for our benefit.
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
So make your requests, but make them with a humble heart that puts God’s will over your own. That acknowledges that He knows better than you. That trusts Him completely.
Give us our daily bread
Ask God for what you need.
Depend on Him every day.
And remember, God is not an ATM or a genie in a lamp.
Forgive us
Confess your sins and thank God for your forgiveness.
I want to pause here and make sure we all understand why we need to be forgiven…
As we forgive
It’s not easy to show mercy and grace, to forgive others. But if God has forgiven us we don’t dare withhold forgiveness from others.
Lead us not into temptation, but
Ask for spiritual growth. Guidance and direction. To be closer to Him, more like Jesus, and farther from sin.
Praying daily about this keeps it on our minds. Helps us to be looking for how we can choose God in every situation. There’s always a way.
No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
I want to talk about one more thing that isn’t in here but is pretty normal in our prayers and we do see in Scripture elsewhere. When we close a prayer, a lot of times we use this biblical phrase, “In Jesus’ name” or something similar to that. Why?
This is a reminder to make sure we praying the right way, with the right goal. Praying to align our hearts with God’s.
To do something in someone’s name means you are representing their will, their desires. So if we say that at the end of a prayer…
We should seek to do all things in Jesus’ name...
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Do all things, including praying, in Jesus’ name.