The Prayer we connot pray apart from Christ

Intro:

Good morning church go ahead and open up your bibles to Matthew chapter 6

if you dont have a bible, River APP, other apps or the screens.

before i get farther i wanted to thank Pastor John carter for the opertointy to preach today.

every time i get to come the the river flushing it is such an awesome experience.

i always feel welcome and loved each time i’m here

several months ago i was OFFERED THE Opportunity to preach here… Bangledesh… open ears and minds to God

Passage:

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Lets go the Lord in prayer and seek his guidance

Prayer:

Lord ask that you would be with us today ask that you would move in our hearts today I ask that your spirit would be present today I ask that you would convict me and convict those here of your word of your truth and of your gospel teach us how to pray teach us how to speak teach us how to love and teach us how to be disciples lord I need you I ask that you would fill in the gaps asked that you would move in my heart and remove me from the equation for I am broken and I am nothing but you are everything and you have redeemed me and because you have redeemed me your spirit is within me so I ask that your spirit would speak that your truth would come through and nothing would be from me and your holy son's name amen

Context:

BEFORE WE CONTINUE in our passage Overview and recap

Sermon on the mount…

Do not practice your righteousness before others… Do not pray to gain the approval of men…

Do not pray many words big words or lofty words Thinking that you will impress God.

Jesus has had a large emphases on prayer and we see this continue in our passage today

Jesus is rebuking his culture and reordering them to proper heart poster for prayer

Jesus Instructed earlier in Matthew chapter 6 to pray in private not seeking the approval of man

But NOW as we come to the Lord's prayer jesus is showing us how to pray when we do pray together

again Matthew 6 we will be mainly in verses 11-13 but we will start in verse 9 for context

Matthew 6:9 (ESV)

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Last week pastor John talked about

The discipline of the father

His holy name

the Lord's prayer opens up with God being the focus

Specifically Him being our father

We see two aspects of him we first see him as our father

Someone who is intimately close

Someone who loves us enough to tell us the truth

Someone who loves us enough to discipline us

Someone who wants to protect and care for us and love us

And we are to open up our prayer with the attitude that we're praying to a father

The second aspect is his holiness

God is holy God is righteous god is just he is so much more than what we are

he is far above and beyond us

HE Is the creator of all things and sustainer of all things

And because of that we're to have a reverence and a fear of the Lord

He is a consuming fire.

God is near close intimate and loving And at the same time he is holy, all powerful, just, and beyond us.

In the Old Testament God is described as a consuming fire

But also we see God as someone who stands in the fire as we see in Daniel

We are to enter into prayer with that mindset of this is who we're praying to...

and we are also to enter into prayer with His will in mind lets look at V10

Matthew 6:10 ESV

10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

And our understanding here is we are to seek after God's desires!

(PUASE AND REPEAT)

before our desires

We want God to reign and have authority over all men

We're asking God to establish his reign and rule we want him to establish his gospel to the entire world

We want the Lord to be fully known by everyone on Earth our coworkers are family the stranger's that we see every day

Our prayers are to have a focus on evangelism on God's kingdom being established on Earth

PUASE

we are to seek After God's will to be done on Earth before we consider our own will or desires…

I want to encourage you if you missed last week's message please go on the river church app and listen back because the first half of the Lord's prayer is so important to understand the second half

But let's continue on to our main text to finish off the rest of the lords prayer

With that being said let's continue on to our main passage

We will see three main ideas from these three verses

Seeking after the Lord’s provision

Seeking after the Lord's forgiveness

seeking after the Lord's protection

Seeking after prevision:

in our prayers we are to seek the lords prevision look at verse 11

Matthew 6:11 ESV

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

This part of the prayer is simple yet important

in Exodus 16 we see a perfect picture of this idea of daily bread.

There are seasons in our lives as Christians where we are desperate for the Lord's provision

There are times where we don't know how the next bill is going to be paid

There are times when we don't know how to pay that medical bill

the mortgage or our student loans

or even how we are gonna have money for retirement

and in those moments we Need to earnestly seek after God to provide

But there are times where we have what we need

and we don't see the need to seek after God like Israel did or like we did when we were in need.

But Jesus isn't only speaking to poor but he's speaking to everyone

The Greek word for daily means “necessary” “future” or “tomorrow ”bread.

As believers we are to seek God for a physical needs

and recognize all that we have is from Him and without Him we would have nothing.

Oftentimes the church can over spiritualize things

And we almost think it's wrong to ask God to meet our physical needs because we might not seem spiritual

But our god again is a good father who wants to give good things to his kids

lets look at Proverbs 30: 7-9

Proverbs 30:7–9 ESV

7 Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: 8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

What is being said here is that when we have much when we are fully provided for we tend to forget God

And when we have little or not enough we tend to try and take matters in our own hands and disgrace God

So when we pray for our daily bread we are asking the Lord to provide that which we need for today and for tomorrow

we are not praying for overabundance of riches

we're praying that the Lord will provide by his power that which we need to be alive for the rest of the day

And this should remind us that our life… our possessions… our soul’s Are all in the hands of God because he is in control of everything he is Sovereign (pause)

But man is not just physical but we are also spiritual so we move from our physical needs to our spiritual needs

And our greatest spiritual need is forgiveness lets look at verse 12

Seeking after Forgiveness:

Matthew 6:12 (ESV)

12 and forgive us our debts,

to understand this passage we need to understand what our debt is.

Another word we could for debt would be trespass or sin

Sin is defined as missing the mark

OR the breaking of Gods law

We are given the law the Ten Commandments

And none of us can keep them

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

no one can escape this truth.

no matter how much we try to cover our sin, or pretend its not there we all have sinned.

and sin has a consequence

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

in this life we have earned death, we have all sinned, Not one of us is able to escape what our sin has earned us.

the punishment… the wage… for sin is death

and this is true for all of man kind lets look at

Romans 5:12 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

we have all Broken Gods law.

in the beginning God crated Adam and Eve and through Adams sin… his rebellion we have all inherited sin and through sin Death (PAUSE)

Each and every one of us have fallen short of God's standard which is perfection

What that means is you are not good enough

I am not good enough

And we have a debt that we owe to God

For the wages or the debt of sin is death we owe God our life.

And The Righteous punishment for our sin is hell (PAUSE)

Eternal separation from GOD, eternal separation From GOOD, LOVE, JOY. and only PAIN, HATE, AND SUFFERING.

and this is why some call this passage the Disciples prayer

because jesus is perfect, He is without Sin

Jesus needs no forgiveness for He is perfect and without sin

BUT we are imperfect believer and unbeliever alike we all fall short. we often try to justify or sugarcoat it but the truth is Jesus is the only one who meets the standered .

But Jesus lived a perfect life, He owes no debt to God He is spotless, He is perfect and it is because of that we have HOPE

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God knows our Spiritual state, God knows how each and every one of us fail in keeping His law…

He knows we can’t be prefect so He came and took our sin and punishment and in that exchange Gave us His righteousness

We Now have the opertonity to walk in His perfection because He died for our sin and imperfection.

To understand our sin, our debt our need for forgivness better lets turn to Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:1–5 (ESV)

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

We are all sinners in need of a savior

Each and every one of us have broken God's Law

Whether it be lying stealing cheating or murder we've broken God's law

And according to God to hate your brother is murder in his eyes

To lust after a woman is adultery in his eyes

the standard is perfection and all we have to offer is imperfection

Going back to the beginning God intimately wants to know us and love us as our father

HE deeply cares about the smallest details of out life including our daily Food (PAUSE)

But he is infinitely beyond us and his standards for righteousness is perfection

But the story doesn't end there let's look at the rest od Ephesians starting in V4

4 But God,(PAUSE AND REPEAT) being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

this isn't a balancing act of good deeds and bad deeds

The standard is perfection

Our hope is in Christ Jesus.

Jesus came to Earth died the death on the cross taking on the wrath of God paying the penalty for the debt that we could not pay and rising again on the third day so that we can have new life in him forevermore

This is our hope

We are asking the God in this prayer forgive us our debt… forgive us our sin… And this is where it gets scary

If we ask for mercy we must be willing to give mercy…

Matthew 6:12 (ESV)

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

There are people in our lives who have sinned against us

this is the passage that stopped me in my teaks in Bangladesh

There are people in our lives who have mistreated us

There are people in our lives who have done despicable things to us

They are our debtors and we are called to forgive them

And if we find we cant forgive this is a check engine light for our faith.

this is a moment to really reflect (PAUSE) and investigate if we are truly forgiven ourselves.

Forgiveness is hard. but if we realize the debt that we have been forgiven it makes sense.

Our sin before God is astronomically incomprehendably bigger and greater than the sin other people have against us

as i was preparing this message the Lord brought an example to mind… a real life story as an example of this:

WWII COREY TENBOOM STORY, SISTER FORGIVNESS BY GODS STRANGHT

she couldnt But GOD could and the same is true for US

we CANT but GOD can! (PAUSE)

Throughout the Bible we are called to forgive

Matthew 5:7 ESV

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

IF we Have been Given mercy we are called to extend the Same mercy

go ahead and turn to Matthew 18

Matthew 18:21–35 ESV

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

If we are forgiven we are Called to forgive

Jesus like the king in this story who paid a debt that he did not know because WE the servant owed a debt that we could not pay

He has had mercy on us so how can we not have mercy on others

If you find yourself unable to pray this part of the prayer I want you to take a moment to consider what God has done (PAUSE)

what have WE been forgiven of?

and in light of that how can we justify not forgiving others?

we need to reflect… and if WE find ourselves struggling

like cory tenboom we need seek the lord for the ability to forgive

And if you are here today and you find yourself unforgiving

If you are not right with God please today is the day of salvation.

Romans 10 9 says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved

none of us are prefect BUT when we trust on JESUS for salvation we inherent His perfection

AND if this is you take time to get right with Him.

stop listing to me and seek God that is far more impotent then anything i say (PAUSE)

If you are here and you like me in Bangladesh find yourself pausing at Verse 12.

if Asking GOD to forgive you as you forgive others is a scary thought

Lets like Corry TenBoom did, recognize our weakness and seek God for strength and ability

Before we move on to verse 13 I wanted to look at a couple quotes from my favorite commentators

Charles Spurgeon stated “unless you have forgiven others you read your own death warrant when you repeat the Lord's prayer”

CS Lewis also said “to be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you”

To recap

WE ARE TO SEEK THE LORD FOR OUR PREVISION

our physical needs MUST be prayed for…

WE ARE TO SEEK THE LORD FOR FORGIVNESS

Our greatest spiritual need is forgiveness. and Forgiven people forgive people

Seeking after Deliverance or seeking after Protection:

Matthew 6:13 ESV

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

What this is a recognition of IS Our need for Christ.

Temptation isn't sin but it leads to sin

when I was studying I felt the Lord convict me we can't ask him not to lead us into temptation when daily we choose to lead ourselves into temptation

Proverbs 7:6–10 ESV

6 For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, 7 and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, 8 passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house 9 in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. 10 And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.

The young man in this story Wasn't on his way home he wasn't just passing by her street and all of a sudden was attacked with temptation

He walked fully into temptation and later in the passage it talks about how this is like a bird going into a snare

He enters a trap and doesn't realize it will cost him his life

If we were to ask God to lead us out of temptation or protect us from temptation we can't be walking into temptation purposefully ourselves

we need to recognize we are not strong enough

we cant justify living in temptation with the idea that we can over come it on our own.

If something causes you to stumble remove it from your life

As far as it is up to us we should remove all temptation

And ask God to lead us not into temptation when it comes to stuff out of our control.

I want us to recognize Uncomfortable situations are good for our faith

trials and temptation can be a test of our faith for our good.

but what jesus is acknowledging is that we should not trust ourselves

what we are to recognize in this prayer is that we are weak…

The idea here is us praying “Lord I am weak when temptation comes my way I Fall APART on my own strength”

“So what I ask you I beg you lead me not into temptation”

“And when temptation comes when trials come deliver from evil ”

that is the prayer Jesus is giving us here.

we are to recognize Gods ability, His power over evil and temptation and our lack there of.

This prayer of the believer is to shows full trust that God can deliver from evil

Throughout the Bible we see God's ability to deliver from evil

God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt

god delivered Shadrack Meshach and Bendigo from the fiery furnace that they were put in because of their faith

There are all of Biblical history god has delivered people from evil

And is no different today, God can deliver us from temptation god can deliver us from sin and God can deliver us from evil

When we pray we need to trust that God can't save us from sin temptation and all evil

And if he doesn't save us there's a purpose in it and a reason for it

Joseph was beaten sold in slavery abused and used

what you ment for evil God ment for good.

God can deliver us but if he dosent there is a perpouse and a reason

Conclusion:

So in conclusion when we come together as the church to pray

We Must ask God for the provision of our daily needs…

we must ask God for forgiveness of our sins, just as we Forgive our fellow servants our fellow man

and Ask God for protection and deliverance from temptation and evil.

One sentence Takeaway:

Matthew 19:26 ESV

26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

With God it is possible to be provided for when it seems impossible

With God it is possible to forgive and be forgiven

And with God it is possible to be protected and delivered from temptation

So when we come against these things or even before we come against these things. let's seek after Him for our Prevision our Forgiveness and our Protection

Lets pray…