How We Should Pray

Matthew 6:6-15.

Introduction

The Time with David and Brenda. I learned a lot, they learned a lot. Youtube TV, homemade biscuits are way better. But the move in day where David learned you can furnish a whole apartment by furniture in boxes, and i learned that David does not like to use the instructions for putting together a chair.

In our prayer, do we just kind of wing it, similarly to how Brotha David with the desk chair? Where we just kinda know it needs to be done, but we don’t do it to its full

As we continue in our prayer series this January, today we are seeking How we should pray, and Jesus has given us a blueprint, instructions an outline of how we are to pray,

If you are physically able let us stand as we read the Word of God together.

English Standard Version (Chapter 6)

6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 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. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Context of the text

We are in the sermon on the mount where Jesus is teaching to the crowds, including his disciples. Now he has come to how followers of Jesus should pray. And he gives a specific prayer to follow the course of how prayer should go.

I also think their has been a potential shallow understanding of how we might look towards the prayer here in Matthew 6. We have heard this prayer recited time and again, you might have some wall art that has this prayer on it, and it is not wrong. However, Roby Gallaty the pastor of Long Hollow church, and author of a discipleship series called Foundations, combined with a series of books, and one of those being a book called Growing Up he argues that Jesus in this prayer is giving his disciples an outline, or a skeleton that we are called to fill in to make applicable to us.

In his book he points out 5 points of prayer from the example Jesus gives us, in this sermon we will look at those 5, along with an extra 2 points that couple with his 5 points.

How We Should Pray. 7 P’s for Prayer.

Privately- V. 6-8- Our Prayer life is supposed to be done mostly in private #1

This praying in private as when we are go into our quiet place, the place away from distraction, a designated place away from it. So as you go you can before God and be with Him in prayer.

What is the reward? Does that when I go into my private area, turn off my phone, turn the tv down, and pray for a big house or a raise, the Father will grant it? Nope.

Now, I think it obvious Jesus is not negating all public prayer, rather what we see here is that our public prayer life should be an extension of our private prayer. As believers we see the early church having public prayers all throughout the book of Acts! D.A. Carson poses this question for our public and private prayer lives.

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: An Exposition of Matthew 5–10 (Prayer, 6:5–8) From D.A. Carson.

Do I pray more frequently and more fervently when alone with God than I do in public? Do I love the secret place of prayer? Is my public praying simply the overflow of my private praying? If the answers are not enthusiastic affirmatives, we fail the test and fall under Jesus’ condemnation. We are hypocrites.

Do we have a hypocritical prayer life, where we only pray in public? As I was preparing for this sermon was convicted, that my private prayer life is not merely an overflow. Rather I try at times, and there is a hard tension of who I am seeking to please. And the words i am to say, which Jesus warns us about in verses 7 & 8.

V. 7&8

Do not pray as the gentiles? What does that mean?

He explains himself the gentiles would pray they would not be focused on their heart posture of their prayers, they would just want to use eloquent, and long winded prayers. When in reality, the wording for “empty phrases” is more looked at as vain prayers.

The Father is not worried about a whole slew of wordy prayers going up to him, he is more concerned the heart and desire of our prayers.

He is more about our 2nd point of prayer and that is Praise

Praise- V. 9 Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. CSB- “Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.” #2

Praise is our tone setter

God allows us to have a personal relationship with him as our Father.

Ephesians 1:4–5 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”

Talk on the adoption process from Follow Me By David Platt

His son is J.D. how people see him, will you teach them blah blah. We are the same in being adopted by our Heavenly Father.

How are we adopted- speaking to unbeliever

Galatians 3:26 “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

Now that does not mean we undermine the holiness and perfect and mighty God of the universe.

The Fatherhood of adoption we have when we have put our faith in Jesus shows the tension between relationship, while also showing the respect and the holiness of God.

Think of that from a practical standpoint

We have been granted the ability to talk with the God of the universe. The God that has made every living creature, every moon of the galaxy, every star in the sky, who knows how many hair strands is on each on of our heads, who is not restricted to time space or matter, we have not only been granted the ability to talk with him, but as believers in Jesus Christ, we are commanded to pray to God. Why would God want this? He loves us, he wants that relationship with us. That in of itself should blow your mind. When we come to God, we should bring all the praise we can ever muster up to God, and him alone in our prayer life, and give it all to God.

The praise of what God has saved you from. We are now born of God, we are adopted so we can call God our Father, and have been saved from eternal separation from God. We have am innumerable amount of things to have a heart of praise.

But how many times do we think of prayer as just a check off the list. Alright, i woke up, Thanks God for the night of sleep, lets go. Or when we have a meal, thanks God for this food, or thanks God for this work opportunity. Our entire heart posture should be in awe of how great our God is, and how he has saved us.

This is why the praise in our prayer is important, it allows us to flow into our second P of Prayer and that is.

Purpose- V.10 Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven #3

The purpose part of prayer is to pray for the Lord’s will, but also for us to focus our mind on what is important and that is the Lord.

The fulfillment that our lives are to align with what the Lord has to be done? But what is that purpose? I do not have an extensive list, but for the individual, and the our church. For each individual

For the individual

Fulfill the great Commission

Matthew 28:19–20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

For FBC Franklin Church whole. Corporately

Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

Be devoted to the teaching of the word

We see this on Sunday mornings, Wednesday nights, also our small group ministry that is adding a few more classes in February.

Encourage them to join a small group, at least pray what ways you need grow

Provide a place of fellowship

A place to partake in the Lord’s Supper

And ultimately a church that is devoted to prayer.

When we pray for the Lord’s will to be done, we not only say it, but we need to be willing to go and do whatever is needed for his will to be complete in each one of us and for our church.

Provision- V.11 Give us our daily bread. #4

Physical provision. Food, water, shelter, clothing normal needs. Not like better wifi connection, to turn the temperature up outside. But it is those basic necessities.

The provision Jesus even looks forward a similar account of anxiety he says later in chapter 6 verse 25 Matthew 6:25 ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

He looks towards nature and how God sustains them, surely he will provide for our needs. Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Let’s look at the story of George Muller. Muller was the owner of different orphanages in England, check out this story about his faith, and his prayer of provision.

“The children are dressed and ready for school. But there is no food for them to eat,” the housemother of the orphanage informed George Mueller. George asked her to take the 300 children into the dining room and have them sit at the tables. He thanked God for the food and waited. George knew God would provide food for the children as he always did. Within minutes, a baker knocked on the door. “Mr. Mueller,” he said, “last night I could not sleep. Somehow I knew that you would need bread this morning. I got up and baked three batches for you. I will bring it in.”  Soon, there was another knock at the door. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. The milk would spoil by the time the wheel was fixed. He asked George if he could use some free milk. George smiled as the milkman brought in ten large cans of milk. It was just enough for the 300 thirsty children."

George Muller is just one of the many stories where God has provided the necessities to live.

Pardon- V. 12 & 14-15 and forgive us our debts (trespasses, sins) #5

Repentance of sin, and asking for forgiveness of sin. And forgiving those who have sinned against us.

Not meant to be a work based asking of being justified again as other denominations believe. Rather the forgiveness of sins and the relationship between us and the Father. It is the restoration of the relationship that gets hindered when we sin against God.

Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Also if Jesus can pardon the sins of the whole world, we are to do as well

Colossians 2:14 “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

I also want to clear and make sure we understand verses 14&15 in this pardoning. What Jesus is not saying is that there an addition or subtraction problem. This plus this does not equal something. Rather he is showing us and reminding us to show the grace the Father has given us. If the Father sent Jesus to pardon our sins on the cross. Why can we not forgive others how they have sinned against us?

In what ways do you need to go God in prayer and Pardon the sins you have committed against the Holy and Perfect God. But also, who do you need to seek after to have personal fellowship with them again? Who do you need to pray for the courage to seek the ability to have fellowship restored.

Protection- V.13 Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil #6

Let’s make clear to show what this does not Mean. This does not mean that God normally is walking his people into sin. No, we see in James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

We know and see that God will be the one who tempts us to sin. Rather he is the deliverer and the one who guides us and protects us in our circumstances.

The Father will deliver us from temptation. We should pray to be delivered from temptation .

2 Peter 2:9 “then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials……

Luke 22:40 “And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.””

He is the Good Shepherd He leads us in righteousness.

Psalm 23 “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

The meaning here more than likely is showing us that the leading is leading is away from temptation. This is important because it shows that we are putting full reliance on the Father to guide, and sanctify us. Believers should always be focused on the protection that our Father allows us to strive after due to the Holy Spirit in us.

Petition- Each part of the Lord’s prayer is a petition. The praise, purpose, provision, pardon, and protection are all levels of petition, but they are not the end all be all. #7

But we are called to make petitions in prayer. For boldness, to pray for the lost. Each one these points that have been outlined is a petition for us to be have a heart of praise, purpose, provision, pardon, and protection.

For boldness to share gospel

Ephesians 6:19 “and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,”

Acts 4:29 “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,”

For the Lost to be saved

Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 2:13 “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

For the laborers to be sent, and the harvest to be plentiful.

Matthew 9:35-10:7.

When we petition the Lord in prayer for boldness in prayer, and for the lost to be saved, odds are he will send you. He will give us opportunities to share the gospel. We are called to make these petitions in prayer, and as we wind down, lets look at out our takeaways.

Takeaways-

As we roll into our takeaways aligning with our mission statement remember this is our action plan for the mission of our church. For his glory we will…

Grow in Christ

Love our Community.

Reach the lost with the gospel.

GROWing is to pray how Jesus has outlined for us to pray. It will strengthen our mindset to focus us on the PURPOSE the Lord has for us and our church.

Love in prayer is to PARDON our sins against the Father, and others to restore our personal fellowship with them.

Reach the lost through PETITIONING in prayer for boldness to share the gospel with the lost.

As we leave today, my hope and prayer is that we all look to follow and soak our prayer life in these key ways of prayer. I would challenge each one you today or sometime this week. Go to a private and quiet place, and fill out this outline and make it applicable, and pointed for your current circumstances. Remember, God does not care what you think You should talk to Him about in eloquent words. He cares about your soul, and your true heart.

Praise

Purpose

Provision

Pardon

Protection

Petitioning

Will you commit to spending unhurried, focused and pointed time in prayer this week. Join me in prayer.

Heads bows eyes closed.

In this time of response i will be down front to pray with you, the alter will be open if you would like to come and pray. Let the Lord speak to you in this moment of response.

After prayer if they have a prayer answered i will point them out or John.

Sunday School

Review the points of the prayer points and why prayer is impo

Make sure they have paper and pens