Service for Eastgate - 05.24.2024
Notes
Transcript
Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘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 today 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 the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
05.24.2024
Scripture
Matthew 6:5–15
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘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 today 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 the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Sermon Point/Extra notes
Jesus teaches us to pray to love God and love others.
Hook
Prayer is our way of connecting to God. Many people share that prayer is like talking to your best friend and that you can do it anywhere and anytime. That’s true. God is always available to you through prayer, and I think He loves to hear from us.
But prayer is more than just talking to God. Sometimes, prayer is listening to God talk to us. Sometimes, the best prayer we can have is when we can sit at the feet of Jesus and let Him speak His words of life and love to us, lifting us up from our sin and sadness and giving us a new perspective on life. The trouble is, sometimes, we are too distracted by the commotion around us, the frustrations in front of us, and the feelings of guilt and regret behind us that we can’t hear Jesus clearly. Jesus knows our struggles, and when the disciples struggled to pray, Jesus gave them a prayer to help prepare their hearts and minds to listen to God again each day. In this prayer, which we call the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us how to pray to love God and others.
Point 1
This teaching about prayer does not start with words. It begins with defining a place. That tells me, as much as anything else, that the most crucial part of prayer is not in what words we say but who we say them to. Jesus says that some people go out to pray in the streets for everyone to hear their fancy words. They are looking for an audience of as many people as possible. People may see, hear, and praise them, and that is the only reward they will receive. Instead, Jesus tells us to pray in a way that does not draw attention to ourselves but puts our attention where it needs to be: on God.
The prayer Jesus gave us to pray begins by addressing God. We are not told to give God a big fancy, elegant title or try to impress Him with compliments. He doesn’t require a secret password to get His attention. Instead, Jesus teaches us to call Him by the relationship He seeks to have with us. He wants to be our Father in Heaven.
Many people are Fathers, and everyone has some kind of Father—but not all are good. What kind of Father is God? He is a Holy Father. He is the very definition of good. He leads and guides us so that we know what is good ourselves. So what do we ask of our Heavenly Father? We ask that His will be done on earth, just as it is in heaven, and by doing so, we place our love and trust in Him above everything and everyone else.
We trust God that His will is wiser and better than our desires, but we also have our needs, so we ask Him to provide us with our daily bread, not what we want, but what we need. Along with daily food, we need forgiveness for the sin that tries to pull us away from God. That sin works in several ways. Not only does it pull us away from God all the time, but sometimes, it pulls us away from each other when others sin against us, and we refuse to forgive them. So, we ask God to remind us and help us to forgive others as He forgives us.
Once we are free from the guilt and power of sin, we don’t want to fall back into it, so we pray that God will keep us away from temptation and deliver us from the evil that comes after us. We may face temptation and evil but do not want to seek it out ourselves. We want God to hold us close to Him instead.
This teaching ends with a reminder that God wants us to be free from sin, but if we refuse to forgive others, God will not forgive us. If we truly love God, we must be willing to share His love with those around us. Why is that? Because this prayer is not about us getting what we want from God. It is about God working through us to share His love with everyone.
What do you need forgiveness from today?
Who do you need to offer forgiveness to?
Could being free from all that sin and unforgiveness help you hear God’s voice a little better when He speaks to you as you pray?