Lord's Prayer, Part 2

Review of Part 1

intro to what we call, “The Lord’s Prayer”

have a personal prayer life - pray in secret, pray unseen

and make a real connection with God in your prayers

really talk to him

don’t repeat phrases just because they make you sound deep and spiritual

God knows what we need, God has what we need

Today we get into the actual prayer

Matthew 6:9 NASB95

9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Pray, then, in this way:

Don’t pray that way (going through the motions and using vain repetitions) . . . . pray this way

you don’t have to use these exact words (that could turn into vain repetitions), but you should use the components of this prayer

These are the type of things that God is looking for . . . this prayer provides a guideline for us

Our Father

Not just “Father”, not “My Father”, but Our . . . that is an interesting choice for a personal, by yourself, in secret prayer

we have been emphasizing the importance of the church . . . coming together, being together, staying together, serving together . . . and right here, we see more emphasis on the community of believers

even in our personal prayers, even in our one on one prayers - the idea that it is “us” should never be far from our minds

us being together and on one accord is important to God . . .

God wants us to stay connected to Him

and God wants us to stay connected to us

we should not take our prayer time on Sundays lightly . . . because it is us

we should not take the text messages that ask us to pray lightly . . . because it is us

we should not take our praying three times a day lightly . . . because it is us

It is OUR Father

not many things more touching or impressive when a father sees his children come together to ask him for something

at my dad’s house and all of the cousins [Matthew, Andrew, Elijah, Charity, and Josiah]

and they would push the youngest, Josiah forward to make the request

it impresses you and grabs your attention because you want to see what is so important that all my children are of one mind

it would be good if we were to impress HEAVEN, and grab the attention of heaven . . . and cause God to say, “What is so important that all of WMBC is praying”

they are all praying for Sis. so and so’s health

They are all praying for Bro. so and so’s strength

they are all praying for Bro so and so’s finances

Sis. so and so’s wayward child

they are all praying for spiritual growth

the expansion of the ministry

praying for the lost to become saved

If we are not going to pray with each other, who else will pray with us?

If we are not going to pray for each other, who will pray for us?

Who else will have the presence of mind to pray for us

Who else will have the spiritual maturity to pray for us

who else will have the faith to pray for us

know enough about us to pray for us

OUR Father - don’t forget about “us” when you pray

Our Father

for the people in Jesus time, this is a new concept - addressing an omnipotent, omniscient, and ever-present God . . . . as Father

but Followers of Jesus get the privilege of calling God their Father . . . Jesus sacrifice on the cross allows us to enter in to relationship with God

When we pray, it is not a business call, but a personal call . . . to your Father

When you pray, you are talking to someone

who cares

wants you to succeed

who wants the best for you

wants you to be prepared for life

who has commited to being there for you

who has promised to take care of every one of your needs . . . for he is a Father

when Christians pray, we start off ahead, we are ahead of the game . . . when you start to pray, you are already winning

I was blessed to have a good father (I say that not out of pride, but out of thankfulness - I thank God for bestowing that grace on me)

And let me tell you something that I learned about Good Fathers: They will do everything they can to meet the needs of their children

Who is in heaven

HE is not just a father, God is The Father

The Father in heaven

Greater than any earthly Father

All the good of earthly Fathers, yet none of their weaknesses

Perfect Father

He sits on heaven’s throne, which means

he reigns

he sees all

he is above it all

There are some gifts he can give that regular fathers cannot

healing, peace, joy, strength

power of the Holy Ghost

spiritual gifts

Hallowed be your name

it is a praise but it also means . . . NLT - may your name be kept holy

In Bible Study, we learned about God’s name, the name God shared with Moses at the burning bush

God told Moses, “I am that I am”, if you want a name, tell them that “I am” has sent you

it is a name that expresses the eternity of God - I was, I am, I will be

Jews revered his name so much that in order to not take his name in vain (10 commandments), they wouldn’t even say it. Only the high priest would say it at certain times of the year

If the Jews wanted to refer to it they would say “Hashem” which means THE NAME

The wouldn’t even say it when reading scripture, instead of reading the name out loud, they would say, “Adonai” meaning the Lord, Master

So over the years, the exact pronunciation has been lost. But we do have the four consonants that make up the name

(show the slide)

we call this the tetragrammaton, four Hebrew letters: yode, hay, vav, hay . . . and people’s best guess is that His name was pronounced yaweh

but notice in the Lord’s prayer, that even here Jesus himself does not say, The Name . . . he says hallowed by the name. (I respect the name, I revere the name, may your name always be holy)

I say all of this to say that God takes his name seriously, the Jews took his name seriously, Jesus who came as a Jew took his name seriously, and you ought to take his name seriously

but here is what I mean by that: If they took just saying his name that seriously. Then how much more serious, how much more important, is the reputation associated with that name?

may your name be kept holy is the same as saying may your reputation be kept holy (flawless)

because names and reputations go together: I have yet to meet a child named - lucifer (bearer of light), judas (praised) . . . the names mean something good, but the reputation messed it up

And God does not want His reputation messed up by us

Multiple times in the Old Testament, we see that God did something for his Name’s sake.

I promised to bless you, but you don’t deserve it, but for my name’s sake, I will still bless you (so people know I keep my promises)

You are messing up, I love you, but I have to punish you good, for my name’s sake, or people will think I let evil slide

Psalms 23 - he leads us in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (you doing right makes my name look good)

say, “back to the scripture”

Matthew 6:9 NASB95

9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

So “Hallowed by your name” is a praise, and praise should be a part of prayer . . . but it also means I respect your name.

I will keep your name holy

I will keep your name sacred

I will revere your name

It is my goal to do my part to uphold your reputation

I am all bout You and Your name

I come in prayer with the right intentions, I come with a sincere heart . . . . it’s all about you and your name

Speaking of Fathers, Good Fathers always trying to make sure that their children’s minds are right . . . right attitude . . . . good understanding

I have said no to somethings I want to do for them because their mind was not right

I can’t say yes because they will think

just cry and get what I want

there are no consequences

it’s their job to just lie around and stuff will come to them

they didn’t do anything wrong

I will need some understanding from them before we proceed

they are not sorry, they are mad that they got caught . . . gonna have to say no

and sometimes God says no, because our mind is not right

I deserve this . . . you deserve nuthin

I don’t have to take God seriously . . . yes you do

life is all about me . . . no it’s not

I design a God that fits my lifestyle . . . you can do what you want, but here is only one self existing one . . . and you have to accept me for who “I AM”

When you say Hallowed is your name, it’s a sign that your mind is right

When your mind is right, you will ask for mercy and grace

you will say, “God your timing is best”

“If God didn’t give it yet, I don’t need it yet”

I don’t understand, but I still trust you

pray for others just as much as your pray for yourself

you will ask God to help you forgive, live right

because I represent you on earth, and I want to keep your name holy

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed by Your Name

This is a Christian prayer . . .

if you are not a Christian, you ought to be saying “God”

and speaking of mind being right, your mind is not right if you have not accepted Christ

think you can get into heaven without him

think you can make it in this life on your own

think you can figure things out

get your mind right!

Accept Jesus as both Lord and SAvior