Pray Like Jesus: Kingdom Prayer
Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Recap what we saw last week (How to pray, the importance of prayer, etc.)
As we start the Sermon on the Mount, we have to remember the contrast that Jesus is making. In Matthew 6:5-8, Jesus paints this picture of a CRAZY, FANCY, WORDY prayer.
o And really if we remember, the prayer was all about the goodness of the person praying it. (Luke 18:10-12
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
· Jesus is going to contrast THAT TYPE OF PRAYER WITH HOW JESUS TEACHES US TO PRAY; which we see in Luke 18:13-14
13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Jesus is not after a FANCY, WORDY prayer, JESUS TEACHES THAT OUR PRAYERS SHOULD BE GENUINE AND FROM OUR HEARTS!
o Now, let me be clear- Jesus is giving us AN EXAMPLE PRAYER! Jesus is not saying we should only pray these words, or that we need to memorize these words and just say them over and over. Remember- that’s what the GENTILES DO!
§ Instead, Jesus is giving us instruction and guidance. We could say it like this- just as the SERMON ON THE MOUNT HAS TAUGHT US WHAT KINGDOM LIVING IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE, THIS PASSAGE TEACHES US WHAT KINGDOM PRAYER SHOULD LOOK LIKE!
Main Point: Kingdom Living and Kingdom Prayer is Evangelistic and Glorifies God.
Main Point: Kingdom Living and Kingdom Prayer is Evangelistic and Glorifies God.
Body
Body
Let’s jump into Matthew 6 starting in verse 9.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
your name be honored as holy.
Immediately we see Jesus give us an instruction- we should start praying by GIVING THANKS TO GOD AND PRAISING GOD!
We could call this ADORATION!
See, as we pray, we should be praising God! Sometimes we separate these two things in our minds. But in reality, PRAYER IS PART OF PRAISING GOD!
As Jesus starts with adoration, He also establishes some things when He says- “Our Father in Heaven”.
First, Jesus establishes WHO GOD IS!
Who is it that we are praying to?
WE ARE PRAYING TO OUR FATHER! GOD IS OUR FATHER!
Listen, we can sometimes think of God as distant and uncaring; but that’s not true! GOD IS OUR FATHER!
And God is THE perfect Father!
Every earthly father will make mistakes, but not our heavenly Father. And our FATHER is who we are PRAYING TO!
Second, WHERE IS GOD?
God is IN HEAVEN!
It isn’t a mystery where God is RIGHT NOW! GOD IS IN HEAVEN!
Thirdly, Jesus shows us the CLOSENESS OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD!
Just think about it like this- Jesus is telling us to speak DIRECTLY TO OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN- our creator, our GOD, ETC!
WE HAVE THE FREEDOM TO GO DIRECTLY TO GOD!
And let me tell you what that shows us- OUR GOD IS PERSONAL! GOD IS A PERSONAL GOD!
Listen, I could talk about that all day- this is one of my favorite characteristics of God- GOD KNOWS US; but please hear me on this- God knows you, your deepest struggles, your biggest dreams and hopes. GOD KNOWS YOU AND YOU CAN TALK WITH GOD! God is not distant, instead, it’s like what God says in Revelation 3:20
20 See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
God is CLOSE TO US AND GOD IS PERSONAL! And listen- God wants a relationship with you. We will talk more about that later, but hear that today. GOD WANTS A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU! WE HAVE TO LET GOD IN, not the other way around!
But now let’s look at this adoration part- “Your name be honored as holy.”
This is a phrase of PRAISE!
That’s what’s going on here! God is BEING PRAISED AND GOD IS WORTHY OF PRAISE!
We could say it like this- Jesus is praising GOD FOR THE REALITY OF WHO GOD IS!
Jesus isn’t saying, “Now, give praise to God because of something God did this week.”
Jesus shows us that we CAN PRAISE GOD FOR THE VERY REALITY OF WHO GOD IS!”
That may not seem like a big deal, but it is- it means that in all situations, we can praise God! AT ALL TIMES, in the best season and the worst season, we can PRAISE GOD!
And Jesus specifically singles out God’s HOLINESS!
God is Holy. Simply put, that means that God is completely without sin. God has never sinned, will never sin and in fact, God cannot be AROUND SIN!
That’s why we NEED to have a SAVIOR!
So, we can praise God for God’s HOLINESS!
But that isn’t the only characteristic we can praise God for.
We could praise God for His omnipresence on a hard day where we feel alone, or we could praise God for His Justice, His Love, His Mercy, His Goodness in providing for us.
THERE’S SO MANY THINGS TO PRAISE GOD FOR!
What Jesus is instructing us in is actually really beautiful- our PRAYER LIFE SHOULD REFOCUS US ONTO PRAISING GOD BECAUSE GOD IS WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE!
So let me challenge you- today, how can you PRAISE GOD AS YOU PRAY? How can you practice adoration?
Matthew 6:10
Matthew 6:10
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Verse 10 is such an important part of the Lord’s Prayer. I want to summarize it like this- as we pray, we submit our will to God’s Will! We trust and prioritize GOD’S PLAN OVER OUR PLAN!
And here’s where we get into the central thrust of the evangelistic part of the Lord’s Prayer.
Rather than praying, “GOD WOULD I BE MADE GREAT AND WOULD I GET MY WAY,” We pray, “YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE.”
Listen, we are submitting our will to God as we pray that! We are saying, “God, you are in charge and I want to obey you!
So let’s talk for a second. What is God’s KINGDOM? Here’s the simple answer- this phrase has two aspects. First, God’s Kingdom is seen most clearly as THE PRESENCE OF GOD, for instance, what we will experience in HEAVEN!
We should want to be in the PRESENCE OF GOD! But to be in the presence of God, we need to be redeemed from sin.
So this is a prayer saying, “GOD WOULD YOU SAVE MANY PEOPLE! GOD, SAVE THE PEOPLE AROUND ME!” THIS IS AN EVANGELISTIC PRAYER! THE BIBLE IS AN EVANGELISTIC AND LIVING BOOK!
And then, Jesus follows it up saying, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
So what is God’s Will?
We see a glimpse of that in the Great Commission. There’s five components of God’s will that we see in verses 19-20.
18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
First, let’s acknowledge- ALL AUTHORITY IS GIVEN TO JESUS- JESUS CAME BRINGING A WAY FOR US TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
Second, did you see those five things?
Go! Make disciples! Baptize them! Teach them! Remember that JESUS IS WITH US!
This is God’s WILL!
God’s WILL IS THAT WE KNOW HIM AND THAT WE WALK WITH HIM!
As we pray, we should honestly be able to say, “God’s KINGDOM COME, GOD’S WILL BE DONE!
I’ve shared before with some people- I have neighbors who aren’t saved. We all do. It needs to be a priority to pray specifically for my UNSAVED NEIGHBORS!
Cornerstone Family- THE LORD’S PRAYER IS EVANGELISTIC BECAUSE GOD’S WILL IS EVANGELISTIC! AND IN TURN, OUR PRAYERS AND OUR ACTIONS SHOULD LIKEWISE BE EVANGELISTIC and FOCUSED ON PRAISING GOD!
GOD WOULD YOUR KINGDOM COME AND YOUR WILL BE DONE IN SAVOY AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!
Matthew 6:11
Matthew 6:11
11 Give us today our daily bread.
Next, we see JESUS TELLING US TO PRAY TO GOD FOR PROVISION OF OUR NEEDS!
Oftentimes when we pray, this is the first, second, third and final thing we pray for. But as Jesus teaches us to pray, our needs are the 3rd thing that He prays for.
And look at how Jesus approaches this- it’s from a place of humility- which is really focused on GIVING GOD GLORY FOR WHO GOD IS!
See, “our daily bread,” was essentially a cultural idiom for, “provide us our most basic needs.”
Friends, Jesus isn’t saying, “God, give me lobster, steak and the largest house and a lamborghini.”
Instead, we are taught to pray, “God, give us what we need.”
I find myself thinking of a parallel statement in Proverbs 30. Proverbs 30:7-9
7 Two things I ask of you;
don’t deny them to me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.
9 Otherwise, I might have too much
and deny you, saying, “Who is the Lord?”
or I might have nothing and steal,
profaning the name of my God.
Notice what Agur, son of Jakeh (the writer of Proverbs 30) doesn’t want. He doesn’t want to have too much, or too little.
Instead, his prayer is for JUST WHAT HE NEEDS SO THAT HE WILL NEVER DENY THE LORD, or STEAL AND PROFANE THE NAME OF GOD!
This is really what Jesus is mirroring. We absolutely pray and we bring our needs to God. Don’t hide your need, don’t pretend it doesnt’ exist, instead, bring it to GOD!
George Muller story- one day he woke up and there was no money to feed the 300 children at his orphanage. As he recounted, a baker came to him saying that God had told him to bake bread. Then, the next thing he knew, a milkman came to him and said, “my cart is broken down and by the time it is fixed the milk will be bad. Would you like it for the orphanage.”
The story of Muller’s life was not one of living in absolute comfort. But, God ALWAYS PROVIDED WHAT HE NEEDED!
And the same is true for us. GOD WILL ALWAYS PROVIDE JUST WHAT WE NEED!
Matthew 6:12
Matthew 6:12
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Next, Jesus tells us to repent and THEN Jesus addresses our forgiveness of others.
I’d summarize it like this- we are saved one time. As soon as we put your faith in Jesus, our sin is removed from us as far as the EAST IS FROM THE WEST!
Yet, at the same time, when we sin after we are saved, we need to go to God and repent.
We don’t lose our salvation every time we sin, BUT, we do go to God and REPENT in order to walk closer to God!
We should look at repentance like this- it isn’t us saying, “My bad God, I will try not to do that again. Sorry!”
Instead, repentance is- “God, I’m going to turn around and walk differently! Instead of walking in that sin, I’m going to walk in obedience to you! TURN ME AROUND GOD! FORGIVE ME AND GIVE ME STRENGTH TO OBEY YOU!
Repentance SHOULD be a part of our prayer life daily! It’s part of sanctification- which is what we do after we are saved- sanctification is our gradual growing to be more like Jesus!
But, you’ll notice that Jesus doesn’t just tell us to repent. Instead, Jesus also talks to us about how we are to FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS, or those who have SINNED AGAINST US!
Let’s talk about why.
Forgiveness is hard. In fact, I’d argue that without God, true forgiveness is IMPOSSIBLE!
Because truly forgiving is LETTING GO OF THE WRONG THAT SOMEONE HAS DONE!
It’s saying, “I’m not going to hold this against you any longer!”
It doesn’t mean that there is no consequence, but FORGIVENESS MEANS THAT WE MOVE FORWARD!
And that really requires God. Honestly, there’s another part of forgiveness that’s really beautiful.
See, we don’t learn forgiveness from the world. We learn forgiveness from GOD BECAUSE GOD FORGAVE US! Romans 5:8 is my FAVORITE VERSE ABOUT FORGIVENESS!
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Even while we were ACTIVELY SINNING AGAINST HIM, JESUS STILL DID WHAT IT TOOK TO FORGIVE US! And that was to GIVE HIS LIFE!
In turn, we are called to forgive other people. So as we pray, pray for the people we need to forgive. Do you need to forgive that friend or relative? Pray for them and that God would help you to forgive them!
Don’t try to do forgiveness on your own- it just won’t work. Instead, WE PRAY ABOUT FORGIVENESS BECAUSE WE NEED TO HAVE GOD’S HELP IN FORGIVING OTHERS!
Matthew 6:13
Matthew 6:13
13 And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
The final thing that Jesus tells us to do is to Pray- “GOD PROTECT US FROM SIN! PROTECT US FROM SATAN’S ATTACKS AGAINST US! DELIVER US!”
We cry out to our HEAVENLY FATHER AND WE ASK FOR HIS HELP IN A WAR that we wage daily.
Let me be clear- every single day we are fighting a very real spiritual battle and war. Ephesians 6 doesn’t just tell us to put on the armor of God because it looks cool.
It’s a warning because we need to GEAR UP FOR WAR!
And listen, that’s something we should pray about. We need to PRAY ABOUT THIS WAR THAT WE ARE FIGHTING!
Cornerstone Family, we can think about it like this- if you were going through a hard situation- maybe it’s a health situation, or a loss of a loved one, you are going to bring someone else in!
And listen, if we would ask someone else for help, why wouldn’t we ask our HEAVENLY FATHER WHO LOVES US!
See, we can be tempted to try and hide our faults and our problems from God, but that is the OPPOSITE of what we should do! First- God already knows our flaws and our issues and secondly, we should RUN TO GOD, not away from HIM!
Matthew 6:14-15
Matthew 6:14-15
14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
Cornerstone family, I can’t stress how important forgiveness is.
If you want to live a kingdom life, let me give you a simple challenge; a simple way that you can live a kingdom life: FORGIVE THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU!
If you want your life to be different, then FORGIVE DIFFERENTLY!
Forgive like God! Give up your ability to hold someone’s past mistakes over their head and FORGIVE THEM AS FAR AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST!
Forgive entirely- JUST LIKE HOW GOD FORGAVE YOU ENTIRELY!
Listen- I can’t challenge you or myself enough; WE HAVE TO FORGIVE!
We will be hurt in life. It’s a fact.
You might have heard people say something like “hurt people hurt people,” but I want to say it differently- “SINFUL PEOPLE SIN AGAINST PEOPLE!”
And that’s the truth!
We sin against people and we HURT THEM AND THEY SIN AND IT HURTS US!
But there’s a command in verse 14- FORGIVE!
Let me be clear- this is not Jesus saying, “Who cares if you hurt people, be as mean as you want to another christian because they’ll forgive you.”
It’s not about that. INSTEAD, AS WE FORGIVE PEOPLE, WE BRING GLORY TO GOD!
Like let me just put it like this- IF YOU WANT TO SHOW THE WORLD WHAT JESUS DID, then DO what Jesus did! FORGIVE, just like we saw before in Romans 5:8!
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
THE ONLY REASON THAT WE ARE SAVED IS BECAUSE JESUS FORGAVE OUR SIN THAT WE COMMITTED AGAINST HIM!
When we sin, it isn’t just against another person, it’s really AGAINST GOD!
And that brings us to our first application point.
Application
Application
Kingdom Prayer BRINGS Kingdom Forgiveness
Kingdom Prayer BRINGS Kingdom Forgiveness
(repentance- GOSPEL!)
Kingdom forgiveness- salvation- comes in the form of “God would your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
And listen, we PRAY THAT FOR OUR NEIGHBORS, our COMMUNITY, OUR WORLD. But first, let me ask you; do you know Jesus personally?
GOSPEL! (Focus on the glory of spending eternity with God- quick through first half of three circles, park in second half!)
Kingdom Prayer is Evangelistic
Kingdom Prayer is Evangelistic
We need to PRAY FOR LIVES TO BE CHANGED!
GOD WANTS US TO COME TO HIM AND TO PRAY FOR LIVES TO BE TRANSFORMED!
WHO CAN YOU PRAY FOR? (Neighbors, kids, coworkers- CAMPUS!)
WHO CAN YOU TAKE THE GOSPEL TO?
We need to be people of prayer who are bold. Who’s that person in your life that you think, “They’d never accept Jesus as savior.”
PRAY FOR THAT PERSON! PRAY FOR OPPORTUNITY WITH THAT PERSON!
Practical: Cornerstone Family, let’s pray BIG for God’s Will to be done!
After all, this isn’t about OUR WILL, it’s about God’s WILL!
Kingdom Prayer is countercultural!
Kingdom Prayer is countercultural!
Kingdom Prayer is NOT ABOUT US!
THAT IS COUNTER-CULTURAL!
Practically- let’s PRAY DIFFERENT! Let’s INTENTIONALLY SEEK TO PRAY DIFFERENTLY!
Rather than just praying for needs, let’s focus in on 5 things.
First, let’s PRAISE GOD!
Second, let’s SUBMIT OUR WILL TO GOD- meaning for people to get saved!
Third, let’s present our requests to God.
Fourth, let’s pray for help forgiving and for our forgiveness (repent)!
Fifth, let’s ask God to deliver us from TEMPTATION AND TO GUARD US!
I want to give you a practical way to do this.
Listen, Paul challenges us in Philippians 4:6-7 to pray without ceasing.
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Our prayers don’t all need to look like the Lord’s Prayer. They just won’t- I remember praying right before a semi-truck hit me while I was driving in college. I didn’t have time to go through a long time of praise, or repentance. I more just prayed, “GOD SAVE ME!”
But, what if you got a notecard and wrote down these five things. (List the five again.)
Then, what if before you ate dinner, you prayed highlighting these five things.
Families, I’m about to give you a thought- what if you split these five things amidst your family. So dad’s maybe one night you pray PRAISING GOD, your wife prays that GOD’S KINGDOM COMES, then your kid prays for a need that’s on their heart, etc. FAMILIES, WE NEED TO INVOLVE OUR CHILDREN! (Remember, praying isn’t about having the perfect words. Prayer is about TALKING WITH GOD! If you want a reminder of this, look at 1 Samuel 1!)
Don’t let the Lord’s Prayer become a ritual, but let’s LEARN TO PRAY LIKE IT, just like what Jesus says!
And I can promise you this- over time, we will find ourselves praying like this more and more often and we won’t need the notecard.
As a second idea- what if we wrote down the PRAISE we give God, what if we wrote down the PEOPLE we pray for and what if we wrote down the NEEDS we pray for so that when those are answered we REMEMBER THEM!
Friends, reflecting on answered prayer is one of the most encouraging things we can do. It’s a way that we see God MOVE ON A DAILY BASIS!
So let me challenge you- let’s pray different in our families, our friend groups, our workplaces.
LET’S PRAY DIFFERENT AS WE LIVE DIFFERENT!
Let’s PRAY KINGDOM PRAYERS AS WE LIVE KINGDOM LIVES!
Let’s pray together now!
Model!
First, let’s PRAISE GOD!
Second, let’s SUBMIT OUR WILL TO GOD- meaning for people to get saved!
Third, let’s present our requests to God.
Fourth, let’s pray for help forgiving and for our forgiveness (repent)!
Fifth, let’s ask God to deliver us from TEMPTATION AND TO GUARD US!
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