“The Paternity of Prayer” (Part 2)

THE LORD’S PRAYER Sermon Series

“The Paternity of Prayer” (Part 2)

KEY PASSAGE: Matthew 6:9 (NASB)

Our Father in heaven, we come before You with reverence and gratitude, acknowledging the holiness of Your name and the intimacy of Your presence. May Your Spirit illuminate the truth, bring conviction where needed, and transform us into the image of Christ. Let every listener feel the weight of Your glory, presence, and Your grace. We consecrate this moment to You, in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Son of the living God. Amen. Please be seated.

TITHE and OFFERING

As we continue in worship, we will call on the ushers to pass around the offering plates to receive our tithes and offerings. The worship team will lead us in song as we give to God. May this moment be filled with joy and worship.

PRAYER FOR TITHE and OFFERING

Father, I pray that these tithes and offerings be used to advance Your gospel, strengthen Your church, and reflect Your fatherly care to those in need. Receive these gifts, Lord, as tokens of our devotion and gratitude. In the name of Jesus, Your Son and our Savior, we pray. Amen.

WELCOME

Welcome to our Sunday Worship Service. We are glad you have joined us today. Let’s take a moment to stand and greet one another. If you are visiting for the first time, we would love to recognize and welcome you.

ANNOUNCEMENT

📖 Wednesday Night Bible Study Connect Join us every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. for a time of learning, fellowship, and spiritual growth as we study the Word of God. We are currently in the Book of First Samuel, and this week we will focus on Chapter 16. Please read ahead and come ready to engage! 📅 Corporate Prayer Meeting: We gather every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. downstairs in the fellowship hall for a time of prayer. All are welcome as we seek the Lord together in unity and intercession. 🗓️ Monthly Church Leadership Meeting: All ministry leaders are invited to attend our monthly leadership meeting on Saturday, September 20 at 12:00 noon in the church fellowship hall.

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together. Please remain standing as we pray.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Let’s pray. Our Father, who dwells in glory and draws near in grace, we come eager to hear Your voice. As Your Word is preached, let Your name be hallowed in our hearts. May Your truth speak with clarity, Your Spirit move with power, and Your presence shape us into the likeness of Christ. Silence every distraction, soften every resistance, and awaken every soul to Your fatherly love. We receive Your Word not as mere instruction, but as life. In the name of Jesus, Your Son and our Savior, we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

SERMON INTRODUCTION WITH STORY

A young girl was separated from her father in a large and crowded airport. She stood frozen, eyes wide open, and panic set in as she scanned the sea of unfamiliar faces, calling out for help. The security tried to help and calm the little girl down, asking for her name, her destination, and her plane ticket, but the little girl kept on repeating one phrase: “I just want my daddy.” She didn’t care about the flight schedule or the boarding gate. She wasn’t looking for information. She wasn’t asking for directions. She was longing for presence, the comfort and safety that only her father could provide. What the little girl needed was her dad’s presence. That moment captures the heart of prayer not as a religious performance, but as a child reaching out to their father.

SERMON EXPOSITION 1

Today, as we continue with our sermon series on “THE LORD’S PRAYER,” we are not just learning how to pray; we are learning who we are praying to. The paternity of prayer reminds us that we are sons and daughters, welcomed into communion with a Father who is both holy and close. Jesus warns us in Matthew 6 not to pray like those who use meaningless repetition, not repetition, meaningless repetition. These are people who say the words, but never think the thoughts, and their hearts are nowhere near the throne of grace. They are saying words they have been taught to say. You have heard it before: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep…” There is no meaning behind the message, no connection (relationship), and no real engagement with God.

Jesus says, “When you pray, pray in this way…” in Matthew 6:9. But in the corresponding (complementary) passage found in Luke 11:1, we discover that this teaching was not given in isolation; we are told it was a response to a heartfelt question. The disciples had been watching Jesus. Not just His miracles. Not just His sermons. They had been watching Jesus pray. Now, that is very interesting because they didn’t ask, “Lord, teach us to preach.” They didn’t say, “Lord, teach us how to witness.”  No, they asked for something far more intimate. They said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

The disciples wanted access to God. They wanted to know how to touch the Holy. How to speak to God. How to be heard in heaven. The disciples said, How do folks here on earth get in touch with God the Father in heaven? The disciples said – Teach us how to pray. That raises a question: What is prayer? Let me give you four definitions of prayer. Prayer is sharing and fellowshipping with God (Matthew 6:9). Prayer is surrendering to God (Matthew 6:9). Prayer is requesting and pleading with God (Matthew 6:10). Prayer is acknowledging and praising God (Matthew 6:9–10, 13).

Now, a lot of Christians call this the Lord’s prayer. But this prayer is not actually the Lord’s prayer, and I will tell you why. Because the Lord Jesus [Watch This] could never pray this prayer. It would be impossible for Jesus to pray this prayer. In the midst of the prayer, verse 12 says, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Or, to put it another way, forgive us our sins. You see, Jesus could never pray that prayer, for He was the spotless sacrificial Lamb of God, who took away the sins of this world. Jesus was sinless and holy, and He had no sins to confess.

The “Disciples’ Prayer” would be a more accurate title for this prayer.  The prayer is split into two. The first half focuses on God. “Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” Then, we move to the second part of the prayer that focuses on us. “Give us daily bread. Forgive us our transgressions. Lead us not into temptation.” Then the prayer closes with God. “For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.”

SERMON ILLUSTRATION and STORY 1 – ACCESS THROUGH THE SON

You want to know how to pray? That is how you pray. It is like a sandwich, you begin with God, you end with God, and you become the meat in the middle. You start by honoring the Father: ‘Hallowed be Your name.’ You end by surrendering to God’s power and glory: ‘For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.’ And in between, you bring your needs, your struggles, your confessions, your daily bread. That is where you live in the middle of divine presence and divine purpose. You are held between who God is and what God does.

SERMON EXPOSITION 2

Let me give you the purpose of prayer. The purpose of prayer is to glorify God’s name and to ask for help to accomplish God’s will here on earth. This prayer (The Lord’s Prayer) begins with God’s interests, not ours; God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. I want to read you a quote from Robert Law, a Scottish theologian, who said, Watch This, ‘Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done on earth.’ We have no right to ask God for anything that will dishonor God’s name, delay God’s kingdom, delay God’s program, or disturb God’s will on earth. And so, prayer is not about manipulating outcomes; it is about manifesting obedience to God.

We are looking at this verse line by line. We are examining this prayer so that when we finish this sermon series on “THE LORD’S PRAYER,” we will know how to pray. So, how do you start? We start by saying, “Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” God is our Father, not just your Father, because it means that God never relates to you apart from others. You are not an isolated child in God’s family. We are all interconnected with our brothers and our sisters. And so, when we pray, we must remember that we are part of God’s worldwide family of believers, and we have no right to ask God for anything that would harm another member of God’s family.

There is another factor in this prayer that you need to know. Only believers can pray. God is not everybody’s father. Jesus said in John 8:44 to the religious leaders of His day, “You are of your father the devil.” And while there is the understanding that God is the creator of all people, [Watch This] God is not the Father of all people. To become a child of God, you must be born again. John 1:12 says, “as many as receive Him [Speaking of Jesus], He gave them power to become children of God.” If you deny the Son, you cannot have the Father. God is the Father of believers, because Jesus Christ, the Savior, is the only one who can grant you access to the Father.

Jesus says in John 20:17, “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” Our Father, and He is in love with you as He is with Me, because we are both from God’s offspring. “Our” means you have equal access to God like Jesus. So when Jesus says ‘Our Father,’ He is inviting us into shared access to the same intimate fellowship [relationship] He has with the Father. And through Christ, we have the right to approach God with the same confidence and closeness. God doesn’t have favorite children. God doesn’t have a favorite church. If you are in the family, you bear God’s name, and you have full access to the same Father. Prayer is how sons and daughters connect with God the Father.

SERMON EXPOSITION 3

When you have a true father, someone who loves you, cares for you, protects you, and disciplines you. Someone who looks out for you and watches over you. I mean, you have someone you can trust. The foundation here is “Trust.” You know why? Because when you have a real father, your welfare is always on his mind if he is a true father. You can trust him. You can trust his heart even when you cannot figure out his hand. I remember when I was growing up, there were moments and times when my father made decisions I didn’t fully understand, but I trusted my father. Even when I couldn’t make sense of my dad’s hand, I could trust his heart because I always knew my interests and my well-being were always part of the equation.

There are times when God is hard to understand. The things God allows, the things He ordains, the delays in prayer, the unexpected answers, especially when we know God holds all power, all strength, and all the glory. I understand that, but when you don’t understand God’s hand, I want you to remember His heart. He is Father. And not just any father, God is a perfect Father. Do you know who your Father is? He is God Almighty, the King of the universe. That is your Father. That is your Daddy. And because you belong to God, you walk in divine authority. You can pull rank over the devil, over every enemy, over every problem, and over every situation because your Father rules from heaven. God’s throne backs your prayer. His name secures your access.

Jesus prayed to stay aligned with heaven because heaven determines how we live on earth. Jesus always wanted to be in touch with heaven. Prayer helps you to make it through the mess of earth because it gives you direction from heaven. Prayer is for men and women, boys and girls, to count and treat the Name of God differently, to set God’s Name apart from all other names. Hallowed is from the same root word that you get the words holy, sanctify, or sanctification. It means to set apart as unique or special. To put it another way, “God, I just want you to know we know you are in a class all by yourself.” God is so unique, one-of-a-kind daddy. God is in a class all by Himself. To hallow God is to put Him in the place He deserves. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” Set God apart as unique. God is a holy  Father who stands alone in glory.

Jesus says hallow God’s name. We know His name, God or Father. But in the Bible, names mean more than what the word was. A name was never just a label in Scripture. Today, names identify something, but in the Bible, names reveal something. Names always were designed to reflect the character, nature, and essence of the thing that was spoken about. When God is called Father, it is not just a title; it is a revelation of who God is.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION – THE NAME REVEALS THE NATURE

If someone walks into a room and I say, “Hey Speedy,” you already know something about that person’s character; they move fast. If I say, “Professor,” you are picturing someone in your head who is wise or deeply knowledgeable. Or if I say, “Smiley face,” you are thinking of someone who is always smiling and laughing. These are not just names; they are reflections of a person’s character. They tell you something about the person behind the word. That is how names worked in the Bible. When God reveals His name, He is revealing His nature. He is not just called Father, He is Father. God is not just labeled Provider; He is provision. His name is a window into His heart.

SERMON EXPOSITION 4

In Scripture, names are never just labels; they are revelations. That is why, when something significant happened in a person’s life or at a sacred place, it was often marked with a name or a new name. Take Jacob, for example. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel because something divine had shifted in Jacob’s life. Jacob went from being a deceiver to becoming a vessel of blessing. The name reflected the transformation in the life of Jacob.

There is something behind the name that gives it significance. There is always a meaning behind the name. There are character, history, and divine intention. That is why when Jesus taught us to pray, “Hallowed be Your name.” Jesus was saying: set apart the unique character and attributes of God. To hallow God’s name is to honor the totality of who God is, His perfections, His nature, and His glory.

That is why when you read the Bible, God has many different names. Throughout the Scripture, in the Hebrew and Greek texts, we encounter many names for God. You might ask, “Which one is God’s real name?” The answer: all of them. It just depends on the mess and the situation you are in. To put it another way, God has a name that fits every situation. Because each name in the Bible [Watch This] reveals a different facet of God’s character, tailored to the issue you are dealing with in your life. God has a name for every season, every struggle, and every need. That is the beauty of God’s divine flexibility. God is not stationary. God is personal. God is present. And God is precise.

In Genesis 1:1, God is referred to as Elohim, the Creator God or God the Mighty Creator. Elohim speaks of strength and power. Let me tell you something about the name Elohim. God didn’t just form the world. Theologians and Bible scholars put it this way: God formed (created) the world ex nihilo. The word ex nihilo means out of nothing. It means God didn’t have any raw material to work with. He didn’t have anything He could use that was already in existence as raw material to make the world. So, God created, watch this, something out of nothing. God created the world ex nihilo out of nothing. No raw material. No pre-existing substance.

And that is why you need to know His name is Elohim, because there will be moments and situations in your life when there is nothing to work with. No resources. No solutions. No way forward. And God (Elohim) is going to create something out of nothing when there is no raw material to work with, when the doctors have no medicine to cure a disease.  God has another name, it is called El Elyon, the Most High God. That means God is way up here. To put it another way, when everything in your life is out of order, when life feels chaotic, disjointed, and confusing, El Elyon reminds us that God is above it all, which means God is on top of the mess that is messing with you.

SERMON EXPOSITION 5

He is called El Shaddai. El Shaddai is the Lord God Almighty, and this name has to do with God’s strength. When you are at your weakest point in your life, when you do not have any get-up-and-go. When your get up and go has gotten up and gone and there is no strength (yet) left, God says you have not exhausted your resources because My name is El Shaddai. This is the name for those who are weary, worn out, and ready to throw in the towel. When your strength is gone, El Shaddai steps in. God is the strong One for those who are weak and weary.  

God says my name is El Roi. El Roi means the God who sees. When you feel overlooked, misunderstood, or mistreated, El Roi reminds you that nothing escapes God’s attention. God is well aware that they are plotting against you at the office. God is well aware that they are trying to undercut you, and they are trying to mess over you, but don’t get all bent out of shape because you remember God’s name is El Roi. God sees what others do to you. He sees what you are going through. So don’t panic, but remember His name. He is El Roi.

When Moses asked God, “Who shall I say sent me?” God replied, “I Am that I Am.” That is Jehovah, the self-existent One. To put it another way, tell them the One who sent you doesn’t need any help. So, when you say all I have is God, guess what you have just said? You are saying, “I have everything I need.” But Jehovah doesn’t stop there because God reveals Himself through compound names that meet us in specific places and situations. God is not only Jehovah, He is Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who provides and supplies. If you have a need and nobody is helping you with your need, and you go to Jehovah, He is not just Jehovah; He is Jehovah-Jireh. God is Jehovah with your need. God can supply when there is no supply.

He is Jehovah-Shalom. Shalom means peace. When things are chaotic in your soul, God can release a flood of peace that washes over you like a river. God can bring calm when there is disturbance. God can bring rest when you can’t go to sleep at night because He is Jehovah-shalom. He is also called Jehovah-Rapha; the Lord is our healer. When you are sick, the doctors may have a word for you, but they don’t have the last word. Because Jehovah-Rapha still speaks healing over what medicine cannot restore. God is the Great Physician, and when all other options run out, His power remains. He is also Jehovah-Tsidkenu, which means the Lord is my righteousness. When you sin, God covers you with His righteousness. God is your righteousness.

SERMON CONCLUSION  – INVITATION TO FAITH, COMMISSION TO ACTION, AND CALL TO THE ALTAR

Now, I know some of you may be thinking, “Pastor, I can’t remember all those names, El Elyon, El Shaddai, El Roi, it is just too much.” But let me tell you something: the old saints had a way of saying it that didn’t require a degree in theology. They would say, “God is a wheel in the middle of a wheel.” They would say, “God is a balm in Gilead.” The old saints would say, “God is so wide you can’t get around Him, so high you can’t get over Him, and so low you can’t go under Him.” They would say, “God is a doctor in the sick room, a lawyer in the courtroom.” “He’s a bridge over troubled water.” “God is a father to the fatherless, a mother to the motherless.”

In other words, God is whatever you need Him to be. You don’t have to speak Hebrew. You don’t have to read Greek. But you do need to know this in plain English: He is God, your heavenly Father. Jesus said, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” God bless you.

If you have never called God Father, today is your day. I invite you to come to the altar. Come with your questions. Come with your burdens. Come with your worship. Let’s stand together and praise our Father for His greatness and His glory, His power and His majesty. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let the weary find rest. Let the broken find healing. Let every wandering soul find their way back to the Father. God is present and He is God, our faithful, loving Father. So let us lift His name with praise, glory, adoration, and honor.

CLOSING WORDS OF GRACE

Let’s stand on our feet and pray together. Our Father, we thank You for the gift of Your presence and the power of Your Word. As we have gathered in Your name, You have reminded us that prayer is not just petition, it is communion, surrender, and transformation. May Your kingdom come in us and through us. May Your will be done in our homes, our churches, and our communities. As we go forth, let us carry Your peace, walk in Your provision, and live for Your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Intercessor, we pray, and all God’s people say Amen. You are dismissed. God bless you. We look forward to seeing you next week at 10:30 a.m.