The Power of Prayer

-Good morning everyone! My name is BJ & I am the Pastor of Worship & Arts here at New Horizon. If it is your 1st, 100th, or 1,000th time joining us here or online…. I hope you feel Welcome, Wanted, & Loved. If it IS one of your first times joining us, we would absolutely LOVE it if you would take a quick moment right now, grab your phone, and tap that round black Disc on the back of the seat in front of you. Just click on the link and fill out that short Connect Card so that we can get to know just a little bit about you. If you are part of our online Family today, just hit that link in the Chat!

-So now… I am REALLY excited because this morning we are kicking off a brand new series called the “Power of Prayer”. And why am I excited? Well, there are actually plenty of reasons, but tops on the list is… How often in life do you actually get a set of instructions for something that are… easy to read, just 5 steps long, have all the parts you need, all fit together, and you don’t need any extra tools? Oh yeah…. and when you get done…. there aren’t any random parts leftover. Well that folks… is what we are going to talk about today.

-Right before we get to Matthew 6:9–13 , The Disciples have asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They had spent a little less than a year now watching Him in His ministry, teaching, leading, performing miracles, and in prayer with His father God… and so they ask Jesus to teach them how to pray also. So He gives them this Instruction Manual… “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

-One of the things we do at Real Women & Real Men here, (3 & 4 Tuesdays of the Month… don’t forget to register) is wear name tags. Do you know how much more personable and relatable it makes the conversation and community we have during those times when people know and then call each other by their names?

-v.9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

- It begins by clearly addressing “Our Father in Heaven” … and so it speaks to God personally as an all-loving Father who wants the best for His children and at the same time also speaks to God as the all-powerful Creator of the universe in Heaven.

- And then the words “Father” & “Heaven” show the duality of the Imminence & Transcendence of God together… meaning His closeness AND His Awesome Omnipotent Power.

-Then the second half of V.9 says “hallowed be Your name”

- Hallowed means “To sanctify or to make holy” and so Jesus is showing that in prayer even He, Himself was setting God apart from the Son as Holy & Sanctified. So even more so do we need to approach God with reverence and awe in prayer.  Hebrews 12:28 says…  28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,

- And so In that spirit of approaching God in prayer as a “Hallowed God”, we have to come to Him with Humility, Gratitude, & Praise. Not with just a casual and flippant attitude.

- Psalm 34:1-3 says…

1I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2  My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3  Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

-v.10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

-There is an understanding in praying for the “Kingdom Come” that God’s Kingdom in Christ’s Return is still to come, but there is also Kingdom work happening right here and all around the world to be done now and until that time. And as such… they both need to be lifted up and covered in prayer.

-And then on a sin-filled earth & rebellion free heaven, we pray for God’s will to be accomplished here in the same way as it is in heaven.

-Now bear in mind that when it comes to His will being done… that could fall into the “Fun to do” category like in Hebrews 13:20–21 when it says… “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

- OR……

-It may fall into the “Not Too Fun To Do” category like in Matthew 26:42 in the Garden of Gesthemane when it says… “Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.””

-OR it could fall somewhere in between like His will being done in the first Huge shake-up of my prayer life

-My prayer story

-NOW….

-You may have noticed that there seems to be something backwards about Jesus’ instructions on how to pray and the way that we seem to gravitate towards how to do it… We usually jump right into our grocery list of wants, needs, desires, illnesses, and so on. Yeah, we do usually make a habit of calling Him by our favorite name, and sometimes we throw some quick thanks in there… BUT let’s face it…..( UNLESS IT’s JUST MY EXPERIENCE)…. Our prayers have a tendency to be pretty “Me-Centric”.

But in the Jesus model, it’s not until -after Acknowledging who God is, giving Him Gratitude, Praise, & Recognizing the work & service that needs to be fulfilled in His Kingdom… that we can then start to pray for ourselves…

- v.11 “Give us this day our daily bread,”

-Praying for our daily bread is a reminder that God provides for our “NEEDS” … and that our wants & desires sometimes lead to spoiled excess.  When you look at the Israelites in the wilderness in Exodus 16… they never starved, and in fact were well-fed, everyday for 40 years simply from the daily provision of manna given by God. He let them know then that they needed to focus on the day in front of them and let Him take care of the next day…. AND nothing has changed.

-In fact a handful of verses after this V. 11 in Matthew 6:34 it goes on to say…““Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

- v.12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

-This Greek word for debts in the New Testament appears only 2 times…Once in Romans 4:4 where it says…“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.” And then in Luke 11:4 where it says… “and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”” You see It is clear that Jesus intended the word “DEBTS” to convey “SINS” . The choice of this word reflects the fact that all sins place us in debt to God. And it is a debt that is so large we can’t afford to come before God and pay it off…. So we need Him to forgive the Debt for us. BUT here’s the thing… we are all consistent, everyday overspenders that throw the budget out the window when it comes to sin…. So we have to ask for that forgiveness EVERYDAY!

-Now remember…. What goes along with asking God for that Debt forgiveness though… is us having to be Debt FORGIVERS. And That is something that comes as a little bit more difficult pill to swallow… doesn’t it??? You and I are all down for wanting to have our slates wiped clean aren’t we? BUT when it comes to giving someone that has done something wrong to US a fresh start we are like…. hmmmmmm… I don’t know about that.

But see… that’s not what God says here…. it says “as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

-Jesus didn’t speak of forgiveness of others there as a possibility. He didn’t speak of forgiveness of others there as a process. He didn’t speak of forgiveness of others as something that they had to earn. He spoke of that forgiveness of others as something that was already completed and done in the past so that God could now forgive our own debts. So you see…. really before you even go into prayer and ask for forgiveness…. you should already have found it in your heart to give forgiveness.

-BUT…. if you find yourself at this point in the process of prayer, and you have someone in your life that you haven’t forgiven for something… God does give you direction in Mark 11:25–26 when He says “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.””

-NOW…. if you are like me… it might not be quite that easy in the middle of a prayer to just STOP, FORGIVE, AND GO BACK TO PRAYER BUSINESS…. So Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV) gives you another step to take when it tells you…23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

-In other words…. Go repair your relationship with someone. You may not be able to be best co-workers, best friends, or the best family members on record. But you can repair and restore a Godly relationship from your side of it and then go back to the “ALTAR” and pick back up where you left off in your conversation with God.

-And hear this now… because I don’t want anyone walking out of here today thinking that they have to complete a step to earn God’s forgiveness. It’s not that you are Forgiven because you forgive… You forgive because you were Forgiven

-1 John 3:10 (NIV) says… 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

- v.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

- There are times in Scripture where God uses trials and temptations to test and refine us such as in 1 Peter 1:6–7 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Jesus specifically teaches us to pray not to be led into temptation for a reason here…. You see… this translation of the word “TEMPTATION” has a different meaning. It is the word that Jesus will use with the disciples later in the Garden of Gesthemane when he repeatedly tells them to Watch & Pray so that they will not enter into “TEMPTATION” while He prays. It’s also the translation of the word in 1 Corinthians 10:13 when it says… “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be TEMPTED beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

-You see… there are 2 different forms of Temptation written about there… 1 of them God wants to protect us from because it leads to evil.

-And speaking of evil…Satan on the other hand… would love nothing more than for us to dive right into Temptation and beyond. He is that Roaring lion seeking someone to devour, and so Jesus models that we must constantly and consistently cap our prayer life here… to ask God to protect and deliver us from Satan’s influence and power.

-the Disciples had seen in Jesus’ life… that The Power of Prayer is the Power of God ….. and to accomplish ANYTHING in life… much less all things set forth by God… you have to have that kind of power in your corner.

-Here at New Horizon, our mission is “To lead people to Jesus and teach them to follow Him.” That mission begins and is fueled by the Power of Prayer.

-But what about when when it’s not quite as easy as following a 5 Step Manual?

-We all know what it feels like to not to have the right words to say, to not want to talk, or to feel so distant from God that even screaming at the top of our lungs wouldn’t be loud enough to be heard.

-Romans 8:26 says … 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

-Church… God knows you better than you know yourself.

- If you don’t have the words to say, go to Him anyways and He will provide words for you.

-If you don’t want to talk…go to Him anyways and He will provide groanings too deep for words.

-If you feel like you are so far away from Him you have to scream at the top of your lungs to be heard… go to Him anyways and he will intercede for you and close that distance like “THAT”

-However you feel & whatever you do… don’t abandon the most powerful tool God has given you to journey through this thing called life.

-Pray

-The “I have to get my life right people” And with a sin debt, you also can’t set-up a payment plan that works over time. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

-Now, as we prepare to move into a time of Communion…

-Let’s take some time to remember and respond to the sacrifice that Jesus made for each and every one of us in this place today.

-In 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 the Apostle Paul tells us what Jesus said to the Disciple on the night he was betrayed… 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

-Yes… Communion is a time to remember. It is something that we do regularly to recognize what Jesus did FOR us… His body broken FOR us… His blood poured out FOR us.

-But that doesn’t mean it is just a tradition. Paul goes on to say in V. 26…

-26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

-That means that anytime we have Communion together we are also proclaiming and CELEBRATING that Jesus is coming back for us!

-So today as we share Communion together… know that we are Remembering & Celebrating. Here at New Horizon you don’t have to be a member to participate in Communion. We just ask that you have a personal relationship with Jesus… that you have confessed with your mouth that He is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.

-We have 4 stations set up. If you would exit your row to your right side to go your nearest station, and then re-enter your row from the left side. We take Communion here through Intinction, meaning we dip the bread into the juice.

-Now, let’s stand, Pray, Pause a moment to reflect on what Jesus gave for us through His body and blood…. and then take Communion

-Pray