APPROACHING THE KING WEEK 1
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How to Talk to the King
How to Talk to the King
INTRODUCTION
MY PEOPLE!
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving break! Tonight we are starting a short 2 week series called, “Approaching the King.”
Guys what is crazy is that we only have 3 MDWKs left of 2025. Tonight and 2 more. The reason this is a 2 week series and not a 3 week series is because December 17 is our Ugly Sweater Christmas Service. Make sure to wear your best ugly Christmas sweater because there will be prizes. Also Pastor Bob will be preaching that night!
Before we jump into our text for tonight I want to try something.
Proximity Illustration
Grab 20ish balls and throw them to different students in the crowd.
Okay if you have a ball please stand up. Now stay standing because have this cup that is going to sit on this stool. When I say go, everyone with a ball is going to get 1 throw and only 1 throw to try to land that ball in this cup. If someone does this I will personally hand you this $100. It’s real I promise, I went to the ATM today and pulled it out. If one of you throws the ball in this cup you get the $100. You guys ready?
Now everyone missed. I know that you all would love for a chance to try again or to try for the first time if you didn’t originally get a ball but that isn’t how life works. You get one chance and that is it.
However, I have a ball and I am a much better shot then all of you. (Put the ball in the cup).
What was the difference between your guys attempt and mine? I was closer. The ball is the same as what you guys threw, the difference is the proximity I have to the cup. Therefore I get the $100.
In life the ultimate goal of every Christian is to have the best possible relationship with Jesus.
And there is one thing that matters above all else in terms of your relationship with Him.
What matters most: is your proximity to Him.
How close you are to Jesus will define how good of a relationship you have with Him. It is very simple. The closer you are to Him the better your relationship is.
This ball is a lot like life. (EXPLAIN)
So how do find yourself close to Jesus, how do you approach the king? That is what we are going to be talking about over the next 2 weeks.
We are going to keep it so simple because a relationship with Jesus is actually pretty simple, it is like every other relationship. You need to talk to Him and listen to Him. Tonight we are going to focus on the talking portion. We are going to look at HOW TO TALK TO THE KING. Talking to the King is what we call prayer and Jesus Himself gives us an explain of how we should pray. So if you would turn your Bibles to Matthew 6. We are going to be reading verses 5 through 14.
***READ***
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “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 this day 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 evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
***PRAY***
There are 5 things that Jesus explains as we pray or as we approach the king. The first is…
APPROACH THE KING WITH HONESTY
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Fake prayer by Chat GPT:
O Eternal God, Sovereign over the swirling cosmos and trembling atoms therein. Behold! I lift my voice-resounding like a mighty trumpet, not merely unto you, but unto the gathered witnesses who, even now, surely sense the weight of my doctrinal prowess descending upon this room.
As ridiculous as that is, this is kind of what people did at that time. They would want to be seen not by God but by others and they would want others to be impressed by their prayers. But prayer is not for other people. Prayer is your direct line of communication from you to God.
Also Good is Omniscient. Which means He is all knowing.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
11 the Lord—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
There are multiple other places that shows God already knows you from the inside out. So just be honest with Him.
The second is…
APPROACH THE KING WITH REVERENCE
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus is not a genie like from Aladdin. He is not just a powerful being that we make wishes or requests too. Jesus has a very real title of King, a title earned through His resurrection. Now was He king before that? Yes! But through His victory over death He showed the world that He is the King. Therefore we should approach Him with a clear understanding of who He is.
Story of approaching Dr. Rush about changing rules at school dances.
It may seem so simple but truly acknowledging that Jesus is King. Not was king, or will be king but is King. And giving Him the respect that is due to Him. Approaching Him with the awareness of who He is. Recognizing His majesty, power, and holiness.
When you pray, you speak directly to the King. You enter into His throne room. When you approach Him, Approach the King with Reverence.
The third is…
APPROACH THE KING WITH CONSISTENCY
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
Relationships are built off of consist communication. Not yearly, not monthly, not weekly, but daily communication. Jesus is explaining that talking to God should be done on the daily. And even more than that, it shouldn’t be just a once a day routine. Pray should be happening all throughout our day at various times for various reasons.
17 pray without ceasing,
You may say Thomas it is hard to pray without ceasing, to always be thinking about prayer. But think about it like this, there is never a day that goes by where you wouldn’t be able to pray 1 of these 3 things.
A prayer of thankfulness
A prayer of concern
A prayer of wisdom
On top of those 3 things you can always and I mean always say a prayer of praise. Just a prayer where you stop what you are doing and you praise Jesus for who He is and what He has done in your life. And you may say Thomas the reason I don’t pray is because I don’t know how? I understand that and so does Jesus, thats why He says, K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid (Office reference). We over complicate everything. This is very simple and thats why Jesus gave us a simple prayer as an explain.
Learning how to talk to Couri and talking to her more often.
You need to approach the King with consistency.
The fourth point Jesus makes is…
APPROACH THE KING WITH SURRENDER
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
One of the biggest reasons for why people do not pray is because they have sin in their lives. They think oh man, God doesn’t want to hear from me. I am not walking with Him, I am being sinful. He doesn’t want to hear from me. Actually He does. And here is the thing students, for some reason we so often run from the only one who can forgive us of our sins.
We think I have to clean myself up, I have to change my life before I can ever approach the king.
I have said this more times than I can count throughout my career in pastoring. No where and I mean NO WHERE in the Bible does Jesus or anyone else say change and come to Jesus. It every part of the Bible it says come to Jesus and be changed.
Come to Jesus ask for Him to forgive you of your sins and be changed. Be changed eternally! Be changed daily.
But this isn’t just about you asking for forgiveness. People will hurt you, people will against you and if you know Jesus then you are commended to forgive those who sin against you.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
Sometimes people have the mindset Lord forgive me of my sins but… don’t forgive this person over here because they hurt me.
Surrendering is about giving yourself up. Allowing God’s will to be greater than your own.
To often we come to God with a mindset that is all about our will, our needs, our wants, our desires. We don’t stop and go… God this is what I want… but what do you have for me? Your will is greater than mine. That is approaching the King with surrender.
The last and fifth point is…
APPROACH THE KING WITH EXPECTATION
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
CONCLUSION
In life the ultimate goal of every Christian is to have the best possible relationship with Jesus.
You gain a deeper and better relationship with Jesus through the proximity you have to Him.
To gain proximity to Jesus you must approach the King and you approach the King by talking to Him.
By talking to Him with Honesty.
By talking to Him with Reverence.
By talking to Him with Consistency.
By talking to Him with Surrender.
By talking to Him with Expectation.
