"When You Pray....." Part Four

(Open with video)I just thoroughly enjoyed watching this (and hoped that you would also)! The thought that came to mind was the enthusiasm they had while singing it!

OK, who has something related to their praying that we started two weeks ago that they would like to share tonight; maybe a word of confirmation, a breakthrough, a verse that was given to them related to the matter they are praying over?

Another question that I wanted to ask is, “Who in here would say that an increase in your prayer life (your quiet time with Abba) is something that you are seriously wanting to see happen!

“Why do we pray?” And even more important of a question, “Why do we not pray?”

USE THE AVOCADO SEED FOR AN EXAMPLE. (“How many of you know or recognize what this is?”)

Explain of how to grow an avocado tree from the seed and parallel it to our own lives and the need for prayer; with prayer. SHOW SLIDES!

- The Holy Spirit permeates us (our shell) and it is under the wooden beams of the cross that we become exposed to the living water that is needed to bring new life and growth.

- As we are nourished from the live bringing word of God, we begin to grow and develop small roots that reach out.

- It is only when we become planted, firmly rooted into our walk with the LORD, through continual prayer and reading the word, that we grow to become a healthy and fruit bearing vessel, as we were created to be!

- We just need the TRUTH to set us free from this shell and become the creation that He intended!

So, this evening, we are continuing with our look into the modeled prayer that Jesus, Himself, gave us in and .

Remember, that, although we refer to this as the Lord’s Prayer (since our Lord gave it), it was a model given for His disciples and thus, the more correct name should be, the Disciple’s Prayer!

Also, as a reminder of the necessity of our prayer, it is wise to note that in both Matthew’s recording as well as Luke’s, the Lord is telling us that we ARE TO BE PRAYING! (it’s not an option in the Christian’s life!) Jesus said, “WHEN YOU PRAY…” and also, “PRAY THEN LIKE THIS...”

These are both statements that show that this is to be taking place in our lives and in the process of this happening, (as a guide and aid to help grow our relationship with the Father), then Jesus gave us a model to start off with!

It is not a rehearsed and memorized prayer! He did NOT say, “PRAY THIS”, but rather, “Pray LIKE this!”

I mentioned last time that we would be primarily reading from Matthew account (as given during the Sermon on the Mount), because of its content and clarity.

Last Wednesday, we looked at the opening of this prayer model, as seen in .

Matthew 6:9 ESV

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

I mentioned last week that one of the greatest and most amazing things to me, is that the God of all creation, the ONE TRUE GOD, Jehovah, wants such an intimate relationship with me and you, that He allows us to call Him Abba (Father)!!

Throughout the OT, we see God referred to, or likened to that of a father, but more in the sense as that of the Father of the nation of Israel; corporately, not intimately, individually and personally, as a common thought.

,

Jeremiah 31:9 ESV

With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

,

Isaiah 64:8 ESV

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

It wasn’t until Jesus the Christ came onto the scene in the NT and began declaring who his Father was that we saw such intimacy with the Lord, as called Abba (Aramaic), or Pater (Greek).

And it wasn’t until Jesus gave us this level of intimacy, that it came into existence. (To the Hebrew leaders, it was heresy to says that God was your Father!)

Of course it was these same leaders that positioned themselves as the great teachers and even possibly likened themselves to being true spiritual fathers. (To them, an earthly natural father, was only instrumental in earthly life, but because of their work and teachings, people gained a much greater gift; thus they were the master teachers, or fathers!)

For this very reason, Jesus made mention, that they were to understand, that in this respect as to the spiritual authority and honor, there was only one Father, ,

Matthew 23:9 ESV

And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

This statement made by Jesus was given during His strong rebuke against the religious leaders in Matthew’s gospel, during what is referred to as the Seven Woes to the Scribes and the Pharisees.

In this rebuke, He is condemning their practice of lauding praise upon themselves as great rabbis (teachers) and being recognized publicly with the best seats and the most notarized titles. Instead, Jesus tells them, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

So, in this situation, Jesus condemns the use of “father”, for it was being used as a self appointed title for authority and taking reverence FROM God as opposed to the title “Father” used in the Disciple’s Prayer given to and paying reverence TO God! (As denoted by, “our Father, who is in heaven”.)

In all other world religions and pagan cultures, their gods and deities that they worshipped (which are numerous, as in Hinduism with its 33 million gods!), were ruthless, cruel, demanding and ever grudging; gods that must be appeased and placated!

This is one of the reasons that when these people are brought face to face with the ONE TRUE GOD and that He is a loving God and desires an intimate relationship with them and even allows them to call Him Father (once they have been adopted; as is the criteria for us all, , “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” And then .

Romans 8:14–17 ESV

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

We will come back to that part about “sharing in His suffering”, in a little while!

The point is, that when these people coming from these false and pagan religions become adopted and learn that they have a heavenly Father and can even call their God, Abba, it is the most amazing thing to them and absolutely rocks the foundation of their world! (Which is another reason why they are so totally committed to Him; because they have come from the other side that is filled with pain and constant disappointments and works in vain!)

This is probably one of the reasons why so many Christians in this country have grown so apathetic and weak in their walk, because so many of them have never truly known the other side and all of its pain and disappointments and then come into the glorious presence of God, through belief in Jesus!

Share what Sherry Nichols said about the team of men at the P&W event in Knoxville, and of how she knew that they were former drug/alcohol men who had been set free, just by the way that their worship and praise was so amazing and intimate! (The one who has been forgiven much, loves much!)

It would serve us well to remember that, although we have been given this great gift of sonship in the kingdom and can call God our Father, we never should forget who and where He is!

Hence the very next words in the prayer model, “who is in heaven”! This serves to quickly remind us of His holiness! (Never forget who He truly is and try to bring God down to your level and your reasoning. The outcome for you will not be good! He may be your HEAVENLY FATHER, but He is also still GOD!!)

Jesus gave these side by side and in doing so, we can see two great attributes of God: His great and perfect agape love (as denoted by our Father), but also His omnipotent power! You cannot have the one in God and not the other.

If He were one, but not the other, then He would not be Jehovah! Just as His ways are immutable, so are His attributes! And for this, as we seek His face in prayer, we should be forever grateful that His love and forgiveness, as well as His endless power to protect us from all things, never end or change!

And then, we come to the next part in the opening of this prayer in ,

Matthew 6:9 ESV

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

Matthew 6:9 ESV

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

“Hallowed be Your name”! What did we say last week that “hallowed” meant or refers to?

Right, it is the Greek word, hagiazō, and it refers to honoring as holy!

Do you remember how we have mentioned before, that a name, (especially a name as given to those in the days of the Bible and per Hebrew culture), was given for a different reason than that with which most people do it today?

The name given did not just carry a title for a person, but it also carried the character and purpose of that person. (Just like when Gabriel told Mary that she would have a son and that she was to call His name, Yeshua. Yeshua means savior and that is what His character and purpose was in coming to humanity; He was and forever will be our SAVIOR!)

Well, our heavenly Father, has many names and each of them tell of a different character or nature that He is:

SHOW SLIDE OF NAMES!

Remember this about this part of the prayer model also, we (you and I), do not make God or His name holy! There is nothing that we do or anyone that has or ever will exist, that can make God or His name holy!

God is and His name is HOLY! That attribute belongs to Him and He and He alone is HOLY. We do not make Him that way, just because we say or do something!

The passage reminds us of His holiness and that we are to revere that name in our hearts as Holy, but there is nothing that we bring to the table that makes it that way!!

In order to truly revere God and His name as Holy in your life, you must truly BELIEVE in who He is and what HE is! This, alone, determines your prayer life with Him. (Rhetorical and empty prayers of little belief bring just that in return, as answers. LITTLE and rhetorical answers!) YOU MUST BELIEVE!

When we look at this world around us, it should instantly validate and verify and affirm in our hearts that there is ONE, TRUE GOD OVER ALL!

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 The Prayer for Reverence (Matthew 6:9 Contd)

William Paley’s old argument, produced at the beginning of the nineteenth century, is not yet completely outdated.

William Paley’s old argument, produced at the beginning of the nineteenth century, is not yet completely outdated. It went like this: Suppose there is a man walking along the road. He strikes his foot against a watch lying in the dust. He has never in his life seen a watch before; he does not know what it is. He picks it up; he sees that it consists of a metal case, and inside the case a complicated arrangement of wheels, levers, springs and jewels. He sees that the whole thing is moving and working in the most orderly way. He sees further that the hands are moving round the dial in an obviously predetermined routine. What then does he say? Does he say: ‘All these metals and jewels came together from the ends of the earth by chance, by chance made themselves into wheels and levers and springs, by chance assembled themselves into this mechanism, by chance wound themselves up and set themselves going, by chance acquired their obvious orderly working’? No. He says: ‘I have found a watch; somewhere there must be a watchmaker.’

We look at the world and all of the amazing things within it that just work together and we must say the same thing: “Somewhere, there must be a world-maker”!

Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 238). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 238). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

You will not truly revere something that you do not truly believe in!

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 The Prayer for Reverence (Matthew 6:9 Contd)

In his catechism, Martin Luther asks: ‘How is God’s name hallowed among us?’ and his answer is: ‘When both our life and doctrine are truly Christian’, that is to say, when our intellectual convictions, and our practical actions, are in full submission to the will of God.

In his catechism, Martin Luther asks: ‘How is God’s name hallowed among us?’ and his answer is: ‘When both our life and doctrine are truly Christian’, that is to say, when our intellectual convictions, and our practical actions, are in full submission to the will of God. (Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 241). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.)

Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 241). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

It is here that we will move forward with the next part of the Disciple’s Prayer.

,

Matthew 6:10 ESV

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

This phrase, “the kingdom of God”, or the “kingdom of heaven”, is probably the most spoken of and used verse within the NT.

Just think about it, how many times in church or in Christian circles (that is, if you run in any Christian circles), do you, or have you heard the phrase, “the kingdom of God”?

This is probably the most used phrase in prayer and Christian literature. And, because of the reciting of the Disciple’s Prayer, we recognize the statement and declaration of, “God, let your kingdom come”!

This isn’t new to the modern church and in fact, it was the main emphasis in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, before the church (the ecclesia), was ever born.

Jesus stated that this was His prime emphasis, as in ,

Luke 4:43 ESV

but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

And again in ,

Mark 1:38 ESV

And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

It was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, who declared that the kingdom was at hand, ,

Matthew 3:2 ESV

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

This statement being said just before the coming of the Messiah onto the scene.

Jesus made the statement that, with His arrival and presence, the kingdom was already here on earth. He said this in regard to the religious zealots questioning Him about when the kingdom of God was coming. ,

Luke 17:21 ESV

nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

Luke 17:20–21 ESV

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

The kingdom of God had come among men and the door into the kingdom was being opened and explained of by Jesus.

Then in this modeled prayer, we see Jesus declaring that every disciple of His, was pray and declare the kingdom, which leant to the understanding of a future kingdom.

And here we are, still declaring it, which tells us that this kingdom was past, present and since it is not consummated (completed) yet, then it is still future in its establishment.

How can this kingdom be three time frames and yet all the same thing (past, present and future) and still the same kingdom?

Well, to understand this, we need to understand what the kingdom truly is. Jewish literature helps understand this. It was a very common thing in the Jewish writings to use what we call, parallelism, which is basically saying the same thing twice. This was accomplished by saying something and then in saying it again in another way that would amplify or explain the first statement.

To get an idea of this, you can look at just about any of the Psalms and you will see it.

,

Psalm 46:1 ESV

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

,

Psalm 119:9–11 ESV

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

A really familiar one. ,

Psalm 23:1–2 ESV

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

Do you see how this works with the parallelism style of writing; one thing is said and then another expounds or explains it and reiterates the first thing?

Let’s use this same understanding of Jewish speaking and writing to the phrase that Jesus made in the Disciple’s Prayer in verse 10.

Matthew 6:10 ESV

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

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 God’s Kingdom and God’s Will (Matthew 6:10)

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

With the same understanding of parallelism, then we would assume that the second statement expounds, or explains and amplifies the first one, right?

Well, that is exactly what it does in this prayer model!

This is saying, that the kingdom of God is a place here on earth where God’s will is being done, just as it is in heaven!

Thus, past, present and future, have all seen this same kingdom. Anyone, throughout the ages, who have actively sought to allow the will of God to be done through their life, is within the kingdom!

Thus, we can easily say then, that to be in the kingdom of God, is to be in, or to obey the will of God!

This is not a corporate thing, a national thing, a church body thing, a family lineage or whatever you want to refer to it as, it is an individual thing; between each person and God within their own lives!

Who in here, knows that they are an adopted son or daughter of Abba? Because you can’t become one, if you’re not yielding to the will of God, which was carried out through His son, Jesus Christ! AMEN?!

If that is you, then say, “I am in the kingdom of God!”

When we say in prayer, “God, your kingdom come”, we are saying that we want to bend completely and humbly to His will and surrender ourselves and our will to that of His will. Then the kingdom has come!

Jesus said this of the kingdom of God, ,

Acts 1:

Luke 13:20–21 ESV

And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

I like this explanation for Jesus’ comparison of the kingdom:

The kingdom starts from a small beginning, the leaven is small but it changes the whole, the death of one man in the overall sea of humanity is small, but it changes everything

The kingdom works unseen, you cannot see the leaven working, you cant see the kingdom working as it works in human hearts, faith is spread as people speak of Jesus and tell of his love, his way of truth and life, his salvation and promise and as they live like he did

The Kingdom works from the inside, to make the bread the dough needed kneading and then baking. It is the Holy Spirit who sows the “leaven” or faith in Jesus Christ into the flour of our hearts our souls,

The power of the Kingdom comes from the outside the Holy Spirit then kneads us (some like me need a good pounding) to increase faith, to use his gifts for Gods glory and to touch others around us bringing the kingdom into there lives.

Next week, we will continue by adding in the phrase, “your WILL be done”.