"When You Pray....." Part Six
"When You Pray...." • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsPart six of the study on the Disciple's Prayer and with a focused look on our motives for praying (is our heart in it) and our persistence.
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Open with the video, “Worst Prayer Ever”.
As we move towards the end of our look at the modeled prayer that our Lord Jesus gave us, The Disciple’s Prayer, we turn our attention tonight to the three requests that are aimed towards us.
As we move towards the end of our look at the modeled prayer that our Lord Jesus gave us, The Disciple’s Prayer, we turn our attention tonight to the three requests that are aimed towards us.
If you will remember, the first three petitions within this prayer are geared towards God and recognizing who we are talking with: Hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done.
Why did Jesus start off the modeled prayer this way? Why didn’t He just start us off with our requests? (WAIT FOR ANSWERS)
Just like the video that we just watched, when we say to God, “Your will be done”, versus, “My will be done”, it is difficult for many people to say this and actually and totally mean it!
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That was the major emphasis last week, in that we looked at what is meant by, “Your will be done”, when we pray to our heavenly Father.
In talking about this, I mentioned that there is the Sovereign Will of God, which is His will and intent that comes to pass regardless of anything or anyone. (No one or nothing can inhibit or alter the Sovereign Will of God:the creation of everything, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and the finality of the kingdom being established here and the vanquishing of the devil. This will all happen, exactly as His word says, simply because it is His Word and His WILL!)
Then I mentioned that there is His command will for our lives. These are His commands that He has given for us , that He expects us to follow. (i.e. , “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”)
This is His will for us, as His children, and yet, you and I have the power, the free will (our will) to rebel and disobey what He has commanded us to do.
We can rebel and sing all day long, “The record shows, I took the blow and did it MY WAY!) However, doing it our way, versus His way, comes with consequences, as we looked at last week.
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“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.
Or how about ,
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Who enters into the Kingdom of Heaven? Who abides forever after the world and its sin has passed away?
Right, only those who do the will of God! (The commands in His word are not optional; or at least they are not optional if you want to spend eternity with Him!)
Jesus, Himself, stated that He came to do the Will of His Father and not His own Will, as in ,
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Who’s will did Jesus come to do? (WAIT FOR ANSWER)
Who’s will are you and I to seek after in prayer and reading within the Bible? (WAIT FOR ANSWER)
Tomorrow morning, when you all get up and spend the first part of your day with Abba, who’s will are you going to seek and submissively relinquish to for the day? (WAIT FOR ANSWER)
Amen and amen; GOD’s WILL on all accounts!
You will never have a healthy walk with the Lord, nor truly see the great and mighty power of Holy Spirit active in your life, if you do not seek and yield to His will for your life. (Both the individual will that He has just for you, but also the command will as listed within His word for all of His children!!)
As a final thought here, we refer to ourselves, as believers, as being the children of God, right? That is, we are a part of His kingdom family. Well, just to remove any doubt or uncertainty while on this earth, Jesus said this in ,
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus was obviously speaking of a spiritual family here, not the physical sense, as the world around Him was inquiring of.
Just like we have blood and DNA paternity tests today to determine a child’s father; so in the spiritual state, we have the paternity test of doing God’s will as the determinate of whether He is our heavenly Father or not!!
And remember this, you are either for God, serving God and doing His will (thus He is your heavenly Father), or you are against God, serving the devil and doing his will (and thus, he is your spiritual father. Just as Jesus said to the religious fanatics who opposed Him and God’s will in ,
Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!
Let’s look now at the first of the three petitions that are within this prayer for our lives: ,
Let’s look now at the first of the three petitions that are within this prayer for our lives: ,
Give us this day our daily bread,
The Hebrew word for bread, is lechem and the Greek word, as used here, is, artos. Both words refer to bread, a loaf of bread, or just simply food in general.
There is also a underlying metaphorical meaning as was used by Jesus Himself in ,
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
This second understanding is that of the spiritual nature. Jesus is saying that He is the spiritual bread or food that will sustain us.
Just as Jesus is the living Word, , ,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
This, along with ,
But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
This tells us that the natural bread (food), is not all that is required to sustain us and that it is limited as to what and how it can sustain us .
Jesus said that every WORD that comes from the mouth of God, can and will sustain us and give us LIFE.
So, when we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”, we are asking God for the blessing of our natural needs to be met (food and other provisions), but even more importantly, we are asking Him for our spiritual food; soul sustenance!
We are to invite Holy Spirit to invade and fill us each and every day anew and give us new revelation from the living breathing Word. This brings with it, an understanding of God’s Will for your life and feeds you more intently and deeply; satisfying your soul at the most complete level.
Just as we read last week, where Jesus said to His disciples in ,
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
So to, when we seek the will of God for our lives, daily, and feed upon the Bread of Life, we find the most deep and satisfying levels of nourishment for our souls. Jesus said that whoever comes to Him, shall not hunger!!
Are any of us here tonight needing some spiritual nourishment? Then, DAILY, go to the Bread of Life and feed your spirit man!
The other thing about this petition to God that I want ot stress, is that this is for DAILY provisions in our natural lives.
We are not praying, “God, give us a month’s surplus of food and natural amenities”, but rather, we are asking Him daily.....EVERY SINGLE DAY, for these things!
If He gave us an abundance all at once, then we would be much more likely to take it for granted and not keep coming back to Him. We would become self-sufficient and thinking that it was from us and by our own abilities!
You may say, “Well, right now, I gave about two months worth of food stocked in my house!”
Well then, I would suggest that every morning, before you partake of any of that food, that you pray to Him and thank Him for the provision for that day and at night, you thank Him for what you had that day!
Just as easily as you can say, “I have”, you could be put into the place of saying, “I HAD and now I NEED!”
continues with the next of our petitions to God for our daily lives with,
continues with the next of our petitions to God for our daily lives with,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
The word for “debts”, is consistent with an amount owed, an obligation; A MORAL DEBT.....SIN!
It is the understanding of our sin, that we find in this verse, being addressed here. (This is emphasized in verses 14-15 and we will mention this in a few minutes.)
This petition, is not a bargaining with God. You are not saying, “If you will do this, then I will do that!”
NO, rather, this petition is saying that we acknowledge that He has forgiven us and continues to do so with our transgressions and in like manner, we have done the same for all who have sinned against us.
This whole prayer model is based upon a sincere heart before God. (Not false pretensions and empty words to flatter God and thus think that He will grant you your selfish desires!)
So, just saying to God, “Forgive my sins, because I have done the same for others”, does not work, if you truly have not done so, or do not intend to do so.”
As one of the three petitions that Jesus showed us to make, it is important to make mention that this one petition of God, has eternal consequences with it!
It was not for our daily bread, clothing shelter or any other daily need that Jesus came to save us and buy us back!
His sacrifice upon the cross was not to save us from temptation and trials, as mankind was already lost and given to these!
His sacrifice upon the cross and the entire reason that he came to this earth, was to buy back our transgressions, to REDEEM us and pay our back debts to the one to whom we were indebted!!
He became the propitiation for our sins and through His sacrificial blood, complete forgiveness of our sins was made possible, for all who would believe and call out to Him!!
So, the idea of forgiveness of sins, both ours, a well as those who sin (or do wrong) against us, is a pretty big deal to God!
WE WILL FINISH WITH THIS WHEN WE LOOK AT verses 14-15 ,in a minute.
gives the last of the petitions of this prayer model,
gives the last of the petitions of this prayer model,
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
There have been those in the past that have questioned this statement by Jesus and wondered if He was alluding to the possibility that God would lead someone into a temptation.
This is a quick and easy answer that the Bible, itself, answers in ,
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
God does not EVER, temp someone into the very thing that He hates; SIN!!!
The main understanding of this statement comes from the Greek word used here for “temptation”, peirasmos (parasmos), which means, submit to a test, or a trial given for the purpose to make one stumble!
Just as we know that God does not tempt us, it is rather our own thoughts and desires that become our own demise, as the continuation of that passage in James tells us, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”
So, the reality of what happens is a two-way street: If we do not fully submit our lives to God and thus allow our minds to gravitate towards the things of this world, (as in our old sinful nature), then wordly desires invade our thoughts. If we do not INSTANTLY deal with these desires then temptation begins and it will lead to our sinning and even death (whether physical and/or spiritual).
If however, we are submitting to God there are still times when God may allow various trials to enter our lives that can expose us to the dangerous temptations or hardships of the devil and really put us under the fire in our faith!
In we read,
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
We see here Jesus stating that the enemy was requesting a very similar thing that we read of in the book and the Biblical account of Job; Satan was wanting to break Peter and inevitably the other disciples of their FAITH!
The trial comes and we either wholly submit to God and resist the temptation, or we begin to yield.
The Bible is very clear that God will not allow more to come upon us than we can bare, as it says in ,
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.
If we stand firm and resist and walk through the trials, then our faith will be strengthened, as we see in ,
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
And also , ,
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
The necessity and wisdom of this part of the Disciple’s prayer, is that many, if not most people, are not able to withstand, or not ready to withstand an attack of the enemy without faltering.
The devil knows our weaknesses and he will bring the things with full measure that could result in sin, if we do not resist! These trials, or temptations should never be sought out by the believer, but rather, we should (in wisdom) pray that they be shielded from us by God!
Thus the ending of deliver us from evil, (or the evil one as some translations read).
Even when the trials and temptations are raging, it is never of our own accord or merit that we make it through them, but rather, it is from God’s protection and love that we are delivered!
If the enemy is coming against you, then pray for God’s protection and pray that God will deliver you!
However, this is the wisdom and the reason that Jesus, Himself said that we are to pray, DAILY, for direction that leads us away from the path of trial and temptation.
Too many people ask why is this or that happening and one quick question should be, were you doing up front what Jesus instructed and asking DAILY to kept from these trials?!
Let me quickly come back to the point of verses 14-15 that I mentioned earlier that Jesus gives at the closing of the prayer model.
Let me quickly come back to the point of verses 14-15 that I mentioned earlier that Jesus gives at the closing of the prayer model.
It is not the forgiving of others that gets us forgiveness for our sins. This is works oriented and that is not what does it, or has ever done it. Jesus and His perfect works on the cross paid the price for our sins and this and this alone gives us forgiveness!
says,
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
The point that Jesus is making in these verses is that you and I must forgive others AS we have been forgiven of our sins.
Think of it as the same measure that you have been forgiven for you sins, so you must do.
, is the understanding of forgiving others. Peter asks the question about the number of times that he should forgive someone sinning against him and Jesus quickly dispels his notion and then He quickly gives the parable of the unforgiving debtor.
You and I are commanded to forgive and it is pointless to pray with the false pretenses of forgiveness, because God knows your heart and your motives before you ask or pray to Him.
In closing, my objective throughout this mini- study was to get us focused on a daily prayer regimen with God that would serve as a guide and help strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
In closing, my objective throughout this mini- study was to get us focused on a daily prayer regimen with God that would serve as a guide and help strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
I feel that far too many Christians come to God as if He were their personal jeanie and they rub the bottle and make their requests. Jesus didn’t go to the cross to give us personal access to the Christian Home Shopping network!
SHOW VIDEO “Vending Machine God”