Release Pt 1 Prayer
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1) Why do they need to know it? – INFORMATION – If they do not know it they will not see the need.
Series Explanation (ME)
Humming bird story
At the back of my house we have these abnormally large windows. These things are huge, and one of the things that happens when you have huge windows is things run into them. Balls, mud, dogs etc. Well a few years back we had a several birds run smack into our windows. We would be doing something and all the sudden you would hear a thump and it turned out a bird had smacked itself into the window. Some get up and fly off, others, well they don’t make it. In one of these incidents, I think we were eating, we heard a smaller thump. I went out to investigate and it turned out that a hummingbird had flown straight into our window. It was a beautiful green and blue bird that was just laying their and not moving. So thinking it would be cool to show the kids. I picked it up and after a few seconds of holding it, it opened its eyes and flew out of my hands. What is the point of this story?
It’s not to tell you I pick up animals I think are dead, but it is to describe the Christian life a little bit. Before we come to know Christ Paul tells us we are dead in our sins and trespasses, but once we turn to Him and submit to Him we are made new in Him according to verses like and . Christ has made us new, He has set us free so that we might serve HIm. Peter put it this way:
16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
Paul put it this way:
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
This paradox of the Christian life, being free to serve. Is often coiled against. Freedom is something that we believe means we are constrained by nothing, but in all reality in the Christian life to be free means we are alive to love, follow and obey.
What does that mean though, and what does it have to do with animals hitting my window? The answer comes as we think about story of the hummingbird a little more. The bird thought it could fly anywhere it wanted, but the reality that clear hard substance said it couldn’t. It was only when it regained consciousness and flew the opposite direction that it experienced freedom. Obviously I did not bring this thing back from the dead, but picking it up I was able to experience it be what it was supposed to be up close and personal. It was a unique experience that I will probably not have again, holding a hummingbird as it regained consciousness and watching it lift off from my hands. It knew by instinct to have freedom it had to get a way from me, the window and fly as fast as it can another direction.
b) WE (identification)
For those of us who have recieved Christ, Jesus offers us this kind of release as well. Not release from a giant person or a window, but release to know Him more intimately, to rest in Him and to follow Him. This release requires two things, first a continual transformation of Character and second an embracing of Jesus design and purpose for us as individual believers as well as a corporate body.
God uses several things to help transform our Character. While God uses experience, time and people to grow us. Scripture shows us that practicing Spiritual Disciplines associated with His Word is the primary way He will transform us into Christlikeness. So over the next three weeks, or my part of the series we are going to focus in on three spiritual disciplines that help us know Christ and to trust Him more. These three disciplines are not always easy to practice or easy to comprehend, so my goal is that through practice of these three things we will know the release God has for us from the cares of this world and so that we may focus on the things that are on His heart. Then Dave will wrap up the series with three weeks on gifting. Let me be up front with you the three disciplines are not always easy to talk about or do. They require us to be honest with the Lord and to put into practice the hard reality that we and our families are not the center of the universe. I know that sounds harsh but stick with me. The fallacies that Jesus will save us and then just leave us alone, or Jesus saves us now we can do what ever we want are two the greatest fallacies that will keep us restrained in this life. These two things come from a self-centered theology predicated on the idea that because we are being saved we are the most important thing around and because we are given a full life we dictate what that life is. Jesus never says that. Think back to or . Peter and Paul are clear, we are saved to know Him and to also glorify HIm. This happens when we submit to Him and embrace that release is truly counter to the ideas many of us embraced when we first came to know Christ. So this week we will focus in on prayer. Not becuase
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Being a slave to God, means being His child and growing to be more like Him. puts it this way
15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
It means having the most fulfilled life possible. He offers us a life that brings deeper satisfaction, greater peace and more love then we can ever have with out Him. He brings hope, and we grow in these things when we get one board with Him.
a) ME (orientation)
b) WE (identification)
2) What do they need to know? – MOTIVATION
To do this we are going to look at one of the most famous prayers in the Bible. So turn in your Bibles or apps to . Many of us probably knew the Lord’s prayer before we knew the Lord. Please do not let that cause you to tune out. This passage gives us some incredible insights in how to approach the throne of God. So before we jump in lets take a minute to pray and read Jesus’ words. (Read from Bible)
Through this passage Jesus offers us insight into the nature of the Father, the conditions our hearts need to be in and how we should approach Him.
Jesus releases us by giving us an accurate picture of the Father.
5 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.
5 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him. 9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
Jesus’ model prayer releases us by teach us how to pray.
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.
Matthew 6:9-15
13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
Through this passage Jesus offers us insight into the nature of the Father, the conditions our hearts need to be in and how we should approach Him. As we delve into what He says we realize when we listen to His teaching and apply what He points out our prayer lives will grow in depth and our hearts will be released to serve Him more faithfully. puts it this way:
I recited it before every football game in High School and in many ways did the very thing Jesus was telling us not to do by doing that. bu
Through this passage Jesus offers us insight into the nature of the Father, the conditions our hearts need to be in and how we should approach Him. As we delve into what He says we realize when we listen to His teaching and apply what He points out our prayer lives will grow in depth and our hearts will be released to serve Him more faithfully. puts it this way:
32 I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.
37 Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; give me life in your ways.
32 I pursue the way of your commands, for you broaden my understanding.
When Jesus passed what we call the Sermon on the Mount, He was not giving us some strong teaching with a few pithy sayings to keep us coming back for more. He was challenging us to look at life from an eternal perspective. To understand that when we receive Him our ethic has to change from being bound to this world to being released to freely live a life of Christlike character. The Sermon was and is revolutionary. He was showing those who had gathered around Him that to follow Him was not just falling in line with religious tenets that can be thrown off when they get uncomfortable. To follow Him requires living the way He designs. So when we He teaches He knows that without Him we will not be able to live up to this. In a sense the Sermon gives us understanding of what Kingdom life looks like. D.A. Carson does a great job explaining the already, but not yet sense of the Sermon with this diagram.
DA Carson Diagram
To put it another way; Jesus understands the human heart far better then we can comprehend our own. He knows these words are not spoken to start a new tradition, but He shares them because He desires us to have a growing satisfaction in the Lord. To enjoy Him and as a result live with Him as our sole priority in our lives. So how does Jesus do this in this passage?
First Jesus offers release us by giving us an accurate picture of the Father.
a) GOD (Illumination)
Jesus releases us by giving us an accurate picture of the Father.
Take a look at 5 - 8,
5 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.
Look at how Jesus starts, “When you pray...” He does not assume His followers will live lives with out prayer, but that we will pray. The reason why is that we are in relationship with the Father, He is accessible and we are saved to know “ the One True God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.” Jesus dies for relationship, He raises for relationship. This is an essential part of our walk, and if you are anything like me you miss out of this critical aspect of relationship becuase You do not pray like you believe He is there. Why this happens can be a result of a number of things. It might be your too busy, or you are like me a little to focused on your own needs or it might be that you are like the Jews and gentiles He mentions in this passage that run through the spiritual exercises when the time is right but who do not really know the one they think they are reaching out to. Only you can truly diagnose if you have a prayer problem and what the cause of it is. If it is that last one though and you are going through the motions but have not turned to Christ yet let me invite you to stop a second to hear His message.
Jesus loves you, He created you and wants you to know Him. He wants this so much that He left His throne in heaven to come to earth, live a perfect life and give Himself up to God on the cross so that He could pay the price for our sin and rebellion against Him. His death was real, He was buried, and on the Third day He left the grave showing that He conquered death. This is His gift to You, that if you receive this truth You will enter into relationship with the One true God and His Son. He will be the satisfaction that you hope religious practice or something else brings. He will walk with You through struggles and challenges in ways that will amaze you. He does this becuase He loves you.
Being religious does not make you right, which is actually Jesus’ point in this opening section. These two groups were missing the mark on how to pray. The Jews were praying to be seen, they were practicing the discipline of spiritual browny points. The Jews/hypocrites would often pray to be thought of as more spiritual. This happens now. I have even caught myself doing this at times. I pray to be heard by you or another group I am [praying with but put the right words in front to make it seem like I am praying to the Father. I don’t do this all the time, but I know I am doing this when I am searching for the right phrase or word to not sound foolish or dumb out loud.
It is important to understand that the Jesus is not condemning public prayer, but the heart that is seeking adoration from other for that prayer. He tells us to go into our room and close the door, becuase that is where the majority of our prayer needs to happen anyway. Not in a physical room, but a in a way quiet way not drawing attention to ourselves. The Father receives this type of prayer becuase it is to Him, which is part of the reward He gives us.
The second group Jesus points out is the gentiles. There was common practice in polytheistic society to make a lot of noise, repeating things over and over with the hope of being heard. In a way this is a hard passage becuase what do we do with verses like where Jesus makes it clear persistence is important, or with where Jesus teaches a parable about the persistent widow and the mean judge. How she kept going back to him until he finally gave in. Jesus is not teach God gives in by the way the point of the story is to be persistent. So how does that jive, with this passage? I think the answer is in the word babble. The meaning of this word is really to just utter meaningless words strung together. Jesus is hitting the heart of prayer in these two examples and as a result pointing us to a very important truth about the Father.
That truth is that He is there. He is ready to listen and to give us direction. He wants us to talk with Him, because He can actually do something about what we are talking to Him about. Jesus says, “He knows the things you need before you ask Him.” Holding on to this reality releases us to approach HIs throne and to speak with Him.
The next thing Jesus does to help us know the Father more intimately is to give us an example prayer. Now before I go any further, let me be clear about something. Many use this prayer as a prayer, and when done reverently like Jesus has shown that is okay, but if you look at the first phrase of the passage you see that Jesus’ intention was to give an example. Take a look at the first part of verse 9.
“Therefore, you should pray like this:” Other versions say, “This then is how you should pray...” or “Pray then in this way” All are accurate and express Jesus’ intentions. He gave us an example that is both relational and reverent. That teaches us to have the concerns of God as well as to approach Him with our concerns, needs and desires. When we see that, I beleive this model or example can act to help us grow in a more consistent prayer life and a more consistent walk with Him. Let’s take a look at the rest of the prayer. The first statement actually wraps up our first point. “Our Father in Heaven”. Two things need to be reinforced here. The first is the Fatherhood of God. While mentioned in the OT, was not a common OT theme. God was personable, but transcendent. This expression reveals these themes about Him but Jesus by starting a prayer with a word that would be close to the english Daddy, shows God is accessible. He loves and wants us to know Him. Jesus does not loose any reverence though by adding in Heaven, it shows the Father is fully separated from His creation. That while He loves us, He does not need us, He will not be tainted by our sin and is fully righteous and just. The second thing is actually the second word of the prayer in Greek. “Our” Using the 1st person plural Jesus shows us we are not alone, but that even when we are praying alone we need to acknowledge that we are a body of believers coming to Him. This doesn’t mean we must never say, “My Father...”
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
Matt 6:
The first three petitions of this prayer are focused on the Father, His kingdom and His will. This is essential for the us as believer. Praying like this draws us into God’s purposes. Jesus teaches His followers that to be in God’s Kingdom we are to be about His purposes. This is through out Scripture and helps us stay true to the nature of His Character which intern transfoms ours. Take a look at the firest request. “Your name be honored as holy.” In the culture Jesus was in the “Name” of a person was closely related to their character and their authority. It is similar in some parts of our culture. Obvioulsly it can be twisted on the human level, but when people talk about me they generally use my name. In doing so they are expressing who I am, my hope is that I have been the type of person to them that points them to Jesus, but before if someone knew me before i started walking with Christ they may have a different opinion of me. My name might be mud to them. Praying that the Father’s name be honored as holy, is asking Him to work in us in a way that honors Him and glorifies Himself. We cannot make God anymore Holy then He already is, He cannot make Himself more Holy, but He can make us more like His Son, which honors Him as holy. So what does prayer like this look like?
Your wi
Depending on what you do with most of your time, it might be that your prayer is you will honor God before your children. Or that you ask Him to honor His name as Holy through You. You probably wouldn’t say it that way, but it might look something like this, “Father, as I do my research today give me courage to be honest, faithful and caring so that You will be honored in my lab.” Or Father, as I teach the kids today please help me to guide in such a way that it honors You and shows them Your holy love.”
The point isn’t to have an exact wording, but to worship Him and be about the things He desires us to be about.
D. A. Carson put it this way, “In other words, Christ’s followers are asking their heavenly Father to act in such a way that they and an increasing number of others will reverence God, glorify him, consider him holy, and acknowledge him.”
Praying this way releases us to be about Him and not about us! While this might sounds constraining at first, when we embrace this truth we see the freedom God offers. It becomes less about what we do not get to do anymore and more about how we can join Him.
The second petition is Your kingdom Come. Obviously closely related to the the first petition this petition is about action. Your kingdom come means we are asking that He would work in a way that brings a consummation of His kingdom soon. It also means we are asking that we prioritize what God prioritizes first. We leave our priorities, our desires and our preferences at the door so that we can say Your work be done Lord, Your ways be done, Your heart for people take priority over my heart for self or family or profession. Your Kingdom Come releases us to live by Christ centered design rather then self centered priority. Many of us struggle with this. We desire to have God confirm our desires, but we do not ask Him to give us His desires. Praying Your kingdom come is also asking God bring the fullness of His kingdom soon. This is a constant reminder that we do not just live for today, but for eternity.
Praying your Kingdom come might look like this, “Father, please draw our children into a deep and vibrant relationship with You.” Or “Father, would you work through River Church to draw people into life changing relationship with You?” Another one, might be, “Father would You continue to work through the IMB to send out workers to nations.” The possibilities are endless, the point is that prayer that releases us is prayer that focuses on what He focuses on!
The third petition is “Your will be done on earth as it in heaven.” While this request focuses on God will, like the others it places a commitment on us. We are asking that God’s will be done on earth and the primary will doers are His people. Asking this prayer is a commitment that we find out His will by getting into His word and obeying Him. For the longest time when I would think about this request I honestly treated it like it was something where we would ask God to do His will and leave it alone. I did not see that with all three of these first petition Jesus phrases them in a way that commits us to joining Him in what we are asking Him to do. So with “God’s will being done.” We are committing to seeking what His will is through His Word and acting on it through His power and grace.
The last three phrases of the prayer are ones concerning our needs. Take a look at the end of verse 11. “Give us this day our daily bread.” The phrasing of this is important, because it is focuses on our needs for the coming day. Not the week, month, or year, but the next set of minutes and hours. It also teaches us to receive what we need. The need to trust the Father with His provision protects us from greed and frees us to live with out worry and anxiety. It is important to understand that God is concerned about giving us what we need, not just what we want. With that He promises to give us an abundant life, which in my thinking shows His care for all of our lives. This also commits us to use what we are given for His purposes. So as we pray this, we might be thinking about how we might be using that raise for His kingdom work.
Jesus’ next phrase is “And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.” Sin is real and as believers we have to recognize that we still struggle with it. This phrase connects with the desire to see God’s will be done. We have talked at length about forgiveness and I even shared what one of my mentors taught us about it a few weeks ago, but Jesus sees it as a primary issue so we need to see it that way also. We will talk about this more in a second but He doesn’t just talk about the vertical aspect of forgiveness He talks about the horizontal aspect as well. We must take time to clear things up with the Lord, but we must also have the awkward conversations to clear things up with others and to forgive others.
I realize time is getting short so i want to touch on verse 13 with the understanding that there is always more to talk about this subject. Essential just as Jesus teaches us to ask for the physical provisions of life in verse 11, Jesus is now showing we need the Father for our Spiritual Provision in 12 - 13. We touched on forgivness, but what about this next verse? Does God lead us into temptation? Is that way we pray this? How does that line up with where James says, “God cannot be tempted by evil nor does He tempt anyone”? The word temptation can also be translated test or trail. So the please is that we will not be put to the test past what we can handle. Paul expresses this sentiment in
13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide a way out so that you may be able to bear it.
God does not temps us, but leads us to the place of growth, but we can know both from the petition and from other verses He will use this situations to teach us to rely on Him. F.F. Bruce put it this way, “· But the force of the petition would be better expressed by rendering it, `May our faith stand firm in the time of trial' or `Save us in the time of trial.' Through that trial we can no longer pass; the Son of man passed through it as our representative. [1]" As we learn to rely on Him we will see a joyful freedom that results in peace and truth. So how do we pray this kind of prayer? It might be Lord Help! or Father, I know my daughter is really being challenged right now, lead her away from the temptations of the devil and teach her how satisfying it is follow you.
As we wrap up, I think we need to end the sermon like Jesus ended this section.
14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.
Jesus wants to make something clear. He doesn’t want us to
Unforgiveness = spiritual sick or spiritually dead
4) Why do the need to do it? – INSPIRATION
I recited it before every football game in High School and in many ways did the very thing Jesus was telling us not to do by doing that. bu
b) What is the main point?
3) What do they need to do? – APPLICATION
a) YOU (Application)
4) Why do the need to do it? – INSPIRATION
a) WE (inspiration)
5) How can I help them remember - REITERATION
Release requires two things
Character
Gifting
First three weeks i am going to focus on three Character refining and revealing disciplines.
Prayer
Fasting
Giving.
Wrap up and ask people to pray for a few min.
These three things are not the only disciplines we need but they do show us our hearts. They show us who or what we relie on and honestly they make us a little uncomfortable when we first begin to practice them, but as we look at Scripture we see these are not just commanded they are assumed.
[1] F. F. Bruce. Hard Sayings of Jesus (The Hard Sayings Series) (Kindle Locations 792-793). Kindle Edition.