Pray Rightly 3

Pray Rightly, Part 3—Matthew 6:11-15

Intro… (Children’s prayers…)

· ESS: Prayer is all about God, but God cares about us.

o The 1st half of the model prayer reminds us to begin right & when we do, our personal parts will be right.

· The goal of this series has been to learn to pray like…

o Jesus shared His do’s & don’t’s of prayer…

§ Don’t pray like the hypocrites, but… (5-6)

§ Don’t pray like the gentiles, but… (7-15)

· 3 ways Jesus tells us to pray for ourselves…

I. Petitions for personal needs—11.

“Give us daily the bread for the coming day…”

This request would have made more sense to the disciples.
It’s hard for the Western mind to comprehend this…

B/c we’ve got an abundance of our needs: food, shelter, etc.
The Western mindset asks for thing we don’t need:

Lord help me get that raise, UGA to win, win lot.
Beware of the false gospel, that God wants U to have abundance. (How to test if your belier is Bib)

God wants us to pray & ask Him to meet our needs…

Food, clothes, water, trans. To work, for godly leaders
We need to be able to say… (1 Tim. 6:6-8, Phil 4:11-13, Prov. 30:8)

Why pray this?—“He already knows what you need.”—v.8

It shows your trust in your heavenly Daddy.
It shows you know where you blessing come from.

II. Petitions for forgiveness—12, 14-15.

“forgive us our debts” (wrongs, sins)

This petition is the greatest need we have.
Psalm 24: 3-6 (imagine credit debt)

1st, it says we have debts (our sins have put us in debt)
2nd, we must admit we have debts—Rom. 3:23, 6:23.

And we’re helpless to fix that.

3rd, God offers forgiveness (this a very gracious)

“Forgiveness” means to send away.—The Lord has removed our

“as we also have forgiven our debtors…”

What if God forgave you based on how you forgive others of their wrongs toward you?—Well, that what this verse is saying

When someone hurts us, they become indebted to us—they open an account, even though they try to pay it off, it never.
Ill. Of how I hurt Michael…

He tells us in Col. 3:12-13, Eph. 4:32…
Romans 5:6-8—While we were sinners Christ died…

For some of us the 1 thing that allow our prayers to be more effective is finding out who we’re hold unforgiveness.

III. Petitions for protection—13.

“Lead us not into temp—deliver us from the evil one”

Our struggle in this life is against the devil—He’s tough.

§ Eph. 6:10-12, 1 Peter 5:8

· Pray for protection—our victory is in Christ—in His work.

Closing…

If there was ever a time when we need to be able to pray…

God chooses to do His work on earth thru the prayers of His people/children.

Remember, the model prayer is for His followers…

Can you pray right now?
Is there unforgiveness in your life that prevents you from praying?

Opening…

· Dear God: Please send a new baby for mommy. The new baby you sent last week cries too much.—Debbie, 7

· Dear God: This is my prayer. Could you please give my brother some brains. So far he doesn’t have any.—Angela, 8

· Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man.—Hank, 7

· Dear God: Please bring me a new brother. THe one I got socks me all the time.—Agnes, 6

· Dear God: I am saying my prayers for me and my brother, because he is only 6 months old and he can’t do anything but sleep and wet his diapers.—Diane, 8

· Dear God: Please help me in school. I need help in spelling, adding, history, geography, and writing. I don’t need help in anything else.—Lois, 9

1 Timothy 6:6-8 (ESV) 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

Philippians 4:11-13 (ESV) 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Proverbs 30:8 (ESV) 8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,

Psalm 24:3-6 (ESV) 3Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

Imagine being in debt to creditors. Every time you use that credit card you go deeper in debt & you’re unable to even make minimum payments. Then your creditor says, I pardon you of the debt you owe.

Colossians 3:12-13 (ESV) 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Ephesians 4:32 (ESV) 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Romans 5:6-8 (ESV) 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 6:10-12 (ESV) 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV) 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.