Learning to Pray LIke Jesus, Part 4 (Pray Rightly)

Pray Rightly, Part 1—Matthew 6:9-10

Intro…  (Coffee w/Jesus video)

• Series overview… (Learning to Pray Like Jesus__)

o         1st, God expects us to pray, but there’s more to it than we think.

o         2nd, we must pray privately, 3rd, don’t pray empty prayers.

·          Jesus taught His disciples a pattern of principles for right praying.   (Read…)

o         2 section of the model prayer: Focus on God, self…

·          ESS: Prayer is all about God! ___

o         We make decisions based on, “What can this do 4 me?”

·          Lets notice 3 ways prayer is all about God…

I. How do we address God?—“Our Father in heaven…”

·          Jesus was teaching Jewish listeners something groundbreaking.

o         The Jewish people held the name of God w/deep reverence.

§          When the scribes who copied the  OT…

o         He’s called the Almighty, the Most High, the living God, Jeh…

·          But Jesus teaches intimacy w/God…

o         Galatians 4:4-7 teaches it… (John 1:12)

o         B/c of sin we’re separated & in debt to the law—but Jesus paid the debt on the cross so we could become sons…

·          My kids address me w/intimacy & it’s not disrespectful…

o         “Hey daddy…”, not “Hey old man…” or “O, Great Father Figure of the Home…” or “Reverend…”

·          He’s our Father, but He’s in heaven—the king of the universe. (Isa. 66:1)

·          Jesus tells us to pray intimately.

II. How do we petition God?—“hallowed be your name”

·          This isn’t as much a statement of fact as it is a petition.

o         “Hallowed”—to make holy, sanctify, set apart.

§          “Make your name holy/set apart today”

§          The opposite of taking the name in vain.—Ex. 20:7

§          Glorify/honor your name today.

·          Whatever can be done to bring glory to…

o         The only way to pray this prayer is apart from pride.

§          Pride says look at me/It’s all about me

·          This is also a statement of praise—glorify your name b/c you deserve to be glorified.

·          Job prayed this… (Job 1:21-22)

·          Who is prayer all about?—GOD!!, not me.

o         David Jeremiah quote…

Closing…

• Prayer is all about God!
• John 14:13—Prayer is  to 1st, glorify God!
• It begins & ends w/the glory of God.
• The reason many of us can’t pray: We come to God in a hurry to get what we want from Him, but rarely give Him what He deserves.
• The attitude of this world pervades even our own spiritual lives.
• When you go to a restraint you expect a certain kind of ser…
• When we drive our cars we expect…
• When we come to church, we expect to receive…
• When we pray, we expect it’s just about us.

Series overview—Now Jesus was closer to God than anyone in history I’ve ever known.  So, if you want to be close to God, it’d be a good idea to watch & learn from Jesus.

ETS…  If you don’t grasp & practice the concept of these verses, you cannot pray!

The OT scribes held God in such respect that when they wrote down the name of God, Yahweh, they would immediately throw away the pen.  Once the pen had written the holy name of God, it was disqualified from writing anything else.

Galatians 4:4-7 (ESV) 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

John 1:12 (ESV) 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Isaiah 66:1 (ESV) Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;

Exodus 20:7 (ESV) 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Job 1:20-22 (ESV) 20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

David Jeremiah… “When we come into the presence of God with and attitude of worship and praise, deferring our own requests until we have paid him the honor He is due, then we are hallowing His name.”  (We give to you what is rightly yours before we ask for things we don’t deserve in the first place.)

John 14:13 (ESV) 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.