Pure Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Shout out to Bobby and Stephanie White and their son Sam . . he went viral yesterday with his ABC song.
The Sermon on the Mount calls us to a different way of living, there’s power in prayer!
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
This prayer in Context is in both the Luke and Matthew accounts. .
Pure vs. Performance Prayer 5-8
Pure vs. Performance Prayer 5-8
don’t be like the hypocrites- similar to last week and acting on a stage
no reward. .
in the streets and synagogues -
Purpose and posture of prayer 9-15
Jesus says pray like this: This statement is interesting because through the years things get misconstrued. Many took this as: “these are the words you must say when you pray.” This good but also limited. Jesus did not intend for this to be the only words we use in prayer; rather a model to guide us and our prayers.
The structure of this prayer should guide us as we pray.
Our Father
The use of father in the Jesus uses it, turned the world upside down. It was hard to see the infinite God as father. It was hard to see the God of creation . . this distant God . . as imminent as well. God is near. When we get this understanding; it changes the way we pray it changes the swagger by which we approach God in our prayers.
The fact that the God of the universe is the same God i call on in my prayers; it makes me call on him more. There is a persistence that comes over me. It is no different from how Jesus tells us to keep seeking, keep knocking . . . on the door.
We se the persistent widow. . . we see phrases like Pray and don’t faint. Now if I am prayer to a God who doesn’t hear or answer prayer , yes I will faint, yes i will loose heart.
But my Bible reminds me in 1 John 5:15
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
Yes God is Distant but God is also near. . He is with us. . the Holy Spirit is in us. . that’s enough for me to pray.
Paul admonishes us to pray without ceasing. . we should always pray. . .
I can tell by what’s happening in this country alone that the People of God are not serious about prayer. My Grandmother had a framed poster on her wall that said: Little Prayer, Little Power, Lots of Prayer, Lots of Power.
If my people called by my name. .
I believe this resources God has given us is not utilized properly or at all.
So when we pray to our father, we pray as a child pursues their parents.
I don’t know your kids, or grandkids. . but my kids are constantly asking for stuff. All the time, from the time they get up. . once school is over. . when they go to sleep. Asking asking asking!
They ask because they i will deliver. . they never faint if i forget or if i’m slow about the request. . because they understand I have the resources and the ability to meet the need.
God is the same way. . every request i have made has not been answered and maybe not in the way that i wanted. . .but yet he Desires for us to seek Him.
the Bible says that if we being evil know how to give good gifts . . . your father in heaven who is good can do more.
Pray. . Our father
Something happens when we pray. . yeas we have needs a wants and desires. . but we see God more clearly
The Gospel according to Matthew b. Prayer, 6:5–15
We address God intimately as Father, but we immediately recognize his infinite greatness with the addition in heaven.
something changes when we pray. . we see God for who he is.
Hallowed be your Name
The name of God should be kept Holy. .
The Gospel according to Matthew b. Prayer, 6:5–15
This prayer is not so much a petition that God will do some great act that will show everyone who and what he is, as a prayer that he will bring people to a proper attitude toward him. It expresses an aspiration that he who is holy will be seen to be holy and treated throughout his creation as holy
Yes God can do exceedingly and abundantly above anything we can imagine or think . . but we must pause and recognize his greatness. . his goodness. . He is God!
Yes you have that request or that need. . but remember He is holy
Yes there is sickness in your body. . but remember He is holy
Yes resources are needed. . but remember He is holy
yes the relationship is in shambles . . but first remember he is holy.
We can loose sight of His holiness in the midst of our needs, wants and desires. God is Holy. .
The great tragedy in our Churches is that our view of God’s holiness has diminished. Our standard of Holiness has been crushed by the systems of this world and Holiness is not as stressed or as important as it once was. . .
But when we understand the holiness of God we will long to be in His presence . . we long to live a life worthy of the Gospel and that causes us a longing to communicate with him in prayer.
Kindgom come/will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Jesus teaches us that our prayers must have a kingdom perspective. We get so caught up in the right now. . many times our prayers are reflective of the here and now; and not the reality of the kingdom to come.
let my ask this . . what do you prayers look like?
yes, i said look like because we need to see what we are praying sometimes. I challenge you write down some of your prayers this week to see if you are praying with the Kingdom of God in mind.
Do your prayers reflect your kingdom or the kingdom of God?
Will the world be changed in someway by what you are praying?
Daily Bread
Jesus tells us that we can make our requests to God the Father.
He cares about our needs.
He knows what we need before we ask . . so why ask?
we ask and he desires us to ask to show our dependence upon HIm.
The lists are long. . make your requests
healing, financial, family, lost people. . the lists are voluminous.
Hear me, God is not a genie in the bottle or our Vending Machine. . .
i don’t want anyone to utilize God as a Vending Machine. Some people only go to God when there is a need but we need to get in the habit of having a regular communication with God.
Praying over your food is not enough. . Acknowledging God woke us up. . its good but not enough ..
We need to get in the regular routine of talking to God about everything.
I like many did not always have a regular routine of prayer. . however being a Cowboy and a Vol fan has a way of forcing you to pray.
Every chance i get im communicating with God. . walking and exercising. . driving in the car. . in between zoom meetings.
Forgiveness
praying for forgiveness
for yourself and we forgive others as well
