Our Enabling Environment: Prayer

Series Review

Prayer Defined

Sermon Inro.

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

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.

FCF: Often the transcendence of God is not present in our prayers regarding the present.

We must filter our prayers for the needs of our present through the fact that God is transcendent.

Needs Transcended

The rest of our times together will be outlined by 2 questions:

What does it mean that God is transcendent? (9-10)

What describes prayers that are filtered throuhgh the transcendence of God? (11-13)

What does it mean that God is transcendent? (9-10)

God is holy (9)

Our Father in heaven

intimacy & commitment

how God has been addressed already in this gospel

Matthew 5:16 ESV

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:45 ESV

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

plural pronoun

Petition #1: hallowed be your name

lit. let your name be sanctified

imperative

God will sanctify His name

Ezekiel 36:23 ESV

And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

God’s people sanctify His name

This carries the idea of vindication. Regardless of the failure of people to recognize and acknowledge God’s holiness and supremacy, He will work in such a way among people that His name, that is, who He is will be clearly declared as holy.

Isaiah 29:23 ESV

For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

people will honor God’s name in obedient action and praise

So when we pray, we are praying to the God who vindicates (clears all uncertainty) His name and makes it clear that He is the one true living God

But we also are praying to the God who is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our obedience. We are to live and breathe for the aim of His glory.

And when we pray, we are praying with an urgency that is fueled by a desire for God to be honored.... hallowed by your name..... let your name be sanctified

God’s holiness is seen in the fact that He is

God is sovereign (10a)

Petition #2: your kingdom come

already/not yet

already

Matthew 3:2 ESV

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:17 ESV

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

the kingdom of heaven is drawing near. It came with Jesus.

Today, it continues to draw near as the church worships and serves the King

Praying that the Kingdom of God comes is to pray that we will yield to His sovereign plan.

People get saved: the KOG draws near

People of God obey: the KOG draws near

As we fight temtptation and love our enemies and declare Christ to be the supreme treasure of our lives: the KOG draws near

When we pray, we must pray with the awareness that the kingdom of God began unfolding in the midst of the earth with the arrival of Jesus and continues to unfold today. We must be kingdom-minded people today as we pray.

Not yet

one day Jesus will come again and establish His kingdom for all to see

all evil will cease

all people will submit to the sovereign God

praying the God’s kingdom come is a prayer for God to take action. Only God can establish His kingdom. He enables His people to live in such a way to manifest the unfolding reality of His kingdom now, but only He can bring it to fruition. He will bring it to pass for His people and for His glory.

Let your kingdom come

God is King (10b)

Petition #3: Your will be done

let your will be done

This petition relates back to the first 2.

For the present, God’s will and therefore our desire is that His name would be revered. That we would obey and pursue His will now.

We, the worshippers of God would work towards God’s divine purposes.

But it accounts for the future aspect of this prayer. Praying that God’s will for His kingdom to be estalished and come to frutiion. We pray with this longing and expectation. Recognizing that God is sovereign over all things and all people, so His will, will be done.

But we should recognize that there is a cost to praying God’s will be done. It’s a cost not because God’s will is not always best.... it is, but there is a cost to yielding to God now. We’re called to take up our crosses and follow Jesus daily.

This language of praying for God’s will to be done shows up later in the life of Jesus. He prays just before He is arrested and crucified

Luke 22:42 ESV

saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Do we ever hesitate to pray for God’s will to be done because we’re concerned that His will could be painful or disappointing?

Understand, God’s will is always best. When we pray for God’s will, we’re not praying for the most pleasant outcome but the most God-honoring outcome. Praying for God’s will to be done is a prayer that we will yield to it no matter what.

We must pray like Jesus did: not my will but yours be done

So when we pray, we are praying to the holy, sovereign king when we pray. And we should spend a considerable amount of our praying recognizing this reality. It’s only because God is transcendent that it makes sense to pray about the particulars of our lives.

But this brings us to the 2nd question:

What describes prayers that are filtered through the transcendence of God? (11-13)

Dependence (11)

This is a petition for God to supply our daily needs

One day at a time

Matthew 6:34 ESV

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The fact that Jesus instructs us to pray regarding our physical needs right after praying for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven shows that Jesus takes seriously our physical needs.

“Give” shows our dependence. Obtaining what we need to live by working is not an unaided effort. God is in it. If He wasn’t, we would not have what we need.

“daily” emphasizes that our dependence is ongoing.

Dependence fits well with God being transcendent.

This unerstanding of our dependence on God prevents forgetfulness of God

daily bread not a month’s supply

praying everyday for our needs, recognizing what we need is supplied to us by God

Another descriptor of prayers that are filtered through the transcendence of God:

Repentence (12)

debts = sins

only God can cencel our debt and pardon us from it

God’s predominant response to sin is mercy but there are some conditions that call sinners to truly understand what it means to be forgiven by God and to makes sure that they are in fact forgiven by God

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV

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.

Mark 11:25 ESV

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

people who have been forgiven by God will not be able to harbor anger towards or withhold forgiveness from another.

Part of our experience is to forgive one another. It’s difficult to be sure. Often we fail to forgive and we fail to seek forgiveness. But never the less, forgiveness among people is a common part of our lives. So asking God to forgive us as we forgive others is to acknowledge that we are in daily need of forgiveness.

Sustenance (13)

this is a plea to sustain us through difficulty

“temptation needs to be understood correctly.

James tells us that we should not think or believe that temtation comes from God. I do howver believe that temptation is indirectly related

Jesus was lead out into the wilderness to be tempted or tested. Satan did the testing

The people of God become familiar with their own vulnerabililities to sin, and this prayer seeks ti be kept far from anything bring him us to sin. sexual temptation, loosing our tempers, when we’re by ourselves and no other person is looking… We cry out to God to sustain us against temptation.

And no doubt evil forces are at work here

“the evil”

So again,

We must filter our prayers for the needs of our present through the fact that God is transcendent.