Pray Like This Part 2

Pastor Don Carpenter

Evangelical Baptist Church

When You Pray • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

Matthew 6:11–13

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Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer told a story on the subject of prayer. A certain minister was in the habit of profound prayers, oftentimes resorting to words beyond the understanding of his simple flock. This went on week after week, to the dismay and frustration of the congregation.

At last, a wee Scottish woman in the choir ventured to take the matter in hand. On a given Sunday, as the minister was waxing his most eloquent rambling, the little woman reached across the curtain separating the choir from the pulpit. Taking a firm grasp on the frock tail of the minister, she gave it a yank, and was heard to whisper, "Jes’ call Him Fether, and ask ’im for something."

For the last three weeks we have been considering the subject “When You Pray”. Jesus gave us some very powerful and pointed advice about prayer in His Sermon on the Mount. Two weeks ago we learned that prayer is not merely a tool of the mind and psychology to get one in a certain meditative state; prayer is a dynamic, private, personal and intimate interaction with Almighty God. Biblical prayer is an expression of an intimate interaction with God our Father.

Last week we started to study what is commonly known as “The Lord’s Prayer” Last week we discovered that:

Prayer Should Open With Humble Worship

Matthew 6:9–10 KJV

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Acknowledge God’s Relationship to You

Acknowledge God’s Holy Name

Acknowledge God’s Will

This week we will discover the last two sections of Our Lord’s model prayer for us.

Prayer Should Address The Human Need

In the second half of the Lord’s Prayer the possessive adjective changes from ‘your’ to ‘our’, as we turn from God’s affairs to our own. Having expressed our burning concern for his glory, we now express our humble dependence on his grace.1

1 John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 148.

Material Need - Daily Bread

Matthew 6:11 KJV

Give us this day our daily bread.

This is not a symbolic reference to the Eucharist

Give us this day our daily bread. Some early commentators could not believe that Jesus intended our first request to be for literal bread, bread for the body. It seemed to them improper, especially after the noble three opening petitions relating to God’s glory, that we should abruptly descend to so mundane and material a concern. So they allegorized the petition. The bread he meant must be spiritual, they said. Early church fathers like Tertullian, Cyprian and Augustine thought the reference was either to ‘the invisible bread of the Word of God’1 or to the Lord’s Supper. Jerome in the Vulgate translated the Greek word for ‘daily’ by the monstrous adjective ‘supersubstantial’; he also meant the Holy Communion. We should be thankful for the greater, down-to-earth, biblical understanding of the Reformers. Calvin’s comment on the spiritualizing of the fathers was: ‘This is exceedingly absurd.’1 Luther had the wisdom to see that ‘bread’ was a symbol for ‘everything necessary for the preservation of this life, like food, a healthy body, good weather, house, home, wife, children, good government and peace’,2 and probably we should add that by ‘bread’ Jesus meant the necessities rather than the luxuries of life.1

This is acknowledging our daily need and dependence upon God.

Proverbs 30:8 KJV

Remove far from me vanity and lies: Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with food convenient for me:

Exodus 16:4–6 KJV

Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:

Psalm 127:1 KJV

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Spiritual Need - Forgiveness

Matthew 6:12 KJV

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Jewish teaching regarded sins as “debts” before God; the same Aramaic word could be used for both. Biblical law required the periodic forgiveness of monetary debtors (in the seventh and fiftieth years), so the illustration of forgiving debts would have been a graphic one (especially since Jewish lawyers had found a way to circumvent the release of debts so that creditors would continue to lend).1

1 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 6:12.

Acknowledge our sin

Before we can honestly pray this petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we must realize that we need to pray it. That is to say, before we can pray this petition we must have a sense of sin. Sin is not nowadays a popular word. Men and women rather resent being called, or treated as, hell-deserving sinners.

The trouble is that most people have a wrong conception of sin. They would readily agree that the burglar, the drunkard, the murderer, the adulterer and the foul-mouthed person are sinners. But they themselves are guilty of none of these sins; they live decent, ordinary, respectable lives, and have never even been in danger of appearing in court, or going to prison, or achieving some notoriety in the newspapers. They therefore feel that sin has nothing to do with them.1

1 William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 253.

Repent of our sin

Forgiveness will be evidence of that repentance.

This certainly does not mean that our forgiveness of others earns us the right to be forgiven. It is rather that God forgives only the penitent and that one of the chief evidences of true penitence is a forgiving spirit. Once our eyes have been opened to see the enormity of our offence against God, the injuries which others have done to us appear by comparison extremely trifling.1

If, on the other hand, we have an exaggerated view of the offences of others, it proves that we have minimized our own. It is the disparity between the size of debts which is the main point of the parable of the unmerciful servant. Its conclusion is: ‘I forgave you all that debt (which was huge) …; should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ (33).1

Moral Need - Deliverance From Evil

Matthew 6:13 KJV

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

James 1:13 KJV

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Some answer this question by interpreting ‘tempting’ as ‘testing’, explaining that though God never entices us to sin he does test our faith and character. This is possible. A better explanation seems to me to be that ‘lead us not’ must be understood in the light of its counterpart ‘but deliver us’, and that ‘evil’ should be rendered ‘evil one’ (as in 13:19). In other words, it is the devil who is in view, who tempts God’s people to sin, and from whom we need to be ‘rescued’ (rusai).1

Matthew 26:41 KJV

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

The second clause of this petition, “but deliver us from the evil one,” indicates that disciples must be conscious that life is a spiritual battle. The occurrence of the definite article with the word “evil” probably indicates Satan, “the evil one” (cf. 5:37), although it can also be understood to indicate evil generally (cf. 5:39). Satan’s influence is behind every attempt to turn a testing into a temptation to evil, so Jesus teaches his disciples that they must rely on God not only for physical sustenance and forgiveness of sins, but also for moral triumph and spiritual victory in all of the spiritual battles of life.361

1 Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2004), 279–280.

Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.

John Bunyan

Close With Humble Worship - Acknowledge All Belongs to God

Matthew 6:13 KJV

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

This passage was taken out by the corrupt Alexandrian manuscripts. Although they are much older, they are few and contradict each other thousands of times. Certainly this is not where we find the preserved Word that God Promised.

Psalm 12:6–7 KJV

The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

The Textus Receptus manuscript consisting of over 5800 copies that speak as one voice, is newer but bears the marks of a preserved manuscript. This text contains the doxology part of the prayer that the Alexandrian monks evidently removed under the leadership of Origin.

This doxology, or ascription of praise, is connected with the prayer by the word “for,” to signify that all these things—the reign, power, and glory of God—will be manifested by granting these petitions. It is not because we are to be benefited, but that God’s name and perfections may be manifested. His glory is, then, the first and principal thing which we are to seek when we approach him. We are to suffer our concerns to be lost sight of in the superior glory and honour of his name and dominion. We are to seek temporal and eternal life chiefly because the honour of our Maker will be promoted, and his name be more illustriously displayed to his creatures. He is to be “first, last, supremest, best,” in our view; and all selfish and worldly views are to be absorbed in that one great desire of the soul that God may be “all in all.” Approaching him with these feelings, our prayers will be answered; our devotions will ascend like incense, and the lifting up our hands will be like the evening sacrifice.

1 Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 68.

The Kingdom

Thine is the kingdom. That is, thine is the reign or dominion. Thou hast control over all these things, and canst so order them as to answer these petitions.1

1 Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 68.

The Power

Thine is the power. Thou hast power to accomplish what we ask. We are weak, and cannot do it; but thou art Almighty, and all things are possible with thee.1

1 Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 68.

The Glory

Thine is the glory. That is, thine is the honour or praise. Not for our honour, but that thy glory, thy goodness, may be displayed in providing for our wants; thy power exerted in defending us; thy praise be celebrated by causing thy kingdom to spread through the earth.1

1 Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 68.

The great preacher, teacher, and well-known speaker, Rev. Haddon W. Robinson, in his book entitled "What Jesus Said About Successful Living: Principles from the Sermon on the Mount for Today," writes, "In the Old Testament, the Israelites did not individually address God as Father. As far as we know, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, or Daniel never fell to their knees in the solitude of their chambers and dared to address God that way. Yet in the New Testament, God is called Father at least 275 times, and that is how we are instructed to speak to Him. All that a good father wants to be to his children, Jesus told us, God will be to Christians who approach Him in prayer. We can pray as children."

Source:

"What Jesus Said About Successful Living: Principles from the Sermon on the Mount for Today," by Haddon W. Robinson, c1991 Grand Rapids, Michigan: Discovery House Publishers, ISBN 978-0-92923-943-9, p. 190.

Let us pray intimately. Let us pray to the Father. Let us follow Jesus’ admonition to “pray like this.”

Hymn # 98 Teach Me To Pray

Welcome to Evangelical Baptist Church

Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise Him all creatures here below Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

Zechariah 9:9 KJV

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Hymn # 30 Crown Him With Many Crowns

John 12:12–13 KJV

On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Hymn # 173 All Hail The Power of Jesus’ Name

Romans 5:6–8 KJV

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

He left the splendor of heaven Knowing His destiny Was the lonely hill of Golgotha There to lay down His life for me

If that isn't love the ocean is dry There're no stars in the sky And the sparrow can't fly! If that isn't love then heaven's a myth There's no feeling like this If that isn't love

Even in death He remembered The thief hanging by His side; He spoke with love and compassion Then He took him to Paradise

If that isn't love the ocean is dry There're no stars in the sky And the sparrow can't fly! If that isn't love then heaven's a myth There's no feeling like this If that isn't love

Hymn # 176 Without Him

There is a redeemer Jesus, God's own son Precious lamb of God, Messiah Holy one

Thank you oh my father For giving us your son And leaving your spirit 'Til the work on earth is done

Jesus my redeemer Name above all names Precious lamb of God, Messiah Oh, for sinners slain.

Thank you oh my father For giving us your son And leaving your spirit 'Til the work on earth is done

When I stand in glory I will see his face And there I'll serve my king forever In that holy place.

Thank you oh my father For giving us your son And leaving your spirit 'Til the work on earth is done

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Scripture Reading Matthew 6:9-13

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