Sermon Tone Analysis

“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

I’m glad you are all here today.

I hoped that I didn’t scare anyone off after last week.

Today we are going to finish this 4 part series on the Power of Prayer.

We kicked off this series by defining prayer.

What is prayer?

Simply communicating with God.

We communicate with God by simply talking to Him and also listening.

Week 2 we talked about how to listen to God.

Each week we’ve dug a little deeper into prayer and last week may have been challenging because we faced the tough question of “Does God listen to me?” Why didn’t God answer my prayer?

God might be trying to teach us to look at our prayers through the lens of what is important to Him.

At this point we have defined prayer and examined our motives behind our prayers, but what about prayer structure?

Is there a format for prayer?

Where do I start?

Like we said in week 1, prayer is simply talking to God so you don’t have to do anything special or follow a specific format to do that.

In fact, there were three preachers who once got in a debate about the best position for prayer...

Three preachers sat discussing the best positions for prayer while a telephone repairman worked nearby.

"Kneeling is definitely best," claimed one.

"No," another contended.

"I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven."

"You're both wrong," the third insisted.

"The most effective prayer position is lying prostrate, face down on the floor."

The repairman could contain himself no longer.

"Hey, fellas," he interrupted, "the best prayin' I ever did was hangin' upside down from a telephone pole."

Sometimes we don’t get the luxury of choosing our favorite prayer position.

But when we do you probably have a prayer position that makes you feel closer to God.

For example, you may not feel completely comfortable or drawn into your conversation with God in the ordering line at McDonald’s at noon while someone is asking you if you want to up-size your drink.

Instead you may prefer being in a quiet room, closing your eyes, all by yourself, on your knees, raising your hands, or sitting in a chair.

What we talk to God about is very similar to that.

Sure we can just talk to him throughout the day about whatever comes to mind, but we also know that prayer is very important to God.

He cares about how we pray.

In fact, one of the disciples even asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and this is what Jesus said...

Jesus also taught this to people when He preached.

It is most famously known as “The Lord’s Prayer” and typically read in the KJV and is found in Matthew…

Jesus taught this immediately after He criticized 2 types of prayer.

You might remember these two types of prayer.

First was a hypocritical prayer that people would stand and pray for everyone to see.

Second was an empty prayer that was repeated over and over.

Sadly, and quite ironically, those are the 2 most common ways this prayer is repeated today.

But Jesus taught pattern of prayer so that the true power of prayer might be realized in our own lives.

The power to change our lives by drawing us closer and closer to our Father in heaven.

So if Jesus thinks we should “pray like this”, what can we learn from His example of prayer?

Today we are going to look at 6 prayer petitions that we learn from Jesus’ teaching.

Each of these 6 parts of Jesus’ structured prayer give us a moment where we can stop and speak with God about a specific area or topic that is important to God.

The first 3 petitions are for God and the last 3 are for us.

In other words, our focus should first be on God first and then on our requests.

So let’s talk about each of these 6 petitions as we dive into how Jesus teaches us to pray.

If you are taking notes, the first thing Jesus teaches us about prayer is…

POWERFUL PRAYERS:

PRAISE OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.

When we think of God as our Father today it may not sound like a big deal.

You might feel a little uncomfortable about it or think it’s weird.

At worst, maybe you feel like it is a bit disrespectful.

But when Jesus taught this it would have been huge!

The crowd might have even mumbled in confusion or frustration.

In the OT, God was only referred to as “Father” fourteen times and those were references to the nation, not to individuals, making God as the Father rather impersonal.

To further guard the distance from God they were very careful never to repeat His covenant name, Yahweh.

Then here comes Jesus and only ever addresses God as “Father”.

The actual word Jesus used wasn’t even a formal word, it was a common Aramaic word that a child would use to address his father, “Abba”.

We don’t have a word like that in English, but the closest translation would be “Dearest Father”.

Here is an excerpt from the book, “Sermon on the Mount — The Message of the Kingdom”...

To the traditional Jew, Jesus’ prayer was revolutionary.

Think of it!

God was referred to only fourteen times in the Old Testament as Father, and then it was always as the corporate Father of Israel—never individually or personally.

And now as his disciples ask him for instruction on how to pray, Jesus tells them to begin by calling God their Father… Addressing God as Abba (Dearest Father) is not only an indication of spiritual health but is a mark of the authenticity of our faith.

How amazing is this to realize!

Jesus is wanting us to see God as our “Dearest Father.”

He’s not a God who waits for us to mess up so He can punish us, He is a loving Father who has chosen us.

I love the picture that Paul paints when he says…

It is not only that we are no longer afraid or that we just have a new name to call God, but Paul also says that now we cry out to Him, “Abba, Father!”, “Daddy!”

This is our opportunity to tell God who He is and what He means to us.

Dr. J. I Packer once wrote that “‘Father’ is the Christian name for God.” Do you know that God is your Father?

Do you think of Him and address Him as your “Dearest Father”?

When we pray, the first thing we should do is recognize God as who He is, our Dearest Father.

Not only is He our Father, but He is our Father in heaven.

And His name is holy.

Notice how even though Jesus is showing us that our relationship with God is personal and we can view Him as our “Dearest Father”, God is still sovereign and transcendent.

He is still the creator of the universe.

His ways are still high above our ways.

He may be our Father, but He is also our Father in heaven.

Jesus wants us to simultaneously begin our prayers with a foundational awareness of who God is, our Father, and honor His holiness.

The beginning of powerful prayers start with praises to God.

A celebration of who He is and what He has done.

There is something interesting about the word Jesus uses in this prayer to describe God’s name.

We translate it as “hallowed.”

“Hallowed be your name.”

Why didn’t they just say, “Holy is your name?”

When you look at the definition of the original Greek word you see that Jesus actually uses a verb here...

hagiazō (hag-ee-ad’-zo): to make holy

I think this is a really neat detail because you can approach this thought from almost any angle and it can have a deep meaning to you.

For example you could say that God is making His name holy among us even as we speak.

This could hit me as a challenge in my own life to reflect Him in a way that brings glory to His holy name, making Him holy in my interactions.

In fact, Martin Luther once said, “How is [God’s name] hallowed amongst us?

When our life and doctrine are truly Christian.”

Maybe it’s more personal to me, a desire to make His name holy in my own heart.

The bottom line is that it is a call for me to recognize the commitment I’ve made to God.

Recognizing God as our Father isn’t a one way street.

For me to call Him “Father” I must realize that I am His child.

Can we truly pray “Hallowed by your name” without dedicating ourselves to Him? Powerful Prayers Praise our Father.

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