Adoration

INTRODUCTION

Posture and attitude in prayer are essential. Our physical posture is linked to particular attitudes in prayer. Kneeling in prayer to God is common since people would kneel before royalty as a sign of respect, submission and humility.

Standing with open eyes and gazing heavenward with lifted hands is another typical posture of prayer that we see illustrated in the Old Testament.

Falling prostrate on ones face to the ground is also common as people came into the presence of God in the Old and New Testaments. There is not specific prescription for all to follow, therefore, find your meaningful prayer posture.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FUNDAMENTALS FOR PRAYING

Remember who you are speaking with and who is doing the talking.

We must not forget who God is and who we are. (learning the proper protocol for walking into the presence of the King)

Prayers to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords must begin with an attitude of adoration and devotion.

Note: Much of our time in prayer is spent in the area of making requests of God. There is nothing wrong with bringing our requests to God, in fact we are commanded to do so, however, many of the Holy inspired prayers of Scripture give less attention to requests and much more attention to ADORATION.

The Palms in general as a model of prayer and adoration is a collection of Holy inspired-prayers. Those who immerse themselves in the Psalm have not problem praying adoration to the Father. (perhaps using psalms in your prayers would be a good habit).

When we consider the format that we should use for prayer Jesus gave us the blueprint to use when He gave us the Lords Prayer. I believe that this is the format we should all use when praying to the Father. We will look at The Lords Prayer more in depth in week 4 of our study.

The acrostic we use for prayer spells out the word ACTS

A - Adoration C - Confession T - Thanksgiving S - Supplication

Note: Matthew 6:1-18 highlights our devotion to God taking three main areas of traditional religious devotion: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. He warns his hearers against the kind of devotion that is a dog and pony show we find in many religious circles today.

We all have probably at one time or another seen what felt like mechanical or forced acts of devotion and prayer. Those that were totally lacking in any sincere, genuine, fervent, heartfelt prayers to God.

Sincere obedience to God’s word is the key to an authentic devotional life. Not playing to the crowds, but humbly living in the light of the Father’s will.

IS THERE A SET MODEL FOR HOW WE SHOULD PRAY?

“And When you Pray” Jesus reiterates two times what pray should not be about, then He turns and say’s but, when you do pray, pray like this.

Jesus gave us the perfect model for how we should pray. Notice that the prayer Jesus gave for us to learn how to pray begins with “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Holy, worthy, Honored, glorified name of God)

Matthew 6:5–8 ESV

5 “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. 6 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. 7 “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. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The Worst Hypocrisy

What was so bad about [the Pharisees'] hypocrisy? If we think of it as consisting merely in their teaching or pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory, we will miss Jesus' main point. What He nailed them for was that they were using God and the things of God as a means to some other end. That's what was insidious about the Pharisees' example. "They do all their deeds to be noticed by men" (Matthew 23:5). ... Theirs was a problem of priorities: their first priority was social status, to which end God was but a means. What greater affront to God could there be? Better to ignore Him altogether than to exploit Him as a means to something else you value more highly.

2 Warning given about Prayer

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases. (as the gentiles do)

BIG IDEA: THE POWER OF AUTHENTIC PRAYER BEGINS WITH ADORATION

1. Adoration in prayer is about the motive of our heart

THE MOTIVE BEHIND PRAYER

Jesus would acknowledge that the discipline of regular praying is good; all devout Jews prayed three times a day like Daniel. And there was nothing wrong with standing and praying, for this was the usual prayer posture of Jews. Nor were they necessarily in the wrong by praying on the street corners and in the synagogues if their motive was to bring recognition and glory to the God of the Universe in both secular and religious places. But, Jesus came to uncover the motives of a man’s heart when he lifts his hands high to the heavens in order that they might be seen by men. Behind their pious actions lurked the sin of pride. What they really wanted was applause and recognition.

“Nacho Libre”: Wrestler struggling with personal motives

Nacho Libre (played by Jack Black) is a story of a young priest priest named Ignacio who is trying to reconcile His love for wrestling with his duty to God and the orphanage in which he works. Ignacio argues that if he is fighting for something noble or for someone who needs help, only then will God bless you in battle.

Ignacio goes to pray inside a large Church. He lights a candle, kneels at the alter, and prays: “precious Father, why have you given met his desire to wrestle and then made me such a stinky warrior? “Have I focused to much on my fancy boots and all my fame and my stretchy paints?”

“Wait a second!” Ignacio continues. “Maybe you want me to fight and give everything I win to the little ones who have nothing - so they can have better foods and a better life!

The problem with the prayers that were being offered had little to do with where they were being prayed, or even the words that they were praying. The problem was a heart filled with false motivation!

Hypocrisy has been the charge leveled at the Church from it’s very beginning. Is it possible for us to go to Church today for the same wrong reasons and motives today?

How should we pray then, Jesus tells us to go into our room or prayer closets and shut the door. When we do this we are closing the door to any distractions or false pretence in our praying. It is just us and God! Nothing destroys prayer more than the disturbances of onlookers and prying eyes of men. Jesus reminds us to pray to our Father who is in secret.

Nothing enriches our prayer lives more than the genuine presence of God in our room of prayer. We know that God looks at the heart of a man not his outward appearance.

*Our motivation in Adoration is to seek God’s face.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV

14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Note: The Hebrew word for “face” in the Old Testament is often translated “presence.” When we seek the face of God, we are seeking His presence. The call to seek God’s face was issued to His people because they had abandoned Him and needed to return to Him.

Perhaps the bigger issue behind your prayer life is that you have stopped seeking God’s face in prayer!

NOTE: Often this problem stems from the fact that we are seeking our own face and reputation first before Him. When we approach God in prayer we are seeking His face not our own. We are not seeking our reflection in the mirror.

Psalm 24:3–6 ESV

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

NOTE: The true nature of worship and Adoration is to seek God’s face. The Christian life is a walk devoted to seeking God’s presence and favor in our lives. The Lord wants us to Humbly and trustingly seek His face in our prayers and in our times in his Word. It requires a great measure of intimacy to intently look into someone’s face.

“When you pray don’t heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles, for they think they will be heard for their many words.”

DANGER OF THE HYPOCRITICAL PRAYER

Pagans, tended to think that God could be bludgeoned into acquiescence if they prayed long enough, and many Jews shared that conviction. Remember Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal would throw themselves on the ground and cut themselves so that their God would here and honor their prayer. Elijah begins to mock the display when there was not reply, stating, that maybe their God was on the toilet.

*Our motivation in Adoration comes from a changed heart.

Ezekiel 36:26 ESV

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

The Holy Spirit does not attempt to improve human nature into something better, but lays the axe at the root of the trees, and declares that we must become new creatures, and that by a supernatural work of the omnipotent God.

-Charles Haddon Spurgeon

NOTE: Some of us here this morning need the spirit of God to lay an axe to our roots and create in us a new heart of flesh removing the stony parts of our prayer life.

The tenderness of a heart bent towards Adoration is absent in the unregenerate heart. Remember that Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again first before he can come to Christ. Perhaps the bigger issue with many of the prayers we hear lifted up in the Church today is the lack of a true REGENERATE heart. Remember Jesus declares that on the day of judgement there will by many outside the throne room of God who prayed long-winded flowery pray’s who never intimately new the Lord.

So, the bigger question leads us to whether a true follower of Christ can pray without adoration. If the spirit comes and gives us a new heart of flesh, and if the regeneration process begins at Salvation then Adoration is part of being a Christian. If someone does not Adore God then they cannot be a follower of Christ.

The Human Heart was created to mirror God’s own heart (Gen. 1:27 “God created man in His own image). We were designed to love Him, Love his righteousness and adore Him. God has performed a heart transplant, as it were. He gives us a new hart. The power of the Holy Spirit changes our hearts from sin-focused to God-focused. We do not become perfect, meaning we all still have to work on our Adoration, however, as you grow in Christ this becomes more of an automatic state of your being.

2. Adoration in prayer is about the “Treasure Room”

Note: We are reminded that the reason we seek him is in order to acknowledge him as the person he is, God the Creator, God the Lord, God the Judge, God our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Savior. We should desire to meet him in the secret place in order to bow down before him in humble worship.

“Your Father sees in secret and will reward you.”

R.G. Tasker

“points out that the Greek word for the ‘room’ into which we are to withdraw to pray was used for the store-room where treasure’s were kept.”

The implications may then may be that ‘there are treasures already waiting for you when you pray.’ Of course the hidden rewards of prayer are beyond anything we could imagine.

Treasure Hunters

For some people treasure hunting has become an obsession. From shows like “Gold Rush Alaska,””Treasure Quest snake Island,”

What happens in the Treasure Room of God?

*He restores our Soul

How does the Lord refresh and restore our soul?

Psalm 23:3 ESV

3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Note: We are the sheep of God’s pasture Psalm 100:3 and he is the only one who can restore our souls. Restore means to repair, renovate, or return to a former condition. This is what happens when we pray, we enter into a restorative state in prayer. The soul is the deepest part of our inner most being. Since God is the one who made us, he is the only one who can bring what our soul truly needs.

God’s Answer for a Restored Soul

The Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17) it makes us wise unto Salvation, it encourages us on the journey, it is our guidebook a life of peace and satisfaction. God provides for us just what we need when we are going through temptation, discouragement and trials.

*He satisfies our Hunger

“A Hunger for God”

John Piper

“There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened through times of fasting. Our appetites dictate the direction of our lives - whether it be the cravings of our stomachs, the passionate desire for possessions or power, or the longings of our spirits for God. But for the Christian, the hunger for anything besides God can be an arch-enemy. While our hunger for God - and Him alone- is the only thing that will bring us victory.”

Do you have a Hunger for Him? “If we do not feel a strong desire for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long oat the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great I am.”

Note: Matthew 6:16-18 “The purpose of fasting is not so others can look at us, but, it is to be done in secret, in the treasure room of the Lord to increase your hunger and thirst for His righteousness.

*He Quenches our Thirst

Isaiah 44:3 ESV

3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

Note: Jesus continually spoke about being the water of life, a spring of water welling up to true life. He identified this living water with the Holy Spirit.

Quenching Satan’s Darts

R.C. Sproul

“Satan is powerful. He is more powerful that we are. That is why we desperately need the armor of God. But as powerful as he is, he is far less powerful than God. That is why the Bible declares that greater is He who is in you (the Holy Spirit) than He who is in the world (Satan) (1 John 4:4). Satan’s darts are quenchable; God’s are not. You can flee the presence of Satan; you can flee the presence of God.

You must be on guard constantly against Satan’s right and left fists. He is a kick-boxer as well. Just when we shield ourselves from his hands, he cheats and uses his feet.

One of the characteristics of Satan is his metamorphic power. He has the cunning ability to appear under the illusion of good. He can transform himself into the angel of light. You do not find him so much in the Saddam Husseins of this world, they are far and few between. He is not so blatantly obvious at times, he appears as a saint, a representative of virtue, waiting to seduce you.

He is above all, a fraud. His work is anti-Christ not merely in the sense of working against Christ but in the sense of seeking to act as a substitute for Christ.

This is why we must daily go to the secret place, the treasure room of God not only to quench our own souls but to find power and strength to withstand Satan’s attacks.

NOTE: In a few weeks we are going to begin our study in the book of Daniel. What a great story of how Satan works to get us to compromise. Daniel a teenager, was brought during the conquering by a Babylonian king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel far away from home was offered all of the good things that the palace of Nebuchadnezzar had to offer. It would have been easy for Daniel to make excuses and compromise his beliefs. See, this is how Satan operates when our souls are being quenched and soothed by the world instead of daily finding our thirst quenched through the filling of the God’s spirit.

Note: When we come into the treasure room of the Lord in Adoration and worship, we are putting everything back in it’s rightful place and order of importance. Daniel understood that there were greater things going on in his captivity than he could ever fully perceive. (if we could pull back the veil for a moment, we would see the forces doing battle all around us.)

2 Kings 6:15–17 ESV

15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

THOSE WHO ARE WITH YOU ARE MORE THAN THOSE WHO ARE WITH THEM!

Zechariah 4:6 ESV

6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

This was after the Jews had experienced exile in Babylon, King Cyrus of Persia allowed 50,000 of them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple under Zerubbabel, governor of Jerusalem. At the time, Zachariah, a prophet and priest of Israel, received several visions from the Lord. In one of those visions the Lord delivered this key message.

The word for might in Zachariah 4:6 is often translated “army,” “force,” “ability,” or “efficiency” and is associated with human resources. It also refers to financial means and can be connected with wealth. The term power implies a purposeful force, firm resolve or resoluteness.

It is never by my ability and power. When we learn that adoration of the Father is all about recognizing where our true power and strength comes from which is the Spirit of the Lord working in and through our daily lives. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

3. Adoration in prayer is about Hallowing His name

“Pray then like this, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

How do we Hallow God’s name?

CULTURAL CONNECTION:

Adore: to love admire (someone) very much: to like or desire (something very much: to take great pleasure in (something).

All of these definitions fall miserably short of what it means to adore God. When the wise men came to inquire as to the whereabouts of the newborn king, they said to Herod, “Were is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him”. The word translated “worship” is the word proskune’o which communicates an adoration and reverence for the Son of God.

We have been hardwired wit the capacity to Adore and worship God. The problem we have is that sin has suppressed this desire in us. Romans 1 tells us that mankind prefers to worship the created rather than the creator. We worship our own image, our own bodies, our own likeness. How often do we look for the perfect selfie picture of perfect airbrushed touched up photo to put out for people to see. Why? because we have lost our sense of Adoration of God.

When we adore the Lord, our daily activities become acts of worship. Only when our deepest adoration is reserved for our Savior will all other activities and people take their proper place. We are able to love our families and friends better when our worshipful adoration is put back in it’s rightful place and order.

When we lack the proper daily Adoration and worship of the Father what happens? We should begin to notice that it affects our families, friends and daily lives. Why? Because we then are prone to worship the created things over the creator. Everything is thrown into the wrong order in our prayer lives.

What is His Name?

When the book of Genesis tells us that we are created in the image of God it is talking about the character of God. However, what is actually revealed to us in His word is just the tip of the iceberg as it were. Only a tenth of His character is given to us in this age for our contemplation, and even this is so great that we will never fully exhaust all of its riches.

So, what is the name of God that we are to be Hallowing?

It would be impossible for us to presume that in such a short time we could even begin to exhaust the name of God.

“I AM WHO I AM”

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” The most fundamental thing that we can say about the name of God is that he is. And the most staggering thing to our imagination is that He never had a beginning. He simply is - from all Eternity. “He is the one who was, and is, and is to come.” Isaiah 6.

“GOD ALMIGHTY”

God said to Moses, “I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty” (Exodus 6:3). Not only does God exist in sovereign freedom of who he is but is is infinitely powerful to the point that He cannot be defeated and will always come out on top.

“The Lord”

When God came down a second time to Mount Sinai, the first thing he did was to declare his name: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. He is not just a Lord among many Lords He is “The Lord”. The expression of The Lord should suggest position and priority that He holds in our lives and our decision making.

Note: The Lord recognizes the most sacred Hebrew name for God, as their covenant keeping God, Yah, Yahweh, and the more usual designation of Deity. Adhonay (Adonai), a term which they adopted to avoid pronouncing the most holy designation.

They had placed on Leviticus 24:16 an interpretation that aroused such a dread that they seldom dared use the name at all. (The Lord God)

“Alpha and Omega”

God say’s to John in the Book of Revelation 21:6 “It is done, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.” Every human being, great or small, has his beginning in God, but even more significant, will have his end in God. God is everybody’s Omega. We will all meet him either as a fountain of life or as a lake of fire.

“His name is Holy”

To Isaiah he says, “I am the high and lofty one whose name is Holy” (57:15). He is holy. He is above and separate from all that is common and ordinary, because he has extraordinary value. We separate coins, stamps, and diamonds from those that are valuable in direct proportion to how rare they are. If they were of one kind, we separate them from the run of the mill coins and stamps and diamonds, and put them in some out of the way place. So, when considering God’s Holiness, he inhabits a place infinitely above our ordinary world. And the wonder of the gospel is that in Christ God comes near to dwell with crushed and humble saints.

“Jealous”

Finally, God declares again on Mount Sinai, “You shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14). God has created us to love and enjoy him , and he feels a holy obligation when our hearts are lured away to love and enjoy other things or people more than Him. (This is possibly the most unused name for God, Why?) The name jealous sounds strange, doesn’t it? When we call someone jealous, it is usually to the point of a character flaw. How can something we understand as bad be the very word used to describe God? God has the title of jealous because He is the only one worthy of all our affection and adoration.

The Lord’s Prayer, recorded in Matthew 6, begins with, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). To hallow something is to make it holy or separate it or sanctify it. Jesus taught His followers to pray that God the Father would “hallow” His name. Significantly, this request comes first. It is of primary importance for God to hallow His name. In what way do we want God to hallow His name? In what way is His name to be set apart or made holy?

One writer explains it this way: “When Jesus petitions God to hallow his name, he is asking that God act in such a way that he visibly demonstrates his holiness and his glory” (Albert Mohler in The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down: The Lord’s Prayer as a Manifesto for Revolution, p. 61). God demonstrates His holiness in the world by creating a holy people who will call on His name, proclaim the gospel, and accomplish good works (Ephesians 2:10).

NOTE: The beginning of our time in prayer is all about taking the focus of prayer off of us and placing our attention back where it belongs, on God.

JESUS HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER FOR US

On this occasion Jesus prayed for His followers: “He prayed that the father would not take them out of the world but that he would protect them from the evil one. They are not of this world even as i am not of this world. Jesus goes on to say that for them I sanctify myself, that they too might be truly sanctified. (John 17:15-19) The word sanctified is also translated in the same Greek word for “hallowed.” Jesus prayed this specifically for His disciples, but also for those who would believe in Him through their message - meaning all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ as children of God are called to be holy as He is holy.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

“In your hearts honor (revere) Christ as holy” the word for honor or revere in this verse is another translation of the world for “hallowed.” So, one of the way’s in which we hallow God’s name is to recognize Jesus as Lord and live our lives to honor God.

When we Hallow the name of God We:

* We incline our hearts toward him. (His will becomes our will, his agenda becomes our agenda, His heart becomes our heart)

* We put our complete hope and trust in Him. (We recognize that it is in Him alone trust with our lives)

* We joyfully obey Him. (Hallowing the name of God shows where our allegiance lies.)

* We unashamedly share about Him with others.

(Hallowing the name of God put’s things into perspective about who and what are most important in our lives. The natural outflow of our new perspective is to share Him with others. For example: If there is someone in your life who you honor, respect, and revere above everyone else would you not share about them with other people)

CLOSING

Pic of the Nativity

Adoration of the Shepherds, a nativity painting by Charles Le Brun. 1609

All we could ever imagine, could ever hope for, He is. ... He is the Prince of Peace whose first coming has already transformed society but whose second coming will forever establish justice and righteousness. All this, and infinitely more, alive in an impoverished baby in a barn.

Whether he was born in 4 B.C. or A.D. 6, in Bethlehem or Nazareth, whether there were multitudes of the heavenly host to hymn the glory of it or just Mary and her husband--when the child was born, the whole course of human history was changed. That is a truth as unassailable as any truth. Art, music, literature, Western culture itself with all its institutions and Western man's whole understanding of himself and his world--it is impossible to conceive how differently things would have turned out if that birth had not happened whenever, wherever, however it did. And there is a truth beyond that: for millions of people who have believed since, the birth of Jesus made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it.