Prayer - “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” (Martin Luther)

Why Pray?

If someone came up to you at school and asked why do you pray? What would you say?

Do we need to let God know what we need?

Of course not, Matthew 6:8 tells us that “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him”

Do we pray to convince God that we know a better way?

God has decreed the beginning from the end. Isaiah 46:10.

Do we pray to change God’s mind?

Prayer does not change God’s mind, for God is not a man that he should change his mind (Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6, 1 Samuel 15:29).

The Bible commands us to pray - this is true but it is not with the right heart.

Need God’s help -this is an admission that we are not OK without God.

Prayer is humbling yourself, admitting that God is merciful, mighty, wise, sovereign. That He knows what is best for us.

Expressing our complete dependence upon him, acknowledging we can do nothing without Christ.

It is admitting that we are not competent in our own mind and that we are weak in our own strenght.

The point is that if we misinterpret what prayer is, then we will also misapply the power of prayer.

I really like what the author David Robertson said, “We need to be very careful not to treat prayer like a work in which if we do it right enough and long enough we get what we want. Prayer is first of all saying to God, Your will be done”

What is prayer?

Lets discuss three definitions of prayer and see what we all think of them.

Prayer is demanding something from God, man demanding God to do what we want him to do.

Can we deman things of God? If this is how we define prayer then we put ourselves above HIm and effectively make ourselves God.

Wrestling with God until he gives us what we want.

Prayer is wishful thinking aimed in God’s direction.

What is the common theme or common denominator in thes three definitions? Man’s desires, not God’s desire. Each definition is focused upon man’s will and not God’s will.

Too often we pray our will be done and not the Father’s will be done.

Defining Prayer

Only when we have a proper theology of who God is and what he has promised to do, can we understand and correctly apply the meaning of prayer.

A simple definition of prayer is “calling on God to come through on his promises”

When we pray to God, asking him to come through on what he promises, we are submitting our will to his.

That’s it, asking God to do what he has promised to do. To work all things according to the counsel of His will.

How are we to Pray?

If you wanted to know how to pray or what to pray, where would you turn?

First, the Holy Spirit. We must realize that we can only pray through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is because our human nature does not desire to turn to God.

The Spirit must change our heart, change our desires and lead us in prayer.

“No one can say Jesus Lord, except by the Holy Spirt” - 1 Cor. 12:3

Matthew 6:9-13

Most often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer” but really should be “The Disciples Prayer”

This is not a prayer that Jesus prayed or even could pray, for it asks for forgiveness and we know that Jesus was sinless, therefore he would not be praying for forgiveness.

This is a template for us to follow with our prayers.

Notice that the template never changes, the truths of the prayer always remain the same, no matter what your situation may be.

You may be praying before an exam, before a big day, before an interview, or simply before a meal.

No matter what the situation is, we would do well to follow the template that Jesus gave us.

It reveals to us the key components and with what attitude we should pray.

Lets read Matthew 6:9-13 and look at each truth.

“Our Father in Heaven,

This is a corporate prayer that was given to the disciples and now to us. A prayer that we should pray together.

We see that it begins with “our Father”, not just your father or my Father.

You may have heard that we are to pray by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the Son, to the Father in heaven.

The Father is most often who we pray to, but I would encourage you to also think about praying to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Each person of the trinity is indeed God.

Father is also a term of endearment, we have direct access to an all loving God.

Think about that for a minute, we can go directly to God, the creator and sustainer of all things.

In Heaven points us to recognize that God our Father is above all things. He is sovereign.

So it is a corporate prayer, focused on the Father who is in heaven.

“hallowed be your name”

Hallowed refers to God alone being holy, seperated from and above all things.

It could also be read as “let your name be kept holy, or treated with reverence”

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,

God’s glory is the purpose for which we were created and we should see our Father as the only worthy to betreated as holy.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

First we focused on God and who he is, an intimate loving Father that is above all things.

And if we believe that then we should also realize that we should be focused on his will to be done, not ours.

This part of the prayer is an acknowledgement and expression of our desire that God reigns now and that his plan, his purposes will take place in this world.

It is saying, we know that your will is being done in heaven and we believe that it is also being done on earth, in the midst of our circumstances.

Sometimes it is difficult to look at our chaotic world or maybe even our individual lives and believe that God’s will is being done.

We must remember that our feelings lead us astray, the truth is in His word.

So far, we have submitted to who God is and what his plans are.

The primary focus of our prayers are to be God: “your name, your kingdom, your will”

Application / Reflection:

So when we think about how we pray, we should ask three questions:

Who’s name is my prayers lifting up? God’s or my own?

Who do we believe to be in control? God who is in heaven or myself?

Who’s will am I focused on? God’s or my own?

Or maybe a way to summarize all three questions: If God answered my prayers, would the answer bring attention to Him or to me?

Transition

Now we said that God is a loving Father, one that we can go to with our requests, and in verse 11 we see a shift.

Look at verses 11-13 with me. READ

What do we see that is different in these three verses?

We moved from your name, your kingdom and your will, to Give us, Forgive us, Lead us!

Now if our first thought is Finally I get to ask for what I want, then we miss the point.

Each request still relies completely upon God. Each one still recognizes God as above all things and in control of all things.

Martyn Lloyd Jones makes the point that “Our whole life is found in these three requests. Our physical needs, our mental needs and our spiritual needsz. That is the whole of man.”

“Give us this day our daily bread”

This request covers all of our needs for life: food, clothing, a home, a job, and anything else that you may need for each day.

Notice it does not say “give me this day what I want”

It is also not asking for more than we need, but what we need for each individual day.

When we are focused on asking for the wrong things, we will not receive them.

James 4:3 ESV

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Give us this day our daily bread is recognizing that God alone provides us what we need, he sustains our life and we are trusting him to do so.

There are two struggles that we face with this request:

Trusting that he will provide.

How can you know that God is willing and will provide everything you need for life?

Our Father cares for his children that have come to him by faith, and he provides our needs.

Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Lets read Matthew 7:7-11

Matthew 7:7–11 ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

God our Father delights in providing to us what we need.

The second struggle we face is being content. Trusting that what he does provide is exactly what we need.

There is no promise for riches on earth. Rather we are to be content in all circumstances, knowing that his will is being done on earth and he will provide what we need in the midst of the circumstance.

Do you look at every circumstance in life as an opportunity to trust God? Trusting that he has put you in that circumstance and will provide what you need?

We also see from this verse that we are to go to God daily! Give us today our daily bread!

We are able to and should go to God every day in prayer. That is a privelege!

Philippians 4:5–7 ESV

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Let me ask you, is there anyone here that has lived a day where you did not have exactly what you needed for that day? Your presence here today is evidence that you received what was needed, maybe not what you wanted, but what you needed.

So when we pray “give us this day our daily bread”

Trust that as your Father, He is faithful to provide

Be content with what he provides, understanding that He knows what you need.

There is one more point we must realize, if we rely upon God for our physical needs, is that all we need?

Spiritual Bread

We must also realize that Jesus said we do not live on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4)

This reminds us that we must also feed spiritually on Christ.

The only way we can do this is through the Scriptures. Storing them up in our hearts and being transformed by our minds.

Matthew 6:19-21 ““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

If all we do is pray to God for our physical needs, we will always be empty, spiritually starved.

We must turn to God for all of our needs.

“Forgive us our Debts as we also have forgiven our debtors”

Lets look first at “Forgive us our debts”

To properly understand this verse, we must realize this is a prayer as a born again believer in Jesus.

The prayer began with “Our Father” - so we know that Jesus is guiding those in prayer who are already saved, already Christians.

This tells us that we can have assurance of our salvation, and at the same time that we will continue to struggle with sin, but will continually receive forgiveness.

1 John 1:8–9 ESV

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We must return again and again to Jesus for forgiveness.

With the example in the book, maybe you did not diligently study for your exam?

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,”

The sin is not a failure to study, the sin is that you chose to be lazy and focus on other things.

“As we also have forgiven our debtors”

This is not earning forgiveness through an act, rather it is saying that we cannot truly ask for forgiveness if our heart is not right regarding others.

Listen to this prayer “Father, forgive me for how I acted towards Rick, but he is wrong and it was his fault”

Do you see any problem with that prayer? Does your gut tell you that something is wrong?

Turn to Matthew 18:23-35

You cannot truly ask for forgiveness for sin unless your heart is right with others.

Again this prayer is for believers, so this does not mean that you are not saved, but it does mean you will not experience the full peace of God’s forgiveness and we will have a broken relationship with our brother or sister in Christ.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Some temptations are trials from God as tests for refining, we see this in a very well known verse in James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Some temptations are from Satan to do evil.

Which one do you think is in mind here?

The second part tells us that it is referring to evil temptations that come from Satan.

We see this contrast again in James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

When we are tempted directly to do evil we are to submit to God, to his strength.

The only way we can flee evil is to turn to God.

Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

This points us back to submitting to God’s will in the beginning of the prayer. After we already prayed, Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.

We can only do this through God’s word

How did Jesus resist the temptations from the devil in Matthew 4? By responding with the Scriptures.

So when you are tempted to cheat on a test, to lie, to show hate towards others, turn to God’s word and rely upon its power and the Spirit that he has put within you.

We have covered a lot of ground, and to summarize there is one thing I want you to remember.

Circumstances do not change our prayers, rather our prayers teach us to change in our circumstances.

The Disciples Prayer gives us the template for prayer, that template never changes.

Our circumstances change, but how we should pray does not.

Should we pray before an exam? or a big game, a presentation, a recital, a difficult situation with your friends?

Absolutely we should pray. But as one of my professors told me, do not pray for wisdom unless you took the time to gain the knowledge.

You see our prayer should be to glorify God in every circumstance, no matter what the outcome is.

We are to represent him, so that we grow in our faith and set an example in all circumstances. This is how we live out the gospel.

“calling on God to come through on his promises”

When we pray to God, asking him to come through on what he promises, we are submitting our will to his.

That’s it, asking God to do what he has promised to do. To work all things according to the counsel of His will.

So if God answered your prayers, would it glorify him or you? For our purpose is to glorify him.

Let us pray.

Father you sit high above the earth, looking down upon us a mighty God. Seperated from us because you are holy but with us because you are love. Help us to see the holiness and power in your name. Realizing that your sovereing rule in heaven is also on earth. For you do what you please both in heaven and on earth.

Give us today Lord, our daily bread. Help us to trust that you will provide and to be content with what you bless us with, whether in need or in abundance, let our joy be in you.

Lord we need your forgiveness and need help forgiving others. Let us see that we should give the same grace to others as you give to us. We are thankful that you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

And help us to turn to you, to submit to you when we are tempted by the evil one. Relying upon your word and your Spirit that is within us, not ourselves.

Thank you Lord for this opportunity, I pray that we continue to grow in your grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Amen.