Good evening.
Welcome.
Welcome, everybody.
It's good to see you all tonight.
I guess I'll open this up by praying for us.
Lord, you've given us your word.
You've given us instruction on how to live, how to think, how to relate to you.
And I just pray that tonight we would continue to dive deeper into that,
that in our daily living we would be looking to honor you, to serve you, to love you,
to know who you are and how that affects us and how that to be the goal of what we're doing here,
to seek you out, to know you as believers, as Christ followers.
And that in that, Lord, we would see your gloriousness, your might, your majesty, your love for us,
that we continue to be built up, to be rooted in this word that we cling to.
May it be in our lives, power to us.
May it be needful in how we interact with others and in how we grow as a body.
And as we talk about prayer tonight, Lord, that we would see something of its richness,
not only in form, but in its function as well.
And I pray all these things in Christ's name.
Amen.
So tonight we turn back to Matthew.
We continue in our series on the Sermon in the Mount.
And tonight we're going to be looking at the Lord's Prayer and how that fits into this sermon
and how it fits into what Jesus has been teaching us so far.
So if you want to pick up with me in verse 7 of chapter 6, Matthew, we'll start reading there.
Amen.
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.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
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.
For if you forgive others that trespass,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others that trespass,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
And tonight we see how Jesus teaches his disciples to pray.
And I guess kind of growing up in the South,
I'm not sure how that worked out in the Northeast.
Like, everybody knew the Lord's Prayer.
It was said by football teams on Friday nights.
It was said at social gatherings.
It was used for family prayers.
It was used at church and so on and so forth.
So, growing up, I heard it everywhere I went.
And yet it lacked little meaning to me.
It wasn't of any use in my daily life.
It was just kind of something that,
if somebody had some kind of moral inkling,
they knew the Lord's Prayer,
they were Christian,
that's what kind of life you just kind of lived.
It was kind of like saying God bless you,
like when somebody sneezed.
It was just like something that you kind of did,
like, flippantly offhand
and just kind of culturally became conditioned to say.
You just kind of knew the words.
You just kind of followed along.
And for me, it was just like,
I did this without questioning
if it had any worth or any value.
And kind of looking on that,
it's just like, there's so much of a tragedy now.
And what I've been studying
and been learning about this prayer,
it's just so much richness in these phrases
that we can tend to kind of say sometimes
just mindlessly.
And this is one of the most perfect
and complete prayers
that we see throughout the Bible.
It's one that Jesus instructs us to pray.
It has everything in these six petitions
that we need to pray.
And if we think that God is far off,
it starts off our Father.
If you have any questions about his divinity
or his majesty,
it says in heaven,
it says hallowed be.
If you have any questions
about how the Lord provides,
he says give us,
lead us,
deliver us,
forgive us.
We don't just learn this
as some kind of protocol
for a prayer we pray.
What we see in it
is the truth about who God is.
And that's why we don't need to babble.
We don't need to stand on street corners.
Both in Jesus' instruction
and in our very doing,
these words lead us to God honoring prayer.
But why pray anyway?
If God is who he says he is,
he's omnipresent,
he already knows what I'm going to say.
And you will see Jesus say here,
he says,
your Father knows what you need.
But since God is who he said he is,
his thoughts is above our thoughts,
his ways are above our ways,
and we can only go so far
in what he's revealed to us.
We can only use what he sets before us.
And he's given us this great gift of prayer
as a way to communicate with him,
to commune with him,
to have this fellowship
and this relationship with him.
And with that,
I've been asking my questions
as I search through this is,
so like,
how do we pray if God knows our needs?
How do we pray?
Why do we pray
if this is the case?
And I think as Jesus gives these examples here
of this Pharisee
and of these pagans,
he starts off as,
don't Bible like pagans when you pray.
And we see here,
they heap up many phrases.
They think they'll be heard
for their many words.
And we see here
that their view of prayer,
prayer that they're presenting
is kind of mindless,
it's kind of thoughtless.
And we see here,
as he gives us these examples,
he's telling us something about that.
He's saying God's definition of prayer
isn't meaningless.
It isn't mechanical.
It's not self-centered
as the Pharisees were.
prayer is not thoughtless
as the pagans practice it.
We shouldn't be praying
for the approval of people around us.
Prayer isn't just judged
by how many Christian-sounding words
we can use
or the length that our prayer goes
or by what people around us
tend to think when we pray.
And we see Jesus telling them here,
their prayer needs to be sincere.
It needs to be thoughtful.
There has to be some weight behind
what we're praying
and what we're saying.
They're not just a list of things
that we're just kind of
throwing out there.
Some translations use the thing
vain repetition.
And as you kind of look at that,
like,
we may think of, like, repetition,
like,
should we be repeating
the same things over here?
But I guess here,
the emphasis seems to be
on the vain part of it.
Because we look at Paul's famous words
in 2 Corinthians,
where he says,
three times I've pleaded with the Lord
about this,
that it should leave me.
And we see Jesus
in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And we see what Mark says about that.
And about this account.
And he says,
he went away and prayed,
saying the same words.
And true prayer isn't chance.
It isn't elevator pitches.
It's not defined by its length
or its articulation,
but by its sincerity
and its thoughtfulness.
And that brings us to our next point.
If we were to pray sincere
and thoughtfully,
we have to know
who we're praying to.
And in this passage,
Jesus makes a point
to refer to God
as the Father.
He says,
your Father.
He says,
our Father.
And that's the link
he makes here.
And if we were to pray,
as God knows our needs,
we need to pray to him
as Father.
And that removes
some of that impersonalness
that we kind of
can get into.
It removes that kind of
genie mentality
that God is just there
to give us what we want.
We're just coming to him
with our three wishes,
and that's it.
But we can rejoice
in the fact that God is there.
He's here us.
He's using this term Father,
which should be a reality
in our lives,
to draw us to him.
And it should draw up
in our minds
the image of a protector
and a provider.
Father.
And he's not just
an invisible force
that stands between us
and the things
that we desire
to gain through prayer.
And the term Father,
it isn't figurative.
It isn't symbolic
of something.
But in our lives,
it should be a reality.
And it exists
in the truth
of who God revealed
himself to be.
And we see that.
And we see him
revealing himself
and more and more
through the New Testament
and through the Old Testament
as he brings up
this fatherly imagery
of him shepherding
and caring
and providing
for his people.
And as we look on that,
we see Jesus
extensively speaking
of this unity
he has with the Father.
Especially we see that
in the Gospel of John.
And here in his fatherhood
we can be comforted.
We can be assured
that we can come
to him in prayer.
Yet at the same time
he's holy.
And Jesus makes mention
of that
all in his first line.
He says,
Our Father
in heaven.
So he makes
this claim,
this assertion
that not only
is God our Father
but he's in heaven.
He's sacred.
He's set apart
from us.
And so his name
should be hollowed.
And Martin Lord
Jones defines
this hollowing,
this hollowing
the name of God
as sanctifying,
as revering,
to make deep,
to make and to keep holy.
And this term
not only refers
to God
as some type of name
but this phrase
where he says,
Our Father in heaven
hallowed be your name.
Your name representing
all who God is
and has revealed
himself to be.
And to simply put it,
to say that God is,
his name is to be made holy,
it says that
all that God is
and revealed himself to be
is to be more than
just highly regarded,
it's to be kept sacred,
it's to be something
that we should stand in awe
of,
something we should
just treasure up
in our hearts
and to remember
every time we pray.
And Jesus shows us here
how all the characteristics
of God are Mary,
like in his divinity
and in his perfect nature
and his love
and his mercy,
like all these things
come together,
come together in the Father.
Like he's not just judge,
he's not just
all these other things,
he's Father as well
and that's something
that we need to
keep in our minds
and we see Jesus here
pointing that out
first and foremost
as he instructs
his disciples to pray.
And as we continue
to talk about this
fatherly characteristic
of a God
and how this theme
just continues
to run throughout
the whole Bible,
it talks about,
it talks about
in the sense
that we've been adopted,
that we've been made
citizens in heaven,
that we've been transferred
from one kingdom
to another.
in all that,
we see something
coming about,
we see change
coming about,
we see heart change,
we see,
we see our affections
changing,
we see our desires
changing,
we see everything
about us
just fundamentally
changing
as we,
as we take on
this new image
in Christ.
in Colossians
says,
our minds
should be set
on things above
and it also says
where Christ is,
when Christ
our life appears,
then you also
will appear
with him in glory,
with Christ
our life.
When Christ
our life appears,
our life being
hid in Christ,
us being a part
of him.
With that in mind,
pray like this,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is
in heaven.
And as we look
at God,
the Father,
we also look
at another aspect
of him being king,
him being sovereign,
him ruling over
everything.
And we know
as he comes,
that's a far more
better kingdom
than that's here
on earth.
And as we look
at Ephesians,
as Paul talks
about this kingdom
of,
as Paul talks
about this kingdom
of darkness,
as he talks
about these rulers
and cosmic powers,
things ruling
here on earth.
And then we look
at our own government
that doesn't run
so efficiently
all the time.
And as Jesus
is telling us
to pray here,
it's not because
the Father's
going to come
and throw off
all these things,
things.
But there is
something long-term
that we are
looking at,
something to come
in the future
that's being made
manifest now
as well.
And we ought to,
and in this,
we're to pray
for God's fame
to be made known,
for him,
his fame to increase
in all the earth
as his kingdom
comes.
And we ought to watch
and to pray
for this king
who's coming
as we think about
Christ's second coming.
As we,
as he,
as we think about
this kingdom coming
and his will being done
and how perfectly
in heaven
God's will,
will is done.
And we are to desire
that here on earth.
We are to desire
that same will
that's being done
in heaven
to be done here on earth.
And we were just
to stop here.
You could probably
draw some pretty,
pretty logical
application from
these verses.
Don't,
don't Bible like pagans.
When you pray,
just pray about God
and what he wants.
But we see Christ
keep going there.
And it doesn't
just stop there.
It's a little bit
more involved.
In every religion
there,
there's prayer,
there's meditation,
there's,
there's all these things.
So,
so what separates us
Christians?
How we count,
how can we distinguish
ourselves in this?
And I believe
this in the fact
that,
that our father's
omniscient
and knows what we'll ask
and yet he still
bids us to ask it.
And I hope that,
and that resonates
in our minds
and continues to,
to frame how we pray,
that God knows
the words we'll say,
yet he still bids us
to speak them.
Prayer isn't profitable
because we get stuff,
it's because we get God,
we get to communicate
with God.
And,
and that's the basis
of our,
our prayer as Christians.
And with that in mind,
with that in mind,
we get a father
who cares about our needs.
He encompasses all this
in,
in our daily bread.
Jesus is telling us
to pray for everything
we need.
And I guess sometimes
we have a tendency
to,
to hyper,
hyper spiritualize this
and to be like,
well,
he's just telling us
to pray for spiritual food
and to pray for
spiritual things.
And I think we do
ourselves a disservice
in that and,
and we do God
a disservice in that
because we're,
we're not allowing him
to provide for everything
in us.
I mean,
after all,
he created us,
so,
so how couldn't he know
that,
that we need things
here on earth?
And I mean,
he,
he cares as much
about a dentist appointment
at 1115 on a Tuesday
as he does about
our Bible reading.
And,
and with that,
we just,
we just need to remember
that,
that our Father,
he cares about it all.
He cares about every aspect
of our lives.
And I think that's what
Jesus is driving,
driving home
in,
in these few words
that he's put here
about give us this day
our daily bread
as he instructs us
to pray.
He,
he doesn't mean for this
to,
to be exhaustive,
but for this to be
the,
kind of the stimulus
or the primer
that,
that gets us to,
to come before God
and,
and to pray.
And Luther reminds us,
he says,
but our praying,
we are instructing
ourselves more than him.
And so,
as we look at
how we instruct
ourselves
and what we pray,
we need to
make forgiveness
a big part of that
as he comes to
in verse 12.
And he says,
forgive our debts
as we forgive our debtors.
And he doesn't just
leave it there.
He comes back to this point
in verses 14
and 15.
For if you forgive
others their trespasses,
your heavenly father
will forgive you.
But if you not forgive
their trespasses,
neither will your father
forgive your trespasses.
And he makes forgiveness
a big part
of this prayer.
And we all may say,
well,
yes,
forgiveness is a big part
of this.
Christ forgave us.
Is that like another term
we just kind of
throw out there
is just so easily
to say
and to,
and to repeat?
Are we just kind of
babbling when we say that?
Do we know how hard
like forgiveness
can be sometimes
and
how
ingenuine
it can sound?
I mean,
we can just
throw out apologies.
People go around
all the time
just saying,
I'm sorry,
I'm sorry.
We,
we see in the media
somebody does something
and
they just
come out with this
rehearsed statement
to tell people
they're sorry
for,
for what they've done.
Do we just kind of
make it another way
to,
to say excuse me?
My bad.
I,
I don't even really
mean to do that.
And even as little kids,
like we've all
had those instances
with sibling,
cousin,
friend,
they needed some
parental mediation.
And in that,
like your parents,
they,
they want you to
say you're sorry to,
they want you to
make amends
with your,
with whoever
you're having
this,
this conflict with.
But isn't in the end
it's just kind of like
forced and,
and mumbled
and you just say it
so you can just
go about your day
and go back to
playing with your
Hot Wheels
or whatever you were
doing.
Is forgiveness
like that to us?
And,
and I guess
as,
as we continue
to,
to look at forgiveness,
like our forgiveness
of new creations
should exceed that
of what,
what culture
and,
and our religious
cliches kind of
bring about,
like as we look
at the,
the whole of the
Sermon on the Mount,
we see that like
what we're doing
is exceeding
what,
what is going on.
He's saying like
their righteousness
is exceeding
that of the Pharisees,
like they're going
above and beyond.
There's something
deeper here
to be discovered
and to be had
and,
and that's our,
that's your heart
changing in this.
and in our
forgiveness,
like,
we,
we should be
seeing,
seeing the depth
that we've,
we've included
and I like
that he used
that word here,
this depth,
that this sin
that,
that we do
is a price
to pay for it.
And that should
cause us
to,
to have mercy
on those around us.
That should cause us
to forgive those
around us.
And like in the
Paralels,
the Unforgiving Servant,
Jesus says,
forgive your brother
from your heart.
He just doesn't say it,
forgive your brother
so,
so everybody can see
what a nice person
you are
and how you forgive them.
He says,
forgive them
from your heart.
And you can't
begrudgingly
forgive somebody
and,
from this same
tainted
and unloving heart,
expect God
to forgive you.
How can you
receive something
you're not willing
to give?
How,
how,
how can that be?
And just as we move
through this prayer,
just beginning
to,
to feel the effects
and,
on our hearts
and,
and how it draws us
to the Father,
how it assures us
of,
of hope to come,
how it gives us room
to,
to ask for what we need,
how it gives us
reasons to,
to search our hearts out,
all in this one prayer.
And if it's doing
these things,
it's doing what
it promised to do.
And now as we look
at the last petition,
we see,
we see some of the
same goals in mind.
He says,
lead us not in temptation,
but deliver us
from evil.
The key to us
having a fellowship
with God
is for us
to be away from sin,
for us to put off sin,
for sin to be put to death.
And how can we have that
if we're,
we're beset by these
temptations?
And,
in some translations
it's translated from evil
as from the evil one.
And we know
we're going to be tested,
we know we're going to be tried.
And this is,
this is not an assurance
that,
that life is going to be easy.
It's not
that we're commanding God
to take all the bad things
out of our life.
But we know
there's,
there's evil
outside of us.
There,
there's Satan.
There's Satan.
And,
and he isn't for our
fellowship with the Father.
And we know
that there's sin within.
We know that there's,
there's,
there's sin in our life.
We know that there's,
those things often
don't push us
towards stronger
fellowship with God
or communion with God.
We know those things
tend to pull us back.
They tend to condemn us.
And right here we,
in this prayer it says,
lead us not into some things,
deliver us from evil.
We're to,
we're supposed to be
separating from those things.
So,
so this relationship
with the Father
continues to grow
and continues to,
to thrive.
So,
so as we pray for,
for what we need,
as we pray to a God
who,
who knows what we need,
we need to be praying
sincerely and,
and praying thoughtfully.
We need to know
that we're,
we're praying to a loving
Father.
And we need to be
simply asking,
asking for what we need.
And some of you may be,
be doubting this whole
prayer,
prayer thing.
You may have been
asking what you need
for a long time.
You've been,
been asking and,
and asking and asking
with your repetition
and,
and nothing's happening.
But are,
are you merely
praying for what you need
or,
or are these
things you desire?
Or your expectation
has been,
been shattered
by some bad theology
that you,
you've picked up
on prayer.
That you're not
mustering up enough
faith to get
what you want.
And either way,
we need to start
examining ourselves
through the,
through the lens
of scripture
and,
and discerning
what's,
what's needful
for us.
And we can desire
only the best things.
We can desire
all these good things.
But,
but outside of God,
those things are just
stumbling blocks
and,
and distractions.
Outside of knowing
the kingdom has come,
outside of knowing
God's kingdom come,
these desires in our mind
may be only,
the only thing that matter.
We may set those things
up on pillars,
pillars and,
and make those things
idols.
And that's how
our self-declared
needs to throne God.
That's how he's not,
not hollowed in our lives.
And we need to know
God is close.
Not that he's seemingly
close or,
or we're experiencing
his closeness.
We need to grasp
that this,
this closeness
is a reality,
is a truth that,
that we need to be
believing.
And for some,
it may be a little bit
harder than others.
You,
you may have never
known your father.
You may not,
particularly have a
close relationship
with your father.
But in light of the gospel
and what,
and what's that's doing
for us,
this,
this reconciliation
that it talks about,
this relationship is,
it's like no other
we should have.
It can only be
likened to other things.
It can only be
likened to marriage.
It can only be
likened to a shepherd
and his sheep.
But,
it's just so much
more in there.
prayer.
And in this language
of father,
we,
we should be
desiring this
intimate relationship.
And it can only be
had through prayer.
We only can communicate
through God
through prayer
because that's the only
vehicle he's,
he's given us
to communicate with him.
Like he,
we can't send him emails,
we can't text him,
we can't give him
phone calls.
Like he's given us
this,
this great gift
to dialogue with him.
And like,
and just finally,
let's look at Jesus.
Let's,
let's look at him
and look at the life
he lives.
In my intro,
I was,
I was talking about
how his instruction
in the Lord's prayer
and in our doing
and,
in our praying
these words
and,
and meditating
about these phrases,
how that leads us
to God honoring prayer.
Let's look,
let's look at Jesus' life.
And we see from,
from the age of 12
up until the ascension,
like he lived out
all of these things,
all of these things
in this prayer.
We see his life
reflecting those things.
And by no means
are we that perfect.
By no,
by no means do,
do we have that type
of perfection
to us
to,
to live out
all these things
perfectly.
But we can live
in a way that
our words
make,
make our prayers
meaningful.
So,
so I'll pray for us.
Heavenly Father,
as we
look to,
to commune with you,
to have
better relationships
with you,
strong and,
and thriving
relationships
with you,
let us neglect,
let us not neglect
prayer and,
and what's to be had
in it.
Let us not
neglect that,
that you've given us
such a great gift,
you've given us
such great instruction.
you,
you've laid out
for us
how it looks
to,
to come before you.
But we know you,
you sit on a throne
of grace.
We,
we know that you,
you hear our prayers.
We know that
you desire to,
for us to come to you
with,
with all our needs.
and I pray that our,
our hearts would desire
that your,
your kingdom come,
your,
your will not only be done
in our lives,
but in this world.
and that,
and that we would just
revere you
and,
and respect you
and,
and love you
and,
and cherish who you are
and,
and all that you say you are
and,
and how you reveal your,
yourself to us
on a daily basis,
whether it's mundane
or in spectacular ways,
Lord,
but that you would just
be hollowed in our lives,
and,
and in our prayers.
I pray all these things
in Christ's name.
Amen.