Amen. All right, we're there in Matthew chapter number six.
And of course, last Sunday morning, we began a brand new series entitled
The School of Prayer.
And we are going to be learning from the Lord Jesus Christ how to pray.
We talked about last week how we saw there in the Book of Luke,
how the disciples came to Jesus one day after he had got done praying.
And they asked him this question, Lord, teach us to pray.
And Jesus began to teach them to pray.
And if you remember from last week,
I preached a sermon entitled Getting Schooled on Prayer.
And Jesus, before you could teach us how to pray,
he had to teach us how not to pray.
And he went through and taught on how not to do it, how not to be a hypocrite,
not to use vain and repetitious prayers.
And we talked about that last week.
This week, we're going to get into the section of his teaching
where he teaches us how to pray.
And he's going to teach us some positive lessons.
Last week was negative how not to do it.
This is how to do it.
And what we're going to really look at today.
In fact, if you're there in Matthew chapter number six,
like you to look down at verse number eight,
we kind of ended last week with this idea in Matthew six and verse eight.
Jesus said this.
Be not you therefore like unto them in the sense
that we shouldn't be using vain repetition in our prayer.
We obviously talked about the false religions like the Catholic Church
that will teach to repeat prayers that are written down.
And the Bible says that we are not to do that.
It's very clearly teaches there.
In fact, just look down at verse number seven there, he says,
But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do,
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
He says, I don't want you vainly repeating over and over
these prayers.
But he says there in verse eight, he says, Be not you therefore like unto them.
And then he says this for your father knoweth what things you have need of
before you ask him.
And last week, we kind of ended on this idea or this little bit of attention,
because often a question that is asked about prayer is this.
And it is often asked by those that are disillusioned with prayer.
Those who think that prayer is a big waste of time or doesn't work.
And the question is this.
Why should we pray if God already knows what we need?
I mean, Jesus said, Be not you therefore like unto them,
for your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him.
So people will say, well, if God already knows what we have need of,
if God already knows what we need, then why pray?
What is the purpose of prayer?
And we talked about the fact and we kind of left it there last week.
We're going to pick it right up there this week.
We talked about the fact that when you ask the question, why should I pray?
If God already knows what I need.
Jesus said that our father knoweth what things he have need of.
Then why should I pray?
That reveals that you have a misunderstanding of prayer.
You have an improper view of prayer.
You don't understand prayer.
And this is why Jesus says, I don't want you to pray.
Don't do it this way.
And he explains to them how not to do it.
Then he says, I'm going to teach you how to do it.
He said, but before I teach you how to do it, you need to understand why to do it.
He says your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him.
For that reason, prayer is not us informing God.
Prayer is not us reminding God or bringing it to God's attention,
something that he doesn't already know.
There is another reason, a deeper reason for prayer.
Now, let me say this.
Prayer is definitely asking and receiving.
And we're going to get to that soon.
But before we can get there, we need to understand what is the purpose of prayer.
Jesus in verse nine, Matthew, chapter six and verse nine, he says this after this manner.
Therefore, pray ye.
They asked him how to pray.
He says, I'll be happy to teach you how to pray before I teach you how to pray.
Let me teach you how not to do it.
Spent several verses explaining what not to do.
Then in verse nine, he begins to say, here's what I want you to do.
And of course, this passage of scripture, our father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, and so on, is confidently referred to as the Lord's Prayer.
This is the name that many people refer to this section of scripture.
And I would I'm not against people using that term.
And and from time to time, I'll use that term just because I understand that it's a term that people identify.
But I want you to know that it's an inaccurate term,
because this really is not the Lord's Prayer, because it's not the Lord Jesus Christ praying.
Now, there are other sections of scripture where we see the Lord Jesus Christ praying.
In fact, the most notably is in the Garden of Gethsemane.
When Jesus is praying right before his death, we see that in the gospels.
We see it in a lot of light in the Book of John.
You know, the high priestly prayer, if anything, that's really the Lord's Prayer.
That really is the Lord Jesus Christ praying here.
Jesus is not praying to the Father, but he's teaching his disciples how to pray.
In some ways, it's not really the Lord's Prayer as it is more of a model prayer.
It is a prayer to teach us the manner in which we are to pray.
And in this model prayer, Jesus is teaching us not only how to pray, but he is teaching us why to pray.
Why is it that we pray?
So I want to kind of tackle this idea and wrestle it with you a little bit this morning.
This idea of why should I pray if God already knows what I need?
If our Father knows the things that we have need of before we ask him, what is the purpose of prayer?
And the answer lies in this model prayer that Jesus taught us.
Jesus says, after this manner, therefore pray ye.
I want you to notice there in verse nine.
And if you're taking notes, I'd like you to write some of these things down.
On the back, of course, there's a place for you to write down some notes.
And let me just help you notice what the Lord's Prayer or what the model prayer reminds us of.
What is it that God, Jesus, is trying to teach us?
And I want you to notice there in verse nine, of course, these are famous words.
You probably have them committed to memory.
He says, our Father, which are in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Jesus begins by teaching his disciples.
He says, you want to know how to pray?
Now, when his disciples asked Jesus, teach us to pray, they probably asked in the same way that you and I would ask.
And what they're asking is, teach us how to come to God and get what we want.
And if I was teaching a course on prayer and if you were teaching a course on prayer, we might begin here.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Because if we were honest with ourselves, isn't that where most of our prayer time begins?
Doesn't most of our prayer time?
First of all, like we talked about last week, when we pray, if we even pray, when we do pray, don't we often begin with give us?
God, I need, Lord, I need you to, I need you to come through here, I need this job, I need this raise, I need this to come through, I need her to say yes, I need him to say no.
Whatever it is, you know, don't we often come to God and begin with give?
And Jesus says, no, no, no, see, when you come to prayer, I want you to begin with this, our Father, our Father.
You say, what is the purpose of that?
See, it may just be that the purpose of prayer is to remind us of God's place in our lives, God's place in our prayers.
See, when it comes to prayer, Jesus says, I want you to remember, I want you to identify, I want you to consider the place that God holds in our prayer, in our prayer.
You say, what is that place?
It is that of Father.
It is a position of intimacy.
See, we get to come to God as an intimate, heavenly Father.
He says, our Father, which are in heaven.
Keep your place there in Matthew chapter 6, if you would, and that's our text for this morning.
Of course, go with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter number 8.
You're there in Matthew, you go, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Romans chapter 8.
Here's a wonderful privilege you and I have of prayer, is that we get to come to God Almighty, the creator of the universe, the I Am, the one that spoke the universe into existence, that formed you and formed me.
We get to come to God in an intimate way as our Father.
Romans 8 and verse 15, this is highlighted for us.
The Bible says in Romans 8, 15, it says, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption.
If you got saved, you were born again into the family of God.
You received the Holy Spirit of God.
You've received the spirit of adoption.
The Bible says, Whereby we cry, notice these words, Abba, Father.
The word Abba is a transliteration of a Greek word here that means, and I don't know that there's a specific direct translation in English, but it is a familiar and close way of saying Father.
Something that maybe we could use to help us understand.
It's like when somebody says, when a child says to their father, Daddy or Dad, it's intimate.
It's close.
It's not just the position of Father, although it is our Father.
But the Bible says that when you got saved, you got the Holy Spirit of God.
Go to Galatians, if you would.
Galatians chapter 4, you're there in Romans 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Galatians chapter 4, you got the Holy Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit of God allows you to draw nigh.
Doesn't the Bible say that we were once a far off, but now we get to draw nigh to God and we get to come to him with the spirit of adoption and we get to cry Abba, Father.
Abba, a form of intimacy.
We get to come to God as intimate, Galatians 4, look at verse 6.
Notice what Galatians 4 and verse 6, and because ye are sons, not because ye are servants, because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts.
Notice crying Abba, Father.
See, Jesus said, the disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray and they said, okay, here's the thing, you got a lot of bad habits, let me deal with those first.
Let me tell you what not to do.
Let me school you on prayer real quick.
And then he said, okay, got it.
And he said, let me teach you what to do.
Let me teach you how to pray.
He said, after this manner, therefore pray.
And they said, great, he's going to teach us how to get what we want.
We're going to be able to ask for the things that we need.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And Jesus says, wait, before we get there, you need to understand something about prayer.
And it is when you come to God, you should remember and you should realize the position that God holds in prayer.
What position is that?
Abba, Father, that I get to come to God, that you get to come to God, the almighty creator, as intimate as our Father.
I want you to notice, it's not just intimate.
Go back to Matthew Chapter 6, if you would.
God holds a position in our prayer as intimate, yes.
Father, yes.
Abba, yes.
But he also holds a position not only as intimate, but as infinite.
Notice verse 9, after this manner, therefore pray ye, our Father intimate.
Then he says this, which art in heaven?
Infinite. Notice this word, hallowed.
Hallowed. The word hallowed comes from the same root word that we get the word holy.
It means to be set apart.
Hallowed means that God is apart.
See these two terms which are in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Hallowed means that God is apart, which are in heaven means that God is above.
Please understand this, God, yes, he holds a position of intimate.
We get to come to him as Abba, Father.
But before you start getting too cozy with God, realize that we must always still come to him in reverence.
Why? Because he is hallowed, set apart.
He is in heaven above us.
See, God holds a position that no one else holds.
It is a position of highness, of being high and being set apart.
That's why Isaiah, remember Isaiah, when he got the vision of God, he said that he saw God high, holy and lifted up.
God holds a position of separate. He is separate from us.
Please understand this, God is not in the same league as you and I.
God is not in the same league as anyone else.
This is why God should never be equivocated.
God should never be put in a place where he is equal to.
This is why I don't like, and look, maybe it's just my opinion, but I don't like people saying,
well, we ought to do this for God and country.
No, no, no. See, God and country are not on the same level.
They're not equal.
God is separate and God is above.
The Bible says that God looks out on the nations of the earth and they are as a drop of a bucket.
God should only ever be equivocated with himself.
It is God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. Why?
Those are equal. They are eternal.
But other than that, there is no nation on earth.
There is no person on earth that God should be equal to.
Why? Because he is hallowed, he is holy, he is separate, and he is high.
He says our Father, yes, that is intimate.
But then he says there's an infinite position to God which are in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
If you would, keep your place right there in Matthew chapter 6.
And I want to just show you something,
show you a couple things from the Old Testament, if you would.
Go with me to the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament.
You have the major prophets there at the end of the Bible.
You've got Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Isaiah chapter 37, if you would.
You say, what is the first lesson on prayer that Jesus is trying to teach us?
Here's a lesson on prayer.
We should be careful how we approach God in prayer.
We should be careful how we approach prayer.
Jesus says, you want me to teach you to pray?
Yes, please teach us to pray.
We need provision.
We need pardon.
We need protection.
Give us the stage.
Before you get there, let's talk about how you approach God in prayer.
Our Father which are in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
You'll notice something in one of these days, not in this series,
but maybe two or three years from now when I do another prayer series.
I'll do a prayer series where we'll go through the prayers in the Bible.
Because when you study the prayers in the Bible,
when you study the men of God who prayed in the Bible,
filled with the Holy Spirit of God who spoke the word of God
and it was annotated for us in prayer,
you'll find something very different in their prayers than in our prayers.
You'll find that when they come to God in prayer,
they come to God with a realization and with an almost obsession of who God is.
And I've got to ask you this question.
When you pray, do you take time to consider who it is you're praying to?
Hezekiah is a king that we see a prayer life for.
Isaiah 37, look down to verse number 14.
Isaiah 37 and verse 14.
Hezekiah just received some bad news.
He received a letter that had some bad news in it.
Isaiah 37 verse 14.
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messenger and read it.
I was just recently talking to one of our people hearing from our church
and they're saying, you know, they got a letter from their job
regarding this COVID mandate thing.
And like Hezekiah, they read it and they did this similar thing that Hezekiah does.
I think it's a beautiful illustration.
And Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.
I think it's always good when you physically receive something that you're praying for.
There have been times that I received letters that I realize this is a problem.
This is something that needs to be dealt with.
And you can spread that there before the Lord.
You may have received a diagnosis and you can spread that before the Lord.
Here the Bible says that Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it.
And Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.
I want you to notice how Hezekiah prays.
Just notice how he prays.
Because this is how you and I would start.
Heavenly Father, please take care of this for me.
I need this army to go away.
That's not how Hezekiah begins.
Notice verse 15,
And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,
Notice how Hezekiah approaches God,
O Lord of hosts.
The word hosts there means armies, means military.
He says,
O Lord, O Commander of the armies, of hosts, of military, O Lord of hosts.
Notice, God of Israel.
He comes to a personal God.
This is, of course, Old Testament.
The nation of Israel are the children of God.
And he says,
You are the God of my people.
You are the God of Israel.
Notice what he says.
Don't miss this.
That dwellest between the cherubims.
That's Hezekiah's version.
That's the Old Testament version of saying,
which are in heaven.
He says,
O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims.
Notice what he says.
Thou art God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth,
thou hast made heaven and earth.
Notice he is speaking to God.
You say,
Well, why is Hezekiah praying?
Here's why he's praying.
The king of Assyria has came, and the king of Assyria sent him a letter.
And the king of Assyria says,
We're going to destroy you.
We're going to take you captive.
We're going to mess up your life.
This is why Hezekiah is praying.
But notice when he begins, he does not begin with his problems.
He begins with the position of God.
He says,
God, I have an army problem, but you're the Lord of hosts.
I've got a nation problem, but you're the God of Israel.
I've got an earthly problem, but you dwell in between the cherubims.
He says,
Thou art God, even thou alone.
Notice he says there at the end of verse 16,
of all the kingdoms of the earth, including Assyria.
Thou has made heaven and earth.
You're the creator.
He says,
Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear and open thine eyes, O Lord, and see and hear all the words.
He says,
Lord, please, I know you're hallowed.
I know you're in heaven.
I know you're high and holy and lifted up.
But if you would hear my prayer.
He says,
Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear open thine eyes, O Lord, and see and hear all the words of Sennacherib,
which hath sent to reproach the living God.
I want you to notice the focus of Hezekiah.
It's not on himself.
It is on God.
You're the Lord of hosts.
You're the God of Israel.
You're the one that dwells between the cherubims.
You are the God that is in heaven.
You are God alone.
Thou alone.
You are the God above all the kingdoms of the earth.
You made heaven and earth.
And then he says this.
He says,
Sennacherib,
he says,
which has sent to reproach.
He doesn't say,
he's reproaching me, God.
He's making me look bad, God.
No, that's not what Hezekiah says.
He says,
who was sent to reproach the living God.
The focus is on God.
Hezekiah says,
they are making fun of you, God.
Then Hezekiah says this,
of a truth, Lord.
This is where he begins to kind of dialogue with God.
He says,
of a truth, Lord,
the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations of their countries.
He said,
it's true that the Assyrians have a track record,
that they have taken over nations,
they have bullied nations,
they have laid waste other countries,
and have cast their gods into the fire,
for they were no gods,
but the work of men's hands,
wood and stone.
Therefore,
they have destroyed them.
Notice verse 20.
Now,
therefore,
O Lord our God.
Here's his request.
See, you and I would have started with our request in verse 14.
We've got 14,
15,
16,
17,
18,
19 verses of Hezekiah saying,
thy father,
which art in heaven,
Lord of hosts,
God of Israel,
creator of the universe,
hear our prayers,
O God.
And then he says in verse 20,
now therefore,
Lord our God,
save us from his hand.
And then he brings it back to God,
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord,
even thou.
Only.
Why does God ask us to pray when God already knows what we need?
Didn't God already know Hezekiah needed help?
Didn't God already know
that Assyria was there,
the Sinaic group was there,
that they had brought this letter,
and brought this threat,
and brought this problem?
One reason that God may ask us to pray,
as Jesus taught,
is not for us.
See,
here's what we turn prayer into.
We turn prayer into us reminding God
God,
I don't know if you're paying attention,
I'm not sure if you noticed,
but I've got this problem,
God,
you know this whole coronavirus thing,
and the vaccine mandate,
and I got this diagnosis,
and my kids are not going,
Lord,
and we turn prayer into reminding God,
and there's a place for that in prayer,
will come to give us this day what we need.
There's a place for that,
but it may be that the purpose of prayer
is not for us to remind God,
but for God to remind us
of who He is.
That we may come to God in prayer,
and say,
our Father,
intimate,
which are in heaven,
infinite.
It may be that the purpose for prayer
is to remind us of who God is.
Now therefore,
Lord,
our God save us from His hand,
that all the kingdoms of the earth
may know that thou art the Lord,
even thou only.
Let me give you another example,
just real quickly.
Go to Deuteronomy,
if you would,
Deuteronomy chapter number nine.
If you start in the Old Testament,
at the beginning,
you've got Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Numbers,
and then you've got the book of Deuteronomy,
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy chapter number nine.
I just want to highlight this for you.
You say,
what is the purpose of prayer?
Why should I pray if God already knows what I need?
I believe that one of the purposes of prayer
is to remind us who God is,
of His power and of His might,
of His position.
He is intimate.
He is infinite.
And it would behoove us to always pray
and approach God,
understanding who God is.
Deuteronomy 9 and verse 25.
Here we have another prayer.
This is a prayer of Moses.
This is what we would refer to as an intercessory prayer.
God wants to destroy the children of Israel
for they're complaining and they're murmuring.
And notice Deuteronomy 9 25.
Notice what Moses says.
Thus I fell down.
This is Moses recanting what he did and what happened.
He says,
Thus I fell down before the Lord 40 days and 40 nights
as I fell down at the first
because the Lord had said He would destroy you.
He's telling the children of Israel,
I went up on that mount and I fell for 40 days
and 40 nights before the Lord
because God said He was going to destroy you.
Notice verse 26.
He says,
I prayed therefore unto the Lord and said,
O Lord God destroy not thy people
and thine inheritance which thou has redeemed
through thy greatness which thou has brought forth
out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
Remember thy servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Look not unto the stubbornness of this people
nor to their wickedness nor to their sin.
Notice verse 28.
Notice the focus of Moses' prayer.
Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say,
because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land.
Notice the emphasis of Moses' prayers on God.
He's not saying,
God, you don't understand.
You got these people, they've had it rough.
God, I've had it rough.
No, Moses approaches God and says,
God, you know why you don't want to do this?
You know why you want to change your mind?
Because of your name.
Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say,
because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land
which he promised them and because he hated them.
He has brought them out to slay them into the wilderness.
Moses says,
God, if you destroy the children of Israel in the wilderness,
you know what the Egyptians are going to say?
They're going to say,
yeah, he took them out to take them into a land,
but he was unable to.
Moses prayed with this focus of who God was
and what God wanted.
And what was best for God?
Go to the book of Hebrews,
if you would, Hebrews chapter four.
If you start at the end of the book of Revelation
and head backwards,
you've got Revelation, Jude,
32nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter,
James, Hebrews, Revelation, Jude,
32nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter,
James, Hebrews, Hebrews chapter four.
Do me a favor when you get to Hebrews,
put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there
because we're going to leave it
and we're going to come back to it.
Hebrews chapter number four.
You say, Pastor, I understand
what is the purpose of prayer
and what is the lesson on prayer here.
Here's the first lesson.
We should be careful how we approach God in prayer.
We should be careful when we approach God
and realize that we are approaching the creator
as intimate our Heavenly Father,
as infinite, hallowed be thy name.
See, the sad thing about prayer is that
in many instances as Christians,
we have turned prayer into a formality.
Isn't it true?
You ask somebody to pray for the meal.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the food
that blesses our body, amen,
as the spoon is coming up to their mouth.
It's a formality.
Sometimes I hear preachers say this.
They'll get up and they'll say,
turn your Bibles and go with me
to Romans chapter number whatever
they're going to be preaching out and they'll say,
while you turn there, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you.
Now, wait a minute.
Why are you praying?
Turn your Bibles, go to Matthew chapter seven.
While you turn there, I'll pray.
Hey, dear Jesus, thank you.
Is prayer simply a formality,
simply something you must do right before you preach?
Here's what I'm saying is that what Jesus teaches us
is that when we come to God in prayer,
we should come with the understanding
that we are coming before God Almighty.
It's not a formality.
It's not something we do.
It's not a religious, vain, repetitious thing
that I just got to pray before I preach.
I just got to pray before I eat.
No, when we pray, we are coming to God,
our Father in heaven.
Sometimes I hear preachers, I hear song leaders
and you song leaders should pay attention right now.
They'll start the service like this.
Welcome to service tonight.
We're so glad you're here.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for being with us.
Look, I'm not saying that we need to make
a big show out of prayer and make some sort of spirituality,
but what I am saying is this,
that before you enter into prayer,
you should pause for a second
and realize who you're speaking to.
I've heard it described this way.
There should be a holy hush.
Before you pray, let's pray.
Think about who you're speaking to.
Think about in whose presence you're about to enter.
Jesus said, I know you want to get to give us
and give us and give us, but before you get there,
try this, our Father which art in heaven.
I realize that you are intimate.
I realize that you are infinite.
I realize that you don't have to hear me,
but you hear me through the adoption of the Holy Spirit.
I realize that I get the privilege
to come into your throne of grace in prayer.
And it may be that the purpose of prayer
is not to remind God about the things we need,
but for God to remind us of who he is.
Hebrews chapter four, are you there?
Look at verse 16.
Hebrews chapter four and verse 16.
Let us therefore come boldly.
Why can I come boldly?
Here's why, because he's intimate.
He's Abba Father.
Let us therefore come boldly, but don't miss it,
come boldly where?
Unto the throne of grace.
Why am I coming to a throne?
Because he is King of kings.
Because he is Lord of lords.
Because he's God Almighty.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Go to Hebrews chapter 10.
Look at verse 19.
Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19.
He says, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into.
Notice, enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.
Do you realize when you say, let's pray,
let's bow our heads and pray, let's bow our heads and pray.
You realize at that moment, not physically, but spiritually,
we're entering into the holies of holy in heaven.
The throne of God, the grace of God, the throne of God's grace.
Praise in heaven.
We enter in casually.
Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for this food.
Bless our bodies, amen.
And I'm not telling you to make a big show out of it.
This is why Jesus said, don't be like the hypocrites
that pray on the street corners and make a big show.
But what I am saying is this, we must realize that prayer
is communication with an almighty God.
And we may just want to pause for a moment and realize
that we are speaking to the intimate and infinite creator.
So Jesus says, after this manner, therefore pray ye
our Father, which are in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Go back to Matthew chapter 6.
Let me give you another point from this model prayer.
But before I do that, let me just give you
a little bit of prayer etiquette.
Just to help you out, and especially those of you
who stand behind this pulpit and pray,
you need to listen right now.
The Bible teaches that we should direct
our prayers to the Father.
Now, obviously, God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit are all co-equal in coexistence.
But when Jesus was asked to pray,
to teach his disciples to pray, he said,
I want you to do it this way.
Our Father, which are in heaven.
Our prayers should be directed to God the Father.
Now, that's not to say that there may be a time
that your prayer is directed to another member of the Godhead,
for example.
And this is just my opinion.
And I believe the Bible teaches this.
But what we call the sinner's prayer,
or when somebody calls upon Christ for salvation,
then that prayer should be directed
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because we're calling upon Christ for salvation.
But after you're saved, Jesus says,
direct your prayers to your Father.
So when you pray, pray, our Father.
And I'm not saying you have to say,
our Father, which are in heaven.
Heavenly Father, pray to God the Father.
Let me just give you a little bit of prayer etiquette.
The Bible says that the reason that you and I
get to come to God in prayer is because we are our sons.
Why are we sons?
Because we receive the Spirit of adoption,
the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
It is Jesus Christ.
He is the reason we get to come to God in prayer.
So the Bible says that we are to end our prayers in this way,
in Jesus' name.
Why do I get to come to God in prayer?
Not because of my own righteousness,
but because of the name of his son, Jesus Christ.
And look, I'm not mad at you.
I'm just trying to help some of you out.
You end prayers like this, in your name, amen.
And whose name?
You started praying to the Father
and now you're praying in his name.
And look, I'm not mad at you.
I'm just telling you, we're not oneness.
We direct our prayers to the Father
and we close the prayers in the name
in which we get to pray the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Jesus' name, amen.
You can make that nicer in the matchless name of Christ,
we pray, whatever.
But realize that there is a theology to our prayers.
We pray to the Father in the name of the Son.
The Holy Spirit brings those prayers to God.
This is the theology of prayer.
So be careful about this.
And again, the other extreme, you preach a sermon like this
and then people are like, you know, our Heavenly Father
and using all the thyes and thows in their prayer.
I'm not saying we should make a big show about it.
I'm not saying it should become a religious thing.
What I am saying is that you may want
to check your own heart and ask yourself,
is prayer just a formality in my life?
Something I do because I got to do right before I preach?
Something I do because I got to do right before I eat?
Or do we actually believe that we are communicating
with an intimate and an infinite God?
The question is this, why would God ask us to pray
if God already knows what we need?
One answer is to remind us of God's place in our lives.
Here's a second answer.
Go to Matthew chapter 6, look at verse 10.
Are we going to get to the give us yet?
He said Jesus, not yet, not yet.
We're about to get there, OK?
Not yet.
You don't know, I got a lot of needs.
Jesus said, I know, and your Heavenly Father.
Here's the thing, Jesus, this is taking too long.
You see, I mean, if every time I pray,
I got down on my knees, I raise my hands up to heaven,
and I acknowledge the fact, I mean,
if I tried to be like Hezekiah, and I acknowledge the fact
that you're the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
the creator of the universe, I mean, that takes too long.
I'm never going to get to what I need.
And Jesus says, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.
But remember this, your Heavenly Father already
knows what you need.
Prayer is not, the purpose of prayer
is not to remind God of what He needs to do for you.
God already knows what He needs to do for you.
The purpose of prayer is to remind us of who God is,
remind us of God's place in our lives.
And then there's a second purpose,
to remind us of our place in prayer.
Are we going to get to give us yet?
Not yet, there's one more thing, verse 10,
Matthew 6, verse 10, thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
The purpose of prayer is not only
to remind us of who God is, but it
is remind us of who we are.
Thy kingdom come.
Go to 1 John, if you would.
I'm not sure if you kept your place in Hebrews.
I meant to tell you to keep your place in Hebrews.
If you kept your place in Hebrews,
right after Hebrews, you have James 1, 2, and 1 Peter,
and 1 John.
If not, then you can stop from Revelation and go backwards.
But go to 1 John, if you would, 1 John chapter 5.
Revelation, Jude, 32 and 1 John, 1 John chapter 5.
You see, I like that.
I like that whole, you know, our Father,
which art in heaven, hallowed be our name.
I like that.
You know, it reminds me about who God is,
reminds me that He's all powerful,
reminds me that He's intimate.
That all sounds great, Pastor.
But what about the give us?
Well, there's one part, there's something
that comes between God, you can do anything.
Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.
Hallowed be thy name, he says, which art in heaven.
God, you can do anything.
And then before we ask, so we say,
God, you can do anything, and then we're going to ask.
But before we get there, he says,
you've got to check yourself a little bit.
Your prayers have to be filtered through this idea,
thy kingdom come.
You see, what does that mean?
It means that I'm not building my kingdom.
I'm building God's kingdom.
When I pray, I'm not building my ministry,
I'm building God's ministry.
When I pray, I'm not building my business,
I'm building God's business.
When I pray, I'm not building my family,
I'm building God's family.
When I pray, I'm not building my life,
I'm building God's life.
Do you understand?
See, you say, yeah, I want to get to the give us,
give us, give us.
But Jesus said, before you get there,
realize God is intimate.
God is infinite.
God can do anything.
And before we start asking God to do anything,
we need to remember that we must filter it through
thy kingdom come.
God, I want to get on your plan.
I want to get on your program.
I want to push what you're pushing.
Because if we were honest, if we were honest,
wouldn't we say that most of our prayer
is God get on my plan?
God, get on my agenda.
God, I really need you to fire that guy,
give me the raise.
Let me get that parking spot.
Let me do this, let me do that.
Often, if we were honest with ourselves,
we would realize and we would say,
most of our prayers is this, my kingdom come!
God, build my kingdom, build my business,
build my life, build my family, build my wealth,
Lord, do what I want!
And Jesus said, no, no, no, no, no.
It's thy kingdom come.
And see, I will say this, I believe that most of the reasons,
most of the times that our prayers don't get answered
is because we're not aligning our prayers
to the kingdom of God.
1 John 5 and verse 14,
and this is the confidence that we have in him,
that if we ask anything, don't miss it.
And this is the confidence that we have in him,
that if we ask anything, we like it right up to there.
But then John says this according to his will.
Thy kingdom come.
He hearth us.
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him.
Maybe prayer is not reminding God about what you want,
maybe prayer is God reminding you about what he wants.
Thy kingdom come, what does that mean?
It means that I'm building your kingdom.
I'm not building my kingdom.
I'm building your ministry.
I'm not building my ministry.
This is not my ministry.
This is not my family.
This here is not my finances.
This is not my business.
This is not my health, God!
This is not...
look, whatever you're praying for, whatever you're praying,
Lord, I really need you to do this with my health.
I really do this with my money.
I really do do this in my relations.
I really need you to do this in whatever area
we come to God in prayer.
We're just trying to get God to get on our agenda, but God wants us to realize that it is His kingdom!
We should be pushing His kingdom.
Thy kingdom come.
Then He says this.
Keep your finger right there in 1 John.
Go back to Matthew chapter 6.
Thy kingdom come, then He says this. And we probably really don't like this one. Thy will be done.
In earth as it is in heaven.
What does that mean? Here's what it means.
It means that we are pushing God's agenda, not our agenda.
And again, I don't mean to just beat a dead horse here. Go to Matthew chapter 26 if you would.
People ask this question, why should I pray if God already knows what I need?
And it shows that you have a misunderstanding of the purpose of prayer.
Prayer!
Prayer is not us reminding God about what we need. That comes. That comes. It's coming. Give us this day or day of bread.
It's coming, but before you get there, before you get there,
prayer is reminding us who God is, and it is reminding us who we are in God's plan.
I'm not praying to get God on my agenda.
I'm asking that God would put me on His agenda.
And look, let me just tell you something.
You're not better than Jesus.
Okay, God denied my prayers. Okay, well,
God only, God the Father, only answers prayers according to His will.
And
if our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the universe, had to go to God in prayer
to align His will to the Father's will,
then you better just realize that's the purpose of prayer.
Matthew 26, let me give you an example. Verse 36.
Garden of Gethsemane then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and say unto the disciples,
sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and
very heavy. Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.
Tear ye here and watch with me. And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed saying, oh my Father is
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Did Jesus in His flesh want to die?
Did Jesus in His humanity want to go to the cross? He says if it's possible, if it's possible,
let this cup pass from me. But then he says this, not my will, but thine be done.
Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt.
Notice verse 42, same chapter.
Bible says he went away the second time and prayed saying, oh my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except
I drink it. Notice what he says, thy will be done.
What if the purpose of prayer was to remind you
who God is and
to remind you.
What if the purpose of prayer, go to James chapter 4 if you would,
James chapter 4, what if the purpose of prayer
was not to get God to align himself with us, but to get us to align ourselves with God?
You might find that some of your prayers start getting answered.
See, we must pray according to the will of God. We must pray according to the kingdom of God.
We must pray not that God would build our kingdom, but that God would build His kingdom.
Here's why our prayers don't get answered because they're selfish.
James 4 verse 2, ye lust.
What's the word lust mean? It means want, desire. Ye lust and have not.
Ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. Ye fight in war, yet ye have not because ye ask not.
The second part of that verse, there's a great verse on prayer. Ye have not because ye ask not.
Sometimes your prayers don't get answered because you're not praying. That's why your prayers don't get answered.
Ye have not because ye ask not, but a lot of times when we do ask, we ask, verse 3, ye ask and receive not
because ye ask amiss. The word amiss means inappropriately, out of place, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
That you may consume it upon your wants.
Our place in prayer,
our place in prayer is to remind us
who we are and to align ourselves with God. Go back to Matthew chapter 6.
So the question is this, why pray
when God already knows what we need?
Your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things before ye ask, Jesus said.
The carnal
the Christian that's walking in their flesh,
the Christian that does not understand prayer, says God already knows why I ask and he never answers my prayer anyway.
It reveals the fact that you have a misunderstanding of prayer.
You think the purpose of prayer is to try to talk God to get on your plan and Jesus says no.
Before we get to give, let's align ourselves with God.
Before we get to give, let's remember who God is, our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Before we get to give, let's align ourselves and remind ourselves of who we are. It's not my agenda God,
it's your agenda, thy kingdom come, thy will be done
in earth as it is in heaven.
So here's your homework assignment.
Remember last week you got homework? Some of you are going to fail this class.
Turn in your homework, haven't been studying.
Last week Jesus taught us how not to do it and in the how not to do it, he really taught us how to do it.
Remember that we asked these questions. When do you pray?
Where do you pray? Why do you pray?
I hope you've been praying this week.
Here's your homework assignment. I want you to pray through the Lord's Prayer.
Now don't misunderstand what I said.
I don't want you to pray the Lord's Prayer. We're not Catholics.
Go to Matthew chapter 6, look at verse 7 again. I didn't ask you to pray the Lord's Prayer.
The Bible says, but when you pray use not vain repetition as the heathen do,
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
I don't want you to pray the Lord's Prayer, but I do want you to pray through the Lord's Prayer.
Say, what does that mean? That means that you'll take some time this week
and you'll approach God in a loving and irreverent way.
And you don't have to quote the words from the Lord's Prayer,
but you will remember that God is your Father. He's intimate.
That God is hallowed and high. He's high, holy, and lifted up. He's infinite.
And you'll say, God, I have a lot of needs and I may not have time to go through all of them.
The good thing is you already know what I need.
But I want to take some time to remember who you are and who I am.
And like the Lord Jesus Christ, would you help me to align myself to you?
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
I want to encourage you to come back next week because next week we're going to get to the part of prayer that most of us want.
We're going to get to the give us.
Now a little bit of a spoiler alert. You'll notice that Jesus does not take prayer requests.
He doesn't start asking, well, what do you want?
In fact, Jesus begins to direct us in different categories as to how we should ask.
I'll give you the thoughts. He says we should pray for provision, we should pray for pardon, and we should pray for protection.
Next week, we're going to learn how to properly ask God in prayer because prayer is asking and receiving.
But for now, for now, I just want you to remember this. Verse 9, after this manner, therefore, pray ye.
And it may be
that we have the incorrect idea.
We think prayer is us working on God, and God says no, prayer is me working on you.
That's by our heads, and I have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Lord, we do thank you that you are intimate, and you are infinite, and we know you hear our prayers.
But Lord, we ask that you would help us to align our wills
our kingdoms on this earth
to you.
Help us to realize that the purpose of prayer is not to bring a laundry list of things that
we need because we know that you already know what we need.
The purpose of prayer is not to try to get you on our agendas, to get us on your agenda.
It's not to try to get you to align yourself with us, but it is us
aligning ourselves with you. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to learn how to pray
from the master prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you in the matchless name of Christ. We pray.
Amen.