LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY
( The Pattern of Prayer - May 31, 2020)
Series Big Idea: "The Lord's Prayer is THE model for our communication with God"
Sermon Big Idea: "Jesus models the five components of our communication with the Father"
Key Scripture (Matthew 6:9-13)
I want you to imagine for a moment that you have just been asked to assemble the “perfect church.” Additionally, you are given a list in which you can choose five components to include. These include; brand-new state of the art facility that is debt free, a gifted and talented staff, a million dollar per month operating budget, a congregation that is excited and trained about missions, a national radio and TV show, a top notch education program, top notch Christian school, godly and wise biblical counseling ministry, and a prayer ministry composed of faithful people interceding at all times. Which ones would you choose? It all sounds pretty good doesn’t it? As pastor I would love to have all those characteristics.
For at least the next two Sunday mornings I want to talk to you about something that the Bible says is more important than any of these things I have just mentioned. Prayer. Jesus gave His disciples an idea of how to pray. He didn’t say you must pray these exact words but He gave them a pattern for prayer. Let’s read Matthew 6:9-13.
Matthew 6:9–13 (KJV 1900):
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Five Key Components to Prayer/Part 1
Praise
“Our Father who art in Heaven,“
Jesus was saying that prayer is personal, but in the Jewish culture at the time there were certain names for God that they would not use because they believed there needed to be a distance between God and themselves. They didn’t realize the beauty of this phrase. Jesus was saying they’d needed heavenly solutions to their earthly problems.
“hallowed by Thy name.”
This is complete praise. There is no one else like God. But the problem is that often people rush into prayer. People may honestly want to praise Him but they rush right into His presence with their needs and wants. If we began our prayers by praising God for who He is, our prayer life would go to the next level. Because He is seeing our needs from His heavenly perspective.
There are Benefits of Praise
It Expands our appreciation for God
It enhances our vision. We begin to see from God’s perspective. If the first thing you do when you pray is to come to Him in praise, this takes the focus off you and puts it on Him.
Jesus said in verse 33 of this same chapter to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all that we need will be added to us.”When we make God and His kingdom the primary focus and object of our desire, we will find the ability to trust Him more and more to meet our needs. Praising God in our prayers will expand our appreciation for Him.
It Calms our fears
Think about this. The Bible says God is our Helper, our Protector, and our Fortress. You and I can come to Him knowing He will be there because His is the Wonderful Counselor. When I am in trouble or turmoil I can turn to the Prince of Peace.
Men and women, as parents, you and I have the wonderful privilege to have the title of Mom or Dad. You here at the church even call me Pastor. My children call me Dad. My wife calls me honey. But even more wonderful, isn’t it wonderful to call on God based on all the attributes that He is? It calms our fears when we praise Him in our prayers.
It Refreshes our spirit
It is going to refresh our spirit when we begin our prayers with God instead of me. My friends we were not designed to carry some of the things we are trying to carry in our lives. When we praise Him first in our prayers it will refresh our spirit.
It Confuses our enemy
If we are Christian, our enemy knows who we depend upon. He knows this and will begin to get the picture when we keep returning to Him over and over and over. The enemy will not ever leave and never come back but it will make it harder for him to discourage us if we keep turning back to God.
It Prepares us for heaven
We need to practice this because it is what we will be doing in heaven for all eternity! If you can’t praise Him now, what makes you think you will all of a sudden want to praise Him forever? Let’s start now to praise Him in our prayers. It will change not only your prayer life but it will change your entire life.
Conclusion:
Years ago I read the classic book Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. I like what the great preacher of the gospel, John MacArthur says about prayer quoting that book.
In his Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan tells of Christian’s weapon called prayer, which, when everything else failed, would enable him to defeat the fiends in the valley of the shadow. Prayer is the closing theme of Ephesians, and though closely related to God’s armor, it is not mentioned as part of it because it is much more than that. Prayer is not merely another godly weapon, as important as those weapons are. All the while that we are fighting in the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, we are to be in prayer. Prayer is the very spiritual air that the soldier of Christ breathes. It is the all-pervasive strategy in which warfare is fought.
“Jesus urged His disciples to pray always and not to lose heart (Luke 18:1). He knows that when the battle gets hard, soldiers easily become tired, weak, and discouraged. In the struggle with Satan, it is either pray or faint.” —John MacArthur
Pastor Beaver's thoughts and ideals for this message, are inspired by:
Holman Christian Standard Bible
English Standard Version Bible
King James Version Bible
Christian Standard Bible
The Bible Knowledge Commentary by John F. Walvoord/Roy B. Zuck
The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge by Jerome H. Smith
Water, Mark, ed. Encyclopedia of Bible Facts. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.
NIV, Archaeological Study Bible, eBook: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture
Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Duane Garrett, and Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
NIV, First-Century Study Bible, eBook: Explore Scripture in Its Jewish and Early Christian Context
Zondervan, Kent Dobson, and Ed Dobson
Hughes, Robert B. and J. Carl Laney. Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1990. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. Revised edition of New Bible Companion.
Morris, Leon. The Gospel according to Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992. Print. The Pillar New Testament Commentary.
Brown, Jeannine K. Matthew. Ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.
Blomberg, Craig L. Volume 22: Matthew. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1992. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
Easton, Matthew George. Illustrated Bible Dictionary: And Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature. London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1897. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2005. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
Platt, David. Exalting Jesus in Matthew. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, Tony Merida. Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2013. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
Weber, Stuart. Matthew. Edited by Max Anders. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2000. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
Wilkins, Michael. Matthew: From biblical text...to contemporary life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
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