Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on June 29, 2014.

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6:9-13. Today we continue our examination of the greatest prayer ever spoken, the Lord’s Prayer. As I have stated several times over the last four weeks, it is our desire to go deep in this prayer, and to mine it for the riches that are hidden behind each word. My hope is that for each of you, you will never pray this prayer the same again. That it will never cross your lips in vanity, but from your heart you will speak these words with the weight they deserve. With that said, let us read our text, pray, and see what God desires to show us.

• Matthew 6:9-13 – “Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
  
  

Today we are focusing on verse 11, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This request seems like such a simple request, and in a way it is, yet at the same time the implication behind it is immense.

Before we get into the specifics of verse 11, I want to take a macro view of the second half of the Lord’s Prayer; the half that focuses on the “us” aspect of the prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread…forgive us our debt…lead us not into temptation.”

These three prayer requests cover all of our needs: They cover our physical needs, our relational needs, and our spiritual needs. The bread is for the body, forgiveness is for our relationship with God and others, and deliverance is for our spiritual well being. These three aspects of our life are literally everything, they are comprehensive.

We need to remember that this prayer is not an excerpt form a prayer book written by man. It is the suggested prayer of Jesus Christ, the Author of Life. This prayer is a window into the mind of the Potter and what He sees as fundamental to our existence, fundamental to our life. And I think we would all agree with Jesus if we were to strip life to the bare bones, this is what life is all about. Our body, our soul, and our spirit.

In addition to this, the “us” portion of this prayer not only speaks to the completeness of ourselves, but it speaks to the completeness of our lives in history: past, present and future. It speaks to our past in regards to the forgiveness of our sin. It speaks to our present in regards to our need for sustenance to survive. And it speaks to our future in regards to the evil that is crouching at our door waiting to devour us. Jesus provides a prayer that is unmatchable. Only God himself can provide us with such a simple prayer that is simultaneous deeper than we could ever imagine.

With this said, let us examine the first part of the three aspects of the “us” portion and look at verse 11, “Give us this day, our daily bread.” Some people desire to make this verse say more than it does. The reason is because of the overall style of the prayer. The tone of the prayer, at first glance seems to be merely spiritual in the sense it speaks of hallowing, God’s Kingdom, forgiveness of sins, and evil. I have to admit that I use to be one of those people. I believed that the Lord ’s Prayer was merely about the spiritual bread that comes from the Lord. There may be some truth to this, but I think this prayer request is primarily about the physical.

The second reason people try to make more of this than there is, is due to the fact that the word for “daily” is somewhat mysterious. The word for daily is “epiousios.” This is the only time that this word is used in the Bible. There is no other usage of it in all of scripture. On top of that, this word, “epiousios” cannot be found in any other Greek literature. It was believed to be found, on a piece of papyrus that was a grocery list, but there is now even controversy over whether the grocery list says “epiousios.” Now because of this shroud of mystery around this word, people have attempted to make it say something more than it says.

For example, many people have wrongly been taught that what Jesus was encouraging in this prayer was a prayer to receive the daily Eucharist of the Catholic Church. We can thank a guy by the name of Jerome for starting this current problem. He gave the word “daily” a somewhat divine meaning due to it uniqueness.

To make this prayer about the Catholic Eucharist just doesn't fit the context of this prayer, nor the personality of Jesus. First, the Lord’s Supper would not be implemented for approximately 2-3 years. To give the disciples a prayer that would be obscure and meaningless for 2-3 years just doesn't connect. Second, having his disciples pray for the participation of a ritual is not at all how Jesus of the Bible operates. Jesus is not about pomp and circumstance. He does not encourage men to pray for a daily ceremony. Jesus is a God who speaks to the heart, not to rituals.

With that said, what is Jesus encouraging us to do when we are to pray “Give us this day, our daily bread.” This may seem simplistic, but Jesus is telling us to ask God for food. Jesus is encouraging us to pray for sustenance. To pray for the necessities of life.

This should go without saying, but without food we die. No food means no heart beat. We are dependent on food. God created us to live by eating, and not only to eat one time a day, but three times. God created us to be very needy people. So right out of the gates when we start to pray about ourselves, we put ourselves in the proper place before God. We are the creatures and He is the Creator.

For many of you, this prayer request falls of deaf ears because you have never experienced the feeling of desperation that comes from poverty. If I were to walk into your home and open up your cabinets I would find boxes and boxes of food. In fact, in 2012 a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council stated that Americans throw away ½ of their food every year. So for every plate of food you eat you throw away an additional plate straight to the garbage. This equates to $165 billion dollars worth of food a year that is thrown away in the United States. Here in America we are swimming in food, and because of this we take food for granted, and this is exactly why this portion of the Lord’s Prayer is so important for us to take to heart. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:31.

• 1 Corinthians 10:31 - “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
  
  

When we take the necessities of life for granted, we are failing to Glorify God, and sense we eat all the time, we are failing all the time.

When we pray to God to give us bread, to give us sustenance, to give us the basic necessities of life, we are saying that God is the giver of bread. We are saying that He is the one that has the storehouse of grain at his disposal and he will distribute it as he pleases. Not you, not your employer, not Wal-Mart, not the Government…God. God alone is the Giver of bread. Jesus has spoken to this reality already in the Sermon on the Mount. Flip back to Matthew 5:45.

• Matthew 5:45 – “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
  
  

God makes his sun rise. God sends His rain. These are two important things when it comes to food. When Jesus says words like this, He isn’t lying. That means that every raindrop that has ever fallen in all of human history has been ordained by God. Here are some other verses.

• Acts 14:17 – “ Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." 
  
  
• Psalm 65:9-13 - “You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.”
  
  

On top of this, not only does God ordain every ray of sunshine and drop of rain, but he ordains all things. Listen to these verses:

• Acts 17:25 – “nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.“
  
  
• Ephesians 1:11 – “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,”
  
  
• Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”
  
  
• Matthew 10:29 – “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “
  
  

All of these verses support one conclusion, that God is the Source of all that we need. He is the Sovereign Creator. He ordains who gets bread and who does not get bread. Why? Romans 11:36.

• Romans 11:36 – “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
  
  

Glory. It is about God’s glory. God has created all things and governs all things and will receive all things for one reason, so that as the history of man unfolds there can only be one name that can be hallowed, one name that can be glorified, one name that can be praised, our Father in Heaven.

By us praying for bread from our Dad, we are already answering the prayer we started, “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name.” For when we ask the giver of all things for provisions we are exulting him above ourselves, the wisdom and labor of man, and proclaiming a truth in our life that the fallen world rejects. Praying this reality produces two God ‘glorifying realities in our life: intimate dependence and God glorifying contentment.

The issue of man is sin. It is the biggest problem in this world. We have talked about this before. Another way you could describe sin is independence. God has designed us to live in relationship with Him. This is what our soul most deeply longs for, whether you accept it or not. Sin is a declaration to live a life separated from God, a life independent of Him.

The parable that best fits this is the the prodigal son in Luke 15 where the son takes the inheritance of his dad and wants to live independent of Him. We all know the story, the son squanders everything and ends up in the gutter of life, broken, hungry and hanging out with pigs. In this moment he then has a moment of clarity. He decides to return home and once again, be dependent upon his father.

Praying, “Give us this day our daily bread” is a declaration of dependence. It is a request that springs forth from a heart that recognizes that God is our provider and asking for the provisions of our day creates a deep intimacy with our Lord. For each morning we are looking to Him to give us what we need, to live, breath, and have our being.

AS a Father of four kids I am starting to better understand what Jesus meant when he said we must become like child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Children are dependent. In fact because of my sin, there dependence at times drives me crazy. I find myself longing for the day that they can cook, clean, and make their own money. God is not like that, he never says live independent of me, in fact he says the complete opposite, he says abide in me. I am the vine you are the branches. God desires for your prayer life to be a childlike one. One that starts each morning with, “Dad, may I please have some breakfast.”

Second, God glorifying contentment. Charles Spurgeon said this, “If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” If we recognize that God is the First Giver; that He sovereignly provides to each and everyone one of us according to His will, then we should accept whatever He provides, whether that is abundance or whether it is nothing. Listen to the wisdom of Job at the pinnacle of his anguish:

• Job 1:21 - “And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." “
  
  

Job understood his place in the Universe. He understood that if God provided than there was a reason, and that if God took, there was a reason. This giving and this taking did not change that Job is man, and God is God. In this deep and simple truth, Job found a truth to stand upon.

Likewise, Paul was a man who had days of hunger, however, listen to what he says in Philippians 4:11-13.

• Philippians 4:11-13 - “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
  
  

And listen to what Paul teaches young Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:6:

• 1 Timothy 6:6 - “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.“
  
  

Being content is a product of this prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” and then trusting that God answers it exactly as He desires. Not only that but we are saying something profound. We are declaring our faith, our trust, in our Father and therefore God is glorified.

We must not let this sentence pass you by. It is immense in your daily walk with the Lord. So we can say, “Whether you eat or drink or what you do, do all to the Glory of God.”

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on June 22, 2014

Today we will, once again, be examining the Lord ’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. As most of you know this has become the summer of prayer for us at Cornerstone Church. Today marks our forth week studying how Jesus teaches His disciples to pray. It is interesting; when you focus on one thing for an extended period of time you tend to see it everywhere.

For example, at our Wednesday Bible study group that meets during lunch in Anamosa we have just begun studying the book of Acts and last Wednesday we examined the first Church meeting after the ascension of Jesus. So before we get into our main text, I want us to listen to Acts 1:12-14.

• Acts 1:12-14 – “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. “

These people were approximately 120 in number. They had just watched as Jesus ascended into Heaven. They had just been told to go and be witnesses, and what do we see next? We see people meeting together in a room and devoting themselves to prayer. This was their first course of business; prayer. Before going back to work, before heading to the mall, before kids activities, before getting supper ready, they met and they prayed. This must be us; on our knees, together, seeking the wisdom that is from above. Until we wake up to this, I think we will remain a nominal church doing nominal things. I don't know about you, but I don't want us to be nominal. I want us to be on fire for Christ and I want to set this world ablaze with the glory of God. Prayer is the fuel to this fire.

With that said, lets quickly review what we have learned so far about prayer through Jesus teaching on how to pray.

1. Prayer is strictly between us and God
   
   
2. Prayer is not to be vain and repetitious, it should come from our heart.
   
   
3. Prayer is to be an act of intimacy between us and our Father
   
   
4. Prayer should preeminently be about God's glory,
   
   
5. Our prayers should mirror God’s desire to exult His Son as King over a ransomed people. Meaning that we should pray for the lost to repent and believe in Jesus.
   
   

It was my intent today to move from the first half of the Lord's prayer, the half that is focused on “Your” and transition to the second half of the prayer that is focused on “us” but I felt God leading me to spend another week on verse 10, so that is what we will do.

In doing this, I feel that I should mention that it is never my goal to cover a lot of ground and race through the Bible as quickly as I can. It is my goal to mine the riches of God's Word, and sometimes that requires looking at only four words, which is what we are going to do today. I want these four words to sink deeply into your hearts. I want these four words to ring in your ears, not just for the next 30 minutes but the next 30 years. Therefore, let us read out text, pray that God’s will would be done in this moment, and then examine our text.

• Matthew 6:9-13 - “Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. “
  
  

As I said, we are going to only focus on four words today. These four words are, “Your will be done.”

The first thing I want us to understand is that these four words are the most dangerous words in the entire Bible. These words have the ability, the capacity, to utterly wreck your life. In fact, I want to start this sermon with a word of warning, if you pray these four words from your heart, “Your will be done”, you should expect the months and years to come to a glorious tragedy in the eyes of of the world.

Why are these words the most dangerous words in the Bible? Because they fly in the face of our nature and our world. Last week we talked the first part of verse 10, “Your Kingdom come.” The reality is that until the Kingdom of God comes into our life through faith in Jesus our King, we are servants of another ruler.

• Ephesians 2:1-3 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- “
  
  

Prior to God making us alive by grace through faith we were dead, trespassers, sinners, disobedient, living for ourselves, following the course of the world, following the Prince of the Power (otherwise known as Satan), just like the rest of mankind. You and I and everyone else that have ever existed, prior to accepting Christ, follow the will of ourselves and the will of Satan. As we are told in verse 3, this is our nature. It is who we are by default. We are in bondage to our self-centered sin, that is until Jesus Christ comes into our life, and breaks our chains.

When the Kingdom of God comes into our life, and we accept Jesus as our King, we stop following Satan, and start following Christ. As we said last week, as Psalm 2 says, we kiss the Son. We kneel before him by faith and give our allegiance and trust and our life to Jesus the Messiah.

However, let us be fair to ourselves and fair to the scriptures. When we pledge our allegiance to Jesus as our King, we become his eternal people, it is a guarantee. We are told that God will never leave us nor forsake us. However, on this side of the cross and before the return of Jesus we live in a Kingdom realm of what is called “Already, but not yet.” I have mentioned this phrase before at Cornerstone, but I want us to become familiar with it. “Already, but not yet” means that we live in two worlds, an overlap of worlds if you will. Yes, Jesus is King. Jesus has been ushered in, inaugurated, anointed as King, but his Kingdom has not been fully consummated, or brought fully about. We still live in what Paul calls “this present evil age.” Living in the realm of “already, but not yet” recognizes the overlap of these two ages. Jesus is King, yet Satan still rules the World.

This reality of “already but not yet” is true both in the world, which has both followers of Christ and followers of Satan, and in our own personal lives. Even though we are followers of Christ, and true faith is an enduring faith, we still struggle with sin. No matter how long you have walked with the Lord, you will always be a sinner as long as your alive, or until Jesus Christ returns.

• 1 John 1:8 – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

You, me, and every other Christian that exists in this moment falls short of living all for God's glory. There are some denominations that deny this truth. Generally speaking, the Nazarene Denomination denies 1 John 1:8. I am not sure how they get around something so explicit, but somehow they do. The truth is that all Christians struggle with sin. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with the issue of sin in his life.

• Romans 7:18-25 – “ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

For those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, the war has been won, for Jesus paid for all sins on the cross, but until his return or until our death, we still battle against the flesh that remains in us. We know what is right, but we fail to do it. We know what the will of God is, but we instead pursue the passions of our flesh. Why? Because we live in the realm of “already, but not yet. We are saved, but we still sin. This is why we must pray “your will be done.” It is not automatic. We need God's Grace to achieve it. 

As I mentioned, praying these four words, “your will be done” can wreck your life. For the will of God is not health and wealth. Let me give you a couple examples of God's will. First let us look at the disciple Peter.

• John 21:18-19 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him,"Follow me."

The first time Peter herd those words, “Follow me” Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men. This time when Jesus says follow me, Jesus tells Peter God's will is that he glorify God by crucifixion. God's will for Peter's life was an excruciating death. Legend has it that when Peter was to be killed he request to be crucified upside down because he did not believe he was worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus.

The second example is Paul. In this text we see Jesus sending Ananias to Paul to lay his hands on him right after Paul was converted to Christianity.

• Acts 9:15-16 - “But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

The suffering of Paul was not accidental. It was the Lord's will. His suffering served a purpose. He was suffering for the name of Jesus Christ. And make no mistake Paul suffered. He was socially rejected by his peers, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, flogged, imprisoned, and eventually beheaded.

Last example, the greatest example, Jesus. The Son of God. Prior to coming to Earth he was perfectly satisfied in the presence of His Father; basking in His glory and being glorified in return. Yet he obeyed His Father and came to earth, and the night before his arrest we see the Jesus himself implementing his own teaching on praying “your will be done.”

• Mark 14:32-36 - “And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch." 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." 

We all know how the story goes. The will of the father was to crush Him. That was God's will for Jesus. Jesus prayed, “your will be done” and what did it get him? It got him the weight of the worlds sins poured out upon him on Calvary.

The list could go on and on. It is near impossible to find a Hollywood “happy ending” in the Bible. The saints were hated in this world. This is what is so abhorrent about the prosperity Gospel that is preached by people like Joel Osteen. It is just not in the Bible. The will of God is that His people would face trials and tribulations. This is why Jesus tells people that you have to count the cost before you follow him, because when you submit to the will of Christ you are guaranteed persecution.

Yes, praying this prayer is very dangerous, and this is why very few people actually pray it. Instead they pray for their own will to be approved by God. We lay out our wish list before him and say make it happen. Give me a new job, a new house, a new husband, a new family. We covet things in this world and we, like spoiled little brats, say “Daddy, If you love me you will get it for me.” Listen to what Jesus says in Luke 9:23-25.

• Luke 9:23-25 - “And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?“

God's will for you is death to self, “let him deny himself and take up his cross.” When we pray “your will be done” we are praying, “God, kill me.” Crucify Phil Parsons, so that I can truly follow you. When we pray this we are recognizing that our greatest need is not this world, it is something out of this world.

Many of you may be saying, “But doesn't God want us to be happy?” Oh yes he does. God desires you to be happy far more than you realize, and this is the beauty of having God wreck your life. The prayer “your will be done” is actually a prayer for joy. Listen to what Peter says about suffering and joy in 1 Peter 4:12-12

• 1 Peter 4:12-14 - “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. “

Now listen to what Paul says about suffering and joy.

• 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 - “but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing “

Lastly, let us look at Jesus and his connection between suffering and joy.

• Hebrews 12:2 - “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.“
  

For Peter, Paul, and Jesus the will of God was the same, suffering. For each one them the suffering produced the same thing, joy. Why? Because the greatest pleasure, the deepest happiness, the greatest joy is hearing the sweetest words, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Everything pales in comparison. I don't care what sin, or which one of your worldly dreams you put up against God's pleasure in your obedience, they don't stand a chance.

So let us today chose whom we will serve. Let us pray that God would convict our hearts to be living sacrifices holy and acceptable to him. Let us pray that God cause us to pick up our cross and follow Him. Let us pray that we will commit our lives to do his will above all things, all for His Glory and all for our joy.

 

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on June 15, 2014.

Open your Bibles to Matthew 6:9-13. Today marks our third week focusing on the Lord's Prayer. If you are interested in how long we will be in this text, I believe the answer will be three more weeks, but this may change depending on how the Lord directs me. Therefore, God willing, we will spend a grand total of six weeks focused on prayer.

In reality, this is not nearly long enough. For prayer is vital to our relationship with our Father, and I fear that we have a tendency to miss the mark in our prayer life. I fear that when we do pray, which is not nearly enough, we are praying wrongly, or at least out of line with God's will. However, my hope is that over these six short weeks God will move in our hearts by the power of His Word and cause us to be a people of prayer whose hearts resemble Jesus'.

With that said, let us turn to Matthew 6:9-13 and read our text. Pray that God open the eyes of our hearts, and then examine our text

• Matthew 6:9-13 - “"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

To being, I think it is important that we understand our terms. The phrases “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of Heaven” are frequently mentioned in the New Testament. Both of these phrases mean the same thing. In Matthew alone we see the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” mentioned 32 times. Here are the times Kingdom language is used prior to the Lord’s prayer in Matthew.

• Matthew 3:1-2 – “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
  
  
• Matthew 4:17 – “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
  
  
• Matthew 4:23 – “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”
  
  
• Matthew 5:3 – “"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
  
  
• Matthew 5:10 – “"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
  
  
• Matthew 5:19 – “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
  
  

As we read these texts you get a sense of the ambiguity of the Kingdom of God. At times it seems as if the Kingdom of God is now, and at times is seems the Kingdom of God is not here yet; that the Kingdom of God was on the brink, but not yet here. The Lord's prayer is a great example of this, “Your Kingdom come.” What is going on here?

Let me ask this: in order for there to be a Kingdom, what is necessary? A king and subjects. You cannot have a Kingdom without both of those things. Lets start with the King. Who is the King of God’s Kingdom, and why is he not yet on his throne?

The answer to that question is obvious to us. The King of God’s Kingdom is His Son, Jesus. This idea that Jesus would be the King was first revealed to humanity implicitly in the Garden of Eden but was first expressly stated in 2 Samuel 7, when God promised King David that some day God would raise up an eternal King and He would establish His throne forever. This is the first time we see an explicit foreshadowing of Christ the King. From that point on, this forever King is all over the Bible. Listen to what God says about Jesus in Psalm 2.

• Psalm 2:6-12 – “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
  
  

What an amazing text. This Psalm was written 1000 years before the birth of Jesus the Messiah, and we see God declaring his plan to humanity. 1000 years before Jesus becomes a man, God has set Him to be King over the nations. God has decreed it. For those who are in our Systematic Theology class this word decree should jump off the page to us because we know that when God decrees something, it will happen. If it is God’s will, it will occur. Nothing can undermine God’s will.

As I said, Psalm 2 is just the tip of the iceberg, throughout the Old Testament we find a number of verses declaring to humanity that the King is coming. Here are two more, just to get a taste of it.

• Daniel 7:13-14 – “"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

This text is where we get the phrase “Son of Man” that we so often see in the New Testament when referring to Jesus, the Son of Man. This Son of man is given the dominion and glory of an eternal Kingdom.

• Micah 5:2 – “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
  

This Old Testament text is the one that the three wise men used to understand the arrival of Jesus. They knew that the King of the Jews would be born in Bethlehem. Which we know occurred. Once again we see the phrase “whose coming forth is from of old, the ancient of days” meaning that God has declared it. 

 In the Gospels, Jesus starts to connect the dots. He begins to bring the Old Testament declarations into the present by talking about the arrival of the Kingdom and of course the arrival of the King. Here is a direct example, a very familiar text that we read every year at Palm Sunday.

• Matthew 21:5 – “Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'
  
  

With these text we can see very clearly, the King of the Kingdom is Jesus. This is one of the three offices of Christ: Prophet, Priest and King.

With this said, we have answered the first question, who is King, but we have not answered the question, when does he sit on his throne? We know that God has decreed it, but when does it manifest itself? When does Jesus begin to reign? The answer to this question is that Jesus begins to reign after His death and resurrection.

• Hebrews 2:7-9 – “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.“
  
  
• Philippians 2:8-9 – “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,”
  
  

In order for Jesus to reign as King, he had to die. The cross was the pathway to the throne. Satan attempts to take it by pride and force, however Jesus receives it through humility and obedience.

This leads us to the next question. Why? Why is the path of Kingship the cross? Why must Christ die, to reign? Remember earlier, we stated that there are two parts to a Kingdom, a King and His people. Without a people, a King is just a lunatic running around in a robe. The definition of a King is one who rules over a people. So how does this help?

Let me ask, what does the cross achieve? What is the purpose of Jesus dyeing? It is to save us. It is to atone for our sin, so that we can be reconciled to God. The death of Jesus is for the purpose of ransoming a people from every tribe, language, tribe and nation? It is to pay the dowry for the bride. It is to adopt the elect. To bring in the sheep. It is to give eternal life to those whose names are written in the book of life of the lamb who was slain?

The cross is necessary because until our sin is paid for, we are not servants of the King, we are separated from God and we are followers of Satan.

• Colossians 1:19-22 – “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”
  
  

Without the cross, there is no forgiveness of sins. Without forgiveness there is no blamelessness and holy people. Without a holy people there is no reconciliation. Without reconciliation there is no people to stand before Him. Do you see it? For the Kingdom to come, Christ the King had to die, so as to purchase a people to stand before Him.

• 1 Peter 2:9-10 – “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.“
  
  

So how do we get into this Kingdom? Psalm 2 tells us to kiss the Son. What does that mean? It means that we give our allegiance to Him. It means that we recognize his authority over all things, including us, and we submit to Him. We trust Him. We believe in Him. We have faith in Him. We turn from following Satan, and the world, and our self and we lay it all down and follow Christ our King. We begin to do the will of Christ, not the will of ourselves. This is what it means for the Kingdom of God to come into your life.

With all this said, lets come full circle and remind ourselves why we are talking about the Kingdom of God. Remember, Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray, and He is telling them to pray that the Kingdom of God would come into this world. This is the second thing Jesus tells us to pray for. It comes right after Jesus tells us to ask that God's name be hallowed. Therefore, before we pray for our sicknesses, our finances, our stress, our family, we are to pray that the Kingdom of God would come into this world. He is telling us to pray that Jesus Christ wold take his rightful place in the hearts of humanity. Jesus is telling us to pray for the salvation of souls.

This of course begs the question, do we do this? Are we praying for people to be saved, to be born again? Are you praying that your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and people throughout the world would would accept Jesus Christ as their King? If not, why not? Why aren't we concerned about the end of Pslam 2 that says, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.” Why doesn't that bother us? It should. We should be pleading with God to that he would draw people to his Son, the King.

As usual, the Apostle Paul is one of those who understood praying for God's Kingdom to come. He gives us a good example. Listen to these text.

• Romans 10:1 - “Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.”
  
  
• Colossians 4:3 - “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison-- 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. “
  
  
• Ephesians 6:18-20 - “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. “
  
  

If you have ever wondered why Paul had so much “success” in leading people to Christ, I don't think you have to look much farther then his prayer life. He understood that it is God who brings the Kingdom. It is God who draws people to Jesus the King. It is God who says let their be light in the darkened heart of an unbeliever. WE have said this before as it relates to mission trips. Prayer is where the real works happens, the mission trip is just mopping up.

Just as we asked last week, imagine what would happen if we regularly prayed “Your Kingdom come in Cascade, your Kingdom come in Monticello, Your Kingdom come in Wyoming, Your Kingdom come in Anamosa, Your Kingdom come in Worthington, Your Kingdom come in Farley. Your Kingdom come in my work place, Your Kingdom come in my home, Your Kingdom come in our schools. Once again, I have to believe if we prayed like Jesus tells us to pray, not with vain repetitious words, but authentically, from our hearts, we would see great Mountains moved in the hearts of man.

We must recognize that it is God would brings His Kingdom, not us, and we must turn to Him and plead with our Father to do a work in our world. Who knows, perhaps you will be the answer to your own prayer and you will be given an opportunity and a boldness to proclaim the Gospel in your corner of the Earth.  

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, Iowa on June 8, 2014.

Today we find ourselves in Matthew 6:5-9. Today marks the second week in our four or five week sermon series on prayer. We have a lot to cover, so let’s get right to work.

• Matthew 5:5-15 – “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
  
  

Prior to the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus says these things about prayer:

1. Prayer is assumed. Verse 5, “When you pray.” Every son and daughter of God should talk to their Father. Period. If you aren’t praying regularly it is a sign of a strained relationship with God.
   
   
2. When you pray it is between you and God. No one else. You are to do all you can to direct your heart and your mind to be in His exclusive presence.
   
   
3. Prayer is not about words as much as it is about your heart. Jesus explicitly commands us not to pray vain with repetitious prayer. Don’t heap up empty words. Pray from your heart, not your lungs.
   
   

After these words on prayer Jesus then gives us an example of how to pray.

• Matthew 6:9 – “Pray then like this:”
  
  

I want us to consider for a moment what is happening. Emmanuel, God with us, God incarnate, Jesus Christ is giving us an example of words that should be springing forth from our heart and out of our mouths. God is telling us how His children are to speak to Him. This is, once again, a window into what God sees as supremely important to Him and should be to us.

Having said that, how often have you taken your prayers and lined them up to the Lord’s prayer? As I stated earlier, prayer for Christians is assumed. If you are a true child of God, you will pray to him. You should pray without ceasing. When you pray, are your prayers “like this” or like something else? If not, why not? Are you praying wrongly? Perhaps.

• James 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
  
  

Today, let us commit, not only to being people of prayer, but those who pray with a right heart. With this said, what do we see in the Lord’s prayer? First, I want to draw your attention to structure. Jesus splits the prayer into two parts. The first half you see the primary focus being on God.

• Matthew 6:9-10 “…hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done,”
  
  

The second part you see the primary focus on us.

• Matthew 6:11-13 - “Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts…lead us not into temptation,”
  
  

I do not believe that Jesus is random, and I do not believe in coincidences. Jesus is intentionally giving us both a specific and general example of how we are to pray. In our petitions we should focus on God first and then ourselves. The irony is that when we put God first, we are actually the ones that are rewarded.

With all of that under our belt, I want to work through the Lord ’s Prayer verse by verse and word by Word. Therefore today, we are going to examine on verse 9.

• Matthew 6:9 – “"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
  
  

First let us look at the first two words of the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father.” As you can see, the word is “our” not “I.” The example Jesus gives us is a corporate prayer, a group prayer, a family praye. Just a few verses earlier, Jesus told us to “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” And now he starts the greatest prayer in the Bible as “our.” Is Jesus schizophrenic? No. As I said last week, praying in secret is a matter of your heart and mind, not about individualism. Prayer can and should be both an individual endeavor and a group endeavor. God desires, and has always desired, that His chosen people would pray together.

• 2 Chronicles 20:4 – “And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. “
  
  
• Joel 1:14 – “Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.”
  
  
• Acts 1:14 – “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”
  
  
• James 5:16 – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
  
  

It is time to lay down our Christian individualism, as if there is such a thing, and become the family God desires us to be. Come Wednesday night to prayer meeting. Come with an Acts 1 and a James 5 heart. Let us devote ourselves to prayer, confessing to one another praying for one another. If Wednesday night doesn’t work in your schedule find others and commit to pray with them over lunch or early mornings before work or school. Let us pray like Jesus says to pray and be able to say “our.” Not just “I.”

The next word that I want us to meditate on is “Father.” This word has become empty to us as it relates to God. In the days of Jesus, this was not the case. Calling God Father was highly unusual, prior to Jesus. Only a handful of times in the Old Testament is God referred to as Father. However, when Jesus comes onto the scene that changes dramatically. Father becomes the primary way that the Christians address God. To us this title is second nature, but to the Jews during the days of Jesus, it was enough to start a war. Jesus coming into the reality was the tipping point to this transition. Why? Because it is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we have the right to address God as Father. It is his blood that signs our adoption papers.

• Ephesians 1:5 - “he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,“
  
  

This is the amazing thing about what is unfolding in this moment. Jesus is teaching us to pray a prayer that is radically intimate, and he is the only means by which we can achieve it. Without placing your trust in Christ, you can't say “Father”, without faith in Christ you can't say “our”, without believing in Christ this prayer is completely pointless to you. It doesn't matter how often you repeat it like a broken record, without Jesus Christ you might as well be reading off a cereal box. Jesus is the cornerstone to everything, even this prayer.

When we begin our prayer with “Our Father” we are saying something overwhelmingly profound and wonderful . With these two words we are placing ourselves on the lap of our Father, and this is by far the greatest gift we can fathom. The Almighty, Sovereign God of the Universe, is our Dad, and he wants us speak to Him with this on our lips and on our hearts.

With this said, what does God want us to request?

• Matthew 6:9 – “"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
  
  

The first request that our Dad wants us to make to Him is that His name be hallowed. First let us ask the question, what is in a name? The answer is everything. The name of something is a summation of who they are. When you speak of me, you speak of all of me. Every thought, every action, every attribute, and every emotion. When we speak of the name of God we are likewise speaking to everything He is. God's name is a description of all of Him. Nothing else completely describes Him.

Next, what does it mean to hallow. Hallowed means to be sanctified; to be holy.. To set apart as not common, sacred. What does that look like. It looks like Isaiah 6.

• Isaiah 6:1-4 - “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"
  
  

To hallow God means to see Him as completely other. To stand before Him and to see Him on His throne high and lifted up. To recognize His majesty, His authority, His power, His sovereignty. To see Him in all His glory, and to respond in worship. This is what it means to hallow our Father, and Jesus tells us that when we pray we should have this be our first request, and yes, I say request.

When Jesus says, “Hallowed be Thy Name,” it is not a statement of fact. It is a petition. It is a request. Jesus is saying, “Father, make your name hallowed. Father, make your name Holy. Father, let your majesty, your authority, your glory be seen and revered. Father, cause us to see you high and lifted up and cause us to worship you! This is what “Hallowed be your name” means, and this is the first request that Jesus tells us to pray to our Father.

I want us to think about something for a second. This prayer is Jesus' example of how we are to pray in the midst of life. Let that sink in. Life is a mess. Life is full of trials and tribulations. Life consists of cancer, broken hearts, financial stress, deaths, loneliness, anxiety, stress; the list goes on an on. Life is broken, and Jesus is not oblivious to this. In fact, Jesus is more intimately aware of this than an of us. He gets your pain, and with that in mind, Jesus says to start with God's Holiness. This is to be first on your heart, despite the storm of your life.

Why? Why would God put our pain on hold, for the hallowing of his name? Perhaps he knows something we don't. In fact, what are we told in verse 8?

• Matthew 6:8 - “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
  
  

So yes, God does know something we don't, or at least He knows something and He is trying to teach us. The truth is that our greatest need, no matter what our circumstances, is that God would be hallowed in our lives. What you and I need more than anything is a heart that sees the awesomeness of our Dad.

When we approach our Father with tears in our eyes and brokenness in our hearts, and crawl up on his lap and seek His face, what we need more than anything in that moment is to feel the sovereign, all powerful, arms of God wrapped around us. We need to know that our Dad is an awesome God. We need to recognize that there is nothing that is outside His control. That he is able. We need to feel his love and his strength. The hallowing of God in your life, puts everything into its proper perspective.

When we do this, when we hallow the name of God in our lives we, we find joy in the midst of our suffering. We find peace in the midst of the storm. We find contentment in the midst of all circumstances. We are able to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, for God's rod and his staff comfort comfort us.

The hallowing of God is the foundation of our lives. We are designed to stand upon the foundation that is the Holiness of God. Too often, instead of planting our feet upon the rock of God's sovereignty we seek the quick fix of the removal of the thorn.

Here is the question that I will leave all of us with today, do you believe it? Do you trust Jesus in the example that He gives? Do you believe that your greatest need is the hallowing of God's name in your life? Do you believe that the deeper you go in the hallowing of God's name the higher he will lift you above the waves crashing against your boat?

We are told not to put God to the test, but we are told to trust Him. So I say to you today, trust Him. Change how you pray, put God's glory upfront where it belongs.

Preached at Cornerstone Church In Cascade, IA on June 1, 2014

Open your Bibles to Matthew 6:5-8. Today we are beginning a sermon series within a sermon series. This morning we are embarking on a five part sermon series on prayer. This could not come at a better time, for as you can see from our announcements, I desire to start heavily promoting our Wednesday Night Prayer meeting at Cornerstone Church.

The reason for this is because I believe, based on God’s Word, that the rise and fall of Cornerstone Church is deeply connected to our hearts being stirred to pray. Every Wednesday Night a small group of us meet from 6:00-7:30 to pray. I would love if this group went from small to large, not because I care about numbers for numbers sake, but because I want us to be a people of prayer.

My prayer this week and for the next five weeks will be that God’s Word and His Spirit would draw you into a new or renewed prayer life with God.

• Matthew 6:5-8 - "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “
  
  

The first thing I want us to see is that prayer for a Christian is assumed. It is expected. There is no question that if you are a follower of Christ you will pray.

• Matthew 6:5 - "And when you pray…”
  
  

Prayer is not something that some Christians do and others don’t. Prayer is a reality for all Christians. It is not a maybe. If you are a follower of Jesus, you pray. It is a fruit of being a new creation in Christ. If you love someone, you want to talk with them. Prayer is the way God designed for His children to talk with Him. Your general lack of desire to pray is perhaps an indication of something wrong with your Christian walk. What kind of a relationship would it be if you never wanted to talk the person? I'll tell you, a non-existent kind.

After assuming that all Christians will pray, Jesus warns his followers not to pray wrongly. Yes, I said wrongly. There is, in fact, a right way and a wrong way to pray. Jesus says so himself.

• Matthew 6:5 - "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.”
  
  

Who are these hypocrites? They are the Pharisees and Scribes. They are the one that Jesus has been calling out every since the beginning of this Sermon on the Mount. These were the people who were very religious, who went through the liturgical motions, never missing Sabbaths, festivals, and holidays. However, despite going through all the religious motions all of their religion added up to nothing. It was worthless. Why? Because of their heart. Their heart before God was all wrong. Instead of being God centered, they were man centered, and this included how they prayed.

In the days of Jesus, prayer was very prominent in the Jewish nation. It was standard practice for the Jews to pray in the third, sixth, and the ninth hour of the day. This equates to 9:00 a.m., noon, and 3:00 p.m. It was part of their routine. At those times, there may have been a call to prayer, and no matter where you were at you prayed.

The intention behind this was to be a people of prayer. Just like we have a designated prayer meeting on Wednesday night, they had designated times during the day to pray. What is important to understand, is that the routine was not the issue, the issue was the heart of those who participating in the routine.

Let us now examine we should not to pray. The first group of people who prayed wrongly were the ones who prayed to the wrong audience.

• Matthew 6:5 – “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.”
  
  

The first question you may have is, “Who prays on a street corner?” It is hard to imagine that this was an issue, for in this day in age, many of us are terribly frightened to pray even in our own home let alone the crowded market. One thing we must keep in mind is that Israel at the time of Jesus was a Theocracy of sorts. Yes, they were under Roman rule, but they were a nation built upon the understanding they were God’s chosen people. Therefore, religion was woven into the fabric of everyday life. Also remember what I just told you about the call to prayer. The idea was that you would pray wherever you were at when the call came. If you were in the street, you would pray. If you were at work, you would pray. If you were in the middle of a battle, you would pray.

The issue that Jesus was addressing was when people would conveniently position themselves in places of prominence at the time of the call to prayer. They would show up at busiest corner in town, or when they knew certain leaders would be at the Synagogue so that when the call to pray came, they could strut their religious stuff for people to see. Their prayer was a performance for men. Their desire, their heart was to win the approval of sinful man.

Isn’t it amazing to see how sinful humanity is? God has graciously given us the ability to approach him in prayer. An infinitely Holy and Sovereign God allows men to make requests, and what do we do? We take this great gift and use it against God to exult ourselves and not Him. It is definitely true that nothing good comes from our flesh, we are sinners through and through.

In my opinion, this admonishment hits home most for pastors, elders, deacons, small group leaders, directors of women’s ministry, and AWANA commanders, those who have a leadership role within the Church. There is a pressure to maintain a perception of holiness and piousness in front of your students and your peers. Sometimes we sinfully rehearse our prayer in our head while others are praying so that we don’t mess up. The irony is that when we do this, when we are rehearsing our prayer, we are already messing up before God.

Why do we do this? Because we are sinners and our flesh craves to be worshiped, and we tend to use all the gifts of God against His glory and for our own, including prayer. This is not what pray is to be about. It is not an opportunity to flout your theological feathers.

Many of you are now thinking, this does not apply to you, because you have never prayed in public. However, depending on why you have never prayed in public, you may be equally guilty, but just on the opposite end of the spectrum. Why? For the same reason as the hypocrite, they are worried about what people think. They are trying to maintain a certain level of respect from others and they worry if they don’t quite pray right, people will think they are not holy, or not pious, or religious. Whether you are praying to be heard, or not praying to not sound silly, the issue is the same, you are focused on the wrong purpose of prayer. Prayer is about speaking to God, not about impressing men.

Jesus also mentions a second wrong way to pray.

• Matthew 6:7 - “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
  
  

This wrong way of praying is self-explanatory. It is seeing prayer as if it is task on a list. Something that you are checking off. It is a prayer that is not from the heart. It is a prayer from the head. It is simply going through the motions of prayer and everything you say is vain, and Jesus says don't do it.

Here is the irony of this warning. Following this warning not to pray with empty words, comes the Lord's prayer. Sadly, the Lord's pray is by far the most frequently empty prayer prayed around the world.

Many people have been trained to pray the Lord's prayer over and over and over and over again. They are told just to rattle it off, and the implication is that God will be pleased with you if you heap up more and more of the Lord's prayer. The irony is that we have turned the Lord's prayer into vanity. Into nothing. Instead of dwelling upon the words, and making them come from our heart, they have become merely mindless chatter. God does not want mindless chatter. This is not what prayer is about.

The Lord's prayer is just one example. How many of you pray before meals or bedtime, hopefully all of you. But how many of those prayers become generic? As you pray before every meal and before going to bed you find yourself in a prayer rut, you know you should pray before eating, so you quickly close your eyes and spit out some words. When you do this, you view pray as an obstacle to eating, so you fulfill your religious obligation with the equivalence to spiritual white noise. Is this what God wants? Absolutely not!

Why do we pray wrongly? Why do we have a tendency to pray to man and to heap up empty words? Because we are sinners and we forget what the purpose of prayer is.

• Matthew 6:6 - “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
  
  

The Sovereign God of the Universe has ordained that children can speak with Him. The way we speak with him is through prayer. He speaks to us through His Word, and we speak to him through prayer. This is how God has designed this relationship to work.

Now before we move past this, let us dwell upon this for a moment. God, whose power is beyond measure. Who spoke the Heavens into place. A God who gives life and death, allows you and me to speak to Him. How wild is this? He is the King of Kings, and at the drop of a hat, we can be in the midst of His throne room in prayer. Not only does he allow it, but he desires it. He encourages us to pray, and not just before meals and bedtime. He wants to pray all the time.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - “Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. “
  
  

God wants to hear from you, all the time. No matter who you are, and how annoying of a person you might be, God wants you to pray to him. Not with empty words as if you are reading from a script, but from your heart. He wants your unceasing prayers to be genuine, authentic, real prayers. Not only does he want you to pray without ceasing, but he wants you to pray about everything.

• Philippians 4:6 - “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.“
  
  

God wants you to bring everything to him. If you are fretting about anything, take it to the Lord. If you are concerned about your day, pray. If you are nervous about a conversation, pray. If you are worried about your kids, pray.

This is what so many people don't get, God desires us to be completely dependent on Him. He is not bothered by us picking up the phone and calling him on trivial matters. Nothing is trivial. He wants us to trust Him so deeply that all decisions are run by Him.

So how are we to do this thing called prayer?

• Matthew 6:6 - “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
  
  

First, I want us all to understand that Jesus is not saying the public prayer is bad. Jesus prayed in public a number of times, so did the early Church. Corporate prayer was fundamental in the Church every since the beginning. Jesus is not saying that public prayer is wrong. What Jesus is telling us is that prayer is a conversation between you and your dad. Period. Nothing more and nothing less. Prayer is about an intimate communion with your father. You are to intentionally approach God with the singular purpose of making a request to Him, your Father.

When you do this, you need to shut everything else out. If you are able to get away into a quiet room and pray, great, but make sure when you do, you are focused on who you are talking to. If you are praying in a room full of people, you must forget about them, and at times, forget about yourself. Close the door to your random thoughts. Shut the door to listening to the noise in the room. Be completely focused on speaking to the great and Awesome God. This is what God wants from us, deep and authentic intimacy with Him.

Prayer is not about information. Jesus tells us this, “for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “ The point of prayer is not to fill God in and what is going on in your life. The purpose of prayer is to be in the presence of God, one-on-one, and to display your faith by making your requests known. When you pray to God, you are proclaiming to Him your trust.

When we do this, Jesus promises, that God will see us, and not only see us, but reward us. He will give us exactly what we need, no more and no less. These are words that should send shivers up our spine that when we pray rightly, when we seek the Lord in prayer, and place our faith in his Wisdom, God will not disappoint us.

These words should draw us more deeply into prayer. Knowing that our prayers are not bouncing off the ceiling, if we are praying the right way, from our heart, and recognizing that we are speaking to our Father who loves us.

With this said, I want all of us today, to make a commitment to be people of prayer. Not in the sense of heaping up empty words, but a people who long for one time with their Father. A people who are entirely dependent on the Lord, seeking His will and trusting in His Grace.