Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / The Sermon On The Mount
Raising The Bar With Prayer (Part 9) 2/24/08
Message: ‘Raising the Bar with prayer ’ pt.9
Text: Revelation 7:11-12
Introduction: I don’t know if you thought about it much before, but there are a lot of people who like naming things after themselves.
· Universities are named after people
· Bridges are named after people
· Schools are named after people
· Buildings are named after people
· Streets are named after people
· Even people are named after people
Most of the time these names are given by family members in memory of loved ones who have passed away and to recognize their accomplishments. But sometimes, the person who builds the building or bridge or donated enough money to a college, boldly names it after themselves.
I wonder what kind of attitude prompts them to do that? Whatever the reasons, it points to the common human desire to be recognized and praised by others. It’s amazing the lengths people will go to get their ego stroked.
ILL: A pastor was called to do the funeral service of a man who was known to be a very sinful person. His brother spoke to the pastor before the service and offered him $1000.00 if he would say during the service that his brother was a saint. The man was surprised when the pastor agreed. During the funeral service the pastor said ‘The man who is before us was a dirty, filthy, rotten scoundrel. He was a liar, a cheat, a womanizer and was utterly without virtue. But for all of this, next to his brother, he was a saint.’ (J. David Hoke)
While we may have egos that need the occasional stroking, God does not. Yet He calls us to praise Him. He even commands it. Why? Not because He need the praise, but because we need to praise Him. You see, praise does something to us.
It reminds us of God’s greatness and of His glory.
It
altars our perspective.
· It changes our attitude.
Because praise begins and ends…with God alone!
Transition: Open your Bibles to Matthew 6:13 (pg. 741 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you)
I. The Doxology
The Lord’s Prayer begins and ends with praise. Now, if you have your Bibles opened, you may notice that the last part of verse 13 (for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen) is either not in your Bible or it’s in brackets.
The reason is this section of the Lord’s Prayer is not found in the earliest or oldest manuscripts of the Bible. It’s believed to have been added sometime in the early first century as a doxology.
Doxology means ‘to give praise and glory to God.’It was a common practice to end prayers and the reading of Scripture with a doxology. And since this prayer is a pattern for prayer it’s fitting that it should end with a doxology of praise to God. By doing so it helps to refocus our attention away from ourselves, and our requests, and back to God where it should be anyway.
Just because this doxology was not part of the original text doesn’t mean it was just made up, it comes from Scripture itself; both Old and New Testaments.
Read: ‘Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.’ 1 Chronicles 29:11
Read: ‘All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!’ Revelation 7:11-12
So, even though it was added, it certainly reflects the attitude and spirit of the prayer and the teaching in other parts of Scripture. So, let’s take a closer look.
For Thine is the kingdom: We praise the Lord because we know He’s King over His Kingdom. He’s in control. He’s sovereign. And the hardest lesson we’ll learn in life is acknowledging God is King…and we’re not. Even though we sometimes act as if we are.
We praise the Lord because He’s worthy…
because He alone is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen?
For Thine is the kingdom and the power: Through our praise, we also affirm that all power belongs to our Lord. It’s His kingdom, not ours, and it’s by His power, not ours, that we live.
ILL: Just before takeoff on an airplane, the flight attendant reminded Mohammad Ali to fasten his seatbelt. ‘Superman don’t need no seatbelt.’ Replied Ali. To which the flight attendant replied ‘Superman don’t need no airplane either.’ (J. David Hoke)
Sometimes we’re just too proud to admit that we need God’s help. But we can’t succeed as Christians in our own power and strength.
The problem is we often don’t draw on God’s power and as a result we settle for so much less than God desires for us.
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we should rise from our knees confident in the sufficiency of God’s power. With God all things are possible. Amen?
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory: Just as it’s God’s kingdom and it’s His power, so it’s His glory that we seek to reflect in our lives. As servants living in the Kingdom of God, we should never seek to exalt ourselves.
ILL: The story is told that the famous football couch Vince Lonbardi climbed into bed and his wife Marie said ‘God, your feet are cold.’ The coach answered ‘Dear, in the privacy of our home, you can call me Vince.’ (J. David Hoke)
As servants living in the Kingdom of God, we should never seek to exalt ourselves, rather, we should always point to Christ and exalt Him as Lord.
· God’s glory should determine the life we live
· God’s glory should determine the decision we make
· God’s glory should determine our actions, attitudes, and ambitions.
Everything we do, we should bring glory to God. Amen?
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever: This is the way it has been from the beginning of time. This is the way it will be for all eternity.
When we offer this shout of praise to God we’re acknowledging that not only is ‘Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever,’ it’s a present reality as well. God exercises His rule now, He exercises His power now, and He deserves to be glorified by our lives…now!
The Kingdom, the power, the glory belongs now and forever to God… and to God alone!
Transition: Amen! Say it with me. AMEN! When I said ‘The Kingdom, the power, the glory belongs now and forever to God… and to God alone!’ it demanded a biblical affirmation in the positive. And the right response is the word Amen!
II. The Amen
ILL: Two young newlyweds were preparing to enjoy their first baked ham dinner in their new apartment. After unwrapping the meat and setting it on the cutting board, the wife chopped off both ends of the ham with a knife and tossed the two small ends in the garbage can." Wait a minute," said the mystified husband. "Why did you do that? Why did you just cut off the ends of the ham and throw them away?" "I don’t know. My mother always did," answered the wife. "Maybe it helps bring out the flavor."
Unsatisfied with this answer, the husband called his mother-in-law. "Can you
tell me why you cut the two ends off a ham before you cook it?" "Well," said
the mother, "I’m not really sure why. That’s just the way my mother did her
ham, and it was always delicious."
As soon as he hung up he called his wife’s grandmother. "Grandma, we have an
important question for you. Can you tell us why you cut the ends off a ham
before you cook it?" "Oh, my yes, dear," answered Grandma in her quiet, thin
voice. "I cut the ends of the ham off so it would fit in my pan."
(Larry Wise)
Traditions shape our lives, but it’s important to know why we do them.
Saying ‘Amen’ is a tradition in the church, well perhaps more in the Pentecostal and black churches than in most Baptist ones.
The Hebrew word ‘Amen’ is an exclamation, a punctuation mark, a shout that expresses a strong and solid assurance…
· like ‘Yes! That’s right!’
· Or ‘That’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!’
· Or ‘So be it!’
In the Lord’s Prayer we make many requests:
· That we would live to bring honor to God’s name
· That we would live in God’s kingdom where He is present and rules.
· That God’s will would be done in and through us.
· That God would provide for us.
· That God would forgive us and give us the ability to forgive others.
· That God would protect us from temptation and the forces of the evil one.
Then we end this prayer…full of requests, with one word ‘Amen.’
ILL: Martin Luther, in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer writes that ‘Amen’ actually means ‘Yes, yes, it will be done.’ (Dr. Roger W. Thomas)
By ending the Lord’s Prayer with’ Amen’ we pray with the assurance that God will answer us. And God will answer us because we’re praying in God’s will…how do I know that? Because it’s what Jesus taught us to pray.
Transition: When we praise the Lord, we ‘ll have our hearts and minds adjusted to understand the significance of His rule, power and greatness. So praise is necessary not only for the Lord’s Prayer but for all prayer and all expressions of our faith in God.
Conclusion
Let me close with a brief summary of the Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in Heaven:
· Speaks of our intimacy with God, we can call Him, Abba Father or daddy.
· When we pray ‘our’ we place ourselves directly in the family of God with family responsibilities.
Hallowed be Your name:
· In prayer and in life, we strive to make God’s name holy to those around us.
Your kingdom come:
· While we may be American citizens, our citizenship in heaven has precedence over any earthy allegiances.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven:
· Are you truly submitting to God’s will in your life…in all you do and want?
Give us today our daily bread:
· Are you truly depending upon God to provide your needs…are you satisfied with what He provides?
Forgive us our debts:
· Are you in the habit of regularly confessing your sin to God?
As we forgive our debtors:
· Are you open to offering forgiveness to others…just as God has forgiven you in Christ Jesus?
And lead us not into temptation:
· Are you loosing the battle with temptation because you’re not seeking the true source of your strength…the Holy Spirit?
· Is there any temptation that you are not willing to avoid?
But deliver us from the evil one:
· Have you claimed the promises of God concerning Satan and his defeat?
· Do you stay away from the places Satan knows you’re weak?
For yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever…Amen:
· Do you mean that?
· Is your life a testimony of praise to God?
The Lord’s Pray is a powerful prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer is a transforming prayer.
When we come to the end of this prayer, we can be assured that God will answer it and that we have taken one step closer to conforming to the image and likeness of Christ in our lives.
So, as we complete our study of the Lord’s Prayer we we’ll struggle with a decision we all must make.
Will we choose to develop a significant prayer life.
You can’t use as an excuse that you don’t know how to pray. Jesus has just taught us the key to powerful prayer.
Will we choose to develop a significant prayer life.
We raise the bar of spiritual expectations and actions in our lives by prayer.