Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / The Sermon On The Mount
Raising The Bar With Prayer (Part 2) 12/16/07
Message: ‘Raising the Bar with Prayer’ pt.2 Text: Matthew 6:9
Introduction:
ILL: There’s a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.” On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers. (Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, p. 13)
Explanation: Far too many people, especially men don’t have a positive, healthy and growing relationship with their father. Words have been said, things done resulting in broken hearts, fallen trust, and ruined relationships. Often, all that’s needed to heal broken hearts, build trust and restore relationships is the offer and acceptance of forgiveness. This is true of our Heavenly Father as well.
Transition: I’ve mentioned that my study of the Lord’s Prayer has brought my prayer life beyond… revealing my heart to God, to God changing my heart. The whole experience of prayer and the intimacy of our relationship with God is changed when we pray as our Lord taught.
Open your Bibles to Matthew 6:9 (pg. 741 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) It’s here we’ll find that we raise the bar of spiritual expectations and actions in our lives by prayer.
I. Matthew 6:9 ‘Our’
Read: Matthew 6:9
OUR. To be honest, I could spend the rest of the sermon focusing on what it means that God is OUR Father…but I can’t. However, that doesn’t diminish the importance and immensity of what the word OUR adds to the Christian life. Let me explain.
First, OUR reflects an attitude of unselfishness. God’s not just MY Father, he’s not just YOUR Father…He is principally OUR Father. Any by OUR I mean much more than just you and me. OUR includes our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in
· China, Africa, India, the Philippines, South America, Asia, Europe…you get the idea.
We need to have a global perspective on what it means that God is OUR Father. To do that we must take God out of whatever personal box we may have made for him and allow him to be much bigger than we often make him.
Second, Jesus tells us to pray in the first person plural, OUR Father. This tells me that prayer, even private prayer, has a community focus. We can pray for each others needs but it doesn’t stop there. We are to be intercessors for ONE another.
· Asking OUR Father to help others to grown in their relationship with him.
· Asking OUR Father for the obedience, strength, guidance, power and faith of others.
Finally, OUR Father tells me that even in private prayer, we never pray alone. We come to talk to OUR Father not just for others, but with others.
· No matter where we are, no matter what time it may be, when we come to OUR Father in prayer, there are many who are praying with us around the world.
We never stand alone at the throne of grace.
Transition: Prayer can be a very private thing…just between you and God, and that’s wonderful. But there are times we need the comfort of knowing that we don’t travel to God’s throne alone. The Lord’s Prayer assures us that we’ll always find comfort TOGETHER as we approach OUR Father.
II. Matthew 6:9 ‘Father’
Read: Matthew 6:9
Father.
ILL: Research shows that mothers are far more likely than fathers to discuss problems and have close personal talks with their teenage children. As a result, teenage boys and girls both say they feel freer to go to their mothers than their fathers to talk openly and discuss problems. Surveys show that teens want desperately to be able to talk with their dads, but they’ll stop trying if they think they aren’t being heard. (Walt Mueller, “Fathering With Open Eyes”, Today’s Father, Vol. 3, #2-3, p. 7)
Our FATHER. Men, what a monumental impact we have on our children.
It’s hard for some to relate to God as FATHER because they lack a healthy relationship with their earthly fathers. This carries over to their prayer life as well. When we don’t communicate well with our earthly fathers, it often makes it more difficult to communicate personally, effectively, and powerfully with our heavenly Father.
Let’s examine what it means that God is our FATHER.
First, Our FATHER tells me that God is not some impersonal spirit or force in the universe, He’s our dad. He’s familiar, I know him and he knows me.
· God is not an angry judge looking for an opportunity to condemn us
· nor is he aloof and distant too busy to hear from you.
He is our FATHER.
While the Greek word here is ‘Pater’ which is rightly translated ‘FATHER’, Jesus most likely spoke these words in Aramaic, the language of the people of his day. And he probably used the word ‘ABBA’ which means ‘Daddy’ because he used it so many other times in prayer. While the Jewish religious leaders would never have used ‘Abba’ in prayer, Jesus did because it represented the unique relationship he, and all those who place their faith in him, could have with their Heavenly Father.
ILL: How would you feel if Becky approached me in the lobby after the service and said ‘O thou most noble father; could’st thou spare a slight segment of thy illustrious post service chronology, to hear a humble petition, albeit brief? Fein I would navigate to the abode of mine acquaintance, thy servant, Elizabeth of the house of Emma to partake of frozen custard on a stick, flavorized with the product of the cocoa bean.
How many of you would think she was nuts? Couldn’t she have just said ‘Hey dad, can I go to Elizabeths for some chocolate ice cream?
ILL: Someone once said ‘When I go to God with a need in my life, it’s as simple as saying, Pappa, please pass the salt.’ I’m not saying that we should ever be flippant or frivolous (when we pray)…but just like a child to his father (we should speak to OUR Father in heaven).’ (Bob Jones)
Yes, we can climb up to our Heavenly FATHERS lap and plainly talk to him because he’s our FATHER, our dad, he’s familiar, he knows us and we know him.
Second, our FATHER tells me some very specific things about his fatherhood.
· Our FATHER is a compassionate FATHER.
Read: Psalm 103:13 ‘As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him’
He’s interested in you because you matter to him. God loves his children, he loves you.
· Our FATHER is a concerned FATHER.
Read: 1 Peter 5:7 ‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.’
You can go to him with all your worries and cares. Does he care about your house payment or rent? YES! Does he care about how you get along with the rest of your family? YES!
· Our FATHER is a consistent FATHER.
Read: James 1:17 ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.’
Read: 2 Timothy 2:13 ‘if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.’
That means you never have to worry that God will change his mind about you. He can be trusted.
· Our FATHER is a capable FATHER.
Read: Luke 1:37 ‘For nothing is impossible with God.’
That means nothing is beyond his ability or resources.
Transition: What a privilege it is to call The One True and Ever Living God…Our FATHER!
III. Matthew 6:9 ‘In heaven’
Read: Matthew 6:9
IN HEAVEN…two small but powerful words.
First, ‘IN HEAVEN’ tells me that there’s a significant difference between God and me.
· His being transcends, is above, is greater than any created being…even you and I.
And because of that we can’t restrict his presence to temples, religious systems and the limitations of human understanding. Our Father, IN HEAVEN is beyond, above, and greater than all.
· Second, ‘IN HEAVEN’ tells me of my final dwelling place.
Read: 1 Peter 1:3-4 ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.’
Read: Philippians 3:20-21 ‘But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.’
The promise of God is that we’ll be with him forever, heaven is where we will spend all eternity.
Transition: Prayer is a bridge from our earth bound limitations to heaven’s infinite resources…and eventually our eternal home. So, what is our response?
IV. Matthew 6:9 ‘Hallowed be your name’
Read: Matthew 6:9
Again, I could spend a few sermons on ‘HALLOWING GOD’S NAME’ but I won’t and that’s OK because I have been teaching and hopefully living out the need to honor God in all areas and in all circumstances of our lives.
So let me briefly explain what I’ve learned specifically about hallowing God’s name in prayer.
First, ‘HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME’ tells me to honor, respect and praise God’s name.
· ‘Hallow’ literally means ‘to make holy.’ We’re not able to MAKE God’s name holy…because he already is holy. We’re just acknowledging and stating that which is evident in the character and actions of our Heavenly Father. He is holy, set apart, pure, perfect.
Here’s one way we can hallow God’s name in prayer.
· Our Father, who loves and cares for us and who has in heaven supplies to meet our every need, may your person, your character, your nature, and your reputation be honored, and revealed to the world as holy, by and through our own lives of faith.
Second, ‘HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME’ tells me that God’s name is to be honored and lifted up, not mine. You see, this is a prayer, a petition of submission.
· It reminds me that God and his concerns are more important than mine.
· It reminds me that I am here to serve God, and not the other way around.
· It reminds me to quiet my heart and submit the urgency of my needs to the greater priority of his purposes.
Finally, ‘HALLOWED BE THY NAME’ tells me how to make this happen.
· To honor God and reveal him to the world as holy we need to believe in him, to trust what he says.
Read: Number 20:12 ‘But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.’
Moses failed to trust God and that brought dishonor to God among the wandering Hebrews. When we fail to trust God it also beings dishonor to his name before those who see our lack of trust in God.
· To honor God and reveal him to the world as holy we need to fear him.
Read: Isaiah 8:12-13 ‘Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.
Do you hallow God’s name according to this text? Do you fear saying no to God when he calls you to be obedient more than you fear losing your family, your bank account or your home?
One way we can hallow God’s name in prayer is ‘Father, cause us to have such a high view of you that it’s a much more dreadful thing to lose your approval than to lose anything the world can offer.’
· To honor God and reveal him to the world as holy we need to be obedient to his word.
Read: Leviticus 22:31-32 ‘Keep my commands and follow them. I am the Lord. Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.’
We hallow God’s name when we keep his commands, when we follow and obey his Word. It reveals God’s holy character to those who see our obedience.
Hallowing God’s name is more than just verbal praise…it’s being a faithful witness to God’s presence in our lives.
Conclusion
ILL: The story is told of a mother who took her son to see the pastor of their church because she was concerned about the way her son had memorized The Lord’s Prayer. The pastor takes her son into the study and asks him to say the prayer. ‘Our Father which art in New Haven, how do you know my name?’ When the two emerge from the pastor’s study the mother asked with great concern ‘Well, did you straighten him out?’ The pastor replies ‘No, I wouldn’t change a word of the way he says the Lord’s Prayer. His way shows that he understands two very important things about God: First, that God is very near and Second, that God knows him personally.’ (Isabel Anders)
Prayer is really that simple. It’s not running into his presence and quickly reading off a list of needs and then saying Amen! There is a way to approach God, even though he is our dad.
And that way begins with giving him honor as our Father.
Read: Deuteronomy 4:7 ‘What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?’
We can make this personal… ‘What person, what religious group is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?’
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’
We raise the bar of spiritual expectations and actions in our lives by prayer.