We got to pray just to make it today.
Notes
Transcript
Big Idea:
Big Idea:
Prayer is understanding (thinking) we need God to live (victoriously in His Kingdom).
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning. Welcome to Church Online. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
Today, we’re continuing our series titled, “Master Builders.” Focusing on important topics in the Christian life. And how we should think them, so they impact our lives, and help us we grow in our faith.
This week’s topic is prayer. Prayer is an interesting thing. In its simplest form, it’s talking to God. But it’s also so much more. It’s a little mysterious. And since this sermon series get its title from the Lego Movie, let me connect it this way.
When Emmet - the hero of The Lego Movie- changed his thinking, he went from a regular construction work mini-figure to a “Master Builder” - one with a special unexplainable power to build anything. Prayer is a little like that. It gives regular people access to special power.
The Bible says...
Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!
Prayer is also something important to God. Jesus did it often. And He expected His followers to do the same. He said...
He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
So, if prayer is important, powerful, and expected in the Kingdom of God, it’s probably something we should think correctly about. And that’s exactly what Jesus gets in our passage for this morning. If you have your Bible/app, you can turn to Matt 6. We’re going to read the Lord’s prayer - possibly a familiar passage to many of you. It’s a passage that has a lot to say about our thinking towards prayer.
Actually, the context of the passage (the previous verses) does too. If we were to read the previous passage, we’d see two important principles about prayer. Jesus teaches that:
Prayer is NOT about YOU. It’s not about people seeing YOU pray. It’s not about how great YOU sound. It’s not even about the words YOU use.
Prayer is NOT instructing or informing God on what YOU need. God is not a genie in a bottle. And God already knows what you need.
With that in mind, Jesus says, “Pray then like this...”
… or in other words, “think” about prayer this way...
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For our purposes, we can break the Lord’s prayer into two main ideas:
Prayer is about God.
Prayer is about life in God’s Kingdom.
Let’s look at the first idea...
Body:
Body:
1. Prayer is about God (vv. 9-10).
1. Prayer is about God (vv. 9-10).
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
I’m not sure if you’ve thought about this, but this verse is full of miracles...
In the original language, “Our Father” is written in the vocative case. Vocative casing is used when we’re talking directly to someone.
Not when we’re talking about a person in an abstract way.
Not when we’re throwing up “spiritual wishes” hoping a divine power hears it.
No, when we’re talking to someone face-to-face.
That’s the sense Jesus is giving here.
Maybe you’ve heard...
Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
And you’ve thought, “Wow! That’d be amazing if I could talk to God!” In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus is like, “You can!”
Now, generally speaking, our prayer life is different than what Moses experienced. Yet, it’s also very much the same! When you pray, you’re directly talking to God! Think about that! That’s a miracle!
Additionally, it’s miraculous that we’re talking to Him in heaven.
I can still remember when people didn’t have cell phones or personal computers. When the internet didn’t exist. Sometimes, I think our present ability to text, call, video chat, and communicate with people anywhere, at any time, and I’m amazed! But as great as even these technological advancements are, they’re nothing compared to the miracle of prayer.
I believe the Bible when it describes heaven as a real place. I believe it’s where God dwells, angels serve, and God’s people rest when their time on earth is finished. It’s also a place we can’t naturally reach.
I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I don’t think we’ll ever create human technology that’ll allows us to bridge the communication-gap between heaven and earth. At the same time, we don’t need to. Prayer can already do that! When we pray, we are supernaturally communicating with God in heaven. That’s a miracle!
But here’s the biggest miracle this passage makes me think about...
It goes on to say, “hallowed be your name.” The word “hallowed” describes God’s holiness. God is perfectly pure and there is none like Him. Additionally, in the Bible, a name is equal to identity. So, what Jesus is saying is, “When you pray, THINK about who you are praying to... He is your holy Father in heaven. That should amaze you!’
You know, if we were offered the opportunity to meet our favorite sports player, musical performer, or president, we would be AMAZED! And we wouldn’t miss that meeting for anything!
We’d be like, “Alexa, set an alarm for 1, 2, 3...” We’d probably just stay up all night so we wouldn’t oversleep. I mean, it’d be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Too AMAZING to miss out on! And that’s the kind of awe Jesus wants us to think about when we pray. He’s saying, “Do you realize who you get to talk to whenever you want? You get to talk to your Heavenly Father!”
That’s amazing, but it’s actually not the miracle I’m thinking about...
I mentioned the word “hallowed” means holy. God is perfectly pure. He can’t be in the presence of anything different. So, how in the world can we - a bunch of sinners - talk directly to Him without bursting into flames? It’s because a miracle happened!
Today is the beginning of “Advent,” which is a season of remembering and celebrating the “coming of Christ.” When Jesus - the eternal Son of God, the 2nd Person of the Trinity - humbled himself, took human form as a baby, and was born to a virgin named Mary 2000 years ago in Jerusalem. And He came to eventually give HIS perfect life as a sacrifice on the Cross for the forgiveness of OUR sins. So that all who put their faith in Him would never face judgement, but receive eternal life and the promise of heaven.
So, why can we communicate directly with our Holy Father? Because of the MIRACLE of the Incarnation (when God became man) and the Cross. It’s by Christ’s miraculous sacrifice that we can talk directly to God!
Prayer is a miracle that allows us to personally KNOW God!
But THINK also about this...
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Remember I mentioned that prayer is not about US. This verse speaks to that. That doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t make personal prayer requests. We should. We’ll see that later. But it means when we pray, we should first KNOW what GOD WANTS...
Think about this… journey with me down this rabbit trail for a minute...
First off, I think everyone understands that heaven is better than earth. Whether or not we theologically correct understanding it is another thing. Nevertheless, everyone gets the idea. Heaven is paradise and perfection. Earth is not. So, why is it that we (Christians) struggle praying for this? For God’s Kingdom, God’s way, to happen on earth they way they happen in heaven?
Which brings me to a second thing… humans are the only part of God’s creation with the option to refuse God’s way. Even when we know God’s way brings heaven to earth. It’s crazy. It doesn’t make sense. Yet, truth be told, we actively and regularly exercise our right to choose OUR WAY over God’s WAY. We choose EARTH instead of HEAVEN.
I’m not going to go into why we consistently choose rebellion. But getting off the rabbit trail, I do want us to think about this: Prayer is learning to choose what God WANTS.
Prayer fixes our perspective.
It’s a supernatural process where we come to understand that God’s way is TRULY better than my way. It’s an activity where we learn to say, “Your way, not my way,” like Jesus prayed. Because, as children of God, we ultimately want what’s going on in heaven, to happen in our lives, our families, our church, and our community! Prayer helps us think (or understand or remember) that heaven is better than earth.
Which connects to the second main idea...
2. Prayer is about life in God’s Kingdom (vv. 11-13).
2. Prayer is about life in God’s Kingdom (vv. 11-13).
In the last 3 verses of this prayer, Jesus makes something clear: In the Kingdom of God, citizens are DEPENDENT on the King. So, they pray that way.
This radical dependency sounds a little weird to us, especially in America, because we love INDEPENDENCE. And we that’s okay! Independence can be a good thing.
However - and I know I’ve shared this before - have you ever read the definition of “independent?”
Independent is to be free from outside control; not depending on another’s authority; not depending on another for livelihood or support.
Independence is good in some areas of our lives, but not in our relationship to God or life in His Kingdom. That’s what Jesus is teaching us to think about in this section: Prayer is choosing to live fully-dependent on God.
Again, this radical dependence sounds strange, but it’s actually something we already practice. For example, in healthy families, children are fully-dependent on their parents. Parents take care of their needs so they can pursue who God created them to be. Ideally, kids aren’t independent - meaning they don’t care for themselves.
And not only do we practice this, but we LIKE it!
All the adults… remember when we were younger and we said things like, “I can’t wait until I grow up. I won’t have to go to school anymore . Or do chores. I’ll just go to work. Then, do whatever I want.” Of course, we make these naive statements while completely “dependent” on our parents! If you’re watching online, put the “face-palm emoji” in the comments.
But what happened? We finally became independent adults. And now, WE JUST WANT TO GO BACK! Being independent is hard! I wish I could just go to school and depend on my parents! That was NICE!
And it’s that kind of dependent-care Jesus is describing that should shape our prayers...
Like in verse 11...
Give us this day our daily bread,
When we pray, we understand God is our provider. Therefore, we come to Him with our needs.
Now, notice the word, “daily.” It makes me think about a verse that comes later on in this chapter...
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
In the Kingdom of God, we depend on God DAILY. This is also a foreign concept to us, especially when it comes to food. Most of us have at least a couple of days provision at home. Some of us even have provision for months. This was not the case for the people Jesus was teaching. At that time, people lived day by day. And God likes that. In fact, that’s the way things work in His Kingdom. That’s why He says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow.” It’s similar to how God supernaturally provided manna for the Israelites in the wilderness. It was daily. Trust by faith that God was going to provide each day. There was no need to store for tomorrow.
For most of us, not worrying about tomorrow makes us worry. But it shouldn’t. It actually brings PEACE. Think about it this way: If God has given me enough to get through today, I have all I need. I don’t need to worry about anything else because God has faithfully provided what He promised. And tomorrow, I’ll pray and God will be faithful provide again. Because that’s how the Kingdom of God works.
Verse 12 goes on to say...
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
We talked about the miracle of the Cross earlier. How Jesus’s sacrifice provided a way for us to be forgiven for our sins. And because we have been greatly forgiven by God’s grace (meaning we didn’t do anything to deserve it), we too must forgive others (even when they don’t deserve it). This prayer is about forgiveness, but it’s also about God’s heart.
As we pray, we are changed. As we think on God’s Kingdom, our hearts are transformed into God’s heart.
Finally, verse 13 says...
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Prayer is understanding we depend on God to fight battles we can’t win. In the Kingdom of God, God protects His people. Moses and the Israelites discovered this leaving Egypt. When trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea, Moses declared...
The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
And God did! He did the impossible. He split the Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army.
This should impact our thinking. What battles are you facing today? Are you trying to fight or are you praying?
Maybe you’re battle is an internal war against sin...
In our natural strength, we can’t defeat sin. The apostle Paul talked about this difficult reality using himself as an example. See if this sounds familiar...
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 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. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Can anyone relate? We need help to fight sin.
Or maybe you’re fighting an invisible battle...
In addition to sin, we also can’t defeat the powers of spiritual darkness in our human strength. Spiritual darkness? That sounds creepy. Is that real?
Yes! It sounds weird, but only because, in many ways, our culture rarely discusses the reality of the spiritual realm. That there is a parallel reality to our physical/visible world. That there is a real devil, who commands demonic armies, fighting against the Kingdom of God and trying to destroy humans - who are made in God’s image, which they hate!
For example, last week, we talked about the mental health. Anxiety, depression, and emotional rollercoasters that come out of nowhere. Well, sometimes they actually from “somewhere.” From spiritual darkness. It’s “evil” trying to destroy your life or make you give up, especially if you’re trying to follow Jesus.
Little warning… if you attend a church that loves Jesus, teaches the Bible, and takes serious His command to tell others the gospel, you have a spiritual target on your back. I don’t tell you that to scare you. I want you to understand how to respond to what’s going on in your life. To think biblically and respond correctly.
One of the ways we respond correctly is through prayer. Jesus talks about it here. In the Kingdom of God, we fight spiritual battles by depending on our God who fights for us. The apostle Paul told the Corinthian church...
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
The spiritual weapon Paul’s talking about here is prayer. Prayer is accessing God’s mighty power to fight battles we can’t naturally win.
Response:
Response:
As we close, I’d like us to think about prayer, so we can properly respond in our lives. I mean, if these things are true, why are we not praying more? One reason is because we’re not thinking correctly about prayer, so were not responding with it in our lives. Let’s begin to change that today...
When we want to know God more - pray.
When we’re craving something greater in life. When we want to see heaven come to earth - pray.
When we have needs - pray.
When we want to have God’s loving heart - pray.
When we need God’s help for the battles we face - pray.
Prayer is understanding we NEED God for this life. We can’t do it on our own. And… why would we want to pass up an opportunity to directly talk to the God of all creation?
So, maybe you’re asking, “How can I start? I don’t really know how to pray.”
Well, don’t be afraid to use the Lord’s prayer to help you. That’s what it’s there for… to help you think correctly, so you can have a powerful prayer life.
Also, join us for prayer on Thursday mornings. We have a Zoom prayer meeting from 730a - 8a. One of the best ways to learn how to pray is to listen to people pray.
If you’d like to know more, visit our website riverchurchct.com and click “Prayer Request” on the front page. Then, fill out your info and in the box titled, “Share your request,” write “Would like info on the Zoom Prayer Meeting.” Someone from our Communications Team will contact you soon!
Finally, we have great resources to help you pray, like YouVersion Bible App and RightNow Media. Both are free to you!
You can find YouVersion in any app store. Download it and search “Prayer” in the Bible Reading Plans.
For RightNow Media, search “Prayer” and you’ll find video resources that’ll help you pray. And if you need access to RightNow Media, you can get that free thru our church. Again, visit riverchurchct.com for your free account today!
With that, let’s pray:
Father, as we close today in prayer, help us to think about what you said about prayer. What a miracle it is that we get to talk to You. Even right now! That we can know You by speaking to You in prayer. And in this time change our hearts to be like Yours. We know heaven is great than earth. That Your ways are better than ours. So, we want what You want. And helps us to live as citizens of Your Kingdom. Your people pray. And in prayer, we live completely dependent on You. Please provide for us. Give us Your heart. And protect us from all that is attempting to destroy our lives. We NEED You to make it through this life. Prayer teaches us to think this way. So, we thank you for prayer. In Jesus name, amen.
Thanks for joining us for Church Online. If this was your first time, fill out a Connect Card. We’d love to say hi and send you a gift. Also, if you have prayer requests, would like to join a Life Group, or you decided to follow Jesus - we want to hear from you! There are easy ways to do that on our website (riverchurchct.com) or follow the links in the comments below!
Have a great day - God bless you!