Learning Prayer

Familiarity breeds contempt.

This is a concept that says that when we are so close to someone or something,

we lose respect for them or we don't have the appropriate awe that we should.

I was reading about famous celebrities recently

whose kids just knew them as mum or dad.

And some of them could never understand the fascination with their parents.

I remember reading about Michael Jackson

and his son just couldn't understand why people wanted to come and get a photo with his dad.

His dad was just dad.

Why would you want to get a photo with him?

But then years later they would have a realisation, a shock.

Oh, dad is someone famous.

I think this is true for many parts of our lives.

There's things we have and things we see every day and they become normalised

and we don't realise how amazing they are.

We're currently in a series on prayer

and we've seen that the world is crying out for an experience of God.

Prayer is a global phenomenon

and people all across the world want to talk to a God who listens and responds.

Because in all of us there is that nagging feeling that there is more to this life.

And so people go chasing for spiritual experiences

because we crave more than this life.

People go up mountains, they cross the world,

seeking and never finding.

What if the way to experience and talk to this God

was right in front of us?

But we had become so familiar with it

that we've just discarded it.

I'm talking about the Lord's Prayer, of course,

which Debbie just read for us.

It is such a classic and simple prayer.

It's easy for a child to pray.

It's pervasive.

It's set at weddings and funerals.

It's in movies.

But is it possible

that we don't really even look at it anymore?

Our eyes just glance over it

looking for something more spiritual,

something deeper.

For Christians,

there is a longing to draw closer to the God of this universe

who shows us His love through His Son.

A longing to come before our Father,

to pour our hearts out to Him

and to know that He listens and responds and loves us.

But is it possible that the Lord's Prayer

has become so familiar with it

that we've discarded it?

Maybe not from our lips,

but maybe from our hearts.

Today, we are going to stop

and we're going to take a few moments

to look at the words of this prayer.

It was a prayer that was taught to the disciples by Jesus

and if it was good enough for them,

it is more than good enough for us too.

We're going to be learning how to pray,

how to talk to God,

and we don't want to forget the very things

that Jesus taught us to do.

So today, we're going to walk through the Lord's Prayer,

maybe like the celebrity's children,

there'll be a moment of shock and recognition for us

as we see this prayer anew.

My prayer is that it will encourage us to pray.

And I'm hoping and praying that it draws us

to talk with God as He is,

as a Father,

and come before Him.

So as we have a look at this prayer,

it's only appropriate that we do indeed pray.

So let's pray.

God, we thank You that You are our Heavenly Father

and we thank You for the privilege it is

that we can come and talk to You as Father.

Be with us this morning

as we look at this wonderful prayer

that Jesus taught us to pray.

Help us to reconsider what it means for us

and help us to use it

to talk to You and draw closer to You, Lord.

Amen.

And so the context of this prayer

is that Jesus is teaching His disciples to pray,

not like the pagans who babble on and on and on,

and not like the Pharisees,

who are the hypocrites who get their reward

by praying out in open.

And the prayer starts in a completely radical way.

The great and awesome and majestic

and all-powerful God of the heavens,

the one who created the world and sustains it,

who knows every living being,

who placed the stars across the sky,

knows how many pieces of hair is in this very room,

we get to call Him Father,

our Father in heaven.

This is the God who couldn't be approached

by the priests in the Old Testament

without blood of a sacrifice

so that they wouldn't die.

And Jesus teaches us to call this God Father.

Father, it's not just the position of authority in a family,

it is also one of intimacy.

And so we're called to call God Father.

It is an incredible privilege

that Jesus tells us to call God Father.

But the flip side of this is

we can become too familiar with God.

As a heavenly Father,

we can forget the awesomeness of God,

just like with those celebrity kids.

Now, the only reason that we can indeed call Him Father

and not tremble guilty before Him

as one who is guilty before a judge

is because we pray in Jesus' name.

Jesus, the Father's Son,

the one who was raised to God's right hand,

He is now intervening for us.

He's saying,

these ones,

these ones I've adopted into my family,

these ones,

even these ones in Chatswood,

I have died for them.

These ones come into our family.

The only reason that we can call God Father

is because we approach Him in Jesus' name.

That's why when we often finish praying,

we say,

in Jesus' name,

Amen.

It's not some kind of magic formula

that makes God have to hear us.

It's because of the finished work of Jesus.

Jesus,

we are adopted into God's family.

How else could we approach God

other than by being adopted into His family?

And so this prayer,

this first line of the prayer,

sets us up for the whole prayer.

It recalls God's position as Father.

It reminds us of the Son's work in salvation,

and so we come adopted into His family

with the rights of a son.

We could be coming to God as a harsh judge

who may listen to us,

who may give us mercy and forgiveness,

but the God that Jesus reveals

is not like that.

He is a loving Father

who delights to hear the rest of our prayers

because we're one of His kids.

We're part of the family.

And so if we were to look at nothing else,

if we were to pray nothing else,

if we were just to dwell on this one line

of the Lord's Prayer,

it would begin to implant in our hearts

a comforting trust of God.

That the God that Jesus reveals to be our Father,

He is not distant,

but He is close to us.

When we are struggling,

when we can pray nothing else in our lives,

when we are crying out to God,

sit on this one line,

that God is our Father,

and that because of His grace and love for us,

we can indeed come before Him.

And so we have this introductory first line,

our Father in Heaven.

And after that, we have our first request,

that God's name would be hallowed.

It's a strange word.

The only other time I can think of it

is in one of the Harry Potter books.

It's a strange word,

but it just effectively means holy.

This is not a prayer for God's name

to be holy or special.

God's name already is holy.

But this is a request that we recognize who God is.

That He is a Father that we only come to as children,

and we want Him to be seen for who He is.

We want Him to be seen as holy.

And so hallowed be your name is a request.

It's a request that we would make God seen to be holy.

May my words and actions show you, God,

that you are holy.

As a Christian, I'm a bearer.

We are bearers of God's name.

We are carriers of His name.

Christians.

God, keep me from dishonoring your name.

Praying this places us in a position

where we're not desiring that our names would be famous,

but that God's name would.

It shows a heart that is captivated by God's awesomeness

and a desire for others to see Him.

It's not a desire that people would see how great I am.

It's not that, you know, James Barnett,

that name, that person, he's great.

No, no, no.

It's that God's name would be great.

But we don't always hallow God's name.

It's more than taking God's name in vain.

It's even more than blaming God.

But it's far worse when we forget who He is.

It's the lack of gratefulness and gratitude

that springs from a selfish heart.

And so to hallow God's name as this second request prays of us

is not just to show that God is good and holy,

but to have a heart that is full of joy and gratitude towards Him.

And so far in these two first lines of the Lord's Prayer,

we come to God as a Father,

grateful to Him,

and then we request that God's kingdom would come.

Now, God is, of course, ruling right now.

He is ruling in His kingdom.

This is not a request that God would come,

as if He isn't ruling now,

but it's a request that God's kingdom would come into our lives

and into the rest of the world.

This prayer is one of lordship.

God, I want you to be the Lord of my life.

You are a loving Father

because of your son I'm adopted into your family.

And so this part of the prayer asks

that we would live as one of His kids in His family.

It's a prayer that God would extend His lordship

over all of our lives.

It's a yearning that God would have lordship

over every part of our lives

so fully that we'd want to obey Him

with all of our hearts

and with all of our minds

and with our bodies with joy.

Because we are made to serve God.

We are made to serve Him with our bodies,

with our hearts,

with our desires,

with our spirit.

But we can choose to let God's kingdom reign in our lives.

We can let Him partially reign in our lives.

It would be like someone that appears to be a model citizen.

I'm going to pick on Dan

because Dan's in front of me

and because he's reporting to me now as a U13er.

So, you know, I think that's okay.

Is that okay, Dan?

Let's say Dan is a model citizen of Australia.

Upstanding citizen.

What does an upstanding citizen do?

He always follows the road rules.

He never speeds.

He never risks a parking fine.

He's always back to his car early.

So he looks like a model citizen,

always paying his tax on time.

Have you ever paid tax, Dan?

You probably will this year.

Do you remember what that was like?

So he appears to be a model citizen.

But at home,

he flaunts the rules.

You know, there's other people's mail that comes to his house

and he's always opening it up,

which is illegal, it turns out.

He's illegally downloading videos and movies

out of impatience for them to be released here.

He's making counterfeit money on the side.

He'll pay tax out of that, I'm sure.

It appears that he's a very good citizen of Australia,

but secretly,

he's just out to make his own patch a little better

at the expense of everyone else.

It's not that hard to imagine for us.

We all have those nooks and crannies,

those parts of our lives

that we don't want other people to look into.

Parts of our lives that either fill us with pride

so we don't want to hand that over to God,

or maybe it brings us shame.

And so we don't want the light of day to be shone on it.

But this part of the prayer calls for God's kingdom to come

into all of our life.

Our actions, our words, our feelings, our desires,

even our secret desires.

And we can only do that,

we can only bring this prayer to God

because he is, as that first line said,

he is an approachable father.

But that's not the only aspect to God's kingdom coming.

We want to see God's lordship extend

over our lives, but also across the world.

To see the whole world

know the love that we have as God's children.

It truly is a wondrous gift.

It's not one that's diminished when we share it,

but it instead grows from us

out to the rest of the world.

It was Isaac's birthday during the week,

and it's always interesting watching

other kids on one of the kids' birthdays.

If you've got more than one kid,

you would know what this is like.

Because our other two,

well, one of them in particular,

felt like they were missing out.

You know, one has all of these presents.

Where is my present?

They feel like they're missing out

because presents can't be shared

on a birthday.

But that's not the gift of the gospel.

It actually grows

as we share it.

We don't, you know,

want to need to hold on to it

because it will be

stolen by someone else.

This gift that God has given us

to be brought into his family

grows and extends

as we share it.

We don't need to be selfish

with this gift.

So as we start,

we pray

to an approachable,

awesome,

and holy Father.

We want to place ourselves

into his family

under his rules

with his kingdom

extending over our lives

and we want to see

this kingdom spread out.

And so being in God's kingdom

means that we will then pray

your will be done.

Jesus teaches

the disciples

and us

this final

part of the prayer

that orients us to God.

These opening parts

of the prayer

are all about us

and God.

We've reminded ourselves

that God,

he's the Father,

he's awesome,

his kingdom should be

over our lives

and the whole world

and now Jesus says

to ask

for God's help

to do his will

and not our will.

This is incredibly hard.

because I like

doing my will.

I'm sure it's true

for all of us.

If you've ever

tried to

choose a movie

to watch

or

a place to go

and eat

with a group of people,

you will know

how hard it is

when everyone

wants their will

to be known

above others.

the only way

to pray

this prayer

your will

be done

with any meaning

is if we remember

the one we are

praying to.

And there'll be a quote

on the screen

from Tim Keller.

He says,

unless we are

profoundly certain

God is our

Father,

we will never

be able to say

thy will be done.

Unless we are

profoundly certain

God is a Father,

we will never

be able to say

thy will be done.

Otherwise,

God is just going

to be some kind

of impersonal cloud

forcing us

to obey Him

out of some

mysterious will

or nefarious plot.

Like a child

submitting to a parent

out of fear

of punishment,

we'll only obey

this distant God

until we can flee.

But a child

will submit

out of love

and trust

and they'll

continue to come

back if the

parent is a

loving Father,

if our God

is a loving

Father.

If we can't

say your will

be done from

the depths of

our heart,

we will never

know peace.

We will always

be trying to

enforce our

will onto the

world and the

people around

us.

But that is

beyond us.

Only God

has that kind

of control

and that's

why we

submit to

Him.

These first

petitions bring

us before God

as a Father

who is awesome,

whose kingdom

we want to

spread across

our lives

and it's all

about God.

It's a God

centered prayer.

It protects

our hearts

from self

centeredness.

Otherwise,

when we pray,

we would

just start

by praying

for the

things that

we want

and that

list could

be unlimited.

And so

Jesus has

taught us

in this first

half of the

way to pray

that it's

about recognizing

that God

is our

true food,

He is our

wealth,

He is our

happiness,

and now

recognizing who

our God

is and what

He has done

for us,

now we bring

our list of

prayers to

God.

But this

is in

light of

who He

is,

it's a

new frame

of heart.

And so

we pray,

give us

today our

daily bread.

It's a

prayer for

necessity,

it's not a

prayer for

luxury.

Bread was

a staple,

much like

rice is

for many

cultures,

it's not

fancy,

it's basic,

it's a

way of

asking God

for our

basic

needs.

The early

church

father,

Augustine,

thought that

this prayer

was a

smaller part

of a

prayer from

Proverbs

Proverbs 30:8

30 verse

8.

Let me

read,

it's a

request of

God,

keep

falsehood

and lies

far from

me,

give me

neither

poverty

nor riches,

but give

me only

my daily

bread,

otherwise

I may

have too

much and

disown

you and

say,

who is

the

Lord?

Or I

may become

poor

and steal

and so

dishonor

the name

of my

God.

It's a

prayer with

such a

recognition

of our

failures,

that we

are weak

if we

have a

little,

and we

are weak

if we

have a

lot.

God,

only give

me as

much as

I can

handle.

Have

any of

us prayed

like that

before?

Can any

of us

actually say

we've

limited

how much

we've

requested

of God?

God?

I'm

sure my

prayers

and our

usual

prayers

are more

God,

please bless

me,

bless me

more and

more,

money's

tough,

fix that

problem,

bless me

financially

please.

But this

is a

prayer that

is such

a reminder

of what

we already

have.

That we

have

everything.

We've

been adopted

into God's

family,

we have

God

himself.

what do

we need

more

zeros in

our bank

statement

for,

for however

many years

we have

left on

earth?

Because

ultimately

we don't

need

status and

comfort

here.

We need

God as

our Lord

and Father.

And so

we move

from requesting

the basic

things that

we need

and we

move to

requesting

relationships.

Firstly,

with God,

and then

with others.

Forgive us

our debts

as we

have also

forgiven

our debtors.

To request

that our

debts

from God

would be

forgiven.

This is

still mind

boggling for

me.

To actually

say to

God,

you should

forgive me.

You should

forget all

the times

I've wronged

you.

We can

only do

that because

of the one

that we

are in

debt to.

Jesus'

sacrificial

death on

the cross

is the

only way

to approach

God as

a father

and for

us to

have the

audacity,

the shamelessness

to say,

God,

please forgive

me.

Forget all

the times I've

wronged you.

Please forget

all the times I

will wrong you.

This brings

an amazing

freedom.

And yet

we can

find it

difficult

to come

before God

and to

confess

because that

means we

need to

admit that

we've done

something wrong

to someone

outside of

us,

that we

can't cope

on our

own,

we can't

be good

enough on

our own.

No one

likes that

feeling of

being wrong,

no one

likes that

feeling of

admitting to

someone else

that we

have been

wrong and

yet this

prayer

embraces it.

God,

I have

wronged

you.

I am

the one

to blame.

I am

the one

who has

broken this

relationship

with you,

God,

and yet

you offer

to forgive

me.

Martin

Luther said

that if we

find confession

difficult,

the heart

is not right

with God

and cannot

draw

confidence

from his

gospel.

If we

find confession

difficult,

the heart

is not

right with

God and

we cannot

draw confidence

from his

gospel.

Confession

should bring

confidence and

joy because

it sends us

back to our

need for

God's

grace,

the very

heart of

the Christian

faith.

And here,

Jesus rightly

links our

relationship with

God with

our relationship

with other

people.

forgive us

our debts

as we

forgive those

who we

are indebted

to.

And so

if we

have seen

our sin

and God's

radical

forgiveness

of us,

we will be

able to

forgive others.

God

reconciles

and heals

our relationship

with him,

but he does

that with

people too.

Our God

is one who

reconciles

and heals

relationships.

He heals

us and

makes us

able to

forgive and

reconcile with

others, to

be a community

that is

treasuring

Jesus

together.

But if

we haven't

fully understood

our sin

and the

gift of

grace and

sought forgiveness

from God,

we are not

going to be

able to forgive

others.

not even

that, maybe

we won't

even see

the need

to forgive

other people.

Wouldn't it

be a terrible

shame if

people were

to describe

us as

people who

held grudges?

I'm not

sure if you

know someone

who holds

grudges or

whether that's

been said of

you, he

always holds

grudges.

That guy, he

just doesn't

forgive anything.

Imagine if

God held

grudges

against us.

And yet

our self

righteous

hearts and

the hardness

of hearts

gets in the

way of

understanding

what God

has given

to us and

the forgiveness

he offers.

And it

stops us from

holding out

that love to

others.

Our Father

is a God

who heals

relationships

with us and

him and us

and other

people between

one another.

Praying this

prayer,

pushes us

to go and

seek forgiveness

from others.

To forgive

others in

light of

God's

radical

forgiveness.

We've

prayed so

far to God

requesting bread,

asking God

help me depend

upon you for

all things.

We've

prayed,

Father

forgive me

when I

don't depend

on you.

and now

we pray

lead us

not into

temptation,

deliver us

from the

evil one.

This prayer

is acknowledgement

of all that

is in between,

that life

is one of

temptation

and responses

to it.

The Bible

tells us that

God will

test us

to craft

us into

his people,

burning off

our selfishness

to reveal

humility,

burning off

ignorance

to reveal

knowledge

of God.

But this

is a prayer

that we

would

not walk

into temptation,

that we

would not

actively

entertain

sin.

From one

side comes

the temptation

of riches

and power

that makes

us forget

God

and our

need for

him.

The opposite

is a

temptation

of poverty

and thinking

that God

is not

there,

he is not

listening.

The other

way is

temptation

of the

flesh

that says

what my

body

craves

is better

than what

God

wants

for me.

This

prayer

asks

that we

would walk

a narrow

line

between

all of

these.

That we

would walk

close to

him,

turning the

eyes of

our hearts

away from

these

temptations

and drawing

closer to

him.

And when

we've

moved

through

all of

the steps

of this

prayer,

it indeed

helps us

to do

so.

So we

pray to

an amazingly

loving,

approachable

father who

is awesome

and holy.

We want

to place

ourselves in

his family

to be

spreading

his kingdom

in the

knowledge that

he provides

all that is

necessary,

especially

forgiveness

and relationship

with others.

Jesus

so that we

can then

walk

his way.

Jesus

didn't teach

this to be

a formula

for us.

It is a

wonderful

prayer,

but it's

not that we

should just

say these

words and

think job

done,

tick.

More than

that, it

contains a

structure, a

pattern for

us, which is

really helpful

to bring

before God.

Martin

Luther

described

praying

through the

Lord's

prayer is

riffing on

the Lord's

prayer.

To take

the words,

it's like a

musician like

the Andy,

playing around

on a chord,

moving around,

to take the

words of the

Lord's prayer

and to pray

around them,

to riff on

the Lord's

prayer.

And so

even something

simple like

praying for

our daily

bread, well

this is a

prayer that says

thank you God

that I have

a job, so

that I have

money, so

I can go to

the shop and

buy bread.

Thank you

for our

society that

has farmers

and produces

wheat to

make bread

and that these

shops can be

open when I

need it.

It is a

prayer that

thanks God

for all of

these conditions

that can

sustain us

and cares

for us.

this stands

in contrast

to the way

we might

ordinarily

pray, the

way we might

default to

prayer.

Often our

prayers can

just be

completely made

up on the

spot.

Maybe it's

not reflecting

the God

who is

revealed in

the word

to be,

but our

prayer just

comes from

our needs

and who

we are.

We can

get carried

away with

what we

think we

need and

forget what

we already

have.

If left to

ourselves,

we'll just

pray what

comes into

our mind

and then

we'll get

distracted with

what comes

into our

mind.

If we

take the

structure of

the Lord's

prayer and

riff on it,

maybe say

the line and

then pray

based upon

that,

it forces

us to use

the full

language of

prayer,

of confession,

of praise,

of request.

Praying the

Lord's prayer

requests that

the gospel

would be

moved forward.

It pushes

us to

accept from

God what

he chooses

to confess

even when

we don't

want to.

Praying the

Lord's prayer

like this

forces us

to look for

things and

to thank

God and

praise him

in good

times and

in bad

times.

It presses

us to

repent and

seek forgiveness

during

prosperity and

success.

It disciplines

us to keep

every part of

our lives and

to give every

part of our

lives to

God.

It combines

the warmth

and comfort

of praying to

a God who

is a father

with passionate

pleas for

our desperate

needs.

I think this

prayer is like

a really full

meal that

has vegetables

that are good

for building

up the

function of

the brain

and the

body.

It's got

protein for

muscles.

It's got

carbohydrate for

energy.

And it's a

good meal that

has all of

these in the

right amounts.

Can anybody

think of a

good meal like

this?

Anybody?

Sorry?

What's a good

meal that's got

all of these in

good parts?

I've heard

someone say a

Big Mac and

I want to slap

that person on

the wrist.

The sugar to

carb content to

protein vegetable

is way out.

I like to think

of like a nice

roast because

my family comes

from England

and the Sunday

roast you've got

some kind of

meat, you've

got green

vegetables, you've

got maybe some

kind of white

potato carb or

sweet potato or

pumpkin, that kind

of thing.

I also see

wonderful different

types of hot

pot that do

this.

It's veggies,

it's meat, it's

carbs, it's

balanced.

But sometimes,

I think that's

what a good

prayer should be

like.

It's not just

one type of

prayer, it's a

full prayer.

But sometimes

we pray like

fast food.

It's the,

whoever said

that, the

Big Mac of

prayer.

You know, we're

tired, we're

busy, we don't

really care about

what we're

praying, and so

we quickly grab

that Big Mac and

it's gone in three

seconds.

It doesn't cost us

much, but it

gives us even

less.

It doesn't

satisfy the body

and it just

leaves you feeling

hungry, maybe a

little bit sick.

It's okay to have

fast food

occasionally, but

imagine if it was

just Big Macs.

I'm pretty sure

there's a movie

made about this

where a guy only

ate fast food.

Imagine what it

would do to your

health.

It would be

terrible if we

just prayed fast

food prayers,

focused on us.

Our spiritual

health would be

terrible.

If it was just,

I'm too busy, I

don't have time to

pray a full prayer,

I'm just going to

quickly fire something

up.

Our prayer, our

relationship with

God will be

shallow.

Our prayer life

would be

unsatisfying and

it would leave us

wanting more.

We wonder why we

don't have healthy

relationships with

God, but look at

what we are putting

into our prayer

lives.

Don't forget the

awesomeness of the

Lord's prayer out of

familiarity.

Pray the Lord's

prayer because it

is a full meal

that will sustain

our souls and

bring us into

relationship with

God closer.

Let me pray.

Heavenly Father,

I thank you that

we have the joy

of calling you

Father and that

we have this

wonderful full

meal of a

prayer from your

son Jesus.

God, help us

not to forget

what this prayer

is out of

familiarity.

But Lord, we

ask that we

would use this

prayer not

just as a

structure, not

just as words

to say, but

as a way to

remember who

you are and

what you have

done and all

of the wonderful

gifts that you

give to us

every day.

Father, help us

to constantly

be reminded

of who you

are and the

fact that we

can bring our

requests and our

desires to you

and that you

love us and that

you listen to us

and you respond.

God, it will not

be easy starting

to pray.

Lord, we need to

learn how to pray.

give us the

encouragement and

the comfort to

challenge one

another, to be

talking about our

prayer lives with

one another, that

it would not just

be a secret thing,

but it would be a

thing we do as

family as we

seek to know you

and to draw closer

to you, Lord.

We ask this in your

son's name.

Amen.

As Nick said, I'll

be at Pishon

Cafe this Wednesday

morning at 7 a.m.

if you would like

to join me to

continue learning

how to pray.