Matthew 6:7-15

Good evening.

Welcome.

Welcome, everybody.

It's good to see you all tonight.

I guess I'll open this up by praying for us.

Lord, you've given us your word.

You've given us instruction on how to live, how to think, how to relate to you.

And I just pray that tonight we would continue to dive deeper into that,

that in our daily living we would be looking to honor you, to serve you, to love you,

to know who you are and how that affects us and how that to be the goal of what we're doing here,

to seek you out, to know you as believers, as Christ followers.

And that in that, Lord, we would see your gloriousness, your might, your majesty, your love for us,

that we continue to be built up, to be rooted in this word that we cling to.

May it be in our lives, power to us.

May it be needful in how we interact with others and in how we grow as a body.

And as we talk about prayer tonight, Lord, that we would see something of its richness,

not only in form, but in its function as well.

And I pray all these things in Christ's name.

Amen.

So tonight we turn back to Matthew.

We continue in our series on the Sermon in the Mount.

And tonight we're going to be looking at the Lord's Prayer and how that fits into this sermon

and how it fits into what Jesus has been teaching us so far.

So if you want to pick up with me in verse 7 of chapter 6, Matthew, we'll start reading there.

Amen.

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.

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

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 if you forgive others that trespass,

your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others that trespass,

neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

And tonight we see how Jesus teaches his disciples to pray.

And I guess kind of growing up in the South,

I'm not sure how that worked out in the Northeast.

Like, everybody knew the Lord's Prayer.

It was said by football teams on Friday nights.

It was said at social gatherings.

It was used for family prayers.

It was used at church and so on and so forth.

So, growing up, I heard it everywhere I went.

And yet it lacked little meaning to me.

It wasn't of any use in my daily life.

It was just kind of something that,

if somebody had some kind of moral inkling,

they knew the Lord's Prayer,

they were Christian,

that's what kind of life you just kind of lived.

It was kind of like saying God bless you,

like when somebody sneezed.

It was just like something that you kind of did,

like, flippantly offhand

and just kind of culturally became conditioned to say.

You just kind of knew the words.

You just kind of followed along.

And for me, it was just like,

I did this without questioning

if it had any worth or any value.

And kind of looking on that,

it's just like, there's so much of a tragedy now.

And what I've been studying

and been learning about this prayer,

it's just so much richness in these phrases

that we can tend to kind of say sometimes

just mindlessly.

And this is one of the most perfect

and complete prayers

that we see throughout the Bible.

It's one that Jesus instructs us to pray.

It has everything in these six petitions

that we need to pray.

And if we think that God is far off,

it starts off our Father.

If you have any questions about his divinity

or his majesty,

it says in heaven,

it says hallowed be.

If you have any questions

about how the Lord provides,

he says give us,

lead us,

deliver us,

forgive us.

We don't just learn this

as some kind of protocol

for a prayer we pray.

What we see in it

is the truth about who God is.

And that's why we don't need to babble.

We don't need to stand on street corners.

Both in Jesus' instruction

and in our very doing,

these words lead us to God honoring prayer.

But why pray anyway?

If God is who he says he is,

he's omnipresent,

he's omnipresent,

he already knows what I'm going to say.

And you will see Jesus say here,

he says,

your Father knows what you need.

But since God is who he said he is,

his thoughts is above our thoughts,

his ways are above our ways,

and we can only go so far

in what he's revealed to us.

We can only use what he sets before us.

And he's given us this great gift of prayer

as a way to communicate with him,

to commune with him,

to have this fellowship

and this relationship with him.

And with that,

I've been asking my questions

as I search through this is,

so like,

how do we pray if God knows our needs?

How do we pray?

Why do we pray

if this is the case?

And I think as Jesus gives these examples here

of this Pharisee

and of these pagans,

he starts off as,

don't Bible like pagans when you pray.

And we see here,

they heap up many phrases.

They think they'll be heard

for their many words.

And we see here

that their view of prayer,

prayer that they're presenting

is kind of mindless,

it's kind of thoughtless.

And we see here,

as he gives us these examples,

he's telling us something about that.

He's saying God's definition of prayer

isn't meaningless.

It isn't mechanical.

It's not self-centered

as the Pharisees were.

prayer is not thoughtless

as the pagans practice it.

We shouldn't be praying

for the approval of people around us.

Prayer isn't just judged

by how many Christian-sounding words

we can use

or the length that our prayer goes

or by what people around us

tend to think when we pray.

And we see Jesus telling them here,

their prayer needs to be sincere.

It needs to be thoughtful.

There has to be some weight behind

what we're praying

and what we're saying.

They're not just a list of things

that we're just kind of

throwing out there.

Some translations use the thing

vain repetition.

And as you kind of look at that,

like,

we may think of, like, repetition,

like,

should we be repeating

the same things over here?

But I guess here,

the emphasis seems to be

on the vain part of it.

Because we look at Paul's famous words

in 2 Corinthians,

where he says,

three times I've pleaded with the Lord

about this,

that it should leave me.

And we see Jesus

in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And we see what Mark says about that.

And about this account.

And he says,

he went away and prayed,

saying the same words.

And true prayer isn't chance.

It isn't elevator pitches.

It's not defined by its length

or its articulation,

but by its sincerity

and its thoughtfulness.

And that brings us to our next point.

If we were to pray sincere

and thoughtfully,

we have to know

who we're praying to.

And in this passage,

Jesus makes a point

to refer to God

as the Father.

He says,

your Father.

He says,

our Father.

And that's the link

he makes here.

And if we were to pray,

as God knows our needs,

we need to pray to him

as Father.

And that removes

some of that impersonalness

that we kind of

can get into.

It removes that kind of

genie mentality

that God is just there

to give us what we want.

We're just coming to him

with our three wishes,

and that's it.

But we can rejoice

in the fact that God is there.

He's here us.

He's using this term Father,

which should be a reality

in our lives,

to draw us to him.

And it should draw up

in our minds

the image of a protector

and a provider.

Father.

And he's not just

an invisible force

that stands between us

and the things

that we desire

to gain through prayer.

And the term Father,

it isn't figurative.

It isn't symbolic

of something.

But in our lives,

it should be a reality.

And it exists

in the truth

of who God revealed

himself to be.

And we see that.

And we see him

revealing himself

and more and more

through the New Testament

and through the Old Testament

as he brings up

this fatherly imagery

of him shepherding

and caring

and providing

for his people.

And as we look on that,

we see Jesus

extensively speaking

of this unity

he has with the Father.

Especially we see that

in the Gospel of John.

And here in his fatherhood

we can be comforted.

We can be assured

that we can come

to him in prayer.

Yet at the same time

he's holy.

And Jesus makes mention

of that

all in his first line.

He says,

Our Father

in heaven.

So he makes

this claim,

this assertion

that not only

is God our Father

but he's in heaven.

He's sacred.

He's set apart

from us.

And so his name

should be hollowed.

And Martin Lord

Jones defines

this hollowing,

this hollowing

the name of God

as sanctifying,

as revering,

to make deep,

to make and to keep holy.

And this term

not only refers

to God

as some type of name

but this phrase

where he says,

Our Father in heaven

hallowed be your name.

Your name representing

all who God is

and has revealed

himself to be.

And to simply put it,

to say that God is,

his name is to be made holy,

it says that

all that God is

and revealed himself to be

is to be more than

just highly regarded,

it's to be kept sacred,

it's to be something

that we should stand in awe

of,

something we should

just treasure up

in our hearts

and to remember

every time we pray.

And Jesus shows us here

how all the characteristics

of God are Mary,

like in his divinity

and in his perfect nature

and his love

and his mercy,

like all these things

come together,

come together in the Father.

Like he's not just judge,

he's not just

all these other things,

he's Father as well

and that's something

that we need to

keep in our minds

and we see Jesus here

pointing that out

first and foremost

as he instructs

his disciples to pray.

And as we continue

to talk about this

fatherly characteristic

of a God

and how this theme

just continues

to run throughout

the whole Bible,

it talks about,

it talks about

in the sense

that we've been adopted,

that we've been made

citizens in heaven,

that we've been transferred

from one kingdom

to another.

in all that,

we see something

coming about,

we see change

coming about,

we see heart change,

we see,

we see our affections

changing,

we see our desires

changing,

we see everything

about us

just fundamentally

changing

as we,

as we take on

this new image

in Christ.

in Colossians

says,

our minds

should be set

on things above

and it also says

where Christ is,

when Christ

our life appears,

then you also

will appear

with him in glory,

with Christ

our life.

When Christ

our life appears,

our life being

hid in Christ,

us being a part

of him.

With that in mind,

pray like this,

your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is

in heaven.

And as we look

at God,

the Father,

we also look

at another aspect

of him being king,

him being sovereign,

him ruling over

everything.

And we know

as he comes,

that's a far more

better kingdom

than that's here

on earth.

And as we look

at Ephesians,

as Paul talks

about this kingdom

of,

as Paul talks

about this kingdom

of darkness,

as he talks

about these rulers

and cosmic powers,

things ruling

here on earth.

And then we look

at our own government

that doesn't run

so efficiently

all the time.

And as Jesus

is telling us

to pray here,

it's not because

the Father's

going to come

and throw off

all these things,

things.

But there is

something long-term

that we are

looking at,

something to come

in the future

that's being made

manifest now

as well.

And we ought to,

and in this,

we're to pray

for God's fame

to be made known,

for him,

his fame to increase

in all the earth

as his kingdom

comes.

And we ought to watch

and to pray

for this king

who's coming

as we think about

Christ's second coming.

As we,

as he,

as we think about

this kingdom coming

and his will being done

and how perfectly

in heaven

God's will,

will is done.

And we are to desire

that here on earth.

We are to desire

that same will

that's being done

in heaven

to be done here on earth.

And we were just

to stop here.

You could probably

draw some pretty,

pretty logical

application from

these verses.

Don't,

don't Bible like pagans.

When you pray,

just pray about God

and what he wants.

But we see Christ

keep going there.

And it doesn't

just stop there.

It's a little bit

more involved.

In every religion

there,

there's prayer,

there's meditation,

there's,

there's all these things.

So,

so what separates us

Christians?

How we count,

how can we distinguish

ourselves in this?

And I believe

this in the fact

that,

that our father's

omniscient

and knows what we'll ask

and yet he still

bids us to ask it.

And I hope that,

and that resonates

in our minds

and continues to,

to frame how we pray,

that God knows

the words we'll say,

yet he still bids us

to speak them.

Prayer isn't profitable

because we get stuff,

it's because we get God,

we get to communicate

with God.

And,

and that's the basis

of our,

our prayer as Christians.

And with that in mind,

with that in mind,

we get a father

who cares about our needs.

He encompasses all this

in,

in our daily bread.

Jesus is telling us

to pray for everything

we need.

And I guess sometimes

we have a tendency

to,

to hyper,

hyper spiritualize this

and to be like,

well,

he's just telling us

to pray for spiritual food

and to pray for

spiritual things.

And I think we do

ourselves a disservice

in that and,

and we do God

a disservice in that

because we're,

we're not allowing him

to provide for everything

in us.

I mean,

after all,

he created us,

so,

so how couldn't he know

that,

that we need things

here on earth?

And I mean,

he,

he cares as much

about a dentist appointment

at 1115 on a Tuesday

as he does about

our Bible reading.

And,

and with that,

we just,

we just need to remember

that,

that our Father,

he cares about it all.

He cares about every aspect

of our lives.

And I think that's what

Jesus is driving,

driving home

in,

in these few words

that he's put here

about give us this day

our daily bread

as he instructs us

to pray.

He,

he doesn't mean for this

to,

to be exhaustive,

but for this to be

the,

kind of the stimulus

or the primer

that,

that gets us to,

to come before God

and,

and to pray.

And Luther reminds us,

he says,

but our praying,

we are instructing

ourselves more than him.

And so,

as we look at

how we instruct

ourselves

and what we pray,

we need to

make forgiveness

a big part of that

as he comes to

in verse 12.

And he says,

forgive our debts

as we forgive our debtors.

And he doesn't just

leave it there.

He comes back to this point

in verses 14

and 15.

For if you forgive

others their trespasses,

your heavenly father

will forgive you.

But if you not forgive

their trespasses,

neither will your father

forgive your trespasses.

And he makes forgiveness

a big part

of this prayer.

And we all may say,

well,

well,

yes,

forgiveness is a big part

of this.

Christ forgave us.

Is that like another term

we just kind of

throw out there

is just so easily

to say

and to,

and to repeat?

Are we just kind of

babbling when we say that?

Do we know how hard

like forgiveness

can be sometimes

and

how

ingenuine

it can sound?

I mean,

we can just

throw out apologies.

People go around

all the time

just saying,

I'm sorry,

I'm sorry.

We,

we see in the media

somebody does something

and

they just

come out with this

rehearsed statement

to tell people

they're sorry

for,

for what they've done.

Do we just kind of

make it another way

to,

to say excuse me?

My bad.

I,

I don't even really

mean to do that.

And even as little kids,

like we've all

had those instances

with sibling,

cousin,

friend,

they needed some

parental mediation.

And in that,

like your parents,

they,

they want you to

say you're sorry to,

they want you to

make amends

with your,

with whoever

you're having

this,

this conflict with.

But isn't in the end

it's just kind of like

forced and,

and mumbled

and you just say it

so you can just

go about your day

and go back to

playing with your

Hot Wheels

or whatever you were

doing.

Is forgiveness

like that to us?

And,

and I guess

as,

as we continue

to,

to look at forgiveness,

like our forgiveness

of new creations

should exceed that

of what,

what culture

and,

and our religious

cliches kind of

bring about,

like as we look

at the,

the whole of the

Sermon on the Mount,

we see that like

what we're doing

is exceeding

what,

what,

what is going on.

He's saying like

their righteousness

is exceeding

that of the Pharisees,

like they're going

above and beyond.

There's something

deeper here

to be discovered

and to be had

and,

and that's our,

that's your heart

changing in this.

and in our

forgiveness,

like,

we,

we should be

seeing,

seeing the depth

that we've,

we've included

and I like

that he used

that word here,

this depth,

that this sin

that,

that we do

is a price

to pay for it.

And that should

cause us

to,

to have mercy

on those around us.

That should cause us

to forgive those

around us.

And like in the

Paralels,

the Unforgiving Servant,

Jesus says,

forgive your brother

from your heart.

He just doesn't say it,

forgive your brother

so,

so everybody can see

what a nice person

you are

and how you forgive them.

He says,

forgive them

from your heart.

And you can't

begrudgingly

forgive somebody

and,

from this same

tainted

and unloving heart,

expect God

to forgive you.

How can you

receive something

you're not willing

to give?

How,

how,

how can that be?

And just as we move

through this prayer,

just beginning

to,

to feel the effects

and,

on our hearts

and,

and how it draws us

to the Father,

how it assures us

of,

of hope to come,

how it gives us room

to,

to ask for what we need,

how it gives us

reasons to,

to search our hearts out,

all in this one prayer.

And if it's doing

these things,

it's doing what

it promised to do.

And now as we look

at the last petition,

we see,

we see some of the

same goals in mind.

He says,

lead us not in temptation,

but deliver us

from evil.

The key to us

having a fellowship

with God

is for us

to be away from sin,

for us to put off sin,

for sin to be put to death.

And how can we have that

if we're,

we're beset by these

temptations?

And,

in some translations

it's translated from evil

as from the evil one.

And we know

we're going to be tested,

we know we're going to be tried.

And this is,

this is not an assurance

that,

that life is going to be easy.

It's not

that we're commanding God

to take all the bad things

out of our life.

But we know

there's,

there's evil

outside of us.

There,

there's Satan.

There's Satan.

And,

and he isn't for our

fellowship with the Father.

And we know

that there's sin within.

We know that there's,

there's,

there's sin in our life.

We know that there's,

those things often

don't push us

towards stronger

fellowship with God

or communion with God.

We know those things

tend to pull us back.

They tend to condemn us.

And right here we,

in this prayer it says,

lead us not into some things,

deliver us from evil.

We're to,

we're supposed to be

separating from those things.

So,

so this relationship

with the Father

continues to grow

and continues to,

to thrive.

So,

so as we pray for,

for what we need,

as we pray to a God

who,

who knows what we need,

we need to be praying

sincerely and,

and praying thoughtfully.

We need to know

that we're,

we're praying to a loving

Father.

And we need to be

simply asking,

asking for what we need.

And some of you may be,

be doubting this whole

prayer,

prayer thing.

You may have been

asking what you need

for a long time.

You've been,

been asking and,

and asking and asking

with your repetition

and,

and nothing's happening.

But are,

are you merely

praying for what you need

or,

or are these

things you desire?

Or your expectation

has been,

been shattered

by some bad theology

that you,

you've picked up

on prayer.

That you're not

mustering up enough

faith to get

what you want.

And either way,

we need to start

examining ourselves

through the,

through the lens

of scripture

and,

and discerning

what's,

what's needful

for us.

And we can desire

only the best things.

We can desire

all these good things.

But,

but outside of God,

those things are just

stumbling blocks

and,

and distractions.

Outside of knowing

the kingdom has come,

outside of knowing

God's kingdom come,

these desires in our mind

may be only,

the only thing that matter.

We may set those things

up on pillars,

pillars and,

and make those things

idols.

And that's how

our self-declared

needs to throne God.

That's how he's not,

not hollowed in our lives.

And we need to know

God is close.

Not that he's seemingly

close or,

or we're experiencing

his closeness.

We need to grasp

that this,

this closeness

is a reality,

is a truth that,

that we need to be

believing.

And for some,

it may be a little bit

harder than others.

You,

you may have never

known your father.

You may not,

particularly have a

close relationship

with your father.

But in light of the gospel

and what,

and what's that's doing

for us,

this,

this reconciliation

that it talks about,

this relationship is,

it's like no other

we should have.

It can only be

likened to other things.

It can only be

likened to marriage.

It can only be

likened to a shepherd

and his sheep.

But,

it's just so much

more in there.

prayer.

And in this language

of father,

we,

we should be

desiring this

intimate relationship.

And it can only be

had through prayer.

We only can communicate

through God

through prayer

because that's the only

vehicle he's,

he's given us

to communicate with him.

Like he,

we can't send him emails,

we can't text him,

we can't give him

phone calls.

Like he's given us

this,

this,

this great gift

to dialogue with him.

And like,

and just finally,

let's look at Jesus.

Let's,

let's look at him

and look at the life

he lives.

In my intro,

I was,

I was talking about

how his instruction

in the Lord's prayer

and in our doing

and,

in our praying

these words

and,

and meditating

about these phrases,

how that leads us

to God honoring prayer.

Let's look,

let's look at Jesus' life.

And we see from,

from the age of 12

up until the ascension,

like he lived out

all of these things,

all of these things

in this prayer.

We see his life

reflecting those things.

And by no means

are we that perfect.

By no,

by no means do,

do we have that type

of perfection

to us

to,

to live out

all these things

perfectly.

But we can live

in a way that

our words

make,

make our prayers

meaningful.

So,

so I'll pray for us.

Heavenly Father,

as we

look to,

to commune with you,

to have

better relationships

with you,

strong and,

and thriving

relationships

with you,

let us neglect,

let us not neglect

prayer and,

and what's to be had

in it.

Let us not

neglect that,

that you've given us

such a great gift,

you've given us

such great instruction.

you,

you've laid out

for us

how it looks

to,

to come before you.

But we know you,

you sit on a throne

of grace.

We,

we know that you,

you hear our prayers.

We know that

you desire to,

for us to come to you

with,

with all our needs.

and I pray that our,

our hearts would desire

that your,

your kingdom come,

your,

your will not only be done

in our lives,

but in this world.

and that,

and that we would just

revere you

and,

and respect you

and,

and love you

and,

and cherish who you are

and,

and all that you say you are

and,

and how you reveal your,

yourself to us

on a daily basis,

whether it's mundane

or in spectacular ways,

Lord,

but that you would just

be hollowed in our lives,

and,

and in our prayers.

I pray all these things

in Christ's name.

Amen.