Teach Us To Pray

In many of your Bibles, Luke chapter 11, you can remain standing for the reading of God's Word if you're able, Luke chapter 11.

Luke 11 · chapter mention Luke 11 · chapter mention

It's good to be in the Lord's house. It's good to see the sun shining.

Hopefully the wind's not blowing 150 miles an hour today.

But we're here, and I'm thankful that you chose to worship with us.

Maybe this is the first time you've been here. We want to thank you for doing that and choosing to be in the Lord's house today.

We're in a series in the Gospel of Luke, walking verse by verse.

Been out of it for a little while, just the Christmas season and the start of the new year.

But excited to jump back in.

And if you noticed, all the songs kind of centered around prayer this morning, and that's what we're going to talk about.

The disciples asked the Lord this question.

Teach us to pray, Lord.

And I think that we can all probably relate to that.

I know when it comes to prayer in my own life, every time I hear a message about it, every time I read about it, I study, I think to myself, Lord, I need to pray more.

I need to pray better. I need to pray with passion.

And Jesus is going to teach us how to do that and some principles for that.

So if you're on your place there in Luke chapter 11, we're just going to read the first four verses, and then we'll jump right in.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

And the Bible says this,

And it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him,

Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

And he said unto them,

Let's go to hymn and prayer.

Father, we do thank you for this time together.

We thank you for the songs that remind us, Lord, that we have so many things to be thankful for and that we can come and bow our knee before you.

I'm thankful, as the special was sung this morning as well, that, Lord, we're a work in progress.

And you didn't throw the clay away.

And I'm so thankful that you're still molding and shaping lives.

Lord, I pray that maybe today there's somebody here that does not know you as their personal Savior.

And today would be that day.

But, Lord, I pray that you would just encourage us now that we would take a look at our life and our prayers and to see where our heart is behind it, Lord.

Lord, I pray that you would help me now.

Lord, I need you.

I need you in every moment.

But, Lord, especially in moments like these.

And, Lord, I pray that you would give me the words to say.

Lord, you would fill me with your spirit that it might be a help to the hearer this morning.

And we ask all this in your son's precious name.

Amen.

Thank you so much for standing.

You may be seated.

Amen.

Amen.

Have you ever noticed when somebody's just really good at something, they just kind of impress you?

Maybe it's their craft.

Maybe they're a woodworker.

Maybe they just, whatever it is, they cook really well.

You know, you ask for the recipe.

But you know good and well you can't make it that well.

So I just skip all as, like, can you just make that for me?

You know, kind of just cut out the middle man, so to speak, there.

But when you find somebody that's really good at something, you don't generally ask them about the small stuff.

Maybe it is a recipe and you are a good cook or a good baker.

You're like, what is the secret ingredient?

Because I make this and it doesn't taste like this.

Maybe you know somebody that is a good carpenter and you don't say, hey, what kind of hammer do you use?

Listen, it doesn't matter what kind of hammer they use.

Because if I went and bought that hammer, I'm still going to be horrible at it.

You know, if I try to build something that's like, well, good enough for government work kind of situation.

No, you ask them, how do you get the joints to align so perfectly?

Maybe you see an athlete, an elite athlete, and you don't say, hey, what kind of socks do you wear?

Because it's not the socks.

You know, I bought all the shoes that are supposed to make you run faster and jump higher.

They don't work.

I'm still limited athletically.

But you might ask them how they train.

What do they do to reach that level?

What does their diet look like?

Or whatever it might be.

As we come here into chapter 11 of Luke's Gospels, the disciples are there with Christ as they always are and living life amongst him.

And they see him do all of these things.

But when they come here and they're watching him and they've seen him heal the crowds and do all the miracles.

And yet they watched him pray.

And when he got done, they didn't say, Lord, teach us how to preach the Bible.

Lord, teach us how to do the miracles.

Lord, teach us how to draw a huge crowd.

No, they watched him pray.

And no doubt they probably listened in as he maybe prayed audibly.

And when he got done, they said, Lord, teach us to pray.

Lord, I want what you have right there.

Because when they saw him there, it wasn't just a question that came out of nowhere.

They're kind of beginning to connect the dots.

And I know it's been a while, but when we finished Luke chapter 10 there at the end,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Jesus said that there's one thing that is needful.

It was the story of Mary and Martha.

And Mary chose that relationship with Christ.

She chose to sit at Jesus' feet.

There was a lot of things that needed to be done.

And Martha was busy and running around and trying to get all the things done.

And she was frustrated.

And it just reminds us that what God intends for us to do before anything else is just sit at his feet.

It's just to be close to him.

Because we can serve and we can give and we can go and we can do all of those things.

But without the intimacy, without that personal deep relationship with Christ,

we're just going to be frustrated.

We're just going to be tired.

We're just going to be downtrodden.

And it seems that the disciples are starting to kind of somewhat get what Jesus is teaching.

And they're beginning to realize that when Jesus is living his life and he's on mission,

there's one thing that keeps coming up over and over and over.

He keeps praying.

He's always in communication with his Father.

And they're learning what hopefully we're learning,

that if we're going to follow Jesus on his mission,

we must learn and share in his dependence on the Father.

Because that's what he's teaching us.

That listen, we can't live this life in our own strength and our own power.

You can maybe go a little bit down the road, but you're going to run out of gas real fast.

And that's what Jesus shows us here.

That's what he wants us to really get a hold of.

Because I would imagine, and I think there's no doubt about it,

by this time in the disciples' life, I mean, they've prayed before.

I mean, these are Jewish men, and they would have had very memorized prayers.

In Sunday school, we went over one of them this morning, the Shema from Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

Hear, O Israel, that the Lord our God is one Lord,

and we're to love him with all our heart and soul and mind and strength.

Listen, they would pray that every morning and every evening.

They had all the prayers.

They had temple prayers, and they had prayers for a certain feast, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But have you ever been around somebody that just can pray?

You listen to them pray, and you pray with them.

I mean, you just think, there's something different about how they pray.

And I'm sure you know somebody like that, and guess what?

When a problem comes in your life, they're one of the first people you call.

Listen, I need you to pray.

We feel like they've got a little bit of special connection.

They're on a different line.

My line seems to always be busy.

But that's not really true.

There's something different there.

And Jesus, when he's praying, when they heard him pray,

he wasn't just reciting some words.

He was talking to his Father.

And they could feel it.

And they're beginning to understand this truth,

that you cannot live the life Jesus calls you to live.

You cannot live the mission that he has commanded you to live

without the dependence that he had on his Father.

He said things in the Bible like this,

I do always those things that please the Father.

Well, how did he know that?

Because he talked to them all the time.

They were on the same page.

They were in the same will and the same goal and mission.

So when the disciples asked Jesus this,

when they said, Lord, teach us to pray.

John taught his disciples, we want to learn from the Master.

He doesn't give them a speech.

He gives them a pattern.

He's showing them here that this is not a prayer just to merely repeat.

We can repeat it.

There's nothing wrong per se with that.

But it's more of a pattern.

And here's the goal.

That it aligns our heart with his.

That's what prayer really, when we boil it down, here's what it is.

It's a posture of dependence on the Father.

That that's what prayer really is in our life.

And so today, as we're going to walk through these few short verses,

Jesus is asking us this question.

When you pray, what's really going on in your heart?

I don't know if you're like me.

There's some things I just do in life just out of like routine.

Have you ever like driven to work and you get in the parking lot and you're thinking,

how did I get here?

I mean, you've done that?

I mean, you're going around and you're like, what is going on?

I mean, we're just so used to it.

It's just something we do all the time that we kind of just black out and block it out.

And it's just like we're moving on.

And if we're not careful, that's how our prayer life can get.

Even if, and sometimes even if it's existent.

It's not that we don't love God, but we just kind of got so used to it.

We just kind of go about our day and when a big problem comes, we're going to pray.

But, you know, the Lord knows.

He knows my heart, we say.

But when's the last time we actually talked to Him?

When's the last time we went to Him?

And as we've kind of seen in our journey in the Gospel of Luke,

that Luke meticulously places prayer at the center of Jesus' life and His mission.

It's not by accident.

But if you kind of go back in your mind, and I'll refresh it because it's been a few days since we've been in the Gospel of Luke,

that Jesus prays before major decisions.

There in Luke chapter 6, He's praying all night long because He's going to choose His 12 disciples.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

You know, He didn't go to the disciples and have all these people out there and say,

any, many, miney, mo.

That's not how Jesus operated.

No, He went to His Father.

This was a huge task.

He prayed before moments of power there in Luke chapter 9 on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

He's having a conversation with His Father and His glory is shown.

He prayed before sending the disciples out.

There in Luke 10, when He sent them out two by two to do ministry and to preach the kingdom,

He didn't say, hey, good luck, guys.

No, He prayed.

And He prayed for what was going to happen.

He prayed for their protection.

He prayed for their message.

We'll get there eventually.

But in Luke chapter 22, we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Luke 22 · chapter mention

And He's praying because He knows what's coming.

He knows the cross is just right around the corner.

And He's praying to His Father and He's asking for Him to remove it.

But not my will, Lord, but Thine.

So we see that prayer was important to Jesus.

It was something that He took time for.

And the disciples saw it too.

And Luke does that and He places it in front of almost every single major event

because He wants us to remind us that prayer is not something we just do.

No, it's fuel for what we are to do.

It is the fuel for the mission that God has called us to.

Because guess what?

It's not our mission.

It's His.

And He's called us to it.

And we have to depend on Him.

And that's why the disciples asked this in verse 1.

Teach us to pray.

And so Jesus, my Bible calls it the model prayer.

And that's what it is.

It's not to be a script per se.

And don't miss this.

Don't misunderstand it.

Prayer is not necessarily about the posture.

Now, I think there is some reverence there.

And we're not going to get all into it.

It's not about the time of day.

It's not about the location.

You don't just have to pray at an altar or by your bedside.

It's not about the length of your prayer.

Sometimes I've heard people pray a long time.

I'm thinking, I don't think anybody's listening.

I think the Lord's asleep.

But I've heard people, you know, I don't think Peter, when he was sinking in the water,

he didn't get a, Lord, Lord, and say all this prayer.

He said, save me.

Sometimes it's not the length of the prayer.

Jesus doesn't address any of those things because his primary concern when it comes to prayer is our heart.

Because if our heart is in the right place, if our heart is in his hands,

if our life is given over to him, then all of those other things, the posture, the time of day, the length,

all of those things are going to fall in place where they should.

I don't know about your parents, but I heard this said often in my house.

Sometimes to me, sometimes to my sister.

It's not what you said.

It's how you said it.

I see some of you have the same parents.

That's weird.

I know we were related.

I heard this once or twice, and then I woke up, and I was like, where am I?

In the hospital?

Because I said something to my mom, and then I heard something like, who do you think you're talking to?

And then it just blacked out.

It was weird.

I don't know any other thing besides that.

I was told this often, and that's why my kids hear it often as well.

You need to check your attitude because it stinks.

And that's, you check yourself or you wreck yourself is kind of what I tell them.

That's biblical.

Write that down.

But, you know, I remember in school they had this thing that said, attitude is everything.

But really when it comes to our prayer life, it really is.

And what Jesus is teaching us here as we step into this text, he's going to teach us two attitudes that must shape our prayer life.

And the first attitude we see is this, an attitude consumed with God.

That our attitude needs to be consumed with God.

We notice how Jesus begins this model prayer, not with coming with all of your wants and your needs.

There's a time and place for that.

But he starts with this.

He starts with a relationship.

That prayer begins with a relationship.

Our Father.

Father.

That's where it all starts.

And maybe to us, when we hear that, it doesn't seem like that big a deal.

Maybe when you've prayed, you kind of always prayed that way.

And you heard your dad pray that way.

You heard your Sunday school teacher.

And so when you pray, you say, dear Father, heavenly Father, whatever it may be, that maybe doesn't register to us.

But to the disciples hearing this, this would have been revolutionary.

This kind of would have knocked their socks off, so to speak.

Because when you study the Old Testament, and that's what they would have had and been very familiar with, God is described in many ways.

He's described as Elohim, the Creator God.

He's El Shaddai, the Almighty God.

He's Adonai.

He's the Lord of hosts.

He's all of these things.

But rarely, very rarely, and very cautiously is God described as a Father.

That's not how they would have related to God.

That they would have almost had this, they knew he was powerful, and they knew he loved him, but he was still kind of distant.

He was almost, in a sense, unapproachable.

And really, in reality, that's why Jesus came.

So we would know what God is like, and how he operates, and how he loves.

But yet, Jesus, as he begins this prayer, he says, when ye pray, say, our Father.

I mean, disciples are like, you can't say that.

We don't address him like that.

And yet, Jesus is inviting them, and he's inviting us to approach God with this language that we would use in a family setting.

The Apostle Paul echoes this in Romans 8, verse 15.

Romans 8:15

He says this,

And when you study that word, Abba, it is a deeply personal word.

It has the idea of Daddy.

Of Papa.

You know, when your kids are super little, and they still love you?

You remember those days?

Those were the days.

I mean, they thought you were the best in the world.

Daddy, Daddy.

You come over from work, and they run, and they grab your leg.

Mama, Mama.

Now it's like, Mom.

Dad.

But there's that deeply personal relationship there.

And it's not in a condescending way or an irreverent way, but it's that we know him.

That we trust him.

My kids would run to me, and they still do, and they say, Dad.

Why?

Because they trust their dad.

Because they know who I am.

And it's just a beautiful reminder, and Jesus is painting the picture so well,

that our relationship is not something that we earn.

No, it's something that we have through Jesus Christ.

He's not just our Father because he is the creator.

He is our Father because we have placed our faith and trust in his finished work on the cross of Calvary.

That we've been adopted into the family.

That we can call on him as someone that we know deeply and we love passionately.

But notice what he says next.

Our Father, which art in heaven.

Because some people say, well, you can't call him Daddy.

You can't call him Papa.

That's so irreverent.

But what Jesus is teaching us is he balances closeness with reverence.

Yes, God is near.

And God is near to a broken heart.

He's near to all of his children.

But it doesn't mean that he is common.

You know, listen, God is not your homeboy.

I see those shirts sometimes.

I just want to punch him with a love of Christ.

Listen, I'm thankful that we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

But just because he is all of these things to us, it does not mean that he is common.

That he is not like us.

That God is not our co-pilot.

No, he is our Father, which is in heaven.

And we need to be reminded that he is personal.

And we can have a personal relationship with him.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews we can go boldly into the throne room.

But we don't go casually into the throne room.

We don't do that.

We can talk to him like we talk to our friends and to our father.

Because that's what he is.

But we need to remember also who he is.

That he is still on the throne.

I mean, you think about it like this.

We all had moments like this in our life that we decided to live on the edge of danger.

Your parents were talking.

And you're like, Dad, Dad, Dad.

And he's not listening.

And in your little childlike brain, it says, call him Kevin.

That's my dad's name.

And then my dad is just like zoned in, not listening.

I'm like, Kevin.

And it was just like the whole world stopped.

What did you say?

Because you don't just roll up to your parents.

I still, I'm almost 40 years old.

I still don't want to call him by his name.

Because I feel like, man, I might just get punched.

I don't know why.

But why?

Because he's my dad.

Yes, there is a closeness.

And there is that relationship.

But there's also respect.

I value my life.

That's just really what it boils down to.

I was always told I'd go to next week.

I just don't want to go there right now.

But when it comes to prayer, listen, there should be a closeness.

These disciples, they would have thought, well, you can't really get close to God.

They would recite these prayers.

They would go to the temple.

But there was maybe that intimacy level wasn't really there.

But Jesus is reminding them, listen, God is your father.

Because if Christ is, if we're in Christ, then we're joint heirs with him and everything that he has,

that we have as well, which is an amazing thing to think about.

That's a sermon for another time.

But we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

And if we're brothers and sisters, then we share the same father.

And we can cry out to him.

So prayer begins with who he is.

He's high and lifted up.

But it reminds us of who we are, that we are his child.

That we are adopted into his family.

But we also see this, that prayer is marked by reverence.

Kind of building upon that.

When ye pray, say, our Father which is in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

What does that mean?

What does hallowed mean?

It means holy.

It means set apart.

It's to be treated as weighty.

It just, when you hear that, you may not have understood exactly what he meant, but you knew this, we should probably respect him.

There's something different there.

And it reminds us that there is something more than just a name when it comes to God.

Because when you really study scripture, a name is never just a label.

Especially the Jewish people, and we see it all throughout.

But really, it's a revelation of character.

And a lot of people in the Bible lived up to their name.

You study Jacob.

Jacob's name in the book of Genesis means supplanter.

Deceiver.

And guess what he was?

A supplanter.

A deceiver.

I mean, he dealt with it his whole life.

Moses, his name means drawn out of water.

Nailed it.

Put him in the little basket.

Guess what?

Hey, here he comes.

Let's draw this guy out of water.

Oh, it's Moses.

And there's all kinds of names in the Bible like that.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 18, verse 10, that the name of the Lord is a strong tower,

Proverbs 18:10

and the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

See, we're not just calling him by a name.

No, no.

When we pray, we are running to a God who has revealed himself in certain ways.

When God revealed his name to Moses, he didn't spell it out.

You know, sometimes you say, what's your name?

And you say, Tyler, T-Y-L-E-R.

Well, okay, I think I could have figured that out.

But when Moses is really seeking the Lord there in Exodus 33 and 34,

and really wanting to see God and to know God, here's what God told him.

The Lord God is merciful and gracious.

He's long-suffering, and he's abundant in goodness and truth.

And really, throughout Scripture, God reveals himself through names.

When you study all different things, you're going to see all different names of God.

We see names like Jehovah Jireh.

The Lord will provide.

We see names like Jehovah Shalom, the Lord who gives peace.

Jehovah Roy, the Lord our shepherd.

Jehovah Sadduken.

I cannot ever say that.

Sounds like Street Fighter, just to be honest.

If some of you don't know what Street Fighter is, I feel sorry for you.

But it means the Lord our righteousness.

See, all the names of God, they show and they point to who he is.

So when we pray with this sense, and we don't necessarily have to say this phrase,

but hallowed be thy name, here's what we're really saying.

God, I trust you for who you have proven yourself to be.

That we're running to him because we know that he is the provider,

and he is the one that takes care of us.

He is the one that gives peace.

That he is all of those things.

And once we remember that, and once we see that reverence of who we're praying to,

and what he's able to do.

One of the great things about just reading the Bible is you see a God that can do anything.

It was given to us for an example.

So you think, man, I'm not sure God can handle that.

I'm pretty sure he can.

Because he's done it over and over and over again.

And when you really get a hold of that truth,

and you really get a hold of who he is,

and what his name really means,

the next step is natural.

It's surrender.

Prayer aligns our will with his.

Notice what the Bible says.

When ye pray, say,

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

I think many Bible scholars, when I was reading and kind of studying this,

they said this is kind of the turning point in the prayer.

See, up to this moment, we've kind of focused entirely on who God is.

He's our Father.

He's holy.

We see his name and all the things that it brings to mind,

and it floods us with the memories of his goodness.

But really what Jesus is doing here now is when we see God for who he is,

we rightly surrender control to him.

That's what he wants us to do.

That's really what he's calling us to do.

We see this phrase really throughout the New Testament,

especially the Gospels,

but the kingdom of God is not primarily a place.

You know, we think of kingdoms.

We think of certain lands and rulers,

and this is their kingdom.

You know, all you men, you have a lazy boy.

That is your kingdom.

We understand that.

You know, this is my domain.

I do what I want, unless my wife tells me otherwise.

Kind of one of those situations.

But the kingdom of God,

the idea is that it's really about God's rule and his reign.

That wherever God's authority is welcomed and obeyed,

his kingdom is present there.

That's what Jesus even began his preaching ministry with this very theme.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent ye and believe the Gospel.

Why was the kingdom of God at hand?

Because he was following God's will.

He was following God's command.

He was following God's authority.

And simply put, to pray,

thy kingdom come,

is not merely to ask for heaven to come someday,

but here's what it's really asking for.

For God to rule in your heart and your life right now.

That's what he's talking about.

That's what he's wanting us to see.

That's what he's wanting us to understand.

And I want to make sure that we get this,

because we can't run past this.

Because we're going to want our daily bread and all these other things,

but we're really never going to experience it like God intends

if we don't submit to him.

That's really what this prayer is.

When we say,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done as in heaven,

as so in earth.

Because we understand this,

that God's in control of everything.

That by him all things consist,

this the Bible tells us in Colossians,

that he's holding everything together.

And that includes our life.

And he has great plans,

and he has great purposes,

but he also,

he's not going to do certain things

unless we surrender to him.

That God's not going to force himself.

In this prayer,

here's what it's simply saying.

Lord, rule my decisions.

Anybody like to make their own decisions?

Friends?

Any indecisive people?

You're going to go to the restaurant today,

you're going to look over the menu,

all things,

and you're going to order the same thing you already did.

So I'm going to help you.

Just order what you normally order.

But you know what?

We like to make our own decisions.

Sometimes,

maybe some of you in here

make decisions you know

aren't the right decision

just because you don't want to do

what everybody wants you to do.

Like, I know that's what they want me to do,

so I'm just not going to do it.

But sometimes that creeps into our spiritual life.

Like, I know what the Bible says,

but when that thought

and that thing comes in your mind,

run to God.

Because we need God to rule our decisions.

You know what this prayer says,

Lord?

Shape my priorities.

Because God didn't call you and me

to build our kingdom.

He called us to spread His

and to share His love

and to share His gospel.

Here's what it says,

and we don't like this one.

Lord, interrupt my plans.

You know what we want?

Lord, bless my plans.

Lord, I know I already did this

and I should have talked to you before,

but I need you to bless this.

That's not the model that Jesus gives.

Lord, what would you have me to do?

Lord, if you want to redirect me,

if you want to recalculate my coronation,

then go ahead and do that, Lord.

Lord, see this prayer,

what it kind of does

and kind of we struggle with it,

it really addresses our tendency

to build ourselves up.

See, Lord, we pray,

Lord, protect my comfort.

Lord, help my plans to succeed.

Help this, help that.

And it's not that God doesn't want to do that,

but are we trying to tell God

what we think we need?

Are we following His will?

See, Jesus teaches us to pray,

Lord, replace my agenda with yours.

Jesus did it.

What did He said there in Luke chapter 22?

Luke 22 · chapter mention

There in the Garden of Gethsemane.

With His humanity.

He knew what was coming in His humanity.

He said, I don't want to do this.

But His divinity said,

I love them enough that I will do this.

And He was willing to replace

what He really wanted

with what He knew

was the Father's will and the plan.

from the foundation of the world

that He was to die

on the cross of Calvary

for the sins of mankind.

And He was willing to do that.

Jesus taught this same truth

there in the Sermon on the Mount.

We know the verse well.

He says this,

Seek ye first, what?

The kingdom of God.

He's not saying,

hey, find the coordinates

and put it in your GPS

and you'll get there.

No, here's what He's talking about.

Every kingdom has a ruler.

And who's the ruler of this kingdom?

Jesus Christ.

Seek ye first that.

And all the other things

you're worried about,

all the other things

that are in your prayer,

here's what's going to happen.

They'll be added unto you.

Maybe not how you thought,

but it just reminds us,

you place God number one,

He'll take care of everything else.

That's what Jesus is teaching.

That's what He's reminding,

that the kingdom of God

is not something

that we add to our lives.

It becomes the organizing principle

of everything that we do.

That it's going to order

our priorities,

our focus,

our aim,

our goal is Christ,

and then everything else

will be where it needs to be.

See, Jesus is saying

to pray the kingdom come,

is saying,

Lord, I trust your wisdom

more than mine.

We may not say it,

but a lot of times

we think we know

what we're doing.

You know,

somebody's telling you something,

they're giving you some advice,

and you're like,

yeah, yeah,

in your mind you're thinking,

they have no idea

what they're doing.

I know what I'm doing.

Lord, I submit my will

even when obedience is costly.

Sometimes we don't want

to follow His plan

because we may not like

what it costs,

but it's worth it every time.

Here's what thy kingdom come,

Lord, be the king.

Start right here.

Sometimes we want God

to come and change our country.

We look at our country,

we look at our world,

it's a mess.

Lord, please come

and fix all this.

You know what the Lord's

more interested about?

Your heart.

Your life.

It's going to start right there.

It's going to start

in individuals,

and as we individually

live for Christ,

it's going to make

our world a better place,

and this is where

it gets practical

when we come to this

turning point of the prayer

because when His kingdom

comes in our life,

forgiveness replaces bitterness.

Obedience replaces convenience.

The mission that God

has called them to,

He's reminding them,

the mission He's called us to,

it replaces the comfort

that we so dearly love.

And really when it boils down to it,

holiness replaces compromise.

Pretty sure Peter told us,

Be ye holy,

for I am holy,

saith the Lord.

And that's what prayer does.

That prayer reminds us

that real Christianity

is not about inviting Jesus

to assist our lives,

it's about surrendering our lives

to His rule and His reign.

And when you do that,

you're going to realize this,

man, I should have done this

a lot earlier.

Because I've come to find out

a lot of times

when I'm asking the Lord

to help me,

it's because I didn't allow

Him to help me

and to guide me.

I have to say,

Lord, I'm sorry.

I should have done

what you told me to do.

I should have followed

what the Word said.

So every time we pray

Thy kingdom come,

we're asking a serious question.

Lord, is there any area

of my life

where I still want the throne?

Because I think we do sometimes.

That's what Jesus reminds us.

But surrender doesn't mean

silence about our needs.

That brings us to

our second attitude here.

It's an attitude

completely reliant on God.

An attitude completely

reliant on God.

Look at verse number three.

Give us day by day

our daily bread.

When we go to the Father

in prayer,

here's what it reminds us,

that there is a reliance

for daily provision.

That Jesus teaches us

to pray for daily needs.

Not luxury,

not excess.

And let me just say this right here.

God's not against nice things.

But sometimes the reason

we don't have nice things

is because God knows this.

Those things will have us.

You know, think,

Lord, if the Lord

just give me a million dollars,

you know why you don't

have a million dollars?

Because the Lord loves you.

Because it might ruin you.

You might,

that thing you think you need

is maybe the worst thing

possible for you.

That we trust our Father.

That we're praying

for just our needs.

And whatever else

the Lord blesses us with,

we'll be thankful for.

But when these disciples

would have heard this,

they would have probably

immediately been reminded

of that man in the wilderness.

Exodus chapter number 16,

when the children of Israel

are wandering in the wilderness

and they want something to eat.

And the Lord just says,

I'm going to rain bread

from heaven.

Can I get an amen right there?

Like I have a,

I have a gift card

to a Texas Roadhouse

sitting on my counter.

Every time I look at it,

I think, man,

I love that bread.

But they would have

thought about that.

But when you study it,

you see this.

That God gave Israel

just enough for each day.

No more, no less.

The day before the Sabbath,

they would get two days,

so they would,

they would have enough for that.

Why would God do that?

Because He wanted them

to learn daily dependence on Him.

You know, I think our problem

as Christians in America

is sometimes,

we're so blessed.

We have so many things

that sometimes we forget

that we are daily dependent on God.

We need to be reminded of that.

I mean, you're dependent

for your breath and your blood

and your heart beating,

not for anything you do,

for God.

Because we know it can change

in an instant.

It can change in a moment.

And the lesson is clear here

that yesterday's provision

does not replace today's trust.

We can't just store it all

and say,

well, I don't really need

the Lord today

because look what all I have.

No, we need Him

every single day.

We sang a song, I think,

I need Him every hour.

I think they said hour

because it doesn't just

sound very good.

I need Thee every second.

But we do.

That we need Him.

Jesus reinforces His truth

in Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

He said,

Man shall not live

by bread alone,

but by every word of God.

When we ask God

for the daily provision,

it really is going to confront

our illusion of self-sufficiency.

And sometimes we think,

man, look what I do.

I work hard for this.

No, yes, we work

and we plan.

The Bible says

we should do both of those things.

The ant prepares for winter,

the Proverbs tells us.

But ultimately,

everything we have

comes from Him.

Every good gift

and every perfect gift

is from above

is what James tells us.

But dependence doesn't stop,

dependence on God

doesn't stop with what we need.

It also reaches into

what we lack spiritually.

So what Jesus does

is He moves from

provision to repentance.

Verse number 4,

and forgive us our sins

for we also forgive

everyone indebted to us.

I don't believe

this is a prayer of salvation,

but it's a prayer

for that ongoing fellowship.

There are going to be times

where we mess up

every single day.

Here's what we do.

We go right to Him.

Lord, forgive me.

Lord, forgive me.

Help me.

What Jesus is doing

is He is teaching

that a dependent heart

is an honest heart.

Because the world says,

hey man, you're a good person.

Well, there's none righteous,

no, not one.

The heart is desperately wicked

and deceitful of all things.

And the closer we get to God,

the more aware

we become of our sin.

And when we sin

and we fall short,

even if we know Him

as our Savior,

we say,

Lord, I'm sorry.

We understand it

in relationships.

When you sin against somebody,

maybe a parent or a friend,

if you really love them,

here's what you do.

I'm sorry.

Why?

Because you want that relationship,

you want that fellowship

to be there.

They're going to always

be your parent,

but that fellowship

may not be there.

There was a lot of quiet meals

at my house in middle school

until I said,

Dad, I'm sorry.

Now, sometimes I thought

it'd get me out of trouble.

It didn't get me out of trouble.

But I knew my dad loved me.

I knew my mom loved me.

See, when we walk closely

with the Lord,

we're going to stay

sensitive to sin.

Prayer keeps us humble enough

to confess

and tender enough

to forgive others.

Because when somebody's

going to do you wrong

and it will happen

and you're going to remember,

well, if God forgave me,

then help me forgive them.

Help me to live that same way.

See, a forgiven heart

becomes a forgiving heart.

That's what Jesus

is teaching right here.

But when we refuse

to forgive others,

we reveal that we've lost sight

of the grace

that we've received.

And as we haste to do a close,

we see the last thing.

That prayer is not just

for forgiveness,

but it's also for protection.

That there is a reliance

through humility.

It says,

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

What this is,

is it's a confession

of weakness.

Scripture is clear there

in the book of James, again,

that God cannot be tempted

with evil,

neither tempteth He any man.

This is not saying

that God's leading us

into hard times,

into sin,

into temptation.

No, this prayer

is not blaming God.

It's admitting our vulnerability.

You know,

we can do bad all by ourself.

We can get in trouble.

Man is full of trouble

is what the book of Job says.

We're a few of days

and full of trouble.

That sounds like me growing up.

Probably sounds like some of you.

I know you pretty well.

David prayed similarly.

He said,

Incline not my heart

to any evil thing.

Psalm 141.

See,

Jesus is teaching us,

what He's teaching us to do here

is to pray proactively,

not reactively.

It's not saying,

Lord,

rescue me after I fall.

Here's the beautiful thing.

He will.

But instead of waiting

until we mess up,

here's what our prayer should be.

Lord,

guide me

before I fall.

Lord,

help me hide

Thy word in my heart

that I might not

sin against Thee.

That we are praying

that instead of waiting

until the problem comes

and asking forgiveness,

Lord,

help me not to do that.

Help me to avoid that.

Help me to live for You

in every area.

This is the prayer

of someone

who knows

they need God

every step

of the way.

So as we close,

I just want you

to picture the scene again.

The disciples

aren't asking Jesus

this question

in a classroom.

They're not filling in

blanks on a worksheet.

They're watching Him pray.

And they see the peace,

the confidence,

the dependence

that He has

on His Father.

And when He finishes praying,

they don't say,

hey,

we need that outline.

We need those words.

They say,

Lord,

teach us to pray like that.

And what Jesus shows us

here in this model prayer

is that prayer

is not about saying

the right things.

It's about living

in the right relationship.

That that's where it's about.

That's what He wants us to see.

That's why it begins

with the Father.

It centers on His rule

and authority in our life

and it moves into

a daily dependence.

This is not a one-week

prayer.

It's going to tide you over.

We need Him

every hour.

So the question

for us this morning

is simply,

isn't,

do you pray?

The deeper question is,

are you living

in dependence

on God

or are you trying

to manage life

on your own?

Your prayer life

will show that.

prayer is a posture

of dependence.

You know what we,

when we don't pray,

when we fail to pray

over and over again,

here's what we're saying,

Lord,

I got this.

I'll call you

when I need you.

We treat God

like a friend.

Hey, when I need you,

I'll call you

if I need you.

He's not a friend.

He's Abba Father.

We need to run to Him.

Cling to Him.

Run to Him.

The righteous

runneth into Him

and is safe.

Are you living

in dependence on God

or are you trying

to manage life

on your own?

Would you stand

with your heads bowed

and with your eyes closed?

It centers on His rule

and authority

in our life

and it moves

into a daily dependence.

This is not a one week

thing, prayer.

It's going to tide you over.

We need Him

every hour.

So the question

for us this morning

is simply

isn't do you pray.

The deeper question

is are you living

in dependence

on God

or are you trying

to manage life

on your own?

Your prayer life

will show that

because prayer

is a posture

of dependence.

You know when we

don't pray,

when we fail to pray

over and over again,

here's what we're saying.

Lord, I got this.

I'll call you

when I need you.

We treat God

like a friend.

Hey, when I need you,

I'll call you

if I need you.

He's not a friend.

He's Abba Father.

We need to run to Him.

Cling to Him.

Run to Him.

The righteous

runneth into Him

and is safe.

Are you living

in dependence on God

or are you trying

to manage life

on your own?

Would you stand

with your heads bowed

and with your eyes closed?

Amen.