How To Pray Big & Free | Matthew 6:5-15 | Pastor Neil McClendon

The greatest thing about Christianity is not that you can be forgiven.

That's true.

You are forgiven.

The greatest thing about Christianity is that God lives inside of you and brings this measure of fullness that changes your life for the rest of your life.

And if that's never happened for you, you should ask yourself right now in this moment, why would I not want to know a God like that?

Stop living addicted to forgiveness and get into this realm of fullness, and then all of a sudden, sin will lose its power over you.

Because there's a fullness, there's a satisfaction, there's a joy that comes from this relationship.

So just remember and believe this, okay?

Because prayer is where we demonstrate what we believe.

When you pray, do you believe that you are talking to your father?

Or when you pray, do you sound like an orphan?

This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org.

Take a moment.

Just Holy Spirit, we just say glory to God forever.

You put a hallelujah in us, uh, and we want a new reason, God, for that to come out of us today.

So from your word and by your spirit, Lord, say something today that has our name on it.

Uh, there's a greatness to your faithfulness, God.

We don't just sing about that, we submit to that today.

So when they say no, you're still faithful.

When the diagnosis is not what we wanted, you're still faithful.

And there's a greatness to your faithfulness that we can't find anywhere else.

This is why we sing the great hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness.

Because we are we don't have anywhere else to go.

Where else are we going to go for the words of life, God?

And so we come to you.

Not just because we want something, we need something.

We come to you because you're a Father in heaven and you know what we need before we say a word.

And so, Holy Spirit, impart unto us today revelation and healing and understanding and perspective.

Lord, we ask for this as your children, and we ask it of our Father.

And we ask it in Jesus' name.

And all God's people said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat if you've got a Bible.

I invite you to take and open it up to Matthew chapter six.

And if you're our guest, uh, we're preaching through the book of Matthew.

Uh, and we're up to chapter six.

This is what's known as the Sermon on the Mount.

We're right in the middle of it, uh, pretty much.

Uh, and I want to talk to you this morning about how to pray big and free.

How to pray big and free.

Uh, and I want you to stay with me.

It's not what it may sound like, but I just think a lot of times when we get in the room with other people, we're praying, we're very self-conscious because of what other people may or may not think about us.

And the Bible speaks to that today.

So I just want to jump in, Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

I'll start reading in ver in verse 5.

Jesus is talking, and he's talked about last week, hey, and when you give to the needy, this is how you do it.

And now he's talking about, and when you pray, and this is how you do it.

He says, and when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners that they may be seen by other people.

Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do.

Excuse me, 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 their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.

Now, there's four things I want to point to in the text.

Now, by the way, before I jump into it, this is often referred to as the Lord's Prayer.

It really should be called more appropriately the disciples' prayer or the model prayer.

It's a guide or a pattern, it's not a formula, okay?

It's a structure for prayer, not a script.

Uh it's how to pray, but not what to pray.

We pray this corporately because it is a corporate prayer, it's an individual chair prayer.

There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not like if you don't say these exact words, it doesn't count, okay?

By the way, it's not just a model for prayer, it's a model for Christian living.

Because it starts off with a statement of worship, and then it talks about God's nature, and then about our needs.

Uh, God's nature puts our needs in perspective, okay?

And hopefully you'll see that as we kind of walk through the passage.

Four things I want to point out about how to pray big and free.

Uh, number one, prayer is not for managing people's opinion.

Prayer is not where you manage people's opinion or impression of you.

So, where do you get that?

Verse 5 and 6.

Jesus says that when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.

So they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners.

Now, if you were here last week, those that language sounds familiar.

He said, People love to give.

They like to go out in the synagogues and on the street corner.

What's the big deal with a synagogue and the street corner?

Well, there were uh certain times where people would pray, that Jewish people would pray every day.

Nine in the morning, three in the afternoon, and then someone said, Hey, let's add another one so they had one at noon.

So nine, three, I'm excuse me, nine, noon, and three o'clock, people would stop wherever they were and they would pray.

Now, there's some people that they thought prayer was, hey, people are gonna think I'm a real spiritual person.

Have you ever been in a room with somebody that prays and they use really big words?

And you're like, I have no idea what that means.

Matter of fact, that sounded so big and so spiritual.

I don't want to say anything because I sound kind of dumb compared to this person.

The worst people in the world are preachers.

If you want to hear interesting prayer time, get a room full of preachers in a room.

And it's incredible.

But now, every once in a while, someone breaks out and there's an exception.

Like I was in a group of pastors one time.

There's, I don't know, 30, 40 of us in the room, and they called this one guy to pray, and there was like a longer pause than you would expect.

And I'm like, hey, did you hear?

He said, Hey, brother so-and-so, why don't you open us up in a word of prayer?

And then finally the guy started talking, and he just said something to uh along the lines of this, because I remember not writing it down, but remembering it vividly, because he said, Lord, I I now that I'm in a room with these other men, these dear brothers, I realize that because I'm so catty and competitive, I'd slandered these men to make myself and my church look better.

And now that I'm around them and they're so gracious, I'm convicted.

And all of a sudden I went from this to this.

I'm discreetly peeking around just to see if anybody else and everybody else is just kind of standing with their hands with their heads bowed and their eyes closed, and I'm just like, what is happening right now?

Here's why that struck me.

Because preachers being honest is such a rare thing.

Yes.

You know what I'm talking about?

The guys you meet, and they're like, hey, brother, how are you?

Good to see you in God's house today.

Take your Bibles and open them up to the book of Matthew.

That's Mateo, if you're Greek.

This guy just got honest for just about a minute.

And I was just like, whoa, man.

And I didn't know him, I kind of knew who he was, but after that I wanted to get to know the guy.

Uh prayer is not many for managing people's opinion.

You say, What do you mean?

They love to stand and pray in the synagogues on the street corner at nine, noon, and three.

These kind of people would manage to be either at church, the synagogue, or on the street corner because everyone's gonna stop and pray, and they want people to hear them.

They wanted to get their pray on.

They're like, microphone check one, two, what is this?

The five foot us.

I say, What the rough-necked business.

You're like, just just pray, dude, okay?

Just just just just be done and pray.

Now, by the way, Jesus, they said they stand on the street corner in the synagogue.

It's not against standing.

Matter of fact, uh, it's against being doing what you do with this motive of being seen by others.

Uh, there's a lot of different postures in the Bible about praying.

They're standing, they're sitting, there's kneeling.

Uh, in our first service, there's a man over here in the front row during worship.

He just got down on his knees and just bent over and put his face on the ground.

And I just thought, yeah, you're pretty flexible for an old guy.

It was impressive.

So there's all different kinds of postures.

There's prostrate where you just put your face and just spread out on the ground, just face down.

All that.

Probably one of the most popular ones in the Bible was standing and raising your hands in prayer.

Uh, because Paul tells Timothy, he says, I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer.

And so there's all these different postures.

Matter of fact, this week I want every one of us here in the room to try a posture of prayer that you've never tried before.

Or something different maybe you hadn't done in a while, okay?

Uh, because again, it's not about standing, it's not about praying.

It's more about, hey, are you mindful?

Are you more when you pray, are you more mindful of God or the people in the room hearing you pray?

This is what it's about, because prayer is not for managing people's opinion.

Secondly, prayer's not where you control God.

Look at verse 7.

Prayer's not where you control God.

Oh, who would try that?

These people.

He says that when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do.

Now, when the Bible says Gentiles, it's talking about people that do not have a relationship with God.

These people, when they pray, it's more of a transaction than a relationship.

Do not pray as it when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.

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

So I say prayer is not where you control God.

Again, Jesus is not against long prayers.

What he's against is the belief that if you pile up a lot of words and God is somehow obligated to answer you.

All right?

It's like they're looking for this magical word salad that opens up the heart of God and all of a sudden they're gonna get everything that they ask for.

Here's a simple question you should ask yourself this morning.

Uh, I say simple, but it can be very revealing if you're honest.

What makes you believe that God hears you when you pray?

What makes you believe that when you pray, the God of the universe actually hears you and responds, wants to do something about it?

I often ask people uh this question in counseling.

Uh, because it and not every time, but is it if I hear somebody that has this sense of this thought, like, well, I'm kind of just bothering God.

I remember a man said to me one time, he said, Yo, God's so busy, I don't think he has time to worry about little old me.

And I said, How long have you felt that way?

He said, My whole life.

My whole life.

I mean, I just he said, I'll start praying, and I don't even finish the prayer because I'm like, what?

I mean, like God hadn't got anything better to do.

And then he said, What about you?

And I said, Oh man.

Well, what makes me believe God hears me when I pray?

It's one simple thing.

He cares about me.

And he said, What do you mean he cares about you?

Oh, he cares about me.

I think it's 1 Peter 5, 7.

He says, Cast all of your anxieties upon God because he cares for you.

I got 99 problems with anxiety in one of them.

Uh, and here's why, and and anxiety is real.

I'm not clowning on anxiety, I'm just saying at my core, I believe that God, the God that I prayed to, the God who was and is and is to come, at his core, he cares about me.

And because I believe he cares about me, I cast my anxieties upon him.

I don't take it home and I don't take it personal.

I don't walk around with it weighing me down.

Why?

Because I pray to a God that I'm in a relationship with a God that cares about me.

This is what makes me believe that God not only hears me when I pray, but he is wants to do something about it.

Okay?

This is, I'm not trying to control God.

I'm just not trying to take control.

Prayer is where I go to remind myself that I don't want to take control.

Me being in control is not a good thing.

Here's the third thing I would say about prayer.

Prayer is a demonstration of what you believe.

Prayer is a demonstration of what you believe.

It's verse 8.

Now this cuts both ways.

Listen carefully.

He says, after he says, Hey, they think they'll be heard by their many words.

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

Uh, do not be like them, for your father knows what you need.

Whether you want it to be or not, what you believe is most on display when you pray.

Have you ever been praying in a group of people and somebody gets going and all of a sudden they get real self-conscious and they speed up and then all of a sudden they're done?

It's kind of like, uh, and then my brrrrr.

Amen.

It's like, what happened?

Uh yeah.

Yeah.

What's on display when we pray is what we believe.

Things like this.

Do I believe God actually cares about me?

Do I believe God hears me?

Do I believe God is real?

Do I think what I'm doing right now matters?

Do I believe God wants to do something about my situation?

Do I believe God is able?

Do I believe God is the problem?

Do I pray as if I'm the problem?

There's two things in verse 8 I want you to believe and to remember.

And he's two things right here.

He says, do not be like them.

And here's why, okay?

Do not be like them.

They think they're gonna be heard.

Do not be like them.

Here's why.

For your father knows what you need before you ask him.

Here's the two things I want you to think about.

Number one, for your father.

Remember and believe these things and remember them.

Do not be like them.

Two reasons.

Number one, for your father.

You have a father.

You have a relationship with God that changes everything.

Okay?

You have a father.

Like I've often said this before, and I'm not like complaining about this.

That my children know that it's their father.

It's like, yeah, sometimes one of my children will walk out of the house.

I mean, they're like, my oldest is married, got a house, got a job, the whole nine yards.

And she's like, hey dad, it could be 9.30 at night.

Hey dad, how would you feel about blah, blah, blah?

My youngest is 22.

She'll walk out at 9.15 at night and go, hey dad, how do you feel about going to the sonic?

I'm like, at 9.15 at night?

I don't think about the sonic.

Matter of fact, I don't eat at the sonic.

In my world, as a 61-year-old man, the sonic does not exist.

However, when mom walks out at 9 15 at night and says, Hey Dad, would you be open to go to the Sonic?

What comes out of me is, what do you want?

I'd like a cherry limeade.

I'm like, great.

How about if I go get it and you stay here?

That's great.

And I go to the Sonic and get a cherry limeade and I bring it back, and there you go.

Then my wife's looking at me like, really?

Really?

You got up at 9.15 and well, unlike you, I ain't going to bed at 9.15.

Let's start there.

But here's the other thing.

Men, you on, you know what this is like.

Some of you women are looking at your husband like, yeah, yeah.

When my children ask, they'll get everything they ask for, okay?

But last night this happened, my daughter's like, I don't have application space.

I was like, I got a brand new computer.

I just bought it the other day.

It's sitting in the box in my bedroom.

I want to go in there and just hand it to her.

And but she's like, hey, I didn't say anything like that.

She said, hey, I don't need a new computer.

I just, I'll get it figured out.

Mine's not that old.

But sometimes the heart of the father responds so quickly, it's just like it just wells up in you.

It's like a verbal burp.

It just comes out.

You're like, ooh, what was that?

Absolutely.

You said you have a father.

Now, why is this a big deal?

This is a big deal because if you don't have a father, if you're not a Christian, for you prayers just are tradition, it's not a relationship.

And I would just say this: God hears all prayers, but he responds differently to the voice of his children.

God hears all prayers, but he responds differently to the voice of his children.

It's like I remember being over at someone's house, and the guys were out back uh standing around the grill talking, and the women were sitting in the kitchen, and the lady was getting stuff ready, they were all helping, and all the kids were everywhere.

Some were outside, some were in the back of the house, and all of a sudden you heard this kid shrieking like he was being skinned alive.

And there's like six women in there, and they all stopped, and they were like, and one of them goes, Oh, that's mine.

And I was like, There is no way.

And sure enough, she started down the hall and it was hers.

And I was like, God's that way.

He recognizes the voice of his children.

Now, am I saying that God doesn't hear the prayers of a non-Christian?

I'm not saying that at all.

I'm saying God is not moved to respond the way he is to the voice of his children.

So, every one of us in this room this morning, you should pause right here and just ask yourself, hey, when was it?

Have I ever trusted Christ like he's talking about?

Have I ever trusted Jesus as my Savior?

Have I ever asked for forgiveness, repented of my sin?

Has God made a difference in my life?

Hear this that empowered me to live in fullness and not just giving me a deeper appreciation for forgiveness.

Let me say it again.

Have you ever had this change in your life where because of what God did in you, it empowered you to live in fullness, not just say, oh, thank you, God, for forgiveness.

Because here's the thing the greatest thing about Christianity is not that you can be forgiven.

That's true, you are forgiven.

The greatest thing about Christianity is that God lives inside of you and brings this measure of fullness that changes your life for the rest of your life.

And if that's never happened for you, you should ask yourself right now in this moment, why would I not want to know a God like that?

Stop living addicted to forgiveness and get into this realm of fullness, and then all of a sudden, sin will lose its power over you.

Because there's a fullness, there's a satisfaction, there's a joy that comes from this relationship.

So just remember and believe this, okay?

Because prayers will demonstrate what we believe.

When you pray, do you believe that you are talking to your father?

Or when you pray, do you sound like an orphan?

Like someone who doesn't have a dad in heaven who's actually listening.

Here's the second thing I want you to believe.

You have a father for your father.

And hear this part.

He knows what you need before you ask him.

He knows what you need before you ask him.

I got in bed last night and I thought, I don't think she knows that I have a brand new computer.

It's an Apple, it's got the M4 processor.

I don't know what that means.

But when the guy sold it to me, I said, What's the difference in this one and this one?

He said, This one's got the new M4 processor.

Well, that makes all the difference in the world right there.

But look at me.

The heart and mind of a father is always thinking about what would bless his children.

And I was like, hey, here, you you can have this.

I'll get another one.

Now my wife would be like, hey, you don't have to do that.

And I would be like, shut your yapper.

Again, men, am I lying?

The heart of the father is impulsively inclined towards his children, yes or no?

Of course you are.

If you're a dad, you say no to yourself to say yes to your kids.

You think you can be that way and God can't?

You don't want to live in that world.

But he knows what you need before you ask him.

Unless and until you know this and believe this, that God knows what I need before I ask him, you'll never pray like what is to come.

Like this model prayer.

You just won't.

Ask yourself this morning, what would change about your prayer life if you took this to heart?

What would you pray about if you if you really believed he knows what I need before I ask him?

He knows what I need.

He's my father, he's my dad, he knows what I need.

And then what do you talk to him about?

Like someone came up to me before Christmas and they said, Hey man, I I want to do something for you for Christmas.

I said, I'm open to all the Lord's good gifts.

He said, Yeah, but that's not helpful.

And what I didn't say was, I don't I don't look to man to meet my needs because I I try to live out this thing that says, Hey, my father knows what I need before I ask him, so I ain't got to spend a lot.

That doesn't mean you can't ask, you can't make requests.

But but but but here's the thing you most people pray P-R-E-Y, they pray on people instead of praying to God.

Here's what it sounds like.

Every time you get around somebody that you think has capacity, you work into the conversation all your needs.

You're not believing that God knows what you need before you ask.

You get around somebody, you think, oh man, this person might have money.

You know, my truck's making this weird noise.

No.

You are living outside of this belief that says, My father knows what I need before I ask him.

And so it informs what I ask and how I ask.

Here's the fourth thing I would say from the Texas one that prayer has structure.

Prayer has structure.

And I want to slow down and go down right here on this.

You say, What do you mean prayer has structure?

It's what we know to be the model prayer, starting in verse 9, because he says, For your father knows what you need before you ask him.

And then verse 9, look at it.

He says, Pray then like this.

Underline a circle of the word then.

Pray then.

Because you have a father who's in heaven and he knows what you need before you ask him.

It ought to alter the way you pray.

Then pray like this.

And here's the structure of the prayer.

It's about four or five words I give you.

Number one is acknowledgement.

Acknowledgement.

Our Father.

Prayer is both corporate and it's Christian.

Our plural.

Christianity is not this solitary, rugged, individualistic slog where you're like, I got it, I got it.

I don't need anybody.

I say to the staff a lot around here, hey, hey, this is it's about socialization and transformation.

Sometimes you just need God, you need to pray to God.

Look at me.

Men especially, look at me.

Sometimes you need God with skin on him in the form of a Christian friend.

It's socialization and transformation.

Sometimes being in this room out here with all these people is great, but sometimes you need to be in a class, an adult Bible study on Sunday morning, or a ladies' Bible study on Tuesday morning, or a midweek class on Wednesday nights, but it's all that starts up this week.

Why?

To socialize, to say, hey, I'm Bob.

I don't think I got to meet you.

Are you new?

No, I've been here seven years.

No, but socialize.

You kind of get you don't walk, you don't come to church and just walk in and sit down and just keep score of who all talks to you and who all doesn't.

Because in that situation, the church is always gonna lose and all the negative thoughts in your mind.

Are always going to win.

Sometimes you need Christ.

Sometimes you need Christ with skin on him in the form of another Christian.

Our corporate plural, our Father.

It's acknowledgement.

Secondly, it's nature.

Nature.

Verses 9 and 10, look at what he says: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Under nature, there's just three things I want to point to.

There's name, first of all.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Hallowed is not a word you use this week.

Have you noticed that?

Hallowed, what does it mean?

It means set apart, sanctified, distinct, different.

It's not, hey, we're going to make God's name holy because it's already holy.

Has more to do with God's name being magnified in every area of your life, okay?

His name, think of it like this: his name embodies his character.

So when we pray this, we're saying, I so want God's character to be esteemed in the world that I'm willing to let it start with me.

My life is going to be a reflection of the character of God.

Does that make sense?

Say amen.

It's a big statement to say.

It's probably one of the most profound things and personally convicting and responsibility making things in the model prayer.

Hallowed be your name, is like, whoo, that's to take on some responsibility there.

Because I'm saying I want my life to reflect the character of God's life.

Like this past week, my wife and I made a trip to Alabama to see her aunt.

My anniversary was on Friday.

Many of you were gracious and sent me a text and said, Hey, happy anniversary.

Wade Burgess, who's my work wife, he works there, our executive pastor, his anniversary was on Thursday.

Now, people like you and Wade are really different.

I'm like, in more ways than you can imagine.

Like for his anniversary, Wade went to a spa in Austin and got two days of spa treatments.

I think he even got a pedicure, which is not a very manly thing to do, but I digress.

I'm like, did you wear a robe?

He said for two days.

I'm like, mmm.

For my anniversary, boys and girls, my wife and I flew to Panama City Beach, we're in a car, drove to Dauphin, Alabama, and then went and saw her aunt, who's 92 in hospice.

We don't know how much time she got.

Uh, and we sat in a room that smelled like urine and mortality at a nursing home.

Now, I'm not complaining.

If you've been married a long time, you're like, I feel you, bro.

Because look at me, 20-somethings.

You don't marry somebody because they just because they're your soulmate.

You marry somebody, and you, by the way, when you marry them, you marry into the entire family.

Some of you just broke up right there.

Some of you just looked at your girlfriend and thought, we need to talk after church.

I'm not complaining.

My wife said, Did you imagine it'd be like this?

I was like, babe, this is this is this is marriage.

This is what's made out of, okay?

All right.

We flew into the Panama City Airport.

So I'm telling you this, okay?

God's name.

God, hallowed be your name.

My life reflects the character of God in this world.

I'm standing in the line at the rental car because I used to travel for a living.

And so when the plane lands, I sprint off the plane and run to the rental car counter while everyone else is loping down there because there's gonna be 20 people in line, and I'm gonna be number two.

And so I get there, and my wife's back there, like she's on a sprint.

I'm in line, okay?

I'm third person in line, and immediately eight people get in line behind me.

And I'm like, see what efficiency does?

Speed up, woman.

So I'm standing there, this lady in front of me, she keeps looking back.

I look back, and there's a guy on a roller raider, like on those walking things, and he's he's pulling himself along with his feet, and it looks like he's had a stroke, and he's got three huge rolling suitcases and a duffel bag.

And the lady's like, she can I go get my suitcase.

That's my place.

Go, go.

And so she goes, rolls up the couple big suitcases, and gets back in line, and he's pushing a suitcase, and he pulls himself with his feet, pushes, and I'm like, and my wife walks up on him and she starts talking and lays up.

I said, That's my wife.

She's probably seeing she can help.

And she goes, Well, he he he he doesn't like to get help, but I don't know.

He had a couple beers on the plane.

We flew here from South Dakota.

And so I don't know what he's gonna say to her.

And I said, Listen, when I have a couple, I say yes to her all the time, all right?

This will be fine.

And so, sure enough, he got nods his head, Marcia starts pushing him, gets the big suitcase, and she's like, Oh my gosh, thank you so much.

So they're checking out, and I'm thinking about this about hallowed be your name.

This has been my meditation all week.

And I'm in the line and clear as the bell, the Holy Spirit's like, you know how you demonstrate my character in this situation right here?

You I okay, you tell me.

And so the lady turned around and she looked.

Huge rolling suitcases, three of them, duffel bag, husband, kind of like slumped over with a Green Bay Packers jacket on.

He's probably more slumped over after the game last night, but I digress.

And I out of my mouth, I just said, Hey ma'am, why don't you go get your car and let my wife and I roll your suitcases and your husband out on the curb.

It's a long walk in the Panama City Airport to the rental car place.

She went, Oh my gosh, are you serious?

I said, Yeah, yeah, yeah, no big deal.

She goes, Oh, that would actually be super.

All right, go, go, go.

She goes, we get him out there.

He's getting, I get the suitcases, my wife's pushing him, and he's like, I need to go to the bathroom.

I'm like, Marcia, you got that.

You can handle that.

I have the limits of my hallowedness, okay?

We're out there by the curve, Mr.

I'm ready to load.

She pulls up in a minivan, I load up the suitcases, help him get in, I clap something, put it on top of the suitcases, and I come around the van, and she's standing there.

And she's got a$20 bill in her hand.

And she says, Oh my gosh, thank you so much.

And the Holy Spirit says, Now, now, you want your life to reflect my character?

Well, uh, that would pay for lunch, you know.

I'm just saying.

Hey, the Lord moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.

And like a verbal burp, it came out of my mouth.

I said, No, ma'am, you don't have to do that.

Come on.

No, seriously, seriously.

I ain't gonna be paid to do the right thing.

Close the back, walked away.

Well, there went a free lunch.

Uh yeah.

So here's all I'm trying to say, and I'm done.

Look at me.

You you with me?

Look at me.

Hallowed be your name.

It's one of the most indict parts of the model prayer.

Because what you're saying is, hey, the world's gonna get a whiff of what God's character is like, because my life is not gonna be lived in my name.

It's gonna be lived for the glory of his name.

Can your life say, hallowed be your name?

There's name.

Secondly, there's kingdom.

Kingdom, your kingdom come.

This means we're we're we're praying for the fullness of God's kingdom to be brought to bear on earth.

It's it's initiated, it's started, it's here, but it's not here in fullness.

And when they say your kingdom come, what they're saying is, Jesus, come and and and right all the wrongs.

We're so sick and tired of being stuck in this world where evil seems to win and bad news carries the day.

Okay?

Your kingdom has been uh inaugurated, but we're ready for it to be consummated.

We're ready for the end to come.

Not because we want to get out of here to escape, because this is just overwhelming.

So look at me.

If you're just like, I can't take any more bad news, you need to be praying, oh Lord, let your kingdom come.

Let your kingdom come.

Oh, let your kingdom come here on the earth.

That is the the kingdom is the realm within which what God wants done gets done.

Because here's the thing, folks, if we lose sight of the kingdom, the coming kingdom, then our soul kind of flattens out and our living gets horizontal and not vertical.

Our soul just flattens out, and everything is secular, everything has to be monetized, we've got to be seen, complimented, commented, compensated for everything we do.

I'm like, No, your soul's kind of flattened out.

Your kingdom come.

And he says, This, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The will of God refers to God's divine purpose for his people and for the world as a whole.

Let me just ask you a practical question.

Look at me.

Do you look around our world today and think, yeah, God's will is being done?

This is God's will.

Go to school tomorrow, kids, and ask yourself, is this God's will?

Yeah.

And I'm not mocking your school.

I'm just saying maybe God put you there to be the instrument that brings God's will to bear on your school.

By the way, the biggest barrier to God's will is your will.

It's my will.

Because sometimes I'm like, your kingdom come, my will be done.

I don't pray that, but I just think it every once in a while.

Like, hey, this will go better if everybody just agreed with me.

So when we talk about nature, it talks about name, kingdom, and will.

Brought you a little graphic, just as a little reminder, just like a hey, that's what it looks like.

Yes, name, my name.

The arrow goes up because my name is accountable for the character of God's name.

Okay?

Kingdom, it's spreading, it's getting bigger every day.

A kingdom come, thy will be done.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

The kingdom's coming with or without you, folks.

It's coming.

Your will be done.

I am the manifestation.

I am the demonstration of the fact that there's a God in this world and there's a way He created the world to be.

And I can't change all of it, but I can change the parts that affect me.

So talk about nature.

This is what we mean: name, kingdom, and will.

The third thing is needs.

Acknowledgement, nature needs.

He says, Give us this day our daily bread.

You know, there's some people back a long time ago that were so spiritual that they were like, this can't refer to our physical needs.

This has got to be the messianic feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb, or this has got to be communion.

Look at me.

Right on the heels of this big lofty name and kingdom and wheel.

He says, Give us this day our daily bread.

Here's why.

Because when you pray as a Christian, you're praying to your Father and He cares about your physical provision.

Don't ever feel bad about asking God for, you know, you don't want to say, oh God, and I need to win Powerball because then I would be more generous.

Lord, I would tithe if I was a millionaire.

Now give us this day our daily bread.

Give us today what we need for today because I'm like a day laborer, God.

I get paid at the end of the day, and then because of that, I look to you and I rely on you.

Now, here's where it gets real.

This fourth one here: responsibility.

And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Hello.

And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Don't miss this, but God forgives our debts, but we have to forgive our debtors.

It's easier to forgive sin than it is to forgive people.

Have you ever noticed that?

Sin's this vague general concept.

Oh, forgive us our debts.

Oh yes, I'll forgive your debt.

As we have forgiven our debtors.

The people who wronged us.

The people who cheated us.

The people who slandered us, the people who misinterpreted what we said and just took it as the truth.

You gotta forgive those people.

Forgiveness is very personal, is what I'm trying to get on.

I say responsibility and forgive us.

This is so striking.

Jesus has to circle back in verses 14 and 15.

It's almost like he finishes the prayer and people were like, oh he's like, oh yeah.

Verse 14, for if you if you forgive others their trespasses, excuse me, uh your heavenly father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.

Translation, this is the standard.

Your experience is the standard.

Let me say it again.

Your experience.

That's why the Bible says in Ephesians 4 32, be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you.

If God in Christ has forgiven you, that's your experience.

Okay?

But now that's also your responsibility.

Matter of fact, if anybody harbored unforgiveness during the New Testament time uh towards another believer, they were not allowed to pray the Lord's prayer.

They're like, no, man, you can't pray this.

You don't believe this.

You're still mad at Bill, okay?

Are you kidding me?

No, no, you you can't do that.

You first go be reconciled with Bill and then come and pray the model prayer.

It's not that our forgiveness is the basis of God's forgiveness, it's simply this the experience of being forgiven should change our heart when it comes to forgiving other people.

Does that make sense?

Say amen.

It's hey, I've been forgiven.

And really, when you hold on to unforgiveness, what you're really saying is, hey, I deserve to be forgiven.

This person doesn't.

And I'm not sure you want to put yourself in that position.

Here's the last thing we'll be done this morning.

You still with me?

The last one is and a lot of times we just kind of get, we're close to the end.

Oh, yeah, you know, and lead us on to temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The last one is freedom.

Freedom.

It's verse 13.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Real simple question.

Can you imagine a life where you're not trying to manage sin or deal with the consequences of evil?

Yes.

Think about your life.

What would it be like to not have to manage sin or deal with the consequences of evil?

I'm not struggling with sin.

Temptation or testing, whatever, and I'm not mad at the world because the world is so broken.

The Bible says like this in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation is overtaking you.

That is not common to man.

Hard stop.

No temptation is overtaking you, but what is common to man?

You don't get to give yourself a hall pass.

My situation is unique.

No, it's not.

It's very common to man.

God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

Underline those three words in your mind.

Beyond your ability.

But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

Okay?

Enduring temptation increases your ability.

Let me say that again.

Enduring temptation increases your ability such that God is always looking to expand your ability.

And a sign of spiritual progress, or excuse me, of spiritual maturity is that your ability exceeds your appetites.

Look at me.

Your ability should exceed your appetites.

It's not okay for you to be struggling with this, being tempted by the same things you were tempted for when by when you first came to faith.

Because your ability, okay, and you're not gonna be tempted beyond your ability.

Why?

Because God tempted one of the purposes of temptation, because I get asked a lot, some form of this question, hey, I mean, if if God's really in control, why didn't He remove all temptation?

And I tell people, because your spiritual ability would never mature, it would never get bigger.

You gotta be, because see, hey, you you're gonna be tempted by some things, but when you handle that temptation properly, you say no instead of yes, guess what?

Your spiritual ability increases.

Your ability to find your satisfaction in God, not in sin, increases.

And so it's there they're an inverse relationship.

The more the temptation, the bigger your spiritual ability.

Some of you aren't very spiritually mature, you don't have a very big spiritual ability because you always say yes to the temptation.

Does that make sense?

And God is always looking.

It's like a muscle.

He's always saying, Hey, let's break this down so we can build it up.

And a sign of spiritual maturity is that your ability exceeds your appetites.

And until that happens, all temptation feels overwhelming.

You should have this sense of when it comes to your spiritual ability, because he says, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Can you fathom a life that is free of temptation and the consequences of evil?

That's why I say freedom.

It's the only word I can think to describe that.

And look at me, and we're done.

Look at me.

This is what Jesus came to give you back.

What was forfeited in the garden by Adam and Eve when God created them and said, You're free to eat of any tree in the garden.

But look at me.

They didn't handle temptation well.

This is why sin entered into the world.

Jesus comes to give you back what you were created to live with, and that's freedom.

Not guilt, not frustration, not determination, just freedom.

Wait, hey, you're not led into temptation, and you're delivered from evil.

This is who the Bible says you are if you're a Christian, okay?

Let's pray together.

If you're our guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible, then we give you some soul space to think about it.

Some questions come up on the screen as we'll discuss those in our community groups when they meet.

But for right now, just ask the Holy Spirit, hey, what I had my name on it today.

What do I need to think about for a little bit before I get out of here?

And just think about that right now.

God, we're mindful today that you create us to be wild and free people.

Not destructive, but instructive and instructive to be led by the Spirit.

Lord, we want to be people that when we pray, we pray big prayers from a place of freedom.

So, Holy Spirit, show us how to pray big and free.

This is our prayer we pray in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.

Thank you for listening to this message.

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