Praying to Our Father

All right, let's read together from the New Testament.

Matthew 6, verses 9 to 13.

Matthew 6:9–13

This is the Lord's Prayer.

Jesus said,

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.

Amen.

So tonight we are continuing with Jesus,

preaching his sermon on the mount.

He is up a mount preaching to many people.

And recently we've been thinking about what Jesus says on the mountain about prayer.

And Ryan helped us last week think about how prayer,

how our talking to God ought to be a regular practice in our heart and in our mind

where we know that God is the one that we pray to.

In prayer, you know, we find it so difficult.

I think as Christians we find it so difficult to do.

It's just about speaking simply and often to our God who is always ready and able to help us.

So what about the content of our prayer?

That's what Jesus gives us now.

This is probably the most famous prayer in the world.

Likely been said hundreds, maybe thousands of times across the world today.

And Jesus gives us this prayer as a model.

This is the model prayer given to steer our thoughts and help us to speak about God.

Last week we were saying Ryan was helping us see that it's not about the eloquence of our words.

Now we see that at the same time there is a guide which helps us to pray well.

If you have younger children or grandchildren, I think this is quite easy to see.

If your child or grandchild has fallen out with their brother or sister or friend, whoever it is,

if they've trapped their finger in the door, if they've fallen over,

you're probably quite used to them running to you in tears, just bubbling,

getting all the words at 100 miles an hour.

And you probably just about know what's going on.

But you need to take control of the conversation.

Where were you? What did they say? What did you say?

You hurt yourself. You know we can do something about that.

It takes you, the grown-up, to give that conversation a bit of a meaningful shape.

You might understand everything clearly, but you want to help your child calm down

and see things more clearly.

They need you to make sense of it.

And we find that as adults as well.

If you've had an awful day at work, you come home and you tell your flatmate,

your husband, your wife, whoever it is, how awful a day you've had.

And what does it take but for them to say, no, hold on.

Let's slow down a minute and think things through more clearly.

When you look at the Lord's Prayer, this model is there not to repeat word for word only,

but it's there to give your conversation with God a meaningful shape, it's been called.

So, you know, perhaps this week you can say, I feel alone and I feel lost.

Well, Jesus says, God is your Father.

So I can praise Him.

I can adore Him for that.

I don't know how exactly I'm going to cope with what I'm going through this week, this month.

Well, God promises to give you just enough for today, and then He'll do the same tomorrow.

So I should pray for that.

Tonight, maybe you could say, I feel awful about what I've said to this person or how I have acted.

But, well, God says there is forgiveness.

So I can run and ask Him for forgiveness.

We are children who feel so anxious and upset and down and way down.

And some days, you know, some days we hardly know what to pray about.

We hardly know what to say to God.

And we are like children running to their parents.

Because we need someone to give our conversation a meaningful, meaningful shape when we come to Him.

We don't need eloquence and loads of words.

God knows exactly what you need, what we need.

But at the same time, we are helped by this model to see clearly who He is and what we should pray for.

So, just this first line tonight.

Jesus says, pray then like this.

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

The focus here in this first line, these first two lines, is on adoring God.

When you come to God in prayer, however often you do it, do you understand who you're coming to?

That's what Jesus wants us to think about.

Let your heart dwell on that reality.

So, let's just look at these three points.

When you pray, you pray to God who is your Father.

He's in heaven.

And so, we should pray, you should pray for His name to be hallowed.

So, when you pray, you pray to your Father.

What does that mean?

It's a word that we use all the time.

Our minister prays to our Father.

When you're at home, you probably pray to your Father.

You probably hear it so often that you don't register when you hear someone pray to the Father.

In John 5, Jesus meets this paralyzed man.

He's been paralyzed for years.

And he's lying on a mat.

And he heals him just by speaking to him.

The man is healed.

He gets up, picks up his mat, and walks.

And it's a kind of funny scene because the Jews, the religious people of that day, aren't so fazed at the fact that this man has been healed.

But what really annoys them is that Jesus has done this on the Sabbath.

And so, they get up.

They chase after Him.

They find Jesus.

They interrogate Him.

They say, you know, how dare you do this on the Sabbath?

How dare you heal this man?

How dare you perform this miracle?

How dare you heal this man?

In the Greek, just two seconds on Greek.

In the Greek, the word is pater, father, pater, where we get paternal from.

And that word was a very normal word used for your biological father, a very everyday word in the sense that you could be in your bedroom and you shout, Dad.

And he'll come to you.

Or maybe he won't.

But it's the same sort of word.

Everyday common language.

How dare he call God father?

That's the thought.

Who does he think he is that he's allowed to say that?

Well, even worse than that, now Jesus, a wee while later in Matthew 5 or Matthew 6, is saying, it's not just me who can call him father, but you can call him father as well.

You can do it as well.

It doesn't work like that.

Don't be cold with your words.

Don't be impersonal thinking you learned something.

No, when you pray, realize that you're coming to your father.

You're coming to your father.

The last two or three weeks, we have heard about German philosophers and German theologians.

And I think last week we might have got a German lesson on some words.

So I'm going to jump in and give you someone else who's a German footballer.

Thomas Muller.

This week, he's been playing for Bayern Munich for around 17, 18 years.

He was in the youth team before that.

So 20-something years.

There were reports that he planned to stay for one more season.

This week we found out that his contract is not getting renewed.

He's not going to stay with them for one more season.

And just like that, his career is over.

He'll probably be gone by the summer.

Whatever he is thinking is probably frustration.

He has dedicated his whole career to this club.

He's trained and trained and trained.

And he's given his life to Bayern Munich.

And with one year to go, they decide to end it.

You know, he's too old.

Maybe he's being paid too much.

But you see what it is.

Even for a legend like Muller, it's completely cost-benefit.

And so he's left thinking.

Either he is left thinking, I did not deserve this.

I've won 32 trophies with this team.

I've trained and trained and trained for these guys.

And now they're letting me go.

Or he is thinking, I'm in trouble because I'm too old and I'm not pulling my weight anymore.

I haven't worked hard enough to keep my place.

When Jesus says, don't heap up empty phrases.

Just call him Father.

He's saying that this relationship that you have as a Christian with God

is not based on you training harder and harder and harder.

Earn in your place with big fancy words.

This is simply about knowing that you are a child of God.

God looks at every believer and he says, son and daughter.

Tim Keller makes the point that if you pray just because you want something,

or you pray just because in the moment it's the right thing to do,

and you don't get what you want, or things go wrong,

you're in the same position as Thomas Muller.

Either you're left thinking, I did not deserve this because I've done my job.

I've done my duty.

I've prayed hard and I've prayed well.

Or you think, I am in trouble and this is what I get for not pulling my weight.

But when you come like a child to a father,

things might not always be how you want them to be.

You might not always get what you want,

but you know that the father, your father is full of fatherly love.

You can't earn that.

You cannot earn that.

Is this a relationship where you train and work hard for your place,

or is this a family, a family relationship?

Here's some clarity for you, Jesus says.

Think about who you're coming to.

When you come to pray, think simply about who you're coming to.

He doesn't want cold, clinical words.

You can't earn anything from him.

No, you are coming to your father.

You're coming to your father who counts you as treasure, Malachi says.

You are coming to your father who will never, ever, ever be ashamed of you, Hebrews says.

Do you believe that?

If you are a Christian, do you believe that?

That's how he sees his people, his children.

However insignificant you feel tonight,

the God who made all of creation looks at you and says,

my treasure, my jewel, my son, my daughter.

Okay, who gets to call him father?

Then Jesus had the right to call him father.

The people didn't understand that in John 5.

The people didn't see that.

But as the son of God by nature, he had that privilege.

How then can anyone else call God father?

Is God father to everyone?

And another question that we could ask,

which gets of the same thing is,

what does it mean to be a Christian?

And one thing we could say is,

this is all about adoption.

It means being adopted.

The Bible makes clear over and over that,

you know, if you read it and you turn page to page,

you'll quickly realize that no one is a child of God by nature.

Actually, Paul in Ephesians calls us the exact opposite.

He says, every single human is a child of wrath.

He says, we are children of wrath.

And humans ever since Genesis 3 have shaken their fists at the Creator

and have said that they want nothing to do with Him.

And, you know, perhaps you don't think of it that way,

but Paul says, without Christ, without faith in Christ,

without belief in Him,

that's exactly what we are doing.

Our lives are defined by the fact that we look at God our Maker

and shake our fists

and say we want nothing to do with Him.

So calling God father

is not a human right.

You know, tonight you might be curious

about Christianity tonight.

You might believe that there is a God

who is your Maker.

That doesn't give you the right to call God your Father.

What gives you the right to call God Father?

Adoption.

Adoption.

Spiritual adoption.

By nature, we are not His children.

By the act of adoption,

God says, you are my child.

You are my child.

In Galatians 4, Paul says this,

but when the fullness of time had come,

God sent forth His sons

so that we might receive adoption as sons.

The only person

who ever had the right to call God Father

came and lived and died

in order to clear your debts.

You know, no longer are you defined

by the fact that you've shaken your fist at God.

That slate is wiped clean.

You can call Him Father

because Christ died for sinful, broken people

like you and like me.

The night before He died,

Jesus was in the garden

in Gethsemane.

And you know what He prays?

He says,

Abba, Father.

Abba, Father.

He just says Father twice

in Aramaic and then in Greek.

He's hours away,

hours away from being mocked by the crowds,

from being abandoned by His friends,

from being hung on the cross.

He cries out.

And now, because He suffered,

you can cry the exact same cry.

Abba, Father.

The Son of God suffered

so that we could be called sons of God.

His cry can be our cry.

Who can call God Father?

Those who are adopted.

How were you adopted?

You received Jesus

and all that He's done.

John 1, verse 12.

John 1:12

But to all who did receive Him,

who believed in His name,

He gave the right to become children of God.

Will you receive Christ

if you have not?

Will you believe in your heart

that Christ can save you

and call you His brother or sister,

no longer lost,

but a child of God?

Will your prayer simply be,

Father, Abba, Father.

Father.

Some things,

just maybe a couple of things

to think about this week

before we go on to our second point.

We don't always,

when we pray,

we don't always have to call God Father.

We don't have to say that.

You know, we say God, Lord, King.

This is a model prayer.

The point is that in your heart,

in your heart,

you know who you're coming to.

You're coming to a Father who loves you.

You don't need to fix yourself up.

That's one thing.

No, this is about knowing in your heart

that you're a child,

a child of God.

God looks at every believer

and says,

Son and daughter.

He counts you as treasure.

Know in your heart

who you are coming to.

Equally, on the other end of that,

it's probably fair to say

that we don't,

or we're not struck

by what it means

to be called God Father.

I'm not enough.

Would you pray this week

that it would strike you

to know that you're praying

to your Father?

The God who walked in the garden

with Adam and Eve,

the God who came to Moses

in the burning bush,

who gave his people food

and water in the wilderness,

the God who put the stars

in the sky

just by speaking,

just by speaking,

he stoops down

and hears your faint cries

like a father

bending to a child.

He inclines his ear to you.

Would you come,

would you fix your heart

on that this week

as you pray?

Okay, secondly,

he's our Father,

and he is in heaven,

it says.

He's in heaven.

And again,

that means a lot.

He is our Father

in the deepest,

nearest sense.

At the same time,

he is eternal,

he is infinite,

he is unchanging.

Moses,

in Exodus 33,

Moses is up the mountain

and he asks God

if he can see him.

He says,

can I see your glory?

Can I see something

tangible here?

And God says,

never,

never,

you cannot see me

and live.

God is too glorious,

too mighty,

too wholly different from us

that we could never

handle seeing him.

As our Father,

he is so near,

so close to us,

and yet,

as creator,

as maker,

as God,

he is too powerful,

too vast

for us to understand.

You know,

we're so finite

and we are so weak

as creatures.

That we couldn't

handle knowing

what God is like

in himself.

And so,

when we say that God

is in heaven,

we're not talking,

we're not talking about

God being in a different

place.

We're talking about God

existing on a completely

different level to us.

God is always ready

to hear our faint,

weak cries,

and at the same time,

he is completely

separate from us.

God is so far above us

that we could never

know him

if we tried to reach up.

Just one takeaway.

That means that God

is free from every

single struggle

and weakness

and temptation

that we are so prone

to as finite

creatures.

I know,

you know,

when you come to a verse

like this,

it speaks about God

being our Father.

I know that

fatherhood doesn't

fill us all

with the same amount

of joy

or fondness.

Some of us

here,

you know,

some of us here

maybe

have gone our whole

lives with absent

fathers.

We've gone most of

our lives with our

dads who have left

our homes

or distanced

themselves from us

or perhaps we have

grown up with a

father in the house

but who has let us

down in so many ways.

You know,

they lack interest

in our interests.

They don't support

us emotionally.

They have seriously

high expectations

that we can never

meet.

They are critical

of every single

thing that you do.

The idea of a father

who does not fill

us all,

you know,

with joy

fills us with

disappointment

or even resentment

and all that we

want to say to

that is that

for every weakness,

for every way

that your dad

has failed you,

for every memory

you have of your

dad neglecting

your good,

that loss

and disappointment

is healed

in having God

the creator

as your father.

what a promise

I think that is.

You know,

we might feel grief

and disappointment

for a long time.

We might never

lose that experience.

Here's what one

Christian writer

tells us to do.

Dwell on the fact

that there is no

better father,

no parent

more deeply committed

to his children's

welfare

than God

the creator.

You know,

if your picture

of fatherhood

is influenced

by your own

experience,

would you think

about that?

The God of heaven

is completely,

he is completely

opposed

to every single

hurtful act

or word

that you've

experienced.

he loves you

so deeply

and he is

completely

committed

to your good.

Maybe,

maybe on the

other end

of that,

and I hope

I don't get

in trouble

for saying

this,

but maybe

on the other

end of that,

you've had

a great

father.

I don't

want to get

in trouble

for saying

that your

dad's not

perfect either.

if you think

about your

dad

and

who has

loved you

well,

who has

disciplined

you fairly,

who has

taught you,

who gives

you good

things in

life,

who really

does care

for you,

thank God

for that

and know,

know that

when you look

at your dad

and see those

good things,

know that

those good

things are

fully realized

in God

the Father.

He loves

you so much,

he hears

every cry,

he knows

every need,

he knows

how to

correct you

in the

most loving

way.

He gets

it right

every single

time,

even more

than your

father down

here.

Would you

take joy

knowing that

the God

of heaven

is so high

above us

in every

single way,

stoops down,

calls us

children,

and loves

us completely.

Last point,

really quickly,

Jesus tells

us to pray

that God's

name would

be hallowed.

Thomas Watson,

he was a

17th century

preacher,

minister,

he gave

about 20

ways in

which we

can hallow

God's name,

so this was

almost a

23 point

sermon.

one simple

way,

one simple

way out

of many

that you

can hallow

God's name

or make

holy his

name,

would be

to set

God high

in your

thoughts

and really

deeply

trust him.

We hallow

God's name,

we lift him

high in our

thoughts

by really

believing in

our hearts

that God

is infinitely

good.

We honor

God when

we dwell

on the

fact that

he is not

far off,

he is not

uninterested,

he doesn't

drop us as

soon as we

mess up.

And now

this week,

this week

or month

might be an

especially hard

time to think

about that.

You know,

God is

infinitely good.

I don't

see that

right now.

Earlier

on this

week,

I saw

this short

video,

it was

just of

an older

man talking

about

Christianity

and not

a famous

guy,

I don't

know who

he is,

he just

came up

on my

phone,

but he's

obviously

been going

to church

for many

years,

and I

don't know

his whole

experience,

but I

just want

to read

a few

words,

this is

what he

said,

no health

prayers

answered,

no career

prayers

answered,

no spousal

prayers

answered,

not a

single

prayer

answered

in 60

years.

Is this

what following

Jesus is

all about?

What a

mistake.

That's what

he says,

what a

mistake.

When you

receive

Christ

and

believe in

him,

and you

become an

adopted

child of

God,

you don't

get everything

you want.

Don't be

like Thomas

Muller who

trains and

trains and

trains and

trains and

gets dropped

at the

last season.

Your life

is not

founded on

you earning

a reward

for doing

the right

things and

praying really

hard.

It's founded

on God

being your

father,

Christ being

your brother,

the one who

died for you.

That will

never change

and it's a

test of

faith.

It really

is a test

of faith

to pray

that God's

name would

be hallowed.

We pray

that we

and those

around us

would learn

to lift

him high

in our

hearts

and trust

him even

though the

world comes

crashing down

around us.

This theme

will come up

again in the

Lord's Prayer

later on,

so we won't

say much

more,

but we can

close with

this.

Our greatest

need is to

have more

of God

and to

know more

and more

that he is

our father.

If right

now,

if tonight,

if God

gave you

everything that

you wanted,

would you

ever run

to God

your father

again?

Would you

ever cry

father?

The valley

in Psalm

23,

it's a place

of despair

isn't it?

It's a place

of job

insecurity

and poor

health.

It's a place

of broken

relationships.

God takes

his children

through the

valley for

us to learn

that all we

have, all

we have is

our father

and eventually

we will be

with him.

Set him high

in your

heart.

Trust him

for your

good.

You can't

earn anything

but you

your life

is the

way it

is.

And you

will be

kept safe

even in

trouble

because Christ

who is your

brother has

died for you

and risen

again.

And because

the God of

heaven who is

your father

hears your

cries,

stoops down

and who loves

his treasure.

Will you cry

Abba Father?

Will that be

enough for you?

Let's pray.

Father,

we acknowledge

tonight who

we are coming

before.

We thank you

that you're a

father who

stoops down,

who hears our

cries.

and we

think of

ourselves and

our friends

who are being

brought through

valleys.

We pray

that they

would remember

that the

God of

heaven who

is their

father is

free from

all weakness

and he is

infinitely good.

And so

when we

can only ask

why things

are the way

that they

are in

our lives

in this

world,

Lord,

would our

cry,

would our

prayer be

Abba,

Father.

Make that

our prayer

this week,

we ask for

Jesus'

sake.

Amen.