How to... Pray w/Marisa Cantu

Good morning, everybody. Good morning. It's so

great to be here with you all and enjoy this

beautiful day together. You guys can be doing

anything else this morning, but we all chose

to be here together, right? And I'm always thankful

for worship before we start and the concept of

family and being here in one place together.

So if you guys don't know me, my name is Marissa

Cantu, born and raised here in the Quad Cities.

parents of Mexican descent and pastors too. So

I was a PK growing up. And one of those questions

that came about this morning was, did you grow

up with any prayers or traditional prayers that

you guys said growing up or something that you've

kind of started with your children or before

meals? Does anybody want to share one? Shout

it out. Go ahead. Sing your grace. Come up, sing

it real quick. Sing it from there. Okay. For

the Lord is good to me. And so I thank the Lord

for giving me the things I need. The sun and

the rain and the apple seeds. The Lord is good

to me. Instead of Johnny Appleseed. Okay, I know

my daughter knows one. Let's go over here real

quick. Which one did you grow up with? You could

say all three. It was a nighttime prayer. Dear

God, we pray for our dreams from the north to

the south and the east to the west. May our angels

be with us to guide us, protect us in our dreams.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. Just nighttime

ritual routine prayers, right? Before meals.

And so all these prayers, they stay with us in

our heart. And I know that they're always with

us. Sometimes we say them repetitively without

even thinking about it. Sometimes we say these

things to share along and pass down to our families.

They're traditional. They're beautiful. Some

see prayers as just reciting, right? We don't

even think about it. It's memory. It comes out.

The Word of God says to be thankful always and

to be praying always, right? And so some of us

see these things as rituals, something you recite.

Some use prayer in a moment of desperation. We've

all been there, right? But Jesus teaches us that

prayer should be a way of life, right? Last week

we talked about prayer and the Sermon on the

Mount and how important prayer is to us. This

week I want to share a little bit about when

the disciples were with Jesus. They asked him

plainly, hey, Jesus, can you teach us how to

pray? And so in the next couple of weeks we're

going to be going through a couple of how -tos.

And as basic as this may sound, how to pray.

What Jesus put forth to his disciples was the

Lord's Prayer, right? And how many of us can

say the Lord's Prayer by memorization? I think

a lot of us, right? We use it as one of our prayers

on Sundays at least once a month. It's something

that we hold close to our heart. But how many

of us have really brought it down to layman's

terms and tried to really understand, like, Why

did he ask us to pray the Lord's Prayer? And

so this morning, I just want to share with you

some tidbits on how to pray and how Jesus taught

us to pray. And I'm going to be reading out of

Matthew 6. And I'll be reading from verse 5 to

verse 12. And then later I'll read a couple more

verses. But if you guys want to stand with me,

if you can, pull out your Bibles. your apps,

on your phones, however you feel like you want

to do this. But we're going to be reading Matthew,

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, starting with verse 5. And this comes

from an answer. We have this same kind of rendition

in Luke and Matthew, different versions of it.

But when they said, can you teach us how to pray,

this is from Matthew. And it says, and when you

pray, Do not be like the hypocrites, for they

love to pray standing in the synagogues and on

the street corners to be seen by others. Truly,

I tell you, they have received their reward in

full. But when you pray, go into your room, close

the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen.

Then your Father who sees what is done in secret

will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep

on babbling like pagans, for they think they

will be heard because of their many words. Do

not be like them, for the Father knows what you

need before you ask him. This, then, is how you

should pray. And this is a New International

Version in Matthew. Our Father in heaven, hallowed

be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be

done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today

our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as

we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not

into temptation, but deliver us from evil. You

may be seated this morning. Thank you. So the

first part of this section is a prayer in how

we see it as a relationship with God. It says,

Our Father, who art in heaven. And a part of

this is showing us that We go to God as a father,

just as a child would go to their father or whoever

is taking care of them as a caregiver, as a provider,

a loving and giving father. So when your child

asks you for help, as a parent, do most of us

help them out? We do, right? And so this first

part of this prayer that we all know by our Father

who art in heaven. is establishing a sense of

relationship, a sense of, hey, this is somebody

that I can go to because they care for me. He

didn't say you have to say anything fancy or

call him anything but father. He wanted you to

come to him with what's in your heart, with a

conversation. When you talk to your father, there's

a little bit of reverence. There's some respect.

But when you talk to your parent or your father,

it's a sincere and genuine conversation. It's

knowing that you can come in any way, shape,

or form that you are and have that conversation

with God as your father. And, you know, the scripture

says we don't have to babble. It doesn't have

to be long -winded. It has to just come from

your heart, right? How many of us wish that those

prayers before the meals were shorter sometimes?

You don't have to babble. They don't have to

be long. They have to come from your heart. They

have to be genuine. And so when he says to start

with our Father who art in heaven, it's establishing

a relationship. And how do you establish a relationship

with someone? You feed it every single day. Right?

You pour into it every single day. I don't know

if there's any of you here that have gone away

and have not had a relationship with their parent.

But what if you had to be rekindled and that

relationship had to get built again? Just like

some of us walk away from our father in heaven.

How do you reestablish prayer and relationship

with God? It's on a daily basis. It's giving

your all. It's speaking from the heart. It's

coming to God with your needs and the desires

of your heart. So beginning that prayer, Our

Father Who Art in Heaven, is showing us that

one way to pray is to come from sincere, deeply

within your heart and establish that relationship

with God. He then goes on to say, Hallowed be

your name, your kingdom come. Yes, he's our father,

just like we would go to our father with respect,

we go to our father in heaven with holiness,

honoring his name because our father in heaven

is divine, right? I don't know if any of you

have come to prayer with just petition in your

heart, just something that you need, something

that you want to ask for. There's absolutely

nothing wrong with that. And there's nothing

wrong with the beautiful traditions and the prayers

that we have, that we have been learning from

childhood. There's nothing wrong with that. But

today I challenge you to begin your prayers with

a sense of reverence and holiness. Honoring his

name with worship and adoration. Praise before

petitions with pure and sincere heart and genuine

intentions. There's a word in the Bible that

says clamor. Does anybody know what clamor comes

from? It comes from like a deep within, a deep

desire. And it almost comes out as a shout. And

sometimes when we're in those dark, quiet places

in our home, nobody's around. And I don't know

about you, but I've had a lot of clamor in my

heart, in my prayer, in my desire for God to

hear my heart. where it's coming from. And when

I do that, it's with a whole sense of holiness

and reverence, knowing that he's divine and that

he's hearing me and that there's an intervention

in that holy moment, that I come before God with

true, true faith, knowing that he can hear us.

Hebrews 10, 19, and 22 says, Therefore, brothers

and sisters, since we have confidence to enter

the most holy place, by the blood of Jesus, by

a new living way opened for us through the curtain

that is his body. When I was preparing this,

I was reminded of a sermon that my father once

shared. And if you guys want to talk a little

bit deeper on this conversation, I would be more

than happy to because it's so close and near

to my heart. But there's this beautiful thing

that happened. when Jesus died as a sacrifice.

It was the end to an old covenant which relied

on rituals and high priests because back in the

days, priests would wear bells on their ankles

before going into the holy temple. And if those

bells stopped and they didn't hear the bells

anymore, it meant that they were not holy enough

to be in the holy of holy and the priests would

be pulled out with the rope. He'd have to have

a rope. tied around his belt, bells on his ankles,

and he would be walking around praying for the

people outside of the tent. And if they didn't

hear the bells anymore, it meant that he wasn't

holy enough. And he would fall to the ground

and they would have to pull him out. But when

Jesus died, the scripture says that that veil

was torn and that we, as ordinary people, had

access. to god when that veil is torn it says

the old covenant which relied on rituals and

high priests and ushered in a new covenant were

the way to god it was then open to everyone we

now had direct access to god and humanity was

allowed believers were allowed to approach god

directly we didn't need that priest anymore and

i don't know if you know that That kind of holiness

is within all of us. If we believe in Jesus Christ

as our Savior and believe that he died on the

cross, that veil in the temple was torn and we

have direct access to God. And that's a beautiful

thing that happens as Christians. We have that

power to have direct access to God. I know that

it's a beautiful thing when your brother, your

sister, your pastor prays for you, but let me

tell you, you having that direct access to God

is power. In your tongue, power in your prayers,

wherever you are, in your car, at home, at work,

in that moment, you have that direct access to

God. And God says that he will listen to you.

So then the verse goes on to say, your will be

done on earth as it is in heaven. A lot of our

prayers come from our desires, our hopes. And

sometimes those prayers and hopes don't align

with God's prayers and hopes for us. His purpose

in our life doesn't always align with the direction

that we want to go in. I remember preaching on

Desire Pass a while ago and saying that... Sometimes

a road is carved out, but we go a different way.

And sometimes that different way isn't God's

way. It's our own desire, right? But when the

scripture says, your will be done on earth as

it is in heaven, it's telling us that, yes, we

have our will to pray, but allow that moment

to be aligned with what God wants for us as well.

Sometimes... An unanswered prayer is God's protection.

I'm going to say that one more time. Sometimes

an unanswered prayer is God's protection in our

life. Sometimes our desire doesn't align with

what he has for us. And then sometimes unanswered

prayers are things that we don't understand.

Maybe we prayed for someone's health. Maybe we

prayed for someone to stay on this earth longer.

But we have to remember that our prayers have

to align with God's will and his purpose in our

life. God isn't a part of if this, then that

logic. I studied a little bit of psychology,

and there's this thing called conditional reasoning.

All of these things that have to do, if this,

then that. How many times have you guys prayed

and said, God, if you answer this prayer, then

I'm going to be a better Christian. If you answer

this prayer, I promise I'm going to go to church

every single Sunday. If you answer this prayer,

whatever you promise to God, right? Or the opposite

way, if God, you are holy, if God, you are all

power, then you will answer this prayer. God

doesn't work that way. He doesn't work in us

trying to twist his arm. God works in this thing

that he said, if you believe in me, and if you

have faith. And if you have forgiveness in your

heart, and if you pray with all of your heart,

then he is God. He shows you who he is, right?

There's not all of these if -then -that fallacies

or conditions or statements that we have to create.

But sometimes we do it anyway. And guess what?

God still hears us. He still hears our hearts.

And then it goes on to say, God, give us this

day our daily bread. So how do we pray with dependence

on God's provision? God cares about all of our

needs. He cares about our physical needs. He

cares about our emotional needs and our spiritual

needs. How many of us have really been in a bind

financially and you've asked God to make a way

where there was no way? I know I've been there.

How many of you have been spiritually broken

and on your knees? crying asking god for spiritual

wellness how many of you been sick and have asked

god to heal your body or heal someone else's

body god says give us this day our daily bread

and that bread is bread of life that bread of

life comes on a daily basis renewal how many

of us have ever gone through a situation where

we have eaten the same meal for three or four

or five days. Anybody? Was it fun? Maybe not.

Maybe it was done for different purposes. Maybe

it was a fast. Maybe it was weight loss. Maybe

it was you were trying to save money or you were

just trying something new or you made too much

chili. or a whole pan of lasagna, but it was

only you in the house. Whatever reason it was,

that meal was given to you daily, or you provided

it for yourself daily. When God says that he

provides us with daily bread, and he cares for

all of our needs, and we have to depend on him

for all of our provisions, what he's saying to

us is, this is daily. It's not just prayer when

you need it. It's not just prayer when you're

sick. It's not just prayer when you need something.

It's daily. Again, it's establishing a relationship

with him. It's establishing a prayer. One time

I was going to, well, I did preach on how we

needed to take God out of the medicine cabinet

and put him. Into our refrigerator. Whatever

we're going to pull out to eat, right? On the

table. Whatever we use daily. That's where we

need to put God. Not just praying for our own

provisions. Thinking that money solves everything.

Or wait until something happens to our health.

And then we go to the medicine cabinet to take

out God and use the prayer bottle. Mine is ibuprofen.

But the point is that establishing a daily ritual

with God, a daily relationship with God so that

his provisions can be for us on a daily basis

is a better practice than just taking him out

when we need him. Waking up, the first thing

I tell myself, I'm not a morning person. I'm

going to admit to that. But the first thing that

I do when I wake up is thank you, God, for waking

me up today. Beginning our day with a conversation

with God. can guarantee that we start a daily

relationship with him. The next part of the scripture

says that forgive our debts as we forgive our

debtors. The rest of the scripture I want to

say at the end of Matthew, verses 14 and 15.

Say, for if you forgive other people when they

sin against you, your heavenly Father will also

forgive you. But if you do not forgive others

their sins, your Father will not forgive yours.

And in Matthew, it also says, Peter asked Jesus

how many times he should forgive someone who

sins against him. Does anybody know the answer?

Peter says, is seven enough? And Jesus said,

no. Seven times 70. How many is that? Who's a

good mathematician here? 490 times. Other scripture

says 77. But whatever it is, it's not just one

time. Right? Forgiving your brother 70 times

seven. Some of us can't even forgive one time.

Prayer keeps our heart clean on a daily basis.

I'm sorry to tell you, but forgiveness is not

an option. And I'm going to say that again. Forgiveness

is not an option. We have to go into prayer with

forgiveness in our heart. We can't expect from

God what we refuse to other people. And so when

we enter, we pray with repentance and forgiveness

in our hearts, forgiving our debts as we forgive

our debtors, forgiving 70 times 7 on a daily

basis, knowing that forgiveness is not optional.

So what is this to say to ourselves? That on

a daily basis, we should be forgiving those who

trespass against us, those who sin against us.

those who hurt us, those who mock us, those who

have made fun of us, those who don't believe

like us, we are to forgive 70 times 7. That's

not easy. And so I challenge you this morning

to search your heart, and God, search my heart

for bitterness, resentment, or anger. I'm going

to say that one more time. I challenge us this

morning to search our hearts for bitterness,

resentment, and anger. We're also called to pray

with protection and deliverance because he says,

lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from

evil. So most prayer, it's a spiritual warfare.

It's a desire to want the opposite or the opposing

of what is currently happening in or around us.

A lot of us can pray for a beautiful day and

have a positive spirit, but sometimes we are

praying against spiritual warfare. We're praying

against the opposing. And the scripture also

says that our battles are not against flesh and

blood, but they are a spiritual warfare. And

so when we have things happening in our lives

that we just don't understand why we're being

attacked, why all of these things are happening,

remember that God gives his battles to strong

people that have his armor and that we are in

a spiritual warfare. If you don't understand,

it's okay because we don't have to understand

everything in the holy realm of who God is. But

just understand that there is spiritual warfare

that goes on in your life, especially if you

have committed to prayer every day. And if you

have committed to say, I'm going to build a relationship

with God every day. And if you have committed

to being kind to others and loving others and

showing God's love to others, there's going to

be spiritual warfare in your life. And so I ask

you to be prepared when he says, lead us not

into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We're

asking for God's strength. We're asking for God's

protection from the enemy. Without prayer, we're

fighting battles in our own strength, and believe

me, I'm not that strong. With prayer, we fight

with God's covering. When we are weak, he is

made strong in us. And where there are no words

when you're too weak, he hears your heart. We're

also to pray with faith and persistence. God

is still a God of miracles. Amen? Can you guys

say amen to that? God is still a God of miracles.

Luke 11 9 says, tell us to ask and it will be

given. Seek and you will find. Knock and the

door will be open. Mark 11 verses 22 to 25 say,

Mark 11:22–25

have faith in God, Jesus answered. Truly I tell

you, if anyone says to this mountain, go throw

yourself into the sea and does not doubt in their

heart but believes that what they say will happen,

it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you,

whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you

have received it, and it will be yours. And when

you stand praying, if you hold anything against

anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in

heaven may forgive your sins. God is still a

God of miracles. I don't know if you've prayed

and God hasn't answered your prayers before,

or you've just kind of been left wondering. how

he could allow some things to happen. But when

he gave us this how to pray, and he gave us our

father prayer, he really opened up some really

clear things to approach God as our father, to

worship his name as holy, to submit to his will,

to trust in him daily, to build that relationship

for daily provisions, to seek for forgiveness.

and extend for forgive extend forgiveness to

ask for protection and guidance and pray with

faith and persistence it's not about changing

god's mind it's about deepening a daily relationship

in him it's about our faith as we wait on him

and i will tell you as I stand here. I have seen

miracles. I have lived miracles. I think most

of you know my story. Stage four metastatic ovarian

cancer spread to six organs. You guys remember

that? Here I am a year and nine months later

cancer free. And I know it was prayer. And I

know it was faith. Prayer isn't complicated.

It's truly a conversation. It's God listening

to our heart. And when there are no words, he

still hears you. It's communication with our

Heavenly Father. He gave us a model, not just

for repetition. Not just to say a prayer, to

be saying a prayer. But he gave us this model

to build relationship. And I always say that

my life as a Christian is not about religion.

It's about building a true, intimate relationship

with Christ. It's about following his will in

our life and seeking your purpose on a daily

basis. So when you pray, remember the Our Father.

And close your eyes as we pray together. Father

God, teach us and remind us every single day

to establish a relationship with you. To forgive

others. To come with you with sincerity, with

a pure heart. with genuine intention father god

may our prayers always be directed to you not

just by asking for what we need but by giving

you worship and lifting you up as well draw us

into a deeper fellowship with you and align our

hearts with your will Give us faith to continue

and persist as we see your hand move. For your

will be done in our lives. Amen.