Sermon

Sermon on the Mount: The Lord's Prayer - Matthew 6:5-15 | Pastor Daniel Reese

Cornerstone Church of Eldridge, Iowa

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  1. your Bible. Matthew 6 is where we'll be this

  2. morning. Matthew 6. If you don't have a Bible

  3. there should be one close to you in the chair

  4. in front of you. Left for you to grab one of

  5. those. Follow along. I don't know the page number

  6. but. Should have should have looked that up.

  7. I apologize. We're going to be looking at one

  8. of the most well known passages in scripture

  9. this morning the Lord's Prayer. I would be willing

  10. to argue. that believers and non -believers know

  11. this passage pretty well. They might not know

  12. the true meaning of it, but they could probably

  13. recite most of the words. So prayer is one of

  14. those things, weird things that we know that

  15. we should do, but how many of us could honestly

  16. say that we are prayer warriors? How many of

  17. us have a thriving prayer life. There are many

  18. commands throughout the Bible regarding prayer.

  19. We are to make our requests known to God. We

  20. are to pray without ceasing. We are to give Him

  21. thanks in all circumstances. And we are to give

  22. Him praise through our prayers. But many Christians

  23. have a prayer life that is essentially on life

  24. support. We pray when we need something. We pray

  25. when things are hard and we need a miracle. But

  26. would you describe yourself as a person of prayer?

  27. Do you communicate with God as often as you communicate

  28. with your spouse or your kids? If you are a person

  29. who you would describe yourself as not really

  30. a person of prayer, Maybe it's because you don't

  31. know how. Maybe you think of prayer as something

  32. you do before a meal or praying by kneeling beside

  33. your bed is what you think of when you think

  34. of prayer. And you know that you can't pray without

  35. ceasing if you're spending all your time kneeling

  36. by your bed. Maybe those devotional books that

  37. you read and they end each day with a prayer

  38. and it seems like hollow words because you don't

  39. understand what you were praying. But here's

  40. what I know. Here's what I know without a doubt.

  41. If you don't have a prayer life, God is going

  42. to seem distant to you. If you don't have a prayer

  43. life, you're not going to see him move powerfully

  44. in your life. So, if God to you is like that

  45. relative you only see once a year, maybe at Christmas

  46. time, like you know them, but you don't really

  47. know anything about their life, like you follow

  48. them on social media, but you don't know what's

  49. driving their heart, if that's how God is to

  50. you, I would encourage you to focus on the message

  51. that Jesus has for us today. In our passage this

  52. morning, Jesus is going to give us the framework

  53. of prayer. Now, I don't want you to focus so

  54. much on the words of the prayer as much as I

  55. want you to take away the elements of the prayer

  56. that Jesus outlines in this passage. Let us consider

  57. how we can develop and build our prayer lives

  58. around these elements and see how our prayer

  59. life can be changed. I'm going to invite Tanner

  60. up here this morning. This morning he's going

  61. to be reading verses 5 through 15. If you're

  62. able we'd love for you to stand as we honor the

  63. Lord's word together And when you pray you must

  64. not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand

  65. and pray in the synagogues and at the street

  66. corners That they may be seen by others truly

  67. I say to you they have received the reward but

  68. when you pray go into your room and shut the

  69. door and Pray to your father who is in secret

  70. and your father who sees in secret will reward

  71. you And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases

  72. as the Gentiles do, for they think that they

  73. will be heard for their many words. Do not be

  74. like them, for your Father knows what you need

  75. before you ask him. Pray then like this, Our

  76. Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your

  77. kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as

  78. it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,

  79. and forgive us our debts as we Also have forgiven

  80. our debtors, and lead us not into temptation,

  81. but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive

  82. others their trespasses, your heavenly Father

  83. will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive

  84. others their trespasses, neither will your Father

  85. forgive your trespasses. Let's pray. Father,

  86. thank you for Tanner. Just thank you for who

  87. he is and how you're growing him and what you're

  88. doing in his life. I pray, Father, that he will

  89. always be exalted, always exalted in your life.

  90. I pray, Father, that as we look at this text,

  91. as we look at your words to us, I pray, Father,

  92. that we will understand them and that our prayer

  93. lives will increase as well. We ask all these

  94. things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks, Father.

  95. So in our passage today, we're going to look

  96. at a few things. The first thing is we're going

  97. to look at how not to pray. And then we're going

  98. to look at how we should pray. This prayer has

  99. rightly been called a dangerous prayer because

  100. God might just answer it. It is poetic and beautiful,

  101. and yet it's profound and brief. Jesus had a

  102. great deal to say about prayer throughout his

  103. life. He mentioned the topic 42 times during

  104. his teaching and amazingly the gospel shows him

  105. praying 28 times. But if we look at verses 5

  106. through 8, Jesus tells us how not to pray. He

  107. says you shouldn't pray to be recognized. Now

  108. the religious people, the religious leaders were

  109. all about praying to be recognized. Notice that

  110. they loved to receive religious recognition.

  111. It's easy to equate man's applause with God's

  112. approval, but those who pray to just impress

  113. others about with how spiritual they are will

  114. have no further hope of reward from God. In verse

  115. six, we're told to find a private place to pray.

  116. This Greek word for room was a storeroom where

  117. treasures were kept. I mean, how appropriate

  118. is that, that we have access to these precious

  119. treasures when we pray to God? This word can

  120. also refer to a closet or a private chamber.

  121. Praying in a private place can help us concentrate.

  122. It can help us connect. It will help us gain

  123. confidence in our relationship with Christ. Are

  124. you taking the time day in and day out to pray?

  125. Do you have a special spot where you're able

  126. to intercede without interruption? He also tells

  127. us not to pray with meaningless words. We must

  128. also resist the urge to just go on and on and

  129. on and blabber and blabber and blabber. God doesn't

  130. rank our prayers based on how many words we have.

  131. That's what he's saying here. Prayer is not an

  132. effort to overcome God's unwillingness to respond

  133. by wearing Him down with our words. That's how

  134. the pagans prayed. we read about it in first

    1 Kings 18 chapter mention

  135. kings chapter 18 we also see it again in acts

    Acts 19 chapter mention

  136. chapter 19 and they would for hours and hours

  137. and hours from morning until night just pray

  138. these words to these false gods and essentially

  139. they were useless because those gods number one

  140. don't exist but couldn't do anything about it

  141. anyway they're meaningless because all they did

  142. was make those religious people look spiritual

  143. but there is no life in them D .L. Moody once

  144. said, some men's prayers need to be cut short

  145. at both ends and to be set on fire in the middle.

  146. It's easy to pray without paying attention. John

  147. Bunyan commented, when you pray, rather let your

  148. heart be without words than your words without

  149. heart. Now, it's ironic to me that in the context

  150. which forbids repetition in prayer, in verses

  151. 9 through 13, we come to what's commonly called

  152. the Lord's Prayer. A prayer that has possibly

  153. been repeated more than any other prayer in the

  154. history of the world. Actually, it's probably

  155. better to call it the Disciples Prayer, or maybe

  156. even the Model Prayer. because in Luke chapter

    Luke 11:1

  157. 11 verse 1 these words come as an answer when

  158. the disciples ask, teach us how to pray. The

  159. real Lord's prayer is actually in John 17 where

  160. we read of Jesus crying out to his father as

  161. he prays for unity amongst his followers. The

  162. model for prayer that Jesus gave to his followers

  163. can be divided into two sets with three elements.

  164. in each set. The first three, hallowed be your

  165. name, your kingdom come, your will be done, those

  166. deal with God's glory. That's element number

  167. one we need to recognize when we're talking about

  168. prayer. God's glory has to be a part of that

  169. prayer. The second three, give us our daily bread,

  170. forgive us our debts, lead us not into temptation,

  171. deal with our good. So, number one, prayer is

  172. to be, the focal point is to be the character

  173. of God. The reason that we pray and the reason

  174. God answers is not to make us feel better. The

  175. reason we pray and the reason God answers is

  176. to put himself and his glory on display. We read

  177. about this in Psalm 115, where the psalmist writes,

  178. not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name

  179. be the glory. So, incidentally, half of the words

  180. in this prayer are devoted to who God is. The

  181. other half is focusing on our needs. Now, when

  182. you think about praying and you think about your

  183. prayer life, that's a good ratio to keep in mind

  184. as we pray for God's glory and for our good.

  185. Now, incidentally, I don't know anywhere in the

  186. Bible, anywhere in the Gospels, where the disciples

  187. were characterized as men of prayer. They often

  188. watched Jesus pray or they are often sent away

  189. while Jesus pray, but they didn't enter into

  190. intercession themselves. In fact, in the hour

  191. of Jesus' greatest need, they fell asleep instead

  192. of falling to their knees. I mean, we're the

  193. same way, aren't we? We know prayer is important.

  194. We know Jesus modeled it. But for most of us,

  195. we all fall short. So we know the framework of

  196. how not to pray. Now let's look at how to pray.

  197. We see in verse nine that there is a community

  198. element to our prayers. Jesus uses the plural

  199. pronoun here to indicate that prayer is to have

  200. a corporate element to it. You should pray. Now,

  201. most of us come to the Lord with a lot of I,

  202. a lot of me, a lot of my. When Jesus taught his

  203. disciples how to pray, he uses no singular personal

  204. pronouns. Nowhere in this prayer do you see the

  205. word of me. It says, our Father, give us our

  206. daily bread. Forgive us our debts. We also have

  207. forgiven. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver

  208. us. Now that might sound like it goes against

  209. what Jesus just said earlier about going into

  210. a prayer closet or going into your room. He's

  211. not saying that the only time that we should

  212. be praying is when we're all in this thing together.

  213. But what he is saying is that there should be

  214. some common ground in our prayers. It is understanding.

  215. It's you having the understanding. It's me having

  216. the understanding that the God that we pray to,

  217. who we believe hears us, is the same God who

  218. your redeemed enemy is praying to. It's this

  219. community thing. Do you see how that would protect?

  220. the church from disunity. Do you see if you are

  221. genuinely praying for our sin to be forgiven

  222. as we forgive others? Do you understand how that

  223. keeps a root of bitterness from growing in us?

  224. If you are a believer in here, we need to understand

  225. that as we follow this framework, we are praying

  226. to the God who hears all of us. And he knows

  227. all of our hearts. Whenever one of my kids comes

  228. to me and tattles on the other, I don't know

  229. if your kids do that, but my kids come to me

  230. from time to time, and by time to time I mean

  231. about every day, and tell on their brother or

  232. sister. They did this to me, they stole that

  233. from me, they hit me, they looked at me ugly,

  234. they, you know, whatever. Whatever the reason

  235. is. When that happens, I don't just listen to

  236. one side of the story. I bring the accused in

  237. with them, and I want to hear the whole story.

  238. And the truth of the matter is, most of the time,

  239. they are both wrong in some way. They're both

  240. at fault. They both need to forgive. They both

  241. need to recognize they're wrong. When we pray

  242. to God in this way, we have to understand that

  243. God knows all. And very few times, if ever, is

  244. one person completely right and the other person

  245. completely wrong. Both parties have done wrong.

  246. Both parties need to forgive. Our prayer lives

  247. have a community element to it. So when you go

  248. into your prayer closet, keep that in mind. We

  249. also need to pray to God like we have a relationship

  250. with Him. Let's pray like we have a relation

  251. with him. Prayer should be directed to our Father

  252. in heaven. Jesus addressed his prayers to his

  253. Father. He used the phrase more than 70 different

  254. times. This alone, this just this little snippet

  255. alone was unique because the religious leaders

  256. of that day didn't use that term. Rather, they

  257. use exalted terms like king of the universe or

  258. sovereign lord. The only prayer Jesus ever prayed

  259. without father was when he was on the cross and

  260. he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken

  261. me? When we become Christians, when we submit

  262. to him, we surrender our lives to him. Romans

  263. 8 15 says that we receive the Holy Spirit who

  264. makes us children of God. this is what it says

  265. and by him we cry Abba father this new birth

  266. this salvation is required for us to have this

  267. relationship this word Abba means daddy it's

  268. that closeness it communicates intimacy it communicates

  269. nearness with God so we don't approach him like

  270. he's our boss we don't approach him like he's

  271. he's some powerful figure that we should be uncomfortable

  272. around because they hold this immense amount

  273. of power. This is our maker, our creator, who

  274. invites us into a personal relationship with

  275. him so we should be ourselves, just be normal,

  276. just be comfortable. It would be weird for me

  277. if my kids called me Mr. Reese. It wouldn't seem

  278. right to me is when I put them to bed and they

  279. call me, they say, thanks, pastor. That would

  280. be weird for me. That doesn't show the relationship

  281. that we have. Instead, my kids, they call me

  282. daddy or bruh. Depends on the day. But my relationship

  283. with them supersedes my title. In any title I

  284. will ever have, I am their dad. And they interact

  285. with me like that, because that's the case. Then

  286. Jesus tells us, we start the conversation with

  287. our father. So once we acknowledge the relationship

  288. that we have, we are to start with affection

  289. towards him. To hallow means to make holy. He

  290. is intimate like a father. and yet He is infinite

  291. in holiness. God's nature is like a daddy, but

  292. His name is holy. Our open access to Him should

  293. not destroy our esteem for Him. He is not just

  294. the big guy in the sky. He's not just our best

  295. buddy. He is the holy, awesome God of Israel.

  296. He's our God. He's holy and mighty in every way.

  297. We should tremble like Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter

    Isaiah 6 chapter mention

  298. 6. While we also have a relationship with him,

  299. we must also at the same time revere him. He

  300. is our friend, but he's also an all -consuming

  301. fire according to Hebrews chapter 12. He is other

    Hebrews 12 chapter mention

  302. than us, and yet he is ours. He is personal.

  303. and He is powerful. He is mine and He is majestic.

  304. Do you praise and do you prize God's name? When

  305. you pray, Our Father, hallowed be Your name,

  306. it's a safeguard against self -seeking prayer.

  307. Before we can move on to the other petitions

  308. in this prayer, we must ask God to make His name

  309. holy in our life, to help us recognize His greatness.

  310. And we must avoid using His name in an irreverent

  311. manner. For some of us, I'm not calling any names,

  312. but for some of us, that means we need to stop

  313. using His name as a cuss word. For others, it

  314. means that we need to avoid just saying God's

  315. name tritely or using the Christian equivalent

  316. to a swear word. To many of us, our view of God

  317. is shallow. To remedy this, we must hallow His

  318. name. Then we need affirmation to pray your kingdom

  319. come Your kingdom come is to pray that God may

  320. take up a reigning Residence in the hearts and

  321. lives of those who are in rebellion. It is a

  322. prayer of salvation It's a kingdom citizenship

  323. in Luke chapter 17 verse 21 Jesus says that the

    Luke 17:21

  324. kingdom of God is within you The kingdom of God

  325. is within you. Can you imagine? Can you imagine

  326. what would happen if we all were preoccupied

  327. with the coming of God's kingdom? If that's all

  328. we thought about Just just think about what would

  329. take place in this community if we were determined

  330. To pray that God's kingdom would rule and make

  331. itself known in the lives of our neighbors, in

  332. the lives of our coworkers, in the lives of our

  333. family. Can you imagine how our church would

  334. be different if each of us was concerned more

  335. about God's kingdom than our own? Martin Luther

  336. once said that if most Christians really understood

  337. what they were saying when they prayed for God's

  338. kingdom to come. They'd shutter with fear. Do

  339. you pray for God's kingdom to come? Finally,

  340. there's acceptance. Your will be done on earth

  341. as it is in heaven. When we pray that part, we

  342. are really saying, Almighty Father God, take

  343. control. Take control of my life and do what

  344. you will for your glory. We're accepting it's

  345. His will not ours. Prayer is not asking God to

  346. do my will. It's asking God to do His will. It's

  347. bringing me into conformity with His ways. How

  348. is God's will done in heaven? It's done joyfully.

  349. It's done instinctively. It's done immediately

  350. and constantly. What would that look like? God,

  351. your will be done on earth. Just like it is in

  352. heaven. God, give me the joy to do your will.

  353. Let me not wait. Let me not wait till I get my

  354. ducks in a row. Let me do it immediately. Let

  355. me do it constantly just not just when I feel

  356. like it. That's that's what that prayer is to

  357. pray this request It is to say we want it the

  358. same here. Whatever is going on in heaven. Whatever

  359. is happening right now That's what we want here.

  360. I mean, let's pause and reflect on this What's

  361. happening in heaven right now? God do that right

  362. here now if I pray this request It's also my

  363. pledge that by God's grace, I will do His will.

  364. I want to do His will. So we acknowledge God

  365. as our Father. And then the next things out of

  366. our mouth should be things that show that we

  367. understand that this is all about His glory.

  368. It's not about what I want. It's about what He

  369. wants. We want His name honored. We want to pray

  370. that his kingdom will take precedence over ours

  371. and that we would submit to his will Now once

  372. we have spent some time focused on his glory

  373. then Then we begin to make requests for our good

  374. Notice that we're halfway through this thing.

  375. We're halfway through this prayer before Jesus

  376. allows us for to ask ourselves for anything to

  377. ask Him for anything for ourselves. The first

  378. half of this model prayer is God word. It's adoration.

  379. It's affirmation. It's acceptance. The second

  380. half focuses on the believer. We move from God's

  381. glory to our good. Now we're shifting. Once God

  382. is given His rightful place, once we've acknowledged

  383. who He is, once we've made His name holy, then

  384. we have the proper perspective towards ourselves.

  385. Now here's some good parameters for you to consider

  386. and to keep in mind before you start praying

  387. for your good. We should ask ourselves these

  388. questions before we make our requests known.

  389. By asking these questions, it will help keep

  390. our eyes focused on Him and off of ourselves.

  391. So, God, this request that I have, I'm going

  392. to ask myself the question, will it bring glory

  393. to him? This request, is it going to bring him

  394. glory? This request, is it going to advance his

  395. kingdom? This request, is it going to help people?

  396. This request, is it going to help me grow spiritually?

  397. And so, God, I got this job promotion lined up.

  398. It's coming. I want it. Is this going to bring

  399. you glory? If I get a pay raise, is this going

  400. to bring you glory? God, I want this house. I

  401. want this new house. I want this new car. Is

  402. this going to bring you glory? How can I use

  403. this house for your glory? How is it going to

  404. advance your kingdom? How is this going to help

  405. me grow spiritually? And once we have the right

  406. parameters, the first thing that we should be

  407. praying for in regards to ourselves is provision.

  408. When we pray give us each day our daily bread

  409. we are saying that we trust God as The source

  410. to supply all of our physical needs of our lives

  411. And and we are affirming that he will take care

  412. of everything that we need Notice that this trust

  413. in God is for each day In the first century Bread

  414. had to be made on a daily basis. Now some of

  415. you were making sourdough bread or whatever,

  416. and you do that every day. But if you didn't

  417. do it, you'd still be okay, right? It's not like

  418. you went and bought a bunch of bread and threw

  419. it in the freezer in the first century. They

  420. had to make their bread every single day, like

  421. manna that comes once a day. God provides one

  422. day at a time. I love Proverbs 30 verse 8. It

    Proverbs 30:8

  423. says, give me neither poverty nor riches, but

  424. give me only my daily bread. Don't make me poor.

  425. Don't make me rich. Just give me what I need

  426. to make through this day. That's our every year

  427. prayer. During these challenging economic times

  428. when eggs are whatever they are per, I don't

  429. buy the groceries, but I keep hearing they're

  430. expensive. Ask God to give you your daily bread.

  431. The point of this prayer is not for us to get

  432. what we want. It's for us to rely on God for

  433. what we need This is like that old saying of

  434. how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time

  435. one bite at a time if we only think of where

  436. we want to be That could be overwhelming It's

  437. overwhelming isn't it? I want to be this far

  438. on my spiritual journey. I want to have this

  439. much invested. If we think about that, it's overwhelming,

  440. one day at a time. If you ever want to overcome

  441. any sort of addiction, you don't start with the

  442. mindset of, I've been free from it for a year.

  443. You ask God to give you what you need for that

  444. day. God, give me the strength to make it through

  445. this day. And then you do it the next day. and

  446. the next day. And then you look up and you've

  447. been pure for a year, you've been sober for a

  448. year, you've been clean for a year, one day at

  449. a time. Then let us pray for pardon. You might

  450. not know this, so I'll enlighten you. Forgiveness

  451. of sin is the greatest need of the human heart.

  452. Forgiveness of your sin is your greatest need.

  453. Only God can grant us a pardon from punishment

  454. and guilt. Sin is a debt that only God can free

  455. us from. Notice that Jesus immediately after

  456. he says that gives a little caveat here. We are

  457. to also release others from that debt. This verse

  458. teaches us that it is wrong to ask from God what

  459. we are unwilling to give to other people. This

  460. is the only prayer petition in the disciples

  461. prayer that is emphasized with additional challenging

  462. words in verses 14 through 15. For if you forgive

  463. men when they sin against you, God's going to

  464. forgive you. But if you don't forgive others,

  465. your father will not forgive your sins. Now,

  466. it isn't that God forgives us on an exchange

  467. basis. Our forgiveness of others is not a condition

  468. of God's forgiveness for us. Rather, it's a condition

  469. of our ability to receive the forgiveness of

  470. God. A wrong spirit towards another person may

  471. or may not hurt him, but it is certain to destroy

  472. your own soul. I mean, it is the height of hypocrisy

  473. to expect God to forgive us if we are unwilling

  474. to forgive others. And when we fail to forgive

  475. someone, We set ourselves up as a higher judge

  476. than God Himself. Another way to say it is that

  477. our relationship with the Lord cannot be right

  478. until our relationship with others is made right.

  479. I came across this prayer a four -year -old prayed.

  480. I love how he prayed this part of the prayer.

  481. He says, and forgive us our trash baskets as

  482. we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.

  483. Forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those

  484. who keep putting the trash in our basket. In

  485. his book, Why Prayers are Unanswered, John Lavender

  486. tells a story about Norman Vincent Peale. When

  487. Peale was a little boy, he found a big black

  488. cigar. and he slipped into the alley and he lit

  489. it up. To his surprise, it didn't taste very

  490. good. Started coughing, but it made him feel

  491. mature, made him feel like a grown up until he

  492. saw his father coming. And quickly, he hid the

  493. lit cigar behind his back. As his dad approached

  494. him, and desperate to divert his father's attention,

  495. Norman pointed to a billboard advertising the

  496. circus. Can I go, Dad? Please, let's go when

  497. that thing comes to town. Can we do that? His

  498. father's reply taught Norman a lesson he never

  499. forgot. Son, he answered quietly but firmly,

  500. never make a petition. while at the same time

  501. trying to hide a smoldering disobedience. We

  502. are commanded to forgive. Don't make requests

  503. to God with a heart that is walking in disobedience.

  504. Then finally, we need to pray for protection.

  505. He says, and lead us not into temptation. So

  506. if you notice, there's three requests for ourselves.

  507. There's been three requests for ourselves. One

  508. is the present. Give us our daily bread. Give

  509. us what we need to make it through the day. One

  510. looks at the past and the present. Forgive us

  511. our sins. Forgive us what we've done in the past.

  512. Forgive us what we're doing today. This last

  513. one looks at the future. Will God answer a prayer

  514. like that? Lead us not into temptation. You bet

  515. He will. First Corinthians 10 and 13 gives us

  516. a wonderful promise. No temptation has seized

  517. you. Accept what is common to man and God is

  518. faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted

  519. beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,

  520. He will also provide a way out so that you can

  521. stand up under it. When you're faced with an

  522. enticement, look for the way out and don't put

  523. yourself in situations to sin. God will provide

  524. a way out. He will have a door ready for you

  525. to walk through. I'd encourage you to memorize

  526. Psalm 19 verse 13. It's a very practical prayer

    Psalms 19:13

  527. for each and every one of us. Keep your servant

  528. also from willful sins. May they never rule over

  529. me. Keep me from willful sins. May they never

  530. rule over me. It's a powerful prayer. So this

  531. is the framework Jesus gives us. This is how

  532. we are supposed to pray. by getting our eyes

  533. off of ourselves, by getting them onto God. They

  534. are not self -seeking prayers. They are prayers

  535. that grow our faith. They are prayers that will

  536. strengthen our relationship with our Father.

  537. This is the framework. I want to look at one

  538. more prayer together, and then we'll wrap up

  539. our time. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 14,

    Matthew 14 chapter mention

  540. a few pages over. Now this comes... It's a story

  541. after Jesus had spent some time grieving over

  542. the loss of his cousin, John the Baptist. Right

  543. after that he has to go feed a whole bunch of

  544. people and teach them. They're following him.

  545. So he's just exhausted. Can you imagine that?

  546. He's been grieving. Then he has to teach. Then

  547. he has to do all these miracles. He's exhausted.

  548. He sends the disciples ahead of him, and it says

  549. that he spent some time alone praying. Now, I

  550. love this passage because it shows Jesus's humanity.

  551. He was tired. He's done praying. The boat's a

  552. long way off. I don't even know if he could see

  553. it, but he knew where it was because, you know,

  554. he's God. He could have taken the long walk around

  555. the sea to wherever they were supposed to meet

  556. up. Showed up there early in the morning completely

  557. exhausted But instead he took a shortcut Why

  558. walk around the sea? When I can just walk straight

  559. to them on the sea and in verse 25 we see Jesus

  560. walking on the water towards his disciples in

  561. verse 28 it reads here's the prayer and Peter

  562. answered him Lord if it is you Command me to

  563. come to you on the water Do you hear the prayer?

  564. Peter makes a request to Jesus. He makes the

  565. request. Jesus didn't tell him to walk on the

  566. water. Peter requested it. He requested that

  567. he walk on the water. Peter had a desire to be

  568. close to Jesus. He didn't seem to care about

  569. the fact that any other day he would have sank

  570. right to the bottom. He's not able to walk on

  571. the water. But he made the request anyways. That's

  572. a bold prayer. That's a bold prayer. And here's

  573. the thing. Jesus grants the request. Peter asked,

  574. and Jesus says, come. The request is known. Jesus

  575. says, come. And all of a sudden, what was impossible

  576. became possible because Peter wasn't concerned

  577. that normally he was going to sink. He was going

  578. to defy the laws of science and then verse 30

  579. But when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning

  580. to sink he cried out Lord save me So Peter has

  581. his eyes focused on Jesus when he makes the request

  582. When he makes the request to walk on the water

  583. he's focused on Jesus, but once Jesus answers

  584. the request Peter's eyes are no longer focused

  585. on Jesus. They are focused on the environment.

  586. They're focused on the fear. They're focused

  587. on the distractions that are around them, but

  588. they're not focused on Jesus. I mean, is that

  589. not us? Is that not how we operate? We pray to

  590. God when we're afraid. Peter does so twice in

  591. this passage. The first time, he thinks Jesus

  592. is a ghost. He's scared. Jesus, if that's you,

  593. command me to come on the water. He prays again

  594. out of fear when He's sinking down to the water.

  595. But when things are going well, when He gets

  596. His prayers answered, He completely takes His

  597. focus off of Jesus. Is that not us? We pray when

  598. things are hard. We pray when we need a miracle.

  599. We pray when we're in tough situations. But do

  600. we seek after Him when things are calm? Do we

  601. continue to seek after Him after He grants our

  602. request? Do we continue to seek after Him when

  603. we are distracted by our lives in the routine

  604. of the day? If you're sinking, my guess would

  605. be because your eyes are not focused on Him.

  606. If you feel like life is drowning you, I would

  607. guess it's because your eyes are not focused

  608. on Him. So that's how we're supposed to pray.

  609. Our focus is on Him, our relationship with Him,

  610. our focus is on His glory and who He is and what

  611. He's done and how majestic He is. And then our

  612. requests then shift to us for our good. We pray

  613. for things that are for our good. That's how

  614. to pray. That's all I got. So we're going to

  615. close out our service this morning. We're going

  616. to sing one more worship song. But maybe this

  617. is the time that we need to repent. Repent of

  618. all those times we viewed Jesus. We viewed our

  619. Father as a genie in a bottle. Where we haven't

  620. made His name holy. Where it's just about what

  621. we can get from Him. So maybe as we sing, maybe

  622. you just give Him praise for who He is. Maybe

  623. you make His name holy in your life. Maybe you

  624. truly consider what it means for His kingdom

  625. to be on this earth like it is in heaven. Maybe

  626. you pray Psalm 19, keep your servant away from

  627. willful sins. May they not roll over you That'll

  628. help you grow spiritually won't it? So I'm gonna

  629. close this in prayer And we'll worship father.

  630. I thank you for this day. I thank you for the

  631. words of Jesus I Thank you for who you are father.

  632. May your name be made holy in this place always

  633. May your will be done in this church and in this

  634. community as it is in heaven Father help us forgive

  635. others as you have forgiven us So God we give

  636. you this time we we ask you We ask you to help

  637. grow us spiritually grow our faith in you Help

  638. us understand the importance and the immediacy

  639. of having a strong relationship with You. So

  640. Father, I pray that You will whisper in our ear

  641. as we worship You. Help us understand Your heart.

  642. Help us not view You as some distant being. Help

  643. us view You as our Father. We ask all these things

  644. in Jesus name. Amen.