Matthew 6:9-13 “We Speak to God”

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Amen.

You should hear him preach.

Thank you, Derek and worship team.

What a beautiful reminder.

That song is of what we learned just last Sunday.

That God, our loving Father, listens to us.

It's amazing, isn't it?

That as we come to him and pray, it puts us in a posture to depend on and receive his grace.

We're going to talk this morning about our speaking to God.

If he's listening to us, what about what happens as we come to speak to him?

Before we do that, through looking at the Lord's Prayer that Derek just sang,

I want to start by noticing Jesus' pattern of prayer in his life.

We did that a couple weeks ago with Jesus' use of the Bible.

We saw how Jesus approaches the scripture in his life.

What about prayer?

Is that something we see in Jesus?

Well, yeah.

If you read through the gospel accounts of Jesus' life with this in mind,

you will begin to see Jesus praying all over the place.

It's such a priority to him that it's a regular practice for him to pull away,

to spend time alone with his Father,

even when the crowds around want to celebrate him or really need his help,

Jesus would withdraw to pray.

It's one of his typical habits.

He would withdraw to pray.

Luke tells us once Jesus went up on a mountain to pray

and continued all night with God.

Mark tells us that sometimes Jesus woke up very early and went out to pray.

Just the two of them.

He prays regularly that one time with his Father,

just Jesus and his Father.

The one time that directs all his time with everyone else.

And especially during times of great significance in his life,

prayer is prominent.

We're told Jesus spent time in prayer before his baptism,

as he prepared to call his disciples,

when he was beginning his public ministry,

before he told his disciples of his coming death,

when crowds gathered so that he was so busy and so in demand,

prayer remained a priority.

In fact, before he endured betrayal and death,

he prayed and he specifically asked those who were closest to him to pray for him.

Do you get just a little glimpse of how vital prayer was in the life of Jesus

when he walked and talked on this earth?

Do you think there's a chance that we might need that time,

that conversation with God too?

If that was needful for Jesus,

you'd think it might be important for you and me.

You think maybe if we're going to live life the way God has designed us to,

as he did,

that we might need it even a little bit more than Jesus did?

Paul Miller writes,

if you are not praying,

then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life.

You'll always be a little too tired,

a little too busy.

But if, like Jesus, you realize you can't do life on your own,

then no matter how busy,

no matter how tired you are,

you will find the time to pray.

God has designed humanity to flourish when we walk with him,

when we talk with him,

when we depend on him.

And Jesus shows us that beautifully, right?

And he does it so much that his disciples notice,

and then when they come to him,

they say,

we see this pattern in your life,

will you help us to learn relationship with God like this?

Jesus, teach us to pray.

If you need help with prayer,

so did his disciples.

Let's read what he told them,

and then we'll talk about it together.

This is Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Jesus teaches them and us how to pray on more than one occasion,

but this passage we often call the Lord's Prayer.

Listen to God's holy word.

It's given to us to help us relate with him.

Wow, what a gift that is, right?

What grace that he's going to tell us how to talk to 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.

Let's pray together now.

Jesus,

would you teach us to pray too?

Not just things about prayer.

Would you teach us to pray?

By your spirit,

would you speak to us now,

and would you keep working in us?

That we might come and talk to you,

and know you,

and live with you,

and depend on you more and more.

For your glory,

we ask it.

Amen.

Earlier this week,

I sat down to pray,

and had a very productive time.

It was only about 20 minutes later

that I realized I had written a Facebook post about praying.

I had texted a friend to tell him that I would pray for him.

I had emailed another friend.

I had completed the daily wordle,

guest number three.

Uh-huh, very nice.

I had added some items to the grocery list.

I had made my to-do list for the day.

It was so productive.

It is hard for me to understand

why people say that setting aside time to pray

could possibly be unproductive.

So valuable.

Maybe you've had a similar experience

to that with prayer,

where your mind wanders.

Anybody's mind ever wandered while you were praying?

That is so comforting to me.

Maybe that you've actually felt a little bit ashamed

or embarrassed

that God, the God of the universe,

is there to listen to you,

and you don't even know what to say.

And it makes you not want to pray again.

You don't like that awkward feeling.

Well, Jesus is here to help people like us.

But one thing before we talk about what to say in prayer,

I don't want you to get the impression this morning

that you've got to get it right.

I want you to know you don't have to know what to say.

God isn't waiting for you to push the right button

on the machine to get the right Coke that you want.

There's no pressure to get it right.

You remember this image from last week?

I want you to remember what your Father is like.

Your heavenly Father welcomes you into his presence, right?

Jesus, the Son, prays for you.

God, the Holy Spirit, the Bible tells us,

is interceding for you with groans

that words cannot express,

so that when you don't know how to pray,

he helps you.

You just come and be with God, okay?

I hope you're finding some time for that,

this summer in particular,

as we talk about that one time,

just the two of you,

that directs all your time with everyone else.

the whole Trinity is eager to be with you,

not to give your prayers a grade,

but to give the prayer grace.

Don't forget that.

That is so good.

Our hearts need to know that,

and so as God invites us into prayer here this morning,

Jesus gives us a model for prayer

so that we're not stuck without help.

Words that can be used directly themselves,

we do that sometimes,

or they can be used to direct our own words

as we talk to God.

So let's look at it together.

Our Father in heaven.

We've talked about how vital it is

to relish that relationship last week.

That's what brings us into prayer, right?

Is that God is our Father.

We can call Jesus' Father our Father.

He's listening in love.

Then what does Jesus teach us to talk to Him about?

First, hallowed be your name.

What does that mean?

We don't often talk that way.

It's not hollow, like empty.

It's not Halloween,

as I thought it was for a while while I was a kid,

okay?

Kids, if this word confuses you

when we pray the Lord's Prayer,

but it makes you think of Halloween,

then I want you to think about it this way.

Halloween means you get candy, right?

Are we clear on this?

Halloween means you get candy.

Hallowed means God gets glory, okay?

Halloween means you get candy.

Hallowed means God gets glory.

That's what we're praying for.

It's that He would be the one.

Who He is gets the most weight,

is the most worshipped in all of the world.

Holy, holy, holy, we sang earlier.

God, You are utterly perfect.

You are completely beyond us.

You are more awesome than we can imagine.

See, just contemplate that for a minute,

because it will remind you that you don't have to have

anything particular on your list

to spend time talking to God,

because God Himself is more worthy of being talked about

than anyone else ever.

Jesus directs our hearts to start there,

focusing on His greatness,

His majesty, His worth,

praying about that,

as we often do at the start of our services, right?

Praising God.

Just start your prayer in praising God for who He is.

You can think of part of God's character

to praise Him for a passage of Scripture

may spark a meditation for you

on an aspect of who God is

or something you read about Him doing.

But I want us to actually practice praying like this,

the Lord's Prayer this morning.

So this is gonna be a little bit awkward,

maybe, because we're gonna pray several times

during this sermon.

You need to know if you feel awkward.

I had several other ideas

that would have made you feel way more awkward,

and I'm not doing those.

So just be thankful.

Thank you.

For now, why don't you pick one

of the things off this list

about our God?

You're certainly welcome

to come up with one of your own.

What about who God is

or what He has done

do you want to celebrate Him for?

Pick one of these,

write down your own.

Just so you know,

those of you who get tightly wound,

they're all right answers.

Okay?

You're not gonna pick the wrong one.

Write something down

there in your bulletin

if that's helpful to you.

Let's practice what it feels like

to pray led by

the Lord's Prayer.

I'll start and give you a few seconds

to pray to talk to God

in your heart

about what you praise Him for.

Father, there is no God

besides you

who is like you,

majestic in holiness,

awesome in glory,

working wonders.

You alone, God,

are worthy of our praise.

May your glory fill

the whole earth.

May every heart

in this room,

in this city,

in this world,

praise your name.

Hear your people now

as we praise you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Next,

as we walk through

the Lord's Prayer,

is yet another Godward,

God-focused petition.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

Before we turn our focus

to our needs,

we pray for God's

kingdom priorities.

We seek first

His kingdom

as Jesus says it

later in this chapter.

That is part of the reason,

by the way,

that we structure

our prayer guide each week.

You can see it there

in your bulletin.

Many of you get it

in your email.

With kingdom priorities

and our mission

and our core commitments

before our specific needs

are listed.

Pastor Warren Wiersbe

said,

the purpose of prayer

is not to get

man's will

done in heaven,

but I'm so sorry,

sweet girl.

That hurts

and those pews

are hard

and we love you

so much.

Ow,

I could hear it up here.

Wiersbe said,

the purpose of prayer

is not to get

man's will

done in heaven,

but to get

God's will

done on earth.

For that to happen,

our hearts need

to be reshaped,

don't they?

Because whose wills

are we most naturally

focused on?

Well, mine.

So we pray,

God,

in my heart,

please reign as king

that I might live

according to your will,

not my own.

God,

in Huntsville,

please reign as king

that we might be

gracious neighbors

in a peaceful community.

God,

in this country

and around the world,

please reign as king

so that we would cling

to your truth

and seek justice

for the mistreated

and obey your word

and everything.

There's a lot

to pray for.

So yes,

God is king

over all

for sure,

but where could

the evidence

of his reign

be increasingly

true and apparent?

Where do we long

to see it more?

Do you see how

this is no passive

meditation

in a closet?

This prayer

is an act

of war,

isn't it?

War

against the kingdom

of Satan,

the kingdom

of darkness,

over any

other kingdom.

The devil

trembles

when we pray,

when we battle

against him

by appealing

not to our own strength

but to the king

of heaven

to push back

the gates of hell

in our hearts

and our lives.

That's why prayer

is the work

of the kingdom

because it appeals

to the king,

right?

To the strong one,

the one whose kingdom

is eternal,

the one whose will

is perfect.

It says,

that's what we want.

That's what we're

after, Satan.

God will have his way

and his will

in this world.

So let me ask you

this question

as you consider

these next petitions

talking to God

about them.

In whose life?

In what place?

In what situation

do you long

for peace

and justice

and Jesus

to reign?

Maybe it's a neighbor

whose heart

you're praying for.

Maybe it's a conflict

at work

that you long

to see resolved

and fairly.

Maybe it's an

international injustice

that you want

to see remedied.

Write something

down there.

Let's pray together

again.

Father,

I read just

this week

of many Christians

being martyred

in Nigeria.

I saw videos

of their

worshiping you

amidst the rubble

of church buildings

burned down.

I pray,

Father,

for your protection

on them.

You are the king

of the nation.

It is so evident

that your kingdom

has come

in their hearts.

Might it come

in the hearts

of their enemies

who attack them

as well?

Bring peace

in Israel,

in Ukraine,

in Sudan.

Father,

give your people

right here

at Southwood

as we've talked

about the Bible

recently,

a renewed zeal

not only to read

but also to obey

your will

in your word.

Hear us now

as we pray

for your kingdom

to come.

to be continued

to be enough

love.

Thank you.

Amen.

Amen.

This next way to talk to God,

building a little bit of a list for us here

as we go to him,

and it's one we know well, right?

Give us this day our daily bread.

God, please help me pass this test.

I didn't study as much as I should have.

God, please help me find a job to support my family.

God, please help me get out of this mess I'm in.

I'll never do it again.

Just help me this one time.

Finally, we get to our list, right?

He does want to hear it.

In all of these, we're acknowledging what is always true

that we don't always recognize.

Our need, our dependence upon God.

See, God already knows what we need before we ask him,

Jesus says.

But he wants to hear our hearts.

Something's going on in our hearts.

This is teaching our hearts to come to him,

to trust him,

to depend upon him

because our king is on the throne of grace, right?

Give us our daily bread.

It's saying everything.

Every breath, God, is from you,

which honestly may be a bit harder for us to feel today

in our society than in Jesus' day

in a largely agrarian society.

We have bread in the pantry for many days.

Most of us, food in the fridge for weeks.

Most of us feel we can eat today

without consciously asking for God's help.

And that's something to be thankful for.

But it's also something to be careful about

because Jesus reminds us that our life,

our breath, even our food,

is a gift of God's grace.

We can't forget that.

We dare not forget that.

Kids, that is why many Christians pray before every meal.

It reminds us to stop and reflect

that everything we have is from God, right?

So you can help us remember that.

You can sometimes learn to pray right there

as you thank God for your food.

I want us to notice in particular

one thing about this petition.

It's the communal nature of this prayer.

Give us this day our daily bread.

You may not be wondering

where your next meal will come from,

but some of God's children are.

You may not be wondering

whether your church building

will be burned down tomorrow,

but some of God's children are.

You may not be worried and anxious

wondering if your loved one

will go home to Jesus tomorrow,

but some of God's children are.

And we are together dependent upon God.

In fact, we should be praying together.

This is words that God's people would say

to give us our daily bread.

We should be praying together for one another

in one another's presence,

in grace groups,

in worship services,

in hallways,

wherever it is.

What specific needs are you

or your church family

or your neighbors facing?

Write something down

that God puts on your heart now.

What's the first need that comes to mind?

Pick one off the prayer guide,

if you'd like.

These needs will change often, right?

And there are some of them

that may stay on your list

for a long, long time.

God may keep putting them on your heart.

Let's pray for some of them together now.

Father, we are your children

and we need your help.

Much we need thy tender care.

people we love are grieving.

Brothers and sisters,

we miss this morning

our home battling depression.

Some of our family are hospitalized.

Hear us now as we bring

the particular needs we know about to you

as we admit that

you know what we need

better than we do ourselves.

you

Amen.

One last area to pray about that Jesus gives us here.

It's a big one.

A couple petitions in the same realm,

in the same direction.

Father, forgive our debts.

Lead us not into temptation.

Deliver us from evil.

This is another way we pray almost every Sunday

in our services, isn't it?

Derek mentioned it this morning

as we were confessing our sins generally,

all of us together,

and specifically as we did this morning.

See, it's such a vital part of our relationship with God.

That's what Derek was telling us

as he invited us into it.

This is something that we do all the time.

It's at the very heart, foundation,

of having a relationship with God.

Jesus bought our forgiveness with his blood.

So he wants us to enjoy it often,

to celebrate his forgiveness.

It has been said that Jesus died on the cross is history.

That Jesus died for sins is theology.

And that Jesus died for my sins is Christianity.

I like that a lot because it means that Christianity

is about a relationship with God,

a relationship that Jesus has restored me to

so that I can be honest and loved.

I can be in the worst about me,

can be exposed,

and I'll be embraced.

I can be a failure

and forgiven.

We say debts

here when we pray the Lord's Prayer.

Many of you know there are other ways

to translate some of these,

and they're good too.

You're not better than other Christians

because you say debts and debtors,

so let me clear that up for you.

But the word debts is helpful,

I think, for this reason,

in thinking about what do we owe God?

We owe him perfect obedience,

in perfect relationship with him,

from perfect motivations,

all the time.

So, we confess then sins we do,

that we commit,

and duties we fail to do,

that we omit.

We tell God about words

that we shouldn't have spoken,

and others we should have,

but didn't.

We are honest about the thoughts of our minds,

and the desires of our hearts

that no one else sees,

but God knows, doesn't he?

And the more we let that sink in,

the more we see the seriousness of our sin,

and the danger that sin presents to us,

we start to see how serious it is,

and we realize it cost Jesus his life

to offer us forgiveness.

We realize that sin keeps us

from running to God to find life,

because we're searching for it everywhere else,

looking for other things

that will give us life.

The more we pray then

that God will keep us from it,

that he will lead us away

from even the temptation to sin,

that he'll protect us from Satan

and his evil forces.

Again here, the posture of this prayer

is that God is the leader, right?

Lead me.

He's gonna lead me.

Where do I want him to lead me?

Because I'm the follower.

I'm the one who's walking after him.

Here's how I'd say these petitions simply.

Father, help us, strengthen us,

deliver us,

because we are weak,

life is hard,

and Satan is real.

We are weak,

life is hard,

Satan is real.

That's what we're admitting to God, right?

You can admit those things.

The Heidelberg Catechism says the same thing

just a lot more eloquently.

By ourselves,

we are too weak to hold our own

even for a moment.

And our sworn enemies,

the devil,

the world,

and our own flesh

never stop attacking us.

And so, Lord,

uphold us

and make us strong

with the strength

of your Holy Spirit

so that we may not go down

to defeat

in this spiritual warfare,

but may firmly resist our enemies

until we finally win

the complete victory.

Friends,

you can't handle sin

on your own.

Quit trying.

And,

Jesus

can absolutely,

completely,

perfectly,

and forever

handle sin.

Quit avoiding Him.

Run

to Jesus

with your sin.

Delight

in confessing

to Him.

Take your sin

to your Savior

and delight

in what He will do

with it.

Think about this question

for a minute.

What today

is keeping you

from a close relationship

with God

or is seeking

to draw you

away from Him?

Is it sinful desires

in your heart?

Good things

that are tempting

distractions

from the best things?

Is it unforgiveness

towards someone else?

Let's take them together

to Jesus.

Pray with me.

Father,

Father,

we pray with the psalmist

that you would

search us

and know our hearts,

that you would test us

and know our anxious thoughts,

that you would see

if there is

any wicked way

in us,

and that you would

lead us

in the way everlasting.

Speak to our hearts

even now.

Let us

honestly bring to you

what your spirit

shows us.

We have an amazing

day

when the psalmist

or

י yum

and the psalmist

are

welcome.

ở

our

Vasem

and our

hearts

and our

son

will

tomorrow

ك

Amen. Thank you for helping through this sermon. More interactive than you expected, right?

And I didn't even make you talk out loud. The prayer we use most often concludes with,

for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Isn't that a beautiful reminder of where

this prayer starts? With God's kingdom, God's glory. So, it is a great way to conclude praying, okay?

It makes one understand why it got added to the original text, which we now know it didn't contain.

But no worries. I dare say at this point, if you keep your bulletin and the things you've written down

this morning and follow the Lord's Prayer each day, you've got plenty to speak to God about

in your time with Him. That's my desire for you today, that you would be able, even this afternoon,

tomorrow morning when you wake up, to sit down. You don't have to use the Lord's Prayer, but you can

and that you'll have lots to talk to God about. Remember to slow down enough to listen to Him too.

He loves to talk with you. This is why we've been providing each week resources for you to have to

help you in your time with Jesus personally in these pathways of grace. This is available,

of course, online on our website. The QR code is in your bulletin. For those of you like me who aren't

familiar with QR codes, there's some hard copies printed in the narthex, if that's more helpful to you.

But there are several different books here that I love. The first one there will help you

let the Bible inspire your prayers even throughout the Scripture. Other places besides the Lord's Prayer,

it's been really helpful to me. Some of my favorites up there, there are guides to prayer that help our

hearts be directed by God's priorities for our conversations with Him. I grew up, as I was a kid,

first learned to pray using the acrostic acts. Have you ever done this one before? Adoration,

that's praise, okay? Confession, thanksgiving, supplication, asking for our needs. That's a big

word for that. And because some of these words are a bit unfamiliar, I've adapted a version of this for

kids that hits the same key themes of the Lord's Prayer we've been talking about this morning.

Kids, when you pray and when you practice talking to God, you can say some very simple,

things that I think you can remember, and adults, you're welcome to use them too. Feel free.

There's really these four categories, things you can remember to say when you talk to God,

I love you, right? To tell God you love Him. And why? I'm sorry. For what? Tell Him for what?

Thank you. Tell Him what you're thankful for. And please, tell Him what you're asking for. So if

you're thinking about talking to God, you can pick any one of those, or you can think of all four of

those that I hope are easy for you to remember and things that we talk to God about. I would encourage

you if your prayer life, your talking to God needs a shot in the arm, and most of us, if we're honest,

that's where we often live, pick just one of these resources and pray that God would use it to

rekindle your desire to spend time talking with Him. He loves to do that, okay? He's not trying to run

you off. He's trying to welcome you in. So ask Him to help you with that. As we close this morning,

most of us close our prayers with, in Jesus' name, amen. And that's great. It's a great way to pray.

I want to make sure we remember what that means. It's not just hanging up the phone.

When I pray in Jesus' name, it means that you enjoy relationship with God, not because you're a good

prayer, but because Jesus is a good Savior, right? His love for us, His death on the cross,

His life everlasting are how we enter into relationship with God. His sacrifice alone

enables us to pray to our Father. It's the only way. His grace is cause for endless praise. His costly

death makes us hate our sin and confess it to God. His kind kingship is the one we long to see

extended. His generous provision for His people. His generous provision for His people encourages us

to ask for what we need. You see, it's about Jesus. Every time you pray in Jesus' name, I want you to rejoice,

to give thanks that you stand and you live and you kneel in the grace of Jesus. Amen. Let's pray.

Father, would you help us as we come to you that we would draw near to you confidently in the name of Jesus.

That we would pray, amen. May it be so because of who you are. We know we can come to you. We confidently

ask for you to care for us. We boldly hope in your faithfulness. You are good. And there's nothing more

than that truth to encourage our hearts to come to you in prayer. So would you remind us of that?

Would we find you regularly today and this week and every day the rest of our lives hearing us,

giving us the joy of speaking to you. We're thankful for it in Jesus' great name. Amen.

For more information, visit us online at southwood.org.