Find Joy In The Journey Through The Lord’s Prayer! Series

Opening Video: The Lords Prayer by Jackie Evancho

Sermon: Find joy in the journey through The Lord’s Prayer!

Scripture: Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Thesis: Jesus was filled with joy and this inner joy came from His relationship with God the Father through prayer. Prayer and inner joy are linked together because prayer opens a door to the presence and guidance of the Lord. Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer as a model or outline to use to pray his way!

Very important to note: The Lord’s prayer is not to be simply memorized and repeated without a heartfelt commitment and connection with God. If it becomes nothing more than a repeated mantra then it is only the hypocritical mumbling that Jesus had just condemned the religious leaders of the day for in the beginning of Matthew 6. This prayer was never meant to be mimicked and just repeated; it was to serve as an outline, or a personal guide to how to pray to God the Father. This famous prayer requires an honest love for God on the part of the one praying it or it means nothing. The Lord’s Prayer was given by Jesus when one of His followers asked Jesus to “Teach us how to pray!”

Main Point: This prayer is a model prayer of how to pray 1st and foremost – you can repeat as is but it is meant by Jesus to be a model to follow on how to pray.

Pass out handout by Dr. Larry Lea on The Lord’s Prayer (walk through it with church).

T.S. - Let’s take a closer look line by line of the Lord’s prayer and learn How to pray to God!

The following points and thoughts were gleamed from: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/the-lords-prayer-bible-verses-and-study/#ixzz5zLITHxsk - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Prayer#Analysis, and from the Book of Common Prayer and https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lords-prayer_b_4697047

I. Line 1 of the Lord’s Prayer – comes off the heels of Jesus saying, “Pray like this!” (Matthew 6: 9a)

a. Jesus starts teaching us how to properly pray and who we are to be addressing with our prayers:

i. He states, “Our Father, which art in heaven” or “Our Father in Heaven” depending on your translation:

1. The subject of our prayers are to God the Father – We are not praying to some distant deity in the sky but to our family father – our “abba father” – He is not a disconnected deity or mythical god but He is our father and we need to address him as such.

a. We would not address our own father with religious words or religious gimmicks to get his attention would we?

i. We would just say, “Dad I have a problem!”

ii. “Dad can you help me!”

iii. “Dad I need some wisdom and your help!”

iv. “Dad can we talk?”

1. We don’t say, “Father – GOOOODDDD!!!!! Yeah! Mighty one and oh reverent one of the universe! God – Amen - yes my God! Our fathers would look at us like what is wrong with you? – do you get my point?

v. The word "Our" indicates that the prayer is from one of His children who call God their "Father".

1. The point here is we are connected – we are family!

2. One author worded it this way: “Our Father” — Not mine alone but ours, which makes me less self-centered and more conscious of those around me. As I walk alone, I understand this to extend to everything I see, hear and feel: the birds, the trees, the stones under my feet — we are all connected to “our Father.”

b. In heaven" indicates that the Father who is being addressed is distinct from human fathers on earth and he dwells in another realm.

i. This part of praying reminds us who we are praying too – the all powerful Creator of the Universe who gave us life – He is in a place waiting for our arrival one day – but He literally dwells in a place called Heaven.

2. It is also important to note we do not pray to men – to mythical Gods – to trees – to idols we pray to our father – He is the one we are to be addressing with our prayers.

a. By the way we do not pray to saints who have passed either – we pray to God the Father!

II. The Second line of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9b)

a. Jesus says pray like this to God the Father in Heaven, “Hallowed be thy Name” or “Hallowed be your name”

i. The idea Jesus is teaching us about how to pray is to make sure when we address God the Father we address him with respect, and reverence because He is Holy!