Drawing Near To God - Part 3

The Lord’s Prayer - 2

Matthew 6:9-13

January 16, 2022

The goal of this series is to help us to draw nearer to Jesus. That’s really in some ways, the goal of each and every message. In fact, it should be our everyday mission. Yet, I’m trying to be very intentional about helping us move towards Jesus. Ultimately, we’re called to submit ourselves to God. That’s the only way we can experience the power and presence of Jesus. Yet, we struggle to do this.

I was talking to someone who was bemoaning that very fact this week. They’re struggling and they so desperately want to keep the joy and love of Jesus as part of who they are, yet, it’s an everyday struggle. Have you ever been there? Maybe you are right now! You’re struggling to meet Jesus everyday. You say your prayers, you read a devotion or two, maybe there’s a little Bible reading, but you feel empty on the inside. You know what I mean? You want it, but it’s not happening in your life.

That’s what we’re going after in this series, and possibly for the rest of the year. And you know what, I’m excited about that, because I think about 99% of us are in the same boat.

One of the books I’ve been reading is called Absolute Surrender. It’s by Andrew Murray and was written in 1897. It’s an amazing, convicting book. In chapter 11, Murray says this - - -

God gives Christians the Holy Spirit with this intention: every day should be lived in the power of the Spirit.

Is that true for you? Are we living everyday in the power of the Spirit of God?

Later in that chapter Murray wrote this - - -

“The great question for us to ask God as we examine ourselves is whether our Christian life is lived more in the power of the flesh than in the power of the Holy Spirit.

How many Christians there are of whom no one would ever think of saying, “The life of Christ is in him. He is holy! They may see many of you as religious or sincere, yet you go on, perhaps without realizing you are sincerely working and praying and teaching and preaching in the flesh. That is the weakness of the church of Christ. It is all in that one word — flesh.”

Man, I don’t know about you, but he is hitting me hard. I don’t like this book. It’s hitting home. But I will tell you that Murray is one of my favorite writers. He’s convicting and what I like and don’t like at the same time is that he doesn’t give you a formula to solve our issue. He diagnoses, but doesn’t necessarily give the prescription. We’re on our own.

So, where do we go from here? Well, I have thoughts, which is why we’re doing this series. We’re looking at ways to draw closer to God in prayer. Sometimes prayer isn’t easy, but it’s so vital to help us connect with God.

Last week we started looking at the Lord’s Prayer as a means of connecting with God and I thought we would finish this week. But when I looked at where I was, this was going to be really long, so we’ll finish up the Lord’s Prayer next week, then move on to another prayer the following week.

Again, let’s look at what Jesus said in the Lord’s Prayer ---

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. - Matthew 6

Last week we looked at the first 2 verses of the Lord’s Prayer, then moved into a time of guided prayer as we took the words of Jesus and used them as a basis for our own prayer. This week, we will continue looking at the Lord’s Prayer, then move into the guided prayer at the end. In 2 weeks we will look at the prayer of Jabez, then look at a prayer circle, which is a different way to approach prayer the following week.

So, let’s keep moving on with the Lord’s prayer. The focus of the Lord’s Prayer shifts in verse 11. It moves to a more personal level, as we look at our needs.

We’ve worshiped and praised God. We’ve sought His kingdom over ours, we’ve praised His holy name, and asked for His will to be done over ours.

We now pray to God - - -

11 Give us this day our daily bread.