Pray Confidently Series

HoHum:

Three boys in the schoolyard were bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, “My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he then calls it a poem, they give him $50.00.” The second boy says, “That’s nothing, My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.00.” The third boy says, “I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!” I must be doing something wrong- only 2 people here- well 3 if count Katie

WBTU:

Started talking about Father’s Day in Sunday school and continuing the theme here. Was Looking over Revelation 15 and 16 and had a hard time adapting it for Father’s Day. Return to our regularly scheduled programming next week, Lord willing. In Sunday school talking about the Red Letter Prayer Life- teachings of Jesus on prayer. Two word titles- Sunday school was pray relationally and this is called pray confidently (adapted from Bob Hostetler’s Book called the Red Letter Prayer life). We can have confidence in prayer because we are talking to our heavenly Father. Old proverb that says, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” May be the best person for the job but if we have no connections, it will probably go to someone else. When the disciples asked Jesus to school them in prayer, Jesus started the Model prayer with, “Our Father which art in heaven.” First two words here call us to pray communally (talk about this next time in Sunday school) and relationally. The 3rd and 4th words “Our Father in heaven” instruct us to pay with confidence. These 2 words, “In heaven” should make a big difference in how we pray- and how much we pray. This opening phrase is easily misunderstood. Going to do what Fred Craddock would warn against- what this phrase does not mean.

Thesis: What this opening phrase does not mean

For instances:

I. Pray confidently because our father in heaven is not earthly father

As a minister, I have met countless people who struggle to relate to God and experience His love because their concept of a father has been formed- or rather malformed- by an unfulfilling or unhealthy relationship with their earthly father. Some never knew their father, so trying to relate to God as a father is like someone who has been blind from birth trying to understand the color green- have difficulty. This is what makes Father’s Day difficult for many, no one has had a perfect relationship with their father, always could have been more, could have said more. The red letter prayer life, the life of prayer as defined by Jesus, is so important today. When Jesus tells us to pray, “Our Father in heaven,” He distinguishes our heavenly Father from all earthy fathers. He says, in effect, that to have the prayer life that Jesus had is to understand the following things:

1. Our Father in heaven is not absent

When Moses encountered the burning bush in the wilderness, God spoke to him from the bush, saying in Exodus 3:7-8: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” God said, “I have seen. I have heard. I know. I have come.” God was never absent, never unconcerned, never disconnected from them. Same is true of us. Our Father in heaven sees, hears, knows and cares about every detail of our lives. He comes to us and says, “I will never leave you or forsake you” Deuteronomy 31:6.

2. Our Father in heaven is not neglectful.

Singer and songwriter Harry Chapin scored a #1 hit with the song “Cat’s in the Cradle.” The lyrics tell the story of a man who welcomes a son into the world. “But there were planes to catch and bills to pay,” the song says, painting a picture of a growing boy who repeatedly longs for his dad to spend time with him and play with him. But the father is too busy and answers, “Not today.” Chapin’s song is tearjerker because many can identify with this. Even so, this is not the picture of our Father in heaven. He is an attentive Father. According to the Psalmist David in Psalm 34:15, “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.” Peter said in 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Picture of a dad after a long day asleep on the couch. Isaiah 40:28 says, "The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”