Praying Heaven Down

Praying Heaven Down

Text: Matthew 6:9-13

Introduction: Smith Wigglesworth was a man who knew how to reach heaven. He understood the powers available from above and knew how to bring those powers into this realm. Wigglesworth once said:

"If you want anything from God, you will have to pray into heaven. That is where it all is. If you live in the earth realm and expect to receive from God, you will never get anything."

In a message on prayer, John G. Lake said:

"The Church has been negligent in one thing...she has not prayed the power of God out of heaven."

Praying is perhaps the most difficult undertaking in the Christian walk. It is usually the first thing we skimp on when our time is limited. We fail to recognize and understand our desperate need for prayer in our daily lives. We tend to turn to prayer when times get tough; when we run up against difficulties; when we’ve exhausted our own personal efforts. Prayer is more a crutch in our lives than the foot we need to be standing on.

Prayer is so much more than simply making our requests known to God. First of all, He already knows them so you are not introducing Him to anything new. Prayer is a relationship builder. Prayer develops intimacy between us and God. Prayer gives us strength, encouragement, the ability to make it through another day.

Look at Wigglesworth’s guote again: "If you want anything from God, you will have to pray into heaven. That is where it all is. If you live in the earth realm and expect to receive from God, you will never get anything." He’s talking about getting serious with God. Prayer is not a flippant action. Prayer is a serious undertaking. Prayer is going into the throneroom of God, touching the heart of God, and receiving from the benefits of God available there in heaven. Prayer must break past this earthly realm. You’ve got to go beyond this realm and enter the Kingdom realm to take advantage of what God has stored up for us. To get from God, you’ve got to get to God.

The Lord’s Model Prayer provides the clearest instruction on how we bring the reality of His world into this one. Revivalists of the past stood on the truth that: "If you pray, He will come!"

It is important to understand that Biblical prayer is always accompanied by radical obedience. God’s response to prayers with obedience always release the nature of heaven into our impaired circumstances.

This model provided by Jesus reveals there are really only two priorities in prayer:

(1) intimacy with God expressed in worship

(2) to bring His Kingdom to earth to establish His dominion over the needs of mankind.

Before we take this any further, let me clarify one more thought that might help us to better understand the purpose behind prayer: as disciples, we are both citizens and ambassadors of another world. This world here is our assignment, not our home. Our purpose is eternal. The resources we need to complete our assignment here are unlimited. The only real restrictions are those we have between our ears.

Let’s look at what Jesus is trying to teach us here. The first phrase says:

1. "Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy."

A. That word "Father" is both a title of honor and a call to a relationship.

- Simply understanding how far He went to make it possible for us to call Him "our Father" is all we need to begin to become true worshippers.

B. Hallowed means respected or revered - another expression of praise.

C. Worship is our number one priority.

1. Everything else we do is to be affected by our devotion to this call.

2. God inhabits the praises of His people.

3. God responds with a literal invasion of heaven to earth through the worship of the believer.

Application: To become a worshipper, you need to begin by understanding the steps God took in order to bring you into a relationship with Him. As you do, worship and praise will become a natural part of your daily walk and it will flow forth from you very naturally.

The passage continues with these words:

2. "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

A. The primary focus for all prayer is - if it exists in heaven, it is to be loosed on earth.

B. When the believer begins to pray according to the revealed will of God, faith becomes specific and focused.

1. Faith grabs ahold of "that reality" - God’s revealed will.

2. An enduring faith doesn’t let go.

3. By this faith, we invade heaven with our petitions which cause the circumstances here to come into line with those in heaven.