The Great Commission
Part 13 – Sermon on the Mount – How to Pray
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith – www.PS127.org
WELCOME
INTRODUCTION TO SERMON
† The Sermon on the Mount – The Beatitudes
† We are the Salt, staying pure with God’s Holy Word
† We are the Light, showing that Word to the World
† Hate is same as murder
† Lust the same as adultery
† Divorce
† Oaths
† The Law of Love
† Giving
† Praying
INTRODUCTION
Matthew 6:9 – 15 How to Pray
9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
" ’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 today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
This is known as the Lord’s Prayer.
I. MAN DOES NOT LISTEN VERY WELL.
a. 6:1 Do not do acts of righteousness before men…
b. 6:4 What you do in secret your Father will reward you in the open…
c. 6:5 Do not be like the hypocrites, they like to be seen…
d. 6:6 Go in your room and close the door…
e. 6:7 (LIT) When praying, DO NOT USE VAIN REPETITION AS THE HEATHENS DO…BECAUSE THEY THINK IN MUCH SPEAKING THEY WILL BE HEARD.
II. GOD IS ONLY FATHER TO THOSE WHO BELONG TO HIM.
John 14:5-7
Jesus the ONLY Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
For God to be your Father in heaven, you must be His child. And that can only happen through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Kingdom of Heaven <> Satan’s Kingdom
Whether you choose or not, you belong to a kingdom.
To the Jewish leaders and teachers of the Law, Jesus said, “You are of your father, the devil” – John 8:44
If you reject Christ, you default to the devils Kingdom, because this is where we are born.
Mark 16:16
16 Whoever believes {commits to} and is baptized {with Holy Spirit} will be saved, but whoever does not believe {is not committed to} will be condemned.
Why…
John 3:17 – 18
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
To call God Father, we must be His children.
This can only happen through Jesus Christ and the New Covenant.
Otherwise, we are condemned by the Old Covenant in which we were born into.
Is God your Father? Are you committed to Christ?
III. HOLY IS HIS NAME.
In the beginning of how to pray, Jesus warns us about self-seeking prayer.
God is to have priority in every aspect of our lives.
When you say “Holy is your name”, you are signifying more that a long list of titles which could be attributed to God.
It represents His character, His plan, and His will.
Placing Him first in everything, even prayer!
Elohim – The Creator God
El Elyon – possessor of heaven and earth
Jehovah Jireh – The Lord will provide
Jehova Shalom – The Lord our Peace
Jehova Tsidkenu – The Lord our righteousness
But the greatest name of God, is Jesus Christ.
For there is only 1 God, and He has made Himself known to us as God the Father in heaven – who cannot be in the presence of sin.
And He has made himself to dwell within us as God the Holy Spirit, so as to teach, and empower us in this wicked world.
But most of all, God has made Himself known to us as Jesus Christ, which is God’s greatest name.
Jesus, while praying said,
“I have revealed your name to them you gave me from the world.” – John 17:6
When we pray, we must acknowledge God first, and that His name alone is Holy, and that in keeping Him first we are saying that when we pray, we are seeking His character, His plan and His will…not our own.
IV. HIS KINGDOM.
When the scriptures speak of the Kingdom, there are two it may refer to.
Kingdom of God, and Kingdom of heaven.
Both have been used interchangeably, meaning the same thing in scripture.
But there are two stages of the Kingdom to consider.
God’s spiritual Kingdom is HERE AND NOW…
It was ushered in when Christ died on the cross, and that is when the New Covenant began, in His blood.
But there is the physical Kingdom which is coming AFTER the Tribulation.
This is when Christ will come in the second coming, and physically rule on earth with all of us ruling with Him.
Although we have the spiritual kingdom now, we should still long for the physical kingdom.
When the physical kingdom arrives, His will is going to be done on earth, because He will be ruling physically.
But while the spiritual kingdom is here, God’s will is not always done on earth because of free will, and the devils kingdom being present.
At Christ’s second coming, there will be no other kingdom on earth but the Kingdom of God.
So Jesus is telling us, in our prayers, long for God’s will on earth, as God’s will rules in heaven.
This is what we should pray for, earth to be like heaven, full of God’s will.
V. HIS WILL.
What IS God’s will?
God has three main wills for you in your life.
1. It is God’s will that all come to a knowledge of Christ so they may be saved.
2. It is God’s will that once you are saved, you follow the Great Commission to bring others into God’s first will.
3. God has a specific will for you alone in HOW you are to do the second will, so that you may accomplish God’s first will.
Are you in God’s will today?
Have you discovered how God wants to use you so you can bring others into salvation?
Are you fulfilling the Great Commission given to us by Christ?
Are you in God’s first will? Have you accepted the New Covenant?
Can you call God in heaven Father?
That is where it all starts.
If you do not have Christ, you cannot call God Father.
If you can not call God Father, then who are you praying to?
God will not answer those who do not belong to Him.
Are you in the kingdom?
You can be.
Confess you are in sin…
Repent or stop living in that sin…
Ask for forgiveness…
The scriptures say that the Lord is quick to forgive those who ask.
Commit yourself to Jesus.
And let the Holy Spirit fill you and show you the way to live God’s will for you in your life.
