Bent into Shape – His Preeminence
6/10/18
Matthew 6:5-13
Sunday AM
Explain Haircut
When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, so they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray – Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, power, and glory forever.
For 8 weeks we’ve been discussing prayer. W/out a doubt, prayer is one of the most critical disciplines in the Christian life; and yet it’s also one of the most abused/misunderstood disciplines. The disciples understood this reality – so they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.
To appreciate Jesus’ instruction, we need to remember the context. By the time the disciples approached Jesus, prayer had become so corrupted by rabbinic tradition that prayers like the Shema/Shemoneh esrei had become prescribed and ritualized – and the people had no idea how to approach God So Jesus gave this prayer as a pattern to help us to know how to talk w/ God and keep us from using vain repetition. Oddly enough, this is seemingly what has happened w/ this prayer.
pray (proseuchomai) pro = facing toward – one who seeks God’s face. euchomai = to utter aloud. Meaning Jesus taught that prayer is a personal, face-to-face encounter w/ our heavenly daddy – and that the Lord’s Prayer is a pattern to connect us w/ God but it’s never to be a substitute. We’re to understand it and follow it so we can get bent into shape.
Jesus taught we’re to begin prayer in praise by recognizing God as our Father and honoring His name – Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. We’re next to affirm His priorities as our own by asking – Your kingdom come, Your will be done as we entrust ourselves into God’s care by seeking His daily provision – Give us this day our daily bread. We’re also to ask for His pardon and commit to forgive as He has forgiven us – forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And we’re to seek His protection from Satanic attack and engage in spiritual warfare praying – Lead us not into temptation….
As we close out this teaching – we come to the final phrase that speaks to the preeminence of God – for Yours is the kingdom, power and glory forever.
This is known as a doxology an expression of praise – doxa is to give honor/glory. logy from logos means word – a word of honor/glory.
FYI – This doxology isn’t found in most modern translation b/c later manuscripts omitted it – yet this shouldn’t give us any great consternation b/c these words fit both the spirit of this prayer and teachings of Scripture in other places. David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:11 – Yours, Lord, is the greatness, power and glory, the victory and majesty; for all that is in heaven and earth is Yours, and Yours is the kingdom – where You are exalted as head over all.
What does this mean? In praying – Yours is the kingdom, power, glory – we’re saying these things can be said of God and of no one else. Only His kingdom will come, only His power will prevail, and only His glory will be revealed.
I Yours is the KINGDOM – Forever
A few weeks ago when we talked about seeking the kingdom we touched on the wonderful truth that God has a Kingdom! So as we pray – Yours is the kingdom – we’re recognizing His LORDSHIP over our lives.
Lordship is about who’s in charge and calling the shots. It’s about a person’s overarching authority. And what we often miss in the idea of Lordship is that every soul is searching for a Master even if that master is self.
I’m reminded of the last lines of the poem Invictus by William Henley – It matters not how strait the gate, how charged w/ punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate – I am the captain of my soul.
Romans 1 of this struggle w/ every soul – the search to satisfy the God-shaped vacuum w/in every human heart. I say struggle b/c the first duty of every soul (the nature of the flesh) is to find not its freedom but it’s Master. This is the struggle of spiritual warfare that Jesus taught His disciples to pray about and Jason spoke about last Sunday.
Spiritual warfare is the battle over your soul b/w the Creator and the betrayer. Satan doesn’t care if you swear allegiance to Him, to another man, or to yourself – so long as you do not bend your knee and bow your heart to God.
King David understood this when he wrote in Psalm 24 – the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. This means there’s not (1) sq. inch of the creation which Jesus doesn’t cry out – This is mine! It all belongs to me! Including you/me. He is Lord over all.
LORD (Adonai) – means supreme Master; the One who has all dominion. To make God your Adonai means to turn your face towards, to respond to his will, and to submit your will.
I’m reminded of the story of an old African lion. The lion was feeling disrespected so he decided to remind the other animals of his power. He went to a giraffe and roared, “Who is the king of the jungle?" The giraffe said, "You are Mr. Lion." Bolstered, he went to a zebra and roared, "Who’s the king of the plains?" Shaking, the zebra said, "Why, you are king lion." Feeling really good, he roared to the elephant, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The elephant reached out w/ his trunk, grabbed the lion by the neck and slammed him repeatedly on the ground, ultimately throwing him against a tree. Dazed/fazed, the lion said to the elephant, "If you don’t know the answer, you don’t have to be mean about it.
Lordship understands this truth: Until Jesus is valued above all, He’s not valued at all. So when we pray – Yours is the Kingdom, we’re embracing His Lordship over our lives and remembering it’s all about Him.
II Yours is the POWER – Forever
We’re confessing that only God has the power over all. Only He is omnipotent over all creation – and w/out Him we’re weak and in need of His strength. We are w/out hope – while God is w/out limits.
When I was in college I drove a 1976 Ford Mustang that had problems cranking. For over a year I had to park on hills to get a rolling start to pop the clutch to get it to crank. And let me assure you this was especially impressive to the girls I took on dates. I can’t tell you the number of times I had to put the car in neutral, get out of the car to push it, then jump back into the driver’s seat to pop the clutch. It took all my strength to get it cranked.
This is the way too many professing Christians are trying to live the Christian life – under their power thru their ability to get things going.
But the Christian life can’t be lived out of the resources of our flesh or from this world – it can only be experienced thru the power of God as we live under the influence of the H.S. The reason is simple – we’re spiritually impotent while God is omnipotent. We’re weak, but He is strong.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength… And My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. Philippians 4:13, 19
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until we get it – the Christian life can’t be lived independently of the H.S. It’s an absolute impossibility. The Christian life is lived in the power of the H.S. as we walk in the Lordship of Christ. And this is our prayer – that His power will always prevail.
III Yours is the GLORY – Forever
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Revelation 5:13
The glory of God is an amazing Bible concept referring to the very presence of God being made manifest on earth – and in our lives. In the OT, His glory is seen in a burning bush, in parted sea, in a pillar of fire, and in a number of other ways. Then of course, we see it again in the NT in the person/ministry of Jesus – in every miracle, teaching, and event – and such glory takes our breath away.
In praying Yours is the glory, forever – we’re returning to the beginning desire of this prayer – to hallow His name and to align our lives w/ but one ambition – to bring glory/honor to Him. We’re in essence saying, “God, I want You alone to be the focus of my life, and I want you to get all the credit.”
Therein is the struggle of the soul – who’ll get the credit and have control – who’ll really be God. The story goes the legendary coach Vince Lombardi once got into bed and his wife said, "God, your feet are cold!" To which he replied, "Dear, in the privacy of our house, you may call me Vince."
While that’s humorous, and none of us would actually say that, far too many times we can act as though we’re the ones who deserve the credit (3 C’s – Cash, Credit, Control).
In praying in this manner as Jesus taught us to pray, we get reminded that only God and God alone is worthy of the glory – He alone is worthy of praise.
So what exactly did Jesus teach us about prayer – when we pray in this manner, we’re putting God in His rightful place on the throne of our lives and we’re surrendering ourselves to His guiding/providing/protecting hand – that His will and way might be accomplished in/thru us for His glory.
God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him. Andrew Murray
