MATTHEW 6
WANTING WHAT JESUS HAD
Matthew 6:9-13
S: The Lord’s Prayer
Th: Prayer: A Passion for His Presence
Pr: WE NEED A PASSION FOR GOD
?: How? How is it communicated?
KW: Truths
TS: We will find in Matthew 6:9-13 six truths we communicate to demonstrate our passion for God.
The ____ truth we communicate is…
I. PLURALISM
II. PRAISE
III. PLIABILITY
IV. PROVISION
V. PARDON
VI. PROTECTION
RMBC 14 April 02 AM
INTRODUCTION:
What do you desire when it comes to your relationship with God?
ILL Notebook: Prayer (if I should die…thank you)
After a grueling day of training, which had included a ten-mile hike and completion of a difficult obstacle course, a sergeant’s platoon of raw recruits quickly fell into bed. As the sergeant lay in the dark, he heard a voice recite a prayer: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, thank you, Lord."
There was a brief pause and then several voices said in unison, “Amen.”
That recruit may have been at his wit’s end, but he was expressing His desire—he wanted it to end!
Perhaps his desire to be with God was a bit overstated.
But nevertheless, the act of prayer, at the very least shows a desire for a relationship on some level.
TRANSITION:
Earlier this year, we considered the prayer of Jabez.
1. When we studied the prayer of Jabez, we discovered that he desired God’s hand of blessing (I Chronicles 4:10).
The biblical text goes like this…
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. [NKJV]
Do you know what happened when he prayed that prayer?
He got what he requested.
God granted it to him.
But the truth is…
2. We can easily misapply Jabez’ prayer.
Jabez’ prayer is not a magical formula.
It is not something you repeat, like some kind of “mantra,” and God has to answer according to the way you desire.
We are tempted to think that if we have the right technique, and right form, our prayer will be efficient and effective.
We must get this right…we are never, ever able to manipulate God.
So we cannot use the prayer of Jabez this way, nor any other kind of prayer.
But we can learn from the prayers that we find in the Bible.
They do teach us how to pray.
This is what the disciples wanted…
3. The disciples wanted what Jesus had (Luke 11:1).
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
The disciples had seen Jesus pray.
They knew He had a close relationship with the Father.
They wanted it too.
So the Lord taught them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”
What Jesus teaches us is that…
4. WE NEED A PASSION FOR GOD.
But how do we get that?
How do we get there?
I believe it starts with what we communicate to God.
So…
5. We will find in Matthew 6:9-13 six truths we communicate to demonstrate our passion for God.
The instruction of Jesus is…
“Pray then like this…”
OUR STUDY:
I. The first truth we communicate is PLURALISM.
Now this is not pluralism in the bad sense, but in its literal sense—more than one.
Note how Jesus starts…
“Our Father in heaven…”
The first item I want you to notice in this prayer is that…
1. We exist in community, not in isolation.
We belong to the community of faith.
So when we pray, we are not praying to “my” Father.
We are praying to “our” Father.
We do not live in isolation.
God has placed us among the people of God.
2. We are placed in a family.
We know that according to John 1:12, we have become the children of God.
We are related, for what we have in common is a Father.
ILL Notebook: Prayer (JFK-- David Jeremiah, Prayer, the Great Adventure, pp.89-90.)
When John F. Kennedy was President of the United States, Life magazine published photos of his children, John Jr. and Caroline, playing with their toys on the floor of the Oval Office. Those images captured the hearts of the American people like nothing before or since. Why? Because it bridged a gap between two thoughts: Kennedy was the President of the United States, but he was also a father. He held ultimate political power in the Free World, but playing at his feet were two little kids who called him Daddy. Your kids would not have been allowed to do that. Nor mine. But his kids were. Why? He was their father. He was not only President of the United States; he was also their dad.
In the same way, God is both our Father and the Lord of glory.
We can approach Him confidently in prayer because we are His dearly beloved children, but we must never forget that He is also the Sovereign of the universe.
This leads us to…
II. The second truth we communicate is PRAISE.
“…hallowed be your name.”
1. Unique reverence belongs to God.
God’s name is holy.
He is holy.
He is set apart, pure and distinct from creation.
Therefore, worship uniquely belongs to Him.
We, on the other hand, are profoundly different.
And as a result, we often try to bring Him down to our level.
We call Him our good buddy.
Or we call Him the Big Man Upstairs.
But these are more than inaccurate descriptions of God.
They make common that which is uncommon.
They bring down God, rather than lift Him up.
You see, as we pray…
2. We must communicate an understanding of the infinite God.
The greatest compliment of all we can give is when we compliment someone for their character.
And this is true when we praise God for His love, beauty, mercy, and grace.
God possesses infinite intelligence.
He is transcendent over all.
He is omniscient, omnipresent, and almighty.
He is the sovereign ruler of the universe, full of majesty and glory.
So, we come to God recognizing who He is—for holy is His name.
III. The third truth we communicate is PLIABILITY.
The next portion of this prayer speaks to God’s plan and our submission to it.
Are we pliable?
Are we flexible?
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
1. God wants to expand His rule to the territory of our hearts.
So often, when we pray, we focus on outwardness.
We are interested for the matters outside of us—our situation, our possessions, people we love and know…
But God focuses on the inward.
He focuses on our heart so that we can make a difference on the outside.
He wants us to be right with Him.
He wants it so that His kingdom can come, for He expands His kingdom through us.
He enlarges our territory, not for our sake, but for His.
Please get that right!
We must submit to His rule.
But in the process, remember this…
2. God wants us to recognize that He always has our best in mind.
You know, our asking is colored by self-interest.
We pray according to what we think best.
For example…
ILL Notebook: Prayer (basketball game)
You can go to a basketball game and on one side a mother is sitting, praying that her son will make the free throws in the closing moments of the game. She prays, "O Father, please help my son to make this free throw and win the game, because then he’ll be a hero and his self-esteem will skyrocket."
And on the other side another mother is praying, "Lord, let him miss it. My son committed the foul and if he makes it my son will walk around with a guilt complex the rest of his life."
Thank God that He knows what is best.
So this means we can live differently, and not in fear.
For…
3. We are to live with heaven in mind.
Jesus has told us to pray regarding heavenly things.
He has spoken of the name of God, kingdom of God and the will of God.
Now the prayer makes a transition from God to man and from worship to petition.
IV. The fourth truth we communicate is PROVISION.
Jesus tells us to pray…
“Give us this day our daily bread…”
Here we find that…
1. God provides what is necessary.
He meets our legitimate needs, but not necessarily our wants.
He meets our necessities, but not the niceties.
And, I believe, we should want it no other way.
For God really knows what we need.
Frankly, our thinking in these matters are rather distorted.
But note this…
2. We are also to pray for the needs of our extended family.
Again, we are members of a community of faith.
And the principle is “give us this day our daily bread,” not “give me this day my daily bread.”
We do not pray in such a way that we are looking only to our own needs.
We watch out for each other.
We use prayer to actively love others.
We want God to meet all of our needs.
V. The fifth truth we communicate is PARDON.
Jesus continues…
“…and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
1. We must always remember that we are broken people.
We deal with all kinds of sin…
…evil thoughts, sexual immorality, murder.
…adultery, pornography, deceit, envy.
…slander, pride, greed.
…bitterness, rage and anger.
…gossip, unforgiveness, laziness.
…unkept promises, hate, stinginess.
And the list could go on.
We need to remember that we are broken people that have real problems from time to time.
We need help!
And we might like to think we are all right because we are no worse than anyone else, but the fact of the matter is we are still dirty.
We need to be cleaned up.
We need to confess our sin, for brokenness is the way back to an intimate relationship with God.
So…
2. We are to practice forgiveness, for if our relationships are not right, then neither is our relationship right with God.
This is sometimes hard for us to grasp, but if we harbor unforgiveness, we are not right with God.
God is clear about this.
We are not to expect answers from God if we are holding out on forgiveness.
Therefore, we must ask for forgiveness, and to be consistent, we must also give it.
VI. The sixth truth we communicate is PROTECTION.
Finally, Jesus said…
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
1. We must keep in mind that we are dependent creatures.
We need to be close to God.
For we face lots of difficulties and dilemmas in this life that are very hard to handle.
But they are not impossible, for we can overcome by His power.
We know that tests and trials are going to come our way.
But we don’t want those tests to turn into temptations.
ILL Notebook: Temptation (boy and ice cream truck)
It is like the little boy who had been saving his money for a baseball glove, and he just about had enough. So his prayer was, "God, please don’t let the ice cream truck come down my street again today."
We need His help, because…
2. We exist in the midst of spiritual battles.
Hank Hanegraaff, in his book, The Prayer of Jesus, says…
“We must neither overestimate or underestimate the power and province of our adversary.”
Evil can be overcome, so we are not to overestimate its power.
But neither are we to underestimate it.
For as Charles Spurgeon said…
“We must not expect that a man, unaided from above, should ever be a match for an angel, especially an angel whose intellect has been sharpened by malice.”
We must be aware of what we are fighting and soberly be dependent on the Lord at all times.
APPLICATION:
So, how is your prayer life?
ILL Notebook: Prayer (Dick van Dyke)
In a little book about children and religion, actor Dick Van Dyke tells the story of a little girl who is asked by her mother is she had said her night-prayers. “Yes, Mother,” she replies, “But when I got down on my knees I began thinking that God hears the same old stuff every night. So I told Him the story of ‘The Three Bears’ instead.”
I like that little story, because I wonder if we don’t give God the same old thing over and over again—our outward concerns.
She was interested in what God might be interested in, so she thought she would give “The Three Bears” a try.
I think it points us to this truth…
1. Praying is about God’s Presence, not presents.
Praying is not about what we get.
Prayer is about being in relationship with God.
So the more time we spend with Him, the more we begin to think like Him.
And, as a result, it becomes an edifying, invigorating, and energizing exchange.
But…
2. Too often, we come to God with a frenzied list of prayer requests.
We come to our time with the Lord full of hurry.
We come out with our laundry list of askings and gettings.
But we have it all backwards.
We seem to want instant formulas and answers.
But listen…what God wants is intimate fellowship.
You see…
3. We must recognize that genuine prayer is a growing relationship with the Lover of our souls.
Relationships, wherever we might find them, never grow apart from an investment of quality time.
For, prayer, in its essence, is a pursuit of relationships.
God pursues us.
Now, let us long for Him and pursue Him as well
Might we too have a passion for His Presence in our lives.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ...]
Be passionate for God…praise Him, for He is holy, He is our loving Father, and He is Immanuel—God with us.
Be passionate for God…and desire heaven on earth, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and watch what gets done when His kingdom comes and His will is done.
Be passionate for God…rejoice in His provision for us; seek His pardon your sin and healing for your brokenness; and remember your dependence—keep running to Him and not away from Him.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
