Guidelines for Effective Prayer (Part 2)
Matthew 6:9-13
May 15, 2005
Introduction
Children’s Prayers
* Dear God, I know you love me but I wish you would give me an "A" on my report card so I could be sure. Love, Theresa. (Age 8, Milwaukee)
* Dear Pastor, Do I have to say grace before every meal? Even when I am only having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Wesley. (Age 9, Baltimore)
* Dear Pastor, Thank you for your sermon on Sunday. I will write more when my mother explains to me what you said. Yours truly, Justin. (Age 9, Westport)
* Dear Pastor, Please pray for all the airline pilots. I am flying to California tomorrow. Laurie. (Age 10, New York City)
* Dear Pastor, I say my prayer before I eat my supper but my mother still makes me finish my spinach and drink my milk. Julie. (Age 9, Buffalo)
Thomas Nelson Publishers. From the book Dear Pastor, 1980 by Bill Adler Books, Inc.
Last week we started a three-week series on prayer, as we continued our walk through the Gospel of Matthew and in particular, the Sermon on the Mount.
In last week’s message, we looked at Jesus’ about prayer to find the first of a number of guidelines for effective prayer.
These guidelines were:
1. Avoid praying for "looks." In other words, don’t pray to make others think your more spiritual than you really are.
2. Don’t measure a prayer by the words. Don’t think that using certain words or phrases make your prayer acceptable to God.
3. Trust that the Father knows your needs. He knows everything that you’re going through, and he’s not caught by surprise. But even though he knows everything we should continue to pray, because it’s an act of faith and submission on your part.
Today we look at 5 more guidelines as we examine what is common called, "The Lord’s Prayer," or what many call, the "model prayer."
This is easily the most recognizable prayer in the Bible, in my opinion. Most of us could quote in our sleep, and many grew up praying it every day. It’s a wonderful prayer, and it has a number of lessons we can learn.
Today, however, we’re going to look at five things Jesus teaches us in this prayer that we can put into our own prayer lives, as we seek to be more effective in our prayers.
And my hope is that this won’t be just another sermon about the Lord’s Prayer, but rather that you’ll walk out of here today with something you can put to use right away.
Well, let’s get started, shall we? Please follow along as I read these verses.
"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. ’"
Oh, just a warning here: if you’re expecting this to be a real in-depth study of every word and phrase of this prayer, you’re going to be disappointed.
My purpose here today is to give you some real practical stuff that we can use in our every day prayer life.
Before we look at the five guidelines for prayer in our passage today, I want us to look at the phrase that begins this section:
"This, then, is how you should pray:"
Notice Jesus said, this is how you should pray, not what you should pray. This is important because Jesus is not saying that you have to use these exact words.
Besides, if that’s what he meant, we’d all have to learn Aramaic, since that’s the language Jesus spoke, and I have a hard enough time with English!
That’s the reason I prefer to call this the model prayer; it’s a model given to us by Jesus.
So with that in mind, let’s look at...
Five "P’s" of the Lord’s Prayer:
Each of these five "p’s" is another guideline we an implement as we seek to become men and women of effective prayer.
Here’s the first one:
Praise God’s name.
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..."
This is a good way to start any prayer - praising God. Letting him know that you hope that his name is honored in your life and in the world.
The psalms tell us over and over to offer thanks and praise to God, as if they’re two different things, and you know what? They are!
The difference isn’t huge, and they’re closely related, but I want to look at the difference, because I think we could learn something that will enhance our prayers.
So what’s the difference between thanks and praise?
Thanks is telling God what he’s done.
Praise is telling God who he is.
Thanks is saying things like, "You’ve been so good to me," or, "Thanks for doing this or that," or what have you.
Praise is saying things like, "You’re awesome," or, "You’re wonderful," or, "You’re holy and loving."
See the difference? Again, it’s not huge, but the reason I even bring it up is because I think we could all probably do a little better at just talking to God about HIM, not ourselves. Make sense?
So then the question becomes, which one should I do - praise or thanks? The answer is both. It’s not either/or, but both/and. Again, we are instructed throughout the Scriptures to give both thanks and praise.
The second guideline we’ll look at today is to...
Pray for God’s Purposes.
Verse 10 says -
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
One of the "dangers," if you will, of praying is that we only pray about ourselves or our situations, but we don’t consider God’s purposes as much.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t pray about our situations, but ultimately, it’s God’s purposes that count.
Even Jesus submitted himself to the plans of the Father when he prayed, "Yet not my will, but yours be done."
Why is this so important? Because security and significance on earth are found when we immerse ourselves in the purposes of God.
If you’re looking for meaning in life, for purpose, for significance, then giving yourself to God and his purposes will give it to you in abundance.
You see, you weren’t created for your own purposes, you were created for God’s.
And no matter who you are, what you do for a living, no matter your age or situation, you can find fulfillment in life.
But it’s found not in following your agenda, but in God’s.
So here’s a way to pray that I think will communicate to God your desire to see his will done: "Lord, make me better suited for your purposes."
And if you’re serious about that, he’ll make it happen, I promise.
So first of all, praise his name, then pray for his purposes. The third "P" or guideline I want to discuss today is to...
Pray for God’s Provision.
Verse 11 -
Give us today our daily bread.
Here’s the first part of the prayer that deals with our personal needs. We should pray that we get enough to eat.
Nothing wrong with that! Especially when we recognize the fact that everything we have is actually from God.
Sometimes God provides in a miraculous fashion, such as money you hadn’t planned on getting, food, whatever.
Other times he provides by helping you find a job or an ability that allows you to earn your food.
The late Larry Burkett, in one of his teaching videos about handling your finances, talks about counseling a fella who had lost his job. When Larry asked him how the job hunt was coming, he said, "Well, I’m just trusting the Lord, trusting him to supply my needs, just like he provides for the birds." To which Larry said something to the effect of, "How many times have you seen a bird standing on a stump, then a worm comes crawling up the stump and says, ’Here I am!’ Birds have to dig and scratch and peck to get those worms."
Folks, God put the worms there, but they need to be dug out. In real life, the Lord provides the money for our needs but sometimes we need to dig it out by working.
So how much is our daily bread?
Look at Proverbs 30:8-9 from The Message -
Give me enough food to live on, neither too much nor too little. If I’m too full, I might get independent, saying, ’God? Who needs him?’ If I’m poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God."
I love what the Expositor’s Bible Commentary says here: "The prayer is for needs, not our greeds." (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)
The story is told of two old friends who bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?"
The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars."
"That’s a lot of money."
"But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear."
"Sounds like you’ve been blessed...."
"You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my
great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million."
Now he was really confused. "Then, why do you look so
glum?"
"This week... nothing!" (SermonCentral.com)
Folks, it’s not bad to pray about our needs. But remember that he might have you take part in meeting them by using something else he’s provided: your talents, abilities, and gifts.
The fourth "P" or guideline for effective prayer is to...
Pray for God’s Pardon.
Verse 12 -
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
The word used for "debts" can also mean "faults," and also translated "sin" in some translations. The idea in any case is that we fall short with God, and others will fall short with us.
This part of the prayer recognizes this, and is a plea for forgiveness as well as the capacity to forgive others.
The Bible is very clear that we all sin, and that as long as we’re here on earth, we’ll need to be asking God for forgiveness because we tend to blow it sometimes.
So we need to confess our sins and ask forgiveness.
As for the part about forgiving others, it’s really quite simple - we are to forgive. God forgives us, we need to forgive those who hurt us.
we’re going to take a closer look at this and the verses just following the Lord’s Prayer next week, so I’m going to move on to the last "P" or guideline for effective prayer, and that is to...
Pray for God’s Protection.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Folks, it’s just a fact of life that this world is not perfect. And it’s another fact of life that you have an enemy who is very powerful and who is filled with hate for you.
The devil hates everything God touches, and he especially hates God’s best creation, people.
He hates you because you were made in God’s image, and because Jesus loves you so much he was willing to die for you. And he’s going to do everything he can to keep you from loving God, experiencing the full and abundant life Jesus wants you to have, and from being effective for God.
And he’s going to do everything he can to tempt you to sin.
This part of the prayer is a plea to God to keep us from being ultimately being taken into the clutches of the devil.
Just as we all have sins to confess from time to time, we will all be tempted, and if you think you’re immune to temptation, you’re only fooling yourself, believe me.
And let me clue you in on a big mistake: thinking you can go through life with all temptations without help from God.
Folks, God is bigger than you and your temptations and he’s able to help you. In fact, he wants to help, if you’ll let him.
As much as the devil hates you, the Father loves you infinitely more and he wants to help you and transform you into a holy person, through the power of the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit living and working in you.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians that every temptation you face is common to humanity, and that God is faithful, and will provide a way out. So ask him for it! Ask him to help you see what he’s provided as a way out.
Don’t try to go it alone - it’s a losing proposition.
Conclusion
For just a moment, let me address the portion of the prayer that appears in some Bibles and not others.
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."
It appears in the actual text of the King James Version and New King James Version, but in the margins of the NIV and other more modern translations. Why is that?
It’s simply not in the most reliable manuscripts available. It was probably not uttered by Jesus, at least not in this context.
Absolutely beautiful, and I think it’s appropriate and certainly not against Scripture. But it’s not actually a part of Scripture, as far as we can tell.
But let me also tell you something else. It’s certainly appropriate to add that, because it’s a great declaration and affirmation of who’s really in control, and who really is the provider.
Let’s review:
Praise the name of the Father, pray for his purposes, pray for his provision, pray for his pardon, and pray for his protection.
There is a lot we can learn from and apply from this prayer, and if that’s all we ever learned about prayer, it would be enough, don’t you think? You just can’t go wrong praying that prayer.
But don’t limit yourself to this prayer. Use it as a model. Use it as a formula in getting some face time with God.
One way to do that is to say each line, then personalize the request for your own situation.
For instance, "Give us this day our daily bread." "Lord, thanks for the job. Help me to work well so I can pay the bills and feed my family. And you know I’ve got that big health bill coming up. I could use your help here, because I’m not sure how I’m going to pay it right now."
Just a suggestion, but I think you get the idea.
The Bible tells us all sorts of great stuff about prayer, but this passage right here is probably the cream of the crop.
But let me just encourage you to not just file this away. Do something with it.
Remember that the purpose of Scripture is not it inform, but to transform. Take what you’ve gotten today and put it to use. Let these words of Jesus become a vital part of your prayer life.
Prayer is one of the best avenues available for God getting into us at a real significant level. And this model prayer is a great way to open the door of your life and heart for God to do his thing.
So in closing, let’s stand and pray this wonderful prayer together for our dismissal.
