LIVING ABOVE THE FRAY
Part 2: Approaching God
This past Thursday, I was honored to be able to speak at the memorial service of a dear friend of mine, Miss Jennie Leighn. You know, there is an amazing difference between the funeral of a Christian and a non-Christian. Gratefully, Miss Jennie was a Christian. During her lifetime she inspired folks at a New Tribes Missions boot camp. She served for a year as a missionary in China, and then the remainder of her life on the field, in Japan.
Miss Jennie loved Jesus. During the last month or so of her earthly life, she was in and out of the hospital. During that time, she never stopped telling people. doctors, nurses, and others who would come into her room, about Jesus. She loved her Lord.
Perhaps, however, one of the things Miss Jennie was known for, and the thing I most thought of when I thought of her, was her prayer life. Miss Jennie was a prayer warrior. She prayed for everything and everybody. During one of the last prayer sessions she had with a lady she was mentoring, the two of them prayed for people they new in 4 or more countries, in addition to the many people they prayed for in this country.
The last time I saw her, a couple of weeks ago in the hospital in Altamonte, after she shared with me for a few minutes about what was going on in her life, she turned to me and asked, “Now, what can I pray for you about?” She was a faithful prayer supporter of mine and of this church.
Many ministries, and missionaries around the world, were daily carried to the Lord on the wings of her prayers. She was known for her praying.
You know, I believe, to His disciples, that is probably one of the things Jesus was best known for as well.
Think of it. The disciples were with Jesus for around 3 years. During that time they saw Jesus feed thousands with a couple of loaves of bread and a few fish. They saw Him heal, probably, thousands of people. They saw Jesus walk on water. When they were frightened by a storm and thought they were going to die, they saw Jesus speak to the wind and the waves and marveled as they quieted. They watched Jesus raise dead people back to life. They saw Him cast demons out of people, and I don’t think they ever forgot the day He cast the demons out of the Gadarene demoniac, and the pigs they went into jumped off a cliff and drowned themselves.
They saw Jesus drive the money changers and the animals out of the temple with a whip. They had ringside seats when Jesus confronted the Pharisees and other religious people of the day, and sent them away with their hats in their hands. They heard Him teach with power and conviction like no other they had ever heard. But you know? I don’t think any of those amazed them near as much as His when they heard Him pray.
You know, of the many things they saw and heard Jesus do, the one thing the Bible records they asked Jesus to teach them was to pray. Could it be, that they realized that prayer was the key to what Jesus accomplished?
Jesus said, “I can only do what the Father has told Me. I can only show you what He has shown Me.” You see my friend, when you rely upon organization, you get what organization can accomplish; when you rely on education, you get what education can do; when you rely on eloquence, you get what eloquence can do. I am not against any of those things. But, when you rely upon prayer, you get what God can do.
That is why prayer is at the heart of those who live above the fray. It is the lifeblood of disciples, for it is largely through prayer, through that intimate relationship with God, that people communicate with God for the purposes of knowing Him. It is seeking His heart. It is putting your ear to God’s chest to hear and know His.
And so this morning, I would like us to look together at Jesus’ reply, when His disciples asked for His help.
Please open your Bibles this morning and turn with me to:
- Matthew 6:6-13
When a disciple prays, he prays:
I. DISCIPLES PRAY TO A PERSONAL GOD
- Matthew 6:9
“Our Father.” When Jesus began His prayer, His disciples and the others there, must have been shocked. He said, “We can, we should, address and approach God like a child to his Father.” That was a surprise to those there that day. Most were under the impression, like many people today, that God was an impersonal God, distant and somewhat unreachable. But Jesus said, “No, when you pray, you come to God like a child to his father.”
I often tell Drew I’m going to “dot his eye,” or “bust his lip,” and such stuff. Sometimes I’ll even stick my fist up when I say it. Does Drew draw back in fear? Is he afraid, when I wave my fist, that I’m really going to hurt him? No, because he knows that next to his mother I love him more than anyone else in the world. He knows that I will not intentionally hurt him for anything. Why?, because I’m his daddy.
Maybe because of that, he is willing to ask me for anything and to do anything for him. While he may be nervous around other people, or he might be afraid of other adults, he doesn’t come to me that way. He knows I love him more than I can say.
Last night he was doing something silly, and I told Gladys that he was her son, I didn’t know the boy. The next thing I knew, he was in the room with me saying, “I’m your boy. You’re my daddy.” Even though I was playing and tried to deny it, he knows without a shadow of a doubt that I am his daddy and that I love him.
My friend, Jesus says that is the relationship we have with God the Father. We come in prayer to a personal God, a God we know and Who we know wants the best for us.
My friend, I want you to know that God loves you. I don’t know what kind of a Daddy you had growing up, I hope you had a good one, but I want you to know that when you are praying, you aren’t talking to some distant God that doesn’t know you, that doesn’t care about you, that doesn’t love you. No my friend, you are coming to a God who loved you enough to send His Son Jesus Christ to die for you. You are coming to a God Who loves you more than words can say. You are coming to a God Who knows you better than you know yourself. He even knows how many hairs you have on your head.
Disciples, people who live above the fray, pray to a personal God. When disciples pray, they pray to a HOLY GOD
II. DISCIPLES PRAY TO A HOLY GOD
- v9
“which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.”
Now, while Drew is not afraid of me, and while he knows that I love him, he also has no doubt about who is the Daddy in this relationship. He knows that there had better be respect in our relationship. We play and we kid and we joke, but when I tell him to do something, it had better be “Yes Sir.”
I am afraid that we sometimes forget that when we talk to our heavenly Father. I am afraid that we sometimes forget that we are talking to the Holy God, high and lifted up. I am afraid that we sometimes take God for granted and treat Him like “the man upstairs” or some such thing, with no respect, and with no honor.
When we started this church, we specifically said that we would not make it a place where people had to dress up each week in an attempt to impress each other. We wanted it to be casual so people who don’t know Jesus, and don’t have fancy “church clothes” could come with what they have and meet our Savior without being made to feel uncomfortable.
I am afraid, however, that perhaps because of that, we sometimes dress like we are going to the grocery store. My friends, God is not a god of rock or wood, made in our image, that we can treat with disrespect. God is a Holy God. He is high and lifted up. When we pray, we are entering the very hallways of heaven. We are entering the “Holy of Holies.” We are entering the throne room of God.
When disciples pray, they pray to a holy God. When disciples pray, they pray to a personal God, they pray to a holy God, and they pray to an all-knowing God.
III. DISCIPLES PRAY TO AN ALL-KNOWING GOD
- v10
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”
There are many things Drew asks me to do, because either he doesn’t know how to do it, or because he is physically unable to do it. He doesn’t know everything I know. He isn’t ass strong nor as experienced as I am.
My friend, when you pray, you need to remember that God knows a lot more than you do as well. The Bible says, “Our thoughts are not His thoughts, nor our ways, His ways.”
One night a father heard his young daughter speaking, although she was alone in her room. The door was cracked just enough so that he could see that she was kneeling beside her bed in prayer. Interested to find out what subjects a child would bring before God, he paused outside her door and listened. After listening for a minute he was puzzled to hear her reciting the alphabet: “A,B,C,D, ...” She just kept repeating it. He didn’t want to interrupt her, but soon his curiosity got the best of him and he broke in on her prayer. He said, “Honey”, “what are you doing?” “I’m praying Daddy,” she replied. “Well, why are you praying the alphabet?” he asked. She explained, “I started my prayers, but I wasn’t sure what to pray. I decided to just say all the letters of the alphabet and let God put them together however He thinks best.”
When you and I pray, we need to pray with submissive hearts. We need to pray, realizing that we don’t know it all. God sees things we cannot see. And so, we pray, not with our own agenda, but simply asking for His agenda. Disciples come asking, In Jesus Name.” They come saying, “God, I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but you do. More than anything else, I want your will to be done. I trust you. You tell me where to go, what to do, and what to say, and I will trust you. ...
IV. DISCIPLES PRAY TO A GIVING GOD
- v11 Give us this day. They pray to a God they know can, and will provide their needs. ...
V. DISCIPLES PRAY TO A FORGIVING GOD
- v12
“Forgive us our debts.”
This past week, Drew got into trouble and was disciplined for it. In my mind and his it was taken care of. Later, however, Gladys got Drew alone and wanted to know why he did what he did. ... Drew answered, “ I’ve already been punished, and I said I was sorry. That’s over with. Can’t we forget it?” God does forgive. We don’t have to keep dragging up the past. God has already taken care of it. Our sins are as far as the East is from the West. He has taken our sins and placed them behind His back to see them no more.
VI. DISCIPLES PRAY TO A DEMANDING GOD
- v12
“As we forgive...”
My friends, God expects His children to act like He does. He expects His children to forgive like He does.
VII. DISCIPLES PRAY TO A POWERFUL GOD
- v13
“lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil ...”
VIII. CONCLUSION
My friend, prayer can change your life. “Family Circus.” Family in the kitchen. Dad asks, “What’s the most powerful thing in the world?” Different things pictured. In the Mama’s mind, a picture of her children kneeling beside their beds, praying.
