LESSON: AUTHENTIC PRAYER
[LEARN TO PRAY LIKE JESUS]
Slide Graphic – praying hands. Verse:
Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way
(1 Samuel 12:23)
Amazon has over 13,000 books listed on prayer. It surprised many people in our country a few years ago when a small little book, Prayer of Jabez, knocked Harry Potter from the #1 spot on the NY Times bestseller list.
When we use the word “authentic” here, what we mean is prayer that God approves of
• It isn’t prayer that goes through the motions or trying to be religious.
• It isn’t about what time of day you pray, how often, or how many people are listening
• Daily, in the morning (Psalms 5:3;88:13;143:8; Isaiah 33:2)
• Twice daily (Psalms 88:1)
• Thrice daily (Psalms 55:17; Daniel 6:10)
• All night (Luke 6:12)
• It isn’t about where you are when you pray or whether you are on your knees
• It isn’t about how you hold your hands or whether your eyes are closed or not
• It isn’t about the words you use or how long your prayer lasts
• Jesus asked Peter in Matthew 26:40, could you not watch with me for one hour.
• It is about being authentic
Prayer can be authentic, but how is it done?
The Bible tells us that it is a sin to not pray. We are to pray “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Today, most people, if they pray at all, pray “without thinking”. Fortunately, the Bible also tells us we can learn to pray. We can be taught. We need, in fact, to be taught. If you don’t know how to pray, it doesn’t mean you are a bad Christian – it just means you haven’t learned.
Today we’ll learn.
[SERVE BEFORE GOD, NOT MEN]
Slide graphic – pumping gas at a pump labeled “self serve”. Verse:
1"Be careful not to do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
16"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
(Matthew 6)
Today we’re going to look at a passage known as “The Lord’s Prayer.” It is found in the sixth chapter of Matthew at the end of the famous “sermon on the mount.”
Before we jump right in to the actual prayer, let’s look at the context. The whole sixth chapter of Matthew is a section from the sermon on the mount warning against being a hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone who acts a part without authentically being what they are pretending to be – in fact the Greek word originally meant an actor in a theater. We aren’t supposed to be putting on a performance for the benefit of people who are watching.
First Jesus talks about being a hypocrite about giving to the needy, then he talks about being a hypocrite when you pray, then he wraps up with a discussion about being a hypocrite about acting godly. These are just three of many examples Jesus could have used. It was common literary convention of the time to give three specific examples to make a generic point.
The first thing we should understand, then, is that when we pray, it should be entirely between us and God. It doesn’t matter if other people see us or hear what we are saying, but nothing we say or do should be for their benefit. We aren’t praying to be seen or heard.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6)
A lot of trouble about prayer would disappear if we only realized…that we go to pray not because we love prayer, but because we love God.
[THE LORD’S PRAYER - MATTHEW 6:6-13]
Slide graphic – Gary Cooper sitting on mountaintop with Bible, from Sergeant York. Verse:
6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" ’Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
(Matthew 6)
So let’s look at the actual “Lord’s Prayer.” There are a lot of people who read this and assume that they are supposed to pray exactly these words. I bet all of you know the words. In King James, no less. Actually, if you believed Jesus wanted you to pray exactly the words he spoke, then you should pray them in Aramaic – the language he spoke them in.
Of course, Jesus does not want us to just parrot these words like some magic formula. In fact, that’s exactly what he’s referring to in the next section. At the time, most people worshiped pagan gods, and their ceremonies included repeating certain phrases over and over and over again to “wear down” their god into giving in to their demands.
Sometimes I wonder if we are any different today
• We work on saying the right phrases.
• We work on saying many things.
• We pray with great enthusiasm.
• We pray with a loud pitch.
• We pray with a holy pitch.
• And we pray with holy language, a language that we don’t use anywhere else.
And I wonder if it isn’t just babbling to God.
Jesus didn’t give Lord’s Prayer as a formula or incantation to recite…but as a model…Not here’s “what” to pray, but here’s “how” to pray. Matthew says it plainly… ‘pray like this.’
The very fact that Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray shows us that authentic prayer is “learned.” It isn’t a skill that blooms full grown in you the instant you become a Christian. If you feel like you don’t know how to pray, that doesn’t mean you are a fake or a failure. It just means that you need to learn.
When Jesus starts this discussion on prayer the first thing that he does is criticize certain ways that people pray.
• Engaged their bodies (standing, kneeling, prostrate, tears)
• Engaged their mouths ("babbling...for they think they will be heard for their many words)
• Did not engage their heart, soul, mind and strength.
[OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN]
ppt graphic – Sun Rising. Verses:
Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ’I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
(John 20:17)
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father.“
(Galatians 4:6)
Let’s look at the model prayer, line-by-line. If Jesus Christ took the trouble to tell us that this is how we should pray, what does that mean? How should we pray? What is it about this pray that we should be modeling?
The first line of the prayer is “Our father, who art in heaven”. This is actually a very interesting way for Jesus to have begun.
Notice that this prayer begins with God, not with our own needs.
He didn’t say for us to pray to “his” father, he said to pray to “our” father. We are just as much children of God as Jesus Christ himself. Not only is he ours, but he is a father, not an impersonal God. When Jesus was resurrected, he spoke to first verse above to Mary Magdalene – “my father and your father”, “my God and your God”.
You should know that these first few words were very controversial in Jesus’ day – they were actually a crime serious enough to be punishable by death, and Jesus was telling everyone on that mountain to pray this way. You see, Jewish people then or now wouldn’t presume to address God as their "Father“. Jesus startled people by repeatedly calling God His Father. Nowhere in the Old Testament will you find a single example of anyone praying to God using this word.
Jewish worshippers regarded the Name of God as utterly sacred-so much so that when scribes copied Scripture they would use a new quill to write the Holy Name, Yahweh, then they would throw away their pen, never to use it again. They reasoned that once it had written the word, Yahweh, the pen was disqualified to write anything else. It was considered irreverent to even speak God’s Name aloud. There are many names for God in the Bible. Religious leaders took two names-Adonai, which means "the Lord God", and Yahweh, the Name "I AM" God gave to Moses-they took the vowels of the first, the consonants of the second, and came up with Jehovah, a made-up word, one they felt they could speak without offending the holiness of God. Jesus is saying that we don’t serve a distant, impersonal God – we serve a loving father.
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? I think it’s 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.
For some people, the concept of God as Father has been damaged and distorted by a bad experience of fatherhood, characterized by rejection, abandonment or abuse. God is all that a father ought to be. For those who’ve had abusive fathers, God wants to be the father they never had. Psalm 68:5 says that God is "a father to the fatherless". We can trust God-He knows everything about us, he understands us and loves us. God does not possess the weaknesses, failings and inconsistencies of our human fathers.
“Our father” implies that all Christians on earth are not only part of Jesus’ family, we are also all part of the same family with each other. There are not many Kingdoms of God, only one. There isn’t a Baptist family of God, a Methodist, or a Catholic. There is one God, one faith, one baptism. Our prayer should be that all Christians are united in one family here on earth, just like we will one day be in heaven.
Jesus is telling us in the phrase “Our father” that we share with him a personal relationship with a loving father. In the second half of this first phrase, “who art in heaven”, he shows us that God, though our father, is still God – the creator of the universe, the supreme being, living in heaven surrounded by angels. This places our prayer in the context of worship and adoration; it also identifies our true home. We become so used to and preoccupied with the concerns of our human existence that we sometimes fail to realize that we’re temporary residents of this planet. When we pray, we’re calling home!
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!" (I John 3:1).
So this first part of the Lord’s prayer means that we should pray to our very own personal father, whom we share with Jesus Christ and all the Christians of the world, but who is also the Supreme God in Heaven, our family’s home.
[HALLOWED BE THY NAME]
Slide graphic – Norman Rockwell “Salute the Flag”. Verses:
...Holy, Holy, Holy LORD God Almighty, which was and is and is to come!
Revelation 4:8
...Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His Glory!
Isaiah 6:3
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble…
“Were you there?” - spiritual
When I was little, I was confused about the words of many of the hymns we sang. Have you ever heard the song “Surely Goodness and Mercy”? As a child, I used to believe that the song went “surely good Mrs. Murphy will follow me, all the days, all the days of my life”. I was always unclear on the spiritual significance of Mrs. Murphy. I mentioned this someone I work with who was raised Catholic, and she said that she thought for many years that the Lord’s prayer began “Our Father who art in heaven, how’d you know my name?
The word, of course, is actually “hallowed”, which means to make holy. “hallowed be thy name” means that we are acknowledging God is holy, perfect, pure and undefiled, set apart from the evil of this world. We are saying we respect who God is – deeply and awesomly respect. The words of the old Hymn “Were You There” catch the spirit of this – “sometimes, it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble…”
At the beginning of a football game, it’s evident who respects our nation and who does not. When the Pledge to our nations flag is given, some stand, remove their hats and place their hand over their hearts in salute…and others keep their hats on, put their hands in their pockets and keep talking to their friends. In the same way, some people honor God, while others dishonor Him.
Have you noticed that in our society we have lost out ability to respect things that are important? When you respect God something positive happens to you. God is awesome and holy without us saying so. However, when we show him respect, a portion of his dignity and respect transfers to us.
Think about it - have you ever been around some that has no respect for anything - what is their life like? Full of anger, rage, fighting, gossiping, and a deep need to be respected themselves.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philip. 4:7)
You shall be holy unto Me, for I the LORD am Holy and have severed you from other people that you should be Mine. Leviticus 20:26
This part of the Lords prayer says that we should pray with respect, acknowledging that God is the almighty God, creator of the universe.
[THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE]
Slide graphic – James Irwin (astronaut), or astronaut on moon with earth in background. Verses:
“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not stand against it. (Matthew 16:18)
14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us (1 John 5:14)
Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20)
When I was young, my hero’s weren’t rock stars or movie stars. The men I wanted to be like were the astronauts who were opening up the frontiers of our future, the physicists and engineers who were discovering and applying the truth about the way our world works, and the archeologists who were uncovering the truth about our past. But especially the astronauts. I had pictures of all the astronauts hung in my room – every single one. One of my favorite was a man named James Erwin. I talked my parents into taking me to meet him. I spoke with him and got his autograph. James Erwin was one of but a few men to walk on the moon. When he stood upon the lunar landscape and looked up at the earth, he prayed for the first time in his life. He thought about the strife among nations, poverty, hunger, and rampant evil; and he thought to himself: "What is more important than man walking on the moon is that God should walk on earth." This is what Jesus is saying we should pray for in this next part of the Lord’s Prayer - "Thy Kingdom come. The first thing that Jesus prayed for was glory. Not glory for himself as the ultimate goal. But glory for himself that would be a reflection of the glory of his Father.
“Billy Graham said, "At the close of the Bible we encounter these words, ‘And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away’ (Revelation 21:1). Centuries ago the apostles greeted each other with the word, ‘Maranatha’ -- the Lord is coming!"
We talked last week about the kingdom of God. When Pilate asked Jesus what kind of a king he was, Jesus said, "My Kingdom is not of this world." He told His followers, "the Kingdom of God is within you.“ In a spiritual sense, we are living now in the Kingdom. Both John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministries announcing that the Kingdom of God had come-it is here. When we pray "Thy Kingdom come" we are asking God to advance and expand that Kingdom in the hearts of people, and we are anticipating the day when that Kingdom literally comes when Jesus returns. It is a Kingdom that is both present and future-it is here and now, and will one day come in fullness.
By asking for the Kingdom, we’re asking God to make us holy. If the Kingdom is within us, this means we’re children of the King. We can’t pray "Thy Kingdom come" if we’re living like orphans cut off from our Father. We can’t honestly pray for God to reign over this world unless want Him to rule over us. "Thy Kingdom come" means we are under the Lordship of Christ. As Christians, we hold dual citizenship. Paul states, "our citizenship is in heaven"
You may have noticed by now that I’m always talking about the choice we each must make. The choice to serve God, live for him regardless of the cost, or the choice to serve ourselves, and live a life that we think will bring us personal happiness. When Jesus tells us how to pray, he is saying that we should continually pledge ourselves to his cause, his path. We don’t just pledge allegiance to our flag once in our lives – we repeat the pledge many times through our lives to reaffirm our allegiance. We need to reaffirm our allegiance to God also. This doesn’t mean you can lose your salvation if you don’t, any more than you lose your citizenship if you don’t pledge at a football game. It just means that you aren’t really serious about your commitment.
We are opposing every worldview that is contrary to God. People are enslaved by sin. We are engaged in spiritual warfare and we’re praying for victory. Are we prayer warriors? God loves heroic faith. Why don’t we pray more? Maybe we’re not angry enough.
The fact that we begin in the Lord’s Prayer with hallowing God’s Name, then asking for His Kingdom rule in our lives, then for His will to be accomplished, shows that this is hardly a self-centered prayer. Yet we are prone to approach God with a self-serving attitude that says: "My will be done". This is only natural. We want our own way. We want things to be perfect. Jesus had one of those moments. He was in the Garden about to face one of the most painful and harrowing experiences of life, and falls on his knees to pray “take this cup from me”, but, even knowing what was about to happen to him, he finished with “yet not what I will, but what you will.” It’s OK to tell God you are scared and don’t like the way things are going. Jesus did.
Matthew 6:33: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
This part of the Lord’s Prayer tells us that we should pray that God would reign in the hearts of men on earth first above all. That his kingdom would grow. That we would be a part of that growth in whatever way necessary. That we will have the wisdom to understand the will of God for our lives and have the courage to do it.
[GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD]
Slide graphic – Norman Rockwell painting, mother and son praying over meal in diner. Verses:
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. (2 Corinthians 9:10)
You have not because you ask not (James 4:2)
Up to this point, everything in the Lord’s Prayer has been focused on God. This should always come first. Now, however, is the time to talk to God about ourselves – what we are feeling, what we need. Jesus expresses this order when He says, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you" (Mt 6:33). We begin in prayer praising God, then we make our requests known-admitting we have needs which only God can fill.
Sometimes we don’t want to "bother" God with the day-to-day trivial things, so we tend to only go to Him for the extraordinary, urgent needs of life. When you think about it, though, its pretty arrogant to think that any problem we have, however large it seems to us, is anything but trivial to God. Isaac Singer once said, "I only pray when I am in trouble. But I am in trouble all the time, and so I pray all the time."
One day when Jesus was praying, His disciples urged Him to stop and have something to eat. He replied, "I have bread to eat that you don’t know about." Physical nourishment is only part of what this petition of the Lord’s Prayer is about.
2 Corinthians 9:10 says if you are serving God, he will supply your needs. But ask God for them anyway. No matter how well you are serving God, you aren’t “earning your keep”. Yes, He said He would give it. But ask Him for it anyway. Thank it for Him anyway. There is a book called Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten. The author said he learned to say “please” and “thank you” in kindergarten. I know God promised He would give His angels charge over us to keep us, guard us and protect us. I know He promised He would supply all our need. I know Jesus’ death has paid the price to reconcile us with God. But what’s wrong with “please” and “thank you”? You didn’t earn it. You ought to ask for it. Don’t take the Lord for granted and take what He has without talking to Him. The least you can do it say “please” and “thank you”. Your taking it for granted may be why you’re not getting it. James 4:2 says you have not because you ask not. Even if God has already promised to you, ask for it anyway.
Its called daily bread. If it is daily bread, then I must need it everyday. The bible says I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging for bread. If I’m begging for bread, I must not be asking for my daily bread, daily. Sometimes we complain about it and think that’s praying. Sometimes we just worry about it all day long and think we have prayed. But if I don’t have my daily bread, I must not be praying for it everyday. If our church needs a move of God we need to pray for it everyday. If our family needs deliverance, we need to pray for it everyday. If our friends need to know Christ, we need to pray for them everyday. We can’t live on yesterday’s mercy. We can’t live on yesterday’s grace. We can’t live on yesterday’s faith. We need to believe God everyday. Much like the children of Israel had to believe God daily for the manna that fell from heaven in the wilderness, we have to believe God daily. Give us day by day our daily bread. I’m not praying for something to happen next week, I’m praying for something to happen today. And I’m praying for it everyday. I can’t wait for it for another year, I’m praying for something to happen today.
The book of Proverbs gives the right perspective: "Lord, give me neither poverty nor riches; give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny You and say, ’Who is the Lord?’ And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy Name."
Reliance upon God doesn’t mean laziness! Paul writes to slothful saints: "We hear that some among you are living idle lives, refusing to work…in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ we command them-settle down and get to work. Earn the bread you eat. And I say to the rest of you, never get tired of doing what is right" (II Thessalonians 3:11-13). When sin entered the world, God told Adam, "From now on you will earn your bread by the sweat of your brow" (Gen 3:19).
Psalm 55:22: "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
Jesus said, "I am the bread of life; those who eat this bread will live forever" (John 6:35).
The secret of prayer is a hunger for God." If we are nourished by God, we do not remain the same people. When God fills us, we are changed. Bread of heaven, feed us till we want no more.
This part of the Lord’s prayer tells us that when we pray we should express gratitude for what God has given us, and ask for what we need, rather than expect him to give it to us because we deserve it. We need to ask every day. For what we need that day. This includes not just our physical needs, but out spiritual needs also.
[FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS]
Slide graphic – person A chewing out person B, pointing finger, etc. Verses:
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. ’Be patient with me,’ he begged, ’and I will pay back everything.’ 27The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ’Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ’Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32"Then the master called the servant in. ’You wicked servant,’ he said, ’I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.“
(Matthew 18)
This verse is about the past.
• Thy kingdom come – future
• Give us this day our daily bread – present
• Forgive us our trespasses – past
Our general belief is that forgiveness is a good thing. But when we get into the actual situation where our heart has been stomped on and our emotions have been ripped to shreds, we need a little extra encouragement. It helps us in that moment not simply to know that we are supposed to forgive, but why forgiveness is the course that we want to take. When we are in those hard situations where forgiveness is so unnatural, why should we forgive?
Forgiveness is not saying to yourself “the thing that happened was no big deal” and letting go on the inside. Forgiveness is acknowledging that there was something that happened that was serious enough to need forgiving.
The section just before the Lord’s Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount is about forgiveness:
43"You have heard that it was said, ’Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5)
We are to serve God and live his way. His way is to hate evil deeds, but to love all men. If you can’t forgive someone for something they did, it is not the action you aren’t forgiving, it is the person. If you want God to show his love for you, despite what you’ve done, you need to be willing to do the same to all men.
Reacting in this way is what makes us different in the eyes of the rest of the world. We talked last week that we should live like we are aliens in this country – our lives should make people curious. If you want to look really weird and different, try treating everyone with love and respect, especially when they don’t expect you to. Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement represent one of the clearest examples of Jesus’ Matthew 5:39-41 principle in action. Because endured the southern sheriff’s clubs and water cannons without resorting to violence themselves, the evil of the segregationists’ heart was brought to light. There was enormous power in refusing to respond to the violence in the way they were expected to - with more violence. Dr. King wrote, “To our most bitter opponents we say: We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering.”
Despite how people expect you to react, they really want on the inside to be treated with love and respect. Their need is so great that, when they see you modeling it, they will seek you out. They will want what you have.
I’m not saying forgiving other people, turning the other cheek, always works. There will be times when you turn the other cheek only to get it slapped too. But that isn’t important. The alternative to letting go of your grudges is holding onto them. There’s a Chinese proverb “Whoever opts for revenge should dig two graves.” Anne Lamott says that “...not forgiving someone is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.”
Regardless of how risky it may or may not be, Jesus has made it clear that forgiveness is not a suggestion.
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-15)
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:9-10)
This part of the Lord’s prayer teaches us that we need to ask for forgiveness and pardon for where we have failed our father, and that we must live a life that reflects the love of God to the world.
[LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL]
Slide graphic – soldiers praying. Verse:
And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9)
“I can resist anything except temptation.” - Oscar Wilde
“Lead us not into temptation. Just tell us where it is; we’ll find it.” - Samuel Levenson
“I deal with temptation by yielding to it.” - Mark Twain
Temptation will shipwreck a life faster than an iceberg hitting the Titanic. Don’t believe me? Every marriage you’ve ever seen wrecked was destroyed by a temptation that was let go. Every person you know whose life was sucked dry by drugs or other compulsions began those disastrous paths under the guidance of temptation. The integrity of entire religions have taken a horrible blow because of the temptation that some gave into. Careers, finances, personal integrity and political futures have all been driven into the abyss by the power of temptation that takes over a life. We treat temptation too lightly.
Temptation is all about choice. We can choice God’s way or we can choose another way we think will serve us better. Satan began in the garden and he is still at work today handing out temptation to tast the fruit of the other tree. God doesn’t promise we won’t be tempted. He does promise that, with his help, the temptation will not be too strong for you to bear.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
The important part of that point is “with his help” we can resist temptation. You need to pray for help.
He is able to keep you from falling and to guard you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the Presence of His Glory with exceeding joy! (Jude 24)
The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve and save me unto His Heavenly Kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18)
This part of the Lord’s prayer teaches us to request the strength and assistance of God in avoiding making bad choices. Strength to remain faithful to the path we have chosen – to serve God no matter the cost.
[PRAYER]
Slide graphic – people praying at the western wall in Jerusalem
One of the few remaining portions of the old Jewish Temple structure is the exposed foundation on the western side. For many years, Jewish people came here to pray for the return of their temple. It became, in fact, known as the wailing wall.
A journalist was assigned to the Jerusalem bureau of his newspaper. He gets an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. After several weeks he realizes that whenever he looks at the wall he sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously. The journalist wondered whether there was a publishable story here. He goes down to the wall, introduces himself and says: "You come every day to the wall. What are you praying for?"
The old man replies: "What am I praying for? In the morning I pray for world peace, then I pray for the brotherhood of man. I go home, have a glass of tea, and I come back to the wall to pray for the eradication of illness and disease from the earth."
The journalist is taken by the old man’s sincerity and persistence. "You mean you have been coming to the wall to pray every day for these things?" The old man nods.
"How long have you been coming to the wall to pray for these things?" The old man becomes reflective and then replies: "How long? Maybe twenty, twenty-five years."
The amazed journalist finally asks: "How does it feel to come and pray every day for over 20 years for these things?" "How does it feel?" the old man replies. "It feels like I’m talking to a wall.“
It sometimes feels that way to us, but it doesn’t have to. We aren’t praying to a wall, but to a living God. Start praying today. Jesus taught us how. Jesus didn’t teach us how to preach, he taught us how to pray.
[THE EMPTY CHAIR]
Slide graphic – an empty chair, of course. Verse: Lords Prayer
A man’s daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed.
The pastor assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. I guess you were expecting me," he said. "No, who are you?" "I’m the new associate pastor at your local church," the pastor replied. "When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew that I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the pastor shut the door. "I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I have never known how to pray.
At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ’Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ’I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now."
"So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."
The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon. "Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked. "Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead.
But, there was something strange. In fact, beyond strange — kind of weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed.
