For the last few weeks we’ve been sharing with you a series of messages on one of the most crucial practices of every Christian – that of prayer. And we said from the beginning, that the action of prayer ought not be viewed as an option for the Christian, but as an obligation.
And prayer, as it were, is an action which was never designed to move the very heart or mind of God, as the late Dr. E. K. Bailey said, but prayer will change the mind and heart of the one doing the praying.
Our jumping off point for this series was taken from Matthew 6: 9-13. This familiar text stems from Jesus answering his disciple’s requests as asked in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray…”
The very response Jesus gave his disciples in answering their request is what we’ve come to know as “The Lord’s Prayer.” But when you look at the context in which the prayer was given, we recognized that it was not actually the prayer of Jesus, but rather it was a model prayer – a prayer to pattern after - for his disciples. Therefore using the model prayer as our guide, we introduced the acrostic A-C-T-S, in order to help us fellowship with God in prayer.
In our first installment, Prayer and Fellowship, we suggested to you that the first thing Jesus advised his disciples to do, when fellowshipping with God in prayer, is to set forth Adoration.
And in order to obtain the mindset of adoration, all we need to do is recognize (first and foremost) we are speaking to God - the sustainer of life; the controller of all; the Great I Am – God!
And we are to adore Him because of His,
a)Person
Because of who He is
b)Parenthood
“Our Father who art in heaven…” He is our heavenly Father.
c)Perfect
“Hallowed be thy name.” His name is perfect!
d)His will should be our Pursuit
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Prayer and Fellowship, A- Stands for adoration.
In our next installment, Prayer and Forgiveness, we discovered that the second letter of our acrostic C stands for confession. Confession is deemed the act of inner cleansing and it’s also the qualifier for forgiveness.
The word “confess” in the original language means to ‘say the same words’ as God says or in essence ‘to see it the same way as God sees it’.
So in further discovery of the Matthew 6 text, we suggested to you that confession of sin is an essential principle for the Christian. And hopefully we brought to light that confession is essential in order to continue our,
a)Heavenly Relationship
Based on Psalms 66:18 which says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.”
b)Human Reconciliation
Because of Matthew 5: 23-24, Jesus clearly gives us his stance as to the importance of human/heavenly reconciliation.
So confession is an essential principle. But also confession carries with it a conditional promise.
Verse 12 reads, “And forgives us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Forgive us as we forgive others – that’s conditional! The outline of this fact is this; in order to,
a)Receive forgiveness
b)Reciprocate forgiveness
Prayer and Forgiveness, C- Stands for confession.
Our third installment, Prayer and Favorable Notice, we brought to light that the third letter of our acrostic T stands for thanksgiving. And because we have learned to adore God for who He is; confess to Him what we’ve done, let’s began to thank Him for what He has done.
So in this matter of thanksgiving, it is merely the creation giving favorable notice to the Creator for all He has done. With that in mind, we suggested to you that giving God thanks in our prayers shows our, acknowledgement of God.
We acknowledge God with a prayer of thanksgiving that it is because of Him we are the recipients of,
a)Blessings
He is the source of our blessings.
b)through Burdens
Somewhere in the midst of our burdens, God gave us peace. We need to say, thank you.
Thanksgiving not only shows our acknowledgment of God, but it also shows our, appreciation to God. Because God delights in specifics, be specific when you thank God for,
a)Redemption
“For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, where we cannot boast about it.” Father, thank you for redemption.
b)Renovation
‘Lord, I know I’m not all you want me to be right now, but I thank you that I’m not what I used to be!’ Father, thank you for internal renovation.
c)Resurrection
Because of the death of Jesus; his suffering, his sacrifice on the cross and his subsequent resurrection from the dead; we now have insight to look forward to that, “…that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;” Father, thank you for my future resurrection.
Prayer and Favorable Notice, T- Stands for thanksgiving.
Well this brings us to our last installment on the A-C-T-S of prayer, Prayer and Formal Requests. The fourth letter of our acrostic S stands for supplication.
The last step of any prayer to God should be that of bringing our formal requests or personal petitions before Him.
As we spend time in adoration, confession and thanksgiving, our requests may actually change from what they had initially been at the beginning to something different at the end. For example, you may have wanted to pray, “Lord change them because of this and that.” But after spending some intimate time in the presence of God and taking the focus off our ourselves and placing them on God, it’s quite normal that our petitions will change from, “Lord change them,” to, “Lord, change me.”
When we precede our petitions with adoration, confession and thanksgiving, we align ourself up with the will of God. That’s our objective in prayer – line up with the will of God. If we want to see our prayers answered more often, faster and favorable, we need to pray according to the will of God.
When Jesus was hanging on the cross, dying for the sins of the world, he was more concerned about others than he was for himself. He could have prayed to have legions of angels come and take him down from the cross but he stayed there because it was his Father’s will. How do we know this, because at the appointed time Jesus said, “It is finished.” The redemptive work was complete; God’s will had vetoed Jesus’ worry; the work was done.
Looking again at our text of the model prayer, we want to lift up for you two areas in regards to formal requests. First, our formal request should consist of our personal or
I/. Social Needs
“Give us this day our daily bread.” This is basically a request for God’s continued,
a)Daily Provisions
This is a comforting thought to know that the very God of the universe has an interest in you and me. But also, it’s god to know that He promises to meet the daily needs of our lives.
We never have to feel shame in bringing our requests to God because His words tells us to, “cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
And Paul discusses this same issues to the Philippian church in their letter. He says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6
What’s the point? The point is, scripture tells us to bring our daily requests to God because He is the only one who can do something about it!
Sometimes there are needs in our daily lives where,
Acquaintances cannot assist
Cash can’t clear up the issue
Influence may not impact the situation
But whatever the need may be; more money, better mental capacity; exhibit more love, bring it to God. Now because we request it doesn’t mean God will fix it or handle it the way we want Him to. But what will happen is that one of His provisions may be to grant us His peace in our situation.
Verse 7 of Philippians 4 continues to say, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Our desired provision may not be met, but we will definitely have peace when you pray for daily social needs.
Matthew 6:34 says, “Do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
So Jesus says, request for social needs, but also request for,
II/. Spiritual Strength
“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” In essence He’s telling us to ask for more,
a)Divine Staying Power
In Matthew 6:13, Jesus is not implying that God is the one who leads us into temptation or even is the tempter of man; scripture clears that up for us. The Bible declares that those positions are held by Satan and self.
Matthew 4:3 calls Satan the tempter (after Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, he was tempted in the wilderness) and James 1:14 declares we (as self) are all tempted when we are drawn away be our own lust and desires.
But what Jesus is saying is that with this request we are asking God for guidance so we will not get out of His will and place ourselves in the path of temptation. Hence, we’re asking for divine staying power.
One writer once said, “when we pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation,’ it is an appeal to God to put watch over our eyes, our ears, our mouth, our feet and our hands. That is everything we see, hear, or say, or any place we go and in everything we do, that He will protect us from sin.”
Why pray for divine staying power? Because Jesus understands the gravity pull of sin and the very pitfalls of sin. But he also knows that we can (with the Father’s help) overcome the very power of sin by asking for divine staying power.
So supplication prayer deals with social needs (daily provisions) and spiritual strength (divine staying power).
In closing, let me ask you a question. Have you ever been frustrated because your prayers seem to go unanswered? Remember, prayer is not designed to change God’s way but it’s designed to move us towards God’s way. Prayer was not designed for us to get our desires on Earth; it’s the process to where God aligns our desires with His.
In John 15:7, Jesus makes a conditional promise when he says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.” This verse is not a ‘genie-in-the-bottle scenario. The condition for the promise is this; us abiding in him and his words abiding in us. When we maintain a continual fellowship with Jesus and the Father and his word is at home in our hearts, we can ask whatever and it will happen But the caveat is this; when we become so in tune with God and His word, we’ll begin to know what God really wants. And then His desires will become our desires. And that’s when we’ll see all of our prayers being answered. “Lord, teach us to pray…”
Pray using the A-C-T-S of prayer: adoration; confession; thanksgiving and then supplication and then watch God move in your lives.
