Until We Pray-2 Series

UNTIL WE PRAY-II—Matthew 6:5-15(:9-13)

Attention:

This country(America) is a great country when she embraces truth...

This country(America) is not a great country when she shirks/releases truth.

We cannot celebrate independence unless we celebrate independence from sin, self, & the world, thru a dependence upon God in Christ.

Need:

?Can America receive God’s blessings when she will not embrace the true & living God?

Jesus presented a model to guide His disciples praying.

God’s people have guidance to help them in prayer.

How are God’s people to direct/guide their prayers?

When are our prayers successful?

10 realities which must be embraced for successful prayer.

We discovered this morning that,

Until we Pray we are not free...

We are not free until we embrace...

1. God’s MANNER(:9a)

2— We are not free until we embrace...

God’s FATHERHOOD(:9b)

Explanation:(:9b)

:9—“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”

Prayer must first of all be directed to the “Father.” He is not only my Father but “our” Father as well. That is, He is the God of all who hold to His truth in Christ. I am not so much recognized because of my individuality, but rather as I am a part of a greater whole.

I am recognized as more than me alone. I am part of the body of Christ. Without my part, the body suffers loss, & likewise without the remainder of the body, I personally suffer loss. Apart from that body I lose my identity.

Fathers have authority over their family—their sons & daughters.

He is charged with your proper raising. With your perfect raising!

“Our Father” lives “in” a place called “heaven.” He is to be addressed as being wholly separate from the world in which sin exists & is given opportunity for either obedience or rejection. However “our Father” is not limited to heaven because He is the Creator of the earth, the universe & the highest heavens(Gen. 1) or the third heaven(2Cor. 12:2). Though not limited to heaven, He is nonetheless to be addressed in a manner that regards His rightful place above all things(“in heaven”). “Our Father” is thus to be approached thru prayer in the very real sense of His being ‘untouchable’ by the likes of myself a sinner among sinful humanity. God “our Father’s” solution for sinners breaking thru such untouchableness is only by faith in Christ.

“Father”(Thruout)—pathr—

“Heaven”(See :11)—ouranov—1) The vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it—1a) The universe, the world, 1b) The aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds & the tempests gather, & where thunder & lightning are produced, 1c) The sidereal or starry heavens; 2) The region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal & consummately perfect where God dwells & other heavenly beings. Strong—The sky; by extension--Heaven(as the abode of God); by implication--Happiness, power, eternity; specifically--The Gospel(Christianity).

Argumentation:

Jer. 29:11—“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace & not of evil, to give you a future & a hope.”

Isa. 64:8—“But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, & You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.”

Ps. 103:13—“As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.”

Lk. 15:11-24—“Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. “And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, & there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, & he began to be in want. Then he went & joined himself to a citizen of that country, & he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, & no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough & to spare, & I perish with hunger! ‘I will arise & go to my father, & will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven & before you, & I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ “And he arose & came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him & had compassion, & ran & fell on his neck & kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven & in your sight, & am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe & put it on him, & put a ring on his hand & sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here & kill it, & let us eat & be merry; for this my son was dead & is alive again; he was lost & is found.’ And they began to be merry.”