Wanting What Jesus Had

MATTHEW 6

WANTING WHAT JESUS HAD

Matthew 6:9-13

S: The Lord’s Prayer

Th: Prayer: A Passion for His Presence

Pr: WE NEED A PASSION FOR GOD

?: How? How is it communicated?

KW: Truths

TS: We will find in Matthew 6:9-13 six truths we communicate to demonstrate our passion for God.

The ____ truth we communicate is…

I. PLURALISM

II. PRAISE

III. PLIABILITY

IV. PROVISION

V. PARDON

VI. PROTECTION

RMBC 14 April 02 AM

INTRODUCTION:

What do you desire when it comes to your relationship with God?

ILL Notebook: Prayer (if I should die…thank you)

After a grueling day of training, which had included a ten-mile hike and completion of a difficult obstacle course, a sergeant’s platoon of raw recruits quickly fell into bed. As the sergeant lay in the dark, he heard a voice recite a prayer: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, thank you, Lord."

There was a brief pause and then several voices said in unison, “Amen.”

That recruit may have been at his wit’s end, but he was expressing His desire—he wanted it to end!

Perhaps his desire to be with God was a bit overstated.

But nevertheless, the act of prayer, at the very least shows a desire for a relationship on some level.

TRANSITION:

Earlier this year, we considered the prayer of Jabez.

1. When we studied the prayer of Jabez, we discovered that he desired God’s hand of blessing (I Chronicles 4:10).

The biblical text goes like this…

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. [NKJV]

Do you know what happened when he prayed that prayer?

He got what he requested.

God granted it to him.

But the truth is…

2. We can easily misapply Jabez’ prayer.

Jabez’ prayer is not a magical formula.

It is not something you repeat, like some kind of “mantra,” and God has to answer according to the way you desire.

We are tempted to think that if we have the right technique, and right form, our prayer will be efficient and effective.

We must get this right…we are never, ever able to manipulate God.

So we cannot use the prayer of Jabez this way, nor any other kind of prayer.

But we can learn from the prayers that we find in the Bible.

They do teach us how to pray.

This is what the disciples wanted…

3. The disciples wanted what Jesus had (Luke 11:1).

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

The disciples had seen Jesus pray.

They knew He had a close relationship with the Father.

They wanted it too.

So the Lord taught them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”

What Jesus teaches us is that…

4. WE NEED A PASSION FOR GOD.

But how do we get that?

How do we get there?

I believe it starts with what we communicate to God.

So…

5. We will find in Matthew 6:9-13 six truths we communicate to demonstrate our passion for God.

The instruction of Jesus is…

“Pray then like this…”

OUR STUDY:

I. The first truth we communicate is PLURALISM.

Now this is not pluralism in the bad sense, but in its literal sense—more than one.

Note how Jesus starts…

“Our Father in heaven…”

The first item I want you to notice in this prayer is that…

1. We exist in community, not in isolation.

We belong to the community of faith.

So when we pray, we are not praying to “my” Father.

We are praying to “our” Father.

We do not live in isolation.

God has placed us among the people of God.

2. We are placed in a family.

We know that according to John 1:12, we have become the children of God.

We are related, for what we have in common is a Father.

ILL Notebook: Prayer (JFK-- David Jeremiah, Prayer, the Great Adventure, pp.89-90.)

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? 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. Your kids would not have been allowed to do that. Nor mine. But his kids were. Why? He was their father. He was not only President of the United States; he was also their dad.