Sermon
Text: Matthew 6:5-15
Scripture
Reading: Luke 11:1-13
OUR
PATTERN
On the surface, it is odd that a group of Jewish men who
presumably had been taught to pray from their earliest childhood should
approach Jesus with the request to be taught to pray (Luke 11:1).3 Remember, Jesus said, “Pray like this.” Jesus did not
say, “Repeat after me.”
Our
Father
Luther once said that if he could just understand the
first two words of the Lord’s Prayer, he would never be the same again. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall
back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom
we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that
we are children of God…” (Romans 8:15-16). It was almost foreign to a Jewish man to call God
“Father” – this is the disposition of intimacy, nearness, care, compassion,
nurture, adoption, etc.
“In addition to justification and freedom from
condemnation (v. 1), believers are taken into the family of God and are
inwardly persuaded by the Spirit that they belong there. The cry is an
expression of an assured awareness of sonship” (Notes from the Reformation
Study Bible p. 1626).
Who
is in Heaven
This displays the mutual existence between intimacy and
reverence.
- Our Father: In His Lap
- Who is in Heaven: At His Feet
Make
your name Holy
The Church’s obsession must be with God’s exaltation. Here we are praying that God would subdue all minds and
hearts to voluntary obedience. It is true that in this way our own interest is
greatly promoted, because, when the name of God is hallowed in the way we ask,
our own sanctification also is thereby promoted (my note: sanctification
requires seeing and seeing leads to savoring – II Corinthians 3:18 – “And we
all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from
the Lord who is the Spirit”). Hence, by praying this way, we must desire that
he would nullify and suppress all affections which are repugnant to his will.
Such are the three first heads of prayer, in presenting which we should have
the glory of God only in our view, taking no account of ourselves, and paying
no respect to our own advantage, which, though it is thereby greatly promoted,
is not here to be the subject of request.6
Your
Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven
We long to see what we read and imagine to be true. I am
not promoting or condoning any particular movie here. However, how you ever
thought about why Narnia, Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games are so popular?
People want to see in color what they read and imagine. Conversely, people also
want to experience reading what they’ve seen. Christianity is both seeing and
desiring to see. We should long to see what we read and imagine and we should
long to read what we see. God gives us glimpses of glory that should drive us
to the Word and He gives us the Word which should drive us to pray “Your
Kingdom come” or “I want to see!”
The foundation of prayer is thinking God’s thoughts after
Him as he has revealed them (Romans 10:17) and addressing God according to them
in prayer (I John 5:14). Having revealed His purposes, God allows us to be
involved in the carrying out of His will as His dear children. This is part of
the process he has chosen to use in order to carry out His plan for the whole
universe.3
For a few examples, you can see this principle
illustrated in John 17, 2 Samuel 7:18-29, and I Kings 8:22-26. We should pray our desires because many times our desires
are God-given. However, in praying “your will be done” we surrender our own
preferences to the Father’s goodness and wisdom.
3
Implications of praying “Your Kingdom Come Your Will Be Done on Earth as it is
In Heaven"
1) The
Human Will is Changed through Prayer
- By prayer, Esau’s heart was changed towards Jacob (Genesis 32).
- By the prayer of Moses, God brought the plagues upon Egypt and removed them again (Exodus 7-11).
- By the pray of Joshua, the sun stood still (Joshua 10).
- By prayer, Elijah held back the rains for three and a half years. Then by prayer, he caused it to rain again (1 Kings 17-18).
2) Personal
Holiness/Sanctification
Obedience unlocks the riches of the Christian experience.
Prayer prompts and nurtures obedience, putting the heart into the proper frame
to desire and empower obedience. God’s Kingdom is made manifest through our obedience. Of course, knowledge is also important because without it
we cannot know what God requires. However, knowledge and truth remain abstract
unless we commune with God in prayer (one of the biggest lessons for me to
remind myself of: knowing is not changing; conviction is not changing;
agreement with a sermon or statement is not application). The Holy Spirit
teaches, inspires, illumines God’s Word to us and helps us as we pray to
respond to the Father in obedience.5
The religious teach that holiness is about being
separated from the world – withdrawing. Although it is Biblical that we should
not love the world, nor be of the world (I John 2:15-17), but I would argue
that Holiness is achieved by focusing on engaging with the Father rather than
withdrawing from the ungodly. Placing God at the practical center of your
reality is the key to holiness. In the life of Christ we see his continual
presence amongst the wounded, sinful, sick, greedy, religious, etc. yet Christ’s
holiness was not found in his withdrawal from society and sinner, but in His
moving towards the Father. Holiness is not found in the two ditches of “be
separate and different from them” or “be amongst them and like them to win
them” but be amongst them and different from them.
3) Personal
Happiness/ Satisfaction
If God knows everything, why pray? The question wrongly
assumes that the primary purpose of prayer is supplication and intercession.
The pinnacle of prayer is God’s glory as seen through adoration, confession,
thanksgiving, and praise. “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence
there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm
16:11).
“For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad
with the joy of your presence” (Psalm 21:6). “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children
of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance
of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For
with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Psalm
36:7-9).
Give
us this day our daily bread
I trust that you give and withhold with perfect wisdom
and love. Psalm 84:11 contrasted with Numbers 11:18-20 – when we
pray this way, The Holy Spirit helps us to be neither inflated with prosperity,
nor cast down by adversity. We do not pray for our monthly or yearly bread, because
our joy is to be dependently found before Him daily.
Forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors
Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One
“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
OUR
PLACE
In The Closet
Matthew 6:5-6 - You cannot get deep with God on the run, fitting Him into
the cracks of your day. But you can enjoy continual fellowship with God on the
run if you have gone deep with God in the stillness of the season of prayer.2
Corporately
“And God will yet
deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, that thanks
may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed upon us
through the prayers of many” (2 Corinthians 1:10b-11). “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and
by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God
for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and
that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints” (Romans
15:30-31).
Notice, Paul asks Christians to join him in prayer. Some
of you have wondered, Why do we have prayer meetings? Why have prayer chains
and prayer groups? If God is God, and it is his power that makes a difference
in answering prayer, why does it matter how many people ask him? If I pick up
Noel from the library because our son asks me to, she is just as picked up as
if four sons asked me to. One answer is that the more people that are praying
for a thing, the more thanks and honor God will get when he acts. The divine
purpose of prayer is to magnify the greatness of God. The more people there are
praying for something, and thus depending on God for mercy and power, the more
people will give him thanks and glorify him when the answer comes.1
Without
Ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17) – Perpetual Dependence
“WHAT DO THESE WORDS IMPLY? "Pray without ceasing." Do they not imply that the use of the voice is not an essential element in prayer? It would be most unseemly even if it were possible for us to continue unceasingly to pray aloud. There would of course be no opportunity for preaching and hearing, for the exchange of friendly intercourse, for business, or for any other of the duties of life; while the din of so many voices would remind our neighbors rather of the worship of Baal than that of Zion. It was never the design of the Lord Jesus that our throats, lungs, and tongues should be for ever at work. Since we are to pray without ceasing, and yet could not pray with the voice without ceasing, it is clear that audible language is not essential to prayer. We may speak a thousand words which seem to be prayer, and yet never pray; on the other hand, we may cry into God's ear most effectually, and yet never say a word. In the book of Exodus God is represented as saying to Moses, "Why criest thou unto me?" And yet it is not recorded that Moses had uttered so much as a single syllable at that time. It is true that the use of the voice often helps prayer. I find, personally, that I can pray best when alone if I can hear my own voice; at the same time it is not essential, it does not enter at all into the acceptability, reality, or prevalence of prayer. Silence is as fit a garment for devotion as any that language can fashion”
(A short paragraph from Sermon No. 1039 Delivered on Lord's Day Morning, March 10th, 1872, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington).
Still prayer itself is an art which only the Holy Spirit
can teach us. He is the giver of all prayer. Prayer for prayer – pray till you
can pray; pray to be helped to pray, and give not up praying because you cannot
pray, for it is when you think you can’t pray that you are most praying; and
sometimes when you have no sort of comfort in your supplications, it is then
that your heart all broken and cast down is really wrestling, and truly
prevailing with the Most High.4
Practical
Suggestions from Dr. John Piper
Pray in concentric circles from your own soul outward to
the whole world. Pray Scripture. For example, pray the beatitudes for people.
Praying God’s Word and promises will be mighty in the Spirit, because it is the
Spirit’s own Word and the Spirit’s own will that you are praying.2
Objective
Truth and Subjective Experience
This is not about either/or. Objective truth and
subjective experience both have their rightful place in prayer. The issue is
about which is the head and which is the tail. Faith must be defined by its object, not by the fervor of
the subject.3
In the ark of salvation we find a lower, second, and
third story; all are in the ark, but all are not in the same story. All
believers see Christ; but all believers do not put their fingers into the
prints of the nails, nor thrust their hand into His side. We have not all the
high privilege of John to lean upon Jesus’ bosom, nor of Paul, to be caught up
into the third heaven. Most Christians, as to the river of experience, are only
up to the ankles; some others have waded till the stream is up to the knees: a
few find it breast-high; and oh! How few! – find it a river to swim in, the
bottom of which they cannot touch. To grow in your experience then, there must
be much prayer.4
Sources
- “Prayer Changes People’s Wills” a sermon by John Piper on January 7, 1996 (http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/prayer-changes-peoples-wills).
- “Devote Yourselves to Prayer” a sermon by John Piper on January 9, 2000 (http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/devote-yourselves-to-prayer).
- A Biblical-Theological Perspective on Prayer by Grame Goldsworthy (http://www.sbts.edu/resources/files/2010/02/sbjt_104_goldsworthy.pdf).
- Spurgeon, Charles. Twelve Sermons on Prayer. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1991.
- Sproul, R.C. Does Prayer Change Things? Orlando, Florida: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009.
- Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 2008.
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