SCRIPTURE | Matthew 6:9-15
PRACTICING AUTHENTIC RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Demonstrated By A Transformed Life.
We Have Talked About Worshiping The Right God The Wrong Way:
The Substandard Worship Of God Is Clear From Chapter 6:
THEIR ATTITUDE AND MOTIVES
TOWARD THEIR RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY
WAS INADEQUATE.
JESUS REESTABLISHED GOD'S VIEW
ON BEING AUTHENTIC.
The Apostate Form Of Judaism Existed Even Before Jesus,
It Exists Without Christ For Centuries And Even Today.
The TRUE Religion Of The Old Testament Was Fulfilled In Christ Jesus.
The Judaism That Rejects Christ Is A False Religion.
JESUS CAME AND SET A CORRECT STANDARD.
JESUS CAME TO SET A DIVINE STANDARD.
HE Says To Them:
I Am NOT Come To Destroy The Law And The Prophets.
I Am Come To: Reaffirm Them.
I Am Come To: Reassert True Righteousness.
I Am Come To: Re-Establish God's Established Standard.
I Am Come To: Explain God Sees Even Covert Action Of Hypocrisy.
SO: In Chapter 6: Jesus Tells Them:
They Have The Wrong Approach To:
The Things Of Life.
What Defiles You.
Theology.
Worship.
PRAYER.
So What Is The RIGHT Approach To God ?
OUR WORSHIP TOWARD GOD
SHOULD COME FROM THE DEPTHS OF A PURE HEART.
DO NOT BE PHONY:
In Your Giving: In Your Praying: In Your Fasting:
So, Jesus Really Unmasks Hypocrisy.
PREVIOUSLY: THE PROPER ATTITUDE IN PRAYER.
1. PRAYERS OF VANITY:
A. The Recognition Desired:
THE MOTIVE OF YOUR PRAYER MATTERS !!
If Offered To Receive The Recognition And Praise Of Men,
It Is Nothing More Than Words Uttered From Our Lips.
B. The Reward Displayed:
Prayer Offered Simply For Recognition And Public Praise.
They May Receive It, But That Is All.
C. The Rebuke Conveyed:
We Must Pray With A Sincere Heart.
We Must Pray With A Genuine Desire For God To Do Anything,
2. PRAYERS OF SAMENESS:
Jesus Addressed The Repetitive Prayers Of The Heathen.
A. Their Practice:
No Thought Or Desire In Their Prayers,
Just Familiar Words Repeated Over And Over Again.
THE FOCUS IS THE ATTITUDE OF OUR PRAYERS.
Prayer Needs To Flow From The Heart,
B. Their Perception:
Ensure That Our Motive Is Pure.
Ensure That Our Attitude Is Right.
3 PRAYERS OF SINCERITY:
THE ATTITUDE OF PRAYER GOD DESIRES.
BE CAREFUL:
DO NOT Pray In A Way That PLEASES MEN NOT GOD.
DO NOT Pray REPETITIVE THOUGHTLESS PRAYERS.
Be Careful TO SENSE THE URGENCY Of Prayer.
Be Careful TO SEE THE NECESSITY Of Prayer.
Be Careful TO BE EARNEST In Prayer.
Be Careful TO BE SINCERE When We Pray.
Our God Is Not Limited.
Our God Is Not Bankrupt.
Our Every Need He Can Supply.
Bring Your Needs In Life To The Lord.
Bring Your Difficulties In Life To The Lord.
SO THE KEY TAKEAWAY TODAY:
JESUS ADDRESSES ATTITUDES AND MOTIVES OF PRAYER.
SOME PRAYERS ARE UNACCEPTABLE.
SOME PRAYERS ARE HEARD AND ANSWERED.
NOW VERSES 9 THRU 15:
AUTHENTIC PRAYER BEGINS WITH GOD: 9-10:
AUTHENTIC PRAYER DEPENDS ON GOD: 10-15:
SO, PRAY THEN LIKE THIS:
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN:
IT BEGINS WITH GOD.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD:
IT DEPENDS ON GOD.
Jesus Gives A Simple Model Of Prayer For His People To Follow.
Known As The Lord's Prayer:
But Jesus Could Not Pray This For Himself.
Jesus Would Not Pray For Forgiveness Of Sin For Himself.
It Might Be Better Called: THE DISCIPLES PRAYER:
This Outline Explains The Right Attitudes Of Prayer.
This Outline Explains The Components Of Prayer.
AN APPEAL FOR A DECLARATION TO GOD,
AN APPEAL FOR FORGIVENESS FROM GOD,
When Jesus Teaches Us How To Pray,
And This Is The Model Of How To Pray,
Beginning And End Of That Prayer Focuses On God,
THE FOCAL POINT OF THE PRAYER THEN:
IS ON THE GLORY AND THE KINGDOM,
THE HONOR OF GOD,
THE EXTENSION OF HIS KINGDOM.
Everything Has To Fit Into That Context,
So That All Prayer In A Sense Is Controlled By The Kingdom, by The Glory Of God.
This Truth Is Really Basic To Our Prayer Life.
John 14:13. Whatever You Ask In My Name, I’ll Do It That The Father May Be Glorified In The Son.
Prayer Begins And Ends:
Not With The Indulgence Of Man,
But With The Glory Of God,
Not With The Building Of My Empire,
But His Kingdom,
Not With Getting What I Want,
But Doing His Will,
Not With The Elevation Of My Name.
But With The Hallowing Of HIS Name.
EVERYTHING IN PRAYER REVOLVES AROUND:
WHO GOD IS.
WHAT GOD WANTS.
HOW GOD IS TO BE GLORIFIED.
That Is The Sum And Substance Of Proper Praying.
Anything Else Is Going To Lead To Self Indulgence.
PRAYER IS PRIMARILY WORSHIP.
It Is Godward.
It Is Not For Me To Get Get Get.
It Is To Allow God To Be Glorified.
My Prayers Should Be NOT Primarily For What I Can Gain.
My Prayers Should Be For The Glory Of God.
FIRST THOUGHT IN THIS PRAYER:
GOD’S PATERNITY, GOD IS FATHER.
OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN.
We Go To God Because He Is Our King Our Monarch, Our Judge, Our Creator But ALSO OUR FATHER.
Now, O Lord, Thou Art Our Father,
We Are The Clay And Thou Our Potter,
We All Are The Work Of Thy Hand.
That’s The Recognition.
You Made Us.
You Gave Us Life.
You Gave Us Birth.
You Supply Our Resources.
We Belong To You Through Through Faith In Christ.
We Are Your Adopted Children.
And When I Come To God In Prayer,
We Come To Our LOVING FATHER.
This Was A New Revelation In Many Ways To The Jews.
They Saw God As Father Only In A National Sense.
If God Is Seen As Father In The Old Testament,
He Is Seen As The Father Of A Nation,
Not An Intimate Loving Father Of An Individual.
Jesus Came And Revealed God As An Intimate Loving Father.
Romans 8:15: Paul Says: Abba Father which Means PAPA.
Those Are Terms Of Endearment, Terms Of Intimacy.
SECOND THOUGHT IN THIS PRAYER,
GOD’S PRIORITY,
Verse 9: Our Father Who Art In Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name.
Here Is The First Petition.
And The Essence Of This Petition Is Worship.
God, The First Thing I Pray Is That Your Name Be Hallowed.
The Fundamental Duty In Prayer:
Your Needs Must Be Given A Secondary Place
The Lord Is Freely Accorded The Preeminence
In Our Thoughts, Desires, And Supplications.
The Glory Of God’s Great Name Is The Ultimate End Of All Things:
Every Other Request Must Not Only Be Subordinated To This One,
But Be In Harmony With And In Pursuance Of It.
WE CANNOT PRAY CORRECTLY
UNLESS THE HONOUR OF GOD
BE DOMINANT IN OUR HEARTS.
Recognition That God Is Father.
Recognition That God’s Name Is To Be Hallowed.
Hallowed Be Thy Name: That Simply Means All That God Is.
WHICH MEANS TO EXALT OR LIFT ON HIGH.
In Those Days The Name Of Someone Was The Sum Of them.
Who They Were. It’s Still That Way To Some Extent.
God: There’s An Image Of All That He Is In That Name.
God’s Name Is The Sum Of All That He Is.
Christ’s Name Is The Sum Of All That He Is.
The Name Stands For The Nature, The Attributes, The Character, The Personality Of God.
So What This Petition Is Saying:
Father, May Your Person, Your Identity, your Character, Your Nature, Your Attributes, And Your Reputation Be Hallowed.
GOD PATERNITY,
GOD'S PRIORITY,
3. GOD'S PROGRAM.
Verse 10 Says, Thy Kingdom Come.
Here Is A Prayer For The Advancement Of God’s Kingdom.
This Marks Every True Man And Woman Of God Through The History Of The Kingdom.
The Saints Of The Ages Have Been People Who Greatly Were Concerned About God's Program:
WHAT IS GOD'S PROGRAM?
THE ADVANCEMENT OF GOD’S KINGDOM,
Not The Building Of Their Own Empire,
Not The Padding Of Their Pocket.
Our Prayer Should Be About How To Advance The Kingdom?
We’re Not Praying Just About The Success Of Our Enterprise.
We’re Not To Be Praying Just About Our Particular Needs.
The Bottom Line Is: Lord, Just Let Your Kingdom Come.
Not Our Petty Kingdom, His Kingdom.
But What You Really Pray For Is That The Kingdom Would Come However And In What Way,
And Through Whomever God Would Want It To Come.
THE CENTRALITY OF PRAYER THEN IS WORSHIP.
We Go To A Loving Father, but That Means We Accept That He Knows Best And In Obedience Respond To Him.
In Our Prayers, We Should Be Concerned About:
The First Thing Is His Glory.
The Second Thing Is The Extension Of His Kingdom.
The Third Thing Is His Will Be Done,
GOD PATERNITY.
GOD'S PRIORITY.
GOD'S PROGRAM.
4. GOD'S PURPOSE;
Verse 10, Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven.
Thy Will Be Done.
MEANS: God, Do Your Purpose.
We Should Always Pray:
Lord, Do Your Will.
That Should Be What We Always Want !!!
We Should Not Want Anything That Is Not God's Will.
We Should Not Want Anything That Is Not For God's Purpose.
And Even Though God Is My Father And Loves Me,
And Even Though If I Ask Him For Bread He Won’t Give Me A Stone,
And If I Ask Him For Fish He Won’t Give Me A Snake,
Even Though God Has Resources Unlimited To Give.
Those Things Are Given When They Will Give Him Glory,
When They Will Extend His Kingdom
When They Will Fulfill His Will.
SO, OUR PRAYERS SHOULD BE CONTROLLED BY THESE.
THAT’S HOW JESUS TAUGHT US TO PRAY.
So, The End Of Prayer Is Not So Much Tangible Answers.
the End Of Prayer Is A Deepening Life Of Dependency.
The End Of Prayer Is A Greater Sense Of Being a Part Of God’s Kingdom And What God Is Doing.
First I Ask For My Needs To Be Supplied.
Secondly, For My Sins To Be Forgiven.
Thirdly, Lead Us Not Into Temptation, Deliver Us From Evil.
We Pray For Needs.
We Pray For Cleansing.
We Pray For His Protection.
But All Within The Contexts Of His Glory.
PRAYER IS WORSHIP.
A Worshiping Prayer Gives God The Right To Be God,
To Glorify His Name,
To Extend His Kingdom.
To Do His Will.
THAT IS HOW GOD WANTS US TO PRAY AND BE HEARD !!
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