Good morning, everybody. Good morning. It's so
great to be here with you all and enjoy this
beautiful day together. You guys can be doing
anything else this morning, but we all chose
to be here together, right? And I'm always thankful
for worship before we start and the concept of
family and being here in one place together.
So if you guys don't know me, my name is Marissa
Cantu, born and raised here in the Quad Cities.
parents of Mexican descent and pastors too. So
I was a PK growing up. And one of those questions
that came about this morning was, did you grow
up with any prayers or traditional prayers that
you guys said growing up or something that you've
kind of started with your children or before
meals? Does anybody want to share one? Shout
it out. Go ahead. Sing your grace. Come up, sing
it real quick. Sing it from there. Okay. For
the Lord is good to me. And so I thank the Lord
for giving me the things I need. The sun and
the rain and the apple seeds. The Lord is good
to me. Instead of Johnny Appleseed. Okay, I know
my daughter knows one. Let's go over here real
quick. Which one did you grow up with? You could
say all three. It was a nighttime prayer. Dear
God, we pray for our dreams from the north to
the south and the east to the west. May our angels
be with us to guide us, protect us in our dreams.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. Just nighttime
ritual routine prayers, right? Before meals.
And so all these prayers, they stay with us in
our heart. And I know that they're always with
us. Sometimes we say them repetitively without
even thinking about it. Sometimes we say these
things to share along and pass down to our families.
They're traditional. They're beautiful. Some
see prayers as just reciting, right? We don't
even think about it. It's memory. It comes out.
The Word of God says to be thankful always and
to be praying always, right? And so some of us
see these things as rituals, something you recite.
Some use prayer in a moment of desperation. We've
all been there, right? But Jesus teaches us that
prayer should be a way of life, right? Last week
we talked about prayer and the Sermon on the
Mount and how important prayer is to us. This
week I want to share a little bit about when
the disciples were with Jesus. They asked him
plainly, hey, Jesus, can you teach us how to
pray? And so in the next couple of weeks we're
going to be going through a couple of how -tos.
And as basic as this may sound, how to pray.
What Jesus put forth to his disciples was the
Lord's Prayer, right? And how many of us can
say the Lord's Prayer by memorization? I think
a lot of us, right? We use it as one of our prayers
on Sundays at least once a month. It's something
that we hold close to our heart. But how many
of us have really brought it down to layman's
terms and tried to really understand, like, Why
did he ask us to pray the Lord's Prayer? And
so this morning, I just want to share with you
some tidbits on how to pray and how Jesus taught
us to pray. And I'm going to be reading out of
Matthew 6. And I'll be reading from verse 5 to
verse 12. And then later I'll read a couple more
verses. But if you guys want to stand with me,
if you can, pull out your Bibles. your apps,
on your phones, however you feel like you want
to do this. But we're going to be reading Matthew,
chapter 6, starting with verse 5. And this comes
from an answer. We have this same kind of rendition
in Luke and Matthew, different versions of it.
But when they said, can you teach us how to pray,
this is from Matthew. And it says, and when you
pray, Do not be like the hypocrites, for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and on
the street corners to be seen by others. Truly,
I tell you, they have received their reward in
full. But when you pray, go into your room, close
the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen.
Then your Father who sees what is done in secret
will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep
on babbling like pagans, for they think they
will be heard because of their many words. Do
not be like them, for the Father knows what you
need before you ask him. This, then, is how you
should pray. And this is a New International
Version in Matthew. Our Father in heaven, hallowed
be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today
our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as
we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. You
may be seated this morning. Thank you. So the
first part of this section is a prayer in how
we see it as a relationship with God. It says,
Our Father, who art in heaven. And a part of
this is showing us that We go to God as a father,
just as a child would go to their father or whoever
is taking care of them as a caregiver, as a provider,
a loving and giving father. So when your child
asks you for help, as a parent, do most of us
help them out? We do, right? And so this first
part of this prayer that we all know by our Father
who art in heaven. is establishing a sense of
relationship, a sense of, hey, this is somebody
that I can go to because they care for me. He
didn't say you have to say anything fancy or
call him anything but father. He wanted you to
come to him with what's in your heart, with a
conversation. When you talk to your father, there's
a little bit of reverence. There's some respect.
But when you talk to your parent or your father,
it's a sincere and genuine conversation. It's
knowing that you can come in any way, shape,
or form that you are and have that conversation
with God as your father. And, you know, the scripture
says we don't have to babble. It doesn't have
to be long -winded. It has to just come from
your heart, right? How many of us wish that those
prayers before the meals were shorter sometimes?
You don't have to babble. They don't have to
be long. They have to come from your heart. They
have to be genuine. And so when he says to start
with our Father who art in heaven, it's establishing
a relationship. And how do you establish a relationship
with someone? You feed it every single day. Right?
You pour into it every single day. I don't know
if there's any of you here that have gone away
and have not had a relationship with their parent.
But what if you had to be rekindled and that
relationship had to get built again? Just like
some of us walk away from our father in heaven.
How do you reestablish prayer and relationship
with God? It's on a daily basis. It's giving
your all. It's speaking from the heart. It's
coming to God with your needs and the desires
of your heart. So beginning that prayer, Our
Father Who Art in Heaven, is showing us that
one way to pray is to come from sincere, deeply
within your heart and establish that relationship
with God. He then goes on to say, Hallowed be
your name, your kingdom come. Yes, he's our father,
just like we would go to our father with respect,
we go to our father in heaven with holiness,
honoring his name because our father in heaven
is divine, right? I don't know if any of you
have come to prayer with just petition in your
heart, just something that you need, something
that you want to ask for. There's absolutely
nothing wrong with that. And there's nothing
wrong with the beautiful traditions and the prayers
that we have, that we have been learning from
childhood. There's nothing wrong with that. But
today I challenge you to begin your prayers with
a sense of reverence and holiness. Honoring his
name with worship and adoration. Praise before
petitions with pure and sincere heart and genuine
intentions. There's a word in the Bible that
says clamor. Does anybody know what clamor comes
from? It comes from like a deep within, a deep
desire. And it almost comes out as a shout. And
sometimes when we're in those dark, quiet places
in our home, nobody's around. And I don't know
about you, but I've had a lot of clamor in my
heart, in my prayer, in my desire for God to
hear my heart. where it's coming from. And when
I do that, it's with a whole sense of holiness
and reverence, knowing that he's divine and that
he's hearing me and that there's an intervention
in that holy moment, that I come before God with
true, true faith, knowing that he can hear us.
Hebrews 10, 19, and 22 says, Therefore, brothers
and sisters, since we have confidence to enter
the most holy place, by the blood of Jesus, by
a new living way opened for us through the curtain
that is his body. When I was preparing this,
I was reminded of a sermon that my father once
shared. And if you guys want to talk a little
bit deeper on this conversation, I would be more
than happy to because it's so close and near
to my heart. But there's this beautiful thing
that happened. when Jesus died as a sacrifice.
It was the end to an old covenant which relied
on rituals and high priests because back in the
days, priests would wear bells on their ankles
before going into the holy temple. And if those
bells stopped and they didn't hear the bells
anymore, it meant that they were not holy enough
to be in the holy of holy and the priests would
be pulled out with the rope. He'd have to have
a rope. tied around his belt, bells on his ankles,
and he would be walking around praying for the
people outside of the tent. And if they didn't
hear the bells anymore, it meant that he wasn't
holy enough. And he would fall to the ground
and they would have to pull him out. But when
Jesus died, the scripture says that that veil
was torn and that we, as ordinary people, had
access. to god when that veil is torn it says
the old covenant which relied on rituals and
high priests and ushered in a new covenant were
the way to god it was then open to everyone we
now had direct access to god and humanity was
allowed believers were allowed to approach god
directly we didn't need that priest anymore and
i don't know if you know that That kind of holiness
is within all of us. If we believe in Jesus Christ
as our Savior and believe that he died on the
cross, that veil in the temple was torn and we
have direct access to God. And that's a beautiful
thing that happens as Christians. We have that
power to have direct access to God. I know that
it's a beautiful thing when your brother, your
sister, your pastor prays for you, but let me
tell you, you having that direct access to God
is power. In your tongue, power in your prayers,
wherever you are, in your car, at home, at work,
in that moment, you have that direct access to
God. And God says that he will listen to you.
So then the verse goes on to say, your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. A lot of our
prayers come from our desires, our hopes. And
sometimes those prayers and hopes don't align
with God's prayers and hopes for us. His purpose
in our life doesn't always align with the direction
that we want to go in. I remember preaching on
Desire Pass a while ago and saying that... Sometimes
a road is carved out, but we go a different way.
And sometimes that different way isn't God's
way. It's our own desire, right? But when the
scripture says, your will be done on earth as
it is in heaven, it's telling us that, yes, we
have our will to pray, but allow that moment
to be aligned with what God wants for us as well.
Sometimes... An unanswered prayer is God's protection.
I'm going to say that one more time. Sometimes
an unanswered prayer is God's protection in our
life. Sometimes our desire doesn't align with
what he has for us. And then sometimes unanswered
prayers are things that we don't understand.
Maybe we prayed for someone's health. Maybe we
prayed for someone to stay on this earth longer.
But we have to remember that our prayers have
to align with God's will and his purpose in our
life. God isn't a part of if this, then that
logic. I studied a little bit of psychology,
and there's this thing called conditional reasoning.
All of these things that have to do, if this,
then that. How many times have you guys prayed
and said, God, if you answer this prayer, then
I'm going to be a better Christian. If you answer
this prayer, I promise I'm going to go to church
every single Sunday. If you answer this prayer,
whatever you promise to God, right? Or the opposite
way, if God, you are holy, if God, you are all
power, then you will answer this prayer. God
doesn't work that way. He doesn't work in us
trying to twist his arm. God works in this thing
that he said, if you believe in me, and if you
have faith. And if you have forgiveness in your
heart, and if you pray with all of your heart,
then he is God. He shows you who he is, right?
There's not all of these if -then -that fallacies
or conditions or statements that we have to create.
But sometimes we do it anyway. And guess what?
God still hears us. He still hears our hearts.
And then it goes on to say, God, give us this
day our daily bread. So how do we pray with dependence
on God's provision? God cares about all of our
needs. He cares about our physical needs. He
cares about our emotional needs and our spiritual
needs. How many of us have really been in a bind
financially and you've asked God to make a way
where there was no way? I know I've been there.
How many of you have been spiritually broken
and on your knees? crying asking god for spiritual
wellness how many of you been sick and have asked
god to heal your body or heal someone else's
body god says give us this day our daily bread
and that bread is bread of life that bread of
life comes on a daily basis renewal how many
of us have ever gone through a situation where
we have eaten the same meal for three or four
or five days. Anybody? Was it fun? Maybe not.
Maybe it was done for different purposes. Maybe
it was a fast. Maybe it was weight loss. Maybe
it was you were trying to save money or you were
just trying something new or you made too much
chili. or a whole pan of lasagna, but it was
only you in the house. Whatever reason it was,
that meal was given to you daily, or you provided
it for yourself daily. When God says that he
provides us with daily bread, and he cares for
all of our needs, and we have to depend on him
for all of our provisions, what he's saying to
us is, this is daily. It's not just prayer when
you need it. It's not just prayer when you're
sick. It's not just prayer when you need something.
It's daily. Again, it's establishing a relationship
with him. It's establishing a prayer. One time
I was going to, well, I did preach on how we
needed to take God out of the medicine cabinet
and put him. Into our refrigerator. Whatever
we're going to pull out to eat, right? On the
table. Whatever we use daily. That's where we
need to put God. Not just praying for our own
provisions. Thinking that money solves everything.
Or wait until something happens to our health.
And then we go to the medicine cabinet to take
out God and use the prayer bottle. Mine is ibuprofen.
But the point is that establishing a daily ritual
with God, a daily relationship with God so that
his provisions can be for us on a daily basis
is a better practice than just taking him out
when we need him. Waking up, the first thing
I tell myself, I'm not a morning person. I'm
going to admit to that. But the first thing that
I do when I wake up is thank you, God, for waking
me up today. Beginning our day with a conversation
with God. can guarantee that we start a daily
relationship with him. The next part of the scripture
says that forgive our debts as we forgive our
debtors. The rest of the scripture I want to
say at the end of Matthew, verses 14 and 15.
Say, for if you forgive other people when they
sin against you, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you do not forgive others
their sins, your Father will not forgive yours.
And in Matthew, it also says, Peter asked Jesus
how many times he should forgive someone who
sins against him. Does anybody know the answer?
Peter says, is seven enough? And Jesus said,
no. Seven times 70. How many is that? Who's a
good mathematician here? 490 times. Other scripture
says 77. But whatever it is, it's not just one
time. Right? Forgiving your brother 70 times
seven. Some of us can't even forgive one time.
Prayer keeps our heart clean on a daily basis.
I'm sorry to tell you, but forgiveness is not
an option. And I'm going to say that again. Forgiveness
is not an option. We have to go into prayer with
forgiveness in our heart. We can't expect from
God what we refuse to other people. And so when
we enter, we pray with repentance and forgiveness
in our hearts, forgiving our debts as we forgive
our debtors, forgiving 70 times 7 on a daily
basis, knowing that forgiveness is not optional.
So what is this to say to ourselves? That on
a daily basis, we should be forgiving those who
trespass against us, those who sin against us.
those who hurt us, those who mock us, those who
have made fun of us, those who don't believe
like us, we are to forgive 70 times 7. That's
not easy. And so I challenge you this morning
to search your heart, and God, search my heart
for bitterness, resentment, or anger. I'm going
to say that one more time. I challenge us this
morning to search our hearts for bitterness,
resentment, and anger. We're also called to pray
with protection and deliverance because he says,
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil. So most prayer, it's a spiritual warfare.
It's a desire to want the opposite or the opposing
of what is currently happening in or around us.
A lot of us can pray for a beautiful day and
have a positive spirit, but sometimes we are
praying against spiritual warfare. We're praying
against the opposing. And the scripture also
says that our battles are not against flesh and
blood, but they are a spiritual warfare. And
so when we have things happening in our lives
that we just don't understand why we're being
attacked, why all of these things are happening,
remember that God gives his battles to strong
people that have his armor and that we are in
a spiritual warfare. If you don't understand,
it's okay because we don't have to understand
everything in the holy realm of who God is. But
just understand that there is spiritual warfare
that goes on in your life, especially if you
have committed to prayer every day. And if you
have committed to say, I'm going to build a relationship
with God every day. And if you have committed
to being kind to others and loving others and
showing God's love to others, there's going to
be spiritual warfare in your life. And so I ask
you to be prepared when he says, lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We're
asking for God's strength. We're asking for God's
protection from the enemy. Without prayer, we're
fighting battles in our own strength, and believe
me, I'm not that strong. With prayer, we fight
with God's covering. When we are weak, he is
made strong in us. And where there are no words
when you're too weak, he hears your heart. We're
also to pray with faith and persistence. God
is still a God of miracles. Amen? Can you guys
say amen to that? God is still a God of miracles.
Luke 11 9 says, tell us to ask and it will be
given. Seek and you will find. Knock and the
door will be open. Mark 11 verses 22 to 25 say,
have faith in God, Jesus answered. Truly I tell
you, if anyone says to this mountain, go throw
yourself into the sea and does not doubt in their
heart but believes that what they say will happen,
it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you
have received it, and it will be yours. And when
you stand praying, if you hold anything against
anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in
heaven may forgive your sins. God is still a
God of miracles. I don't know if you've prayed
and God hasn't answered your prayers before,
or you've just kind of been left wondering. how
he could allow some things to happen. But when
he gave us this how to pray, and he gave us our
father prayer, he really opened up some really
clear things to approach God as our father, to
worship his name as holy, to submit to his will,
to trust in him daily, to build that relationship
for daily provisions, to seek for forgiveness.
and extend for forgive extend forgiveness to
ask for protection and guidance and pray with
faith and persistence it's not about changing
god's mind it's about deepening a daily relationship
in him it's about our faith as we wait on him
and i will tell you as I stand here. I have seen
miracles. I have lived miracles. I think most
of you know my story. Stage four metastatic ovarian
cancer spread to six organs. You guys remember
that? Here I am a year and nine months later
cancer free. And I know it was prayer. And I
know it was faith. Prayer isn't complicated.
It's truly a conversation. It's God listening
to our heart. And when there are no words, he
still hears you. It's communication with our
Heavenly Father. He gave us a model, not just
for repetition. Not just to say a prayer, to
be saying a prayer. But he gave us this model
to build relationship. And I always say that
my life as a Christian is not about religion.
It's about building a true, intimate relationship
with Christ. It's about following his will in
our life and seeking your purpose on a daily
basis. So when you pray, remember the Our Father.
And close your eyes as we pray together. Father
God, teach us and remind us every single day
to establish a relationship with you. To forgive
others. To come with you with sincerity, with
a pure heart. with genuine intention father god
may our prayers always be directed to you not
just by asking for what we need but by giving
you worship and lifting you up as well draw us
into a deeper fellowship with you and align our
hearts with your will Give us faith to continue
and persist as we see your hand move. For your
will be done in our lives. Amen.