WEBVTT 00:00:06.399 --> 00:00:17.019 Matthew chapter 6, verse 5. This is the section 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:20.600 where Jesus has given us some instructions on 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.920 how to pray. This is a passage that we've looked 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:26.739 at a lot. I know in my time of being here, we 00:00:26.739 --> 00:00:30.719 look at it from time to time. But I think it's 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:35.350 good for us to kind of refresh ourselves. With 00:00:35.350 --> 00:00:38.609 these words, sometimes maybe we get in a spot 00:00:38.609 --> 00:00:40.390 where we just don't really know what to say. 00:00:41.409 --> 00:00:43.950 But I think it's always good for us to go back 00:00:43.950 --> 00:00:46.429 and look at the Lord's Prayer. Sometimes you 00:00:46.429 --> 00:00:48.969 may encounter people and they may say, well, 00:00:49.030 --> 00:00:52.630 I don't know how to pray. Well, it's not really 00:00:52.630 --> 00:00:55.670 a right or wrong way to pray so long as your 00:00:55.670 --> 00:00:58.270 prayer comes from the heart. There is certainly 00:00:58.270 --> 00:01:00.630 a wrong way to pray, as we're about to see Jesus 00:01:00.630 --> 00:01:03.729 say. But the real key to all of it, which is 00:01:03.729 --> 00:01:06.049 the key to everything that we do, is what's our 00:01:06.049 --> 00:01:08.310 heart? What's the heart in which we're doing 00:01:08.310 --> 00:01:11.129 it with? And so it's not about the words we say 00:01:11.129 --> 00:01:15.290 or how long it is or how short it is or any of 00:01:15.290 --> 00:01:17.150 that kind of stuff. It's about the heart in which 00:01:17.150 --> 00:01:21.689 we pray. But Jesus gives us the prayer, the model 00:01:21.689 --> 00:01:24.430 prayer, the Lord's Prayer here in this passage. 00:01:24.469 --> 00:01:26.989 Let's pray, and then we'll get started. God, 00:01:27.090 --> 00:01:28.969 we come to you. We thank you for your good words. 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:31.780 I pray, dear Lord, that we would be a people 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:34.500 that would seek you and that we would pray to 00:01:34.500 --> 00:01:37.879 you not just for our needs but also offer up 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:40.579 praise to you, dear Lord. And I thank you for 00:01:40.579 --> 00:01:42.519 each one that's here tonight. I pray that you 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.780 would free us from the distractions and the worries 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:48.900 of the world and that in these few moments that 00:01:48.900 --> 00:01:51.780 we would see your word, that your word would 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:53.819 speak to us and your Holy Spirit would speak 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:57.060 to us. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:06.239 Amen. Matthew chapter 6, verse 5. And when thou 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:10.219 prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites 00:02:10.219 --> 00:02:14.319 are. Now let's stop there. Jesus says, when you 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:18.039 pray, don't pray like the hypocrites. Well, what 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:20.479 is a hypocrite? Well, a hypocrite, if you look 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:22.740 up the definition of that, that's somebody who's 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:25.659 essentially playing a role. It's somebody who's 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:30.080 wearing a mask. What you see is not really what 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:33.240 they are. And I think we need to be careful in 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:36.120 our life to make sure that we don't fall into 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:39.900 the trap of hypocrisy. Now maybe we say, oh, 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:41.879 I don't do that. And maybe we don't. I hope we 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:45.740 don't. But maybe sometimes we do. Maybe sometimes 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:50.639 we kind of play a role when we're in church or 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:52.960 we're around church folks. We kind of play a 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.319 role in the way that we act and the things that 00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:58.490 we say and the things that we do. which is not 00:02:58.490 --> 00:03:01.949 really genuine to who we are. Because maybe when 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:05.169 we go home, we act a total different way. You 00:03:05.169 --> 00:03:07.729 come to church and you say, Oh, praise the Lord. 00:03:08.090 --> 00:03:11.129 God is good. Let's follow the word of God. Praise 00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:13.789 God. I love you, brother. It's a good day. And 00:03:13.789 --> 00:03:16.710 then you get home, and then you start beating 00:03:16.710 --> 00:03:20.250 on your wife. Well, that's kind of hypocritical. 00:03:20.689 --> 00:03:23.129 It's kind of hypocritical to act one way like 00:03:23.129 --> 00:03:26.479 you're something that you're really not. And 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:29.240 that's a trap of religion. Now that's one example, 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:32.219 but there's plenty of ways that if we think hard 00:03:32.219 --> 00:03:34.479 enough, and probably don't have to think that 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:37.539 hard, that there are probably some days that 00:03:37.539 --> 00:03:39.819 we come to church and maybe we look one way, 00:03:39.979 --> 00:03:42.939 but maybe when we leave here there are some things 00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:46.360 that aren't what they should be. And so it's 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:48.819 good if we recognize those things. Now we have 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:51.900 to say, okay, Lord, I see that. I see that in 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:54.060 my life. I don't want to be hypocritical. I don't 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:56.830 want to play a role. I don't want to try to make 00:03:56.830 --> 00:03:59.469 myself look better when really there's all these 00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:02.389 things that's in my life, flaws that are in my 00:04:02.389 --> 00:04:05.389 life, things that are wrong with me. I don't 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:09.129 want to pretend, dear Lord. I just want to ask 00:04:09.129 --> 00:04:13.490 you to help me, God. And Jesus says here, when 00:04:13.490 --> 00:04:17.189 we pray, that we don't want to be like the hypocrites. 00:04:17.370 --> 00:04:20.870 Now let's see what the hypocrites do. It says 00:04:20.870 --> 00:04:25.899 that... For they love to pray standing in the 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:29.420 synagogues and in the corners on the streets, 00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:35.079 that they may be seen of men. Now, I don't believe 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:38.819 that it's necessarily sinful to pray in public. 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:42.100 I think we see plenty of examples of that through 00:04:42.100 --> 00:04:44.339 Scripture in the Old Testament and the New Testament, 00:04:44.379 --> 00:04:47.160 that there are times that we see people, I think 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:49.680 we even see Jesus pray in public when he raises 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:53.600 Lazarus. So we see examples of people praying 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.399 in public, and I don't think that Jesus here 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:00.379 is just condemning all public prayer. Now, by 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:03.459 all means, if you read this passage and you feel 00:05:03.459 --> 00:05:05.660 convicted that it is wrong to pray in public, 00:05:05.740 --> 00:05:07.740 then by all means, you follow that conviction. 00:05:07.899 --> 00:05:09.980 If you don't feel like that that's what God wants 00:05:09.980 --> 00:05:12.660 you to do, I would never tell you to do something 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:15.279 against the conviction of the Lord. However, 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:18.519 I don't believe that Jesus is necessarily condemning 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:23.060 praying in public. What Jesus is really condemning 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:26.019 is the heart in which they pray in public. Okay, 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:28.180 they're praying on the street corner. They're 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:30.420 praying in the streets. Well, perhaps you've 00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:33.240 done that too. It's a good chance, I'm going 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:36.220 to guess, that at some point in your life, maybe 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.779 you've encountered somebody on the street or 00:05:38.779 --> 00:05:41.459 in the store. And they were going through something. 00:05:42.019 --> 00:05:44.839 And maybe you say, can I pray for you? And if 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:47.319 you've never done that, maybe you need to consider 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:50.189 that. Man, that's a powerful thing. If somebody's 00:05:50.189 --> 00:05:53.089 struggling, instead of saying, I'm going to be 00:05:53.089 --> 00:05:55.949 praying for you, say, can I pray for you right 00:05:55.949 --> 00:05:58.649 now? And maybe you've done that. I'm going to 00:05:58.649 --> 00:06:01.110 guess that a lot of you probably have. And you 00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:03.810 may have done that in public. I'm going to guess 00:06:03.810 --> 00:06:05.670 that probably all of you have been to eat food 00:06:05.670 --> 00:06:08.050 somewhere in public. And you probably stopped 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:11.470 and you probably said the blessing. Jesus prayed 00:06:11.470 --> 00:06:15.569 in public whenever he fed the 5 ,000. And he 00:06:15.569 --> 00:06:18.279 blessed the food before he served it. And so 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:21.459 I don't think Jesus is condemning the prayer 00:06:21.459 --> 00:06:24.319 in public. He's condemning the heart in which 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.120 they are doing it. And what does he say? He says 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:31.319 they do it so that they will be seen by man. 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:36.379 So they know that if a friend comes by, then 00:06:36.379 --> 00:06:38.199 that's going to seem pretty impressive. And so 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:40.680 maybe they see that friend coming down the street. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:42.259 And instead of just praying when they want to 00:06:42.259 --> 00:06:44.540 pray, they wait until that friend gets right 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:47.000 next to them. And then they say, Lord, I call 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.730 out. and the friend walking by says, boy, look 00:06:49.730 --> 00:06:52.449 at that guy praying in the street. He is so holy. 00:06:53.709 --> 00:06:56.189 And maybe we've been guilty of something similar. 00:06:57.370 --> 00:06:59.910 Maybe there's a good work that we feel that we 00:06:59.910 --> 00:07:02.110 need to do and maybe we do it and maybe it's 00:07:02.110 --> 00:07:05.689 a good thing that we're doing. But maybe we're 00:07:05.689 --> 00:07:08.110 guilty of waiting to do it until somebody's looking. 00:07:09.189 --> 00:07:11.910 Waiting to do it so somebody knows that we've 00:07:11.910 --> 00:07:14.730 done it. So that they can tell somebody else, 00:07:14.790 --> 00:07:17.519 oh, did you see what he or she did? And word 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:19.680 can get back to you and you say, oh, stop it. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:21.160 I don't want to hear it. But really, you do want 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:24.079 to hear it. Really, you do. You say, oh, I was 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.579 just doing what I was supposed to do. But really, 00:07:26.620 --> 00:07:28.319 what you were doing is you were wanting that 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:32.160 praise. And maybe we're guilty of that sometimes. 00:07:33.660 --> 00:07:35.620 Maybe you're not now. Maybe you have been in 00:07:35.620 --> 00:07:37.620 the past. Maybe you're tempted to that regularly. 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:40.660 Maybe you'll be tempted to it tomorrow. Well, 00:07:40.699 --> 00:07:43.500 that's what Jesus is talking about. He says, 00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:46.480 look, don't. Don't do anything just to be seen 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.279 by people. What does he say moving forward? Verily 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:55.120 I say unto you, they have their reward. So if 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:58.680 what they want is the praise of men, if what 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:00.899 they want is for people to come by and say, look 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:04.040 at him or her saying that prayer, then that's 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:05.379 what they want, that's what they're going to 00:08:05.379 --> 00:08:07.459 get. They're not going to get any blessing from 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:10.759 God. They're not really praying to God. They're 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:13.379 just... Praying to themselves, essentially. They're 00:08:13.379 --> 00:08:16.480 praying for themselves. They're praying so that 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:18.699 they'll be seen. And Jesus says, there's their 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:21.019 reward. There's their blessing for their prayer. 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:27.220 Verse 6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into 00:08:27.220 --> 00:08:30.360 thy closet. And when thou hast shut thy door, 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:34.440 pray to thy Father, which is in secret. And thy 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:38.559 Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:42.049 openly. Okay, so Jesus gives a good command here, 00:08:42.110 --> 00:08:44.450 and some are very convicted that Jesus is strictly 00:08:44.450 --> 00:08:47.470 saying you should only pray in private. And again, 00:08:48.149 --> 00:08:49.769 man, if you believe that's what this passage 00:08:49.769 --> 00:08:51.690 is saying, then by all means, then that's how 00:08:51.690 --> 00:08:54.330 your prayer life needs to be. Don't ever feel 00:08:54.330 --> 00:08:57.029 under pressure to pray in public if you don't 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:58.710 feel like that's what we're supposed to do. But 00:08:58.710 --> 00:09:01.830 I think Jesus is just making a point here. He's 00:09:01.830 --> 00:09:05.429 making a contrast. Not only do you don't get 00:09:05.429 --> 00:09:07.509 out in the street to make a big deal out about 00:09:07.509 --> 00:09:10.720 what you're doing, But let your prayer life just 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.580 be between you and God. Because that's really 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:16.600 all that matters. When we pray, it's between 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:21.259 us and God. Or at least it should be. But these 00:09:21.259 --> 00:09:23.620 hypocrites, they're playing this role. They're 00:09:23.620 --> 00:09:26.960 really pretty evil people. These are some of 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:29.220 the same people probably that Jesus has in mind. 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:30.940 The same ones that wanted to nail him to a cross. 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:33.539 I mean, they're wearing the mask of religion 00:09:33.539 --> 00:09:37.580 and godly people. But really, they're just hypocrites. 00:09:38.350 --> 00:09:41.450 They don't care about the word of God. They only 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:45.990 care about themselves. And so Jesus says, look, 00:09:46.090 --> 00:09:49.210 don't be like them. Don't be like them in any 00:09:49.210 --> 00:09:51.769 area as far as that goes. But in this particular 00:09:51.769 --> 00:09:54.909 context, Jesus says, don't be like them in their 00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:57.370 prayer life. Because they're praying to be seen. 00:09:57.450 --> 00:10:00.009 And when you pray, that's not what our prayer 00:10:00.009 --> 00:10:04.870 life should be about. He continues on. Verse 00:10:04.870 --> 00:10:09.200 7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:13.399 as the heathens do, for they think they shall 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:19.419 be heard for their much speaking. Okay, so don't 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:22.779 use vain repetitions. Don't just say the same 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:25.840 phrases over and over like these kind of pre 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:29.120 -baked prayers that I'm just going to repeat 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.980 the same thing and same thing and pretty soon. 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:36.440 If we get in the habit of doing that, I think 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.700 our prayers are just, it just becomes habit. 00:10:39.899 --> 00:10:43.039 We just do it. We just can recite the words without 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:46.220 there being any heart in them. And Jesus doesn't 00:10:46.220 --> 00:10:48.340 want us to ever have a prayer life that falls 00:10:48.340 --> 00:10:53.159 into that trap. So he says, do not use vain repetitions 00:10:53.159 --> 00:10:56.320 as the heathens do, for they think thou shalt 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.019 be heard, for there are much speaking, or for 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:02.259 there are many words. That is to say, they say 00:11:02.259 --> 00:11:04.139 all these long things, they just repeat the same 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:06.700 things over and over and over, and it's probably 00:11:06.700 --> 00:11:10.399 long prayers that linger on forever and ever, 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.240 and they think that because they're saying all 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:16.720 these words that it must make them better. Well, 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:20.059 it doesn't matter how long or how short that 00:11:20.059 --> 00:11:22.500 we pray. I don't think that that makes a bit 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:25.980 of difference. Now we can ramble on and we can 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:28.740 babble on and we can say all the right church 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:33.720 words, right? Sometimes we may do that. We think 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.220 we've got to use some special language or special 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:39.159 words that we never ever use anywhere else in 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:41.620 our life. But when we pray, we say all these 00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:43.639 words because we think, well, this is how you 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.730 pray. Because we hear people maybe that's prayed 00:11:46.730 --> 00:11:48.909 before us and they've used these specific words 00:11:48.909 --> 00:11:51.549 and there's certain vocabulary that maybe we 00:11:51.549 --> 00:11:53.929 just say, okay, well, I've got to use this vocabulary. 00:11:54.210 --> 00:11:56.090 Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with 00:11:56.090 --> 00:11:59.309 any particular word. But what we have to realize 00:11:59.309 --> 00:12:02.789 is it's not about using certain words. It's not 00:12:02.789 --> 00:12:05.789 about praying for a long time. Some people, I 00:12:05.789 --> 00:12:08.950 can't pray good. Well, what is praying good? 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:12.620 Can you pray to God from your heart? Yeah, well, 00:12:12.740 --> 00:12:14.720 you can pray good. If you can pray to God from 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:18.299 your heart and your prayer is, God, I love you. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:21.379 Thank you for being good to us. Amen. Well, there 00:12:21.379 --> 00:12:23.639 you go. That's a good prayer if that came from 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:27.240 your heart. But just rambling on forever and 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:29.080 ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:31.639 ever. Now, maybe some people in the congregation 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:33.559 say, boy, that guy really knows how to pray. 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:36.580 Really? Well, he knows how to say a lot of words. 00:12:36.580 --> 00:12:39.299 It'd take a long time, but we don't know anybody's 00:12:39.299 --> 00:12:42.419 heart. Maybe that long prayer is straight from 00:12:42.419 --> 00:12:45.860 the heart and praise the Lord. But Jesus in this 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:48.960 context says, hey, there are some who pray and 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.019 they pray really long prayers. But it's all just 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:56.519 for show. There ain't any substance to it. So 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:58.559 we don't want to fall into that trap. We don't 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:01.740 want to overthink our prayer life. I know sometimes 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:04.110 maybe we're tempted to do that. If we think, 00:13:04.110 --> 00:13:05.649 oh, I'm going to have to pray in public. Or, 00:13:05.669 --> 00:13:07.269 oh, what if I get called on? What am I going 00:13:07.269 --> 00:13:09.870 to say? And maybe sometimes we're just overthinking 00:13:09.870 --> 00:13:12.350 instead of just saying, what's on our heart? 00:13:13.049 --> 00:13:16.029 Whatever that may be. However short that may 00:13:16.029 --> 00:13:19.250 be. And that's what Jesus really wants from us, 00:13:19.309 --> 00:13:23.190 is for a prayer life that comes from a good heart. 00:13:23.909 --> 00:13:29.879 He says in verse 8, Be not ye therefore like 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.100 unto them, for your Father knoweth what things 00:13:33.100 --> 00:13:38.860 ye have need of before ye ask. So we don't have 00:13:38.860 --> 00:13:41.460 to say any fancy words or a lot of words for 00:13:41.460 --> 00:13:45.200 God to make our case. It's not like God is a 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.759 judge sitting on the bench and we've got to try 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:50.580 to persuade him. to do what we want to do. Okay, 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:52.360 by the way, here's the thing. I need this person 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.059 to be healed, so I'm going to use these really 00:13:54.059 --> 00:13:56.580 fancy words, and I'm going to pray for a long 00:13:56.580 --> 00:14:00.000 time, and you're going to be in such awe of the 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.620 words that I am about to say, God, and how long 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:06.960 I'm going to pray. It is going to win you over 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:10.940 to answer my request. Well, God knows what we 00:14:10.940 --> 00:14:14.450 need before we ask it, Jesus says. We're not 00:14:14.450 --> 00:14:16.330 going to win God over. He's not going to say, 00:14:16.370 --> 00:14:17.850 well, boy, I wasn't going to answer that prayer. 00:14:17.970 --> 00:14:20.690 But man, he used some words there that not many 00:14:20.690 --> 00:14:22.610 people use. So I'm going to answer that prayer. 00:14:23.350 --> 00:14:27.409 That's not how God works. God knows what we need. 00:14:28.049 --> 00:14:30.009 He just wants our heart to come to him and say, 00:14:30.070 --> 00:14:33.110 God, man, here's what I need. Here's where I'm 00:14:33.110 --> 00:14:36.409 struggling. God, I'm weak and I've failed and 00:14:36.409 --> 00:14:39.509 I've sinned. God, forgive me. God, have mercy 00:14:39.509 --> 00:14:42.360 on me. God, this person has done stuff to me 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:44.480 that's hard. I know I'm supposed to forgive them, 00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:46.059 but God, I'm really having a hard time, so just 00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:48.820 help me do that. Just whatever comes from your 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:53.460 heart. That's what God wants to hear. He already 00:14:53.460 --> 00:14:55.440 knows what's there. He already knows what you 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:59.779 need. He just wants you to come to him. And so, 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:03.139 with that in mind, Jesus gives the following 00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:06.320 instruction, which is why I'm reading from the 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:09.419 King James tonight. I suspect me, like many of 00:15:09.419 --> 00:15:12.379 you, you probably learned the King James Version 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:16.100 of the Lord's Prayer growing up. And so, like 00:15:16.100 --> 00:15:18.159 a lot of times, like when we say the Lord's Prayer, 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:20.740 like that's just the default version that comes 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:24.100 to our mind. And so that's why we're looking 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:25.960 at the King James tonight, because that'll be 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:30.639 the most familiar to us. Verse 9, Jesus says, 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:36.440 After this manner, therefore, pray ye, our Father 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:41.250 which art in heaven. hallowed be thy name thy 00:15:41.250 --> 00:15:45.090 kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it 00:15:45.090 --> 00:15:48.909 is in heaven give us this day our daily bread 00:15:48.909 --> 00:15:52.830 and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors 00:15:52.830 --> 00:15:57.169 and lead us not into temptation but deliver us 00:15:57.169 --> 00:16:00.850 from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:05.470 and the glory forever amen now what a beautiful 00:16:05.470 --> 00:16:09.360 prayer now i think It's a beautiful thing for 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.779 us to pray that prayer, like just pray that specific 00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:15.960 prayer. Jesus says, pray like this. I think we're 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:18.580 in pretty good shape if we pray this prayer. 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:20.480 I'm not saying our prayer life should be just 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:23.639 limited to these words, but even if it was, I 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:27.039 think we'd be doing pretty good. But the prayer 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:29.559 in and of itself is beautiful, but even if we 00:16:29.559 --> 00:16:32.379 begin to look at it, it gives us a structure 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:36.009 for what our prayer life should look like. Okay, 00:16:36.090 --> 00:16:38.649 what do we see in the first verse? Our Father 00:16:38.649 --> 00:16:42.190 who art in heaven. Right? Okay, God is above. 00:16:42.450 --> 00:16:46.629 He is above. We are below. It is God who has 00:16:46.629 --> 00:16:49.750 created everything. Our Father which art in heaven, 00:16:49.870 --> 00:16:53.870 hallowed be thy name. God is holy. He is holy 00:16:53.870 --> 00:16:57.649 and he is worthy of our praise. So we are praying 00:16:57.649 --> 00:17:01.610 to a holy God. We need to remember that when 00:17:01.610 --> 00:17:04.160 we make our request. Now, we can talk to God 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:07.279 just like we would talk to a friend, but we need 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.099 to remember who we're talking to. We are talking 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:16.259 to the Lord God. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:19.099 done. Okay? Whose will are we praying for? Whatever 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:22.500 it is that we ask for, we're praying for the 00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:26.220 will of God to be done. We want the kingdom of 00:17:26.220 --> 00:17:30.400 God to come. It's God's kingdom. We're working 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.869 to... Build the kingdom of God. We're working 00:17:32.869 --> 00:17:35.410 to tell people about Jesus Christ so that they 00:17:35.410 --> 00:17:38.269 can come into the kingdom. Jesus says the kingdom 00:17:38.269 --> 00:17:42.970 of God has come near. And so when we pray, are 00:17:42.970 --> 00:17:45.569 our prayers to build God's kingdom or are our 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:48.950 prayers something to build our kingdom? Jesus 00:17:48.950 --> 00:17:51.289 says pray for the kingdom of God. Pray for the 00:17:51.289 --> 00:17:57.470 will of God. Forgive us our debts. Okay. That's 00:17:57.470 --> 00:17:59.269 another way of saying forgive us of our sins. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:02.740 Well, that's pretty important. We probably sin 00:18:02.740 --> 00:18:06.140 more than we care to sin. Probably sin every 00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:08.559 day. Maybe not, but I think there's probably 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.960 a good chance we sin every day. So this is a 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:14.799 good thing. We need to continually bring our 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.759 sins before God and say, God, I've blown it. 00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:20.400 I've sinned. I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:22.579 have said this thing. I shouldn't have acted 00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:26.500 this way. So God, forgive me. But there's a second 00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:29.789 part to that. Forgive us our debts. We forgive 00:18:29.789 --> 00:18:32.490 our debtors. Okay. Well, that's good instruction. 00:18:33.109 --> 00:18:35.710 That's a good reminder that we need to be forgiven. 00:18:35.809 --> 00:18:38.809 And because God is willing to forgive us, then 00:18:38.809 --> 00:18:42.109 we need to be willing to forgive others. Lead 00:18:42.109 --> 00:18:45.390 us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:48.549 Well, that should be our desire, to be delivered 00:18:48.549 --> 00:18:51.569 from that evil, that on whatever path that God 00:18:51.569 --> 00:18:56.109 leads us on, that we stay away from whatever 00:18:56.109 --> 00:18:59.140 evil or whatever temptations. Now, temptations 00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:01.440 may come. They don't come from God. The Scripture 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.940 tells us that. But when we talk about temptations, 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:07.000 or we can say being tested, kind of the same 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:11.180 idea there, sometimes God does allow us to be 00:19:11.180 --> 00:19:13.720 tested. We see a good example of that in the 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:17.420 story of Job. God doesn't test us. He doesn't 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:20.819 tempt us himself. But sometimes God will allow 00:19:20.819 --> 00:19:24.380 temptation in our life, and that's the only way 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:26.680 that our faith can truly be proved to be true. 00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:30.019 is we have to be tested. We have to go through 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:32.900 the fire so that the impurities can come to the 00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:35.500 surface. We have to take the test, and sometimes 00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:38.019 we fail the test, and hopefully when we do, we 00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:41.319 go back and study a little more and see God a 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:44.400 little more. So lead us not into temptation, 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.279 but deliver us from the evil one. Okay. We're 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:49.279 constantly going to be under attack. But dear 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:51.880 Lord, help me just to focus on you and to stay 00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:54.519 on your path that I don't go astray, that I don't 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:56.460 get in a situation where I'm going to be tempted, 00:19:56.579 --> 00:20:00.279 and that I'll have the power to overcome the 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.259 tactics of the evil one. For thine is the kingdom 00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:09.240 and the power and the glory forever. Amen. And 00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:11.680 just that simple. Just that simple. In these 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.599 couple of little verses, Jesus says, this is 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:18.670 how you need to pray. You need to pray to God. 00:20:18.769 --> 00:20:20.789 You need to seek God. You need to seek God's 00:20:20.789 --> 00:20:23.309 will. You need to seek God's forgiveness. You 00:20:23.309 --> 00:20:25.210 need to seek to forgive others. You need to try 00:20:25.210 --> 00:20:27.630 to walk on the path of God. And you need to pray 00:20:27.630 --> 00:20:30.130 that God will protect you, that the enemy doesn't 00:20:30.130 --> 00:20:33.910 tempt you along the way. And Jesus says, this 00:20:33.910 --> 00:20:38.809 is how you pray. But it all comes down to the 00:20:38.809 --> 00:20:42.309 heart in which we pray. Because I believe we 00:20:42.309 --> 00:20:44.069 could say these words, and if our heart wasn't 00:20:44.069 --> 00:20:46.859 really in it, Maybe they're no better than the 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:50.400 words of the hypocrite. So when we pray, we want 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:55.059 to be a people who pray from a right heart. We 00:20:55.059 --> 00:20:56.859 don't want to be a people who put on a mask, 00:20:57.019 --> 00:20:59.400 who put on a show in front of everybody else, 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:02.099 who pretend to be something we're not, because 00:21:02.099 --> 00:21:04.279 what we are are sinners in need of a Savior. 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:07.579 We are sinners in need of grace. We fail more 00:21:07.579 --> 00:21:10.240 than we care to admit. We are weak, but God is 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.380 good, and God is strong, and God is gracious, 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:16.440 and God is merciful. And God is holy and He is 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:20.099 worthy of our prayers. He is worthy of our praise. 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:23.940 And so let us be those who are not ashamed to 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:27.420 pray to the Lord and go to the Lord. Let us not 00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:29.640 ever feel like, man, I don't know the right words 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:31.599 to say. You say what's on your heart. Those are 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:35.000 the right words to say. No matter how eloquent 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:38.160 you are or how short the prayer is, if you pray 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.099 the words that are on your heart, those are the 00:21:40.099 --> 00:21:43.180 words that God hears. If we're praying for show, 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:47.480 That's our reward. If we're praying for the recognition 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:51.940 of men, then congratulations. Men have praised 00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:55.660 you. But if you're praying for God, then pray 00:21:55.660 --> 00:21:58.099 from your heart. And that's a prayer that God 00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:01.380 will hear. Let's pray. God, we thank you for 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:03.180 your word. I pray that you would help us not 00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:07.619 to fall into the trap of hypocrisy. And maybe 00:22:07.619 --> 00:22:10.319 we have done that, dear Lord. Maybe there's a 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:14.059 part of us that likes that. that likes for people 00:22:14.059 --> 00:22:17.359 to know what we do, that likes for them to say, 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:21.180 oh, how good and beautiful that prayer was. But 00:22:21.180 --> 00:22:23.480 dear Lord, let us not fall into that trap with 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:25.819 our prayer life or anything else that we desire 00:22:25.819 --> 00:22:30.960 the applause of men. But to dear Lord, we'd just 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:33.460 be a people that would seek you, that would pray 00:22:33.460 --> 00:22:35.200 to you from our heart, that we would know that 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:37.200 you are God, dear Lord, that we would just come 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.319 to you with all of our needs and all of our struggles. 00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:43.269 and all of the praise that you are worthy of. 00:22:43.470 --> 00:22:46.630 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.