WEBVTT 00:00:16.859 --> 00:00:25.519 Oh, good morning. Good to see you guys. We're 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:30.239 going to take a slight break. I wanted to Because 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:31.359 I knew we're gonna be missing a lot of people 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.039 today. I was like, you know what? Let's take 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:36.420 a break from the book of Mark and Let's just 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:39.039 do a one -off sermon. So as I was praying I was 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:42.380 like, what am I? What Lord do you want me to 00:00:42.380 --> 00:00:45.619 preach on and I just kept coming back to the 00:00:45.619 --> 00:00:48.579 words of Peter In my heart just kept going Lord 00:00:48.579 --> 00:00:53.179 teach us to pray and so That's what we're gonna 00:00:53.179 --> 00:00:54.820 talk about this morning if you would turn with 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:58.140 me to Matthew chapter 6 We're going to start 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:01.700 in verse seven, but I've got a little riddle 00:01:01.700 --> 00:01:05.379 for you. Okay, a little mind bender as you're 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:08.819 turning there. How do you get a room full of 00:01:08.819 --> 00:01:11.719 people suddenly to be quiet and wish they were 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:28.030 invisible? Okay. Yeah, that was good. Anybody 00:01:28.030 --> 00:01:35.609 else? Ask for a volunteer to do what? We'll go 00:01:35.609 --> 00:01:40.049 with ask anyone to pray and they're like Like 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:42.349 record scratch moment and then everyone's like 00:01:42.349 --> 00:01:44.469 nobody wants to make eye contact with the pastor 00:01:44.469 --> 00:01:49.569 That's actually by kids like if you've eaten 00:01:49.569 --> 00:01:52.870 lunchless after after church or you've ever eaten 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:55.269 lunch with us or been with us Uh, if we have 00:01:55.269 --> 00:01:58.129 people over, I always ask my kids to pray over 00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:01.129 the meal. Uh, so that way it forces them to pray 00:02:01.129 --> 00:02:03.769 in front of other people. And they always do 00:02:03.769 --> 00:02:06.769 the same thing. They're like, and Michael will 00:02:06.769 --> 00:02:09.189 do all he can to hide, like when he knows it's 00:02:09.189 --> 00:02:13.770 coming. And so, um, I'm guessing that there's 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:19.889 quite a few people here that, um, you would rather 00:02:19.889 --> 00:02:22.169 spot clean a porta potty at a music festival. 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:28.530 than have to pray in public. I am not one of 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:32.349 those people. It's I've never been afraid to 00:02:32.349 --> 00:02:35.509 pray, but I will say I do get very conscious 00:02:35.509 --> 00:02:37.949 like when I'm praying. And it's one of those 00:02:37.949 --> 00:02:41.009 things where in when I even when I'm praying 00:02:41.009 --> 00:02:44.430 here every every Sunday or praying or like I 00:02:44.430 --> 00:02:47.409 become very aware of my words, which is good. 00:02:47.409 --> 00:02:50.400 And at the same time. I forget that I'm praying, 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:52.219 if that makes sense. It's like my brain is doing 00:02:52.219 --> 00:02:55.659 two things at one time. And so I get why people 00:02:55.659 --> 00:02:59.259 get nervous. But I want to talk this morning 00:02:59.259 --> 00:03:01.599 about the do's and don'ts of prayer, which the 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:03.719 title of my sermon is pray like this, the do's 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:06.280 and don'ts of prayer, because Jesus gives us 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:09.860 how to pray. And so the big idea, if you're taking 00:03:09.860 --> 00:03:13.780 notes, is prayer is simply the children of God 00:03:13.780 --> 00:03:20.680 talking to their father. And so. Prayer is one 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.580 of the simplest acts of the Christian life, and 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:25.819 yet it can feel like one of the most mysterious. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.280 It is both instinctive and learned. It's natural 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:33.039 and it's supernatural, and every one of us knows 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:35.580 that we ought to pray, yet many of us wonder 00:03:35.580 --> 00:03:39.159 if we're ever doing it right. And so before we 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:41.960 dive in, let me ask you a simple question. What 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:45.949 is prayer? If you were asked to define it, if 00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:47.949 you were asked, if somebody asked you what is 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:52.789 prayer, what would you say? Okay, that's good. 00:03:52.930 --> 00:03:57.669 Worship to God. Talking with him, good. Anybody 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:03.449 else? What's that? Yeah, yeah, that's good too. 00:04:03.650 --> 00:04:08.490 Asking, yep. So here's some definitions. So theologian 00:04:08.490 --> 00:04:11.189 Wayne Grudem in his book, Systematic Theology, 00:04:11.449 --> 00:04:14.669 he defines prayer like this. personal communication 00:04:14.669 --> 00:04:18.829 with God, pretty straightforward, right? John 00:04:18.829 --> 00:04:21.629 Frame, who also has another systematic book that 00:04:21.629 --> 00:04:24.769 we have to read in seminary, his definition is 00:04:24.769 --> 00:04:28.529 a genuine relational conversation with our Creator 00:04:28.529 --> 00:04:32.310 rather than mere meditation or self -improvement. 00:04:33.170 --> 00:04:36.680 And then the Puritans, who practice prayer literally 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:40.040 daily, they were very good at disciplining themselves 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.540 to pray. The Puritans defined prayer as a holy 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:47.540 intimate conversation between a loving soul and 00:04:47.540 --> 00:04:53.680 God. If I were going to define it myself, and 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:55.500 if you want to write this down you definitely 00:04:55.500 --> 00:04:57.920 can, I would define it from what I see in scripture 00:04:57.920 --> 00:04:59.819 and just my personal experience of walking with 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:04.009 Jesus. I define it as Prayer is an ongoing conversation 00:05:04.009 --> 00:05:08.230 with the triune God that begins as he speaks 00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:11.149 to us through his word and continues as we respond 00:05:11.149 --> 00:05:14.689 to him in faith. If you just want the simple 00:05:14.689 --> 00:05:20.910 definition or the simple way of saying it, give 00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:23.290 it to me straight, Pastor Logan, in a very simple, 00:05:23.410 --> 00:05:25.629 redneck way. It's just me talking to my dad. 00:05:27.009 --> 00:05:30.529 That's what prayer is. So here's the next question, 00:05:30.709 --> 00:05:34.689 though. Is all prayer the same? Is it all created 00:05:34.689 --> 00:05:41.149 equal? No, it's not. We have people with many 00:05:41.149 --> 00:05:43.829 different religions, right? And some of those 00:05:43.829 --> 00:05:46.430 religions, they either repeat memorized rituals. 00:05:46.930 --> 00:05:50.610 Catholics do this a lot. Some chant. Some enter 00:05:50.610 --> 00:05:53.750 trances. Some believe saying enough words or 00:05:53.750 --> 00:05:56.110 praying enough times earns favor with God. That 00:05:56.110 --> 00:05:59.959 would be like Islam. But Jesus says there's a 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:02.319 difference in how you should approach God and 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:05.100 how you should pray. Not every prayer honors 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:07.800 God. Not every prayer is the kind of prayer our 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:11.220 father desires. You can read that in Isaiah and 00:06:11.220 --> 00:06:14.060 in Jeremiah where God tells the children of Israel 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:16.319 that he does not hear their prayers and that 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:20.579 their offerings reek. And so that brings up the 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:23.000 question then, all right, so how are we supposed 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.620 to pray? And so that's what we're going to unpack. 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:27.199 We're going to unpack the do's and don'ts. And 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:28.860 so my prayer for you this morning is that by 00:06:28.860 --> 00:06:30.879 the end of our time together, you'll see prayer 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:34.480 less as obligation and more as an open invitation. 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:37.800 And through Christ, you have access to your heavenly 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:40.959 father every moment of every day. So let's go 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:46.800 ahead and let's read Matthew chapter six, starting 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:51.540 in verse five. And when you pray, you must not 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:54.910 be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand 00:06:54.910 --> 00:06:57.709 and pray in the synagogues and at the street 00:06:57.709 --> 00:07:00.230 corners that they may be, what does that say? 00:07:01.329 --> 00:07:04.410 Seen by others. And truly I say to you, they 00:07:04.410 --> 00:07:07.449 have received their reward. But when you pray, 00:07:07.569 --> 00:07:10.550 go into your room and shut the door and pray 00:07:10.550 --> 00:07:13.689 to your father who is in secret. And your father 00:07:13.689 --> 00:07:17.069 who sees in secret will reward you. And when 00:07:17.069 --> 00:07:20.589 you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the 00:07:20.589 --> 00:07:23.920 Gentiles do. For they think that they will be 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:28.300 heard for their for their many words Do not be 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:30.540 like them for your father knows what you need 00:07:30.540 --> 00:07:35.420 before you ask him pray then like this Our father 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:38.920 in heaven Hallowed be your name your kingdom 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:43.300 come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:46.160 Give us this day our daily bread and forgive 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:50.279 us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:53.240 and lead us not into temptation, but deliver 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:57.620 us from evil. For if you forgive others, their 00:07:57.620 --> 00:07:59.680 trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:01.540 you. But if you do not forgive others, their 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:04.579 trespasses, neither will your father forgive 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:08.160 your trespasses. So if you are taking notes, 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:14.040 the first note is this. Don't pray to impress 00:08:14.040 --> 00:08:21.529 with your deeds. don't pray to impress with your 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:23.730 deeds. Now, Pastor Logan, what are you talking 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:25.790 about? Well, let's back up for just a moment. 00:08:25.850 --> 00:08:29.089 If you go to the very first verse in chapter 00:08:29.089 --> 00:08:33.009 six, Jesus says, beware of practicing your righteousness 00:08:33.009 --> 00:08:37.210 before other people in order to be seen by them, 00:08:37.710 --> 00:08:39.269 for then you will have your reward from your 00:08:39.269 --> 00:08:41.809 Father who is in heaven. So this is where we 00:08:41.809 --> 00:08:43.990 get the, don't let the right hand know what the 00:08:43.990 --> 00:08:45.610 left hand is doing or left hand or the right 00:08:45.610 --> 00:08:50.159 hand is doing. Meaning we don't have to Trump 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:52.980 it that we're giving money or helping someone 00:08:52.980 --> 00:08:57.799 out The Lord knows that you're doing this He 00:08:57.799 --> 00:08:59.700 should be he's the one laying it on your heart 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:02.100 to give so we don't have to make this grandiose 00:09:02.100 --> 00:09:05.600 gesture and let Everybody know that look how 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.360 look how awesome we are. Look how giving we are 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:11.279 nowadays It seems like the only way people give 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:13.799 to the homeless or help someone out is if they 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.480 are videoing it and putting it on social media 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:20.649 There's one spoof video that I saw that was really 00:09:20.649 --> 00:09:24.110 funny where this guy was standing behind a Dollar 00:09:24.110 --> 00:09:26.549 General acting like a homeless person and he 00:09:26.549 --> 00:09:28.549 said to a guy getting out, hey man, you got $20. 00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:31.509 And he's like, no man, I don't have $20. And 00:09:31.509 --> 00:09:33.309 he's like, come on man, you gotta have $20. About 00:09:33.309 --> 00:09:35.250 to go into Dollar General, I know you got money. 00:09:35.950 --> 00:09:37.570 As if everyone that goes into Dollar General 00:09:37.570 --> 00:09:41.070 has money. And so then he goes, man, I don't 00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:42.690 have no $20. And then he's like, come on man, 00:09:42.710 --> 00:09:43.750 I know you got, he's like, all right, fine, I 00:09:43.750 --> 00:09:46.940 got $20. But. If I'm going to give you that $20, 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:50.240 you got to let me record it. And I got you got 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:51.899 to let me put it on Facebook and the homeless 00:09:51.899 --> 00:09:54.500 guy says back to him, he goes, I'll let you talk 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:56.259 to my agent about that because I don't do it 00:09:56.259 --> 00:10:01.179 for free. So it was pretty funny. So anyway. 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:07.370 So Jesus begins with the don'ts of prayer. and 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:09.590 the whole thing comes down to let's don't make 00:10:09.590 --> 00:10:12.990 this about us and our righteousness because prayer 00:10:12.990 --> 00:10:15.190 and giving and all the things it should point 00:10:15.190 --> 00:10:22.909 to yeah and so jesus says he begins with the 00:10:22.909 --> 00:10:25.789 warning when you pray you must not be like the 00:10:25.789 --> 00:10:29.509 hypocrites and notice he doesn't say if you pray 00:10:29.509 --> 00:10:33.259 he assumes his followers already pray yes And 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:35.620 so the question isn't whether you pray, the question 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:39.740 is why you pray. And so now let's clear up something 00:10:39.740 --> 00:10:47.940 that Jesus is not saying. It was, were we sinning 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:51.899 standing up here and praying in public? Are we 00:10:51.899 --> 00:10:53.659 going against what God, what Jesus is saying 00:10:53.659 --> 00:10:58.200 here? No, no, it is not sinful. It's not forbidden 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:02.620 to pray in public. If that were the case, then 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:04.759 Jesus himself would have disobeyed his own command 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:07.960 because he prayed publicly all the time. The 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:10.559 apostles prayed publicly, and the early church 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:14.440 prayed publicly. And so we pray publicly every 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:19.320 day. Every Sunday we pray. We have prayer and 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:22.039 praise time, but people pray before city council 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:24.460 meetings, in government, on battlefields, in 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:27.059 hospitals, at sporting events, and around dinner 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:29.179 tables. And so you can write this down. Public 00:11:29.179 --> 00:11:32.649 prayer isn't the problem. public performance 00:11:32.649 --> 00:11:38.049 is. And so Jesus says the Pharisees love standing 00:11:38.049 --> 00:11:40.309 in the synagogue and on the street corners to 00:11:40.309 --> 00:11:43.350 pray. Why? Why do they like doing this? What 00:11:43.350 --> 00:11:49.049 does it say? Yeah, to be seen. Why do they want 00:11:49.049 --> 00:11:52.090 to be seen? Because they wanted them to know 00:11:52.090 --> 00:11:55.049 that they were righteous, right? They're holy 00:11:55.049 --> 00:12:00.340 people. And so Jesus says, That's their reward 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:06.460 then their reward is ultimately being seen So 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:09.940 they weren't speaking to God they were performing 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:13.120 for people and That's why this passage follows 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.580 immediately after Jesus says beware of practicing 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:17.980 your righteousness before people in order to 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.700 be seen by them So you can write this down the 00:12:20.700 --> 00:12:26.320 issue isn't location. It's motivation You can 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.860 pray in a packed sanctuary with a humble heart 00:12:29.459 --> 00:12:32.200 And you can pray alone in your bedroom while 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:34.639 secretly imagining how spiritual everyone would 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:39.879 think you are if they could hear you. Do you 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:41.580 ever do that sometimes? It's okay, you can be 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:46.899 honest. You ever in your prayer closet and you 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:48.759 start using some theological words you heard 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:50.580 on a Sunday morning and you're like, man, if 00:12:50.580 --> 00:12:53.519 someone could hear me right now, they think I'm 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:57.320 such a holy person. I'm just asking, not because 00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:01.970 I do that, but. But so God doesn't simply hear 00:13:01.970 --> 00:13:06.009 our words. He sees our motives. So if there's 00:13:06.009 --> 00:13:08.049 something weighing on your heart, God says, go 00:13:08.049 --> 00:13:10.129 into your room, shut the door and talk to your 00:13:10.129 --> 00:13:14.470 dad. Invite others to pray with you. Ask your 00:13:14.470 --> 00:13:16.730 church family to pray. There's nothing wrong 00:13:16.730 --> 00:13:19.110 with any of that, but be careful that your desire 00:13:19.110 --> 00:13:25.230 is to be known as a spiritual person. My next 00:13:25.230 --> 00:13:29.480 little sub point is. Don't pray to impress with 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:37.019 your words. Don't pray to impress with your words. 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:41.899 So then Jesus gives another warning, and when 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:44.419 you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the 00:13:44.419 --> 00:13:48.100 Gentiles do. Notice that he says, he talks about 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:51.399 what the Pharisees do, and then he says what 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:53.980 the Gentiles do. Why does he say that the Gentiles 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:55.620 use empty phrases? What do you think that that 00:13:55.620 --> 00:14:03.960 means? Yeah, like they're pagan so they're used 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.259 to all of this crazy nonsense that comes out 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:11.059 of their words or come out of their mouth so 00:14:11.059 --> 00:14:13.460 the Pharisees wanted to impress people but the 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:16.360 Gentiles wanted to impress God because their 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:20.100 pagan background told them this is what God needs 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:23.580 So they believed if they repeated enough words 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:26.679 if they prayed long enough if they found just 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:29.639 the right formula Then maybe the gods would finally 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:33.080 listen And Jesus says, don't pray like that. 00:14:33.299 --> 00:14:36.940 Why? Why don't you pray like that? Because your 00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:41.840 father isn't reluctant to hear. He wants to hear 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:45.700 from you. Your father knows what you need before 00:14:45.700 --> 00:14:47.620 you ask him. And now that raises the question, 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:50.580 if God already knows what I need, then why pray 00:14:50.580 --> 00:14:54.700 at all? Write this down, because I get this question 00:14:54.700 --> 00:15:00.429 a lot. Because prayer isn't about informing God. 00:15:00.889 --> 00:15:04.690 It's about depending on God. Prayer doesn't update 00:15:04.690 --> 00:15:07.649 an all -knowing Father. It draws us closer to 00:15:07.649 --> 00:15:10.710 a loving Father. Prayer is the thing that essentially 00:15:10.710 --> 00:15:14.710 aligns our heart with Him so that we're praying 00:15:14.710 --> 00:15:19.629 His will and His will becomes our will. So some 00:15:19.629 --> 00:15:21.590 of us think that our prayers aren't good enough 00:15:21.590 --> 00:15:24.899 because they're too short. Others think we have 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:27.799 to use big theological words. We think if we 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:29.879 don't sound like the old saint who's been praying 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:32.679 for 50 years, then somehow God is less impressed 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:36.200 with us. Sometimes the most holy prayer you can 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:39.399 pray is just weeping, saying the name Jesus. 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:47.019 So can I encourage you? God isn't grading your 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:51.399 vocabulary. He's inviting your heart. One of 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:54.730 the sweetest Prayers in all of scripture is only 00:15:54.730 --> 00:16:02.230 three words long. Lord, save me. You can write 00:16:02.230 --> 00:16:05.389 this down. I think I have it in here. Prayer 00:16:05.389 --> 00:16:08.570 isn't measured by its length. It's measured by 00:16:08.570 --> 00:16:13.629 its dependence. Jesus isn't condemning long prayers. 00:16:13.690 --> 00:16:16.230 He spent entire nights praying to the Father. 00:16:16.809 --> 00:16:20.460 He's condemning empty prayers. The difference 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:22.720 isn't how many words you use. The difference 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.820 is whether those words come from a heart that 00:16:25.820 --> 00:16:30.620 truly knows the Father. That leads us beautifully 00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:34.840 into what comes next. So if it's not about impressing 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:39.100 God, then what is prayer? And Jesus answers by 00:16:39.100 --> 00:16:41.740 giving us a model for how to do it. Well, we 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:44.360 talked about what is prayer, but how should we 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:49.090 do it? So point number two is this. The do's 00:16:49.090 --> 00:16:55.289 so I have do and then a So if you if you want 00:16:55.289 --> 00:16:57.450 to take notes like that, however, you want to 00:16:57.450 --> 00:17:06.069 so if we look at Look over with me And if you 00:17:06.069 --> 00:17:09.829 look at verse 9, so Jesus said don't pray like 00:17:09.829 --> 00:17:11.529 this and then he gets to verse 9 He says but 00:17:11.529 --> 00:17:14.549 pray then like this. How does he start that? 00:17:18.340 --> 00:17:21.460 Yeah, worship, adoration, but how does he, what 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:25.720 is the line that he uses? Our Father in heaven. 00:17:26.539 --> 00:17:31.180 So if you're taking notes, do pray to your Father. 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:35.279 So after warning us what prayer is not, Jesus 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:37.759 gives us the model. Notice he doesn't say, pray 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:41.019 these exact words. He's giving you a model. He's 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:43.599 not telling you to just recite this because if 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:47.240 you just recite this I can remember before When 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:49.579 I was in high school before our baseball games 00:17:49.579 --> 00:17:53.740 the coach would tell us to go off and pray and 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:57.680 The captains would always lead the prayer and 00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:59.900 the prayer that we had to recite was the Lord's 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:02.420 Prayer and I remember how it was literally just 00:18:02.569 --> 00:18:05.089 Reciting it like you're reciting, you know something 00:18:05.089 --> 00:18:07.230 you memorized in school. It was kind of meaningless 00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:11.789 So if this is all you pray this can become the 00:18:11.789 --> 00:18:15.569 very thing he said not to do So don't recite 00:18:15.569 --> 00:18:18.630 empty words. He's giving you a model for how 00:18:18.630 --> 00:18:21.369 to pray He's not saying this has to be the way 00:18:21.369 --> 00:18:25.970 that the things that you say so He says then 00:18:25.970 --> 00:18:29.150 pray then like this. This is merely isn't a prayer 00:18:29.150 --> 00:18:33.029 to memorize. It's a pattern to imitate And so 00:18:33.029 --> 00:18:35.849 the very first words are incredible, our Father 00:18:35.849 --> 00:18:38.769 in heaven. I don't want you to skip that because 00:18:38.769 --> 00:18:43.609 it's actually very revolutionary. Jesus saying, 00:18:44.250 --> 00:18:47.990 pray then by saying our Father in heaven, the 00:18:47.990 --> 00:18:49.869 disciples would have heard that and been like, 00:18:51.009 --> 00:18:56.369 are we allowed to say that? So for us, it doesn't 00:18:56.369 --> 00:18:58.369 feel that way, but for the first audience, it 00:18:58.369 --> 00:19:01.539 was revolutionary. Because the Old Testament 00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:06.400 though it talks about God being a father Jesus 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:11.259 invites his disciples to approach God like what? 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:16.519 children Before when they had to approach God, 00:19:16.539 --> 00:19:19.660 how did they do it? Talked about it before right 00:19:19.660 --> 00:19:21.700 now to go through all these things and there 00:19:21.700 --> 00:19:25.660 had to be a lot of Sacrifice and Jesus is like 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:29.420 you go because of me and what I'm going to do 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:37.019 you'll get to approach him this way. So you don't 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:39.160 get to approach him because you've earned some 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:42.220 sort of privilege and not because you're naturally 00:19:42.220 --> 00:19:44.579 God's children but because Jesus the eternal 00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:48.700 son brought you into the family. So we don't 00:19:48.700 --> 00:19:51.720 pray to a distant deity, we don't pray to an 00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:53.940 impersonal force, and we don't pray hoping someone 00:19:53.940 --> 00:19:57.579 is listening. When we pray, we pray to our father. 00:19:58.700 --> 00:20:04.140 And this is why I love this, okay? So, my own 00:20:04.140 --> 00:20:07.839 kids, okay, they know how to approach me when 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:11.180 they want something. My daughter is the best 00:20:11.180 --> 00:20:16.779 at it. When Aria's gonna ask me for something 00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:18.759 that she feels like I'm going to say no to, she 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:26.170 doesn't say, dad. She goes, daddy, right? The 00:20:26.170 --> 00:20:27.650 dads in the room that have daughters know what 00:20:27.650 --> 00:20:29.450 I'm talking about. There's just there's there's 00:20:29.450 --> 00:20:34.990 a different way right and and She always will 00:20:34.990 --> 00:20:38.190 approach me like that with one question and it 00:20:38.190 --> 00:20:42.470 goes something like this daddy Will you take 00:20:42.470 --> 00:20:45.829 me to get ice cream Now you may be like what's 00:20:45.829 --> 00:20:47.869 the big deal about that my daughter's lactose 00:20:47.869 --> 00:20:53.369 intolerant Okay, so She really wants ice cream 00:20:55.190 --> 00:20:58.210 But the all of us including her very much so 00:20:58.210 --> 00:21:03.589 are gonna suffer later and so It's funny because 00:21:03.589 --> 00:21:05.970 there's times I say no and there's times that 00:21:05.970 --> 00:21:08.130 I say yes But does that keep her from ever coming 00:21:08.130 --> 00:21:15.509 back with the same question? Nope So I know that 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:17.470 if I say yes She's going to enjoy ice cream for 00:21:17.470 --> 00:21:19.730 about 15 minutes and she's going to regret every 00:21:19.730 --> 00:21:22.109 bite of it later and sometimes like I said I 00:21:22.109 --> 00:21:25.099 say yes sometimes I say no, but I don't say no 00:21:25.099 --> 00:21:27.920 because I don't love her. I say no sometimes 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:32.299 because I do. And here's what I love most about 00:21:32.299 --> 00:21:36.619 this. Whether I say yes or I say no never keeps 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:43.460 her coming back tomorrow. She doesn't think well 00:21:43.460 --> 00:21:45.720 my dad said no yesterday so I guess he doesn't 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:48.559 love me anymore. I mean she will say that to 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:53.410 me but she'll come back tomorrow. But she knows 00:21:53.410 --> 00:21:55.769 she's my daughter and she knows that I love her. 00:21:55.829 --> 00:21:58.490 And so she keeps coming, coming back. And church, 00:21:58.549 --> 00:22:02.769 that's how Jesus teaches us to pray. As children 00:22:02.769 --> 00:22:06.109 who know they are loved by a father, so go to 00:22:06.109 --> 00:22:11.710 him. But don't miss the next words. That's important 00:22:11.710 --> 00:22:15.910 too. As Gene has pointed out, this is worship. 00:22:16.029 --> 00:22:22.039 And so he says, hallowed be your name. So Jesus 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:25.440 holds two truths together that we often pull 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:31.900 apart God is our father and God is holy Why does 00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:35.259 that matter because how you approach him matters 00:22:35.259 --> 00:22:38.960 We can approach him as my daughter does with 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:44.539 all confidence Being a child But we do not approach 00:22:44.539 --> 00:22:49.650 him casually You don't get the chance to just 00:22:49.650 --> 00:22:52.710 act like he isn't holy and act like he is not 00:22:52.710 --> 00:22:55.970 the creator And so I I have this you can write 00:22:55.970 --> 00:22:59.009 this down familiarity should never erase our 00:22:59.009 --> 00:23:03.690 reverence Familiarity should never erase our 00:23:03.690 --> 00:23:09.829 reverence There is such a thing as fear of the 00:23:09.829 --> 00:23:13.589 Lord not terror that makes us run from him But 00:23:13.589 --> 00:23:18.549 in awe that makes us fall before him Just ask 00:23:18.549 --> 00:23:23.569 Isaiah and John the Revelator. Isaiah, when he 00:23:23.569 --> 00:23:26.730 saw the Lord lifted up, he said, woe is me. And 00:23:26.730 --> 00:23:29.950 he was basically like, I'm dead. John the Revelator 00:23:29.950 --> 00:23:33.069 sees Jesus in his glorified state and he falls 00:23:33.069 --> 00:23:38.509 at his feet though as he was dead. And so this 00:23:38.509 --> 00:23:41.339 is the God that we're praying to. He is infinitely 00:23:41.339 --> 00:23:44.339 holy, infinitely glorious, infinitely majestic, 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:47.000 and yet because of Christ, he tells us to call 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.759 him Father. Do you see why that's revolutionary 00:23:50.759 --> 00:23:56.680 to the disciples? So think about that for just 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:59.259 a moment. The God whom angels cover their faces, 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:02.599 the God who spoke galaxies into existence, the 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:05.900 God whose holiness caused Isaiah to tremble, 00:24:05.930 --> 00:24:10.230 invites you and he invites me to come to him 00:24:10.230 --> 00:24:13.970 as a child. And so you can write this down. Prayer 00:24:13.970 --> 00:24:18.710 begins with both awe and affection, with reverence 00:24:18.710 --> 00:24:22.509 and relationship, and with holy fear and childlike 00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:26.390 joy. And that's the kind of Father Jesus invites 00:24:26.390 --> 00:24:32.279 us to know. Next subpoint, subpoint B, do. pray 00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:34.539 the kingdom so Jesus goes on and he says your 00:24:34.539 --> 00:24:37.859 kingdom come your will be done on earth as it 00:24:37.859 --> 00:24:39.799 is in heaven and this is one of those verses 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:42.779 that's easy to say but incredibly difficult to 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:44.859 live so what does it mean for your kingdom to 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:55.740 come you ever thought about that yep live it 00:24:55.740 --> 00:25:03.039 every day so You guys know that we are in the 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:05.799 both now and the not yet, right? So we live in 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:09.839 this tension of the kingdom of God now and the 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:12.440 kingdom of God that is yet to come. And that's 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:16.579 what your kingdom come here will be done. And 00:25:16.579 --> 00:25:18.759 so the already, theologians call it the already 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:22.099 but not yet. So we're praying with both the present 00:25:22.099 --> 00:25:25.589 and the future in mind. Jesus had... has already 00:25:25.589 --> 00:25:27.890 inaugurated his kingdom through his life, death 00:25:27.890 --> 00:25:30.910 and resurrection and the ascension. He is already 00:25:30.910 --> 00:25:33.990 the king, but his kingdom has not yet been fully 00:25:33.990 --> 00:25:37.269 realized, because sins still exist, death still 00:25:37.269 --> 00:25:40.490 exists, cancer still exists, war still exists, 00:25:40.849 --> 00:25:43.569 we still battle temptation. So when we pray, 00:25:43.730 --> 00:25:46.089 your kingdom come, we're crying out, Lord, finish 00:25:46.089 --> 00:25:50.200 what you started. And so we're longing for the 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:52.579 day when Christ returns and evil is defeated 00:25:52.579 --> 00:25:54.960 once and for all and every tear is wiped away 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:57.619 and heaven and earth are made new. We're praying 00:25:57.619 --> 00:26:01.099 for the day when his glory fills the earth, but 00:26:01.099 --> 00:26:05.220 that prayer also changes how we live today. God's 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:07.640 kingdom is advancing right now as the gospel 00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:10.859 is preached. Lives are being transformed and 00:26:10.859 --> 00:26:13.460 people bow their knee to King Jesus. And so Paul 00:26:13.460 --> 00:26:19.220 says that we are Christ's ambassadors. That means 00:26:19.220 --> 00:26:22.039 we don't build the kingdom by our own power Jesus 00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:25.180 builds his kingdom But he graciously allows us 00:26:25.180 --> 00:26:27.339 to participate in what he's doing every time 00:26:27.339 --> 00:26:30.299 you share the gospel Every time you forgive someone 00:26:30.299 --> 00:26:32.880 every time you serve your neighbor every time 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:35.240 darkness loses ground because Christ changes 00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:38.440 the heart the kingdom is breaking into this broken 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:44.720 world and Jesus says your will be done and This 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:47.599 is where prayer gets uncomfortable Because it's 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:49.680 one thing to ask God to accomplish his will and 00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:52.339 it's another thing to surrender ours and notice 00:26:52.339 --> 00:26:55.859 Jesus doesn't just pray my kingdom come my will 00:26:55.859 --> 00:26:59.359 be done instead every prayer begins with surrender 00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:04.220 That doesn't mean it's wrong to dream or it's 00:27:04.220 --> 00:27:06.200 sinful to make plans. It's actually biblical 00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:09.200 to do those things It's biblical to make plans 00:27:13.170 --> 00:27:15.990 But Christian prayer always lays those plans 00:27:15.990 --> 00:27:19.890 at Jesus's feet and It's saying Lord. Here's 00:27:19.890 --> 00:27:22.349 what I desire, but I want your desire to become 00:27:22.349 --> 00:27:26.109 my desires Here's what I'd like my here's how 00:27:26.109 --> 00:27:28.750 I'd like my life to go But I trust that your 00:27:28.750 --> 00:27:31.890 path is better than mine one pastor said it this 00:27:31.890 --> 00:27:34.390 way. You can write this down right here Prayer 00:27:34.390 --> 00:27:37.609 is not getting God to agree with my agenda. It's 00:27:37.609 --> 00:27:40.789 aligning my heart with his So that's why I was 00:27:40.789 --> 00:27:45.430 saying when we talk about prayer it is us Learning 00:27:45.430 --> 00:27:48.349 who he is what his will is and aligning our hearts 00:27:48.349 --> 00:27:51.529 with his will so that his will becomes our will 00:27:51.529 --> 00:27:58.970 So if you think about Jesus himself in the garden 00:27:58.970 --> 00:28:02.470 of Gethsemane on The night the cross on the night 00:28:02.470 --> 00:28:05.950 before the cross he prayed father if it is possible. 00:28:05.950 --> 00:28:10.690 What does he say? Please let this cut pass for 00:28:10.690 --> 00:28:16.009 me And then he says something very real Jesus 00:28:16.009 --> 00:28:19.930 has a very real human desire He didn't pretend 00:28:19.930 --> 00:28:22.569 otherwise that he wasn't but he immediately follows 00:28:22.569 --> 00:28:29.809 it with what nevertheless not my but Yep If the 00:28:29.809 --> 00:28:31.809 perfect son prayed that way how much more should 00:28:31.809 --> 00:28:35.410 we Every time we pray your kingdom come your 00:28:35.410 --> 00:28:37.369 will be done. We're declaring something beautiful 00:28:37.369 --> 00:28:39.940 King Jesus You're a better king than I would 00:28:39.940 --> 00:28:43.779 ever be. And that's the prayer that the father 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:54.039 delights in. See. Do pray for daily bread. Jesus 00:28:54.039 --> 00:28:56.859 then says, give us this day our daily bread at 00:28:56.859 --> 00:28:58.539 first glance. This seems pretty straightforward. 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:03.259 We're asking God to provide what we need. But 00:29:03.259 --> 00:29:05.660 there's actually a lot really packed into the 00:29:05.660 --> 00:29:07.319 simple requests. So I'm going to break that down 00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:12.289 quickly. For the disciples, they are understanding 00:29:12.289 --> 00:29:15.609 the daily bread comment. It's pointing them back 00:29:15.609 --> 00:29:18.430 to the Exodus where we know that God provided 00:29:18.430 --> 00:29:21.849 for them manna every morning, right? Did he provide 00:29:21.849 --> 00:29:25.869 manna for them for the week? Nope. Did he provide 00:29:25.869 --> 00:29:28.990 manna for them for the month? The year? Nope. 00:29:29.029 --> 00:29:30.910 How many, what was the, how much did he provide 00:29:30.910 --> 00:29:36.549 for? For the day. So he gives you just enough 00:29:36.549 --> 00:29:40.460 for the day. And so God was teaching his people 00:29:40.460 --> 00:29:44.259 something. I can be trusted one day at a time. 00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:46.359 Can God be trusted with all of your life? Yes, 00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:48.119 but he's saying this is a day -to -day thing. 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:50.599 You and I are walking this out and trust day 00:29:50.599 --> 00:29:52.779 -to -day. And so I tell you guys all the time, 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.539 Christianity is a blind faith leaping off a building. 00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:58.519 It's small steps of trust towards him every day. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:03.259 And that's still what he's teaching us today. 00:30:03.470 --> 00:30:06.730 When we pray for our daily bread, it's a reminder 00:30:06.730 --> 00:30:09.170 where our bread is buttered. And yes, that pun 00:30:09.170 --> 00:30:13.170 is absolutely intended. So everything we have 00:30:13.170 --> 00:30:16.529 ultimately comes from God. Now, some of you guys 00:30:16.529 --> 00:30:19.309 might be thinking, Pastor Logan, my job provides 00:30:19.309 --> 00:30:25.170 my food, my farm, my ranch, my business. These 00:30:25.170 --> 00:30:29.690 things provide my food. Yes. But those are the 00:30:29.690 --> 00:30:34.319 ordinary means that God uses to provide. So I 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:36.359 would ask you this if you if your heart is ah 00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:39.059 my job provides that yada yada yada this these 00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:42.420 would be my next Questions to you who gives the 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:49.839 rain Who makes the seed grow Who makes your heart 00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:52.900 to keep beating so you can get up and go to work 00:30:52.900 --> 00:30:58.119 Who gives you strength to work another day who 00:30:58.119 --> 00:31:00.619 sends customers to buy your cattle your hay your 00:31:00.619 --> 00:31:04.430 corn your soybeans Who gave you the mind to run 00:31:04.430 --> 00:31:07.170 a business? And some of you are like, I don't 00:31:07.170 --> 00:31:08.549 have a mind to run the business. That's why I 00:31:08.549 --> 00:31:12.769 have somebody else do it, right? Who provided 00:31:12.769 --> 00:31:15.349 a community that needed teachers, nurses, mechanics, 00:31:15.569 --> 00:31:17.950 truck drivers, welders, bankers, and every other 00:31:17.950 --> 00:31:22.190 vocation that is represented in this town? God. 00:31:24.170 --> 00:31:27.150 Bread delivery men. Glad you're here, man. Glad 00:31:27.150 --> 00:31:33.819 you guys are here. God did all of it. Now someone 00:31:33.819 --> 00:31:38.099 is thinking in their mind Yeah, but I I do my 00:31:38.099 --> 00:31:44.240 own hunting Okay Praise God for that Praise God 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:46.380 that God blesses you with your own meat. What 00:31:46.380 --> 00:31:48.480 are you talking about pastor? Well first off 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:53.740 last I checked you didn't create the deer Last 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:56.059 I checked you're not the one that sustains the 00:31:56.059 --> 00:32:03.019 deer I put out a corn feeder Who ordered his 00:32:03.019 --> 00:32:05.660 creation to walk and wander right in front of 00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:11.380 your tree stand just at the right moment? The 00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:16.460 Lord. Ephesians says this, every good gift comes 00:32:16.460 --> 00:32:19.660 from above. And so the point is we don't stop 00:32:19.660 --> 00:32:22.839 working. The Bible calls us to work diligently, 00:32:23.460 --> 00:32:25.480 farm the field, run the business, go to work, 00:32:25.579 --> 00:32:27.660 study for the test, provide for your family, 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:32.460 but never confuse the means with the provider 00:32:32.460 --> 00:32:36.400 the means may change but the provider never does 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:42.299 amen and so i think when reason why jesus says 00:32:42.299 --> 00:32:44.599 daily bread and not weekly bread not yearly bread 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:47.359 but daily bread because every day god invites 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:51.799 us to trust him again and again and again and 00:32:51.799 --> 00:32:56.200 that's actually freeing we worry we stress I 00:32:56.200 --> 00:32:58.160 don't have enough for retirement. I don't have 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:00.480 much of a savings account. I don't know if we're 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:02.000 going to be able to pay the mortgage next week. 00:33:02.099 --> 00:33:05.299 We stress these things and God is saying stop. 00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:11.539 We're not worried about tomorrow. We're talking 00:33:11.539 --> 00:33:15.319 about today. So do you have food to eat? Yes, 00:33:15.380 --> 00:33:18.740 Lord. Do you have clothes on your back? Yes, 00:33:18.759 --> 00:33:21.960 Lord. Do you have a roof over your head? Yes, 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:31.269 Lord. Great. So I'd say. Pretty blessed. And 00:33:31.269 --> 00:33:36.230 so I would say it's very free. Well, and by the 00:33:36.230 --> 00:33:39.529 way, I don't live this every day. I mean, just 00:33:39.529 --> 00:33:41.369 yesterday, Tracy and I are on a walk and we're 00:33:41.369 --> 00:33:45.089 stressing about different things. And I had I 00:33:45.089 --> 00:33:47.170 kid you not, I came back and I read this part 00:33:47.170 --> 00:33:53.029 to Tracy as a reminder for both of us. And so. 00:33:53.130 --> 00:33:55.230 I said to her, I go, yeah, you know, I wrote 00:33:55.230 --> 00:33:57.089 in there that it's actually freeing to know that 00:33:57.089 --> 00:33:59.450 we only have, we just, we take it day to day 00:33:59.450 --> 00:34:02.450 and we trust the Lord. Why do I think it's freeing? 00:34:02.609 --> 00:34:04.410 Because prayer reminds me that I'm not in control 00:34:04.410 --> 00:34:10.829 anyway. And so we can like to think we are in 00:34:10.829 --> 00:34:13.909 control, but fact of the matter is we're not. 00:34:14.090 --> 00:34:17.190 We can make plans, we work hard, we save, we 00:34:17.190 --> 00:34:21.360 invest, we do these things that are wisdom. All 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:23.059 of those things are good, but at the end of the 00:34:23.059 --> 00:34:25.900 day every breath we take is sustained by the 00:34:25.900 --> 00:34:29.780 grace of God And so that's not frightening that's 00:34:29.780 --> 00:34:31.719 freeing because the burden of sustaining the 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:36.219 universe has never rested on your shoulders It 00:34:36.219 --> 00:34:41.820 rests on his So church I would ask you to work 00:34:41.820 --> 00:34:45.199 faithfully as I know you do As I said plow the 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:47.320 field run the business raise your children love 00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:50.400 your neighbor be diligent with what God has entrusted 00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:56.179 to you and then guess what sleep well Because 00:34:56.179 --> 00:35:02.179 your father never does He watches over his children 00:35:02.179 --> 00:35:06.099 and he knows exactly what we need before we even 00:35:06.099 --> 00:35:12.039 ask it and last one pray do pray for daily grace 00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:17.820 Do pray for daily grace. So Jesus for Jesus continues 00:35:17.820 --> 00:35:20.900 with forgive us our debts as we also forgive 00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:22.840 our debtors and lead us not into temptation, 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:25.239 but deliver us from evil. I want you to notice 00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:28.559 something. Just as we need daily bread, we need 00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:34.800 daily grace. Every single day, every day, we 00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.139 need God's mercy. We need his forgiveness. We 00:35:37.139 --> 00:35:40.630 need his strength. and none of us ever graduates 00:35:40.630 --> 00:35:44.550 from his grace. The longer you walk with Christ, 00:35:44.670 --> 00:35:47.050 the more aware you become of just how desperately 00:35:47.050 --> 00:35:55.090 you need him. I tell people all the time, well, 00:35:55.829 --> 00:35:58.309 at the last men's ministry thing, there was a 00:35:58.309 --> 00:36:00.710 question that was asked before I got there, and 00:36:00.710 --> 00:36:03.869 as I walked in late, Derek goes, well, now the 00:36:03.869 --> 00:36:06.309 expert's here, so you can ask the expert. And 00:36:06.309 --> 00:36:09.380 I'm like, man. The more education I've got on 00:36:09.380 --> 00:36:11.440 the Bible, the more I realize I don't know anything. 00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:15.699 I mean, it's true. When I started working on 00:36:15.699 --> 00:36:17.619 a PhD, there were things that I'm like learning 00:36:17.619 --> 00:36:21.320 and I'm like, I'm an idiot. Like I thought I 00:36:21.320 --> 00:36:23.639 knew the Bible. I do not know the Bible. And 00:36:23.639 --> 00:36:29.099 so that's a beautiful thing. Why? Because you 00:36:29.099 --> 00:36:34.699 never outgrow this. You never outgrow it. God 00:36:34.699 --> 00:36:37.820 is always showing you new things and new attributes 00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:39.900 of who he is and what he's like, and it's like 00:36:39.900 --> 00:36:42.340 you can't outgrow that stuff. And if you get 00:36:42.340 --> 00:36:44.119 to a place where you think you've outgrown it, 00:36:44.119 --> 00:36:46.280 I would say, brother, sister, you're not a Christian. 00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:56.900 You have created yourself to be a God. So Jesus 00:36:56.900 --> 00:37:00.480 teaches us to pray, forgive us our debts. Now 00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:02.280 let's be clear, as Christians, we're not asking 00:37:02.280 --> 00:37:06.679 God to save us over and over again, okay? We're 00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:08.900 children who have already been adopted through 00:37:08.900 --> 00:37:10.920 Christ. If you have said yes to Jesus and you 00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:13.219 have made the decision to follow him, you are 00:37:13.219 --> 00:37:15.960 not getting re -saved over and over again. You're 00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:23.599 already adopted into the family. But just as 00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:26.139 children regularly need their father's forgiveness 00:37:26.139 --> 00:37:28.599 when they've disobeyed, we regularly come before 00:37:28.599 --> 00:37:31.230 him the Heavenly Father confessing our sins, 00:37:31.269 --> 00:37:33.090 not because we're trying to earn His love, but 00:37:33.090 --> 00:37:36.250 because we already have it. And then Jesus adds 00:37:36.250 --> 00:37:38.269 something that's incredibly challenging. He says, 00:37:39.309 --> 00:37:43.530 we also have forgiven our debtors. Why? Because 00:37:43.530 --> 00:37:47.889 forgiven people forgive. I said last week that 00:37:47.889 --> 00:37:52.429 not all forgiveness is equal. There's some forgiveness 00:37:52.429 --> 00:37:56.329 that it just hurts. Somebody has to pay the debt. 00:37:57.380 --> 00:38:00.199 and thanks be to Jesus that he paid the greatest. 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:03.639 And so we don't forgive others in order to earn 00:38:03.639 --> 00:38:06.000 forgiveness. We forgive because we've experienced 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:08.940 God's forgiveness. When you realize the debt 00:38:08.940 --> 00:38:11.119 Christ canceled at the cross, it becomes much 00:38:11.119 --> 00:38:13.760 harder to keep a record of someone's debt against 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:18.300 you. Grace received becomes grace extended. Then 00:38:18.300 --> 00:38:20.619 Jesus says something that often confuses people. 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:23.360 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:27.050 evil. I did a podcast on this but for those that 00:38:27.050 --> 00:38:28.789 didn't listen to it is okay because I'm going 00:38:28.789 --> 00:38:31.289 to quickly go through what that means because 00:38:31.289 --> 00:38:33.210 has that ever confused anybody because James 00:38:33.210 --> 00:38:35.650 is very clear or he's like God doesn't tempt 00:38:35.650 --> 00:38:38.349 us but then Jesus says lead us not into temptation 00:38:38.349 --> 00:38:40.969 does that ever confuse anyone all right we're 00:38:40.969 --> 00:38:44.869 all Bible scholars got it get it okay and so 00:38:44.869 --> 00:38:47.510 some people can read that and be like well hold 00:38:47.510 --> 00:38:51.039 on Doesn't the Bible say that God doesn't tempt 00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:53.179 anyone? And it does. As I said, James is very 00:38:53.179 --> 00:38:56.559 clear about that. But temptation comes from our 00:38:56.559 --> 00:39:00.420 own sinful desires. So what is Jesus teaching 00:39:00.420 --> 00:39:02.519 us to pray then? He's teaching us to pray from 00:39:02.519 --> 00:39:06.340 a place of humility. In other words, Father, 00:39:07.019 --> 00:39:11.980 don't leave me to myself. Don't let me wander 00:39:11.980 --> 00:39:14.679 into something that will overwhelm me. Keep me 00:39:14.679 --> 00:39:18.159 close, strengthen me, deliver me. God is never 00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:20.880 the author of temptation, but he is absolutely 00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:25.179 our protector in the midst of temptation. And 00:39:25.179 --> 00:39:27.820 Paul tells us that whenever temptation comes, 00:39:28.019 --> 00:39:31.460 God faithfully provides a way of escape. And 00:39:31.460 --> 00:39:33.719 so every time we pray this prayer, we're admitting 00:39:33.719 --> 00:39:41.699 something. I'm weak. I need grace. I cannot fight 00:39:41.699 --> 00:39:44.980 this on my own. Church, that isn't weakness, 00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:49.260 it's wisdom to know this. The Christian life 00:39:49.260 --> 00:39:51.860 isn't about living a life of self -confidence. 00:39:51.940 --> 00:39:54.239 It's lived by dependence upon Christ. And so 00:39:54.239 --> 00:39:57.019 every morning we ask for bread, every morning 00:39:57.019 --> 00:39:59.440 we ask for grace, and every morning we ask our 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:02.659 Father to hold us close. And every morning we 00:40:02.659 --> 00:40:04.820 trust that His grace is sufficient for whatever 00:40:04.820 --> 00:40:07.719 that day may bring. And so in closing, here's 00:40:07.719 --> 00:40:14.719 this. So we spent this last 40 minutes talking 00:40:14.719 --> 00:40:18.739 about prayer. So now I want to invite us to pray. 00:40:19.820 --> 00:40:21.780 Not because it's the end of the service, but 00:40:21.780 --> 00:40:26.780 because I think it's just smart. If I'm going 00:40:26.780 --> 00:40:28.820 to teach on something, I want to give you the 00:40:28.820 --> 00:40:32.159 opportunity to practically walk this out. So 00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:34.619 Jesus didn't give us this passage so we know 00:40:34.619 --> 00:40:37.639 more about prayer. He gave it so we'd actually 00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:44.530 pray. And so I want to lead you guys through 00:40:44.530 --> 00:40:48.230 this as Jesus taught. I don't want you to worry 00:40:48.230 --> 00:40:50.730 about sounding spiritual and I don't want you 00:40:50.730 --> 00:40:52.329 to worry about like if other people are listening 00:40:52.329 --> 00:40:55.309 to you around, like this is just you and the 00:40:55.309 --> 00:40:59.750 Lord. So here's what I'm gonna do. If you want 00:40:59.750 --> 00:41:01.510 to come up front, you can do that. If you want 00:41:01.510 --> 00:41:02.889 to stay in your seat, you can do that. If you 00:41:02.889 --> 00:41:04.530 want to pray with someone next to you, you can 00:41:04.530 --> 00:41:06.940 do that. whatever you'd like to do if you feel 00:41:06.940 --> 00:41:09.059 like you need to kneel stay seated whatever you 00:41:09.059 --> 00:41:11.079 want to do like this is your time