For What Should You Pray? (Luke 11:3-4 April 25, 2010)

Transcription

1 For What Should You Pray? (Luke 11:3-4 April 25, 2010) I have met very few men and women in my life who I would describe as having a passionate prayer life. I have met even fewer who are satisfied with their prayer life. I m not satisfied with mine. All too often my prayer life seems to go through superficial motions. All too often I just want to get to the end of my list to get on with real work. I know this is wrong but all too often that is how I feel. Yet, I know that prayer connects me with God. I know prayer is the lifeline for living in this world. I know prayer is as necessary as breathing. There is so much within me that wants my prayer life to belong to the land of the spiritual giants. But at this point in my life that is not me. If we truly believe that apart from Him we can do nothing if we truly believe that we are involved in a spiritual battle for our joy and holiness and the souls of men then we have to become men and women of prayer. If we want to see holiness in our lives and in our families, if we want to see our church grow in grace, if we want to see conversions, if we want to see God s hand at work then we need to be men and women of prayer. I don t pretend to have all the answers. So where do you go for answers? As an elder my main tasks are prayer and teaching the Word. 1

2 As far as teaching the Word goes, there are many great role models and helps for preachers I have MP3 s filled with exemplary sermons and books after book on how to preach. There are courses on preaching and hands on seminars. But where do you go to sit at the feet of men who will teach you to pray? You may have been extraordinarily blessed to have such a man or woman in your life few of us are. But when you hear a prayer warrior you know it. And you say teach me to pray. Several of the disciples had the privilege to sit at the feet of John the Baptist a man of deep, passionate prayer. But when they were called by the Lord Jesus they were blown away by the way He prayed. And they came to Him and asked Lord teach us to pray. In a sense we too can sit at the feet of Jesus and learn how to pray. What Jesus did in response to their request was to provide a pattern for prayer. He did not give a rote formula but instead gave us the bones of a prayer to guide us as we come before the Lord Almighty. He gave us the: WHO Our Father v.2 WHAT Our Food v. 3 Our Forgiveness v. 4 HOW Our Forthrightness vv Verses 2 to 4 are the prayer itself where Jesus tells us who it is we pray to and what we are to pray for. 2

3 Then verses 5-13 tell us about how we should come to God in prayer. Today, we will look at the what of prayer. Just listen to the prayer itself: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. We saw last week that this sounds a little strange because most of us learned the Lord s prayer from the words of Matthew 6. This version is similar but different. Clearly Jesus taught His disciples about prayer on a number of occasions and the fact that the prayers are slightly different is significant. If Jesus wanted to give us a standard rote prayer to cover all situations He would have given the same prayer each time He was asked. Instead, Jesus wanted to give us a pattern for prayer not a rote prayer to be memorised and sprouted off without thinking. The basic structure of Matthew s and Luke s prayers are similar. Jesus begins in both Matthew and Luke by telling us who we are to pray to. When you pray, say: Father. We saw last week that this was revolutionary. That God is our Father. By the blood of Christ, we are washed clean and adopted. We become family. But God is also holy. He answers our prayers according to His holiness and in line with His plan to bring in His kingdom now and eternally. This morning we are going to come to the second part of the prayer. But what we have to understand is that until we have rooted in our soul who we pray to to our Father who is God Almighty holy and sovereign we won t understand verses 3 and 4. What do I mean? Listen to your children pray. Their prayers are usually quite self centred. Dear God, Help me to have a happy day tomorrow. I pray that my party would be fun. Help Grandma to feel better. Please let Daddy remember that I asked for a Malibu Barbie for my birthday. Amen. 3

4 That is understandable for a child. Their view of God is often a kindly grandfather who spoils His grandchildren. But as you grow your understanding of who God is matures. You understand: Holy is Your name. The absolute holiness of God. His hatred of sin. His desire for righteousness. You understand: Your kingdom come. The plan of God to see His church grow in holiness and through missions. This changes what you ask God for. Listen to John 14:13-14: Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. Your view of who it is you pray to affects how you understand this verse. The way this verse is often used is as if it comes void of any context and reads: Whatever you ask in My name, this will I do. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. On the last night of His life, Jesus is commissioning the disciples and the church to take the glory of God the gospel to the world. That is the context which is often ignored. And the crucial phrase that the Father may be glorified in the Son this is often ignored. We have to realise who God is He is holy. And we have to understand that His Kingdom is coming and it comes in part through us taking the gospel to the world so that the Father is gloried in the works of the Son. Understanding this shapes what we pray for. We have been reading much about the actions of Country Fire Authority in Victoria during the Black Saturday fires. I was listening yesterday to a local fire captain describe how he called headquarters in the midst of the fires pleading for help. He didn t call and say: There is a fire bearing down but listen what I really want to talk about is me. 4

5 The kids really want a pool the wife hasn t been to Rome and I need to get to the MCG on grand final day how about it? No! He called and pleaded for firemen and volunteers and equipment to do the task entrusted to him. He had a task and his plea for help was related to the task. So too in John 14 when Jesus says If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. This promise is made in the context of the Lord passing a sacred task to the church. You have a job to do. Jesus says, ask Me for the help you need to carry out that task the Father delights to answer these prayers in line with His holiness and plan for the Kingdom. Listen again to those words: It is not: Whatever you ask in My name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that you may have an easier life. But so many see prayer as a blank cheque to ask God for health and wealth and acclaim in this life. So many think this that this is a promise that if our prayer adds in Jesus name He is saying He will give us whatever we ask. There is no way this means that! In the name of Jesus means in accord with the will of Jesus. And He tells us what His will is that the Father may be glorified in the Son that the holiness of God be magnified that the kingdom of God will advance. All of this leads us to how Jesus answers the question of just what should you ask for when you pray? Jesus tells us in His sample prayer. He tells us to ask for: Our Food v. 3 Our Forgiveness v. 4 Back in Luke 11, look at verse 3: Give us each day our daily bread. Believe it or not this phrase is a cause of great controversy. 5

6 One of the words used the word translated daily is so rare we aren t certain what it means. The most likely meanings are daily or tomorrow s. Most of your Bibles has one translation in the text and one in the margin. So the probable translations are: Give us each day our necessary bread. Our bread of tomorrow, give us today. Let me explain the difference. Give us each day our necessary bread. This is a prayer where bread represents the necessities of life. This is a prayer that realises that without God we could not exist for one more moment. If we are to breathe, eat, work, find a wife, have health these are gifts of God and if the sovereign plan of God His kingdom coming means we don t even have these so be it. A baby is helpless it can t grow food, it can t feed itself, change itself, keep itself warm. Its survival is due to the love of its parents. This is also true of us and God. This is an acknowledgement that we live and breathe only because He wills it. Our life is a vapour that ends when He says it ends. Everything we have comes from Him and His bountiful hand. Unless He wills it you will not draw another breathe into your lungs. The lunch you sit down to later today ultimately you don t have it because Dad worked to earn the money and Mum slaved to make it. Ultimately, you eat because God so willed you eat. 6

7 God speaks and the world ends. God speaks and Barack Obama goes hungry. God speaks and all of India is fed. This is a prayer of dependence for our Father to give us what we need to live. The other translation: Our bread of tomorrow, give us today. In this understanding bread speaks of spiritual food. John 6:35-51: Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Tomorrow speaks of heaven the final fulfilment of the kingdom. This is a prayer recognising our salvation comes from God. Thank you for giving us the bread of life in this world so that we may live forever in the world to come. It is an acknowledgement that our salvation is totally due to the good graces of our sovereign Lord. It is hard to choose between the two. If I had to choose I would say that Give us each day our necessary bread is more likely. But I don t see why we have to choose. Both are true. We should pray prayers for gratitude for giving us both physical and eternal life and keeping us alive while He wills and taking us to glory when He wills. We pray for physical food and spiritual food recognising both come from God. Physical food Psalm 37:25-26: I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. Spiritual food Isaiah 55:1-3: 7

8 Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant. And the two are combined eternally: Revelation 19:9: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. When I was a young Christian I was introduced to the ACTS acrostic in prayer. Adoration Confession Thanksgiving Supplication In a sense Give us each day our daily bread is both Thanksgiving and Supplication. I haven t done this for years but I once began to write down all the blessings I had both physically and spiritually. Physically Health, education, family, country, church, friends my list went on and on it went for page after page. Spiritually Christ, Heaven, Adoption as God s Child, Forgiveness, Righteousness again the list went on and on. For weeks, I began by just reading that list I could not believe how much there was to give thanks for. Count your many blessings, Name them one by one, And it will surprise you what The Lord hath done. 8

9 It takes any griping and complaint away. It fills your heart with joy and thankfulness. But this verse also leads to supplication asking God. Again, I don t want to pre-empt next week but in verses 5-8 Jesus describes a man who is in bed surrounded by his children fast asleep and a neighbour comes at midnight asking for food. To get up would wake the children. But because of the neighbour s irreverence, shamelessness and boldness he gives him what he asks. God wants us to ask with boldness. Verses 9-13: And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! We ask our heavenly Father to supply our needs. Matthew 6:26-33: Luke 12:6-7: Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. Prayer is primarily a way to ask God for what you need to fight the battle in this life. But, because He is a father he knows and cares deeply for the little things that take up so much of our time. 9

10 Prayer may not be there to ask for the luxuries of life the third car the beach house but He knows and cares when you are struggling with loneliness, finances, job security or the thousand other things that take up your day. Whether we have a wife or husband is not on the same level as world evangelism but we must not forget God cares deeply about this because we are His children. So, tell Him your need of daily bread. Go to Him. As a Father He says ask. Share your hurts and concerns and longings. But don t forget the bread of tomorrow spiritual food. So what should we ask for in terms of spiritual needs? John 17 is the other famous prayer of Jesus usually called Jesus High Priestly prayer. In it He prays for the church. But what He prays helps us to see the type of prayer we should pray. First he prays for Spiritual power in our lives: Faith v. 11 keep us in Your name. Unity v. 11 that us may be one. Joy v. 13 that we may have His joy made full. Perseverance v. 15 keep us in the world. Holiness v. 17 sanctify us. Faithfulness v. 18 send us into the world. Then He prays for Spiritual power in our evangelism: Believers vv Unbeleivers That the world may see the glory of God in our lives vv Pray for spiritual power in your life. Pray for this church and the church in the world. Pray for the salvation of souls. Pray for our leaders in the church in the secular world. Jesus knows that without Him and His enabling we can do nothing. In our own efforts no one will ever bow the knee to serve God. Without Him our lives will not speak of a God who transforms. Without Him our words will fall on deaf ears. Beg Him to make your light shine in a dark world. Beg Him to save souls. Pray for them by name. Seek divine appointments. Ask Him who should you share with. 10

11 Ask Him to make your evangelism live. Beseech the Lord of the Harvest to send forth labourers. He hears us. He delights to answer us. But there is something else Jesus tells us to pray for. Our Forgiveness v. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. This is not a prayer just for the initial forgiveness of sins that occurs at salvation this is a prayer that we remember who we are and what saved us. We know this because the prayer for forgiveness is linked to our forgiveness of others. I want to play a short video that reminds us of the basis of our salvation. GOOD O METER. No one is good enough. The standard is perfection. And only one is good and that is Jesus. He bore our sins. We have His righteousness. He is worthy and because we are in Him our sins are forgiven. Notice that the Christian had a thick file of sins. Not just sins committed before salvation but unfortunately sins committed after salvation. No amount of good works can wash away even one of those sins. But, Jesus paid it all. But in this sample prayer Jesus says: Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. One of the great tests of whether we understand the enormous grace of our forgiveness is our forgiveness of others. Matthew s version of the Lord s Prayer is immediately followed by these words: For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 11

12 If you don t forgive you don t understand grace and if you don t understand grace how can you be saved? Spurgeon said this: Unless you have forgiven others, you read your own death-warrant when you repeat the Lord s Prayer. John MacArthur said of forgiveness: Matthew 5:7: There is almost no concept more important to the Christian faith. 1 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. A servant forgiven an unimaginable debt and yet he is unwilling to forgive a fellows servant who owes him a pittance. Listen to the judgment. Matthew 18:32-35: Then his master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. God has forgiven us more than we can ever imagine. If we truly understand that then by His power working in us we can do what is humanly impossible forgive others. Forgiveness is crucial especially in the church. In his superb book The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness, John MacArthur said this: Early in my pastoral ministry I noticed an interesting fact: nearly all the personal problems that drive people to seek pastoral counsel are related in some way to the issue of forgiveness. 2 At first I thought it was a bit of an exaggeration. Then I thought about my experience and he is right. Marital problems, church splits, interpersonal disasters, relationship breakdowns a lack of forgiveness is there in them all. 1 John MacArthur, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness, (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1998), p MacArthur, p

13 When there is a lack of forgiveness in Christians it destroys our testimony about a God who forgives. God has forgiven us so much how can we be a judgmental unforgiving people? And if we are it shatters our testimony of grace. I was so saddened to find a video from a church in the US where members spoke about the crushing heartache of turning to the church when they struggled only to be judged instead of forgiven. The video was long so I edited right down. But you will grasp the flow. JUDGED VIDEO For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. How tragic that in the community of the forgiven we find so many unforgiving people. Don t get me wrong we don t tolerate sin but we forgive it as God forgives us and we show grace and show others the path of forgiveness and healing in Christ. The reality is that if our sins known to all not one of us would show our face on a Sunday. But they are known to God and He forgave us. This is a place for forgiven sinners. This is where we live out the gospel. It is only as we understand the incredible grace of God in forgiving us in Christ that we can forgive. Colossians 3:12-13: Put on then, as God s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. We forgive as God forgave us. Scary stuff. How did God forgive us? He forgives us day by day and moment by moment. 1 John 1:9: 13

14 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jesus says we are to forgive seventy times seven times. When I first read this command to forgive seventy times seven, I thought anyone who keeps committing the same sin just isn t genuine in their repentance. But then I looked in the mirror. I know there are days when I have sinned and then begged God for forgiveness heartfelt repentance stood up from my knees forgiven and soon after gone and committed the same sin. And God still forgave me. Who am I to withhold forgiveness from anyone? As those forgiven, so we must forgive. George Herbert put it so well: He who cannot forgive another breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself. 3 In our lives there may be some big things to forgive. Then ask God to take your mustard seed faith and move some mountains in your heart. But more often it is merely the small things. The harsh word. The thoughtless act. The strong opinion. The snide comment. Often the other person doesn t even know it has happened. Some of you may have difficulties with others sitting here today. Minor difficulties but still difficulties. Things that you think are barely worth mentioning. But, without realising it, you might be like the humanistic philosopher Immanuel Kant who taught that you should only dispense forgiveness if it is deserved. But if it is deserved, it is not forgiveness it is not grace. Forgiveness is an act of grace not based on merit. We didn t deserve the grace of God. Yet God forgave us anyway. Let me bring it down to a practical level. In the years I have been here there have been very few major offences caused by one person to another. But weekly, there are minor offences. I thought about myself. One of my great problems is that I have a sarcastic wit. My tongue often engages well before my brain. And at times my tongue engages and my brain never does. 3 Cited in Yancey, p

15 I have said something hurt someone and don t even know it. I know I have interrupted conversations, missed greetings, failed to listen, said something carelessly in a sermon done a dozen things that can offend and most of the time I am oblivious to the trial I leave. You can come and tell me or you can simply forgive me. But, you cannot hold it against me and put up a barrier. You cannot bury it and just say well that s just typical of Craig but continue thinking poorly of me. Matthew 5:23-24: If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. You must tell me and we can sort it out or forgive me it is done it is as if it did not happen. And this happens week by week to all of us. It happens in marriage, in fellowship, in every relationship. I am convinced that much of the reason my marriage is so good is that my wife is such a good forgiver. I could not imagine a marriage where forgiveness did not flow. You have a duty to be a forgiver. You have a duty to forgive as God has forgiven you. And if you are a good forgiver, you will know the full joy of the fellowship of the saints. And the blessings of this life and the sweetness of life in Christ will be yours in full measure. So, in prayer meditate on your salvation. Amazing grace. Your sin not in part but the whole washed away nailed to the cross. Forgiven. Then we are to be examples of this same unnatural love we are to forgive others. Something totally unnatural vengeance is natural forgiveness is so hard. But in forgiving we understand more of the grace of God in forgiving us and our heart explodes in gratitude. I have been forgiven so much. But, if you are bitter, unforgiving then you are not a walking example of the love of God. 15

16 So pray for the grace of God to so permeate you that you are salt and light to a watching world. Pray for holiness and a heart that forgives that you would show the world the glory of Christ in your life. Forgiveness is never to be an excuse for sin. Nor is it an excuse to tolerate sin in others. That is why Jesus ends His prayer with this: And lead us not into temptation. Don t miss the point here. This is not a plea to remove all temptations from our lives. We have the world, the flesh and the devil. We would have to leave this world and be perfectly righteous in glory to be removed from all temptation. No this is a prayer to strengthen us against temptation. John 17:15 Jesus prayed: I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. Lead us not into those temptations that will destroy us. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Alone we cannot stand. In His strength I can do all things. God wants us holy as He is holy and He provides the resources to live holy. Ephesians 5 the armour of God. Pray daily for the strength to stand holy as salt and light that we might bring honour rather than dishonour to the name of our Lord. So once you know to whom you pray our Father who is holy and sovereign once He fills our mind we ask. 16

17 We know that all things come from Him so we ask for our food. The necessities of life. We ask for spiritual food. That He would finish the good work He began in us. We ask that we would have a greater understanding of the grace that forgave us that we would be filled with the Spirit of grace to such an extent that we forgive others and show the love of God to the world. And we pray for spiritual power to resist temptation and live holy. These are the bones of prayer ready for you to flesh out daily. But when you grasp God and grace and spiritual power and our task your prayer becomes one that is pleasing to our God and a suitable offering of worship. 17