Originally presented at Men s Breakfast Devotional 5/2013 Edited for reading 10/2013

Transcription

1 Prayer Originally presented at Men s Breakfast Devotional 5/2013 Edited for reading 10/2013 Read: Matthew 6:1-21 I am no expert on prayer. I tend to think actually that anyone who claims to know everything about prayer knows nothing. But I m no expert on a lot of things I do. One thing I do know, however, prayer is important. In Jesus s limited time with us in His fully human form, He took the time to teach us how to pray and it seems the disciples took good notes. His model prayer, commonly called the Lord s Prayer, appears in two Gospels. Jesus wouldn t waste his precious time with His disciples to teach something that was not of ultimate importance. Prayer is communication with our personal God. Do you understand how big that is? This is the God, the One who created the universe, the one who can make anything possible! And here He is in Scripture asking little you to talk with Him. This is a miracle. But it is a miracle that we too often forget. We put it off sometimes. We try to make do with what we know. We try it our way first. And then when the inevitable happens and failure comes around. That s when we pray. We pray too often when all hope is lost. I do pray. But I don t pray enough. God is right there and I don t talk to Him enough. There are days when His name is on my mouth and in my heart, and there are days when I am feeling sorry for myself. I should accept Jesus invitation. I am lucky to have it. Take the Lord s Prayer as an invitation or exhortation to prayer from God Himself. What a wonderful God we have that He hears our prayers, that He invites us to hear our voice in His courts. He does it even though He knows the outcome and what is in our hearts before we even speak. He does it even though our problems to Him must seem like tiny mole hills. But He promises to listen in Scripture. Look at John 15:17 where it says: If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Prayer comes in many forms. You can reach God many ways, just like you can reach people today: by text, by phone call, by Skype, by instant message, by , by Fed-ex. God similarly

2 made it easy to reach Him through multiple paths: by fasting, through our words out loud or in our heart, through our service, etc. It is limitless. There are short prayers and long prayers. I often repeat little phrases when I am in the mood to speak with God. When I see something in nature that blows my mind, I do not hesitate with a little Thank you, God. But then there are those moments like when I was in the hospital, hoping they could put my wife back together again after her c-section, when I prayed for 30 minutes straight. Why pray? There are four reasons 1.) Prayer keeps us connected to God and away from idols. 2.) Prayer keeps us humble. We cannot do it all. 3.) Prayer keeps us far from sin. 4.) God commanded us to do it. Let s look at what Jesus said in Matthew 6: He begins by telling us not to pray as hypocrites do by making a spectacle of ourselves. I don t think He s asking us not to jump for joy or get on our knees. I think He wants our prayer to be genuine, to be sincere and truly from our hearts. He wants us to call him because we want to talk with him, not just to prove to others that we have his number. He promises rewards to those who do pray. He does this twice in this passage, once in verse 6 and once in verse 18. This promise is also seen in all four gospels in various locations. God tells us that our prayer does not fall on deaf ears. God is listening and will give us what we need... but maybe not what we want. My son often asks me for ice cream when I know what he needs is a square meal. I listen to my boy d cries for chocolate chip ice cream and hear that he is hungry. Then I solve his real problems with the wisdom that comes from my experience. Sure, sometimes he fumes and gets upset, but I don t care. He also accuses me of not listening, but, once again, I don t mind. Our Heavenly Father does this too. He hears our prayers and gives what we really need and it usually is not ice cream. Jesus also asks that we not babble. He doesn t want a bunch of empty memorized words. It is not the length of our prayer that determines if he listens. He listens to all prayers.

3 Next in the passage is the most famous Christian prayer, the Our Father. I memorized this one long, long ago before Kindergarten. But in my grown-up years I have tried to make it more of a framework in my prayer, than words to recite. That is what Jesus meant it to be. But there is some comfort when I hear it recited and know that a billion other Christians are saying the same words I am saying. And there is something about the words when one truly dwells on them. As usual, when Jesus speaks, He says a lot. Every word of Jesus seemed to be worth thousands of my own. Let s examine this famous prayer: Our Father, who art in Heaven. He uses the word Father on purpose. God is our Heavenly Father, who cares for us, provides for us, and who grants us an inheritance. Jesus elaborated in Luke 11:9-13: So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Hallowed be your name. Here we acknowledge that God is holy and above all. He has the power and He has the plan: Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. His will is done. All nature proclaims God s glory and His will without question. It is only we people who have the freedom to deny this truth, so when we acknowledge God s place as the mover of all things, it pleases Him and our reward is humility. It is only when we approach God with humility that He can mold us. We need soft hearts. Imagine you get a speeding ticket and you go up to a judge with an attitude. There will be no mercy and no listening. You must be humble. People bowed to kings and we must bow to our King. And wouldn t it be nice if God s will was done on earth as it is in heaven? And why can t we be the start to this bringing down onto earth a little bit of heaven? We should operate as if we are in heaven, with God right there, simply because He is really right there. No pretending is necessary.

4 At this point we end the praising and start the asking. God invites us to ask Him for things. We are not being too forward in doing so. Demand #1: Give us today our daily bread. What is our daily bread? People like to argue about this one. Some say Jesus meant literally, our daily physical sustenance. Jesus promises in Scripture that he will care for these petty everyday problems, so it is worth praying that He continues to provide us with food and clean water and air and the things we need to survive. That word bread is heavy in the Bible. There was that magical food that appeared to the Israelites and kept them alive in the desert. And there were the loaves that Jesus used when he fed the thousands. There was the bread he gave to His disciples, telling them to eat what He said was His broken body. We need to ask God not only for the food we need to make our body work every day, but for the food we need to keep our spirit healthy too. That food is as much a miracle as the manna from the desert. Jesus said it Himself. That food is Jesus. Demand #2: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. There are many places in Scripture where the Greek word for debt is used interchangeably with the word for sin. Asking Jesus to take our sins is an essential part of Christianity and I ask God to do this every chance I get. I remember a few breakfasts ago when we read a parable about debt wherein a king was upset with a debtor who failed to forgive the debt of someone who owed him money. (Matt 18) We must reflect the mercy and forgiveness of the God who forgave us. We must remember to forgive. Jesus tells us exactly how many times to do it too: infinitely. A Christian is saved and forgiven. A Christian then forgives. If you do not forgive others, I ask you to get real about your faith and beg you to take that next step of submission to God so that His will can truly be done in your life. Demand #3: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Temptation is strong because we are cursed by our sins. They pile on and pile on and stink. We ask God, in this part of the prayer, to help us avoid temptations. If you are a drunk, stay out of the bars. If you are a fool, keep your mouth shut. We need to be careful to stay out of tempting situations and we must ask God when these tests find us, that under His power, we are delivered from evil. Not only in those moments, but we ask Jesus to

5 deliver us from evil at every moment of our lives on that last day of judgment when he will stand up and testify that we are His. Thank Jesus for giving us this framework to help us pray. Jesus framework is simple: Humble yourself before the Almighty God and rest easy in the fact that He can do whatever you ask and then ask Him for what you need, understanding that what you need is exactly what you will get. Speak from your heart. And do it often. Talk to God every day. Schedule it in if you have to. Mark your calendars. Nothing is surer to keep you away from sin than an open line with God. Thank him. Give Him glory. Point out His wonderful creations. Cry with Him. Put your struggles on Him. Ask Him to help you or guide you. Listen for His voice. Pray. He s waiting for your call. Questions for examination: 1.) Do you pray with your family members? Why or why not? 2.) How does prayer keep us far from sin? 3.) How do you pray? Do you pray enough? Do you only pray when the going gets rough? Is there any way you can think of to improve your prayer life? 4.) What use is there in praying? 5.) 1 Thes. 5:17 says to pray continuously. Can this be accomplished? Related verses for reflection: John 15:7 Luke 11:9-13 James 5:16 Colossians 4:2 Mark 11:24 Romans 8:26 Jeremiah 33:3 Luke 18:1-8 Philippians 4:6 1 Thes. 5:17 Mark 1:35 Psalm 55:17 Psalm 34:17 1 Samuel 12:23 Hebrews 4:16