Osceola Sermon Prayer from Jesus Point of View Pastor Bob Vale / Feb. 7 th, 2010 Biblical Focus: Matthew 6:19 Jesus said, This, then, is how you should pray:" Scripture Lesson: Matthew 6:5-15 MT 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. MT 6:9 MT 6:10 "This, then, is how you should pray: " `Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. MT 6:11 Give us today our daily bread. MT 6:12 MT Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ' MT 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Opening Hymn: #397 I Need Thee Every Hour Prayer Chorus: # 349 Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus Hymn of Discipleship: #496 Sweet Hour of Prayer Drama: The Lord s Prayer *Pass Out cards at the end of the service with the Lord s Prayer on them. The drama we have just seen teaches us a lot in a humorous way. It teaches us what not to do and what we should do when we pray to the God of the Universe. In our scripture lesson today Jesus also teaches us both what not to do and also what we should do when we pray. Jesus begins telling us what not to do when we pray. 1. Matt. 6:5 Don t be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 2. Jesus knows the hearts of men and can read our motives. In that day and time men came to the synagogue to pray openly or they would stand on the street corner to pray. 3. Obviously Jesus was opposed to this type of public prayer. The only reward they were going to get for their eloquent prayers was a pat on the back from men. In fact, if we look at the Bible we will see very few times when Jesus actually prayed publically. a. Prayed for the bread & wine at the last supper with his disciples. b. Prayed at the feeding of the 5,000 with the loaves & fishes. c. Prayed as he was on the cross. Other than those I have mentioned, Jesus doesn t have a lot of praying in public situations. In fact, Jesus appears to detail a very different way to pray other than in the public square. (Alone with God.) Matthew 26:36 In the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest to be crucified. Matthew 14:23 On the mountain when he left the three disciples at the foot of the mountain.
Luke 5:16 Jesus withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed. There are four key elements to the way Jesus wants us to pray. 1. Go alone into a room or closet. 2. Close The Door. 3. Pray to God. 4. Don t Babble. (Vain repetition, catch phrases, or flowery speech.) Be Genuine with God. Let s look at these a bit closer at these steps: 1. Go alone into a room or closet. (We go into our closet or room to get away from the world. We get away from our family, friends, coworkers, Turn off the TV, get rid of the Mp3 player and get alone to meditate upon the Lord. Good Shepherd Retreat Center in Huntington, Indiana, is an Old Catholic Monastery where Monks lived out their days in prayer and solitude. The rooms are very basic. They are about the size of most people s bathrooms. There is just enough room for one bed, a closet, a dresser and a desk. There is no room for many other amenities. 2. Close The Door. We close the door to limit interruptions and to focus better upon the Lord. Don t forget, we are listening to the Still Small Voice of God. That is not easy. However it is much easier to do when you are alone in a quiet place rather than in the middle of traffic or at the mall shopping. We should close the door to be with God alone. 3. Pray to God. (We pray to God alone and we don t pray to Angels, we don t pray to our brothers and sisters who have gone on to be with the Lord in years past and call them saints, we don t pray to the disciples, or Paul, Moses, Elijah, Mary the mother of Jesus, or any of the other Bible Characters. There is one and one alone to whom we pray. God the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity. The Bible clearly says that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will say that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is to whom we pray. Athiest Prayer Website: $10 per prayer. 4. Don t Babble. (Vain repetition, catch phrases, or flowery speech.) Be Genuine with God. If words simply cannot come out, then perhaps it is time to listen with your two ears, rather than speak with your single mouth. The Bible says that God knows what we are going to say before we can even say it. Now let s move on to the prayer Jesus is teaching us to pray. (The Lord s Prayer.) MT 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: " `Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, MT 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. MT 6:11 Give us today our daily bread. MT Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ' MT 6:12
On Easter Sunday 2008 it was estimated that 2 billion Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Christians read, recited, or sang the short Lord s prayer in hundreds of languages. Although many theological differences and various modes and manners of worship divide Christians, according to Fuller Seminary professor Clayton Schmit "there is a sense of solidarity and unity in knowing that Christians around the globe are praying together, and these words always unite us. There are six parts of this prayer I want to dissect and take a deeper look. We are going to make a prayer sandwich: Six large cards with one word on each card. (Praise, Hope, Dependence, Forgiveness, Goodness & Power.) Jesus was a man of prayer. He would rise early in the morning to pray. He must have been watched closely by those who followed him to learn how to pray. Sensing this, Jesus took time to teach his followers how to pray. He taught us to pray about everything, to never give up praying for those things we felt were important, and to always have faith when we prayed. God hears our prayers. He loves us and wants us to spend time with Him in prayer. Let's make a prayer sandwich as we learn how to pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be they name. Praise: This first phrase reflects our praise for the Lord. The Lord is in heaven above, and we speak of the greatness of his name. Names meant a lot to the Jewish nation in Jesus time. In fact, God had many different names. EL SHADDAI, ELOHIM, EL ELYON, Adonai, King of King, Lord of Lords, Yahweh, Shepherd, I Am, The Holy one of Israel, and Jehovah. One such name was unable to even be spoken it was so holy. Theologians call it the Tetragrammaton. JHWH These four letters are usually transliterated from Hebrew as IHVH in Latin, JHWH in German, and JHVH/YHWH in English. This has been variously rendered as "Yahweh" or even occasionally as "Jehovah, Observant Jews write down but do not pronounce the Tetragrammaton, because it is considered too sacred to be used for common activities. Even ordinary prayer is considered too common for this use. Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; is the second part of the prayer. It represents: Hope Hope that Jesus will come back to us one day and reclaim the earth and his people in what we call the second coming. Hope for the abundant life to be lived here on earth. We should be willing to put our personal concerns aside for the greater good of God s kingdom on earth. This means we should share our toys with others, and not be a selfish person. God wants us to love each other. Give us this day our daily bread. The third part is (Dependence) This part of the prayer represents our Dependence upon God. Jesus wants us to depend on God for our needs every day. God is an abundant provider. He wants us to look to him in faith for our needs. Many times Jesus did not even know where he was going to sleep at night when he started out for the day, or how he would be fed. He trusted God at every turn. He doesn't want his children to be worried and afraid, but at peace and trusting. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors: The fourth element is to Forgive. In our times of prayers the Lord knows we need to ask for forgiveness. According to this scripture passage, we go to God alone to seek forgiveness. What a wonderful feeling to be forgiven; Amen?
And Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The fifth element is Righteousness. God knows the devil is traveling around the earth seeking who he may devour. The Lord knows we will be tempted often in this life. God is asking us to seek His help in defeating the schemes of the devil in our lives. A father had been teaching his five-year old daughter the Lord's Prayer. For several evenings at bedtime, she would repeat after him the lines from the prayer. Finally, she decided to go solo. The father listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the line in the prayer that says: "Lead us not into temptation," she prayed, "but deliver us some E-mail. Amen." Everyone Faces Temptation: Celebrities who have fallen: I sure wish Tiger Woods would have earnestly prayed this prayer a few years back before he fell into temptation. I sure wish South Carolina Governor Sanford and many other politicians would have earnestly prayed this prayer before they fell into temptation. I sure wish all of us would have earnestly prayed this part of the Lord s Prayer before we have fallen into some type of temptation in our life and found our hands in the cookie jar of trouble. Jesus wants our prayer to strengthen our desire to do what is right. God does not intend for us to do wrong. The Lord wants us to avoid everything that is bad and evil and live the abundant life. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory; for ever; Amen. The sixth element is that of Power. Jesus again recognizes that all authority and power rests with God. God is in control. You probably notice this part of the prayer is not in our scripture text. It has been added by the Catholic Church over the centuries. It is actually part of an ancient doxology that came at the end of many Jewish prayers before Jesus day. Most likely it comes from the Old Testament passage of I Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Some Biblical scholars think that Jesus left this part of the ancient prayer out because it was so common place, it was just assumed it would be the tag of this prayer as well. Now we have completed our prayer sandwich. What elements does our prayer have? [hold each card up as a review] ; Praise, Hope, Dependence, Forgiveness, Goodness & Power. Yes, these are the elements that make for a rich prayer life. Now let's bow our heads and practice what we have learned as we say the Lord's Prayer together. 1662 Book Of Common Prayer Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. *Pass out plastic key cards with the Lord s Prayer on them to each person in the congregation.
Prayer from Jesus Point of View: Pastor Bob Vale Thoughts & Notes Jesus appears to detail a very different way to pray other than in the public square. (Alone with God.) Matthew 26:36 In the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest to be crucified. Matthew 14:23 On the mountain when he left the three disciples at the foot of the mountain. Luke 5:16 Jesus withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed. There are four key elements to the way Jesus wants us to pray. 1. Go alone into a room or closet. (Be alone with God) 2. Close The Door. (Shut out things that might distract) 3. Pray to God. (God and God alone!) 4. Don t Babble. (Vain repetition, catch phrases, or flowery speech.) Be Genuine with God. Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be they name: Praise: Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven: Hope Give us this day our daily bread: Dependence And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors: Forgiveness And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: Righteousness
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory; forever; Amen: Pow er.