Our Father
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m one of the pastor’s here at the church, it’s great to be with you this morning. One of our goals this year is to grow our church in prayer, especially corporate prayer, meaning unifying our prayers as a church. So today we’re starting a new series on prayer called “The Father’s Arms.” It’s called The Father’s Arms and it’s all about changing HOW we pray, because of WHO we’re praying to...It’s about changing HOW we pray, because of WHO we’re praying to. So over the next 4 weeks we’re gonna study The Lord’s Prayer, and when most people study The Lord’s Prayer they study it with the mindset that it’s teaching a pattern of prayer, which it is. Jesus most certainty is teaching us a pattern of prayer in The Lord’s Prayer, but he’s also teaching us about who we’re praying to. I mean every time Jesus teaches us WHAT to pray, he’s teaching us about WHO we’re praying to. For example when he says pray for forgiveness, he’s telling us God is forgiving. If God wasn’t forgiving he wouldn’t tell us to pray for forgiveness but he tells us to pray for forgiveness because God’s forgiving. So whenever Jesus teaches WHAT to pray, he’s also teaching us about WHO we’re praying to, and that’s gonna be our approach for this series. We’re gonna study what Jesus is teaching us to pray, who he’s teaching us to pray to, and how that should change our prayer lives. Even if you’re not a Christian this series is for you because there’s things you hope are true about God, things you want to be true about God, and Jesus is gonna teach us that some of those things, not all those things some of those actually are true about the God of Christianity. It’s things like God being approachable and loving. Nobody hopes God’s unapproachable and unloving, we hope He’s approachable and loving, and in today’s text Jesus is gonna teach that He is. Jesus is gonna teach us that the God of Christianity is an approachable and loving Father, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. So let’s turn to Matthew 6:5-9 and get into it. The title of today’s message is “Our Father.” Our Father is approachable and loving...Our Father is approachable and loving.
Context:
Here’s your context. The Lord’s Prayer is recorded in two parts of the bible, it’s recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Matthew gives us a more detailed account of The Lord’s Prayer which is why we’re studying Matthew, but what’s interesting about Luke’s record is that he says Jesus is teaching this prayer in response to someone asking Jesus how to pray. Luke 11:1 states, “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” He says Lord “teach” us to pray, and what’s interesting about that is the implication that prayer is something you need to learn. If the disciples need to be taught to pray, then the implication is prayer’s something you need to learn, it’s something you need to grow in. So can we just admit something today? Can we just admit that nobody in here’s an expert in prayer, nobody has a PHD in prayer? I mean personally I struggle with prayer. I struggle with not praying enough, with feeling like I don’t always pray the right things, with ADHD prayer where I go to pray but my mind shifts to hundred other things. I still have much to learn when it comes to prayer, and so do you because none of us have a PHD in prayer. So don’t let this series guilt you or beat you up, instead let it prompt you to want to keep learning and growing in prayer. Let it prompt you to want to do what this disciple did, which is to keep learning about prayer. Today we’re gonna learn from Pastor Jesus himself. We’re gonna learn from Pastor Jesus, 5 things about prayer from Pastor Jesus. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Matthew 6:5-9 states, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.” Jesus says when you pray, you must not be “like the hypocrites.” Luke starts with Jesus teaching us how to pray, but Matthew’s starting with how not to pray. He says don’t pray like the hypocrites. In fact Matthew 6 is all about Jesus teaching his followers to not be hypocritical with their faith, and in this case he’s talking about not being hypocritical with our prayers. He says don’t pray like the hypocrites, and he’s about to tells us what hypocritical prayer looks like.
Again vs. 5, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” Okay so that’s what it means to pray like a hypocrite. It means to pray so you can be “seen by others.” To pray like a hypocrite is to pray so you can be seen by others. Now when Jesus says this he’s not against public prayers, he’s against people who engage in public prayers for the sake of being seen by others. It’s people who try to impress others with their prayers so they can be viewed as super spiritual. They try to impress people with fancy words like “shekinah glory,” or if they’re super spiritual they’ll pray in the King James Version. It’s people who try to impress others with long drawn out prayers that feel like dissertations. I mean you know the person’s praying too long when everybody else’s praying for them to stop praying...This is especially true when it’s meal time. I mean some people try to impress people so badly that they’ll pray until the foods cold or everybody becomes an atheist. I’m like “Bro would you wrap it up already? I’m hungry over here!” I’ve never said it, but I’ve thought it. Yet this is what some people do, they pray to impress others, so Jesus’ 1st point is:
#1 Check Your Motives = When you go to pray check your motives. Jesus says don’t pray like the hypocrites because the hypocrites have the wrong motives when they pray. They’re praying out of a love for themselves, not out of a love for God. They pray because they want to be “seen by others.” Jesus says people who do this already received their reward, meaning they wanted recognition from others and they got it, but they won’t receive recognition from God. Their prayers won’t receive recognition from God, they won’t be heard by God. It’s because their motives are hypocritical. So the issue isn’t about how fancy, long, or short your prayers are, it’s about the motivation of your heart. God doesn’t check the word count of your prayers, He checks the motivation of your prayers...God doesn’t check the word count of your prayers, He checks the motivation of your prayers...
Vs. 6, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Alright so there’s Jesus’ 2nd point on prayer. First he tells us to check our motives, but now he’s telling us to...
#2 Pray To An Audience of One = We’re to pray to an audience of one, meaning to God the Father. Jesus says go to your room, shut the door, and pray to “your Father who is in secret,” pray to an audience of one. Again Jesus isn’t saying we can’t pray public prayers, he’s just making a sharp contrast here between hypocritical prayer and genuine prayer. He’s saying hypocritical prayer is prayer that has wrong motives, it’s prayer that’s focused on impressing others and flows out of a love for ourselves. But genuine prayer is prayer that has right motives, it’s prayer that’s focused on an audience of one and flows out of a genuine love for the Father. He’s saying when you pray don’t put on a show like the hypocrites, instead pray to an audience of one, have a nice sit down with the Father out of a genuine love for the Father. Jesus says when we pray like that, the Father will hear those prayers, He’ll listen to those prayers, He’ll reward you for those prayers. Jesus says the Father who sees in secret “will reward you.” The reward isn’t about getting whatever you want, it’s about getting to spend time with the Father.
Vs. 7, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” There’s the 3rd thing Jesus teaches about prayer. He teaches:
#3 Mean What You Say When You Pray = Mean what you say when you pray. Jesus says when we pray we shouldn’t “heap up empty phrases” thinking we’ll be heard by our many words, and the reason he says this is because pagans and Greeks treated prayer like magic rather than a relationship. They thought if they prayed the names of their gods or prayed certain words repeatedly God would hear their prayers and answer them. It was mindless repetitions where they’d repeat the same things over and over again. Jesus is saying don’t pray like that, because prayer’s not mindless and magical, it’s mindful and relational.. Prayer’s not mindless and magical, it’s mindful and relational. Yet this is exactly what most of our prayers are like! Most of our prayers are a lot more pagan than we think! Our prayers are more mindless, than mindful. They treat God more like a magician than a loving relational Father. They focus more on what we can get from the Father, rather than conversing and growing in relationship with the Father. Our prayers are a lot more pagan than we think, and Jesus is saying don’t pray like that! He’s saying don’t pray like a pagan, pray like you mean it!..Don’t pray like a pagain, pray like you mean it...Mean what you say when you pray, and enjoy some conversations with your Father.
Now this is also why it shouldn’t bother us when Jesus says the Father already knows what we need “before we ask.” Some people are like “Well what’s the point of praying if the Father already knows what we need before we ask?” That’s a pagan mindset. It’s a pagan prayer mindset because it misses the entire point of prayer. The point of pagan prayer is to get what you want from the Father, but the point of Christian prayer is to honor the Father and grow deeper in our relationship with the Father. The point of Christian prayer is to honor the Father and grow deeper in our relationship with the Father. If prayer’s only about getting what you want then prayer’s pointless because the Father already knows what you need before you ask. But when you realize prayer’s about honoring the Father and growing deeper in your relationship with the Father then it doesn’t matter whether the Father knows what you need or even if the Father doesn’t give you what you’ve been asking and praying for. It’s because what matters more than anything is honoring the Father and having the privilege of being able to converse with the Father through prayer. But our understanding of prayer is so pagan that we make prayer more about what we can get from the Father, rather than about growing deeper in our relationship with the Father. Can we ask the Father for things? Yes of course we can. Jesus will even teach us to ask for things in The Lord’s Prayer. But our understanding of prayer is so pagan that we make prayer more about what we can get from the Father, rather than about growing deeper in our relationship with the Father. The reason most of our prayer lives are so shallow isn’t because the Father isn’t willing to converse with us, it’s because we’re not willing to converse with the Father. Jesus is trying to move us away from that type of shallow prayer life, and into a much deeper, relational, conversational prayer life with the Father. In fact this is exactly how Jesus starts The Lord’s Prayer. He doesn’t start with asking, he starts with conversing. He starts The Lord’s Prayer like it’s a loving, relational, conversation with the Father. Check it out.
Vs. 9, “Pray then like this: Our Father...” He says to pray, “Our Father.” It’s the first thing he teaches us in The Lord’s Prayer, it’s to pray “Our Father.” So #4...
#4 We Can Call God Father = Jesus teaches us that when we pray, we can call God Father. We don’t have to say Father every time we pray, but Jesus is saying is God’s so intimate, so personal, so relational that we can call Him Father. City Awakening this is huge! It’s so huge, because it’s the first place in the entire bible where God actually gives us a personal invitation to call God “Father.” I mean up to this point in world history God wasn’t commonly referred to as Father, not even in Judaism. In Judaism they didn’t refer to God as Father in a personal way like Jesus is using here. In the Old Testament God’s referred to as “Father” 14 times but it’s at more of a national level than a personal level like Jesus is using here. They viewed God as too holy to be relational like a Father, but Jesus comes in and refers to God as Father over 60 times, 12 times in chapter 6 alone. It’s a tremendous shift in world history, and Jesus is the one who makes that shift. A lot of us hope God’s approachable and loving, well Jesus is telling us He is! He’s saying God’s an approachable and loving Father. It’s a tremendous shift in world history, and through Jesus’ death on the cross we’re able to have a relationship with the Father. We get to call Him “Dad.” We get to call God Dad. What an incredible gift Jesus has given us to be able to approach God, approach the Creator of all things and call Him “Dad.” Knowing this should completely change how we pray! It should cause us to want to have conversations with the Father in prayer, rather than treat Him like an ATM where we only ask for withdraws. When you pray you’re not praying to an ATM or a magician, you’re praying to a living, loving Father who cares about you and says you can call Him “Dad.” You get to call God “Dad.” Out of all the words Jesus could’ve used to reveal who God is, he used the word “Father,” he used the word Dad. What a gift he’s giving us here, it’s a gift that should change how we pray. I’ll put it like this.
I have three kids 9 and under, and one of the things I’ve learned as a father is they approach me with just about anything. They’re like “Hey dad who’d win in a fight between a lion and a shark?” They wouldn’t fight because one’s on land the other’s in the water. “Yeah, but if they could who’d win?” I’ll go with the lion...“Hey dad, can I play for the Dallas Cowboys?” How much they paying?...“Hey dad, where do baby’s come from?” Go ask your mother...“Hey dad, can I have some Jerimiah’s ice?” It’s dad, dad, dad, dad, and sometimes I get annoyed by it, but you know what? Our Father in heaven never gets annoyed with how many times you call His name...Our Father in heaven never gets annoyed with how many times you call His name...“Hey Father I want this.” “Hey Father I need this.” “Hey Father thanks for this.” “Hey Father I’m really hurting right now, can we talk about it?” The Father never gets annoyed with how many times you call on His name. Jesus teaches us that our Father’s approachable and loving. We can talk to Him about anything and everything. So don’t pray like a pagan pray like a child who loves their Father and is willing to converse with their Father about anything and everything.
Again vs. 9, “Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Jesus says “hallowed be your name.” It’s the 5th and last thing Jesus teaches us about prayer. He’ll teach us more things as this series continues, but it’s the last thing for today. He teaches us:
#5 The Father’s Holy and To Be Respected = Jesus teaches us the Father’s holy and to be respected. He says “hallowed be your name,” and the word “hallowed” means “holy.” Holy is the word that’s most used to describe God in the bible, and knowing that should change how you pray. Knowing that our Father’s approachable, loving, AND holy should completely change how you pray, because the Father being holy means He’s always, unchangeably, continuously good, which means His decisions are always, unchangeably, continuously good. It means He’ll never have a bad day as a Father, and He’ll never make poor decisions as a Father. I know some of you have a hard time relating with God as a Father because you had an unloving father or might not have known your father. But if you’re a Christian, then you have a heavenly Father who’s approachable, loving, holy, and who’s decisions for your life are always holy. The Father being holy is so incredibly important to your prayer life because it means when you pray to the Father, you can always trust His response will be for your good. It’ll always be for your good.
Now some people are like, “God doesn’t answer my prayers.” Yes He does. God most definitely answers your prayers. He answers every single one of your prayers. It’s either “Yes, no, or later.” Sometimes the Father says “yes,” sometimes it’s “no,” sometimes it’s “Not yet, but later. I want to give you this, but you’re not ready for it, you can’t handle it yet. So it’s not now but later.” It’s the same way parents respond to their children. My kids ask me for stuff a lot, and if all I did was say yes to my kids you’d view me as a terrible parent. “Dad can I eat candy all day?” Yes. “Can I skip school all year?” Yes. “Can I have a red bull before bed?” Yes. It’s yes, yes, yes, yes, and if that’s all I ever said to my kids you’d view me as a terrible parent. So you agree that a parent should sometimes say no to their children, yet when it comes to the Father saying no to you it’s a different story. I mean we’re okay with parents saying no to their children, we’ll call it good loving parenting, but as soon as the Father says no to us all of a sudden the Father’s not good, the Father’s not loving, the Father doesn’t care about us and isn’t holy in His decision making. Why is that? Why do we view the Father’s no different than a parent’s no? It’s because deep down inside we’re spoiled little children who don’t really trust the Father...We’re spoiled little children who don’t really trust the Father. We say we trust the Father, but as soon as He says no or not yet, suddenly our trust meter goes down. We say we trust the Father, but our tantrums tell another story. We’re like “Prayer’s not working.” No it’s working. The Father just said no or not yet. It’s working, you just don’t like the answer He gave. It’s in those moments you need to remember what Jesus taught us about the Father. You need to remember that at this point in The Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught us that our Father is approachable, loving, holy, and to be treated with respect. We don’t come to the Father like spoiled children demanding, we come to the Father as loving children respecting. We come to the Father as children who love and respect our Dad, trusting all He says, does, and decides for our lives. We can trust Him because we know our Dad’s holy, which means His decisions are holy. Hallowed be His name.
The Big Idea:
Let’s get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. Our Father’s approachable, loving, and holy...Our Father’s approachable, loving, and holy...That’s who Jesus teaches us God is in this part of The Lord’s Prayer. It’s things even those of you who aren’t Christians hope are true about God, and Jesus says they are true...He says they’re true, he says our God is an approachable, loving, and holy Father who invites us to pray calling Him Dad, and knowing that’s who God is should change how we pray. It should cause us to want to constantly converse with the Father in prayer, and trust the Father’s loving response to those prayers. It should cause us to view prayer not as something we have to do, but as something we get to do... Prayer’s not something we have to do, it’s something we get to do...You get to spend time with the Father, converse with the Father, seek guidance from the Father, give your stress, struggles, and sins to the Father. You don’t have to pray “shekinah glory” prayers or prayer dissertations, just talk to the Father freely and respectfully like a child. He loves you, you’re His child, He’ll always be there for you, and His decisions will always be what’s best for you. It’s all things we hope are true about the Father, and Jesus says they are true. But they’re only true for those who are adopted children of the Father, because Jesus didn’t just come to teach us about the Father, He came to do the will of the Father. He came to live, die, and rise again for the forgiveness of our sins so we could become adopted children of the Father. If you repent of your sins and believe Jesus died for your sins, you get to become an adopted child of the Father, you get to share in the same intimacy with the Father that Jesus shares with the Father. Jesus didn’t tell us to pray “MY Father,” he said to pray “OUR Father.” It’s an invitation for us to share in the same intimacy with the Father that he has.
Communion it’s a reminder of this. It’s a reminder of the gospel, it’s a reminder that Jesus came to die for our sins so we could become adopted children of the Father. On the night Jesus was betrayed he was sharing a meal with his disciples, he took the bread at the table, broke it, and said “This is my body which is broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat of it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” Then when supper was ended he took the cup, blessed it, gave thanks for it and said “This cup is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink of it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I did for you.” At this time we’re gonna take a few minutes to thank Jesus for dying on the cross so we could become adopted children of the Father, and we’re gonna take a few minutes praying to the Father. Then as you feel led you’re welcome to come forward to receive Communion at any one of these tables. So take a few minutes to thank Jesus, and converse with the Father. The Father wants to hear from you, so let Him hear from you.