How to Pray - #227

When we fully understand to whom we are praying … Our Father who is in Heaven, who is holy, we will be praying with attitude of worship and praise as opposed to one of entitlement.

Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at  http://www.thepuritycoach.com

Transcript

Psalm 99:9 says we are to “exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy!” Why is that so important? Why should the holiness of God be a critical component in our prayers? I submit: When we fully understand to whom we are praying … Our Father who is in Heaven, who is holy, we will be praying with attitude of worship and praise as opposed to one of entitlement.

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. A powerful weekly study filled to the brim with the all the tools from Scripture you will ever need to build a lasting life of Biblical purity and godliness. I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #227 entitled “How to Pray.”

Now, as I shared with you in last week’s episode – let me preface this episode by letting you know that what I’m going to share with you has been prompted (in part) by a book I recently read by Dr. David Jeremiah entitled “Prayer the Great Adventure.” It has challenged my prayer life and has motivated me to pass that challenge on to you. So, with that let’s dive right in.

Dr. David Jeremiah (in his book “Prayer the Great Adventure”) says, “Too much of the time we are wrapped up in the product whereas God is wrapped up in the process.” Oh how true that can be. So, let me ask this: What is that process of prayer? How does God want us to pray

The answer is best found in Matthew 6:9-13 where Jesus says, “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).

OK, I want you to notice - in this model prayer Jesus teaches us to always begin with KING and end with KINGDOM. He begins this model prayer with “Our Father in heaven … your kingdom come” and he ends with the words “Yours is the kingdom and the poser and the glory.” I submit we’ve short - circuited / abbreviated this.

Our prayers tend to go more like this: “Dear Heavenly Father (insert your laundry list of requests) In Jesus name Amen.” Might I strongly submit that our prayers need to focus more on God first and a lot less on ME. We should begin with King and end with Kingdom 

OK. Matthew 6:9 says, “Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name.” Let’s talk for a moment about the significance of the words “Our Father”? I submit we tend to take “Dear Heavenly Father” for granted. Let me take you for a moment back to Dr. Jeremiah’s book “Prayer the Great Adventure” – and I quote:

“In Old Testament times there was a lack of personal intimacy with God. They had to approach Him through the Tabernacle / through the Temple sacrifices officiated by the priest. In all of the Old Testament - the use of the word ‘Father’ to describe God is seen only 14 times and each of those times refers to God as father of the Nation of Israel. In enters Jesus Christ and everything changes! You can’t even get 1/3 way into book of Matthew without being introduced to whole new concept of God as Our Father. The word ‘Father’ occurs 17 times JUST IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (Matthew 5-7) and the word is no longer on national level alone, it’s now individual and personal!” (end quote)

1 John 3:1 says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!” Consider this: the words “Our Father” are a powerful reminder that we don’t have to talk with God through a priest and thru animal sacrifice ever again. That should be something we never take for granted.

The next thing I want to draw your attention to in Matthew 6:9 is that Jesus said we should pray “Our Father WHO IS IN HEAVEN.” So, what is the significance of the words “who is in Heaven”? This is to be a powerful reminder of whom it is we are talking to. Psalm 11:4 declares, “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in Heaven.” And Psalm 103:19 says, “The Lord has established his throne in the Heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” 

The words “Our Father who is in Heaven” is a humble reminder - every time we pray that not only is God our Father, but He is our PERFECT Father. Let’s face it, our earthly fathers (have and) will mess up / fail us / hurt us. But NEVER our perfect Heavenly Father. In Matthew. 5:48 Jesus says, “our Heavenly Father is perfect.” Psalm 18:30 says, “God is perfect.”

OK - back to Matthew 6:9 “Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name.” “Hallowed” is word not used much in conversation today. It comes from the Greek (hagiazo) means “to be holy.” In other words, our Heavenly Father is HOLY. It would do us well to remember that when we pray.

1 Samuel 2:2 says, “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” Exodus 15:11 asks “Who is like you, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”

This is who we have privilege to talk to - our Heavenly Father who is HOLY. Psalm 99:9 says we are to “exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy!” OK: Why is that so important? Why should the holiness of God be a critical component in our prayers? When we fully understand to whom we are praying … Our Father who is in Heaven, who is holy, we will be praying with attitude of worship and praise as opposed to one of entitlement. 

A key element here I don’t want you to miss is in phrase Hallowed be YOUR NAME. In the Bible - a name is far more than what it is today. It’s much more than just an identifier (“Hi, my name is Steve Etner, what’s yours?) In the Scriptures, a name tells you something about that person’s character. This is why Jesus says in 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.”

I submit that we are missing out on a powerful prayer time by not knowing / understanding names of God. This is a whole lot more than closing with “in Jesus’ name amen.” Psalm 20:1 says, “the name of the God of Jacob protects you.” Psalm 91:14 says, “I will protect him, because he knows my name.” And Micah 4:5 says, “we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever.”

He is Elohim / El Elyon / El Shaddai / El Roi / Jehovah / Jehovah Tsidkenu / Jehovah Shalom / Jehovah Rapha / Jehovah Jireh / He is bread of Life / living water / the way, truth, life / He is good Shepherd / true vine / bright and morning star / He is the spotless lamb / lion of Judah and on and on.

So, Jesus is saying our prayer time should always begin with more than just “Dear Heavenly Father” and should end with more than just “in Jesus name.” It’s important to know / to understand whom talking to! Always start with KING

Now let’s look at Matthew 6:10 - “Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” I think Jesus is teaching us here we need to be sure we have proper PRIORITIES. Yes - God wants us to come before Him and ask, but what should be our #1 priority / #1 ask? “THY kingdom come - THY will be done

I submit: When we have hearts attitude that says “God, YOUR kingdom come” … we are acknowledging that God and God alone is the one and only TRUE KING and what He wants is ALL that I want.

In Matthew 6:10 Jesus makes it abundantly clear not only are we to pray for God’s kingdom to come, we must also pray that “God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” In essence Lord, WHATEVER you want, WHEREVER you want it, WHENEVER you want it  that’s what I want. In other words, my priorities here in life should be the same as God’s priorities in Heaven.

So, consider this: How is God’s will done in Heaven? Answer: immediately / unreservedly / unconditionally / joyfully. I wonder, what would happen if we responded to will of God the same way the angels do in Heaven?

Now let’s look at Matthew 6:11 - “Give us this day our daily bread.” Consider this: By instructing us to pray for daily bread, Jesus is reminding us that EVERYONE of us are totally DEPENDENT upon God for our everyday needs. That’s why Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:19 that “My God will supply ALL your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Oh, and by the way: notice in Matthew 6:11 that Jesus doesn’t teach us to pray “give us this day our daily steak / lobster.” We are to be praying for our daily BREAD. In other words, as Hebrews 13:5 tells us we are to “be content with what you have, for he has said ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

May I take a moment here to make this suggestion? Don’t begin your prayer with v. 11 (give me …). Don’t jump right in with “God - let me tell you my needs.” Remember, He already knows all your needs before you even ask (Matthew 6:8). So don’t start your prayer with Matthew 6:11. Instead, ALWAYS begin with v. 9-10! “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” After all: how can we pray v. 11 selfishly when we’ve just finished praying THY Kingdom come, THY will be done? If I truly mean v. 9-10 then I will fully trust God to meet ALL the needs I have today!

Now let’s look at Matthew 6:12. “Forgive us our debts (trespasses/ sins) as we forgive our debtors (those who trespass / sin against us).” Question, what has God forgiven you from? How did God forgive you? (totally, completely, unreservedly). As you think about your answer to those two questions consider this: How then should you forgive? 

OK, now let’s quickly move on to Matthew 6:13 where Jesus adds the words “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” We can safely assume when we read Matthew 6:13 that Jesus is NOT saying that God would EVER entice us to sin. Scripture is clear that God will not tempt anyone. With that understanding, let me ask you this: If God will not Himself entice us to sin would He lead us into a place where we would be tempted to sin?

The answer is YES! Here’s why I say that. Matthew 4:1 tells us that right after Jesus was baptized “Jesus was led up by the Spirt into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.” Are you catching this. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to a place where he was to face temptation. And don’t forget the story of Job! God allowed Satan to tempt Job. 

I think - in a sense - that this part of the Lord’s prayer (“Lead us not into temptation”) is to remind us, even as we are praying about God’s powerful Kingdom and God’s perfect will, we need to be reminded of our own WEAKNESSES. In Matthew. 26:41 Jesus says, “The Spirit is willing but flesh is weak.”

OK. Now let’s look once again at Matthew 6:13. Specifically at the words “but deliver us from evil.” Don’t lose sight of the fact that God and God alone is our DELIVERER. That’s who He is, our deliverer; and that’s what He does - deliver us. That’s why God says in Psalm 50:15 “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” And in Psalm 91:15 God says, “When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.”

Finally - Matthew. 6:13 ends with “for thine is the kingdom, and the glory, and the power forever, amen.” And this is why I firmly believe that when we pray God wants us to begin with the King and end with the KINGDOM. “Thine is the Kingdom” - Jesus Christ IS King!

So I end this week’s episode with the words of 1 Peter 4:7 which says, “the end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled SO THAT you CAN PRAY!” Truly the end of all things is at hand. Sin, evil, wickedness, chaos, death is all around us. But one day SOON and VERY SOON we are going to see the King! Until then – PRAY, PRAY, and PRAY some more!

OK, I’m going to hit the pause button here until next week’s episode. In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man Ministry (what we do to help men across the globe find freedom and victory over sexual sin), be sure to visit our website to see the multitude of resources we’ve made available to you – you can find our website at ThePurityCoach.com.

One of those powerful resources I want to remind you of is my newest book entitled “Living Free: Victory thru Surrender” available now on Amazon. You see, in our journey through life, we often find ourselves teetering at the edge of an ongoing battle of the heart. This book, “Living Free: Victory thru Surrender” will challenge you to examine your worship, your focus, your desires, and the very foundation of your faith: in short, to discover how to live in victory over sin through faithful surrender to God. 

So go to Amazon today and pick up your copy of “Living Free: Victory thru Surrender” - and join me on this transformative journey toward a life of genuine freedom – found not in indulging the fleeting and fickle desires of the flesh, but in truly devoting yourself entirely to the only One who will fully satisfy your soul.

And if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes! So, until next time this is Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry – reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking