Prayer 2015
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 3rd January 2015
Passage: Matthew 6:1-34
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 The recent events of the siege in Martin Place gripped our city.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 The outpouring of shock and grief was incredible.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:16 One thing that I noticed on the TV, the newspapers, Facebook, other media,
00:00:16 --> 00:00:21 was the amount of times I heard people say, or the amount of times I saw written,
00:00:22 --> 00:00:27 things like, our thoughts and our prayers are with you.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:35 I noticed it again on Facebook in response to the South Australian bushfires just last night.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 My thoughts and my prayers are with you all.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 This was posted from someone who I know personally,
00:00:42 --> 00:00:46 who's got no trust in a God or whatever, no connection with God,
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 actually openly declares themselves to be an atheist,
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 and yet writes, my thoughts and my prayers are with you all.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 And I noticed it again today, this afternoon,
00:00:56 --> 00:01:00 reading the paper about the event of that guy who punched his brother and he's in hospital,
00:01:01 --> 00:01:06 the area police commander said that there's a whole lot of fingers crossed out there
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 and there's a whole lot of prayers floating out there.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:14 When difficulty or danger threatens, the immediate response of many people is to pray.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 Most humans on this planet pray at least some time in their lives,
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 but usually without giving much thought to what they're doing.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:26 I wondered whether the TV presenters and even the area police commander,
00:01:26 --> 00:01:27 a bunch of other people I've seen on Facebook,
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 actually were giving any thought to what they were saying when they said,
00:01:31 --> 00:01:32 my prayers are with you.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:39 Most who pray occasionally probably don't even consider it a difficult thing to do.
00:01:40 --> 00:01:45 My children pray often with a real simplicity and an ease that I can't even muster.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:51 Sometimes their prayers put chills down my spine as they use the prayer times to bicker with one another.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:59 But on one level, prayer seems a natural thing to do and a spontaneous thing to do,
00:01:59 --> 00:02:04 and yet for Christians, prayer is anything but the easiest thing to do.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:06 We know we ought to pray.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 We feel that prayer should be right at the heart of our relationship with God.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:16 And yet few things are so agonizingly difficult as a consistent prayer life.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:22 Few things make us feel less Christian as when we have gone long periods without praying.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:28 And so we're kicking off 2015 by spending the first five weeks on the topic of prayer.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:30 And I'll be frank with you.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 I need this reminder as I begin a new year.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 Sam said to me just then,
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 so any New Year's resolutions, Steve, that you've broken yet?
00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 And I said, yeah.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 My New Year's resolution was I want to be more prayerful.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:50 And I haven't been prayerful in the first four days of this New Year's
00:02:50 --> 00:02:51 because I've been writing a sermon on prayer.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 The irony of that.
00:02:54 --> 00:02:59 And so I need this as much as I'm assuming you need this.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 My hope is that I will grow in prayerfulness throughout this year.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 I know I need to be more deliberate in my planning to pray
00:03:06 --> 00:03:11 and have more humility for spontaneity in my prayer.
00:03:11 --> 00:03:15 And of course, I want us to grow as a church in our core value of devotion to prayer.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:20 And so what I'm going to do is I'm kicking off today and I'm going to assume nothing.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:22 That's probably the safest thing.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 I'm going to assume nothing today.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:25 I'm going to start at the very beginning.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:26 So here it is.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:30 Prayer is an interaction between us and God.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 Now, I'm pretty sure that's not Twitter worthy.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 Prayer is an interaction between us and God.
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 It takes place between two parties who have a relationship.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:46 And to understand anything about prayer, we must first discover what this relationship is like
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 or, more importantly, what God is like.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:55 You see, when the Buddhist spins his prayer wheel and the Hindu sits in mystic silence,
00:03:55 --> 00:04:01 both are reflecting the nature of the God or the gods to whom they're praying to.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:07 That is, prayer is shaped and defined by the being to whom we pray.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:18 And so, if I decided tonight to make Sam, Saint Sam, the object of my prayers,
00:04:18 --> 00:04:27 then who I think Sam is and what he's capable of will govern the sort of prayers that I pray to him.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:33 I'm not going to pray for Sam to control the weather because I figured that that's kind of beyond him to be able to do that.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 Prayer is shaped and defined by the being to whom we pray.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:43 It is only possible, prayer is only possible if the God is willing to accept my prayers, first of all.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 So, if Sam says, no, stuff you, I'm not going to, don't pray to me.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 Then prayer breaks down at that point.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:56 Or the God is willing to answer my prayers.
00:04:56 --> 00:05:00 So, if Sam hasn't got the capability to answer my prayers, prayer breaks down at that point.
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 And without those two things, prayer is ineffective.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:14 So, throughout the Bible, there is a real insistence that the God of the Bible is significantly different from all the idols and pagan gods of the worlds around and the nations around them.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:16 Jeremiah 32, 17 says,
00:05:16 --> 00:05:33 Psalm 145, verses 10 to 21, says that God's rule over all that he's made lasts forever.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:37 That he's faithful to every single promise that he's made.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 And he is loving to all that he's made.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 It says that he upholds those who fall.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 He sustains everything that he's made.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:50 And that he is near to everyone who calls on him.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:58 And so, the Bible consistently asserts that God is sovereign over all of his creation.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:00 Nothing is too hard for him.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:05 He's also a God who cares for the intimate details of everything that he's made.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:09 He knows every number, every hair that I've got on my head.
00:06:09 --> 00:06:13 He knows when one falls out, which a few have been doing in recent times.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 He knows everything about his creation.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 He's a God of mercy and love.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:23 He is both powerful and he is merciful.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:24 And he is loving.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:34 And yet, the other side of the coin is that the Bible speaks of a God who is so holy, so pure, so perfect, so powerful, that he is unapproachable.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:40 That he is so perfect that he will not allow the imperfect to commune with him.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 So, 1 Timothy says,
00:06:43 --> 00:06:54 God, the blessed and only ruler, the king of kings, the lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.
00:06:55 --> 00:07:05 And so, the biblical picture is that prayer, a communion with God, is an exciting possibility and an enormous privilege,
00:07:05 --> 00:07:10 and yet, a practical impossibility at the same time.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:18 God is the all-powerful creator and ruler of the world who delights to show kindness to those who call on him,
00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 and yet he is blindingly holy, righteous.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:27 His eyes are too pure to look upon evil.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 And Psalm 145 says,
00:07:30 --> 00:07:37 The God who delights to hear those who call on him will also hold all who are guilty accountable.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:44 See, the Bible tells us right at the beginning that when people rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden,
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 God punished them by throwing them out of his presence.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:52 He actually threw them out and he cut them off from access back to him.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 Sinful, rebellious people cannot have access to God.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:01 People no longer had access to God, and how then can we approach the unapproachable?
00:08:01 --> 00:08:10 How can mortal sinners pray to a holy God and even work on the assumption that he is listening?
00:08:12 --> 00:08:18 Well, the answer to that dilemma is what we celebrated last week or so at Christmas.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:31 God takes the initiative to re-establish relationship with his revelable creation by coming to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:37 For thousands of years, God held back his anger against his rebel creation,
00:08:37 --> 00:08:41 and eventually his patience ran out and he unleashed his anger,
00:08:42 --> 00:08:49 but not upon his guilty rebels, but upon his son, who was born so that he might die.
00:08:50 --> 00:08:56 You see, Jesus died to rescue us from the position of being cut off from access to God.
00:08:56 --> 00:09:02 God resolved our problem so that we can have full and complete access to him again.
00:09:03 --> 00:09:08 And anyone who trusts in Jesus has a relationship with God
00:09:08 --> 00:09:13 and therefore has been granted free access to the almighty and true and living God.
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 Jesus is the one who tore down the barrier.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 He's the one who moved the roadblocks away.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:20 And so what's that got to do with prayer?
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 I want to say it's the very foundation of prayer.
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 This is the beginning of prayer.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:27 It's got everything to do with prayer.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:34 Prayer only takes place because of this new relationship through Jesus Christ.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:41 This new relationship that Christians have with the Father through the saving work of the Son in the Spirit
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 is the beginning and end of all prayer.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:48 You see, prayer is not some sort of an addition, a duty that we have in the Christian life.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 It's not an appendix to the Christian life.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:56 It is the heart of who we are as Christians and how we relate to a heavenly Father.
00:09:56 --> 00:10:00 Prayer is simply our relationship with God in action.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:06 It is why we can pray our Father who is in heaven.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:17 And it's this issue of relationship with God that's at the heart of the context of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 So if you grab your Bibles, open it up.
00:10:21 --> 00:10:22 Matthew 6.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:23 I'm going to begin in verse 1.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:33 As Jesus launches into this chapter, he has in mind here actors and the theatre.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:39 Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:49 And he refers to a specific kind of actor in verse 2, verse 5, and verse 16.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 They're the ones he calls hypocrites.
00:10:53 --> 00:10:58 The word translated hypocrite was originally the name that was given to actors.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:04 The scene of the first half of Matthew 6 is a theatre performance.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:12 Jesus says that hypocrites do their acts of righteousness before men to be seen by men.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:20 And so Jesus has specifically in mind here those who put on vulgar displays of religious piety
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 in order to receive the applause of people.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:25 Have a look at verses 5 and 6.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:41 Back when Jesus said these words in the synagogue,
00:11:41 --> 00:11:45 it was fairly much common practice for the men to lead the times of prayer.
00:11:45 --> 00:11:49 And this responsibility was passed around from bloke to bloke in the synagogue.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:53 There would have been at least some temptation to pray to the audience that had gathered.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 Maybe to try and outdo the last guy who prayed.
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 I don't know if you ever felt that temptation before.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:00 I can say I have.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 To pray in a way that people like, in a form that people like.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:10 Maybe to sound more spiritual or theologically informed than the last person who prayed.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:14 Maybe to pray in a way that you're giving an announcement to those who were gathered
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 rather than lifting your heart to God.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:22 A hypocrite prays to the people, not to God.
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 How should the disciples of Jesus pray?
00:12:25 --> 00:12:26 He mentions two things.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 Verse 6, firstly.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:33 But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 Now Jesus is not prohibiting public prayer here.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 Because if he was, his disciples didn't get that idea.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:44 Because as soon as they were apostles and moved off into the church in Acts,
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 that's exactly what they did, public prayer.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:54 Verse 6 is simply causing us to ask questions of our motives and our hearts.
00:12:54 --> 00:12:59 Do I pray more frequently and more fervently when alone with God than I do in public?
00:12:59 --> 00:13:07 Is my public praying simply an overflow of my private praying?
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 What do I think about when praying in public?
00:13:12 --> 00:13:20 Am I so busy scrambling to find expressions that are going to be pleasing to my fellow worshippers
00:13:20 --> 00:13:27 that I'm not actually concentrating my attention on God or scarcely even aware of his presence,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 even though he's the one to whom my prayers are nominally addressed?
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 Who am I praying to?
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 That's the issue in verse 6.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:40 The second thing Jesus mentions about his disciples or how they should pray is in verse 7.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:45 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans because they think they'll be hurt for their many words.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:49 Do not be like them for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:56 So some of the pagans in Jesus' time thought that if they named all of their gods
00:13:56 --> 00:14:04 and addressed their petitions to each of those gods and repeated themselves a few times,
00:14:04 --> 00:14:08 then they would have a better chance at receiving an answer to their prayer.
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 And Jesus says to his disciples, don't pray like that.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:20 The prayer for the Christian should not consist of heaped up phrases, idle repetitions,
00:14:20 --> 00:14:25 and the ridiculous assumption that the probability of the answer is in total proportion
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 to the number of the words used in the prayer.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:36 Jesus wants to teach us here that praying to be a genuine act of righteousness
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 must be without showiness.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:43 It must be directed to our heavenly Father and not to the people that are gathered
00:14:43 --> 00:14:50 and devoid of the delusion that God can be pleased or manipulated by excessive words.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 Do you see what Jesus does here in this section?
00:14:55 --> 00:15:00 He connects true spirituality, true relationship with him,
00:15:00 --> 00:15:05 and a life of prayer, a life of certain kind of prayer.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:06 Puts them together.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:12 Prayer is tied together with a genuine relationship with God.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 Now, thankfully to help us in our prayers,
00:15:17 --> 00:15:21 Jesus goes on to graciously give us a wonderful example
00:15:21 --> 00:15:24 of what prayer looks like for his disciples.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:29 It is a prayer that has relationship with God at its very centre.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:34 It's usually referred to, traditionally referred to as the Lord's Prayer,
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 but as the New Testament scholar Don Carson suggests,
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 it is more appropriate title would be the Lord's Model Prayer,
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 because Jesus himself actually never prayed this prayer.
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 Carson says,
00:15:47 --> 00:15:52 it is less a prayer that Jesus prayed than the prayer that he gave his disciples
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 as a paradigm for their own praying.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 And Carson goes on to suggest,
00:15:58 --> 00:16:03 it's also somewhat ironic that at the very place that Jesus tells us
00:16:03 --> 00:16:07 that we are not to keep babbling on like the pagans do,
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 is the very place that he gives us a prayer
00:16:10 --> 00:16:13 that has regularly been babbled in churches ever since.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:21 Tim Keller says that the Lord's Prayer is the greatest martyr on earth.
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 Everyone tortures and abuses it,
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 so few get comfort and joy from its proper use.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:30 It is like a mine with precious jewels and diamonds
00:16:30 --> 00:16:34 that we can see, but that we just cannot extract.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:40 Jesus gave this prayer to us to unlock all the riches of prayer.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:46 It is the single richest source in the entire Bible on how to pray,
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 and yet it is an untapped resource,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 partly because it is so familiar to us.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 Martin Luther said in one of his works on prayer,
00:16:59 --> 00:17:03 how many pray the Lord's Prayer a thousand times in the course of a year,
00:17:03 --> 00:17:07 and yet if they were to keep on doing so for a thousand more years,
00:17:07 --> 00:17:11 they would not have prayed or tasted it at all.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:18 Our world is starving for spiritual experience,
00:17:18 --> 00:17:23 and Jesus gives us the means to it in just a few words here.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 It's like Jesus saying,
00:17:27 --> 00:17:30 wouldn't you like to come face to face with the Father
00:17:30 --> 00:17:33 and the King of the universe every day
00:17:33 --> 00:17:36 to pour out your heart to him and have a deep sense
00:17:36 --> 00:17:40 that he is listening to you and that he is loving you?
00:17:42 --> 00:17:46 And that's what this prayer does for us in its proper use.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:51 So let's take a very brief tour of the Lord's Prayer.
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 It consists of six petitions,
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 but it begins with an address.
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 Verse 9,
00:17:58 --> 00:18:03 As John Calvin said,
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 who would break forth in such rashness
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 as to claim for himself
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 the honour of being a son of God
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 unless he had been adopted as children of grace
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 in the Lord Jesus Christ?
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 And so what he's saying there
00:18:18 --> 00:18:22 is that this opening address of God as Father
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 in the Lord's Prayer
00:18:24 --> 00:18:28 is not so much a call just to plunge right in
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 and start talking to God
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 as much as it is a call
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 to first
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 pause
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 and recollect
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 our situation
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 and realise
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 our standing in Christ
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 before we proceed
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 in prayer.
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 It's a recognition
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 of everything that we have
00:18:52 --> 00:18:52 in Christ
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 to be able to call
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 the unapproachable
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 God of this universe
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 Father.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 That's what Jesus has done for us.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 We should start by asking God
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 to implant in our hearts
00:19:07 --> 00:19:08 a comforting trust
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 in his fatherly love
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 and our status in him.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 And then comes the first petition.
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 Hallowed be your name.
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 Now the word hallowed
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 doesn't get much use nowadays,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 but then again
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 neither does the notion
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 of hallowedness
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 because it means holiness.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:30 Doesn't get much of air time
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 in our secular society.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 But when you look at it
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 on its surface
00:19:34 --> 00:19:35 it seems a little bit odd
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 that we should be asking God
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 for his name to be holy
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 when it already is holy.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 The issue seems
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 to be
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 not that God's name
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 is not holy
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 but that our use of it
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 is not holy.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 That seems to be
00:19:52 --> 00:19:52 the issue here.
00:19:53 --> 00:19:53 You see,
00:19:53 --> 00:19:54 when we declare ourselves
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 to be Christian
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 we identify
00:19:57 --> 00:19:58 with God's name.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 As his name bearers
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 we represent
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 a good and a holy God.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 And so we're praying
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 with this first petition
00:20:07 --> 00:20:11 that God would keep us
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 from dishonouring
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 his name
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 the name by which
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 we are called
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 and that he would
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 empower us
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 to become holy ourselves.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 That our lives
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 would display
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 his character
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 his holiness
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 and his goodness
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 to this world
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 that they too
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 might honour
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 his name
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 with their lives.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 The second petition
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34 verse 10
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 your kingdom come
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 this is a lordship petition
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 it is asking God
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 to extend
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 his royal power
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 over every part
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 of our lives
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 over our emotions
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 and our desires
00:20:45 --> 00:20:46 and our thoughts
00:20:46 --> 00:20:47 and our commitments.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 We're asking God
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 to so fully rule
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 rule us
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 that we would want
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 to obey him
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 with all of our hearts
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 and our bodies
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 and our souls
00:20:58 --> 00:20:58 and our minds
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 and to do it
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 with great joy
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 to want him
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 to rule over us
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 and to pray
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 your kingdom come
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 is also a yearning
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 for God's total control
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 his total rule
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 to be taken up
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 over all things
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 it is a yearning
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 for him to usher in
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 his final
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 eternal kingdom
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 a perfect future
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 where all peace
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23 and justice reigns.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 The third petition
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 is your will be done
00:21:27 --> 00:21:27 verse 10
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 let me read to you
00:21:30 --> 00:21:32 Martin Luther's
00:21:32 --> 00:21:33 paraphrase
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 of this petition
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 your will be done
00:21:35 --> 00:21:39 grant us grace
00:21:39 --> 00:21:41 to bear willingly
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 all sorts of sickness
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 poverty
00:21:44 --> 00:21:46 disgrace
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 suffering
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 and adversity
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 and to recognize
00:21:50 --> 00:21:52 that in this
00:21:52 --> 00:21:54 your divine will
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 is crucifying
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 our will.
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 Now that is a bold
00:22:00 --> 00:22:01 paraphrase
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 that is a bold
00:22:03 --> 00:22:03 paraphrase
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 but unless
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 we are profoundly
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 confident
00:22:08 --> 00:22:10 in being able
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 to say
00:22:11 --> 00:22:14 my father
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 in heaven
00:22:15 --> 00:22:18 then we will
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 never be able
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 to say
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 your will be done
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 unless we are
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 totally confident
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 that he is my father
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 because of the work
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 of Christ
00:22:29 --> 00:22:29 and everything
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 that I have
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 in being able
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 to approach him
00:22:32 --> 00:22:33 then we will
00:22:33 --> 00:22:33 never be able
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 to say
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 your will be done
00:22:35 --> 00:22:35 in my life.
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 Only if we
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 trust God
00:22:40 --> 00:22:40 as father
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 can we ask
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 for the grace
00:22:43 --> 00:22:43 to bear
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 our troubles
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 with patience
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 and grace.
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 This is the only
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 part of the Lord's
00:22:52 --> 00:22:52 prayer that Jesus
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 himself prayed
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 the only bit.
00:22:59 --> 00:22:59 It was the
00:22:59 --> 00:23:00 garden of Gethsemane
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 under circumstances
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 far more crushing
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 than any of us
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 will ever face
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 he submitted
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 to his father's
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 will rather
00:23:08 --> 00:23:08 than following
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 his desires
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 and what was
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 the outcome?
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 It saved us.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 Because he submitted
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 to the father's
00:23:19 --> 00:23:20 will we can
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 call him father
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 just like Jesus
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 did and that's
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 why we can
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 trust him.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 He always works
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 everything out
00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 for the good
00:23:28 --> 00:23:28 of those who
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 love him.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 And so these
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 first three
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 petitions are
00:23:33 --> 00:23:33 the beginning
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 of prayer
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 and did you
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 notice they're
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 all about God?
00:23:40 --> 00:23:40 They're all
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 about God.
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 Our own needs
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 and issues are
00:23:43 --> 00:23:43 not the beginning
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 of prayer.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 We are to give
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 pride of place
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 to praising
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 and honouring
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 him to yearning
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 to see his
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 greatness and to
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 see it acknowledged
00:23:53 --> 00:23:55 everywhere and to
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 aspire to full
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 love and obedience.
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 Adoration and
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 thanksgiving,
00:24:00 --> 00:24:00 in other words
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 God-centredness
00:24:02 --> 00:24:04 comes first
00:24:04 --> 00:24:07 because it heals
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 our hearts
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 of their
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 self-centredness
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12 which has a
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 tendency to
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 curve us in
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16 on ourselves
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 and to shut
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 down our vision
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 of God
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 and distorts
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 our vision
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 of all things
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 so that we
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 wallow
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 in our
00:24:26 --> 00:24:26 circumstances.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:30 we begin
00:24:30 --> 00:24:30 in the
00:24:30 --> 00:24:30 Lord's
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 prayer
00:24:31 --> 00:24:31 with a
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 vision
00:24:32 --> 00:24:32 of the
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 all
00:24:33 --> 00:24:33 sufficiency
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 of God.
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 We look
00:24:36 --> 00:24:36 to our
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 needs in
00:24:37 --> 00:24:37 prayer in
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 the fourth
00:24:38 --> 00:24:38 petition,
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 verse 11,
00:24:39 --> 00:24:39 give us today
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 our daily
00:24:40 --> 00:24:40 bread.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:41 1 Corinthians
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 4 reminds
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 us what do
00:24:44 --> 00:24:44 you have that
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 you did not
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 receive and if
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 you did receive
00:24:47 --> 00:24:47 it why do you
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 boast as though
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 you did not?
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 The Bible
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 teaches us
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 that God
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 is the
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 ultimate
00:24:54 --> 00:24:54 source of
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 every good
00:24:55 --> 00:24:55 thing,
00:24:55 --> 00:24:55 food,
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 clothing,
00:24:56 --> 00:24:56 work,
00:24:56 --> 00:24:56 leisure,
00:24:57 --> 00:24:57 strength,
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 intelligence,
00:24:58 --> 00:24:58 friendship,
00:24:59 --> 00:24:59 whatever you
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 want to name
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 and our
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 ingratitude to
00:25:03 --> 00:25:05 him is an
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 affront to
00:25:06 --> 00:25:06 him.
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 How do we
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 express our
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 ingratitude to
00:25:10 --> 00:25:10 him?
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 By assuming
00:25:13 --> 00:25:14 that he owes
00:25:14 --> 00:25:14 us these
00:25:14 --> 00:25:15 things.
00:25:15 --> 00:25:19 And when
00:25:19 --> 00:25:19 we work on
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 the assumption
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 that he owes
00:25:21 --> 00:25:21 us these
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 things,
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 when these
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 good gifts
00:25:24 --> 00:25:24 dry up,
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 our tendency
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 is to
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 complain and
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 grumble and
00:25:29 --> 00:25:29 whinge.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 Our joy is
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 lost.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 As our
00:25:37 --> 00:25:37 heavenly
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 father we
00:25:38 --> 00:25:38 come to
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 him as
00:25:39 --> 00:25:39 his dependent
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 children with
00:25:40 --> 00:25:41 our needs
00:25:41 --> 00:25:41 in prayer
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 expecting a
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 positive response
00:25:44 --> 00:25:44 from him.
00:25:45 --> 00:25:45 Because he
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 is a good
00:25:46 --> 00:25:46 God.
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 But we
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 do it so
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 changed by
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 our satisfaction
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 in him and
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 our trust in
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 him that it's
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 whatever his
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 will is that
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 matters.
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 The fifth
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 petition is in
00:26:02 --> 00:26:02 verse 12,
00:26:03 --> 00:26:03 forgive us our
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 debts as we
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 also forgiven
00:26:05 --> 00:26:06 our debtors.
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 This petition
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 concerns our
00:26:08 --> 00:26:08 relationships both
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 with God and
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 with others.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 Martin Luther
00:26:11 --> 00:26:11 said that this
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 petition is not
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 only a challenge
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 to our pride,
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 but a test of
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 true relationship
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 with God.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 If we find
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 confession and
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 repentance
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 traumatic and
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 demeaning, he
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 says that means
00:26:24 --> 00:26:25 that the heart is
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 not right with
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27 God and cannot
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 draw confidence
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 from his
00:26:29 --> 00:26:29 gospel.
00:26:29 --> 00:26:29 people.
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 He says if
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 regular confession
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 doesn't produce an
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 increase of our
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 confidence in who
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 we are in
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 Christ and in
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 fact joy in our
00:26:42 --> 00:26:44 life, then he
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 says we do not
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 understand that
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 salvation by grace
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 is the essence of
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 the Christian
00:26:49 --> 00:26:49 faith.
00:26:49 --> 00:26:55 God and our
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 relationship with
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 others together.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:02 If we have not
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03 seen our sin and
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 sought radical
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 forgiveness from
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 God, we will be
00:27:06 --> 00:27:08 unable to forgive
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 and to seek the
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 good of those who
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 have wronged us.
00:27:12 --> 00:27:12 And so Martin
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 Luther suggests
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 that unresolved
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 bitterness,
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 unresolved
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 bitterness is a
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 sign that we
00:27:20 --> 00:27:20 are not right
00:27:20 --> 00:27:21 with God.
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 It also means
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 that if we're
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 holding a grudge,
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 it would be
00:27:27 --> 00:27:30 somewhat hypocritical
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 of us to seek
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 forgiveness from
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 God for our
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 sins as verse 14
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 warns us.
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 The sixth
00:27:37 --> 00:27:39 petition is in
00:27:39 --> 00:27:39 verse 13,
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 lead us not in
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 temptation but
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 deliver us from
00:27:42 --> 00:27:42 the evil one.
00:27:42 --> 00:27:45 temptation in
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 the sense of
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 being tried and
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 tested is not
00:27:48 --> 00:27:50 only inevitable
00:27:50 --> 00:27:50 but it's also
00:27:50 --> 00:27:52 desirable in the
00:27:52 --> 00:27:52 Bible.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 The Bible talks
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 of suffering and
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 difficulty as a
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 furnace to which
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 impurities are
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 burnt off and we
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 become to a
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 greater sense of
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 God's love for us
00:28:01 --> 00:28:01 and greater self
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 knowledge and
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 humility and faith
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 and love and
00:28:04 --> 00:28:04 endurance.
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 However, to
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 enter into
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 temptation according
00:28:07 --> 00:28:09 to Matthew 26
00:28:09 --> 00:28:11 is to entertain
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 and consider the
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 prospect of
00:28:13 --> 00:28:13 giving into
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 sin.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 And so this
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 petition here is
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 a hefty reminder
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 that just as we
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 ought to
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 consciously be
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 dependent on
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 God for all of
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 our physical
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 needs, which is
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 why we pray,
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 give us today our
00:28:30 --> 00:28:32 daily bread, so
00:28:32 --> 00:28:35 also we should
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 consciously sense
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 our dependence upon
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39 him for all
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 moral triumph and
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 spiritual victory.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 This petition
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 reminds us that
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 we are morally
00:28:47 --> 00:28:51 weak and any
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 virtues that we
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 possess at all
00:28:53 --> 00:28:56 are because the
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 fruit of the
00:28:57 --> 00:28:57 spirit.
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 It reminds us that
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 our hearts are so
00:29:00 --> 00:29:03 deceptive and the
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04 evil one is
00:29:04 --> 00:29:04 malicious and
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 cunning and we
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 need our father's
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 help for any
00:29:08 --> 00:29:08 moral triumph.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 We are dependent
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11 upon God for
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 all of our
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 physical needs
00:29:12 --> 00:29:15 and for all
00:29:15 --> 00:29:17 moral triumph.
00:29:20 --> 00:29:20 And so what
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 Jesus does here in
00:29:21 --> 00:29:23 these verses is
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 he tests the
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 reality of God
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 in our hearts.
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 These words
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 would have hit
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 the original
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 hearers like a
00:29:31 --> 00:29:33 bomb blast and
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 it's what these
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 words are meant to
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 do for us as they
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 reach into the
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 depths of our
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 hearts.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 God looks right
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 at the heart.
00:29:41 --> 00:29:43 He doesn't look at
00:29:43 --> 00:29:43 the external acts
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 of piety.
00:29:45 --> 00:29:47 We can hide the
00:29:47 --> 00:29:47 depths of our
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 hearts from each
00:29:48 --> 00:29:48 other but we
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 cannot hide them
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 from God.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 And Jesus tests
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 our hearts to
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 see if God
00:29:53 --> 00:29:56 himself is in
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 fact our
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 sufficiency.
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 Jesus is calling
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 for a radical
00:30:01 --> 00:30:03 reorientation upon
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 God himself in the
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 Lord Jesus Christ.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 He is pushing us
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 to have a real
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 utterly authentic
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 personal relationship
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 with God through
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 Jesus.
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 Jesus is pushing
00:30:13 --> 00:30:15 away from us as
00:30:15 --> 00:30:15 a church.
00:30:16 --> 00:30:16 This prayer is
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 addressed to the
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 church, the
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 disciples of Jesus.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 He is encouraging
00:30:20 --> 00:30:20 us to push us
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 away from a
00:30:21 --> 00:30:23 stale repetition
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 of words and a
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 form and pushing
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 us away from
00:30:27 --> 00:30:29 vain, showy,
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 external piety
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 into a relationship
00:30:31 --> 00:30:33 with God that goes
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 right to the heart
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 and flows out
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 from the heart.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 A relationship
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 that says God's
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 at the centre.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 A relationship
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 that will express
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46 itself in a
00:30:46 --> 00:30:48 prayer life that
00:30:48 --> 00:30:50 is modelled on a
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 prayer like this.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 Let's pray.
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 Gracious Father,
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 we thank you for
00:30:56 --> 00:30:56 the work that you've
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 done in the Lord
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 Jesus Christ in
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 calling us to know
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 you.
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 You, the
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 unapproachable,
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 perfect and holy
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 God, have come
00:31:05 --> 00:31:09 to us so that we
00:31:09 --> 00:31:09 could come to you.
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 We thank you for
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 all the privileges
00:31:14 --> 00:31:14 of being able to
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 call you the great
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 God of this
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 universe, our
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 Father.
00:31:18 --> 00:31:18 Thank you that you
00:31:18 --> 00:31:21 listen to our
00:31:21 --> 00:31:23 prayers even more
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 than we are willing
00:31:24 --> 00:31:24 to say them.
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 We thank you that
00:31:28 --> 00:31:28 you have control
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 over all that is
00:31:29 --> 00:31:31 and we pray that
00:31:31 --> 00:31:31 you would help us
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 depend upon you.
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 And we ask
00:31:34 --> 00:31:34 tonight that you
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 would teach us to
00:31:35 --> 00:31:35 pray.
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 Amen.