When You Pray…

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  When You Pray…

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  Well, it's been a while since I've been up in this pulpit, so, uh, going to have to shake the rust off a little bit. And, um, you know, it's always fun to get up here and have the opportunity. I think I make, uh, Adam and Kurtis a little bit nervous, along with our elder team. Never know what I'm going to say. He just said Amen. Yeah, but you guys know, the last few weeks, there's been a lot of banter that's been going back and forth about, I don't know, I think it was the softball men's event that was going on. You recall any of that banter, you know, just a little bit, right, about these guys who, uh, recruiting their teams and planning weeks in advance to capture the trophy and the championship of the HBC men's softball tournament? Yes! Now it only involved four teams. So everybody made it to the semifinals. So you're a winner out of the gate. But it did involve, uh, the need to win two consecutive games in order to capture it. So I think most of the banter that went back and forth was, uh, maybe Adam and Kurtis a little bit. And, um, they both. Well, let me just pull up a picture of the winning team because I think that that that will say a lot. All right. And, uh, you'll notice Mark Ikerd right there in the middle. And, uh, Mark and I are usually on the same team, so I just want to add that in. But I was actually drafted by the second place team this year because they didn't have enough players. And there's a long story that goes with it. And I'm not going to bore you with all the details, but let's just say the second place team actually assembled that day, like two hours before the game....no batting practice, no warmup, no nothing. And we lost technically to the championship team by two runs. Although that's subject to debate because they had a player who actually ran like five yards out of the baseline and scored, and I was the one who dove pathetically and missed the tag, scuffed my knee, sprained my wrist. (Ahhhh)...Yeah, yeah, that feels so good. Yeah, seriously. And then adding insult to injury, it's just it is what it is. And Kurtis, uh, Kurtis, bless his heart, um, who we have historically prayed for his hamstring not to get pulled. Um, he pulled his hip flexor instead. So, the aging men just proving that our outer man decayeth. Um, indeed, especially, uh, softball. But it was a blast. And, um, Elijah Nichols brought the word for us, and we were so blessed by that. We had hot dogs, burgers. Our staff here, our hospitality staff just really allowed it to be a special evening. So thank you for being a part of that. The other challenge that I have is I get up into the pulpit for the first time in a long time. Is my kids okay? They were like. Are you going to mention us...like Pastor Adam mentions his kids and even Kurtis does it sometimes. And so I was like, you guys, they don't just do that for no reason at all because they want to talk about their kids. They're using it as a sermon illustration, and I don't know where you guys fit in, quite honestly, in this sermon. So I thought, well, hey, right out of the gate, I'll just go ahead and mention my beautiful four kids. Lydia, our oldest has the frizziest, most beautiful hair you are ever going to see. She wants it to be straight, I'm sure, but most women would kill to have hair like her...just adorable. And then you have Sophia, who is our little giant, just turned 12 years old, and I'm pretty sure that she's going to be taller than I'm going to be. And I got my son Liam holding it down. That's my boy right there. Um, and then, of course, little Mercy. She's something else too....just precious, precious, precious. So, kids, I hope I mentioned you enough. I hope I mentioned you enough and we got to shift gears and get into the sermon. Well, I didn't mention my wife. You're right. So, thank you for that catch right there. My amazing, beautiful, wonderful wife who deals with us all. And, uh, it's such a blessing too. So, um, her prayers for me just even as I step into this pulpit this morning, bless me so much. Of course, I have an army of elders behind me that are praying and lifting me up. I have a sweet, dear brother in the Lord who, um, prays for me whenever I'm preaching on the hour. And, um, he has blessed me, all of them collectively allowing the Spirit of God to move in this room this morning so that our hearts can receive the word that he has for us. And as I thought about what I was going to preach today, my heart landed on the greatest sermon that could ever be preached...the greatest sermon. That is a lofty statement, I know. It may even seem a little arrogant, considering the sermons that we've already heard in our current Summer elder series, but I stand by it. And that's because I'm referring to the sermon on the Mount that Jesus preached in Matthew 5-7. I invite you to go ahead and turn there if you're not there already. And this sermon that Jesus preaches is just incredible. Listen to the list of items that he covered. It starts out with the Beatitudes, and then it moves on to salt and light and then fulfilling and applying the law. But wait, it's about to get spicy now: murder, adultery, divorce, making oaths, broken promises, retaliation. Sounds like half the series on Netflix right now, doesn't it? It goes on: love for enemies, giving to the poor, praying without hypocrisy, fasting, possessions, anxiety and trust, judging others, motives in prayer, the golden rule, true and false discipleship. Imagine covering all 18 of these topics in one single sermon. Whoa is right, Vicki. And I think anyone who has ever preached would tell you only the Lord could do that. And they would be correct...only the Lord. I just think about the person who would have to write the pulpit curriculum that week, right? For the  discipleship groups meeting, they wouldn't be short on application, that's for sure. But it would take weeks and months, wouldn't it, to go through all those items. And this wasn't some boring message that got preached. Just look at the conclusion. In the final verses of Matthew 7, it says, when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one, having authority and not as their scribes. To continue with the theme of greatness of this sermon. The Lord led me to preach on one of the greatest prayers that has ever been recorded in Scripture. It is often referred to as the Lord's Prayer or the Our Father, but Jesus gave it to his disciples, instructing them on how to pray. So perhaps it's most appropriately called the disciples prayer. And now finds us nearly 2000 years later, and its potency and spiritual impact still remain. But there's a backdrop. There's a context that we have to see. At this point in Christ's ministry massive crowds are following him. So much so that Matthew even lets us know that he has to go up on a side of a mountain so that he can do open air preaching so that the massive crowd can hear him. Matthew's gospel was written to a primarily Jewish audience, and its purpose is to reveal that Jesus is the King and the true Messiah of Israel. Further evidence of this being a predominantly Jewish audience is Christ being referred to as the Son of David. Which was an Old Testament reference that the Jewish audience would have been familiar with, along with the fact that Matthew cites Jewish customs without any need of explaining those customs. This was a Jewish audience. So there is this massive Jewish crowd that also include the scribes and the Pharisees. Who most is a well taught bunch were the religious leaders of Israel. So why is this background, this context, so important for us to understand? Because the Gospel of Matthew, and even more specifically the point of the sermon on the Mount, is intended to draw a contrast between true spiritual life and the false standard of the pharisaical Judaistic system of religion. This sermon is an assault weapon. It is an assault on the corrupt, legalistic trap that the scribes and Pharisees were responsible of imposing on God's people. And Jesus is letting them know that their religious system of self righteousness and burdensome restrictions and feeble attempts to expand the law to make it even more burdensome, were only leading to damning self exaltation. The religious leaders of Christ day prided themselves in their law keeping abilities. They were religious showmen, sticking out their chest with spiritual pride to elevate themselves over the people. And my favorite example of this is found in the parable that Jesus shares in Luke 18. And allow me to read it. You don't need to turn there. It says this. And Jesus told this parable to some people who had trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself. God, I thank you that I'm not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven. But was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." 
  This is the background of pride and hypocrisy that nearly everyone in attendance at the Sermon on the Mount would have understood, which makes this sermon so powerful from start to finish. Just look at the first line of his sermon in Matthew 5:3, when he says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Pull the pin on the spiritual grenade right out of the gate. Throw it out into that crowd that was present. And watch the truth bomb of what he just shared explode, and challenge them all. He is letting all the hypocritical leaders know that this wasn't about your religious pedigree. It wasn't about your position or your title or your notoriety. It wasn't about your ability to trace your lineage. Or the degree of education that you had. The kingdom of God belongs to those who are spiritually bankrupt....bankrupt. It belongs to the humble, and those who recognize their need for God's mercy. The one who says, I am nothing, and I have nothing spiritually in and of myself to offer, I have absolutely nothing. I am trusting fully and completely in the provision of Christ in His righteousness in order to be justified not by spiritual acumen, not how many Bible studies I've been to or life groups I've shown up, or church attendance or anything else. You guys have heard it so well from Adam's faithfulness and the history of this pulpit, to preach the fidelity of the gospel that we just sang in those beautiful lyrics in the song. In Christ alone. In Christ alone. In Christ alone. James 2:10 is our New Testament reminder that whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at one point is what? You're guilty. You're guilty of breaking them all. In this entire sermon that Jesus is about to unleash, would let them all know that the demands of God's law were humanly impossible to keep, and that they demand God's grace and mercy. That's the point of emphasis for the sermon on the Mount. Jesus said it clearly multiple times too...starting in the opening verse, then again in Matthew 5:20, stating, for I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Here, Jesus is condemning their self-righteousness. He's not commending it. Then the Lord gives an even stronger statement in Matthew 5:48. You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Who could measure up? There's only one person, and he happens to be the guy who's preaching the message, who later on, at the end of the sermon in Matthew 7 and throughout the rest of the Gospels, will point people to who?...Himself. Himself. And this is a critical context and background to our study. In the heart of the text...in our passage today, Jesus continues to confront spiritual pride and hypocrisy, and then he instructs you and I on how to pray in the most humble, strategic, and effective way. Let's read it together before we dig out its meaning and application for us.
  Starting in Matthew 6:5. This is what it says as I'm reading from the New American Standard. "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetitions as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask. Pray then in this way. Our father who is 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 have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
  The title of the sermon is in your notes, and it is "When you Pray". And there are only two points rooted in our text. First, don't pray like this. Trying to keep this as simple as I possibly could. Don't pray to be recognized or noticed by people. Look again at verse five. When you pray, you're not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. So Jesus here in this context, is just in the sermon on the Mount addressed their hypocrisy in their alms giving as they would sound trumpets as they gave financially to the poor. And now, just as is the case with helping the poor, there was a prideful tendency for them to use their prayers as a means of impressing others with their religiosity. Of course the Lord sees this, and he knows the motives of all of our hearts. To pray with a view to impressing people or being recognized by others is wrong handed and is certainly wrong hearted. And Jesus calls on praying people to consider what they are doing. They should concentrate on the matter at hand and forget the recognition of people. I think all of us would agree that pride is ugly, isn't it? But spiritual pride is an abomination. It really is because it's antithetical to the gospel, especially if we're supposed to be spiritually bankrupt. Right? It really is a vain attempt to elevate and worship self rather than God. It's basically saying, God, let me pray in such a way that I can be recognized in my pride and flesh. I love how pastor and author Daniel Henderson describes praying. He said, "Our prayers should be spirit led, scripture fed, and worship based". For my note takers, I'll give them to you again. Three things: spirit led, scripture fed, worship based. And this is a very helpful grid to filter out spiritual pride, and helps take our egos and spiritual pride out of the equation. Relying on the Spirit of God and the Word of God to help us worship God when we pray.
  So. How might we be tempted to pray?...for personal recognition. Just applying the principle. Maybe we pray long, robust prayers when we're in life group. But then by ourselves outside of life group, there's no depth. Maybe you pray quickly with your family, but spend additional time praying when company joins you for dinner to put your godliness on display. Maybe you try to pray harder when you're around a church leader or a minister leader so that they'll think more highly of you. All I did was just survey my own heart. There, by the way. That was just a reflection. And I'm sure you have other, other ways where your pride can be put on display. Maybe it's going out to eat at a restaurant, right? Oh, you know, our kids are going crazy at restaurants, but after we bring them in, let's pray. Come on, let's pray. Let's make sure everybody...no, that's not the motive. It's like, let's thank God. Let's thank God together, regardless of who's watching. These are just some of the ways my heart was tempted. When you pray, don't pray like this. That was Jesus's point as he confronts spiritual pride.
  This brings us to our second sub point found in verses seven and eight. Don't pray using meaningless repetitions. Notice what the Lord mentions in verse seven. And when you're praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Perhaps Jesus here is mentioning some examples of Gentile traditions because there were some Gentiles in the crowd. But there's a good chance...a high chance, I think, that the Jewish audience would also be familiar with some of the prayer customs that were present during this time in the ancient Near East, many of which prayed repetitiously. Buddhism, for example, was birthed some 2500 years ago, involves spinning prayer wheels, which are hollow cylinders filled with prayers, mantras, and sacred symbols. And rather than taking the time to recite the mantras, a Buddhist can simply spin the wheel instead. Walk around and just spin the wheels, spin the wheels, spin the wheels, spin the wheels. I think this encapsulates very well an example of the meaningless repetition. Like other pagan prayer traditions that existed during this time period. Meaningless repetitions also were a problem for the scribes and Pharisees. Their prayers became very ritualized. As one commentator shared, their ritual approach to prayer replaced the reality of a poured out heart. They had written prayers to recite for nearly every occasion according to Jewish traditions. There were formalized prayers that were assigned for Jews to be prayed every morning and evening, along with the reciting of the Shema found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. And some of you may come from backgrounds where there was elements of formalized prayers. You grew up in liturgical services, or in a reformed environment where prayers were read as a custom. There's nothing necessarily wrong with written prayers. One of my favorite prayer books is is The Valley of Vision. I know many of you know it as well. Beautiful Puritan prayers that are written out to to encourage your heart. "Voices from the past", volumes one and two....excellent devotion, written prayers. Friends of us are friends of ours actually gave us "Every Moment Holy", which is a more recent, um, book that allows you to read liturgies that really  help us pray through many different life occasions. Written prayers to me are like canned prayers. When you go to the grocery store and you're shopping, do you ever buy canned goods? We do, right? And what's inside? Its food....prepared in advance...in a can. Right there for us. They can serve a purpose on some occasions, but you probably don't want to only eat canned goods when there are so many other viable and organic options in the rest of the store, do you? Unless you're a cat, then you don't care. You'll eat every meal out of a can. Maybe that's why they have nine lives...all that canned food. Let's not miss the point here. The real problem occurs when prayers are disconnected from the heart of the person reciting them, and it only gets worse when a person is doing it outwardly for showmanship. And this is what the hypocritical religious leaders were doing in the time of Christ. And the Lord responded by saying, don't pray this way. Don't pray to be noticed by people and don't pray using meaningless repetitions that will only prove the disconnection of your heart from God.
  So how does Jesus want you and I to pray? We know that he desires spiritual pride and hypocrisy to be removed far from us. And this leads us to the second point in your outline. The Lord is now giving us a guide on how to pray. A guide on how to how to pray in the most humble, strategic and effective way. When we pray in the Lord's prescribed fashion, it is also designed to protect us from spiritual pride and hypocrisy. First he instructs his disciples and now us to pray privately. Look again at verse 6. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Go and pray privately. Or your translation might say in secret, as it does here in the NAS. What is the Lord ultimately saying? Go find a place where there won't be distractions. And this is set up, of course, in contrast to what the hypocrites were doing. You don't need to go to the synagogue or the temple or out to the street corner to get noticed. This also isn't teaching, though, that you can't pray with other people. We get that right? We can pray corporately as a church family. We can pray in life group together. But the point remains don't let it become something that gets distracted. Find an inner room or a private place so that you can focus on who you are praying to. One commentator shared, "Jesus is giving direction for one's own prayers and indicating that they are to be undertaken with a single eye on God, not with a side glance at people who could be impressed." He finishes by saying, "The secret place will exclude other people, but not God. He is there in the secret place."  Where is your inner room or private place located? Jesus, he led by example, didn't he? Went out into the wilderness to pray, would go to a desolate area where there was absolutely nothing. He led by example. Go to a garden and sit down and pray. Where's your spot? We don't need to overthink it, but we do need to think about it and plan for it. God would want us to do this. Did you know that most early devotion times are planned due to children? I just hit home with all the moms in this room. That if you don't get up early ahead of the kids...when that baby wakes or that toddler wakes up, it is game over. Right? You have to find the time. And I've seen the faithfulness of my wife to do that in our home. Before school, before the kids get up, before breakfast needs to be made, all the demands...making a cup of coffee, going over, getting her Bible, and spending some time reading and praying. You're a great encouragement to me in that regard, and you've modeled that as an example to our children ten times more than I have. Her faithfulness to do that...That's beautiful. Find your spot. Picking a prayer time in a place will assist you and I in having quality prayer time with the Lord. First, Jesus wants us to pray privately.

  Secondly, Jesus instructs us to pray to our Holy Father in heaven. Look again at verse 9. "Pray then, in this way our father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name." Jesus teaches us who to address in prayer at the start. Our father is the address that the Lord gave us to use. Jesus never directly told the disciples to address or pray to himself. Jesus never instructed us to address or pray to the Holy Spirit. He didn't say to use dear God or Lord either. And I'm not trying to split hairs here, but I need to make a point so that we see it. I believe it's significant. Jesus always addressed the Father when he prayed. Always. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Father, into your hands i commit my spirit. 'Our Father' is an address of devotion. And if there's one thing that can never be questioned in Scripture, it is Christ's absolute love and devotion to the Father. This address of devotion is what I call a spiritual paternity test. Those of you who grew up in the 90s and 2000s may recall that there were a lot of talk shows that were on TV during that time, weren't there? It was the era of talk shows. And there was one talk show in particular that was notorious for inviting guests onto their show, and they would invite a pregnant woman along with 2 or 3 men. And sadly, the show would then be a discussion about who was the legitimate father of the baby that she was carrying. The men would usually go on rants explaining why they were convinced that the child was not their offspring...how sad. And that they would make this entertainment. And the show would end by revealing the paternity test and finding out to whom the child legitimately belonged to. Most men were relieved when the child belonged to someone else. The spiritual paternity test in our prayer today is something to be celebrated, not denigrated or feared. It reminds believers of our adoption in Christ. Romans 8:15-16 expresses it perfectly, for you have not received a spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Father! The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Amen, Amen. Not only does Christ confirm the address of devotion, but he also reminds us of who and where the Father is. He is in heaven, seated on his throne, surrounded in absolute glory and majesty. And Jesus, led by example, when he prayed this way in his high priestly prayer at the beginning of John 17, it says, Jesus spoke these things, lifting up his eyes to heaven. Why might he have us focus on heaven and the Father's hallowed name. It is intended to humble our posture as we look to him in heaven. The prophet Isaiah recorded this in Isaiah 66. Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my....footstool. Heaven is his throne and we are on earth...His footstool. Anything related to the feet in the ancient Near East was considered insignificant and lowly. And that's why the disciples, of course, were absolutely bewildered when Jesus took the basin and grabbed the cloth and decided to wash their feet. Yet he put his humility on perfect display when he did it. And we should have a posture of humility and reverence ourselves when we cry out from his footstool. I'll be the first to admit that I've grown too comfortable. I've grown too casual in my addresses to the Father sometimes. I don't calculate it in my thinking. And after studying the Lord's Prayer, I assure you that's going to change. Isaiah 66:2 provides even greater perspective when the Lord says, but to this one I will look to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at my word. It is a holy reverence and respect given to our Father when we address him. And Jesus is teaching us how to pray. First, he taught us to pray privately. Secondly, he instructed us to pray to our Holy Father in heaven. And thirdly, pray for God's kingdom and his will to be done. As we move on to verse 10, Jesus continues, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This Greek word that gets translated Kingdom is really a fascinating word that requires three English words to properly convey its meaning, and there are many cases of that when you do translation work, how there can be, you know, several words needed just to describe one word in another language. And if you do speak another language, you know that to be true, right? It's the same right here. It's a loaded term. And it has three derivatives. It primarily means kingship, or the condition of being a king or the possession of royal power. The second derivative means reign or the exercise of royal power. And the final derivative means kingdom or subjects or territory over whom or in which this royal power is exercised. A loaded term meaning kingship, reign and kingdom. So technically it could even be translated this way. Your kingship, reign and kingdom come. It could be said that way. Listen, there's no kingdom without a king, right? And I love this fuller translation because it captures the essence of what we anticipate in the future. Jesus Christ is King and he is going to return to this earth, I believe, very soon. He's going to establish his kingdom. And guess what he's going to do? He is going to rule. He is going to reign, and he's going to establish his kingdom. And every knee will bend and every tongue will confess what?...that Jesus Christ is Lord. How can we not pray this prayer more often in light of the events that we see taking place in our world: the corruption, the deception, the malice, the envy, the sin filled strife in this world. It's overwhelming, is it not? But do you want to know something even more overwhelming?...the king when he comes. The righteous rule and reign of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom, which cannot be thwarted. And I there are some in the room right now. I probably sound like Pat Robertson on the 700 club...and the Lord Jesus is going to come. Okay, sorry for the impression. And then all the young people in the room are like, who the heck is that? Okay. Listen. The instruction in Our Lord's Prayer will help us keep our lamps lit and be ready for his return. And time wouldn't permit for us even though when I was debating on what to preach, I wanted to talk about the coming kingdom and the eschatological aspects of it so that we can understand it even more. But we can't chase that rabbit right now. But we do know it is the Lord's will that we pray like this together...thy kingdom come. Notice what it says at the end of verse 10. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. There's a direct correlation between anticipating the king and kingdom and God's plan of sanctification, preparing us for that coming kingdom. In his recent book titled, "Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Second Coming" written by John Piper, he describes the connection this way as he cites Titus 2:11-13 before explaining its implications. It reads in Titus 2, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus." There's an anticipation. We're on the lookout. And in the book Piper goes on to describe it this way. And I'll share a little bit with you. He says, "boiling it down, Paul says that the grace of God appeared the first time to bring into being a people who would eagerly wait for Christ's second appearing with uprightness and godliness. In other words, the first appearing prepares us for the second. We have much to love about the first appearing of Christ. But as great as it was climaxing in the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, it was all designed to bring into being a people and a new reality that would find climactic expression of the Second Coming. So I think Paul would say the test of our proper affection for the first coming of Christ is the measure of our affection for the second. Or to say it another way, the test of our love for Christ who has appeared, is our longing for Christ, who will appear. Therefore, I believe I am building a good foundation when I say the aim of this book is to help people love the second coming of Christ." Our elder team is currently going through this book together. I was going to say reading, but they're reading it. I'm actually trying to catch up is really the truth of it. That is the truth of it. But again, you can pick that up as a source of encouragement. I think the Lord would agree with what was shared. I really do. He, the Lord, is instructing believers to pray accordingly here in verse 10. Our love for Christ's return and his coming kingdom serves as a vital fuel in our sanctification, and the remaining verses in the prayer provide further evidence of this. When praying about forgiveness and temptation and being delivered from evil. So we even see that in the roadmap. What does God's will entail on earth?...worshipping, praying, talking to God, serving, loving, blessing, rejoicing, growing...and on and on the list goes, right? A biblical counselor recently shared this and I love the expression. He said, "We are constantly 'inging' to the glory of God. And the truth is that it is God's will that we will be 'inging' forever. What's God's will look like in heaven for us?...worshipping, praying, talking to God, serving, loving, blessing, rejoicing, growing. Sound familiar? Many things will remain the same. But we also know that God's will on earth also involves some 'inging' that won't take place in heaven: repenting, confessing, forgiving, lamenting, suffering, agonizing, striving. And on and on that list goes as well, doesn't it? But it's temporary. It is only temporary, even though sometimes it doesn't seem like it. And we need this prayer to remind us of God's kingdom and God's will for us. We are 'inging' to the glory of God. This prayer reminds us and Brett Bradshaw, you should make t shirts for us. All that say ING to the King. That's my takeaway. If you can have that order ready by next Sunday, that would be great. Ing for the King and his return.
  Well, our time is running out and we need to move on to the next verse. Pray privately. Pray to our Holy Father in heaven. Pray for God's kingdom and will to be done. Next, the Lord teaches us. Pray for daily provisions. Verse 11 says, give us this day our daily bread. And here Jesus says that we should do no more than ask for sufficient provisions for the day. Bread serves as an example, and one which points at least his audience back to the daily provisions of manna that the Lord provided for Israel. The emphasis here is on our daily needs and to trust the Lord with them. Look down while we're here in chapter 6 at verse 25 of the same chapter, Jesus says, for this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life as for what you will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns. And yet your heavenly father feeds them. He provides for them. He gives them their daily bread too. Feed bread to the birds, actually. Are you not worth more than they? And everybody knows the answer to that question. And here the Lord's Prayer encourages a continuing dependence on God. And then emphasis is on daily provisions so that we are not found in want nor tempted by abundance. The wisdom of Proverbs even prays this way in Proverbs 30:8-9. "Two things I asked of you...this is the author of Proverbs and YOU all caps. So this is a reference to God. This is a prayer. "Do not refuse me before I die. Keep deception and lies far from me. And give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is my portion. That I may not be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or that I may not be in want, and steal and profane the name of God? Wisdom, prays for only that which we need. And God knows that, because sometimes we get deceived by that, even that the fact that he mentions keep deceptions and lies far from us right before that. What we need is to stay dependent upon the Lord in prayer. Did you know that the only thing that God ever designed for you and I to ever have in abundance is himself? The only thing that God ever designed for you to have in absolute abundance is himself...not money, not food, not material possessions, not even relationships. Why? Because all of those things have the propensity to turn into idols. But wait a minute. Kurtis would say, wait a minute, Mr. Preacher Man. Didn't Jesus say that I came that you may have life and have it abundantly? He did say that. But he wasn't talking about material things. The abundant life that Jesus is speaking of is spiritual life. It is actually speaking of all the things that money cannot buy. And it was the TBN, health, wealth and prosperity charlatans and preachers who have taken that verse out of context for decades for their own financial benefits, misleading many others to do the same. Following Jesus IS the abundant life. It gives you freedom and joy in the true biblical gospel and access to all the things that money cannot ever buy spiritually...can't. We rejoice in that. Jesus is the bread of life. He said his daily bread will never leave you hungry or thirsty. Let us pray for that bread. The only thing that God designed and desires for us to have in abundance is himself. Don't miss that. Take that with you. When you're longing for more of something else. The only thing that my God has designed for me to have in abundance is Him. Amen? Amen.
  Next, Jesus instructs us to pray for forgiveness. Look at verse 12. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. It's no secret that sin is what fractures our relationship with God, and it will yield the same consequences with people. And the word debts here reflects the debts of offense that are incurred while sinning. And here the Lord prays that we'll put the gospel on full display by receiving vertical forgiveness from God and then displaying horizontal forgiveness as we extend the same grace of forgiveness to other people. Moments earlier on the sermon on the Mount, Jesus covered personal relationships. Look back at chapter 5. Where he'll speak to anger and then divorce. Starting in verse 21, you have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not commit murder, and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. And whoever says to his brother, you good for nothing shall be guilty before the Supreme Court. And whoever says, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar and there, remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering. And this hits us just as hard as it did them as they heard it. And all of us, all of us have been extremely angry with someone, or perhaps caused someone to be extremely angry at some point, right? And the gospel of forgiveness rooted here in the disciples prayer reminds us of the grace of God that we have been given so that we can honor God with how we respond. Jesus goes on to ruffle even more feathers, addressing the topic of divorce in verses 31 and 32, when he says, it was said, whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Nobody was squirming in their seats more than the scribes and Pharisees at this point. Who were handing out certificates of divorce for nearly every reason imaginable. If you didn't like a meal. If you didn't like this, you didn't like that. And Jesus confronts their hypocrisy here and in other passages in the gospel when he states the only permissible concessions for divorce are unrepentant adultery and unrepentant abandonment. That's it. Those are the concessions. And in both cases, the person committing either of those sins will prove themselves to be an unbeliever, and biblical grounds for divorce can eventually be granted to the one who is being sinned against. And please know that I'm not trying to step on any toes here. I'm simply sharing the context of who it was that Jesus was speaking to. And I know that some of you in this room have gone through divorce or been part of a family impacted by one. And I have eight siblings in my family and half of my siblings have been divorced. There's no easy way around the subject. But believers all know marriage was designed specifically by the Lord to reflect his gospel of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. And only through forgiveness can a bride and groom stay together. It's true for Christ and the church. And how much truer for a husband and wife? Forgiveness reflects the very heartbeat of God and His gospel, and reflects the heartbeat of a true believer as Jesus affirms in verses 14 and 15 following the prayer. For if you forgive others for their transgressions your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your father will not forgive your transgressions. It's evidence of a redeemed heart. I do a lot of marital counseling in this church, along with Kurtis and David Duncan on our team. I think we handle the lion's share of counseling. And listen, I know that it's hard in your marriage. I know some of you have gone through a lot and that pains me. And we hear about it in the counseling cases. And I can understand the temptation of these Pharisees just to write a certificate and say, go ahead, go ahead. Just get a divorce. I can understand that temptation. But we have to see what he's providing for us in this. And the leaders of the church, and I'm so grateful to be part of the leadership team at this church will hold the line biblically.  In some of those, that line holding involves having hard conversations with people, saying that you do not have biblical grounds to divorce. And it isn't us. I wish, you could even know just how, how challenging that is. But we're not doing it for our sake. We're not doing it to make your life harder. In fact, we're doing it so that you experience the grace of the gospel and hold the line. Why? Because I can tell you with all my siblings that after they go through divorce, oh, it just all magically disappears and it's so much better. No hardships with that...wrong. That's why we have a counseling ministry called Divorce Care here at the church. Why? Because there's so much stuff that still has to be dealt with on the other side. The Pharisees were hypocrites for allowing unbiblical divorces to take place for themselves as well as for others. And I hope you're grateful, and I praise God that I am a part of a team of men who will stand up and have those hard conversations. I hope you appreciate it. I know many of you do. When you pray, pray like this. Pray privately. Pray to our Holy Father. Pray for God's kingdom and his will to be done. Pray for daily provisions. Pray for forgiveness.
  And last but certainly not least, and I know I've gone way over and I thank you for just being gracious, just for giving me a few more minutes...please. Pray not to be tempted, but delivered from evil. In our final verse, Jesus instructs us to pray and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. Now, this word temptation here, it's a neutral term. It's used to describe desires that are both good and evil, and the context helps us understand that Jesus is actually referring to evil desires, because he wouldn't ask us to be led away from good desires, right? We get that, and we need to make sure that we understand what this verse is really teaching. And here's where the biblical principle to use Scripture to interpret Scripture really helps us. James 1:13 and 14, let no one say when he is tempted. I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone. And we know and affirm that God doesn't tempt anyone, and he himself cannot be tempted by evil. How do we know this? Because Jesus, led by example and just earlier in Matthew 4, went out into the wilderness for 40 days and took the best that the devil had to offer in terms of temptation. But James 1:14 continues, but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. The problem lies in our own hearts. It's actually a great pun. The problem lies...in our own hearts. It starts with an evil lie of lust that opens the door to a temptation. And the Lord's Prayer today is teaching us to pray so that we don't even get close to something that tempts us. But sometimes evil lies and lust of our hearts can be really strong, can't they? And that's when 1 Corinthians 10:13 comes to the rescue. God is faithful who will not only allow us to endure each temptation, but will also provide the way of escape. And so when Jesus encourages us to pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. It isn't something that he can't relate to. Hebrews 4:15-16 says, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. Right there to pray. Even right there. It helps us and it points us back. And we're bookending this prayer on the throne. The throne that we approach when we call him our father and the throne at the very end that lets us know that we have a great sympathetic high Priest who is there and ready and willing to help...that wants to intercede for us. It's the blessing of the Lord's Prayer. It's my hope that whenever you recite this prayer written by the greatest preacher to ever live preaching, the greatest sermon to ever be preached, recording one of the greatest prayers that could ever be recorded, that it will encourage you and that you would remember when you pray, pray like this.
  As we conclude our study time, I was trying to figure out what would be the best way to conclude, and if I knew how over time I was, I would have even been more concise in my prayer for this message. Really, when I was praying to the Lord, I asked him if I could reflect his heartbeat in what he was trying to communicate to his disciples. And only he knows how effective I've been. But it's fitting for us to close in prayer now. And allow me to recite this. So please join me as I pray.
  Abba, father. You are on your throne in heaven in absolute holiness and majestic glory. And father, we pray that your Son, our King, would come soon to reign and establish his kingdom. Father, we ask for grace to do your will on earth, and that we would continue INGING for your glory. We thank you, Father, and praise you for the daily provisions of your grace that you continue to give us, both in our physical needs as well as our spiritual needs. We ask for your forgiveness as we forgive the debts of offense that have been committed against us. Father lead us far away from temptations, and we pray and look forward to our deliverance from evil and all of its consequences. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. And all God's people said Amen.