This is the manuscript of the fourth sermon in a series on prayer, as we continue in the Holy Spirit directed season of corporate prayer for Christ Church.
Jesus sets the priority and agenda for our prayers. After showing us that our number one priority in prayer is God’s presence before His provision. However, because knows that we do need material, emotional, and spiritual things Jesus invites us to ask for three things in particular: provision, or material things, pardon, and protection. Now these aren’t the only things we can ask God for, but they provide a template for what we should prioritize.
Scripture
James 5:13-18 NIV Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Text
Matthew 6:11-13 NIV Give us today 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 the evil one. ’
Introduction
In my sermon last week, I said that when Jesus taught the disciples to pray He emphasized and addressed the priorities not the process.
Jesus sets the priority and agenda for our prayers.
Matthew 6:9-10 NIV “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
As we come together and pray in line with the Lord’s Prayer, which is the model for prayer that Jesus gave, we’re reminded of the shared desire: for the King of kings to come and rule. It reminds us that no matter our circumstance—rich or poor, old or young, married or single, majority or minority—we all need the same thing: God’s precious presence.
Jesus taught us that prayer begins with longing for God’s presence before his provision. But prayer should not end there. We still need things from God.
Just because Jesus tells us not to prioritize food and clothing doesn’t mean we don't need food and clothing.
Matthew 6:31-33 NIV So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Because Jesus knows that we do need material, emotional and spiritual things He invites us to ask for three things in particular: provision, or material things, pardon, and protection. Three "P's, provision, pardon and protection. Now these aren’t the only things we can ask God for, but they provide a template for what we should prioritize.
Provision
Matthew 6:11 NIV Give us today our daily bread.
Jesus first tells us to ask for “our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). Notice, he wants us to pray for daily bread—not weekly bread, not monthly bread, not a trust fund, not a nice little nestegg. He wants us to rely upon God daily.
Proverbs 30:8-9 NIV Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches,the but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
In other words, give me just what I need today, and I’ll come back tomorrow. Keep me constantly dependent on you so that every day, understand that you’re the sufficient supplier of my needs.
The prayer for provision and the prayer of praise are inseparable. We praise God for His presence and because He is present with us He provides. In first sermon in this series, I said that one of the requirements of a Christian's prayer life is thankfulness.
Jesus instructs us to pray for our bread daily so that we’re reminded that every good gift is from God.
James 1:17 NIV Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Then Jesus says pray for Pardon
Matthew 6:12 NIV And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
This request reminds us that peace with God always comes through pardon and forgiveness, never performance. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection on our behalf is our only appeal for forgiveness.
We’re not asking for God to reconsider our debt, nor are we asking for more time to pay our debt. We’re asking for forgiveness. We don’t earn forgiveness. We go to God for it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Christ died for all sin, His sacrifice was completely sufficient to pay for the sins of the entire world.
1 John 2:1-2 NIV My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
We're to pray for forgiveness as often as we pray for bread and other necessities. When we do that we're daily reminded of at least two things: (1) our consistent failings, and (2) God's eagerness to forgive.
1 John 1:8-9 NIV If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
To miss a day of praying this way is to spend a day where you're tempted to think that God and you are okay because of your performance. That’s never been the case and will never be the case.
When our hearts aren’t convinced of our need for God’s forgiveness, we’re prone to unforgiveness for others.
An unforgiving spirit is a serious sin and should be confessed to God. If we have unforgiveness in our hearts against someone else, then we are acting in a way that is not pleasing to God, making our prayers and a proper living relationship with Him difficult.
Jesus knows that in order for us to honor God’s name, we need a fresh reminder of our sin and God’s grace every day. Those who have been forgiven make good forgivers. So, we daily and desperately need to pray, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”.
Then Jesus says we should pray for Protection
Matthew 6:13 NIV And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’
Like forgiveness and pardon from past sin, protection from future sin is found in Jesus. The trouble is, we either respond to temptation with anxiety, thinking that we’ll never change, or we respond with arrogance, assuming we have the power to resist.
Jesus told His disciples on the night he was arrested to pray so they could resist temptation.
Matthew 26:40-41 NIV Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Paul admonishes Christians in
Ephesians 6:12-18 NIV For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
How Does all this Relate to Corporate Prayer?
Why are these two sermons on Jesus teaching us to pray important to us during this season of corporate prayer here at Christ Church. If you remember from last week I pointed out that when Jesus gave the disciples a model for prayer that He used plural pronouns.
Matthew 6:9-13 NIV “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today 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 the evil one. ’
How does the us of corporate prayer work with regard to provision?
Let’s say I pray for God to provide for “our” needs, and I end up getting a raise while someone else loses his job. I can’t just say, “I’m praying for you to be warm and fed”. No, I must work out my faith in prayer by presuming that God providentially answered our prayers for provision by giving me more than I need so I could give to someone that also prayed who had less than they need.
In this way God, through my prayer, is removing greed from me by providing an opportunity to freely give the gift he’s given to me. At the same time God is removing pride from my brother by putting him in a position where he gets to accept God’s good gifts from another brother.
How does the “us” work in our prayers for pardon and protection?
Let’s say I pray that God would forgive me of my sin. Then, while I'm praying the Lord brings to mind a specific person who has offended me and let’s say I’m not ready to forgive them.
I must decide.
I can ask God to forgive me of my hypocrisy and help me to forgive or I can try to justify my anger and decision not to forgive and pretend that I am not being a hypocrite. I can continue to pray using singular pronouns and and believe that my relationship with that other person has absolutely nothing to do with God.
Well, that's not what Jesus taught
Matthew 5:23-24 NIV “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
Praying for others' provision, pardon, and protection shapes us into the image of Christ.
This is what makes the Lord’s Prayer supernatural. We don’t have the smarts to provide for ourselves let alone for others. Everything we have, including the ability acquire wealth, comes from God.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 NIV You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
We often can’t forgive those who have offended us especially those who have hurt us deeply. It is only through the Holy Spirit working in us that we can forgive others when they offend us.
We don’t have the spiritual fortitude it takes to deny the pleasures of sin and avoid the traps of temptation. We need daily help from the One who gives us everything, forgives us lavishly, and preserves us for all eternity.
Jesus teaches us through the Lord’s Prayer that we are incredibly needy, and that God is unbelievably generous. When we pray for provision, pardon, and protection for ourselves and each other, we all get to enjoy God’s abundant goodness, which he’s so eager to share and we can enjoy as his children and siblings to each other.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for sending Jesus, to take on our sin, darkness and shame so that we could be in a relationship with you. We want to know you more and experience a deeper relationship with you through prayer. Heal our hearts and set us free from anything that hinders us from connecting with your heart through prayer. In Jesus name Amen.
Sermon Audio
No comments:
Post a Comment