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The 10th Sunday in Trinity
The Lord's Prayer
August 9, 2009

TEXT:   (Matthew 6:5-15 NKJ) "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9  "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 "But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
 
This lesson on prayer is part of Jesus’ teaching on the mountain—His audience was predominately Jews, and many were Pharisees and scribes—Jesus knew that these men understood the words of the Old Testament, but they did not understand application of the words to their daily lives—there were many people on that mountain that day, and Jesus wants them to properly understand the Old Testament lessons
 
Jesus’ lesson on prayer is a parallel to His preceding lesson concerning giving—just as some give to obtain the attention of men—“look at all I give”—“I am a great man for giving so much”—so it is that there are some who pray before man to attract the attention of man—look at me, I pray louder, longer, and more eloquent prayers than other men—so it was with the Pharisees who would walk at prayer time—time it so they were in a very prominent, and very public and populated place—then they would pray aloud—they would pretend that they were caught at that place accidentally—but they were transparent to Jesus
 
Jesus knew these men were not praying—but were imitating prayer—prayer is a very powerful thing—and the devil must be pleased when he can stop sincere and earnest prayer—and replace it with men imitating prayer—true prayer is a man of true faith asking God for some benefit for himself or on behalf of someone else—faith is the key—if you do not have faith in God, you are making noise, not praying
 
 (Hebrews 11:6 NKJ) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
 
Much the same instruction Jesus gave us on the giving to the poor—do it privately—and get your reward from God—do it publicly—and get the attention you sought from men—but no reward from God—notice this instruction is the private prayer of men—not corporate prayer of a congregation—there is a difference—Jesus offers us a very different promise concerning corporate prayer
 
(Matthew 18:19-20 NKJ) "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
 
True prayer is our personal connection with God—our soul connected to our Heavenly Father—for corporate prayer we attach ourselves to our brothers and sisters in Christ and pray in the unity of the Spirit—but when we pray as individuals—that is strictly between us and God—it’s personal—and we must keep it that way
 
Now Jesus begins to instruct on how to pray—and how not to pray—don’t babble like the heathens do—this is probably a reference to the pagan prayers to false gods and idols—they would pray to these pagan gods for hours—Luther said it was as if they thought they could perhaps tire them out and get what they were praying for—if they only prayed long enough—they would get their way
 
Our God is an eternal God—your chance of tiring Him out to get your way is zero—our lesson thus far is—pray in private—and keep your prayer direct and pertinent—the bad example of the Pharisees praying loudly in public should serve as a warning to us—but it should not stop us from praying—it should get us to understand what God-pleasing prayer is—now some might say, if God knows what our needs are before we even pray—why bother—won’t He give us what we need anyway?
 
In our text, Jesus is teaching the Pharisees and the scribes-- listen to these words of James as he tries to explain things to the Jewish Christians who struggle with maintaining faith in Christ—James is helping them understand prayer—real prayer, not the prayer lessons the Pharisees and scribes would teach
 
(James 4:1-5 NKJ) Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously "?
 
James makes several excellent points—you don’t receive because you don’t ask—and when you do pray—you ask for things of this world for your own pleasure and your own wealth and comfort—there is no promise of great wealth or fame in God’s Word—only a promise that we will receive the things that support God’s will—prayer is our communication with God—and God sent us to this world for a reason—and that reason is in support of His will—therefore, we are promised the things we need to do His will
 
(1 John 5:14 NKJ) Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
 
 
In our text, Jesus instructed us on how to pray—Jesus is teaching the Jews in His midst—but He is also teaching the Church—now He gives us an example of what to pray—He begins with Our Father in heaven—words that can only be spoken by one who has faith—notice that we pray using the plural—each time we pray this as a congregation—we pray in unity to the One and only God—when we pray in private by ourselves—we pray recognizing that there are other believers who share our faith—only a true believer in Christ—with faith—can pray this prayer—all others—those who do not believe Jesus died for their sins—those who do not understand that Jesus is the Son of God—will not be recognized by God
 
Remember Jesus’ discussion with the Pharisees and scribes—He told them He is God
 
(John 8:42 NKJ) Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
 
Only true believers can pray this prayer—and that believer will be heard—AS PROMISED!!—but we must be aware of what we are praying—when we say “Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven”—we are looking forward to the end time—Judgment Day—and again—the only ones who can look forward to that day are those who have faith—and know they are going to heaven
 
Thy will be done—is our prayer that all  on earth might come to proper understanding and have faith—that all men might be saved—just as God’s Word tells us—God wants all men to be saved
 
(2 Peter 3:9 NKJ) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
 
And when man comes to repentance—he comes to faith—and will be saved—so we pray as Jesus taught us that all believers will be resurrected  on that Last Day
 
(John 6:40 NKJ) "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
 
In this prayer we ask that God forgive our sins—and if we consider our sins—and the magnitude of what we are asking God to forgive—we see that unless our sins were forgiven out of love—we could never afford to pay the price of that forgiveness
We sin everyday—and we deserve to be condemned for all eternity—but God forgives us through Jesus Christ—His perfect Son that we killed as the price of our sins—and we have to take that personally
 
Note the consistency of the plural language—Our Father—and now “forgive us our sins (or debts or trespasses)”  Prayer is intended to be in unity with all believers—selfless and for the good of the body of Christ—again, this prayer is reinforcing the teaching of Jesus throughout His ministry
 
(Luke 6:37 NKJ)  "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
 
And the last petition we shall discuss this morning concerns temptation—Jesus teaches us to pray “And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”—each of us is tempted by the devil—and each of our temptations may be different—but our deliverance is from the same source—God!—God will allow us to be tempted—but He will limit that temptation to what He knows we can stand—if you are tempted greatly—it is because God knows you are strong enough to withstand great temptation
 
(1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJ) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
 
James tells us in his inspired writing—that enduring the temptations of this earth is rewarded with the crown of life
 
(James 1:2-12 NKJ) My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. …12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
 
We face temptation everyday—face it—endure it—defeat it—all with the help of God—we all dread temptation—and the torment of the devil—but God assures us in His Word that we will win the battle—and we will be rewarded
 
We pray the Lord’s Prayer often—may this lesson strengthen our faith each time we pray!
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!