Understanding the Lord's Prayer with Preston

Preston offers a deep dive into the Lord's Prayer, focusing on both Jesus' words and actions. He begins by welcoming everyone and discussing the purpose of prayer in aligning with God's will. He then provides a verse-by-verse analysis of the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6, emphasizing the significance of each phrase. Throughout the sermon, Preston highlights the importance of focusing on God's purposes first, the power of forgiveness, and seeking God’s guidance during temptation. He concludes with practical applications and encourages the congregation to pray with a heart of humility and commitment to God's will.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:40 Theme of the Year: Walk Like Jesus
01:03 Deep Dive into the Lord's Prayer
02:16 Understanding the Purpose of Prayer
03:21 Realigning with God's Purposes
07:22 The Collective Nature of Prayer
21:12 Petitioning for Our Needs
28:28 The Importance of Forgiveness
33:43 Seeking Deliverance from Temptation
39:38 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Good morning. It's good to see everybody out this morning. I don't know what brought you here this weekend. Maybe it's coming to the lake or just to see family or maybe the 42 tournament that I hear is coming tomorrow that I'm expecting to get destroyed in. Never played. I'm gonna learn in 24 hours.

But we're glad you're here. Maybe this is your first time that you're visiting with us. We're glad and honored that you're here. We got handouts being handed out. For the sermon, just so you can follow along a little bit this morning. And so if you'd like one of those, go ahead and grab one. But hopefully you saw as you came in, if you're visiting with us.

And if you don't know already, our theme for this year is walk Like Jesus. It's an imperative and and a lot of things we've been looking at this year, really, not so much the things Jesus says, but really the things that he does, his kind of actions and we're modeling some of his actions. So this, this quarter we're talking about walking or falling at God's feet in prayer and fasting.

And while we've been focusing more on the actions today, we are gonna focus a little bit more on Jesus' words. Is we're gonna do a deep dive. On the Lord's Prayer in Matthew's gospel in Matthew chapter six, you can see the parallel to this passage in Luke chapter 11. And what we really wanna look at this morning is to really see what Jesus teaches about prayer's purpose in the life of the disciple.

And so let's go ahead and read the prayer really quickly and then we'll begin kind of looking in as you'll see highlight a specific word or a phrase here. But Jesus kind of begins this prayer in verse nine, and we're just gonna look at the words of prayer in isolation. That's about all the time we'll have to do.

I'll try to include more. And it's running way too long. So we're just gonna look at the words of the prayer this morning. And Jesus, after talking about to the Gentiles about the hypocrites and how they pray, he says, pray then like this. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver. Deliver us from evil. And I really wanna highlight that kind of center phrase here in Matthew's prayer this morning on Earth as it is in heaven. Because I think ultimately what Jesus is trying to show us through the, through this prayer, the purpose of prayer is one, as we'll kind of talk about in the first half, in verses nine and 10.

God's purpose in prayer is, is that we will be realigned with him and his purposes. And then secondly, in verses 11 through 13, we're also reminded of God's commitment. To us, and I think this phrase on earth as it is in heaven, helps us to see how his purposes and our needs become. One. Just as Jesus has prayed here, that God's purposes all the way up in heaven are something we on the earth are pledging allegiance to, that we would commit to make it making a reality here, but also recognizing that my needs, my concerns, the things that I have and the struggles that I have, the God in heaven hears me and he's also concerned about me.

I think we all understand how easy it is to become misaligned with Jesus in our lives, and when we need this kind of realignment. We think about Peter Peter's, one of Jesus' most fierce and loyal disciples, and we think about the first time Jesus proclaims he's, he's foretelling his death in Matthew's gospel in Matthew's Matthew chapter 16, and Jesus hears these words about Jesus going to Jerusalem and dying.

He says, may it never be. And Jesus scolds him saying, well, get behind me. Satan, you're being a hindrance to me. For your mind is set upon the things of men rather than on the things of God. And I think like Peter, when it comes to prayer or just life in general, prayer helps us realign these things of men when we get them out of order with the.

Things of God. And I wanna kinda look, you used to borrow those phrases from Matthew 16 and kind of apply them to the sermon or the, the Lord's Prayer here in the Sermon on the Mount. We'll talk first about God's things, those things that are in heaven that we are pledging our allegiance to while also thinking at the same time about the things of man, our needs down here, that God himself is committing committing us to.

I think in prayer. What, what I want us to see this morning is really that in prayer we're working with God to bring things on earth, in line with things in heaven. That's what I think Jesus is talking about in this phrase on earth as it is in heaven. So let's, let's do just a verse five verse kind of reading.

Let's read again the first part of Matthew's Prayer or Jesus' prayer in Matthew here where he says, pray then like this. And we're gonna look at this phrase by phrase, our father in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so the first kind of phrase we have here is pray then like this this kind of introduction to the prayer.

And maybe you have the new King James version, the new King James says, or in this manner if you look at Luke's account, he just simply says when you pray, save, say this. Say these words. And so, you know, when we think about praying the Lord's Prayer there's a lot that could be said about how we ought to use this prayer.

You know, maybe we think we should just strictly recite it or maybe we should just use it as kind of a basic outline where we kind of pick out individual elements from it. And to both, I'd say, I think with the proper understanding as we'll talk about in just a second, I would say that I think both of these uses can be really helpful for us.

I think they can be uplifting as long as we use them with a proper reverence and a proper motivation. I think for myself growing up, the only time that I really. Prayed the Lord's Prayer. In fact, the place where I learned the Lord's Prayer was actually in high school playing football on Friday nights, which was one of those kind of ways where maybe a lot of people were praying that prayer.

In a more vain kind of way, when, you know, a lot of people aren't living, I. The life the ought to be. But we're kind of praying this prayer knowing full well the other team is most likely praying the Lord's prayer too. Kind of using it as a good luck charm, almost that God would shine his face on us and that every pass would hit, you know, you know, every block would be caught, everything like that.

But again, the, even though a lot of those experiences I had with the Lord's Prayer early on may have been more negative the one positive is in those high school football games, that is where I learned the Lord's Prayer. I think we consider Jesus' phrase here, pray then like this. We need to take it at face value.

We should pray like this, whether that means word for word. While of course avoiding any sort of ritualistic repetition where we think it's gonna bring us some kind of good luck or something from God. But we can also use it as a guide when maybe we just don't know what to say. There's sometimes I've, I've prayed and I, I've had no idea what I should bring to God.

And so sometimes I just pray the Lord's prayer slowly and consider the words and what it means for me. And I think especially for new Christians as well. The Lord's Prayer is something that needs to be on your lips, training you learning not only the content of what you should pray, but how you should pray.

And as we'll, we're gonna talk about this morning more in depth why we should be praying. And so I think the Lord's Prayer can be beneficial in a lot of different ways. However you can find benefit for yourself. Everybody's gonna be a little bit different. But let's consider next Jesus' statement here, our Father in heaven.

And we're gonna come back to the collective nature of prayer towards the end of our sermon this morning. Because that's really important I think, in the use of the plural, our and us that he uses throughout the prayer. But here I really want us to know is Jesus's address to God. The prayer begins by bringing God's nearness on earth by the term Father, with his exaltation in heaven.

He's our father in heaven. God is directly addressed here as Father by Jesus. And in the Old Testament, this is something that is it doesn't, doesn't take place. God is referred to as father by analogy over and over again in the Old Testament. He's called that an exodus when he's kind of talking about Israel being his firstborn son.

And so God is a father as a redeemer. Deuteronomy 32 talks about him as a father in terms of him being a creator in Psalm chapter two. Talks about God as being this great God in heaven, this great king in heaven who the earthly king is representing him through the Son of David on Zion. But what Jesus does here in a prayer, in in the Lord's Prayer, it's really unique and he's calling his disciples to directly address God as father and to see themselves as little children that are petitioning their father.

And this really expresses God's nearness and his desire to have this really intimate and close relationship with us. Think about Mark chapter 14, where Jesus uses that ara, make, you know, intimate term, Abba, Abba father that he uses to God. I heard one time in college we had a guy get up that was trying to convey this this kind of intimacy in prayer.

And he started the prayer by daddy saying, daddy. Don't like that personally, that's not for me. That was a little bit uncomfortable. And I don't know, borderlines seem a little bit irreverent personally to me, but if you do that in your private peers and it's helpful, maybe, maybe so, but not, that's kind of weird for me personally.

But this intimate talent title, this really intimate title that Jesus uses is, is also balance with the recognition that this father is in fact, in heaven. He's, he's transcendent, he's beyond our reach. And, but at the same time. It's also an assur reassurance. It, it makes us have this sort of reverence for God.

But it's also a reassurance because in prayer we're coming to before the heavenly throne and we're talking, we're petitioning the one we believe who can truly the only one who can really make a difference in our lives. And this statement here, our father in heaven, it is really short, but it's also powerful.

A transcendent in an all powerful God. He wants to be known by his creatures. He wants to be known by us. He wants to be known by me. He wants to be known by you. I mean, what Father doesn't want his child to come and to petition him when they have a need or when they're hurt or when they need him for whatever the case may be.

At the same time with this close relationship, we also realize that it comes with a really heavy responsibility, a really important and powerful responsibility. And so Jesus continues using kind of three different concerns. He's this three sets of concerns in kind of both halfs of the prayers.

We'll see, and you can kind of see through the repetition of the, the word your that's repeated over and over again. And here he's focusing on the disciple's allegiance to God's name, to God's kingdom and to his will. And Jesus really is, I think, the outset of the prayer of helping us see that we need to avoid trying to conform earth and, and our desires to that of heaven or excuse me, to conform heaven to our desires.

But to really by and do so by putting God's things first when we pray. And so he begins saying, hallowed be your name. That's kind of archaic term. It's not many times that we, we use that except for when we're praying. I like how the Christian Center Bible puts it. It says be honored as holy.

I. So the idea of reverence, of holiness and being honored and in the Old Testament, the expression, my holy name, it, it appears a lot of places, but it really appears a lot in Leviticus and Ezekiel. And it makes sense, especially with Ezekiel kind of being alongside Leviticus, with him being this priestly prophet.

And in these contexts, the Lord is warning so often against profaning his name or treating his name. As if it was something common. And in Israel when God's name, it's not being honored as holy, then his reputation is being hurt among the nations, among the surrounding nations, because that's Israel's mission, is to make God known to the world.

And in Israel's history, they ultimately profane God. They, they did that by practicing idolatry. And so God, as we know, exiles the people to Babylon, and it's in his promises to these captives in Babylon that he gives this promise. In Ezekiel chapter 36, verses 22 through 23, I'll just read a few selective kind of phrases here, but I think the last phrase is especially important.

He says here about his name. It is not for your sake of House of Israel that I am about to act. I'm about to bring you back from exile, but for the sake of my holy name. He goes on to say, and I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, and he says at the very end, and the nations will know that I am the Lord.

And so God's saying, by my holy name, being known by, by me vindicating my name because of your, the way you've profaned it, the way I'll show how I brought you back in the exile. I'm vindicating my holy name among the nations and they are gonna know that I am the Lord. And so when we think about praying this phrase hallowed be your name, or that his name would be honored as holy, it's the desire that God would make himself known.

To the world that all people, everywhere that we come in contact would see the unique power, the unique authority of our God. And secondly, he goes on to talk about kingdom come. And certainly there's a lot, a lot, a lot we could say about the misunderstandings that some people kind of pray this phrase with especially with, you know, pre millennialist kind of frameworks that are so prevalent in our culture today.

And I think contrary to how many understand this phrase, Jesus of course has the church in mind when he prays this prayer that thy kingdom would come, that his church would be established. But he also visions that and more. And we think about, you know, if we're the church that's being taught to pray even after the kingdom's already come, if Jesus is teaching his disciples this phrase.

It's ultimately gonna become obsolete in two to three years, or however long this is between the end of Jesus's ministry, or even by the time that Matthew is writing this phrase you know, by the time, or excuse me, by the time Matthew's writing his gospel, if this phrase has already become obsolete, then why is it that it's still preserved here?

Think it's a little bit more than just historical reporting. I think if we understand two key things, we can avoid kind of misconceptions about this phrase and what exactly we mean here. So that we can ultimately pray this phrase of clarity and truth and, and not have as many reservations about it. I think first is the word kingdom.

It really has a broader meaning than just the church. It includes the church, amen. It's the church, but also. Kingdom is I love how Nathan Ward put this in his book on prayer. He says, basically, kingdom refers to reign or rule kingly authority rather than the institution of a kingdom complete with territorial boundaries and subjects.

And so, in other words, word, kingdom, while it doesn't include the idea of the church and, and a formal kind of institution with the people within it and with boundaries and things like that, it is, it can refer to more of an abstract concept. Like God's reign, her royal power, rather than kind of a concrete concept.

And so I think if we, if we realize that and how Jesus uses this word throughout the gospels, it can be helpful for us. But also secondly, for us having, being, being on the other side of Pentecost, the church is the manifestation of God's heavenly kingdom. There's no doubt about that. The church is not an afterthought.

It's not a mistake. It's not a, a plan B for God. It was what he always intended. But the church is also the beginning. It's the beginning of God's final kingship to come. When his Philippians chapter two, verse 10 says, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth. And his first Corinthians 15 says, all things are put into subjection to him.

And so when we pray your kingdom come again with the pri the proper understanding that Christ is in fact ruling and that we are subjects of that kingdom in the church. Well, when we pray, your kingdom compass is to call for God's reign to grow in human hearts and ultimately in the world. And that's definitely something that we should keep praying.

Or again, if it, if you still have reservations, I'd find another way of saying it where you wanna make sure you're not being misunderstood. As well, anything to convey this, this concept that God's royal power and authority would extend over more human hearts and that the church, we would be agents of that we would help that come to pass.

And then lastly. He, he desires in his prayer, he says that your will be done. In Jesus's words here, they're identical to that of Gethsemane. In Matthew chapter 26, Jesus shows what praying this aspect of the prayer looks like in real life. You know, this is kind of the the teacher of the classroom with him and the disciples.

Well, Jesus is going and he's putting into practice in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he helps us see how prayer is really meant to be something that's ultimately God centered. It's not something that's me centered, even though a lot of times we're coming to prayer focus about what I need. He helps to see that prayer is not about me and getting what I want, but it's ultimately about resubmitting myself to God's divine purposes.

As Jesus says in Matthew chapter 26, in verse 39, he says, in a, in a time of great need, his greatest time of need, when he's been on the earth, he says, my father, if it'd be possible, let this cut pass for me. I don't want to go the cross. I, I don't need this. I don't want to do this. And he says, nevertheless, nevertheless.

Not as I will, but as you will. And so when we pray your will be done, it's to pray that we would submit to God's purposes above our own. And when we think about the phrase as well, that kind of ends this section, you know, on earth as it is in heaven. Hopefully you see that on the PowerPoint, what that should be read in continuity with the three things.

Not just Will, but also his kingdom. And also his name as well. Because in heaven, God's name is always kept holy. His rule is always unchallenged, and his will is always done perfectly. And what Jesus is calling us to understand here, I think in this, this first part of the prayer is that first and foremost prayer is about realigning ourself with God by pledging allegiance to his purposes.

That I'm gonna be about my father's business, as Jesus said, as Juan read to us this last Wednesday night. But I think I want you to think about your own prayer life and kind of applying all of these things that Jesus has kind of touched on already. Think about your prayer life. Are you prioritizing the needs of God in your personal prayer life?

What is the goal of your prayers when you're praying and coming before God? Is your goal ultimately to bring things on earth in line with the things in heaven as Jesus pray here. And before you ultimately jump into a list about your needs, well, do you consider things like success for evangelistic efforts where, whether that's here in Lufkin and the, the work that we do and the other congregations in the era area that are doing, do we think about the, our country and, and the effect of the churches having nationally.

Or what about the world, the, the, the different men that we support, the other people we don't even know about that are out there preaching the gospel. Are we preaching and concerned about those greater efforts, those greater works that God is trying to accomplish in our world? Are we praying to open doors?

Would, would would open the doors, would open. There we go. The doors would open for people who are seeking the gospel, that God would put people in our path or in the path of someone so that the gospel can be preached to them. We pray that God would reign over more human hearts, so especially over world leaders, that there would be peace.

There's so much war and violence in our world currently that we pray about those things. Are we concerned even about the things that we have no control over, but we know that God does and that God can make a difference in them. We need to pray, we need to be praying that, you know, the church is ultimately being the light that we were called to be.

The salt and the light, the, the light that shines. Its distinct. That's, that Has that the salt that preserves, that has a, a positive effect on the world? Are we, are we concerned about these bigger picture things rather than just me personally and in my individual issues? 'cause I think when we pray about things like this, these bigger picture things and what God is doing through his people.

I think our, our perspective begins to change when we start praying. A lot of times, if you start praying maybe like Jesus does here with the things of God, maybe the thing that I went into praying, you know, think you was the most important, the thing that I thought was right, the thing that I thought that I needed.

Really wasn't in fact the right thing. And it's ultimately, and I think these shifts when we, when we have a change of mind, when we really start becoming those instruments of God that we were meant to be. And I think when we put the god's things first in prayer, that's when we can start having this kind of change in perspective as we begin coming to God.

Well, secondly, let's talk about the things of man in verses 11 through 13 where Jesus continues in the prayer staying in verse 11. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from evil. Well, first I wanna begin just with the word our, and again, kinda seems insignificant here.

But I think contrary to most of our personal prayers, Jesus uses this, this first person, plural, pronoun, rather than the singular, my or I, throughout the prayer. And this is a small thing, but I think Jesus is also teaching us something really important. I mean, not only should my prayers prioritize God's things the god's, things above my own, but they also need to be reflecting the greater needs of the faith community and of the church alongside my own.

I think this is something that's really interesting, especially in a lot of prayers in the Old Testament. One three that are easy to remember. Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, all in chapter nine, great prayers, really long prayers. They're great for your own individual study. But what's interesting about these exilic and post exilic prayers is that we know all of these men, because of their righteous examples, they were men of hate faith.

And yet in each of these prayers, they're identifying themselves not only with the greater needs of the community of Israel, but they're also identifying themselves with the sins of the people. And I think for us well, we need to be modeling that same type of mindset that's, that's concerned not just about my needs, but about our needs.

Not just in Timberland, but again in a local sense, in a national, in an international sense. And the plural nature of our prayers is, it's of course true in our public prayers, especially when a lot of the men come up here and we deliver prayers. Of course. Everybody, as far as I can tell, pretty much praise in, in a, a plural kind of form.

But think about your personal prayers. How often are you putting the needs of other fellow Christians before your own? I mean, we have a such a long list. We have no shortage of people here in our congregation alone that need your prayers. Are we considering here in the things of men, as we're about to talk about this daily bread, this forgiveness and this deliverance, not just our own needs, but are we thinking about the needs of others as well?

Are we bringing the needs of our brothers to God on their behalf, or are we just concerned about me and my concerns? Well, let's think about these last three here. The daily bread and the forgiveness and the deliverance, and after this kind of threefold repetition of your, your, your. Now Jesus begins the second set of threes and he talks about these as we're calling the things of man.

And in verses 11 through 13, it's us, us. That's repeated three times. And this half is really concerned. First with the disciples bread their daily bread, their debts, or as Luke's account says, sins and deliverance. But the purpose is really to call God to be committed to in the life of the disciple.

And now that the disciples have put God's things first, they've gotten the right perspective in their prayer, now they can begin petitioning God. For their needs. And first, you know, we had this, give us this day our daily bread. And it seems like a really straightforward phrase, but in the Greek it's actually a really unique phrase.

It's something that doesn't appear elsewhere in Greek literature. The only two times word daily here appears is in Matthew chapter six, and then Luke chapter 11 as well. And so there's a lot of debate as far as what this statement daily kind of refers to. But some of the guesses include necessary for today, necessary for tomorrow, daily or sufficient.

And there's a lot of variety, I think, in all these different statements, but I think they all kind of are conveying something very similar. And I like what this author David Crump said about this part of the prayer he said. Disciples are invited to pray for their material needs. There's no doubt about that, right?

We're called by Jesus to ask about our material needs, but he says they should not forget the emphasis on one needs not desires. Two. Essentials, not luxury or abundance. Three daily requirements, not accumulation or excess. And four necessities for faithful citizenship in the kingdom of God, not temporal society.

And want you to think about your own prayers yourself. How often are you just concerned about the things for today alone or are they more, are they more often concerned with things about in the next few months or the next few years? They're always distant, co, consistently just distant in the future.

And of course, it doesn't mean Jesus isn't saying we can never pray for the future, right? Of course, we can pray for our future needs. I'm always praying about my future and what God has in store for me. For my family, but at the same time, I think Jesus' words here should give us some pause. How often is it rather than looking off in the distant future, are we asking just God for our simple needs today, our simple needs, like Jesus says, just bread.

Or do we only ask for things that we deem worthy or maybe big enough because we don't want to bother God? What is our motivation, even in asking prayer, if, even if we start with maybe good intentions, if I ask only about future or these major needs in my life, well then my prayers might end up becoming a hindrance and something in my life that's a hindrance in my relationship rather than the help.

I think if I come asking out of envy, if I come asking out of greed or selfishness in my heart, what I'm doing is not realigning myself with God as prayers intended to do, but I'm just further misaligning myself with him. But if I ask consistently for my daily bread, well, I'm seeking God's simple blessings that he grants me today rather than asking him for what I don't have right now.

And even in praying for our physical needs, Jesus teaches us to realign our will by modeling this heart of commitment and dependence. I love Proverbs 30 verse eight, if you'll turn over there for just a second. We're, you know, agar, this kind of unknown individual at the end of the book of Proverbs.

He kind of expresses this idea that I think is really interesting. You know, a lot of times when we go in prayer, we're asking for things that maybe we think are good for us, but they actually might be things that if we get them, they might push us farther away from God in our relationship with him.

And I love how he put this, 'cause I think his words really parallel Jesus's words nicely, where he says he's asking for two things from God. And this is the second thing he asks a little bit through verse eight. He says, give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord?

Or lest I be pour and steal and profane the name of my God. And so when we talk about giving us our daily bread, when he ask God to be committed to our needs in this way, we're asking with a heart of contentment that God would meet our material needs. Secondly, Jesus goes on and he talks about forgiving us, our debts as we have forgiven our debtors.

I think it's really interesting that this is kind of the second to last thing that Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray for. 'Cause typically ward pointed this out in his book, and I thought this was true in my own life, that you know, typically I think, you know, if I've got something going on, even if I don't, maybe com compared to times when I'm really feeling lost or deep in sin.

Well, I begin every prayer starting with forgiveness because I, I'm thinking I need to first get right with God before I come to him and ask and petition him for things. And of course, different circumstances might call for you to address things in a different order, right? This Jesus isn't saying you have to do things in this order.

It's He's teaching something. Right? But it should make us think, I think despite our impulses, Jesus doesn't teach us to always start with forgiveness. And I think at times of course we need to prioritize repentance or penance. There's, it's definitely the case, but you think about like the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15.

When he comes running to his father, he's trying to express remorse and his father's already trying to wrap him up, kill the fat and calves. Let's start a party. That's my son who was lost. He's found. I think that's maybe the attitude we might, might need to reflect a little bit more that my prayer. Of course as, as we said, needs to prioritize penitent, especially if we're, we've been lost since.

But my prayer life overall, it doesn't need to be dominated by groveling. It doesn't need to be dominated by me demeaning myself before God over and over again. Remember what Jesus started their prayer with? He calls us the, the children of God, that he is our Father in heaven. Well, if that's the case and we need to approach prayer with that level of confidence and intimacy.

No child wants, or no father wants their child to come consistently, groveling before them in fear and always just demeaning themselves before them. And cer certainly our father in heaven doesn't want that as well. But on the flip side, we also might be thinking, well, I never really want to take my sins to God in prayer.

I just can't do it. I'm overcome by shame, and I'm just trying my best to sweep my sins under the rug. But God already knows our failings. It's no secret to him. It's kinda like the big elephant in the room. You know, when there's something awkward between you and another person. Maybe you said something or did something that was really messed up, or just uncomfortable and awkward and you're just not addressing it, and there's that weird tension that you're just like, you know, you could cut it with a knife.

It's those uncomfortable situations and, and that's how it is. I think in prayer, when we have unaddressed sin, if we're not honest with God about our prayers, well aren't they gonna be more likely to be vain? They're gonna be repetitious, they're gonna be empty. We're just trying to say whatever I have to say to check the box that I've prayed to God and I've gotten through it.

But that's not what prayer life is meant to be. We want our prayers, as we said, to realign us with God, not to calcify our relationship with them. We want our prayers not to be a hindrance, but to be a help with us. And I love one John eight verse nine, when I get in that head space where I'm afraid to bring this elephant in the room to God, that is my sin.

Well, he says in verse eight, he says. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. How can you pray? How can you come to God and not address this elephant in the room, not bring your sin before him? You are deceiving yourself and you're lying to God. The truth is not in us. He says in verse nine, we get this beautiful promise that if this is, if this is you right now, if you're thinking about not bringing your sins before God in prayer, he, this is the promise we have through Christ.

He says, if we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We really can't be on the same page with God when we carry guilt and unaddressed sin in our lives, and forgiveness is crucial to our realignment with God, but it's also such a beautiful reminder.

Excuse me. It's a beautiful reminder of God's commitment to us. Thanks be to God that he not only forgave us in Christ, but he's willing to forgive us when we ask him. He wants you to bring your sins to him. He so he can cleanse you and so he can help you get back on track to fulfilling his purposes once again.

And not only that, but I love the second half of this prayer. Forgive us as we have forgiven our debtors because with forgiveness, we're given this beautiful opportunity to immediately show the transforming power of God's grace by extending it ourselves. Isn't that the nature of grace? It's supposed to elicit a response out of us.

Something that's in line with God's will to reflect him of his own character. And not only does God's forgiveness renew our allegiance to him, but it also sets off this chain reaction. Wherein forgiveness, God is opening the door, that his holy name can be known, that his rule, his kingdom may extend farther, that his will will be on done, on earth as, as it is in heaven through me and my imitation of his forgiveness with other people.

And so to forgive our debt, our debts, as we forgive our debtors, is to ask God in repentance to meet our spiritual needs. And then lastly, he prays lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Maybe your translation ends with a evil one. But this is another tricky phrase I think 'cause there's kind of some tension in what we're kind of praying here.

On the one hand, we're asking that God would not lead us into these tests of faith, and on the other hand, we're recognizing, well, these things are inevitable. They're going to come and that we're gonna need deliverance from them. I think we can definitely echo Jesus' words in Matthew chapter 18. Where he says woe to the world for temptations to sin, for it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one whom by the temptation comes.

And Jesus himself knew this. He's not asking us to go through something that he didn't himself. We know. Then Matthew chapter four Jesus knew the necessity of temptation even for him as the Messiah when it says that he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And as his disciples, and we're no better than the master.

We are only following in his footsteps. And we know that scripture tells us these two well-known passages, James chapter one. You know that God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. And yet, like Jesus, we're often led, even though God's not the one tempting us, we're led by God into these tests of faith, and it's in these trials that we're told and these temptations, then one Corinthians chapter 10 where he says, God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

You know the second half of this phrase here, here or excuse me lead us on temptation, but deliver us from evil. The second half here, depending on your translation, your phrase may kind of end it with evil or evil one. And whether this whether your translation is kind of emphasizing the, the kind of idea of personal temptation or the temperature, Satan himself, I think the point really for us is the same no matter what that Jesus teaching us in prayer in our lives.

We're up against a lot between Satan and our own desires and struggles, and we need God's guidance to overcome both of these things, both these personal struggles and these spiritual powers that are in opposition to God's purposes. And so far Jesus has really taught us to realign with ourselves realign ourselves with God, and also to remember his commitment.

And I think especially in temptation, this last item on the, the Lord's Prayer, that these times of temptation are when we encounter great evil in our lives, whether it's big grand things in the world, we see wars, we see disaster, we see whatever it might be, or even if it's something right here in front of our face, well.

It's in these moments where allegiance to God is really being challenged and we need to pray this phrase in preparation for temptations before they even come. But even more so when we find ourselves in the midst of temptation, again, that's where temp or allegiance is really being tested, and that's what we need to draw nearest to God in prayer.

It's in these moments, it's paramount. We show our, our, our dependence on God. And isn't it better to draw near to God in the midst of temptation to reach out, seek for help, and he helps you. He gives you the strength that you need rather than turning your back and refusing your help, refusing help from God, and then having to come back and say you're sorry.

Don't feel like in the midst of temptation you have to fight temptation, sin, or Satan's influence, whatever you might be up against. Don't feel like you have to fight that alone. God is reaching out to you. And if you'll just, if you'll reach back in prayer, he will answer. And so to lead us, not in a temptation, but deliver us from evil is to ask God independence for spiritual guidance.

So when we petition God for our needs one thing I think is really important is that we're expressing faith. That God is in fact concerned about our needs and that he's willing to do something about them. He doesn't just see us as tools to do his bidding that he, you know, just at times or something.

But he we're created beings who God loves and he desires. He wants to help you. Our God is concerned as Jesus is praying here. He's concerned with our our next meal as well as something as big as saving us from evil. In all aspects of life. God is wanting us to come to him. He's wanting us to bring these things of man to him and realign them with his purposes and the things of God.

And when we come, we pray for our needs with these, this heart of contentment, this heart of repentance and dependence. Well, we're not just giving God some sort of laundry list of my needs. I just have to get through, oh God, I need this. I need this. Yeah, I pray for my kids, you know? I help him get into good college.

You know, well, lemme get his promotion. You know, this laundry list of things that we may be giving God 'cause he already knows what we need. Matthew said that in his gospel. Jesus said that in the sermon on Mount twice in chapter six, verse eight and in verse 32. 'cause prayer is ultimately, it's not about informing God of our needs.

But if we remember, I think when we ask for God's need or ask our needs of God, what we're trying to call to mind is, as we're saying in the second half of this prayer, is we're reminding ourselves that God is committed to us, he's committed to our needs, and he cares and he's willing to do something about them.

And if I remember that well, how much is that gonna feed back into the first part of the prayer in my allegiance to him? If I know that this God is fiercely loyal to me, that he is determined to provide for me. Well, how much more is that gonna inspire me to want to do his will, to make his name known, to make his rule extend over other human hearts?

This morning, I hope you see the need for the Lord's Prayer. I need the Lord's Prayer. And I hope this is lesson has given you some things to think about and maybe waste to pray aspects of it yourself for the entire prayer. But I hope you've come away with a need for the Lord's Prayer. That was my objective this morning.

I need the Lord's Prayer. I need it not only to know how to pray or what to pray the content of my prayers, but I also need to be taught and reminded why I need to be praying in the first place. God is praying isn't about informing God for my needs. It isn't about giving him a laundry list. It's not about going through the motions.

It's not about hiding myself from him, and I need to conform my will to Christ. So I can be this taste of heaven, this, this on earth as it is in heaven statement. I can be this earthly manifestation, this physical representation of God's name, of God's rule and his will for the world. And likewise, in the second half of the prayer, I need to know the, in the midst of the world where I'm full of anxiety, I have fear.

I, and there's temptation, there's evil all around me. Well, I need to know that there's a God who cares for me and he's committed to me, and that he will not leave me behind. We're gonna sing None of Self, all of thee ask Jerry to lead that song. 'cause I think it really kind of gets the heart of what we're trying to talk about this morning in terms of praying the Lord's Prayer that, you know, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

'cause that's what the life of a Christian is about, bringing our, our lives into conformity with that of Christ, the and, and that of God, that we will be an exact representation and an image that in us would dwell the fullness of God as it did in Christ. And so this morning, whether that be whether you be a Christian who's come and maybe your life is outta whack, maybe you've forgotten the ways that God has committed to you in your life and, and your allegiance to him has, has become slack and you need to restore that.

Well then we can help you this morning. We can pray for you. Maybe you just need to pray privately. For yourself, or maybe this morning, you aren't a Christian, and maybe you can't genuinely pray this prayer, the Lord's Prayer, without being in the Lord, without being in Christ and coming and expressing your, your new found allegiance and faith to him by coming confessing that he's in fact, Lord, that you would turn away, that you would repent of your former life and begin conforming yourself to the image of God, and ultimately show bodily allegiance to Jesus by baptizing, by becoming baptized, and following in his footstep.

Steps by dying and being raised to new life. And so this morning, if we can help you realign yourself with God, remind you and show you the commitment and the love he has for you, then we want to help you do that as we come and stand and sing.

Hold.