Worshiping our Awesome God

The Lord’s Prayer, You Can Pray! Part 1

Matthew 6:9: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name…

Have you heard it said that everyone has skeletons in their closet? Well, for the earnest, true, believer in Jesus Christ, there should not be skeletons in our closet, because we are seeking God in our closet!  As Christians, we ought not be scheming for ways to sin, but we should be craving to get alone so we could enjoy sweet fellowship with our God in heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives us a pattern for private prayer. The believer in Jesus Christ does not look for opportunity to be alone so that he can get away with some secret sin, rather, he looks for opportunity to be alone so he can seek God. Do you look for times to get alone with God and pray? You should. When you pray, what do you say? Many Christians have told me through the years, I don’t know what to say when I pray! We must learn to pray. People have a desire to learn all kinds of things. Computers, accounting, medicine, money, yet the most important thing a Christian can learn to do is PRAY. Teach us to Pray, and you can learn! I have entitled this series, YOU CAN LEARN TO PRAY!

How does Jesus warn us not to pattern in our prayers?

1. Do not pray like the Religious hypocrites, v.5,6:

They do not love to pray, they love to be seen of men. That was their motive for prayer.

2. Do not pray like the Lost heathen, v.7

We are not to imitate the manner of their prayer. We are told to not be like the heathen when we pray. It is amazing that God’s people often emulate and seek to duplicate the world. What is a key trait of heathen prayers? A mark of pagan prayer is VAIN REPITION. Do you know what vain repition is? It refers to meaningless chattering and mechanical babbling. It could be chanting, it could be ecstatic unintelligible speech but it is pagan prayer. I have just described to you what many are doing in the name of Jesus Christ today! It is often called TONGUES. One of the main problems with the modern charismatic movement, in that they are teaching people to pray with VAIN REPITION in their private prayer lives. I have heard them teach, just say two syllables, HO-DO, then add to those syllables; WE-KO. HO-DO-WE-KO. Repeat them over and over again. It is often called a private prayer language. Jesus protects his true disciples from learning the way of the heathen by giving us a model of prayer for our private prayer lives. We are not supposed to pur out minds into neutral in our conversation with God. We are to pray from our spirit with our understanding specific requests to God!

The Lord’s prayer is not primarily a prayer that is to be recited in public church services. That does not hurt, and at times it is helpful. On the other hand, this is a model prayer for our private prayer lives. Jesus does not teach, YOU MUST SAY THIS PRAYER IN EVERY PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE CHURCH!

Why should you and I pray? Jesus himself tells us something very interesting before he gives this model prayer: “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” If that is true, why should we pray? Prayer demonstrates a proper attitude toward God. Prayer strengthens our faith in the living God. Prayer helps us to see the shallowness of our spiritual condition. We need to pray because prayer is our DECLARATION of DEPENDENCE. It is an act of worship and surrender. We don’t pray because God doesn’t know our needs, and we do not pray because God doesn’t know what we are going to say. We pray so that we might have a proper attitude toward God and to show surrender, dependence, and worship toward Him.

This first phrase shows us the right approach to our awesome God.

The statement that summarizes this sermon is this: To worship God right, we must have a proper concept or view of God. To approach God we must know what God is like. All of us have a faulty concept of who God is because of our sinful nature and our sinful choices. Sin has corrupted our concept of God.

1. He is Personal: “Our Father”

Throughout the Hebrew Scripture, God is referred to as “FATHER” only a few times (Psalm 103:13; Mal.1:6) and He is NEVER ADDRESSED as FATHER in prayer. So for Jesus to begin a model for prayer as “OUR FATHER” is a radical, myth shattering truth. In this chapter alone, Jesus calls God Father twelve times, and Jesus during His life calls God Father seventy times. The word FATHER emphasizes to us that God is a PERSON, not just a power. You can get to know a person and have a relationship with them. That God is our Father also teaches us that God is an AUTHORITY. To approach God we must know what God is like. Many people have a faulty concept of who God is. As a matter of fact, because of our sinful nature and our sinful choices, all of us has a somewhat corrupted, distorted image of God. Now that we call God our Father does not mean that he is like our earthly father. Many people make a huge mistake in approaching God: they project the character of their earthly father upon the character of God. They gain their view of GOD according to how their earthly father treated them. To many people, the word FATHER conjures up a very negative image. It may bring back childhood memories, to others it can arouse resentment, anger, violence, frustration, and guilt. Whatever your earthly father is like, do not project his image upon the Father God. Your earthly father may have been abusive, authoritarian, dishonest, or deceitful. Others of you may have had a good father, but all of us had sinful, imperfect parents nevertheless.

We must learn who God is from Scripture and Scripture alone. Who is “Our Father?” If we are going to pray properly, we must know who we are praying to. We must have a proper concept of God. What is God like?

As our Father, He is:

A. The Mighty Creator:

He is the Father of heaven and earth. He is the One who has made the worlds with the word of His power. Only God can create. Creation shows His all mighty power. Every human being is a child of God in the sense that all have been created by Him, but not all have a personal relationship with God through repentance and faith. All are God’s children by creation, but not all are His by redemption. James 1:17 tells us He is the Father of lights, or the Creator of all the heavenly bodies! What majestic power our Father has!

Eph. 3:14,15 I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named…

Yes, He is the God and Father of all creation.

B. He is Always Faithful:

God is absolutely reliable and consistent, trustworthy, and faithful. Our earthly fathers were inconsistent. Inconsistent fathers produce insecure children, but our God who is consistent and faithful can produce secure children. He is faithful. He is our rock, He is unchanging. He is immutable. He never breaks His promises. Our Father!

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

C. He is Eternally Loving:

He is caring and compassionate. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). He is compassionate in that He knows all our needs and meets our needs. Jesus says, “your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” (Matt.6:32) Is it not amazing that God knows us from all eternity and He loves us from everlasting? Do you know how to love God? Realize that God loves you. We love Him for only one reason: we realize He first loved us. God is not a temperamental tyrant!

D. He is Ever Present:

Many times in this chapter Jesus tells us that our Father sees us in secret. (v.4,6,18) How much of God is present with you in your closet? All of Him! The totality of His being is everywhere present at the same time. That means when you go into a closet and you are all alone, God alone can see you. He is close to us. Do you realize that God is never too busy for you? He does not get so involved in solving all the world problems that He has to put you on hold! His line is never busy.

E. He is ALL Powerful:

Nothing is too impossible for our Father in heaven. He is able. Little children must think their fathers know it all, can fix it all, and afford everything. I am convinced that when little children go into Toys R Us up until they are 15 years old, they think their parents can buy anything they want. All they have to do is give them that plastic card and they can get anything they want! As you grow up, you realize they have many imperfections, limitations, and inabilities. But our Heavenly Father can do it all. Nothing is too hard for God.

2. He is Sovereign

 …which art in heaven.

What is the significance of the word heaven? In Isaiah 66:1 heaven is called the throne of God. Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool…

God is in heaven. That does not mean that He is only in heaven. No. God is all-present. Solomon said in a prayer that the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain God. So when we realize that our Father is in heaven is a recognition that He is SUPREME and SOVEREIGN over all the circumstances of earth. Heaven is over and above the earth. If God rules heaven, He rules over earth. That is, He is sovereign.

God is subject to none, influenced by none, and He does AS He pleases, only as He pleases, and Always as He pleases. What is God sovereign over? God is Lord of all. He is sovereign over NATURE, over NATIONS, over ALL MEN and over SALVATION. He is sovereign over every circumstance and every creature.

That God’s throne is in heaven speaks of perfect justice, perfect righteousness, and perfect rule. That God is in heaven speaks of His eternal character. Heaven is a place of no death or any defect.

The word heaven also relates to where our affections lie. The Christian is not to be worldly minded, that is attached to the present arrangement of things that focuses on the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. Only as we set our affection on things above can the affections and attachments for the things of this world be broken. We long for heaven! We long for our Father in heaven!

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

3. He is HOLY

“hallowed be thy name…”

There is none other than God who is our Holy Father. No man can be called such, for God alone is holy. This is an amazing statement. God has hundreds and hundreds of names in the Bible, but the name that regulates them all is HALLOWED be thy name. The foundational attribute of all His names is HOLY!

He is Elohim,, The God of power, Holy is His name! He is El Elyon, the Most High God, Holy is His name! He is El Olam, the Strong One who lives forever, Holy is His name! He is El Shaddai, the Strong One who is all sufficient, Holy is His name! He is Jehovah, the eternal, self existent One, Holy is His name!

Many people know God is loving but not too many live realize that God is holy. The central attribute of God is His holiness. Holiness basically means an apartness or separateness from anything that is unclean. The holiness of God is the foundation of all His other attributes. The other attributes of God rise out of His holiness. God’s mercy, love, and grace rise out of His holiness. Holiness is the essential nature of God. His holiness regulates His other moral attributes. For example, God is Love. Does that mean therefore that all men will be saved? No. God’s love and mercy are regulated by His holiness. One must be saved, and therefore be SET APART in order to see the Kingdom of God.

Because His name is holy, we must reverence His name, and not use it flippantly, or speak irreverently with any foul speech. We are to LOVE His name, LEARN His Name, and LIVE His Name.

In our approach to God we must realize that He is HOLY. This causes us to realize our moral obligation to be holy as He is holy.

In order to properly pray, we must have a proper concept of God. Sin has marred our ability to properly comprehend God, therefore we need to look into Scripture to see who God is. We must approach God on His terms. He is personal, He is Sovereign, and He is holy. That is the start of prayer. We must recognize God for who He is. This can also be described as worship.

Do you have a personal relationship with God? Prayer begins when we know God is our Father.

Do you have a proper concept of God? God is a spirit, and He is Personal, He is Sovereign, He is holy.

Do you have a time each day where you get alone with God into your closet. What is in your closet? What are you like when you are all alone? Are you scheming to sin or seeking the Lord? Commit yourself today to pray every day with words of worship and praise to God.