How to and How Not to Pray: Are You Praying for God's Will or Your Own?

Hey everybody, you're listening to A New Beginning, which is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners.

If this program has impacted you, I'd love to hear from you. So just send an email to me at greg.harvest.org. Again, it's greg.harvest.org.

You can learn more about becoming a Harvest Partner by going to harvest.org. When we pray the Lord's Prayer, it's a prayer of surrender. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie explains what it means. Jesus, I give you the master key to every door in my life. I want you to rule over my social media. I want you to rule over my friendships. I want you to rule over my marriage. I want you to rule over my career. I want you to rule over my thought life.

I want you to rule over everything. Your kingdom come, your will be done. Grace, how sweet the sound. Again, you hear all the angels are singing.

This is the day, the day where life begins. Some think prayer is God getting us carte blanche for our wants and desires, like the Father is saying, go for it, my child. In reality, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that the Lord's Prayer, our model for effective prayer, invites the Father to take over our wants and desires and to be the Lord of our lives.

But it turns out that's the pathway of the richest fulfillment and contentment. We'll discover the joy of bringing our will in line with God's will. Let's grab our Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 6. We're in a new series on the Lord's Prayer and now we're in part two. The title of my message is how to and how not to pray. I almost called my message on not to pray but I thought no one would ever listen to a message like that. Let's talk about how to pray but before then let's talk about how not to pray. That's what Jesus addresses in the verses that precede what we call the Lord's Prayer. Look at Matthew 6 starting in verse 5 and our Lord says this. 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 as surely I say to you they have their reward. But when you pray go into your room and when you have shut your door pray to your Father who's in the secret place and your Father who sees you in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray don't use vain repetitions as the heathen do or the non-believers for they think they'll be hurt for their many words therefore don't be like them for your Father knows the things you have needed before you ask Him. We will stop there. Notice Jesus did not say if you pray or if you have time in your busy schedule and pray.

No. He says when you pray. He is assuming we understand the importance of prayer.

But here is an insight that might surprise us. That sin knows no boundaries. You know we think oh I get it that I can sin when I go to this place or hang out with these people. But who would ever think that one could sin when they are coming into God's presence to pray.

But Jesus is showing you can still be guilty of hypocrisy and self-centeredness. See the primary problem of the Pharisees with the religious elite the leaders of the day is for them prayer was theater. It was a performance. You know they would stand on a street corner.

Sometimes someone would sound a trumpet. And they would pray their great beautiful eloquent prayers. And Jesus said, you know what God doesn't care about stuff like that. You are putting on a show. You are praying to be seen by men.

You are so worried about impressing people. God is not impressed. See here was a problem with the Pharisees.

They had ritualized, memorized prayers that they would pray over and over. It is possible to pray with no thought of God whatsoever. God doesn't hear prayers like that.

But here is something you need to understand. Why do we pray? Well Jesus says in verse 8, your father knows what you need before you ask him.

Oh. Well if that is the case then why pray? If I can't change mine why pray? I have heard people say, you know I have been wrestling with God in prayer.

Man I hope you lost. I would hate to see what would happen if God did what you want Him to do. So here is the thing we need to know about prayer. God knows what you need before you pray. So the objective of prayer is not to change God.

It is to change you. You are not telling God something He is not aware of. Prayer is not to inform God. Rather it is to invite God. I am inviting Him into my life.

I am inviting Him into my challenges. I am inviting Him into the things that I am dealing with. Think of prayer as a conversation between a father and a child. The value of prayer is it keeps me in touch with God. Prayer is getting closer to God.

That is why you should pray. So coming back to the Lord's prayer He says in verse 9, our Father who art 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. Now we know that this prayer can be divided into two sections.

I pointed out the first three statements. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. Deal with the glory of God. The final statements deal with the need of man.

That is what we are focusing on now. Our needs. We have already discovered that we should pray our Father who art in heaven. Jesus did not teach us to pray our deity who art in heaven or our God who art in heaven or our Creator who art in heaven. Though He has all those things He is your Father. It speaks of intimacy.

It speaks of closeness. Now don't base your view of God on your earthly Father. You may have had an awesome dad or still have one or you may have had the worst dad ever. But your heavenly Father is different in every way. As Jesus pointed out in the story of the prodigal son He is a Father who misses us when we are gone. A Father who longs for communication with us. A Father who will throw His arms around us and kiss us even when we have gone astray. Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be Your name. What does that even mean? It means honored be Your name.

Set apart is Your name. It is acknowledging the greatness of God. To pray hallowed be Your name is to say Lord I want to send You a part of my life in character.

I want to live a life that honors You. So periodically I need to ask myself as I look at my interests, my ambitions, my pursuits is this for the glory of God. Can I write hallowed be Your name over this?

Over your career? Whatever it is you do. Can you write hallowed be His name over it? Or maybe the friends you hang out with. Can you write hallowed be His name over your close circle of friends? How about the TV programs you watch? Or the movies you see?

Or the music you listen to? Can you write hallowed be His name over it? Listen. If you can't ask the Lord to bless it then don't do it. You should be able to ask the blessing of God on what you are about to do. So as you are getting up today to go to church could you ask the Lord to bless you as you went to church? Sure.

Lord bless us as we go to church. And now afterwards if you go out and eat can you ask the Lord to bless the food that you are about to have? Sure. You can do that too. Can you ask the Lord to bless you as you go to work? Absolutely.

Ok. How about this? Lord bless me as I go out tonight and party and get drunk and have sex with my girlfriend. Can you ask God to bless you? Craig you shouldn't even say that. No. I am asking you a question. Can you ask God to bless you? Of course not.

I wouldn't even say it. Then why are you doing it? Then why are you doing it?

Why are you doing it? Lord bless me now as I rip this guy off and lie to him and sell him this completely worthless object. Just bless Lord.

No no you can't. You would never pray something like that. If you can't ask God to bless it don't do it.

If you can't say how it would be your name over it then don't engage in it. So He says we should pray your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This reminds us that the primary objective of prayer is to first line up my will with the will of God. True praying is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is taking hold of His willingness.

Listen. Prayer is not about getting my will in heaven. It is about getting God's will on earth. And if you want to see your prayers answered in the affirmative that is the secret.

That is the key. Find out where the will of God is and start praying that way. You say how do you know the will of God. It is right here in this book. It is right here in the Scripture. The more you read it the more you understand it the more you will discover what God's will is for you. Listen to this amazing promise of Jesus in John 15. He says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.

A better translation would put it this way. Jesus speaking if you maintain a living communion with me and my words are at home with you you can ask at once for yourself whatever your heart desires and it's yours. Oh whatever my heart desires.

Sounds like one of those genie jokes right. Oh master I'll give you whatever you want. Yeah that's what I want God to do. Well I want this and I want that. Hold on now.

Go back to the conditions. Jesus says if you maintain a living communion with me and my word is at home in you see that's going to change the way that you pray. So God wants us to discover His will. It's sort of like if I'm in a boat and I want to get to the dock and I throw my little boat hook toward the dock am I pulling the dock toward me or am I pulling myself toward the dock. Well I am pulling myself toward the dock. In the same way in prayer am I pulling God my way. Here God do what I want You to do. No I am pulling myself God's way so we should pray thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Billy said to me I'm just a country preacher.

He was just a country preacher but God elevated him and he had packed events thousands of young people and when he spoke those kids listened. You could have heard a pin drop. Are you forgiven? Are you sure of it? Are you certain that God has forgiven you? Well that's why Christ died on the cross and that's why He rose again so that you might be forgiven. You say do you believe in instant salvation? I certainly do. Now is your moment.

Write this instant. Who could have ever thought that that lanky farm boy would go on to be the greatest evangelist in history? So I write about that and a lot more in this new book I've written called Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Get to know the country preacher who some millions come to Christ. Let Pastor Greg introduce you to Billy Graham the Man I Knew. A brand new biography available for your gift of any size at harvest.org. Well today Pastor Greg is presenting a practical series examining the principles of the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6.

Let's continue now. What does it mean when we pray your kingdom come? Well it's a multi-level request with different shades of meaning. First and foremost when I pray for the kingdom of God I'm simply praying I want the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in my life. What is the kingdom of God? It's a relationship with God. When Jesus walked this earth on one occasion He said the kingdom of God is in the midst of you and He was speaking of Himself. He was there. Now this is also translated the kingdom of God is within you and some have falsely understood it to say we all of God's kingdom living in us and we have the Christ consciousness inside and the kingdom of God is with you.

Now let's go get loaded. No that's not what it means. He was saying I'm here and wherever I am that's where the kingdom is. So really here's an interesting thing when I pray thy kingdom come thy will be done I'm really praying for the immediate return of Jesus Christ because the word that Jesus uses here for kingdom does not primarily refer to a geographical territory but rather to sovereignty and dominion. Therefore when I pray your kingdom come I'm praying for God's rule on earth and that day is coming.

Revelation 11 15 says the seven angels sounded this trumpet there were loud voices in heaven which said the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of the Messiah and He will reign forever and ever. That day is going to come. Well God's going to rule everything but until that day we're saying Lord come soon. Come quickly.

The word that is used there for come speaks of a sudden instantaneous coming. Lord I'm not just praying you come back. I'm praying you come back soon. Is that your prayer? How many of you want Jesus to come back soon? Raise up your hand.

Yeah I do too. By the way if you didn't raise your hand maybe that's an indication of where you're at spiritually because I think when you're truly walking with the Lord you'll long for His return. But if you're not as strong in your faith as you ought to be you may be a bit concerned about this. That's why 2 Peter 3 14 says dear friends while you're waiting for these things to happen make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight. So we're praying for the Lord to return.

Number two this is a personal request. Thy kingdom come. I'm praying for the kingdom of God and the rule of Christ in my own life. In effect I'm saying Jesus I give you the master key to every door in my life. Or maybe a more current illustration would be I'm giving you my password. Oh I hate passwords. There's so many we have to remember. And you know all the time I'm clicking forget your password right under the word moron.

Yeah that's me. Because you know you have to have you know you have to have so many numbers in them and an uppercase and lowercase and and so I can remember what that password is. And but here's something you know my wife has my password to everything if she can remember it. But she can access my email.

She can look at anything that I write. For that matter my grandchildren have my password. Because they'll say Papa can we download a game on iTunes. And I'll say okay so I have all these games on my phone. My wife wisely took all the games off of her phone.

So when they want to play with their own it's my phone. So now I'll get updates in the middle of the night. Pet hotel has a new update.

Pet hotel. You woke me up at two in the morning to tell me this. But here's my point. We're saying Lord you can have my password. Now by the way God already knows your password. Even if you have a secure server somewhere you think you know God can get through any firewall anywhere. He doesn't even have to hack it.

He just looks at it. But the point is you give it to him. Lord I want you to rule over this. I want you to rule over my social media. I want you to rule over my friendships. I want you to rule over my marriage. I want you to rule over my career. I want you to rule over my thought life. I want you to rule over everything. Your kingdom come.

Your will be done. Listen you can't pray thy kingdom come until you first pray my kingdom go. So Lord I pray for your kingdom to come.

Also this is a request for the salvation of those that don't know the Lord. You know as this kingdom is ruling and reigning in our lives we can play a part in bringing it to others as well. God's kingdom is brought to this earth every time a new person is introduced to Jesus. Because the kingdom of God just started in their life as well. So really when I pray thy kingdom come it is an evangelistic prayer.

I am praying for the rule and reign of Christ and the life of others. God wants everyone to believe in Jesus. The Bible says God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. You say well Greg doesn't that mean that in the end that in the end everyone will believe and everyone will go to heaven. Sadly no.

Sadly no. Because Jesus said broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there are that go that way but narrow is the way that leads to life and few there are that find it. So when I am praying thy kingdom come I am praying for my nonbelieving friend or relative and I am saying Lord open their heart. Open their spiritual eyes and show them their need for Jesus. Listen they can escape your presence but they can never escape your prayers. And by the way there comes a point when you need to stop preaching and start praying.

We are told in Scripture to pray for nonbelievers. Remember it says over in Isaiah 53 12 that Jesus interceded for the transgressors. He interceded for them.

When did he do that? Remember his first words from the cross. He said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

And that thief crucified next to him believed. So we should pray for folks to come to the Lord. Pastor Greg Laurie pointing out how our prayers are a powerful tool in our efforts to reach friends and loved ones for the Lord. Good insight today here on A New Beginning and Pastor Greg will have an additional illustration from today's study in just a moment so stay with us. Now today's extended length message is being presented over three days here on A New Beginning. If you missed any of today's study you can go online and look for the title How To and How Not To Pray.

You can stream the presentation while you're online or download an mp3 for later. Again go to harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg we're talking about your new book Billy Graham The Man I Knew. Now Billy died just shy of his 100th birthday and I was marveling at how many decades his ministry spanned.

It started around World War II and grew up through the time of the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the turbulent 60s, the 70s with the Jesus movement really all the way up past the dawn of the new millennium. And I know you have some surprises you're revealing to us drawn from your new book including the fact that he was really good at seeing where cultural trends were headed. He really did you know there's an amazing video out there you can google it where Billy spoke in Silicon Valley to many of the top technology people and he took that opportunity to speak to them and because he was so well respected they all gathered to hear what he had to say and as always he shared the gospel with them. But Billy was always an early adopter of new technologies. I've mentioned the fact that he was on television and radio and making films that had the gospel in them long before anybody else was doing it and Billy also understood that the internet was a powerful tool and he used that as well.

Way back in 1971 Billy made this statement and I quote there will be worldwide lawlessness there'll be an overemphasis on sex and there'll be an acceleration of technology end quote. That sounds like a description of what's happening right now and he understood these things were coming and he always looked for opportunities to use these platforms to reach more people with the gospel. So this is just one of the many things I bring out in my new book called Billy Graham the Man I Knew. The reason I wrote this book was to introduce Billy to a younger generation.

You know a generation of people that have heard his name but they have no real point of reference. He doesn't seem like a real flesh and blood person but I think after reading this book you'll feel like you met Billy Graham and even spent some time with him and I think you'll appreciate and understand why God used him in such a singular way. So I'll send you a copy of this book Billy Graham the Man I Knew for your gift of any size to our ministry. Whatever you send it will be used to reach more people with the teaching of God's word and the proclamation of the gospel. You know that here at A New Beginning we're one of the few ministries that actually throw the net as I like to say which means we invite people to come to Christ and many do thanks to your prayers and thanks to your financial support. So whatever you can do to help us it's appreciated and we'll send you your copy of Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Yeah it's a unique look an evangelist's look at the life of history's greatest evangelist.

It's a celebration of a remarkable life. Again the title is Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Can we send a copy your way? As Pastor Greg said we're making it available to thank you for your donation of any size and please know there are no churches or large organizations covering all the expenses. No it's only through the investments of listeners that these insights can come your way each day. So thanks for being a partner with us and with your donation today be sure to ask for Billy Graham the Man I Knew and we won't be mentioning this much longer so contact us soon.

You can write a new beginning box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300 call anytime that's a 24-hour phone number 1-800-821-3300 or just go online to harvest.org. Hey everybody Greg Laurie here encouraging you to join us this weekend for what we call Harvest at Home. It's worship it's a message from the Word of God you can watch it with your family in your front room or you can watch it on the go on your tablet on your phone or your computer take it with you take the Word of God with you and join us for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. Well next time Pastor Greg offers even more practical insight on effective prayer. He'll point out that God wants us to pray to him regularly. We'll see evidence of that fact in the Lord's Prayer itself. Find out more next time. But before we go Pastor Greg has a final comment about personal evangelism and how at times prayer may be a better option than preaching.

You know when you've shared the gospel with someone over and over and over there can come a point where your sermonizing can start driving them away. I was in a restaurant a while back and I wanted to order a hamburger but I got some lame sandwich instead. And I went up to get a napkin and I noticed some guy ordered the burger and it looked amazing. I said, sir tell me is that burger good? He said this burger is fantastic. I said I'm going to order that burger next time I come. His wife's just staring at me really strangely.

And then she says excuse me? Yes. Are you Greg Laurie the pastor? Yeah I am. Oh I'm a Christian.

I said well that's fantastic. She says but my husband he's not a Christian. And I've been talking to him about Jesus for years. He's just standing there with his hamburger. During the headlamps I thought poor guy. No wonder he's not a Christian.

She said say something to my husband. I looked at this poor guy and I said enjoy your burger. Greg you didn't preach a sermon? You didn't have the harvest to save pulpit?

No. You know that poor guy's heard enough sermons. There comes a point where maybe we need to just shut up and stop preaching and start praying for the person. That God will help them to see it. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The preceding podcast was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Learn how to become a Harvest Partner, sign up for daily devotions, and find resources to help you grow in your faith at harvest.org.