Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. The only thing recorded in the Gospels that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them. was prayer. And we're going to think this morning very simply of what the Lord says. The Lord is going to teach us how we should pray.
Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Prayer is a tremendous privilege that followers of Jesus Christ enjoy as children of God.
So why does it sometimes seem like a chore? Today we're looking at how we pray and why we pray. as we live in daily dependence on God. We're going to find that prayer is essential to growing in our faith as we continue in our study on next steps in following Jesus.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe. How often do you pray? Do you only pray in emergencies or do you regularly spend time praying to the Lord? And when you pray, Do you follow a set prayer or are you able sometimes to pray from your heart to your Heavenly Father? Prayer includes praising God.
Confessing our sin, giving thanks to the Lord for our blessings, as well as asking God for help. and for strength. Last time we began to consider what the Lord Jesus taught us about prayer from Matthew 6. Life is often hard, but in prayer we have the opportunity to pray to Almighty God. and he is never too busy to hear his children.
Let's continue to think of this incredible privilege of prayer. If you have your Bible, open it to that passage in Matthew chapter 6. Jesus gives us a pattern for prayer. Verse 9: Pray then like this. Notice the first thing that Jesus says: pray then, like this: our Father in Have a Isn't that incredible?
That God is my heavenly Father, our Father. As the old King James says, who art in Heaven. The concept of praying to God as Father implies an intimate and loving relationship. Yes, He is the great God. But now, with this concept that this great eternal God, who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth, that this God is now my Father, implies, doesn't it, this very loving and intimate relationship, just as.
A child comes to a father. who loves her and is welcomed with open hands.
So we come in prayer to our loving Father. This is a loving relationship, and we come with boldness. You see boldness, really? Isn't that a little presumptuous? That you'd come to your heavenly father with boldness?
But that's it. This boldness flows from the relationship we have with God as our Father. When I need help, I go to my Heavenly Father. I pray, my Father who is in heaven. It is with confidence and I receive mercy.
I find grace in my time of need. Why then, brother, do you not pray more? Why? Are we so casual? and lacks the desical in our prayer life.
It's a privilege, it's a loving relationship, it's One that we come to God with boldness, and also there is security.
Some of you ho were raised in very insecure Families Well, your father was very distant from you. For some of you you never even knew your father. Perhaps your father was hardly ever there for you.
Some of you come from even worse situations where you're Father was cruel, who was abusive. Who was a bad Father. But our Heavenly Father is different. He is a perfect father. My earthly father was a good father, he was a godly man, but he wasn't able to give me everything I asked him.
I sometimes disagreed with his. Judgment. He sometimes misunderstood me.
Sometimes Being part of a large family, when I wanted to speak to him, he wasn't available. That was all true. what a difference our Heavenly Father does. Did you notice? Verse eight.
Jesus says Your father That's your Heavenly Father. knows what you need. before you ask him. I like that. You know that sometimes with your children, or sometimes with your grandchildren.
Before they come and ask you, you already know what they need, you know their needs better than they do. My Heavenly Father, always. knows what I need. before I ask him. And he loves When we ask him for good things.
Look at chapter 7, verse 7, as Jesus continues on what we call the Sermon on the Mount. He says in verse 7 of chapter 7, ask. And it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you.
A S K. Ask, seek, knock. Why don't you ask God for that good thing? Why don't you seek that? Why don't you knock?
For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks finds. The one who knocks, it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone. Or if he asks for a fish, we'll give him a serpent.
If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, How much more? Will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? That's something to think about, isn't it? Could it be? That you've not received a blessing from God.
Because you've never asked it. Here you are. And you're in a dilemma, you want God's guidance. But you've never asked God for guidance. Here you are in a situation and you feel in incapable, you feel so weak, and you've never asked God for strength.
Our Heavenly Father invites us To ask. He invites us to seek. He invites us to knock. The point is, keep praying to your Heavenly Father. That's what a little child does.
Sometimes the child keeps asking, ask for a request and it drives us crazy, doesn't it? But little children are persistent. And even when you say to them, I hear what you're saying, a short time later they'll be asking for the same thing. Children never stop asking. And we Should never ever be afraid to ask our Heavenly Father for that which is.
Good.
Now, this intimate, loving, secure relationship with our Heavenly Father should never lead. to over familiarity. Look at verse nine again. Pray then like this, Our Father in heaven, Hollywood be your name. It's true.
I have a loving relationship with my father. But I am never to take God's name in vain. That was the One of the Ten Commandments, wasn't it? To be hallowed is to be holy. It is to be reverent.
God alone is to receive the glory. God's name is unique. God's name is is the sum of all that he is. When you hear the name John Monroe, you just don't think of my physical appearance, you think of everything about me. And so when Jesus is saying, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
He's referring To the essence of who God is. He is holy. And it's true we have a loving relationship with him. It's true we come with boldness, but that should never ever lead to over-familiarity. When my Grandmother.
was was very old. She was about 94. She finally had to go into a nursing home. She had dementia. She needed some nursing care.
And my mother told me the story that one day she went to See my grandfa grandmother in this home. And the owner of the home Said to my mother, Well, I'll We'll have a cup of tea together. And a biscuit, a little cookie. And so the three of them sat down. My grandmother, my mother.
And the the woman who was in charge of the home. And so here's my grandmother. with pretty severe dementia. And She is given this cup of tea. and a little cookie.
And my grandmother, who had walked with Christ virtually all of her life. It was always our practice to pray and give thanks, even for a cup of tea. And a little biscuit. And so she bowed her head. And as she did that, the owner of the home said to my grandmother, calling her by name, She said, well, Put in a word for the big guy upstairs.
And my mother thought, That is not the thing to say to My grandmother. You don't call God the big guy upstairs. And my grandmother Even with her dementia, she put down the tea and she put down the cookie and she looked at the woman. and said, Don't you ever Refer to Almighty God. Who in his great love sent his son?
Into this world to die for our sins. Don't you ever call him the big guy upstairs. My mother said the woman was not pleased at all. And my mother, I think, was a little embarrassed when she told myself and my brothers: we thought, yeah, good for grandma, you know. But it's true, isn't it?
This is not the big guy upstairs. I want my grandchildren to come to me at any time. But there is the respect, isn't there? I didn't call my father the old man. I didn't speak with him in a disparaging way.
No. He And certainly when we think of God, We think of God who is holy. We think of him as the almighty, all-powerful God, and we're overcome with this wonder that in the grace of God, You and I can approach God and pray to Him at any time.
Now, notice. And some of you are going to disagree with me on this, but here's the pattern of prayer. Notice that Jesus says when you pray, you pray to our Father in heaven rather than to Jesus. I'm not saying it's wrong to pray directly to Jesus, but the pattern here and the apostolic pattern in the New Testament is that, with a few exceptions, prayer is to God the Father. And we approach God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And such a prayer, when we pray to Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, promotes the fear of the Lord, which Solomon says is the beginning of wisdom. And so we pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Now, notice verse 10. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray for God's will to be done. We pray for God's kingdom to be done. We pray for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What are we doing? We're praying for the glory of God. We're praying for the kingdom of God. We're praying for God's will to be done. This is the opposite from the prosperity preacher presenting God as a genie in a bottle who's there to do our will.
who will grant our request. God is not there to extend my personal kingdom. No, God directs the affairs of the nations as well as our personal affairs. He is.
Sovereign, not us. Prayer is not g trying to get God to join your team. Prayer is not trying just to get God to bless your plans that you have made. It's not dreaming your dreams and then asking God to help you to fulfill your dreams. It's not God delivering what you want.
It is rather, your kingdom come, your will be done. done when we're in Israel We're at the Garden of Gethsemane. And what did we think? With a time of meditation there. And we thought of the words of Jesus.
prior to the cross. Not My will. But yours be done. It is true. I'm to ask God for my requests.
It is true that God wants me to pour my heart out. It is true I am to ask. And I'm to seek, and I'm to knock, and I'm to be persistent. All of that is true.
However, it must always be subject to the will of God. As Jesus prayed, not my will, but yours be done. This is a prayer that honors God. Let me ask you, you don't want anything, do you? That is not God's will?
The children of Israel sometimes asked, and in a sense, God gave it to them, but sent them leanness of their soul. I don't want God to give me anything that is not God's will for me. You want, don't you? To live a life to the glory of God, for God's will to be done through your life. And if you are sincerely seeking to do God's will, He is well able to give you the guidance you need.
Very quickly. There are three specific requests here. First of all, verse eleven. A prayer for pervasion. for provision.
Give us this day Our daily bread. That's quite a prayer, isn't it? Here's a request. Lord, today. Give me my daily Bread.
As a parent, you love it when you're children. Ask you for good things. But notice. This request is for your Daily. Thread.
I find that very convicting because I want bread. Not just today, I want my larder full of bread. Not just for today, but for the next year. But the point is Each day God will take care. of all of my needs.
The wisdom I need today, God will give me. The peace I need for today, God will give me. I may fret over what's going to happen tomorrow, or next month, or next year. I may be concerned about all of these things, but as Jesus teaches in verses 25 through 34, I'm not to worry. Verse 25: Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on.
Don't worry about these things, just pray. Give me this day. My daily Isn't this the way that God wants us to live? A life daily depending on him. Not worrying, not fretting.
One of the reasons we get so anxious about the future is that we've not learned to pray this prayer. I'm healthy today. Tomorrow I could be diagnosed. with a serious problem. Today I'm employed, tomorrow I could be fired.
Today I'm on the mountaintop, tomorrow I could be in the valley. But in each case, I'm going to ask God, give me this day my daily bread. When we were over in Jordan. We saw the wilderness. As the children of Israel made their way up, On the east side of the Jordan.
The east side of the Dead Sea, trying to get up. before they crossed over into the Promised Land and it's a desolate place. And we know from scripture that the Lord gave them Bread, manna. each day. Exodus 16 says it was a day's portion every day.
On the sixth day, They got provision for two days. If they were greedy, as some of them were, and collected two days' manna. When they went to eat the second day, they found that it had turned to worms and got moldy. No, the point was God wanted them each day. to depend on him.
And God has his ways of doing that.
Sometimes our life, we think, oh, it's so well ordered. Everything's just fine. We've got everything set out, and then God intervenes. Because God wants us. to live one day at a time.
Give me this day My daily bread. That increases my faith. That makes me dependent on my Heavenly Father. Little children never worry about what's coming for breakfast. Little children never worry what college they're going to go to or who they're going to marry.
No, pour out your requests to to the Lord each Day, give us this day. Our daily bread. A prayer for provision, and then a prayer for forgiveness, verse twelve. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. This is not forgiveness by works, but rather forgiving others.
It's a demonstration that we are forgiven. If I understand God's forgiveness of me, I'm going to be quick to forgive others. Every day we sin, every day we need cleansing. Every day we come and ask God to cleanse us, knowing that the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient and cleanses us from all sin and all unrighteousness. And as we receive this forgiveness, we then forgive others.
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted. Forgiving one another even as God in Christ has forgiven you. We all love being forgiven, don't we? When we mess up. It's a wonderful thing when someone comes to us and says, I forgive you.
And we realise we don't deserve it. That's tremendous, isn't it? to experience that as a human being. Uh someone's forgiveness. But is there someone you need to forgive?
Parent. A child. A brother A sister. Notice the words of Jesus in verse 14. But if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Remember, Jesus says of the woman that the woman. The person who can forgive the most is the one who has received the greatest forgiveness, this woman in the Gospels. who obviously had come from an immoral background, and she experienced the forgiveness of God and she was able to love all the more because she had a great awareness of her need of God's forgiveness. Why is it?
that bitterness. and anger.
So often overtakes us as the people of God. How can you expect God's forgiveness? When you're slow to forgive others. And then finally, a prayer for protection in verse 13: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We have a very cunning enemy, don't we?
He wants to stop us from following Jesus. Every day I'm to put on the full armor of God. I'm to live humbly. I'm to ask God for His protection. Students going to school desperately need the protection of God.
Students going to public schools, going to universities and colleges, need God's protection. You going to your office, your bank, your hospital tomorrow need God's protection. The world is a very evil place. And today you may face the fiercest temptation of your life. Today, you may be tempted to go down a wrong path, and this prayer of protection then should always be on our lips.
Father, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. A Puritan said: either praying will make you leave off sinning. or sinning will make you leave off praying. What is it? You person.
of prayer. I want to encourage you to be a person. Of prayer. Jonathan Edwards said: There is no way that Christians in a private capacity can do so much to promote the work of God and advance the kingdom of Christ than by Prayer. Paul says, pray without.
See you soon.
So if you're out walking, you can pray. You're on the treadmill at the gym. You can pray. You're in your office during your lunch hour, you can pray. Whatever it is, when you're doing the dishes in the kitchen, you can pray.
That we need to be, brothers and sisters, a church that prays. This is the next step in following. Jesus. Prayer. And I conclude with this.
Do you know God? As your Heavenly Father? Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? If you don't. Confess your sin.
Our Lord Jesus came. To die on the cross for your sins. He's opened the way so that you can receive his salvation and know God. As your loving Heavenly Father, that you can go to at any time. Indeed.
This is the verdict featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World.
Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe. Well, what's your verdict? Do you look on prayer as a privilege or as a burdensome duty? In prayer, we're praising God and thanking Him as well as making our requests. He's our loving father.
So don't hesitate to ask in faith your needs. Our enemy seeks to distract us. It's often said that the devil trembles when he sees the weakest believer. on his or her knees. There is power.
There is a place of blessing.
So pray. And don't miss the next step in following Jesus, our finances. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
