In Search of the Lord's Way
by Phil Sanders
"Worship in Prayer"
Our
reading today comes from the book of Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 through 13.
"In this manner, therefore, pray:
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 forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and
the glory forever. Amen."
This reading comes from God's Holy Word.
Private prayer is one of the sacred moments of life. Prayer is personal time with our Father in Heaven, in which we reveal our hearts. In prayer we honor and recognize the place of God that He has in our lives. We hallow the name of our Father. To hallow is to honor as holy. God's name is already holy. But we need to say that with our prayers, and we need to say what the twenty-four elders who surrounded the throne of God said. They said,
"Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
Jesus prayed often and He
prayed fervently.
Luke 5:16 says that,
"Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray."
In Luke 6 and verse 12, before He appointed the apostles, Jesus
"went off into the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God."
When Jesus was crucified, He began His death with prayer, saying
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
And He ended His time on the cross in prayer,
"Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit."
That's from Luke 23, verses 34 and 46. If the Lord, the Lord Himself, had such a need for prayer, certainly we need to pray as well.
The Lord Jesus taught us to pray "Our Father." When we pray as Christians, we're able to approach God's throne because of our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't say, "My Father"; He said, "Our Father." When a person becomes a Christian, he also becomes a child of God.
The Bible says in Galatians 3, verses 26 and 27,
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
We have our access to the Father through Jesus Christ. And when we pray to the Father, we should pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Lord said in John 16, verse 23,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you."
Our Father lovingly and wondrously invites us to pray. God already knows what's on your heart. The Lord said in Matthew 6 and verse 8 that,
"your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."
But the Lord wants us to pray, because it's important for us to approach God for our needs, and to thank Him for what He has already done, and to remind ourselves of our utter dependence upon our Father in Heaven. There are many times in life when we need reminding of our need for God.
You know the Lord said in Matthew 7, verses 7 to 11,
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won't give him a snake, will he? If then, you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"
We don't have a reluctant God who cares little for our needs. And we don't have to beg God to let us pray. Our God is not like the pagan gods of the Gentiles who cried out with "meaningless repetitions." Oh, no! God wants us to pray, just as any father wants to hear from his children. God wants to bless our lives.
But when you ask of God, ask in faith. Jesus, you remember, said in Mark 11, verses 22 to 24,
"Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, that whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him.
And so the Lord says,
Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you."
Again, the Bible says in James 1, verses 5 to 8,
"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
Sometimes people pray for the wrong things. When we ask God to bless us, we should consider whether what we're asking for is God's will. Our desires and God's will are not always the same. The Bible says in 1 John 5, verses 14 to 15,
"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests of which we have asked from Him."
When you pray, do not ask with selfish motives. The Bible says in James 4, verses 1 to 3,
"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."
When people ask God to bless them so that they can fulfill the desires that arise from their conflicts and envious ways, God refuses to help. You see, He is not interested in blessing people just to further their wrong motives and sinful attitudes. God doesn't help people sin or fulfill their lusts. Their prayers (that is, people who pray selfishly) crowd God out, because they're thinking more of themselves than they are of God's will.
God does will that we pray for material blessings. After all, Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." But in praying that, we're not praying for cake but for bread. God will give us bread, which is necessary for life but He doesn't always give luxuries.
Some preachers this day and time, to hear their message, think the most important thing is to be lavishly blessed in this life. And in the name of God they make outlandish promises while they hope to exploit people. Don't be deceived by these preachers. God provides for our needs to do His work, but the Lord is not interested in supplying selfish desires.
The Lord teaches us to pray, "Thy will be done." Jesus prayed that in great sorrow while in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Lord knew of the pain that He would bear in the scourging and in the crucifixion. And Jesus knew that He had to bear the punishment for the sins of the whole world. And so He prayed in Matthew 26, verse 39,
"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."
He didn't want to bear that cup
of wrath; yet He knew that He must.
For Jesus doing the will of the Father was more important
than His own desires or comfort. He
wanted to serve His Father and to bless you and me with forgiveness more than
He wanted freedom from pain. You see,
there's something worse than physical pain, and that's for anyone to be lost in
sin. And Jesus was willing to bear the
terrible pain of physical death so that He could deliver us from spiritual
death that was caused by sin.
We too, should pray "Thy will be done." Wouldn't this be a wonderful world if everyone prayed for God's will to be done and then practiced the will of God? We need the will of God to be done! And if people did God's will, they would cease to be criminals; they would cease to be violent; and you know what, they would learn to forgive. And this would bring so much healing. If people would repent of sin and follow the Lord's way, we would see a tremendous change in our lives, in our homes, our communities and our country.
On the other hand, Psalm 66, verse 18 says that,
"If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear."
That is if I allow sin to be
the focus of my heart, I cannot imagine God is willing to hear my prayer and
bless me with a positive answer.
Sometimes
people imagine sin will bring them happiness and explain their sinful behavior
with the statement, "Well, God just wants me to be happy." No, God doesn't want that kind of happiness. The Lord desires that we find lasting joy in
righteous living, not the temporary happiness of sin.
When you pray to God asking for forgiveness, my friend be ready to grant forgiveness, too. If you have an unforgiving spirit, you can't expect God to forgive you. The Lord said in Mark 11, verse 25 that,
"Whenever you stand praying, forgive, and if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive your transgressions."
Matthew 6 and verse 14 says,
"But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."
Our prayers can be hindered if we mistreat our loved ones. The Bible says to husbands in 1 Peter 3, verse 7,
"You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."
We can't mistreat each other, husbands, wives, parents or children; no one can mistreat others and expect to be able to live in harmony with the will of God.
Our prayers do matter with God! The Lord told His disciples in the Garden in Matthew 26 and verse 41,
"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
When we want to do the right thing, God is there to help. Psalm 34 and verse 15 says that,
"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry."
When we pray, let's wait on the Lord to answer. He knows the right time to answer a prayer, but His time may not be ours. We may not be ready for His answer. I love the faith of Jeremiah who suffered much for his faith but he kept close to the Lord. He wrote in Lamentations 3:25,
"The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him."
The Lord wants us to persevere in prayer and not lose heart (Luke 18, verses 1 to 5).
The apostle Paul said in Philippians 4, verse 19,
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Oh, I love that passage and I also recall II Corinthians 9, verse 8,
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed."
Give yourself to the will of God; and His grace will abundantly supply your every need.
And when you're troubled, pray! The Bible says in Philippians 4, verses 6 to 7,
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
God will set a guard around your heart and give you amazing peace when you take your concerns and worries to Him.
When Darius, the king of Persia, made a law against praying to anyone but him, Daniel disobeyed. He knew that he needed God. Daniel would rather spend a night in the lion's den than to lose one day in prayer to God. Don't let even one day go by without prayer.
God will always act wisely and in our best interests. Romans 8:28 says,
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
We can believe God will help us through every struggle. We may not always understand what, how, or why God is doing what He is doing. But God knows what we don't know, and He sees what we can't see. Trust God!
An unknown confederate soldier was found dead with these words in his pocket:
I asked God for strength that I might achieve; He made me weak that I might obey. I asked for health that I might do great things; He gave me grace that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; He gave me poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; He gave me weakness that I might feel a need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; He gave me life that I might enjoy all things. I received nothing I had asked for; and He gave me all that I had hoped for.
Let's pray God's will be done in our lives. Friends, please pray for this gospel ministry. Ask God to open a door to us for the word, that we might declare the gospel clearly, boldly, and with love. Ephesians 3 and verse 20 says that God is
"able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us."
Prayer puts the power of God to work in our lives.
