Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, we're going to begin a new series today looking at how to pray like Jesus. Jesus modelled prayer, he taught us how to pray. And so we're going to look at three prayers that Jesus prayed over the next few weeks as we enter our new season of 21 days of prayer.
[00:00:16] Mark, as a part of his calling to be the general superintendent of Elim, really felt that as a movement we had to enter a season of consecration. To be consecrated simply means to be set apart for the work of God. And that consecration process involves prayer, a heart of prayer, a lifestyle of prayer, a discipline of prayer. And so we're going to spend the next 21 days praying together. And as you go out, if you haven't already grabbed one, there's a little newsletter or a little devotional with a couple of prayers. There's a prayer every day with a prayer of consecration, a scripture that you can read. And what we would love for you to do is take a moment. If you're with family or friends, if you're in a flatting situation, maybe you could pray that prayer together so that as we are walking through this journey, we are on this prayer journey as well. And again, an encouragement. If you're able to come out tomorrow night for the next three Monday nights, we're going to be meeting here from 07:00, 07:00 to 745 will be a family focused 45 minutes of prayer and then we'll continue on praying. And families can go home if they need to, but we'll continue to pray on through till about 09:00. We would love for you to come out and be a part of that, so that'll be absolutely amazing. But we're going to look at the Lord's prayer. Or it could also be called the disciples prayer because Jesus, they said, Jesus, teach us how to pray. And Jesus said, this is how you can do it. So let's read this together. Matthew, chapter six, verses five to 14.
[00:01:51] Jesus says, and when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. This then is how you should 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 today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. And some versions say, for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Then it goes on. Verse 14. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins. Let's pray together.
[00:03:05] Father, we thank you for the gift of prayer, an invitation that you have given us to connect with you, to speak with the God of the universe, to engage with a loving father.
[00:03:23] Lord, would there come a revelation for each of us over these next 21 days of what prayer is, what it means to have a lifestyle of prayer that we would learn how to communicate with you in a way where we would be able to speak and listen and hear your heart for us.
[00:03:44] Lord, we thank you for your word. May we learn from it today. May we grow in our faith and our relationship with you and with each other. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Prayer is one of the amazing parts of our christian faith, one of the greatest ways that we connect with God. We can read the word, and as we read the word, it's Jesus. Jesus is the word of God. But prayer is a way that we can engage with the creator of the universe. We have the ability to hear what God wants to say to us while also communicating the concerns on our heart.
[00:04:21] Some of the questions we would often ask is, what kind of prayer is acceptable? Can I suggest any form of prayer?
[00:04:29] The language and exactly what's said and the content doesn't actually matter. But anytime we say, God, I want to speak to you.
[00:04:37] I want to share what I'm thinking. I want to even share my frustrations and my hurts and my disappointments. I would say, take that opportunity.
[00:04:47] God wants to hear. He wants to hear what we would have to say.
[00:04:52] Yet sometimes I think prayer can be almost like the backstop. It can be the option at the very end. It's the so's at the end of, we've tried everything else, now let's try prayer, the so's when we're really in trouble. In fact, some people, I heard someone say they treat prayer a little bit like a parachute. I'm glad I've got it, but I hope I don't need it.
[00:05:15] We don't want to be people that are just, maybe I'll pray, but maybe I won't. I want people that would be prayer is something that is just consistent, that we're praying as often as we think, as often as we think of God, we say, God, thank you, thank you, thank you. Prayer can be a simple thank you, God, thank you for life, thank you for breath. Waking up in the morning going, I'm alive. Thank you, God. And some of us get to an age where that's a real, genuine prayer. Thank God I'm alive. I'm here today.
[00:05:46] So I want to establish for all of us today a reminder that prayer is not primarily for us. Prayer is not for us. Prayer is not about me. Prayer is about God. And when we understand that prayer is about our relationship with God and about God himself, that every time we pray we are giving glory to God, we are revealing the glory of God when we pray, when we stop and think about it, if we gain nothing other than communion or connection with God through prayer, that should be fuel to keep us going.
[00:06:25] That I could stop in any moment of my day and say, God, I want to connect this morning in worship.
[00:06:34] Just, God, I need your help as I get up to preach this morning.
[00:06:38] Sometimes our prayers are kind of for our comfort and our satisfaction, but sometimes it's just, God, I love you and I'm so thankful.
[00:06:48] When we let prayer be something that becomes so natural and flows out of us.
[00:06:53] So over the next few weeks, we're going to learn from Jesus how prayer can position us in relationship with Goddesse. That we would learn to align ourselves with his will, his plan, his purpose, not just my own desires. And chances are most of us have prayed prayers over our lifetime. Maybe we've prayed prayers that we didn't think God answered, or maybe he answered differently to what we would have liked. In reality, God answers prayers in three ways. He says yes, he says no, and then sometimes he says wait. We don't like the waiting prayers. I talked about that a few weeks ago. We don't like it when God says wait, but he says it's coming. But I've got a better timing than you do. And so often we can then think that our prayers and the outcome of the prayer based on how we think it should be answered determines whether God is good or not. So if he answers my prayer, God is good and faithful and kind. If he doesn't answer my prayer as I would like him to, then does that mean he's not kind?
[00:08:00] But prayer is a transactional. It's a relationship where I connect with God, where you connect with God and we begin to hear his heart for us as humans, and we don't ever want to equate the goodness of God to whether or not he's answered our prayer.
[00:08:19] And don't worry if you're feeling like that might have been how you've prayed, we're in good company. There are people in the Bible that prayed that way too. For example, Jacob in Genesis 28 20, he says of God, if you go with me, if you feed me, if you clothe me, if you keep me safe, then the Lord will be my God.
[00:08:37] So on the condition that you do this, this, this and this, then you will be my God.
[00:08:42] Now, I know the heart of Jacob was not that it wasn't necessarily conditional on whether God does this, but I think we can find ourselves creating this transaction that says, God, if I, then you will. But prayer is about engaging with God and connecting with God and giving him glory, letting him be glorified, even in our pain, even in our disappointment, even in our deepest struggles.
[00:09:08] And I would love us to understand that prayer connects our heart, our soul and our mind to God.
[00:09:16] It connects us to God, connects us to his heart, connects us to his word and to his desire and his passion for us.
[00:09:26] So let's talk about the purpose of prayer as we read within the disciples prayer. And at the close of this message, as the band come up, we're going to take maybe about five minutes and we're going to go slowly through each of the, the parts of this prayer. We're going to personalize this prayer because for each of us, as you go through it, as we go through it today, there's going to be things you say, oh, wow, that's really hit home today. Well, I've heard that before, but now I'm understanding this in a different way.
[00:09:55] And my prayer this week as I was preparing is that each of us would have a fresh revelation of who God is and his love and his desire for each of us.
[00:10:07] And as I study this passage and looked at various commentaries, we see the nature and the character of God revealed within this, because we want to get to the place where we are. Like the psalmist who recognizes, because you bend down and listen, psalm 116, because you bend down and listen, I will pray as long as I have breath, recognising that God is so concerned about what we say, he loves our prayers, even the ones that are angry and frustrated and disappointed. He still loves to hear us pray.
[00:10:44] And so to help us today, all of these start with p. Nice and easy, right? So we're going to talk first of all about the paternity of God. The paternity of God, our Father in heaven. Our Father in heaven. God is love. And Jesus begins by saying, as all is revealed about who God is. The clearest and most accurate picture he can give us is of a loving father, our Father in heaven. Our Father in heaven, a present loving, tender hearted father.
[00:11:23] Not a distant deity, not a cruel dictator, but someone who is present and interested in us. Sadly for many, as we use the word Father or we hear the word Father, we can then naturally translate fatherhood or paternity to our relationship with our own father. And maybe for some, that relationship has not been a good example. And to think of God as a father when maybe your experience of a, of an earthly father has been difficult and challenging and even painful.
[00:11:56] But you need to understand that God the Father is not an earthly father.
[00:12:02] I like to think I'm an okay father, but I fall short in so many ways. Any fathers would agree with me. You want to be a great father and not make mistakes, but we do. We get it wrong, but God does not. God is faithful and he is good and he is kind and he is fair and he is just. And I love psalm 68 five. Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God cares so much about his children.
[00:12:32] How many have children? Any parents in the house? Maybe you've got grown up kids as well. Give us a wave. Right. How many people enjoyed the disciplined part of being a parent?
[00:12:44] Some of them. Okay. I didn't enjoy that part and I don't enjoy that part. I'm still going. All right. We're still kind of deep in parenthood right now. I've got a 15 year old, a twelve year old and a nine year old.
[00:12:57] And I love my kids so much, but I love them so much that when I see bad behavior, I don't let them stay there. You know, God the father, he sees that in us. He sees his kids misbehaving and misrepresenting him.
[00:13:12] And the love and the discipline of a father is important. Sometimes we want to resist that. We just want a fun father. But we need a just and a kind and a fair father as well. I remember back in the day where you're allowed to kind of give your kids a smack. How many had the wooden spoon? Yeah, wooden spoon.
[00:13:34] How many did you break?
[00:13:37] I was the one that received probably the most as a child. And I remember once my mother gave me a smack and I laughed at her because it didn't hurt.
[00:13:50] She said those fateful words, you wait till your father gets home. Let's just say from then on in, the tears were Oscar performance.
[00:14:02] But I remember in one moment where I was wrong and I was being disciplined for my misdemeanor. And I remember saying to my mum in frustration, who smacks you?
[00:14:13] Who gives you a smack?
[00:14:15] And she said, God disciplines me. I'm like, well, that probably doesn't hurt. But I'll tell you what, now, as an adult, as a parent, when God says, mike, I love you, but where you're heading is wrong.
[00:14:31] The discipline of a loving father has such an impact on our lives, and a loving father will not let us stay in that space of being in disobedience.
[00:14:44] But you know what? Sometimes with my children, my strategy, I don't know if it works or not, but they're frustrated and they're angry and they've kind of lost control sometimes. My strategy is I'll just pick them up, just hold them really tight.
[00:14:59] Just hold them and hug them and hold them. I feel all the energy just kind of dissipate. Now, it could be that I'm stalling because I have no idea what I'm doing as a parent.
[00:15:14] But sometimes just the hug of a father and the love of a father is exactly what our heart needs to respond.
[00:15:26] And it has worked. Sometimes the hug has to take a little longer, but then we stop, we can breathe and all the energies come out of that moment. And now we can actually, with wisdom, sit down and talk.
[00:15:40] And I believe God wants to do that with us, too. He wraps his arms around us and says, I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.
[00:15:49] Now let's talk about your behaviour.
[00:15:52] Maybe you want to try that as a parent, give it a try. Let me know how you get on.
[00:15:57] But we have a loving father who says, I'm not mad at you, Mike, I'm not mad at you. That you've made another mistake, that you've fallen and you've failed again. I love you.
[00:16:07] Now let's talk about it.
[00:16:09] The second thing we see is the priority of God. So we talked about the paternity of God, the father, heart of God. But then we have the priority of God. Hallowed be your name. Hallowed be your name. Puts God in the place of priority. And Jesus invites us to address him as his father. As father. Because he is our loving father. Yes, he meets our needs, he provides, but our first petition, not on my behalf, is a declaration of who he is, a holy God. Holy is your name. Hallowed be your name. You know, the word hallowed kind of sounds ancient and language that can even seem archaic. But if you watched any sports you might have heard of, commentators say the Hallowed turf of Twickenham or Wembley or one of those places. What does it mean to be hallowed in the carnal nature? It would represent awe or wonder or history or heritage. In the biblical sense, Hallowed is to be an awe in reverence and glory and honor, power and praise. All of these things that are due to God, given to God.
[00:17:22] And Jesus is saying, God's name is all of this.
[00:17:26] We sang that this morning. Of all the names you're worthy, of, all the names that we declare you are.
[00:17:34] And even Moses, when he was tasked with going and bringing the word to the people of Israel and then to Pharaoh, he says, who do I say has sent me? God says I am. Say I am, has sent you.
[00:17:49] Past, present, future, king of kings, lord of lords.
[00:17:57] Many will say, I know God. But our lifestyle, the words we use, the way we behave, contradicts these words, because when we know God's nature and character, it changes us.
[00:18:11] And, friends, today, maybe you need to understand God as your father, but maybe actually today you need to understand how holy God is and that he calls us, he draws us in, and he says that we can be holy. God says, be holy. If he says, be holy, then we can be. But that holiness isn't me becoming a better person by doing lots and lots of religious things. It's by consecrating my life before God again and saying, God, I need you. I surrender my life, my will, my emotions, all of my. I surrender that to you. Would you do a work of holiness in my life? The third thing we see is the purpose of God, the paternity of God, the priority of God. But then we see the purpose of God. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And your kingdom come is all about declaring the one who has the right to rule and reign, the king of heaven himself, the king of kings, the Lord of all lords, King Jesus.
[00:19:15] God's will for us is that we would recognize Jesus as our king of kings.
[00:19:22] It's God's purpose that Christ is seated forever on his throne.
[00:19:27] When King David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, God said, it won't be you because you have a history, a heritage of bloodshed and the battles and the wars that had to be fought but coming through, you will be one who will sit on the throne.
[00:19:44] Jesus came through the line of David. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Bartimaeus calls out the blind man. He says, Jesus, son of David. Through David's line came Jesus, who would be king and is king, remains as king of kings. In fact, Isaiah declared to the Messiah the coming kingdom, that the government would be on his shoulders.
[00:20:09] Psalm two. Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
[00:20:16] When we pray, we are establishing the kingship of Jesus in our lives, and we must pray for those in positions of authority. We must honour the king, we must honour the government and pray for the government. But we don't worship the kingdom. We don't worship the government. We worship one king, and his name is Jesus. And when we pray, we are establishing his throne. We are establishing and declaring that he is king of kings. And maybe your focus in these 21 days of prayer is what does it mean to pray, live and exist with a kingdom minded focus?
[00:20:54] Is God king of my finances? Great word from drew today.
[00:20:58] When we look at the priorities in our life and our calendar and our budget. Is Jesus king of my life? Is he king? Is he enthroned where he should be? What idols have I put up there that maybe I need to remove and sacrifice them and put them down at the foot of the cross?
[00:21:18] Number four, the provision of God. The provision of God. Give us today our daily bread.
[00:21:25] How many people are planning to eat today?
[00:21:28] Tomorrow, maybe? Yeah, the next day.
[00:21:32] Food is something that we eat daily. I forget a lot of things, but I don't normally forget to eat right.
[00:21:41] You can see I make it a priority. Probably too much.
[00:21:46] And for some of us, this prayer is harder to understand.
[00:21:50] And probably for me, the reality is to trust God for my daily bread.
[00:21:56] I haven't really had to do that because my parents have always provided for me.
[00:22:02] We were never rich, but I never thought we were poor until the day we were my parents. They sold up the house and went on a ywam course. Youth with admission course. Amazing faith journey. I was about twelve years old and dad had been a physio and had an amazing physio practice. But the business partner he was working with, they were unequally yoked. And to be honest, the business went really bad and dad virtually gave the business value away in order just to be free from that business relationship. Massive sacrifice there. We sold our house to go on the six month adventure to follow the call of God. Sounds familiar, right?
[00:22:49] Thanks, mom and dad. You set me up for the rest of my life. But what a gift that we were given. But I remember as a twelve year old, we found ourselves as that family in the church that didn't have enough. Like, we looked in our cupboards and Mother Hubbard had visited and the cupboards were bare, there was nothing in there. And I remember Mum and Dad saying, well, let's pray.
[00:23:13] We were in between finances. We didn't have the finance, the house hadn't sold. And like, we just didn't have money in the bank to go and buy the food that we needed. First time ever we'd ever experienced that.
[00:23:23] And we got on our knees and we prayed.
[00:23:26] And I remember that moment. I remember the living room mastered and down in the lower half of the North island as we prayed for our daily bread.
[00:23:37] We prayed. We needed bread, we needed flour, we needed oil, I think some vegetables. We just didn't have it.
[00:23:47] And about an hour later, somebody from church turns up with a box full of groceries.
[00:23:54] As a twelve year old, I knew that God would provide my daily bread.
[00:24:01] And maybe for some of us, we've been so good at providing for ourselves. And that's good. Okay, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm not saying you should live in poverty and give everything away. That's not what I'm saying at all.
[00:24:15] But maybe we've got so used to providing for ourself with the skills that God has given us that we have stopped thanking God for our daily bread. Like when we give thanks for a meal, has that become ritual? Has that become rhythm and routine? And thank you, Lord, for our food. We just so appreciate it. Amen.
[00:24:37] Could those prayers just have a little bit more God? Wow, we're eating today. We're so thankful for that.
[00:24:44] But Jesus is saying, give us today our daily bread.
[00:24:52] I love the early church and the way that they met the needs of those within their community.
[00:24:57] I love this church and the vision that this year, again, we're believing for 1500 Christmas hampers to go out to our community.
[00:25:08] What an absolutely amazing opportunity to give someone a Christmas hug and say, God loves you. We're thinking of you and we're praying for you.
[00:25:18] And maybe for some of us, if getting the daily bread on our tables, it's not that hard.
[00:25:24] What if we gave up a meal?
[00:25:27] I said, actually, the cost of that meal might provide a hamper for somebody. What if between now and Christmas, as a family, each family would say, you know what I can believe to raise enough money for one hamper for one family. Now, for some of you, you might not be able to do that, and that's okay. There's no pressure on that. Again, as Andrew said, it's all about proportion. It could be that yours is a tin of beans or tomato sauce that's brought in as your gift and your offering. But my prayer is that we would all own that. The giving into this Christmas hampers this Christmas. And we've got more information about that coming out. But can you imagine 1500 families again being impacted with the good news of Jesus through a simple act of love, through a meal, through a Christmas hamper?
[00:26:16] So we talked about paternity. We've talked about priority. We've talked about purpose. We've talked about God's provision. We're getting close.
[00:26:23] We're talking about the pardon of God. It carries on and says, forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors. And then in the footnote of this prayer, Jesus says, for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. And then some very strong and powerful words that we hear from Jesus. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.
[00:26:49] God is a God who forgives. He extends mercy and forgiveness to us.
[00:26:56] He is a just God because he is a good God. He is also a just God, which means that sin will not go unpunished.
[00:27:07] Let's leave judgment up to God.
[00:27:11] Anyone ever been hurt so badly by somebody that it feels like your heart's been torn apart, stomped on, thrown in the trash?
[00:27:22] It's horrible. It's horrible when we've been let down. The ones that love us the most sometimes can hurt us the most. And we find ourselves in this place where we are in this horrible place of holding on to an offence for somebody who has hurt us badly.
[00:27:41] I can tell you I can't forgive someone in my own strength. I don't have the capacity.
[00:27:48] I'm not good enough. I'm not merciful enough.
[00:27:52] But when I remember that Christ has forgiven me, that revelation empowers me to be able to forgive others.
[00:28:04] I think one of the greatest miracles, and I've said it before, one of the greatest miracles that ever takes place is when somebody, through the power of God, forgives somebody who has wronged them, because that's the greatest miracle that takes place in my life when my life needs a savior.
[00:28:23] Jesus says, I forgive you, Mike. My response is, I don't deserve it. The Bible says that's true. No one's righteous, not a single one of us. And yet God forgives me through the work of Christ on the cross.
[00:28:40] We're going to look at forgiveness a little bit later, but this isn't really an invitation from Jesus. He's saying, this is requirement. You want to be a follower of me, you will be forgiven by God, but I want you to forgive others.
[00:28:58] And maybe for some, these 21 days of prayer, you might have a list. It could be a long list, it could be a short list.
[00:29:05] But if even in this moment, as I'm speaking, there's somebody on your heart that you're going, ooh, it hurts when I think about them.
[00:29:13] Then I would say, there's unforgiveness in your heart. And I would say, don't stress, don't fret about that, but come to your loving heavenly father and say, would you give me capacity in my heart to forgive this person? Would you empower me to be able to forgive this person?
[00:29:30] Doesn't write what they did, doesn't make what they did right. It doesn't justify anything. But what it does is it releases you from the judgment that you probably are holding over them in their life. Be free from that. In the name of Jesus, be free and forgive and release them.
[00:29:49] If God has to do something in that person's life, God will do that. It doesn't have to be you. If the justice system has to do something about that, do that.
[00:30:02] But release them. Say, God, I forgive in your strength and in your power. I release them from any judgment that I've held over them. God, would you have your way in their life and also in mine? I know this is hitting hearts today.
[00:30:18] Maybe over the next 21 days, you can go through a process of saying, God, I forgive today. You wake up the next morning and it hurts again. I forgive them again. I forgive them again. I forgive them again. What do you think Jesus said? When? How many times should we forgive one another? 1237. Jesus says, no, I'm going to give you a number that by the time you forgive someone that many times, you'll go, oh, I don't hate them anymore. In fact, I kind of like them. I kind of love them, or they no longer have a hold on me.
[00:30:55] I'm not saying when you forgive someone, you'll become their friend again. That may not be the path, and that's okay.
[00:31:01] But when you think of them and when you think about what had happened, that pain is no longer there. You might have a scar that will remind you, and that's okay.
[00:31:11] But our prayer is that as you engage in prayer, with God, that pain will not stay. That God will bring healing and he will bring peace and restoration to your heart.
[00:31:23] Paternity, priority. Purpose. Provision. Pardon. Two to go. Maybe Andrew can join me on keys.
[00:31:33] The protection of God.
[00:31:35] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
[00:31:42] Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.
[00:31:46] We come to the place in the prayer where we've asked God to forgive us and then we've chosen to forgive others. And Jesus is saying, actually the propensity of sin is still in us. How many people have been saved for more than 20 years in this place? Give us a wave. Look at that amazing, incredible maturity and wisdom in this place. Any of you still sin?
[00:32:08] Oh, I'm surprised. I thought you would have been holy by now. You've reached perfection. Maybe. No, I still wrestle. I wrestle with the world. I wrestle with the flesh. I battle with the devil. Come on, we're all fighting this battle continuously. And Jesus says, I know that, I understand that. I recognize that we get saved, but we're still being saved.
[00:32:36] We're not sinless. We pray that we would. Sinless, we find ourselves in this place where we still need God's help. We still need his protection.
[00:32:47] We don't receive a sin resistant force field or a superhero costume that stops us from sinning.
[00:32:54] My propensity to sin is still there. I'm still battling the flesh, but I'm praying in this prayer. 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.
[00:33:12] Lead us not into temptation, but protect us. Guard us from the evil one when we come to God and say, I need your help to resist the temptation.
[00:33:23] He is an ever present help in times of need.
[00:33:30] Maybe today our prayer is God. I am tempted all too often and I need your help.
[00:33:37] And you might need to list a particular area and say, God, in this area. I just feel like I'm stumbling time and time again. I'm hitting the same thing. I feel like I'm banging my head up against the brick wall on the same thing time and time again. God, would you protect me? Would you empower me? Would you strengthen me so that I can live righteously? Before, you talked about the paternity of God, our father in heaven, the priority of goddess, hallowed be your name. The purpose of God, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:34:16] The provision of God. Give us today what I need today. My daily bread. The pardon of God. Forgive me of my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me.
[00:34:28] The protection of God lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.
[00:34:34] Then lastly, we come to a part that was in the original King James version and into the new King James version. It's a statement, a phrase that is used right throughout scripture.
[00:34:45] We're talking about the preeminence of God, the final p pre eminence of God. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
[00:35:00] Preeminence, what does that mean?
[00:35:03] It means overall, above all, surpassing all.
[00:35:08] So every ruler above, over every authority above, over surpassing anything that's good, over all, surpassing, that's the preeminence of God. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Friends, when we pray, when we pray like Jesus taught us to pray, we connect to his heart.
[00:35:39] We hear his will for our lives, for others. We move from this place of selfishness, where it's no longer about me, to God. What would you do in my life that we would move from that place like Isaiah did?
[00:35:57] I'm sinful. I don't deserve to be in your presence, God. But as God cleanses his mouth, makes him holy.
[00:36:07] When the question's asked, who's going to go?
[00:36:09] Isaiah says, send me, I'll go.
[00:36:15] It's our heart that we would be used by Goddesse friends. We probably won't reach perfection in this lifetime.
[00:36:24] But every time we pray, every time we pray, we're only ever one prayer away from being right with God. Do you know that? It's a word for somebody. Today. You are one prayer away from being right with God. It's not a magic pill. It's a change of heart that says, God. I surrender again to you today as we bring it to a close this morning, we're going to go slowly through this prayer.
[00:36:56] I'm just going to list it, just going to speak it, and then I want you, in your own way to communicate with God and take a moment to address him in these areas that we've spoken about.
[00:37:12] A father in heaven.
[00:37:16] Why don't you just close your eyes and just address your father in heaven?
[00:37:25] Can you connect with them with your prayer?
[00:37:28] Thank you for being my loving father.
[00:37:39] Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
[00:37:54] You take a moment to address God as a holy God.
[00:38:01] Would you hear his heart for you? That you can be holy, washed clean by the blood of the lamb.
[00:38:14] Would you address him as the holy God of Israel?
[00:38:22] Holy, holy, holy as the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as is in heaven.
[00:38:43] What does it mean to live a kingdom life for him?
[00:38:49] What things have to come off the throne so that he would be king and lord overall?
[00:38:57] Just speak to him this morning. Just speak to him.
[00:39:02] Declare his kingdom come.
[00:39:12] Give us today our daily bread.
[00:39:15] Come on. This is the part where you can say, God, I am in need in this area and he knows your need.
[00:39:22] But it's okay to ask God, there is a lack.
[00:39:26] We need your provision and I trust you for your provision that it will come as and when I need it.
[00:39:38] Come on. Would you thank him for your daily bread?
[00:39:41] Would you thank him for what you've received and begin to ask him for those things that you still need.
[00:39:55] Forgive us our debts as we've also forgiven our debtors.
[00:40:00] Come on. Maybe there's unforgiveness in our heart that we need to release. And ask God to release that person from our judgment.
[00:40:10] It's a work of God. It's a miracle. Only through his power can we do that.
[00:40:17] Would you just begin, even if it's in faith for now, to ask God to forgive and to forgive that person.
[00:40:27] Forgive them for the hurt, for the wrong.
[00:40:31] Release them from your judgment.
[00:40:35] Allow God to do the work of judgment and retribution.
[00:40:40] Jesus. Jesus.
[00:40:43] Holy Spirit, be with those that are praying this prayer right now. God, I know there's some people here today that this is a big battle.
[00:40:52] The pain is so deep and it hurts so much.
[00:40:56] But Father, I pray for a release of your spirit, Lord, that forgiveness would flow out of their heart.
[00:41:05] Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.
[00:41:09] Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Come on. What is that one thing that you keep coming back to, that one thing that you keep struggling with?
[00:41:19] Would you ask God for his help again today to be released, protected.
[00:41:27] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:41:40] Jesus. Jesus.
[00:41:44] And for this one, would you stand with me?
[00:41:49] Because there's a personal application of prayer within. There is a corporate aspect of prayer. When we come together and we're believing as we come tomorrow night and we pray together that there would be a declaration of the glory of God. Because prayer is about God. It's not about me, it's about him, about revealing the glory of God to our workplace, to our schools, wherever God puts us.
[00:42:20] So when we say it together, for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Come on, we're going to worship just for a few minutes.
