Transformative Power of the Lord's Prayer

i heard that one of the lifeboats that was set adrift from the titanic back in 1912 or whenever that sank that the people in the boat they all collectively recited the lord's prayer now you you just tell me why would they do that why are people reciting this prayer and you know what it is the kjv the kjv rendering our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in you know it's it's often recited it's often known it's often how many churches of england and catholic churches do you think liturgically will speak that i understand your your prince that recently died the queen's husband prince what philip that they recited this prayer at his funeral [00:03:43]

you see i'll tell you what the difference is the difference is that the one people are just simply seeking to placate god they think this if i recite this prayer somehow god's going to be happy with me somehow that's going to develop some merit with him and he won't let me get killed that's that's what that is it's entirely ritualistic they're not even thinking about what they're saying they're not thinking about hallowed be his name oh this is a holy god no it's more like what can i offer to god and so they they spin off this prayer extremely quick it's a frantic attempt to buy god with with price you know what we're supposed to we're supposed to come without price this is somebody coming with price see what i've got to offer what do you have to offer this is basically this is basically somebody trying to do business with god on the basis of hey i can say this prayer [00:06:57]

when you pray don't heap up empty phrases do you know that when people pray this prayer mindlessly and without thought it's think it's totally gentilian what is it to pray like a gentile it's to pray mindlessly it's basically a babble it's basically to do repetition it's basically you praying without thinking about what you're praying and you know what most people do in the world who pray this prayer they do it mindlessly they've just memorized it it's part of the liturgy of the church they're not even thinking about what they're saying brethren i'll tell you what that last convert of harper he was being confronted by the way to really pray we're sinners you know the way to pray is lord i've i'm not ready to die i'm going on this beach i'm not ready to die i've done horrible things [00:08:19]

brethren people all the time we become so adept at posturing ourselves in front of each other this is classic how you doing well i'm doing well are you okay are you okay i actually say yes to that because i haven't figured out your whole salutatory thing yet but listen how are you doing i'm doing okay we are we are so adept at posturing ourselves in front of each other and you know what we do we take that hypocrisy right before god and we come before him and we pray in certain ways or we say certain things to him just like saying this prayer mindlessly beloved brethren empty phrases they what does that what does that mean it means speaking without thinking i'll tell you this the lord jesus christ gave us this prayer to think not to say mindlessly he wants us to think about every single thing he is telling us needs to make up our prayers [00:10:28]

do you recognize that every pronoun in this prayer is plural none of them are singular listen pray then like this our father in heaven give us this day our daily bread forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors lead us deliver us not a singular pronoun in this prayer you say oh okay we we pray collectively uh-uh yeah we do but did you not remember the context this whole context is about our life in the secret place did you remember here that in chapter 6 and there in verse six you see six is right before nine when you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who's in secret and you're it's the same context oh and by the way when you get to fasting in verses 16 through 18 you look there in 18 your father who's in secret your fathers who sees and see this whole section is about how we live our christian life in secret [00:17:30]

you want to pray for yourself yes in that secret place but you want to pray with plural pronouns if your pronouns in the secret place are primarily in the singular first person then you're missing the very heart and soul of how christ wants you to pray that's the first thing second thing hallowed be thy name pray then like this our father in heaven hallowed be your name now see i just find that this prayer just speaks volumes about what's true what's true well here what does our lord want us to think what does our lord want our hearts to be engaged with i can tell you from pastoring god's people being in public worship and prayer meetings for the last over 30 years the fact is that a lot of god's people will get on their knees or they'll bow their heads and they are asking god for something in the first or second sentence that's not how he taught us to pray [00:20:00]

you know what he wants not for you to go to your knees praying simply thinking about what you need or what you want he clearly wants us engaged first and foremost he wants our hearts thinking about who god is he wants us he wants us focused in that direction think about what hallowed means it means set apart you know that i mean anybody that's ever studied the word holy we recognize it's in that word group of sanctification to sanctify to set apart to consecrate brethren one of the things that you want to go out of your way see this is this is all about the heart this is all about our thinking jesus is saying think when you go to pray yes use the plural pronouns but think about who god is and think about halloween his name think about his kingdom think about his will think there before you ever get to asking for your daily bread think about who god is think about what kind of god you have think about halloween his name is separating it brethren i'll tell you this we don't ever pray for his sake we pray for our sake and when you start remembering who god is that'll do tremendous things for your faith [00:22:03]

i'll tell you this i i cannot think that it is even profitable for people to just jump on their knees and start praying or however posture you have in prayer to immediately start praying for things brethren i want to think about who god is why because once you start thinking about how who god is it will help you to determine for one what right things you ought to pray for are the things you're praying for actually fit with halloween god's name but then you start thinking about the kind of god we have brethren you recognize right away we don't have gods like the gentiles we don't have gods that are idols that don't have eyes and can't see we've got the true and the living god did you hear how they prayed in acts chapter 4 they didn't just say oh you know lord would you please give us boldness no they started off by saying sovereign lord and you created this and you created that and you're you're this god who ordained all of this and yes the nation's rage and yes this battle is going on but you predetermined the whole thing you're the god that's in control you're the god that created it all brethren i'll tell you you start praying like that before you actually start asking for things and once you get to asking for things it'll give you a boldness like you never had before [00:23:28]

you know what capitulate is basically just to give in you know what can happen we can justify our unbelief by these words what do i mean here's what i mean you've heard me quote this i keep quoting it you heard me quote it just the other day jesus said whoever believes in me the works i do they will do and greater works they will do that comes out of john chapter 14 verse 12. if any of you doubt the scripture says it you can look that up for yourself it says it it doesn't say it to the apostles it says it to everyone who believes if you quote those words and you follow them with but thy will be done you've just capitulated you have just heard a promise of god and basically justified your unbelief and why you have no expectation of actually seeing it come to pass or how about this jesus said to them all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations and you know what i take every commandment in scripture as a promise if he said i'm going to be with you go make disciples you know what he's promising when you go forward to make disciples you will make disciples because i'll be with you and i'm going to cause to happen in those people what needs to happen for them to become disciples [00:31:15]

you don't want to be self-sufficient you may forget to pray about your daily bread but let me tell you something we each have sins that are most vicious most real if i can even use the word besetting but look the reality is some people are not getting victory over sin simply because they're not asking god to give them victory oftentimes the reason we can't kill sin is because we live like we don't need the father and the son and the holy spirit jesus tells us to pray this way lead me not into temptation deliver me from evil and you know what a lot of times we as christians we end up praying after the fall not before it and you know what that is that that is presumption and that is pride because it's independency it's self-sufficiency it's basically approaching life i blow up in anger well then i think maybe you know sheepishly i've kind of got to bow my head and go before the lord and i know something's not right here rather than getting up in the morning the first thing you did was lord you know i'm given to anger please help me you know i'm given to lust please lord i need i need a covenant with my eyes i need help you know and lord i struggle with jealousy towards this one person and i don't lie lord i don't want it please kill it please help me please overcome please why the reality is this we have these promises in scripture we have the promises in scripture that jesus christ i mean what what did they call his name what's jesus name jesus why did they yes because right he's going to save his people from their sins [01:01:37]

the reality is this we have a promise in second chapter first peter that says that he himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree why so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness you recognize there is power in that cross but what he's telling us is this you need to pray for that you need plead with the father for that one of the things that we don't have is sufficient victory over sin because our prayer life is defective and you don't have because you haven't asked listen jesus is not telling us these things because it just doesn't matter he's he's not indicating to us that well after all it doesn't really matter if you pray or if you don't pray because remember sovereign lord remember how they prayed sovereign lord it means he's sovereign over over he rules over everything so it doesn't really matter if you pray not to be led into temptation not not to pray to be delivered from evil why because whatever's going to happen is going to happen and god is sovereign and god ordains everything that he ordained so it doesn't really do any good jesus isn't teaching that jesus is teaching that this is what you want to do he's obviously indicating that if you pray to your heavenly father to not lead you into temptation he's assuming that this prayer is going to be answered and there will be results that will be different than if you don't pray because the reality is you know that when you don't pray how often do you fall into these things you end up falling into laziness or you fall into pride or you fall into anger you fall into lust you fall into some kind of temptation and like and you brethren this is battle and if we're really gonna fight this battle and sometimes i i think when it says deliver us not into evil i think it could be or evil one but the reality is there is an enemy out there and you want to pray because listen he that's with us is much much greater than he that's in the world and he can deliver you he can free you satan's the tempter and you know what he roams about like a roaring lion seeking somebody to devour and you know what all he needs you think about this god is sovereign but do you ever find that perhaps somebody gets a little too bold i'm not going to deny you [01:03:22]