Prayer: A Genuine Relationship with God

In this sermon, I was reminded of the importance of prayer as a conversation and relationship with God, rather than a formula or a repetition of words. The sermon emphasized the significance of understanding prayer as a means of connecting with God on a personal level. The speaker also highlighted the importance of humility in prayer, reminding us that we should approach God with an understanding of His vastness and power. This understanding helps us to avoid "altitude sickness" in our faith, a term used to describe the feeling of being overwhelmed by the magnitude of God's power and presence.

The sermon also touched on the concept of God's will and kingdom. It emphasized that God's will is not always clear to us, and often requires discernment and patience. However, there are moments in the scriptures where God's will is explicitly stated, and we can pray for that. The speaker encouraged us to pray for open doors of relationship and for an increased burden for those in our lives who need to hear the good news of Jesus. The sermon concluded with a reminder that God wants to be more than a "cosmic vending machine" for us, and that prayer should be a vehicle for a genuine relationship with Him.

Key takeaways:
- Prayer should be viewed as a conversation and relationship with God, not a formula or repetition of words. ([04:36])
- Humility is crucial in prayer. We should approach God with an understanding of His vastness and power. ([29:18])
- God's will is not always clear to us and often requires discernment and patience. ([47:25])
- We should pray for open doors of relationship and for those in our lives who need to hear the good news of Jesus. ([50:16])
- Prayer should be a vehicle for a genuine relationship with God, not a means to get what we want. ([52:56])

Lessons from the Sermon:

1. Prayer is not a formula or a transaction, but a conversation and a relationship with God. It's not about sounding smart or great, but about genuine communication with our Heavenly Father ([04:36]).

2. God is not a cosmic vending machine. He is vast, powerful, and transcendent. He is bigger than anything we can possibly imagine. The fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. This reverence is core to understanding God ([27:58]).

3. God's will is for none to perish but for all to come to repentance. As we pray for God's will to be done, we should also pray for those who have not yet turned from their ways to God's kingdom ([50:16]).

Bible Passages for Group Reading:

1. Proverbs 1:7 - This verse supports the lesson about the fear of the Lord being the beginning of knowledge.

2. 2 Peter 3:9 - This verse supports the lesson about God's will for none to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Observation Questions:

1. In Proverbs 1:7, what does it mean to fear the Lord? How does this fear lead to knowledge?

2. In 2 Peter 3:9, why is God patient? What is His ultimate desire for all people?

Interpretation Questions:

1. How does understanding the fear of the Lord as reverence change our approach to prayer?

2. How does knowing God's will for none to perish but for all to come to repentance influence our prayers and actions towards others?

Application Questions:

1. How can we cultivate a sense of reverence for God in our daily lives?

2. Who in your life needs to hear the good news of Jesus? How can you pray for them this week?

3. How can we align our will with God's will in our prayers?

4. When was the last time you had a genuine conversation with God? How can you make this a regular practice?

5. How can we support each other in praying for God's will to be done in our lives and in the lives of those around us?

Day 1: The Power of Reverence

Understanding the vastness and power of God is the first step in our prayer journey. This reverence for God's magnitude is not about thinking less of ourselves, but about recognizing how much bigger and more powerful God is. This understanding helps us approach God with the humility and respect He deserves ([27:58]).

Proverbs 1:7 - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Reflection: Reflect on your understanding of God's magnitude. How does this understanding influence your approach to prayer?

Day 2: The Nature of God

God's nature is infinite and personal, vast and accessible, transcendent and imminent. His love for us is no less or more regardless of the number of His followers. This understanding of God's nature should inspire us to approach Him with reverence and awe ([30:38]).

Psalm 147:5 - "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit."

Reflection: How does understanding the infinite nature of God's love influence your relationship with Him?

Day 3: The Importance of Humility

To prevent spiritual altitude sickness in our faith, we need to adopt a posture of humility. This is not about thinking less of ourselves, but about understanding how much bigger and more powerful God is. This understanding helps us surrender our lives and our will to Him ([32:02]).

Micah 6:8 - "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Reflection: How does understanding the importance of humility in your faith journey influence your daily actions and decisions?

Day 4: The Power of Prayer

Prayer is not just a transactional relationship with God, but an actual relationship. It is a powerful sign of what God has done for us and a reminder that He is in us and with us, transforming and healing us day by day ([59:01]).

James 5:16 - "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

Reflection: Reflect on your prayer life. How does understanding the power of prayer influence your relationship with God?

Day 5: The Invitation to Worship

Worship is an invitation to acknowledge the greatness of God. It is a time to lift our voices in praise and to express our love for God. This act of worship is a powerful way to connect with God and to express our reverence for Him ([06:38]).

Psalm 95:1 - "Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation."

Reflection: Reflect on your worship experiences. How does participating in worship influence your understanding of God's greatness?

I would never be the same.

Feel that deep water that I'm afraid.

I heard you call me.

I am.

Feel the same dream I'm on.

I would never be the same.

Never be the same.

Jesus.

Yeah.

States.

Something built in that human's hole.

Broken, I will glass.

When you got all the time in the world, you got all the time in the world for me.

I found where I belong.

Hearing your loving arms, I'm running home.

You see that I'm invited.

You tie your heart to mine.

You choose me every time.

I'm not alone.

You see that I'm invited.

You see that I'm invited.

You never leave me out.

You reach out instead.

When I hold on to you, I'm never left or dead.

I never have to wonder.

Don't know where my friendship stands.

You see that I'm gonna have the time in the world.

You got all the time in the world for me.

I found where I belong.

Hearing your loving arms, I'm running home.

You see that I'm invited.

You tie your heart to mine.

You choose me every time.

I'm not alone.

You see that I'm invited.

You see that I'm invited.

Welcome many times.

And how can I deny it?

I'm so loved.

I'm so loved.

You say I'm invited.

Welcome many times.

You say I'm invited.

I'm so loved.

I'm so loved.

I'm so loved.

I found where I belong.

Hearing your loving arms, I'm running home.

You see that I'm invited.

You tie your heart to mine.

You choose me every time.

I'm not alone.

You see that I'm invited.

You say I'm invited.

You get a good time.

I'm not alone.

I'm so loved.

I'm so loved.

You say I'm invited.

I'm so loved.

You say I'm invited.

I'm so loved.

I'm so loved.

You say I'm invited.

Welcome many times.

Hey everybody, Mark here.

Thank you so much for joining us for the service.

We are in our "Teach Us How to Pray" series, and this is one of my favorite series so far.

I think it's just a great reframe to think of prayer not as something that's a formula or something that should be words that are repeated and trying to sound smart or great, but just a conversation and a relationship that we're trying to have with God.

So I've been learning a ton from the series, and we're actually in the podcast studio now, which is really cool because our Menlo midweeks are focused around prayer for this series as well.

So tons of fun there.

Hopefully, you can tune in during the week as well as enjoy the service that we're about to jump into.

So I'll see you right after.

Well, good morning and welcome to Menlo Church.

Why don't you stand with me?

We're going to begin our morning just worshipping the Lord this morning.

My name's Allison, if we haven't met.

I'm the worship leader here, and I'm just looking forward to singing with the Church of God this morning.

So would you sing along with us?

Things, blessing the Lord.

Love the supplement, the Father who knows.

The King of creation is with one voice.

We sing of the greatness of God, the greatness of God.

Come worship the Lord, and they sound.

The Spirit is here.

There is joy in this house.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice with the song of praise, the song of praise.

Is the Lord of the song who's mighty to save.

Father who knows the right name.

The King of creation is in the midst of.

So with one voice, we sing of the greatness of God, the greatness of God, the greatness of God, the greatness of God.

Thank you, Jesus.

Oh, would you sing this together with me?

Praise God from all blessings flow.

Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Praise God from all blessings flow.

Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

We praise Jesus.

Sing this with me.

Who else rocks?

Cry out to worship.

Who else rocks?

Cry out to worship.

Whose glory taught the stars to shine?

Perhaps creation longs for a world, but this joy is mine.

With a thousand holy glorias, we magnify your name.

You alone deserve the glory, the honor, and the praise.

For Jesus, this song is forever yours.

A thousand holy glorias, a thousand more.

Who else without for our redemption?

Whose resurrection means our rights?

There is in time and thought to sing of all you've done, but I have eternity to try.

With a thousand holy glorias, we magnify your name.

You alone deserve the glory, the honor, and the praise.

For Jesus, this song is forever yours.

A thousand holy glorias, a thousand more.

Who else without for our praise?

For Jesus, this song is forever yours.

To the Lord, to the Lamb, to the King of Heaven.

Praise for heroes, for now heroes.

We will sing forever.

We will sing forever.

We will sing forever.

Even we will sing that.

Descend the glory, be honored and the praise.

For Jesus, this song is forever yours.

A thousand holy glorias, a thousand more.

Amen.

You go ahead and have a seat.

Welcome to Menlo Church.

My name is Mark.

If we haven't had a chance to meet yet, I'm so glad you're here.

Whether you are a long-time part of our Menlo Church community or you're here for the very first time, thank you for having the courage to show up in a new space.

Maybe you don't know all the songs, but we're so glad that you are here.

We hope we can be a blessing and help you in your life and your spiritual journey.

I want to encourage you that we've got these connect cards that are virtual.

You can scan the QR code in front of you, just let us know you're here.

Anyway, we can serve you, questions you have, ways you'd like to learn more about Menlo, get connected, just fill out that connect card.

We would love to be a part of your spiritual journey because we're all on a journey, and we all have a story.

If you think back about your story and wherever you are in faith, there are people and communities and groups and experiences that have shaped who you are today.

There are people that have helped you to understand maybe for the very first time the grace of God and just the love that He has for you.

We would love to be a part of your story.

If you're newer to Menlo Church, maybe you're looking for a next step.

The way to help make Menlo Church be a part of your story and your journey is by something called Starting Point.

We offer it two or three times a year.

It's a three-week group that meets on Tuesday evenings.

Dinner is provided.

There's a wonderful meal conversation around tables, and it's the best way we have to learn more about who Menlo Church is and ways to get connected and just some of the opportunities that might be in store for you here.

So if you're looking for a next step with Menlo, I encourage you to sign up for Starting Point starting Tuesday, September something.

Whatever that Tuesday is, maybe it's the 12th.

I don't know, the date just escaped me, but it's coming up.

So go online to menlo.church/startingpoint, and I would love to see you there.

The next week also marks the beginning of a new season in our student ministries.

We're going to have at every Menlo campus two different programs, one for middle schoolers that's going to start at 11:30 a.m. every Sunday at our student center over at the corner here at University and Santa Cruz.

At every other campus, if you're watching, it'll be right there.

Same thing, middle schoolers at 11:30 a.m. are back to school bash, and our high school ministries will start out at four o'clock next Sunday.

Students, we are so glad you are part of our community.

If you are a middle schooler, if you are a high schooler, you're not just the future of the church, you're the now of the church.

You're leading, you're volunteering.

Some of our students are with our kids' ministry right now already serving and volunteering.

But we want every student in our community to know that there is a God who loves them, who has a plan for them, who can work in them and through them to make this world a better place in the name of Jesus.

So pray.

If you don't know a middle schooler or high schooler, just be praying for that ministry.

If you do, nudge them to show up at church next weekend.

Another way we can all support student ministries is through our offering.

If you're a guest, just don't worry about it.

No pressure at all to give, but if this is your church home and you give, whether it's online, by text, cash, check, whatever it is, you are helping support students and their leaders and the ministries that help them build a foundation for the rest of their lives that they can stand firm on.

So thank you for the ways that you invest in the next generation.

Well, let me pray for us.

I'll pray some words, but God knows all of our hearts.

He knows what every single one of us needs, and He listens to what's going on in each heart.

But as I pray, pray yourself silently, and then we'll get into today's message.

Gracious God, we pause for a moment in the service of worship in the midst of our busy schedules and lives, maybe rushing to get to church this morning.

God, we just pause and ask that you would quiet our anxious minds and our busy thoughts and our divided hearts, and that in this moment you'd help us to reset our eyes, our gaze on you, you who are our Father in heaven, that you reign on the throne and that you are with us and that you love us.

God, as we gather here, we pray for this world.

There are needs, so many, too many to name, from storms and war and violence and injustice.

God, you see it all.

We know it breaks your heart, and we pray that you would work through your Spirit and through your people, your church here and around the world, to seek justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with you, our God, and to lead people into a life-giving, transforming relationship with you through Jesus, our Savior.

And now, God, help us to hear what you desire to speak to each one of us today through your word and through this message we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Prayer can often feel like either a formula to follow or a confusing path to pursue with God.

Sometimes finding the right time or even the right place to pray can make it even harder for us to spend time with God.

But just like Jesus' earliest followers asked him, we can ask God to teach us how to pray.

Well, good morning, Menlo Church.

So glad that you've chosen to spend a part of your weekend with us, whether you're joining us at one of our Bay Area campuses or you're watching online.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I hope that God uses this series to maybe pull back the curtain on a subject that can feel pretty overwhelming if you look deeply into it.

Last week, Cheryl kicked off the series on prayer that I hope you've been thinking about over the course of this week.

See, prayer really is an invitation to an actual, not just a transactional relationship with God.

It can feel really overwhelming if you think about what we're actually doing in prayer, but the good news is that Jesus gives us a model of how to begin to understand how we might pray most effectively.

Now, we call this model the Lord's Prayer, and Jesus' disciples asked him how to pray.

Before Jesus dives into the model, he begins with a list of how not to do it, really a preamble to this prayer.

The reason that Jesus does that is because our motives often measure the impact and effectiveness of our prayer and sometimes how we think about God.

In the Lord's Prayer, this thing that churches often recite, including us, as sort of a regular pattern to remind us of how the Lord's Prayer works, the reason that we do that is for a reminder.

But it's bigger than that.

It's bigger than just this thing we say over and over again.

It's something that we can pattern our prayer lives after.

Over the course of this series, that's exactly what we are going to learn to do together, including today.

But before we get started, I'm going to pray for us.

If you've never been here before or never heard me speak, I pray kneeling, and the reason that I do that is actually really present in the passage that we're going to look at today, where we remember how big and how powerful God is, that whatever you brought into today, God can handle it.

That God is transcendent; he's bigger than you can imagine, and he's imminent; he's closer than you can possibly dream.

So right now, would you pray with me wherever you are?

God, thank you.

Thank you that we really do believe that you hold the whole world in your hands, that there is nothing we face today or this week in our lives that is too big for you and nothing that we face that's too small for you to care about or pay attention to.

Help our hearts overflow with gratitude that as we think about approaching you, we know that God, you love us.

It's in Jesus' name. Amen.

So this week, I went to Colorado, met up with some pastors that I've known for a little while, and we had a chance to dive in.

If you didn't know this, that's where our family most recently lived, was Colorado, before moving to California, and it's been eight months since I've been back.

There was something that is really easy to forget when you've not been in Colorado for a little while, and that is altitude.

It's a big deal, right?

When you live there, you forget because your body gets acclimated to it.

But here's the thing: when you don't normally live there and someone picks you up, good friends, when they pick you up, they have like a bottle of water waiting for you.

If you pick someone up from the airport who does not spend any time at altitude, it's actually kind of a high-pressure scenario.

You're like, "Start drinking this bottle of water right now," and a little bit of you is like, "What did you put in this bottle of water? Why do you need me to drink it?"

There's a whole industry, actually, of products for tourists going to altitude.

They sell cans of air, which I always thought was hilarious because I think empty cans also have air in them.

But it's a whole industry of basically just trying to help people not be uncomfortable when they are at altitude, ways to avoid pain.

Now, I knew that part of my time in Colorado was going to be doing some active stuff, one activity in particular I'll talk about.

So I wanted to get a couple of early runs in once I got there to get my body reacclimated to the altitude.

Wow, even after just eight months of not being there, you could really feel that altitude change.

You probably know this, but the reason for that is this thing: you have to get a whole altitude sickness.

See, the higher that you go, the less oxygen there is at that altitude.

You have to condition your body to take in and hold more oxygen than when you're at sea level.

Thankfully, I was able to get through the runs, not super fast, but I got through them, and I was able to do that experience we'll talk about.

But I'm so glad that I knew it was coming.

I'm so glad that I could calibrate my mindset and my pattern of choices so that when that day got there, I was ready for the day.

The thing is, when I talk about the posture of prayer, I'm not talking about the way some of us maybe learned to pray.

Right?

I have little kids in my home, and our youngest in particular, he prays.

Maybe you've seen this before, right?

Knees clenched, fists, eyes closed tight as possible, like talking to God as though if you open, Jesus is going to be right there and mad to see you.

Like, "Close your eyes!"

You know, I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about the heart posture, the attitude that we approach God with in prayer.

So we can sit, we can stand, we can have our eyes open, we can have our eyes closed, we can kneel or not.

It's actually about what's going on on the inside.

God just wants to talk with you.

In the first few lines of this famous model of prayer that Jesus provides, we will learn that our altitude in prayer shapes our attitude with God.

That the more we understand the gravity of who God is, the greater we can have an attitude that submits to and understands God's will in our life.

Some of us, we can miss the subtle shift of our attitude with God, and then we wonder why we never pray.

I think the hard part is you do what you want to do.

We all do what we want to do.

So it may not be that you don't want to pray; maybe that's not fair, but you want to do something else more.

That's why you're not praying.

Maybe for you, your life has become so busy that there are so many things you want to do.

It has created a hierarchy, and praying just isn't near the top of the list.

The first part of the Lord's Prayer that we're going to see that Jesus shares with us as it relates to how we maybe reframe how we think about prayer is to remember reverence.

Now, reverence is a word we don't use in our normal routine, and even if I wanted them to, my kids are not interested in showing me reverence, right?

There just aren't a lot of contexts in our world where that shows up the same way.

But as Jesus is sharing this with his disciples, it would have been kind of second nature, especially with their Jewish background.

They understood the nature of God was vast and powerful, what is sometimes called transcendent.

They understood that the nature of God was bigger than anything they could possibly imagine.

One of the most quoted passages in the Hebrew Scriptures comes from the book of Proverbs, and it shows up over and over again, and it's that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

That reverence is core to what it means to understand God.

It's not talking about phobia or unhealthy avoidance of a God who's angry or annoyed with you; it's about a reverent approach, understanding who God is and who you and I are by contrast.

Jesus wanted to make sure his disciples remembered that this is at the beginning of all of our prayers.

This is the model that we remember who God is and how powerful he is.

In the midst of that, Jesus says this: he says, "Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."

Jesus starts by sharing where our heavenly Father is located.

He's doing this not because God is limited to heaven, that that's like his physical spot.

God is omnipresent; he exists in all places at all times forever.

This is about authority and power.

We know this actually; we talk about it just the way that someone would say about someone that was president at the time.

They might say that person is in the White House.

They're not referring to the idea that that's where the person is at the moment; they're describing that person's position.

They're telling you that person's power.

It's the same idea about God.

It's about authority and power, just the way that someone might say that about the president.

That's what Jesus is talking about in prayer.

Even the idea that we pray to our heavenly Father, that might be difficult for you.

For me, I had an abusive father, and so this idea that God as Father was very confusing because the only father that I ever knew was a pretty bad one.

The only thing he ever did with his power seemed like was hurt people.

It's when I was little and somebody told me I had a heavenly Father, I was like, "One feels like enough!"

One of my favorite pastors and authors is A.W. Tozer.

He's a mid-20th century pastor who puts complex ideas in very simple language.

If you struggle with this idea of a heavenly Father who is very different than your experience, if that's not the way you grew up, then consider these words from Tozer:

He says, "An infinite God can give all of himself to each of his children.

He does not distribute himself that each may have a part, but to each one he gives all of himself as fully as if there were no others."

Think about that.

If you really were the only person, God's love for you would be no greater.

And if the world had ten times the number of followers of Jesus in it, he would love you no less.

His love is infinite and personal, vast and accessible, transcendent and imminent.

And that's a God that's worth being reverent of.

See, our biggest clue to this reverence is actually in the word "hallowed."

It's another word that I'm guessing didn't show up in your normal vocabulary this week but has deep impact if we allow it to.

The word that we translate it from in the original language is about how perfect God is, and because of that, there's this honor that we should naturally extend to him.

For the Jewish people, it was hardwired into who they were.

The third commandment was not to take the Lord's name in vain, and for us, here's what we think that means: that means don't use God's name as like a swear word or don't say it when you're angry.

But for them, it was much, much bigger than that.

See, vanity in their context had this idea where it extended the sense in which you and I used God's name without the reverence and honor that it deserved.

This was such a big deal that the original name that God gives himself in the Hebrew Scriptures was written without vowels, and the reason it was done so was so that it couldn't be pronounced.

It was actually supposed to function that way.

There were all sorts of traditions around that specific name of God so that people would approach God with the appropriate respect.

That was all in place to avoid taking God's name in vain.

See, the thing is to prevent altitude sickness in our faith, it takes a posture of humility, and that's not about thinking of yourself less; it's about understanding how much bigger and more powerful God is, and then that part will take care of itself.

We don't approach God without understanding who God is and how big he is.

In this model of Jesus, it's where it starts on purpose.

The attitude or the activity, rather, that I did some of the events for last week in Colorado is actually called the Manitou Incline.

Manitou Incline is less than a mile hike, but it has over 2,000 feet of vertical increase.

Yeah, if you finish at 8,590 feet above sea level, some of you are like, "I didn't know that height existed!"

Right?

It's a beast.

From the bottom, you actually can't see the top, and it's only 0.8 miles.

There's no way to start this journey without a little bit of reverence for the magnitude of what you're about to try, especially if you don't live at the altitude anymore.

I'm telling you, as we journey through Jesus' model of prayer that he gives to his disciples, I want to carve out time for you to experience the components that he's describing.

Just like that idea of kind of looking up and going, "Wow, this is much bigger than I expected."

I'm not just going to jump onto it; I'm going to give myself, my posture, a chance to process.

So whether you're a long-time Christian, whether you're someone who's maybe considering returning to faith, or maybe you're totally skeptical of all of this and you're here because somebody convinced you to be, I want us to pray this line together, and then I'm actually going to give you a moment to just in the quiet of your heart pray a personalized version of this sentiment of however you see God's magnitude.

So pray this line with me, and then take a moment to consider God's power and position today:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Take a moment.

You, creator of the heavens and the earth, author and perfector of our faith, the one who holds molecules together and universes in place, God, we give this time to you.

We ask that before what we want is even considered, before we would bring our problems to you, we would remember your position.

Give us that perspective anew today.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So the God over heaven and earth, the God who exists outside of time itself, who has infinite love to give to all of us and never run out or divide it, who has infinite power to call you back from the pain of your past mistakes or the failures of your current decisions, that's who we're talking to.

No matter what your journey of faith has been up to this point, sort of changes the way we think about prayer a little bit, doesn't it?

I hope it does.

Remember, our altitude in prayer shapes our attitude with God.

When God is nothing but an invisible friend, we can become very frustrated or annoyed when it feels like he is powerless or disinterested in helping us.

But that is so far from the truth of who God reveals himself to be.

The second part of our posture in prayer is to understand that our prayer, your prayer, my prayer, our prayer is for God's plan.

When we follow the pattern that Jesus is setting for us, we want to go before God with our laundry list of requests, and we'll get there.

But God wants to hear those; he really does.

But before he wants to hear those, he wants our posture to shift to a plan that's bigger than ours.

It will help make the rest of our lives make much more sense even to us.

As a parent, this happens when you walk in the door, right?

Maybe for you, this is a brand new reminder that what God wants for you in prayer, you actually want the same thing, which is an actual, not transactional relationship.

You walk in at the end of the day, maybe you're a grandparent, maybe this is nieces and nephews, maybe this is your kids, and your kids run up to you.

Before you can ask about anybody's day or what's happening that night or catch your breath or blink, you have 30 requests for fruit snacks and popsicles and Nintendo Switch time and bike rides.

Everything just sort of floods onto you, and with kids, it can be really overwhelming.

But we get it; they're kids.

That's how they think; that's where they are.

But hopefully, over time, they grow out of it, or at least they grow and evolve through it.

We should do that with God too, right?

We should, over time, understand that it's more than just about what I want in that moment.

When we remember how big God is and how much he longs for a real relationship with us, we should want to start there.

Jesus' next line, after reiterating the magnitude of God's power and prestige, is that we pray with this as our model:

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Notice whose kingdom we are praying for.

Spoiler alert: not yours.

We all want to pray for our kingdom—our kingdom at work, our kingdom at home, our kingdom with friends.

We all want to pray for our kingdom, but there is nowhere in the model of prayer that Jesus gives us through his disciples in which we are instructed to pray for our kingdom.

Let that sink in for a minute.

It makes sense when you think about it.

As a matter of fact, we're told that we're vapor; we are here in the morning and we're gone in the morning.

According to Jesus' baby brother, we are mourning dew, and our kingdom disconnected from God, a me-shaped kingdom, isn't worth praying for.

It's a bad investment.

You might have a huge bank account, an amazing house, a beautiful family, an impressive resume, terrific friends, patents in your name, but they will fade away if they are in service of any kingdom other than God's kingdom because those kingdoms are all temporary.

As a matter of fact, in the chapter before the Lord's Prayer, Matthew, who's writing this account of Jesus' life, records Jesus talking about the difference between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God.

God's kingdom is an upside-down kingdom; it doesn't make any sense to us.

So as we pray for God's kingdom to come, remember what you're praying for.

These are the ideas that Jesus talks about: the poor in spirit who will inherit the kingdom, those who mourn that will be comforted, the meek, those who have power under control, who will inherit the earth, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness that God will satisfy, those who are merciful that will receive mercy, those who are pure in heart that will see God, the peacemakers, the persecuted for righteousness' sake.

When we pray for God's kingdom, that's what we're praying for—little slices of the eventual eternal reality into this moment, into where we are today.

The reason is because that's what God actually desires; that's how God made his kingdom to work and flourish even in this broken world.

The enduring and eternal kingdom of God will outlast your and my little legacy on our own.

Can you see why Jesus wants to start there?

None of us are in this room, none of us are watching online, none of us are part of this Jesus movement if there weren't men and women who were committed to a kingdom that was bigger than ours for century after century, millennia after millennia.

Think about that kind of kingdom being ushered into our social media feeds, into our school pick-up lines.

We need some Jesus in those lines.

I've experienced our coffee stations at work, our neighborhood parks, our local communities, our politics—God help us.

That's what we're praying for.

We're saying, "God, your kingdom come, your will be done."

Just in case we weren't sure what he meant, Jesus finishes with that exact line: that it should be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This one might seem redundant, but I think a lot of times what God does is he helps us think about something big picture and then he narrows it into our individual lives.

We want the kingdom of heaven on earth; we really do.

If we knew what it was, the hope of heaven into the hearts of our world, we really want that.

We want justice shaped like Jesus; we want mercy shaped like Jesus; we want hope shaped like Jesus.

But not only in a general sense; we want the kingdom in our hearts and lives, in our own decision-making frame.

Jesus is offering his prayer, but he also prays this prayer that he's teaching his disciples, that he's teaching you and me by the power of the Spirit of God thousands of years later.

He actually prays this prayer to his heavenly Father on the night that Jesus would be arrested and eventually crucified for our sin.

We see this unfold.

He says, "Then he said, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.'

And going on a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.'"

He tells his disciples to keep an eye on him because of how sorrowful he had become, and this prayer that he asked the heavenly Father is the same idea that he had just taught his disciples to pray.

See, the thing that he's asking the heavenly Father, that one God in three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—from before the world was even made had a plan that would require Jesus' perfect life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection to offer salvation to all of mankind.

Jesus, the night that he would be betrayed, facing what was about to happen, says, "Father, is there a different option?"

If Jesus himself has to pray this prayer, don't you think that you and I probably need to as well?

He says, "Father, if there's a different option besides the cross, can we do that option?"

But then he says what all of our prayer should say: "Nevertheless, this is what I want, but it's what you want, God, that I'm ultimately praying for."

He finishes his prayer with the posture that he was telling his disciples and telling you and me to have: "Not my will, but yours."

That's what we pray for when we pray God's kingdom first.

When we ask for heaven on earth, we surrender our will to God's.

Now, for some of us, praying for God's will to be done is hard because we don't know what we're praying for.

But for others, we actually do.

We know what God wants us to take a step towards.

We know that in relationship with him, maybe he's asking us to take a step towards generosity or community or faithfulness or forgiveness.

There is some spiritual blockage that you know God wants you to take a step towards, and so really your prayer is about courage to do it.

For some of you, God's will is about what you need to change because you know it isn't in line with the kingdom that he's calling you to.

Praying for God's will being done in you might start with you paying your taxes or being honest at work or being honest at school or getting help with that unhealthy addiction that has held you, and nobody knows about it, but you're not going to figure it out without support.

That climb I told you about—2,000 feet of vertical gain—it sounds like a lot, but actually, it's almost 2,800 physical steps, and they're all different, different sizes, different depths, and you're getting really high.

You remember being at the base looking up the incline and not being able to see it, but you remember the magnitude.

But as you're taking each step, you're only looking at the next step because if you look too high at that altitude, it'll be very easy to fall.

One step at a time; that's all you can think about; that's all you can do in that experience.

I think one step at a time is the only way that you and I can follow God and pray that the kingdom of heaven might show up in our life through our prayer, asking God to reveal the next step.

Maybe he's giving you a vision or he's giving you clear steps of what it might look like years from now, but today we're saying, "God, right now, what would you have me to do?

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

We're going to ask that right now.

God, would you show us that today?

What does it mean for me to take that step with you, with that big God that we honor in our approach?

Would you pray these words with me?

Once you pray them out loud, take a moment and let God show you where your kingdom and his kingdom have diverged and what the right next step is for you to bring them back together.

Pray these words with me:

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Take a moment.

From the headlines that we can so easily scroll past about the brokenness of our world to the decisions that we wish we could go back and make differently to the obstacles that are on our calendar that we don't see but you do, God, would you help us that your kingdom would come, your will would be done right now, right here, as it is in heaven?

Local parties aside, preferences aside, conflict aside, God, help us to be people who faithfully follow you in every place you place us.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Now think about this: we're only two verses into this prayer, just a handful of words, and Jesus has already unlocked power and clarity in this invitation to an actual, not just transactional relationship.

That's the point of prayer.

Now, where the incline and the point of prayer is that I got to the top of the Manitou Incline, and you take the self-easy, do all that stuff.

This side of heaven, there are only false summits for you and me in our climb of following Jesus, so we are always just partway on our journey, which is why we always want to do this together.

We always want to be locked in with other people in relationship, and if you're not, let this be an invitation to take that step.

Maybe for you, you've been wondering about how much you're really going to re-engage with your life group this fall, and I would just encourage you to do it.

It would make all the difference.

Or maybe it's been a little while; maybe through COVID that kind of dropped off for you, and it's time to re-engage.

This is not enough; a few minutes sitting in a row is not enough for the kind of relationship of taking these steps that God wants you to have.

You weren't made to do this alone.

Now, there's one more prayer that I want to help you pray as we pursue God's will today, which is oftentimes for us not always clear.

When we pray for God's will, sometimes we're not sure what we should be praying for.

Sometimes we're like, "Okay, am I in the right place?

Should I live?

Am I working the right job?

Do I have the right person in my life that I'm supposed to be with?"

Right?

Those questions often require a lot of discernment and a lot of patience.

We want quick answers, but God has a slow process for us in giving those answers.

But there are moments in the Scriptures where we are very, very explicitly told what God's will is, and we can pray for that, and we can choose to walk into that.

Actually, one of those is written down by Peter, who's one of the first-century church leaders who followed Jesus, and he's reflecting on why God is holding back the end of the world.

He tells us why God is waiting to usher in the next era of eternity.

Everybody kind of sits up; they're like, "Why?"

You know, I've asked that same question.

This is an answer.

He says, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance."

Did you catch that?

Why hasn't the end of the world come?

Yeah, it's because God loves humanity so much that he would send his Son to live a perfect life 2,000 years ago, to die in our place, and to come back from the dead so that we could know him forever.

Who is we?

Peter is saying this is the perfect heart of God.

The perfect heart of God is, "I want to give you as much time as possible so that no one should perish."

So as you pray for God's will to be done, who are you praying would not perish but instead would repent, turn from their way, their kingdom to God's kingdom, from their work to get to God to God's finished work to save them?

Throughout this series, I would just encourage you to pray for open doors of relationship to that person in your life, for an increased burden of that person in your life who needs to hear the good news of Jesus in their life.

After this series, we will do a series called "Exploring God," where we will hopefully help you have a place with one more service at all of our campuses to invite a friend to sit next to you, and you guys can have a faith conversation and other opportunities, hopefully, that make this just one more step to see his kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

It should tell us something that two weeks into this series on the model of Jesus that he gave us for how to pray, we haven't even gotten to what we often, or I often, use prayer for.

But that's the thing.

See, God wants to be so much more than a cosmic vending machine for you and me.

As we finish, let's pray just one more time that God might transform our hearts, that prayer really genuinely could be a vehicle to an actual relationship, not just a transactional one.

Would you pray with me?

God, all of us carry things into this room—things that in our lives we had convinced ourselves that they would just get fixed, our life would be all better.

God, all of us have weight that we are anticipating and waiting for for the week ahead, and we are just convinced, God, that if you would show up this way and do it exactly this way, everything would be all better.

But God, would you remind us that as we begin any prayer, that we would be reminded of how big you are, how powerful you are, and that God, ultimately, as we come before you remembering how big and powerful you are, there is a will and a kingdom that is upside down to the one we live in.

Help us as people who are finding you and following you that we might surrender our lives and our will to you.

It's in Jesus' name. Amen.

You stop for the world.

We want to see people who age Jesus.

Does a kingdom is simple?

Teach it to us.

Your kingdom is humble, as humble as death.

Your king is a Savior who gave his last breath.

So may we die daily, I'm pray to rest.

The kingdom is humble; the broken arm rest.

I don't—we stand together and sing these words.

Hallelujah, hallowed be your name.

May we live and breathe your praise.

Hallelujah, the all creation say, "Oh, the King of Heaven, break, oh, he reigns."

Your kingdom is coming; your kingdom is here, alive in our king and working our teams.

So come to us quickly, forever our friend.

Your kingdom is coming; Lord Jesus, come.

Hallelujah, hallowed be your name.

May we live and breathe your prayer.

Hallelujah, the all creation say, "Oh, the King of Heaven, rest."

Is she raised?

Your kingdom is backwards; it flows in reverse.

What you call a stranger, this world calls a curse.

The small become greater; the last become first.

Your kingdom is backwards; teach us to serve.

As it is with your kingdom, let it be with your church.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Will be your all, the King of all, the field on everything, on the King of all, the King of everything.

Go ahead and have a seat.

We're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper together.

If you're watching online, feel free to grab a piece of bread, cracker, some juice, water, whatever, and participate with those of us who are here in person.

Hopefully, you picked up one of these little vials with a wafer on one side, juice on the other.

If you didn't on the way in, just raise your hand, and somebody from our hospitality team will make sure we get one to you.

You don't have to be a member of Menlo Church, but if your faith is in Jesus, if you trust in him, you're welcome to participate in the Lord's Supper.

This bread and this juice, as we're talking about prayer, are a powerful sign of what God has done.

The bread, broken; the cup poured out reminds us that Jesus made it possible for us to enter into a life of prayer with God.

That he paved the way that we can speak directly with our Creator and that he hears our voice because of what he did for us on the cross.

But more than that, this cup and this bread, just as when we eat it, it literally breaks down and gets built into our bodies when we participate in communion.

It is a sign that God is in us and with us, as we are followers of Jesus, transforming and healing and cleansing and renewing us day by day, moment by moment.

The night that he was betrayed, Jesus was gathered in that upper room with his friends.

He took bread, gave thanks to God, and he broke it, and he said, "This is my body given for you.

Eat, do this in remembrance of me."

I encourage you to take the container that you picked up and just turn it upside down and peel off the bottom.

And then we have a little wafer in there, and let's eat this together.

This is the body of Christ, broken for you.

And after supper, Jesus took the cup; he poured it.

He said, "This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for many, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

I invite you to turn the cup over and peel off the top.

And as we drink this juice, may it be a sign to you of God's forgiveness and grace lavished upon you through Jesus.

This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.

Stand together as we respond in worship to God's goodness and his grace.

Sing worthy of every song we could ever sing.

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring.

Worthy of every breath we could ever bring.

We live for you; we live for you.

Jesus, the name above every other name.

Jesus, the only one who could ever sing.

Worthy of every breath we could ever bring.

We live for you; we live for you.

Sing holy, and holy, there is no one like you.

There is nothing beside you.

Open the eyes and wonder.

Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in love to those around me.

Sing the name of Jesus.

Jesus, the name above every other name.

Jesus, the only one who could ever sing.

Worthy of every breath we could ever bring.

We live for you; we live for you.

Holy, and holy, there is no one like you.

There is nothing beside you.

Open the eyes and wonder.

Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in love to those around me.

As we save these next words about how we build my life upon enough, I invite you to a posture of prayer just right here in your hands in front of you.

And until lift, lift these words, "So Lord, as your prayer today, as we worship and as we lift his name, raise his name."

Sing the name of Jesus, and I will build my life.

And I will build my life upon your love.

It is a firm foundation.

I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not be shaken.

And I will build my life upon your love.

It is a firm foundation.

I will put my trust in you

1. "To think as prayer is not as something that's a formula or something that should be words that were repeated. But just a conversation and a relationship they were trying to have with God." - 04:16

2. "And I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone. And I will not be shaken." - 01:04:11

3. "So that we can hope our brain is to be loved by the father who's the Lord of the roll. He's mighty to say father who knows the right name, the king of creation." - 07:08

4. "You got all the time in the world for me. I found where I belong, hearing your loving arms. I'm running home. You see that I'm invited. You tie your heart to my. You choose me every time. I'm not alone." - 01:00

5. "And wherever life takes you, whatever challenges, experiences, meetings, whatever it is that you're headed into this week, go in the knowledge that God loves you, that God delights to hear your voice when you go to Him in prayer." - 01:04:11