chapter 4, the fact that we are in the month
of January, it causes me to think of things
that we as a congregation need to head into this new year with. Last year is over. Last year
is over. We are heading into a brand new
year and it causes me to want to say with the Apostle Paul,
I forget those things which are behind. It's over. I forget those things which are
behind. He said, because I want to reach
forth unto those things which are before. I want to press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We need Christ Jesus. We need Christ Jesus. We need
the presence of Christ Jesus. I tell you what this congregation
needs. What do y'all need down there? Anything y'all need? We
need the presence of Christ Jesus. We need the comfort of Christ
Jesus. We need the peace of Christ Jesus. That's what we need. We need
to grow in many ways. We are a young congregation.
We're a young congregation by way of time. Even though this
congregation was formed 18 years ago, half of this congregation
has come into it within the last one to three to five years. We're young in the amount of
time that we've been together. I look at some congregations
of people who have been together for decades upon decades upon
decades upon decades. And we're young in the time that
we've been together. We are also physically young
in age. Half of this congregation is
under the age of 30. I got out our directory and just
looked at everybody on it. Two-thirds of the other half
of this congregation is under the age of 50. We are a young congregation,
and in many ways, we need to grow. We need to grow. We need to grow in grace. We need to grow in love. We need
to grow in faith. We need to grow in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And you really think
about that. That is so true. We need to grow
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And this exhortation from our
Lord, it hits me like a ton of bricks. This really hits me like
a ton of bricks. Look at the last line of verse
2. James 4, the last few words there of verse 2, it says, you
have not because you ask not. You have not because you ask
not. Verse 2, he said, you lust and
have not. You kill and desire to have and
cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have
not because you ask not. You ask and receive not because
you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lusts. The warning to us from our Lord
is you have not Because either you ask not, either we don't
pray, and I will be the first to sadly admit I do not pray
as I should. I'm very sorry to say that as
your pastor. Lord, help me to pray. Help me
to pray. But either he is saying we just
don't pray, Or he said, you ask with lip
service. You're just going through the
motions. You're doing what you think you're
supposed to do. What are we supposed to do before
we sit down to a meal to eat? What are we supposed to do? Pray. That's what everybody, you know,
well, we have to pray. So what do we do? We pray. How often
do we pray with lip service? Or our Lord said, we ask for
the wrong motives. We pray. And man, how true is
that? How true is that? Ask Him for
the wrong motives. I want the Lord to teach me something about
asking Him in sincerity, praying in sincerity. Our Lord said,
if you ask of me, I mean really ask in sincerity, He said, you'll
receive. He said, that's my promise to
you. You ask a good thing. A good thing, not a selfish thing,
not a hurtful thing. A good thing in my name, in sincerity,
he said, I'll give it to you. You will receive it. You ask,
you will receive it. You seek with all your heart
and you'll find it. You truly knock on my door, he
says, and I'll open it to you. I'll open it to you. There are
so many things that I desire for me personally, and I desire
for us as a congregation, and a light bulb has been turned
on in my heart that we need to ask the Lord for it. We're heading
out into 2024, and we need to be asking our Lord For His blessing, we need to
be asking our Lord for many things. In Ezekiel 36, our Lord listed
all of these things that He was going to do for His people. If
you read Ezekiel 36, He said, I'm going to do this for them.
I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. He said, I will yet
be inquired of them to do it for them. He said, they are going
to ask me. They are going to say, please,
brethren, As we head into this new year, I want to encourage
us to pray. I want to encourage us to pray. I desire that the Lord would
have mercy. This is my, this is just me. I desire that the Lord would
have mercy and call out sheep from this community and that
he would add to our fold. And I'm not talking about people.
I'm not talking about numbers. I'm talking about sheep. And
if that's my desire, I need to pray for that. And if anyone else desires that
too, we need to pray for that together. We need to ask the
Lord for that. I deeply desire, let me tell
you, I'll just get a little candid with you here for a minute, okay?
Let me tell you my deepest desire for us as a congregation. It's that we might be spared
the havoc of the adversary. And I'm being so serious. And I know that's your desire
too. He will make child's play of us. You know, let us hang in there
a minute, get a little lifted up in pride. We got the new building,
we got the this, we got the that. Just give us just a minute and
he will make child's play of us. He will create a heart in
us like we don't want to have. And he will ruin us. Oh, I'm
telling you, I want this congregation to be spared the havoc of the
adversary. And I know you do too. And I'm
telling you, and Paul is telling us, and Peter's telling us, and
our Lord is telling us, we need to be praying for that. We need
to be praying for that. I desire our children to be one
of God's elect. And it's not our prayer that
makes anybody to be one of God's elect, but he said we can pray.
We need to pray, Lord, please include them and us. Please save
us. I want to personally, I want
each one of us personally and individually, and I want all
of us collectively to become grounded and settled in the truth. There's nothing more precious
than a believer, an aged believer that is grounded and settled
in the truth and not carried about with every wind of doctrine.
Well, I heard this. What about this? Well, what about
that? We need to be praying for that.
We need to be praying for that. Let's pray for that together.
The disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray. And we get two meanings
from that. Number one, teach us to do it. Teach us to pray. But number two, teach us how to pray. Teach us how to pray. And the
Lord did. He gave them instructions on
how to pray. And that's what I want us to
look at here for just a minute. And I pray this will be a help
to us, all right? Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew 6. Matthew 6. Our Lord stated first
what it is to ask amiss. He started this teaching by showing
us what it is to ask amiss, like it said in the book of James
there, that we might consume it on our own lusts. Verse five,
he said, when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets. that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward." They just love
to be seen praying in any public setting they can find. They try
to find the most public setting they can find. You know, they
want to appear to be holy before everybody. And our Lord said,
they have their reward. They have their reward by being
seen and heard of men. That's what they were, seen and
heard of men. Our Lord is saying, they're not
going to be seen and heard of me. They're seen and heard of men,
that's their reward. Verse six, but thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet. And when thou hast shut thy door,
and he doesn't literally mean a closet, he means a quiet place,
a private place, a personal place. And that's the closet of our
heart. I just prayed publicly right now. But I think the goal
of praying publicly is to enter into the closet while we're doing
it, that private place. And he said, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray
to thy father, which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in
secret, shall reward thee openly. He said, when you pray, you pray
to God the Father. There's only one person to pray
to, and that's God the Father. God the Father, verse seven.
But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do,
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."
He said vain repetitions, repeating the same thing. Not that we can't
ask for the same things continually. I do ask for the same things
continually. but just having a series of lines
that we repeat all the time, calling it prayer. He said, not
only is that not prayer, it's not anything. It's empty. It's vain. It's just vain repetition. An example of this is, let's
not teach our children to say these common chants. God is good. God is great. Let us thank him
for our food. Amen. Now I lay me down to sleep, pray
the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I awake, pray
the Lord my soul to take. It's a shame that I know that. That's not prayer, that's a vain
repetition. That's just vain jangling, empty. And it's not just empty, it's
harmful. We will harm our children by
teaching them things like that. Verse eight, he said, be not
ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what
things you have need of before you ask him. We don't have to
repeat the same thing to him 10 times. He knows what we need
before we ever ask him the first time. But to acknowledge his
hand in all things, and that's what we're doing in prayer. To
acknowledge His hand in all things, He told us to ask. And He said,
this is how you ask. When we pray, this is how we
pray. Verse nine, after this manner,
therefore, pray ye. He did not say, pray this. If we all started chanting collectively,
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That's vain jangling. That's
just a memorized chant and it means nothing. It just means
nothing. Our Lord said, after this manner,
in this way, with this heart, in this approach, Pray, and I
hope this will be impactful to us, and I hope this will teach
us something about prayer. Verse nine, after this manner, therefore,
pray ye, our Father, which art in heaven. He said, when you
pray, pray as a child to your Father. When you pray, when you
go before him in prayer, Pray as a child to your father. Look at Matthew 7. This is where
he said in verse 7, ask and it shall be given you,
seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.
For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth,
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Verse 9, he said,
Or what man is there of you whom if his son asked bread, will
he give him a stone? Or if he asked a fish, will he
give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your father? which is in heaven, give good
things to them that ask of him, your father. It worries me, and
that's an underrated word. That's an underrated statement,
but I'm just going to use that word. It worries me when I hear
people approach him as a buddy or as a coworker. Our Lord said, when you pray,
you pray as a child to your father. Pray as a child to your father.
Back in chapter six, verse nine, he said, after this manner, therefore
pray ye. Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name." He said, when you pray, you pray as a
worshiper of the high and holy God, Father, Son, and Spirit,
God Almighty. In John 4, our Lord said, the
hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth. Our Lord said, I am the truth.
For the father seeketh such to worship him. Pray as a child,
when you approach him, when we approach him, let's pray as a
child, let's pray as a worshiper, a worshiper. Verse 10, Matthew
6, verse 10, he said, thy kingdom come. Pray as a subject to the
king. That's what we need in our prayer.
We need subjection. We need subjection. We are subjects
of the high and holy king. We're not on par with him. We're not on par with him. We are subjects of the high and
holy king who is seated on his throne, and we need to pray to
him that way. When we pray, we're coming before
a throne, a holy throne. We need that. fearful remembrance. I've told you this before, but
it's been a while. Some may not have heard this.
We have a dear sister who lives in another state and attends
another congregation. And years ago, her brother, who
is not a believer, does not attend a true gospel church, he was
sick and in the hospital. And this sister of ours, this
believing sister was with her brother in the hospital. And
his pastor came to see him, who was a woman, and our sister said,
this is about the most obnoxious woman you've ever met in your
life. And after she'd been there for a while, she said, all right,
everybody, bow your heads. And then she said, God, it's
me. And our sister said, the thought
went through my head, get me out of here before lightning
strikes this place. Hold your place right here and
go to Psalm 95. Psalm 95 verse 1 says, Oh, come,
let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence
with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For
the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. In his hand
are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is
his also. The sea is his and he made it
and his hands formed the dry land. Verse six says, Oh, come
let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord,
our maker. That's prayer. That's how we
approach him in prayer, kneeling as subjects before our King,
the high and holy King. Go back to Matthew 6. Verse 10 says, thy kingdom come,
thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Thy will be
done. Thy will be done. As you wish. You ever heard that statement?
As you wish. As you wish. Pray as a servant of the master. A humble servant, a happy and
willing servant. Not as a slave. But as a bond
slave, a bond slave, what's a bond slave? You'll enjoy this. Hold your place again and go
to Exodus 21. Exodus 21 verse 2 says, if thou
buy an Hebrew servant six years, he shall serve. And in the seventh,
he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he were married, if he came
in with a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. If his
master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or
daughters, the wife and her children shall be her masters, and he
shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go
free. Then his master shall bring him
unto the judges. He shall also bring him to the
door or unto the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear
through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever." Not as a
slave. Being forced to be there. He's
not forced to be there. He's a bond slave, desiring and
wanting to be there. He's a willing, happy servant. of the master. He's free to go,
but he doesn't want to. The question is put to him, will
you go away? He says, to whom else can I go?
I love you. I'm staying right here. Let's
pray to him like that. Lord, you're our master. We're
your willing servants. Go back to Matthew six. Verse 11 says, give us this day
our daily bread. Pray as beggars. Pray as beggars. We don't make our demands to
Him. Do you ever catch yourself? Do you ever realize mid-prayer,
wait a minute, I'm making demands here. We don't make our demands
to Him. We don't state our expectations
from Him. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. Go ahead, I'm thinking about
not having you turn, but just do it. Go to Matthew 15. Matthew 15, look at verse 21. Then Jesus went thence and departed
into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I'm
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshiped him saying, Lord, help me. But he answered
and said, it is not meat to take the children's bread and to cast
it to dogs. And she said, truth, Lord. Yet the dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. That's how we come to him. That's
how we approach him. We're beggars. Lord, I'm a beggar. And if you would just let some
crumbs fall from your table. We don't feed our dog scraps,
really. We have this little dog. That
poor little thing has to eat dog food all the time, all the
time. And I'm not known as the pet
person of the century, but that dog has really grown on me, and
I love her. And I was eating popcorn last
night, and she was looking at me like, I mean, every move. I'd put my hand in the bag, and
she'd follow my hand, and she'd follow it back up. I was thinking,
poor thing. And so it's time to put it up.
So I got up and I reached in there and I just let some fall
behind me. And I let some fall behind me and I let some fall
behind me. And buddy, she was on it like a dog on popcorn. I let fall some handfuls of purpose
for her. And that's what this woman's
saying. Master, if you'd just sweep some crumbs off your table,
I'll be so happy and so satisfied. That's how we come to Him. We're
beggars. We are beggars of Christ. We are beggars for Christ. We're mercy beggars. We're forgiveness
beggars. Forgiveness in the blood of the
Lamb. We don't assume on it. We beg for it. God's people don't
assume on it. They beg for it. They beg for
it. All right, go back to Matthew
6. Verse 12, he said, and forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors. In Luke's account, he
said, forgive us our sins. Debts are sins. When we pray,
we need to pray as sinners. Oh, wretched man, but I am. I am, chief. I was born a sinner. I have lived my life in this
world as a sinner, and I'm still a sinner. I'll tell you what repulses a
child of God about hearing someone who is in false religion pray. Does it not disgust you to hear
the prayer of someone who is dripping in man-centered false
religion? I don't mean to be mean. I'm
just being honest. I'll tell you what it is. I'll
tell you what repulses God's people about hearing it. They
never pray as sinners. If you want to pick up on what
it is that just you don't want to hear it, They never pray as
sinners. Never. Never. And therefore their prayer is
not heard. If we are going to be heard,
We're gonna have to pray as sinners. We're gonna have to pray as sinners.
First John 1.9 says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Verse 13 says, and lead us not into temptation. but deliver
us from evil. Lead us, lead us. Pray as a follower of him. Pray
as a follower of him. Dependent on him for our every
move. We are dependent on him for our
every move. Lord, where would you lead me
to go? What would you lead me to do? Lead us, deliver us. We're lost. without his leadership. Let's pray to him fervently acknowledging
that if he takes his hand on us, we will head straight into
temptation. Let's pray to him as the weak,
helpless vessels that we are who desperately need his protection
and his help. Verse 13 goes on to say, for
thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. He said, pray as a glorifier
of God almighty. Let's pray as men and women who
want all the power, all the honor and all the glory to go to God
almighty. in the person of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. I'll just read this to you in
closing. This is Jeremiah 9, verses 23 and 24. It says, Jeremiah 9, 23, thus saith the
Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which
exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. The Lord teach
us to pray. Amen. All right, you're dismissed.