A man said the other day, you
all know the nursery rhyme, this little piggy, this little piggy
went to the market. He said, you know, because I
was up in my 30s before I realized it, it wasn't going grocery shopping.
It was going to the market to be sold, to be butchered. If we've said, if we've talked
about prayer our whole lives, if it's the Lord's will, if he
would be pleased to let a light turn on today, and let us understand
something. Him to show us something. Most
of the world calls this here in Luke 11, the Lord's Prayer.
This is not the Lord's Prayer. Christ's high priestly prayer
in John 17. This here is instruction on praying
to His disciples, to those that follow Him. It says in Luke 11
verse 1, And it came to pass that as He was praying in a certain
place, Christ... I'm sorry, Luke 11. That'll be
our text. I'll wait for you. Luke 11, verse 1. And it
came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased...
Oh, think about that. God was speaking with God. They
saw it. They heard it. It's like some boy that was born
up in Mead House, Kentucky. This is the Almighty God speaking
to the Almighty God. And when He ceased, one of His
disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray. And John also taught his disciples. John the Baptist taught those
that followed him how to pray. Lord, we just heard you pray.
You teach us. I don't want a man teaching me. I want somebody else teaching
me. I don't want TV teaching me. I want you to teach me."
And he said unto them, when you pray, say, Our Father which art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily
bread, and forgive us our sins. For we also forgive everyone
that is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. The purpose of prayer is to honor
the Lord, to be thankful in all things. That's two weighty words,
isn't it? All things. All things. To declare our needs to Him,
to be grown in grace and the knowledge of Christ. If we truly
pray, I mean pray, not act like we're praying, not going through
the motions, if we truly pray as the Scriptures declare, Not
what we've commenced one another is prayer, what the scriptures
say. True biblical prayer, there's a great personal instruction
given to our hearts. We speak to the Lord and He does
a work in our hearts. It's for His glory and our benefit. Isn't that something? I'd like
for us to look at five things this morning. Who do we pray
to? Who do we pray? Our Lord. The king told his people, Lord,
teach us to pray. And he said, all right, here's
how you pray. He said, our hallowed Father, from the very start,
we're shown the attitude we should have when we pray. In verse 1,
those disciples, they hear Christ praying, and they immediately
realize He prays different than we do. I don't pray like that. and we need to have some instruction.
He says a lot of things different than what I say. Lord, you teach
me why you do that. Teach me how to do that. And
we see Christ begin by saying, Our Father. We're praying to
the thrice holy God in heaven. Did you know that? People are
so flippant about prayer. You know that song with Janis
Joplin? Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? What blasphemy!
You're speaking to the holy God on His throne. His name is hallowed. That means
reverend, holy, separated. Knowing it hallowed means he's
to be respected. Whenever I'd go into my father-in-law's
house, I don't kick up my feet on the kitchen table, say, bring
me a sandwich. I don't do that, do I? I come
into his house boldly. I come in there freely. I come
in there without fear because it's his home. But I don't come
in there expecting a whole bunch out of him demanding what ought
to happen in his house, do I? That's his house. That's how
we would approach God's throne of grace. Respectively. Respectfully. It says, which art in heaven? Our God's in the heavens. This
holy God isn't on this earth like we are. He's in the heavens. We're praying to the one that's
able to answer and fulfill all of our needs. In 2 Chronicles
it says, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou the God in heaven?
And rulest not thou over the kingdoms of the heathen? And
in thy hand is there not power and might, so that none is able
to withstand thee? That's where He is. Our Lord
is not only fully capable and holy, He cares for us. He's a
Father. He's not a dictator, a stoic
ruler that can't be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
We cry, Abba, Father. That's who we're praying to.
This holy God, all-powerful God that we pray to. That's a drastic
difference, isn't it? Night and day. That's why this
gospel is precious. Everybody says, oh, you just tell Jesus
your problems and then go on about your day. Put Him in a
box somewhere. This is a holy God and He's our
Father. He cares for His people. Turn
over to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5, 5, Likewise, ye younger,
submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you, be subject one
to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the
proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due
time, in His time. You see that? That's the attitude
we're supposed to approach in humbly. Casting all of your care
upon Him. Why? For He careth for you. The Almighty God of heaven and
earth, to His people, those that put in Christ before the foundation
of the earth, those that come to Him professing only Christ.
Where is your righteousness? Christ is my righteousness. Why
are you here? I'm here on the merit of another.
Are you holy? Are you sanctified? Are you set
apart? Christ is my sanctification. Are you faithful? I have no faith. I have His faith.
Christ is my faithfulness. That God that rules heaven and
earth, He cares for you. You that were put in Him, you
that have Christ revealed in your heart by work of the Holy
Ghost. None of this has to do with us, does it? That one that
came to you and showed you what you are, you ain't nothing but
sin. You drank iniquity like water.
Like a dog going back to its vomit. That's the way every one
of us are. Maggots. A friend of mine is traveling. He fills
in for people preaching. And I was on the phone with him
the other day and he was preaching to me. He told me what he saw in the scripture.
I love it when he does that. And he was taking his trash out
and he goes, oh, oh, I forgot to take a trash out last week.
He goes, there's maggots all over the bottom of this garbage
can. And it smells. And I said, he just had a little
baby girl. And I said, you go in the house,
take that baby girl and kill her for one of those maggots.
That's our gospel. A sinner is a special thing.
The Lord has to show us we ain't nothing but maggots. And that's
who it was. And that holy God, willingly,
this ain't out of somebody wrote a law before Him and He has to
do this and someone's telling Him what to do. He willfully
cares for His people. If I could get my head around
1% of that, I would walk around this town smiling ear to ear
with my chest poked out, and they'd say, California's drying
up, water's going away. I don't care, the Lord dried
the water up. Hills are on fire, that's alright. The Lord set
the hills on fire. He'll put them out if He sees
fit. He cares for His people. Look back at our text there,
Luke 11, but down in verse 11. Luke 11, verse 11, if a son shall
ask bread of any of you that is a father, will you give him
a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will you give him a serpent?
Or if he shall ask an egg, Daddy, give me an egg, I'm hungry, will
you offer him a scorpion? Nobody would do that, would they? We know better than that. If
then, verse 13, being evil. If ye then that be evil, you're
evil. Know how to give good gifts unto
your children. How much more shall your Heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? the Holy Spirit. If you're His child, you don't
want a Mercedes-Benz. You want the Holy Spirit to come
to you, to give you comfort. If you're His child, you don't
want a million dollars, and you don't want health and wealth,
prosperity, and all this other nonsense. It'd be nice if I didn't
have physical pain, if I didn't have all these things. That's
not my need. I have wants. The need is the
Holy Spirit. I need God to come to me. I need
your presence. I need you to abide with me.
I need your power to come into me and sustain me and keep me
forever. That's what they need. We come
to our father. And since he's our father, we
can come boldly and freely. However, we come respectfully,
don't we? We don't barge into his house
and start kicking over garbage cans. And we come to him in prayer
and we cast our care upon him because he is able. He cares
for his people and he is able. Once we approach the Father,
that's who we're praying to. What do we pray for? What do
we pray for? I want to look first at what
we're not to pray for. Do we repeat this prayer here
just over and over and over? Anytime you're going to pray,
you just say this, and that's it. Of course not. Matthew's
Gospel, which is a sermon on a Mount Luke's count here, we've
got Christ instructing His disciples and giving us instruction just
after we met with Martha and Mary. But turn with Matthew chapter
6, we'll look at that. Here in Matthew, here's some good instruction
on how not to pray before our Lord starts telling us how to
pray. Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, verse 5. When
thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets, that they may be seen of men." What else could
we... modern day, 2021, what's that
play? Applebee's, Facebook, texting,
Instagram, whatever the garbage is out there, the world's consumed
with. Go down there and say, let's all hold hands. People
say it real loud, so you look over at them, don't you? That's the corners of the streets.
That's to be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. Do they want the Holy Spirit
to come to them? No, they want men to see them.
Look how good I am. Look at me. Watch me pray. But thou, speaking
of his children, 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.
Don't publicly make a show of prayer, but you come humbly and
quietly. And if he sends a Holy Spirit
in abundance to you, you think it's going to be public? You
think it'll be able to tell the difference? That blind man that
got healed, he was walking different, wasn't he? He could see now.
Countenance had changed. Verse 7, but when you pray, use
not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think they shall
be heard for their much speaking. We'll just overwhelm the Lord.
I'll just keep talking until He gives in. Be not ye therefore
like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things you have
need of before you ask Him. Now Christ begins to tell them
how to pray. Verse 9, after this manner, therefore
pray. He doesn't tell us to repeat
these words verbatim over and over. He says after this manner.
Here's the template you go by. We approach the Father respectfully. When we come to Him, do we demand
things? I've seen people meet over the years for prayer groups.
I saw something on Sermon on the other day. Where did the
prayer meetings go? There's a good thought common throughout natural
unregenerated man that if we band together, we can get God
to cave in to what we want. Get all your friends together.
Here's what you pray for. Pray for this. We're going to band
together. That's not respectful. That's
a mutiny. You that are a parent, you that are a supervisor, or
you that's in any type of position of authority whatsoever, if your
subordinates all got together, they unionized, you're going to do what we tell
you. We've had enough. We'll band together. I'm not
preaching against unions, they're fine, but you get my point. God's people are not forming
committees to sway things in our favor. We bow to Christ's
holiness, to God's holiness, to His wisdom, and we mind our
mouths when we speak to Him. We know who we're speaking to.
This isn't something of our imagination. The Lord's revealed Himself to
us, and we know who we're talking to. Turn over Ecclesiastes chapter
5. I quoted this to you the other
day, but it would be good for us to read it. Ecclesiastes chapter
5. Ecclesiastes chapter 5, verse
1. Keep thy foot when thou goest
into the house of God. You come into His presence. You come before His throne. You
come into His house here. You keep your feet. Mind your
steps. And be more ready to hear than
to give the sacrifice of fools. We don't come in here haphazardly.
showing up to service, come here ready to listen, not to speak
everything that we know, because those that want to be heard more
than listened are called fools. It says, for they consider not
that they do evil. They don't think what they're
doing is wrong. Somebody comes in the house of the Lord, whether
here or up the road in a week, they're going to pop off everything
they know. They don't consider what they're doing is evil. Why
is that? They haven't been shut up for
sin, have they? Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine
heart be hasty to utter anything before God." Not just any old
thing. For God is in heaven and thou art upon the earth. Let
thy words be few. Come ready to listen, not to
speak. Look down at verse 7. For in the multitude of dreams
and many words there are also divers vanities, different vanities. If you have a prayer list as
long as your arm, vanity will surely be mixed into it. But
fear thou God. Honor the Father. Honor that
Holy One that you're speaking to. Those are some good points on
how not to pray, aren't they? What are we taught to pray? What should
we pray for? We don't come in our vanity.
We don't come in our much speaking. We don't come in our fancy words.
We don't come being seen to men. Everybody look at me. Go hide
in your closet and do it. So what should we pray for? Look
back in our text. Luke 11. There are four things
here listed in our text that we're taught to pray for. First, we're taught to pray for
the Father's will to be done. He says in verse 2, And He said
unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done, as in heaven, so in earth. Bring your kingdom, Lord. as
you see fit. There ain't a believer that's
ever lived, I don't think. I don't think this is it. We're
close. Lord's probably gonna come any day now, isn't there?
That's what Eve said. She said, you promised a man.
Here he is. There's Cain. Lord told the truth.
I'm ready for him. I ain't a believer alive, I don't
think the Lord's coming. But when His kingdom comes, He comes
as He sees fit. And let us go to glory and not
sin no more and be able to worship truly as we ought when that day
comes. What a blessing that will be
for the believer. Shed this body of death. Be done with it. Sin no more. Be conformed to
Christ. And go to the Person. Heaven. Capital H. Not kicking up gold
dust on the streets. being in communion with the Almighty
God that saved us. To be with Him. What a day that'll
be. When I go through trials on this earth, normally I spend
the bulk of my time praying for the Lord to fix whatever situation
I'm in. Lord, take this thorn from me. Lord, let this burden
be over. Let this trial end. And as He
teaches me through making me pray, giving me the faith to
believe Him, to pray to Him, the power to do it, I realized
the problem ain't the trial that's sitting in front of me. I'm the
problem. Sin in me is a problem. Not this
world, not all its issues, it's going on around us. Me, I'm the
problem. And someday when I leave this
world and I'm perfect in glory, there'll be no more tears. There'll
be no more sin. be in His presence. We want the
Lord's will to be done physically and spiritually. Believers do. When we pray for Him, Lord, Your
will be done. Physically, He knows better than we do, don't
we? He's going to heal us or He's going to put us down. He's
going to cripple us. Lord, Your will be done. And
in the hearts of other people, we pray for them. I have loved
ones that hate God. They don't come out and say,
I hate God. But what they believe, they hate God. And I said, Lord,
if it's Your will, I'll work in them. Be with them. Send Your Holy Spirit to them.
Show them what they are. Show them who Christ is. And
show them that judgment's settled. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ. Oh, what a victory message carried
through this world. It's done. What a message. Lord, if you see fit, do what
you see fit. Give us grace to praise you in
times of unbelief. We know all things work together
for our good and God's glory, but give me the strength to bow
to your wisdom. We say these words, don't we? All things work
out. Lord, let me enter into that.
Let me believe you. A preacher of old said, if a man
had the power of God, he would change almost everything. But
if He had the wisdom of God, He wouldn't change anything.
Christ is our wisdom. Everything else required to be
in His presence, we say, Lord, Your will be done. Your will
be done. When word got out that I'm a
pastor, things changed in my personal life. The way people
spoke to me, the things they asked me, the things they confessed
to me. The first thing they normally run up, tell me how faithful
they are. I was buying a hamburger. I didn't ask you nothing. I wasn't
preaching to you. I was just pumping gas. But it gives me guilt to conscience.
People come up and tell me all these things. And I have random
people, they ask me to pray for things all the time. Pray for
this, pray for that. You're a man of God, why don't
you ask God? I know who God is. And I said, pray for me. And I said, I don't think you
want me praying for you. I'm going to pray the Lord's
will is done. The Lord may open your eyes if He sees fit and
give you the grace to bow to His holy, sovereign will that
pleases Him. Well, now all of a sudden, that ain't a Mercedes,
is it? That ain't my back feeling better, is it? That doesn't suit
me. People tell me, I'm going to pray for you. I say, I don't
know who you're praying to. Just assume you didn't. We pray first. Thy will be done.
That's the first thing the Lord shows us. Secondly, we're taught
to pray for our physical needs and our spiritual needs. He says
in Luke 11 verse 3, Give us day by day our daily bread. If we
need a job, you need food, you need shelter, physical necessities,
pray to the Lord. He's the one that gives them.
He's the source of everything. We also pray for our daily fulfillment
of Christ, the living bread. God, you provided for me yesterday.
You gave me manna from heaven. I got to see Christ, His mercy
towards undeserving people yesterday. But I woke up today. I need to
see Christ today. I need to be reminded of this
gospel again today. I need to know how a man can
be just before God today. And then tomorrow, I'm going
to inquire again. I need to hear it again. Tell
me that old, old story. Tell it simply. Tell it plainly so
I can understand. It ain't got nothing to do with
me. I'm in His hand. Show me what that hand is like.
Remind me. One more time, Lord, tell me.
And I'm secure forever. Let me bow. Daily, Lord, give us a broken
heart that we can ask for mercy. And we know that you will absolutely
provide. If a man comes to God asking
for mercy, the Lord ain't going to turn him away. You come asking
for help, because you can do the other half. If you come with
a bargaining chip, quid pro quo, you give me mercy and I'll do
this. That ain't going to happen. If somebody falls on that rock
of Christ and they fell plumb and they're smushed, they're
broken, a contrite spirit. Lord, I am nothing. I'm a worm.
I'm a maggot in a garbage can. Be merciful. Lord, be merciful
to me, a sinner. I don't deserve it. That's why it's mercy. He's
faithful and just to forgive. What a thought. what I thought. Faithful to do it, willing to
do it, and he's right to do it. Why? Because if you're his, if
you're his child, you were put in Christ and Christ paid it
all. All the debt I owe. Sin left
a crimson stain and now I'm washed white as snow. That makes me
prude. People claim to be Christians
all over this nation, claim falsely, And they'll say, Christ washed
all my sins away, and would cuss you till a fly wouldn't light
on you. Tell you everything you've ever done wrong your whole life,
be mean to you, and then say, oh, well, God bless you. The Lord does work with somebody.
If He gives mercy to them, shows His love to them, that's what
they're going to come. Not what they can do or what
they know, who did it for them and who they know. The person.
The person. I told somebody the other day,
I keep saying we don't come to a doctor, we come to a person.
We're not saved by a theology, we're saved by a person. We bow
to a person. Heaven's a person. And I thought,
I'm beating that to death. I probably ought to back off
of it or reword it. And I saw an article in your bulletin from
Henry. Ain't nothing changed. You go back 2,000 years. If they
wrote articles back 6,000 years ago, it's a person. So it is. Give us this day our daily bread. Give me Christ today. Let me
see you. What's the third thing we pray
for? Our sins. It says in verse 4, and forgive us our sins. It
must mean you have some. For we also forgive everyone
that is indebted to us, everyone that sins against us. Lord, forgive
us. Lord, forgive us. You have forgiven us. Forgive
us. Lord, you have saved me. Save me. Keep them. There are folks all over this
nation, they think they can get so holy, so ripe, they're just
ready for the pickings to go to heaven. They sanctify themselves. What blasphemy. God's the Lord
of Sanctification. He's Lord of the Sabbath. Lord
of our righteousness. They're taking the place of God.
They think they get so holy, and they just quit sinning. Well,
I don't cuss no more, and I don't drink no more, and I don't walk
more than 10 steps on a Sabbath day, or whatever. Whatever they
think they're doing, they think they're getting holier and holier
and holier, and cleaner and cleaner and cleaner. And they get to
the point they just don't sin no more. Here's something for
them to ask. You can't pray for your sins to be forgiven. The
Lord told His people. He didn't tell the Pharisee.
He told His people. He said, you ask God to forgive
your sins. We pray for our sins to be forgiven. Now it says,
for we also forgive those that sin against us. That was interchangeable
with sin in the Greek there. Here's a litmus test for you
to know if the Lord's shown you what your flesh nature truly
is. If a brother or sister sins against
me, do I hold a grudge? They've done something wrong,
they misspoke, or they just flat out said something mean to me,
on purpose. Do I hold a grudge against them?
You might for a while. You still walk around in this
flesh, don't you? You can be mad, you can be tender, you can
be sore, but did you hold it? Am I shown how easy it would
be for me to commit those sins? If the Lord just took His hand
off of me for a second, I'd do much worse. Much worse. Thy will be done. Our needs I need to see Christ
again today. Our sins need to be forgiven.
That's why we need to see Christ today. Be reminded once more
who forgives them. And fourthly, to preserve us. It says, and
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Lead us. You know, we pray for
hours. Not H-O-U-R-S. Some days we do,
don't we? We pray for O-U-R-S, ours. That's inclusive. We pray to
our Father. We pray for our daily bread. We pray for the forgiveness of
our sins. And we pray for Him to lead us,
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Our prayers are
inclusive. We pray for ourselves, but we aren't selfish, are we?
We pray for our brethren. Why? We're one body, knit together. not dismembered, not cut all
to pieces and scattered to the four winds. The Lord knits his
people together, one body, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one birth. We're knit together in Christ.
We pray for our brethren's needs, those children of God that he
hasn't called yet. Now come a day, prayer is part
of fellowship. We are fellows in the same ship.
That's why we're led together in public prayer. and submit
to our hearts to the Lord, to His will, we ask Him to forgive
our sins and that our needs be met in Christ. Together. When
do we pray? Constantly. 1 Thessalonians 5 says pray without
ceasing and everything give thanks. Everything. Everything. Oh, I
wish I could remember that. A whole lot of things I ain't
happy about. I was telling somebody the other day, it's easy to look
to a preacher or a pastor and think there's something that
they ain't. I'm a man that walks this earth. I'm a sinner saved
by grace. I ain't no different than anybody
else. I got woes. I got troubles. I have times
of deep, dark depression, unbelief, and everything else. I get low.
I have to be. The Lord brings His children
down, don't He? I ain't no different. But if I could just remember
throughout the day whenever I'm just upset and mad and pouty like a spoiled
little child. I didn't get my way today. Give thanks. Give thanks. And everything gives thanks.
Always pray without ceasing. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. What happened today? What happened
on the news? Exactly what God purposed in
Christ Jesus concerning His children. Not everybody else. They can
get in a tizzy if they want to. But His people, it happened for
you. For Christ's sake, for His name's sake. Boy, that's something,
isn't it? He says, brethren, pray for us. Paul says, please,
Lord, you pray for us. The Lord puts it in your heart,
too. Pray He'll give us my needs for today. Let them see Christ. You've got a brother or sister
in a hard, heavy trial. I pray, Lord, let you see Christ
in it. What's the solution to that hard, heavy trial? Seeing
Christ. Being brought to His feet. Being
comforted. Well, they ain't comforting nothing else. seeing Him. Paul wrote in Philippians 4,
4, Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Be careful
for nothing, that means don't be a worrywart, concerned over
every little thing in this world, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding. He's peace. We don't know what
peace is unless He shows us. He's love. We don't know what
love is unless He loves us. He's merciful. We truly can't
enter into mercy unless He's been merciful to us. His peace
passes all understanding. He shall keep your hearts and
minds. Shall. Preserved. Forever. Keep
your hearts and minds. Well, that's where both the trouble
lies, isn't it? I was born with a blind, dead, black heart of
stone and my mind is the most dangerous thing that can run
free. All kinds of wicked thoughts
and craziness and everything else. Daydreaming. The Lord will
keep my mind and heart. How? Through Christ Jesus. You need cross the bread today. Do you have sins you need forgiven
today? Ask constantly. Constantly. That's on your mind. We don't
leave these things. Something's changed in the heart
of a believer. When do we pray? Or where do
we pray? We pray in the Spirit. Right where you sit. You can
pray exactly the same in a Toyota as you can a Chevy. Do you know
that? People don't think so. I've got
to put a certain robe on. I've got to physically get down
on my knees. I've got to face a cardinal direction. It's probably
in the spirit. And that dwells in you. It's
inside of you. Paul wrote to the Romans, it
said, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. Where do I pray? Well, I'm going
to pray once I get ready to do it. We ought to be prepared.
We ought to come to services ready to hear, let our heart
rates calm down some and expecting to hear from the Lord, not from
me or a man. We ought to prepare ourselves. But we hit a miss, don't we?
and the Lord makes intercession for us. We pray and the Holy
Spirit intercedes and says, here's what it means. Isn't that needful? Aren't you thankful? That's a
sweet, precious thing. Why do we pray? For the glory
of our God and the benefit of us and our instruction, that
He grows us in grace and teaches us these things. Preacher, you're
saying if God chose a people through election, and He's sovereign
in providence, He controls all things, why do you even pray?
It's called fatalism. We'll see that tonight at 6.30,
Lord willing. That's being conquered like a foreign army. That's not
willfully submitting to the Lord. The Scripture answers this for
us. God Almighty did choose the people.
He does control absolutely everything in creation, in providence, in
salvation, in eternal security. We're kept by His hand forever.
But we're made to praise Him and ask for our needs to be met.
People want to walk that line throughout eternity like we talked
about the other day of man's responsibility and God's sovereignty.
If somebody can explain that thoroughly. You got that figured
out? I laugh at them. I know these things. No, you
don't. No, you don't. The Lord said, I'm going to do
everything and you're going to willfully ask me to do it because
I gave you the power to do it. You're going to inquire of me.
Now explain that. I don't know. I believe it. I'll
bow to it. And if anybody can do that to
God, God God of heaven and earth can, can't he? He's able. He
told Ezekiel, said, Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for
this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them.
He said, I'm going to do it. That ain't going to change. It's
going to happen. But you're going to ask me to do it for you. You're
going to ask me. That's why we pray. The Lord
said he's going to put it in our hearts to pray. You see how prayer is for God's
glory and our instruction? It praises Him. It's His creation
and His people. It has to be praised. I ask for things I shouldn't.
And as I'm asking, I think, boy, that's so foolish. That's so
foolish. The Lord rules and reigns on
His throne. He's completely holy and sovereign
over everything. I'm His. My daily bread has been
met. I've been put in Christ. My sins
are forgiven. I know who's on His throne. Not
some little G-God. The Holy God. And I say, you
know what? I don't think I need these petty
things, do I? I need Christ. That's what I need. That's instructive. You submit to the Holy One, and
it teaches us. That's how the Lord grows us
in grace. Well, that sounds kind of sad, though. Yeah, the Lord
don't grow us up. He grows us down. Looks like
what man thinks, doesn't it? We're taught to pray for these
causes. For three causes the Lord teaches us to pray. The
first thing is because we do it wrong. We don't come out of
the womb praying right. James said, you lust and you
have not. You kill and desire to have and you cannot obtain.
You fight and war yet you have not because you ask not. You
ask and you receive not. We've been praying the Lord forever.
Why isn't He doing something for us? Why is He silent? That
happens. Sometimes the Word is so precious,
you don't have a vision, you don't have a sound from God.
You ask and you receive, not because you ask amiss, that you
may consume it upon your lusts. It's just for me. Not our. Our
Father. Our sins. For the whole body. For me. For me. We don't know
how to pray. We don't come in this world knowing
how to pray. We pray because we're supposed to. We're taught
to because we're supposed to be taught. I told Jeremiah, I
said, Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof, the Lord that
formed it to establish it, the Lord is His name. Call unto Me
and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things
which thou knowest not. Somebody wants true knowledge.
Call unto the Lord and He'll show you great and mighty things.
You want to know about salvation? We're all coming to an end. Call
upon the Lord and He will show you great and mighty things."
For what purpose? It says, "...therefore, like
unto them, for your Father knoweth what needs ye have before ye
ask Him." He said, I'm going to draw them to my Son. Use the
Holy Spirit to move on them, just like those waters in creation.
And we will come to Him. They shall come to Him. There
in our text, As the disciples ask in verse
1 for Christ to teach them how to pray, they said, Lord, teach
us to pray. You know what that is? Prayer. Isn't it? Lord, teach me to pray. That's
simple. That's honest. It's declaring
that He's the one that's able, that He is Lord, and declare
that I'm in need. I ain't all I think I'm cracked
up to be. I need you. And you know what?
It was fulfilled. Lord, teach us to pray. He said,
here's how you pray. I'm going to teach you right
now. Isn't that something? He says in verse 12 of John 14,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the
works that I do, shall he do also. and a greater works than
these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever
ye shall ask in my name, that will I do. And that the Father
may be glorified in the Son, if ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it." He said, He that believeth on me, the
works that I do, he shall do also. I don't pray like I ought
to. Christ prayed for me. I don't
pray when I ought to. Christ said, Lord, you hear me
always. I don't ask for the things I
ought to. He did. Read the Psalms. Wrap your mind
around that one too, huh? Anything we do, anything a person
born of Adam does is not accepted by the Father unless it was seen
through the lens of Christ's accomplished work. unless He
sees us in His Son. Because of His perfect obedience
to the law, because of His fully trust in the Father, His blood
sacrifice, and His ascension, we're made righteous, we're made
perfect in the eyes of God the Father. And in His name, being
put in Him, being made one with Him, joint heirs, that's how
we can come to that throne of grace boldly and freely. I hope that was a blessing to
you. Lord, teach us to submit to Him and to His will, to who
He is. And boy, what a blessing it is.
What a blessing. He gives us that daily bread.
One more time. One more time. He's faithful,
isn't He? He will. Let's pray together.
Father, thank You. Lord, thank You for Your Word.
Thank You for who You are. Thank you for the person and
work of Christ. Lord, let us see him one more
time today. Lord, for those that's never
seen him, that are yours, as you see fit, as you will, open
their eyes, give them light, shed light in their hearts. Lord,
and don't leave us to ourselves, the evil that we are. Keep us
as you promised you will. Lord, let us trust in your hand
and your ability and in your wisdom. Thank you, Lord. Forgive us for what we are. Forgive
us our unbelief, our doubt, and our pride, Lord. Let us come
humbly before your throne and bow. It's in Christ's name, on
His merit alone that we ask it. Amen.