Alright, turn with me to Matthew
chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Verse 9 says, After this manner, therefore,
pray ye. Our subject for this Bible study
is going to be true prayer. True prayer. Prayer is our tangible connection. It's our tangible communication
to our God. Matthew Henry said, prayer is
a letter sent from earth to heaven. We're talking to our God. Isn't
that wonderful? Prayer is one of the greatest
things, if not the greatest thing that we tangibly possess here
on this earth. And yet prayer is usually our
last resort. Isn't it? It really is. True, true, deep prayer is precious. It's a precious thing. It's a
life preserver when we're drowning in our sin, and we're going to
talk about sin now, and we're going to talk about sin later. When we're drowning in our shame,
and our guilt, and our misery, and our humiliation, That's when
the Lord allows us to desperately cling to real, fervent, sincere
prayer. How many times is this so convicting? How many times have we sat down
at a meal and given thanks for the food and just offered lip
service to our God? Man, that convicts me. That convicts
me. I pray a lot now. As a pastor,
I pray a lot. And that convicts me. Look at
verse 7 right here in Matthew chapter 6. It says, But when
ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think
that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Isn't that
convicting? Convicting. How many times have
we been called on to pray in public? Somebody say, you know,
before the service starts, I'm going to ask you to pray. I'm
talking to me, myself. And how many times have we rehearsed
something in our minds so that we could say something that sounds
good to everybody? That's conviction, isn't it?
Look at verse 5. It says, 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." Sounded good. Everybody patted him on the back
and they have their reward. But in the goodness of God, in
the mercy of God, how many times has He allowed us, as verse 6
says, to enter into our closet the closet of this body how many
times has he allowed us to enter into our own heart really enter
into our own heart shut the door of our mind and just cry on him really just
cry on him You know what I'm talking about? You know those
times? Have uninterrupted communication
with Him. That painful, painful time is
the most precious thing that we have on this earth. It really
is. Now this same account is recorded
in Luke, and there it says, one of His disciples said unto Him,
Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us how to pray. And do you know how he does that? He lets us get a good, good glimpse
of our sin. That's how he does it. When we
see that, we start praying. We really start praying. For they asked Him, Lord, teach
us to pray. How should we pray? And I am
so, so grateful, so grateful to the Lord for the
way He told us to begin our prayer. He said, when you're down and
you're hurting and you're miserable and you're depressed over your
sin, He didn't say, He did not say, you pray, oh great judge
of the earth who kills sinners and is angry with the wicked
every day. Even though that's true, he didn't
say that. He said, you begin by taking
great comfort in saying, our Father who art in heaven. Isn't that amazing? Amazing. Lord, how should we pray? He
said you begin by remembering the fact that you've been adopted
into the family of God. Start right there. He said you begin by remembering
the fact that you have not been cast out. And you're not going
to be cast out. You begin by remembering the
fact that He has prepared a place there in heaven for you. You begin by remembering that
He's given you an inheritance that cannot be taken away, no
matter how great a sinner you are. You approach Him as His
very own dear child. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. The sons of God. That's the name
reserved for Christ. You know that? The Son of God. We get to call Him the same thing
that Christ gets to call Him. Christ said, My Father. We say,
Our Father. The angels in glory don't even
get to say that. For unto which of the angels
said He at any time, Thou art My Son? This day have I begotten
thee, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall be
to me a son." Which of the angels sent you that to? Which one?
They don't even get to say that. Behold what manner of love. That's amazing isn't it? That's
amazing grace. Lord, how should we pray? Verse
9 says, After this manner therefore pray, Our Father, which art in
heaven, hallowed be thy name. Holy is your name. Holy, holy, holy is your name. We say that. We all say that
in here, don't we? Every one of us. We know that,
but we don't enter into that. Not until we get that glimpse
of just how unholy we are. It's through my violence, my
sinfulness, that I get some kind of understanding of His holiness.
You know that? I'm so glad that He is the exact
opposite of me. I can look at myself. I can look
at what I do. I can look at what I think. I
can look at how I am. I can look at how I treat my
brethren. And thanks be to God, He's the exact opposite of that. What's my name? Jacob. Sinner. What's His name? Holy. Wait a minute. He changed my
name. The Lord changed my name. I was adopted into His family. I was made to be the bride of
His Son. Hannah used to be called Mahan.
Know what her name is now? My name. I have two little girls. You know what their names are?
My name. Holy is His name. And guess what? As a child of the Father and
bride of the Son, His name is my name. Isn't that good news? Hard to believe, but it's good
news. Turn with me to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23, look at verse 6. It says, In his days Judah shall
be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Now let's go to
Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33, look at verse 16. In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this is the name
wherewith she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. His name is our name. His name is wonderful. High Lord be His name. Lord,
how should we pray? Pray as this child. Pray as a
worshiper. Holy. Holy. Holy. And I think about what you hear
today on the radio. We're on the radio down in Kingsport
and there's a guy that comes on before me and I think, this
is so unholy. So unholy. Holy. Holy. Holy. And look at verse 10 in our text,
back in Matthew chapter 6. It says, Thy kingdom come, thy
will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Pray as an obedient
servant. An obedient servant. A servant
to his royal highness. Thy kingdom come, Lord, give
us a heart to say, it is the Lord. Let him do what's in him
to do. Give us a heart to say that.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. You know, it's only when
we reach the point, that point of true prayer that we enter
into and rejoice in. Well, when we're broken down
so low that we realize we've ruined everything, I do not know
the answer and I have no idea what way I should go. That's
the time where we say, Lord, truly, Thy will be done. I don't even care what I want
anymore. Thy will be done. I only want Thy will be done. Do you know what the Father's
will is? Turn with me to John 6. John chapter 6, look at verse 39. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."
Now, here's the Father's will. This is the Father's will. Every
soul that He gave to Christ, this is His will. that Christ
shouldn't lose one of them, but should raise every one of them
up at the last day. Lord, Thy will be done. Thy will be done. Oh, we pray,
Thy will be done. As Christ came the first time
to redeem us, He died for us to pay this debt. May He come
again to raise us up at the last day. Lord, Thy will be done. Back over to our text in Matthew
6. How should we pray? Pray as children. Pray as true
worshippers. Pray as obedient servants. And
verse 11 says, give us this day our daily bread. Pray as beggars. That's how we should pray. Pray
with an open hand. A beggar. Pray with a humbled spirit. A beggar. Pray with a broken pride. I'm just a beggar. That's all
I am. A broken and a contrite spirit. He'll hear. He'll hear that.
Lord, give us this day our daily bread. We can't provide for ourselves. We haven't provided one day for
ourselves. Lord, tomorrow, give us the bread
we need for that day. Please feed us and provide for
us. But even if we go hungry, even
if we go hungry, give us the living bread, Lord.
Give us the living bread. Give us Christ lest we die. That song says bread of heaven,
bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more. That's my prayer. The Lord said pray as a beggar. All a beggar can do is ask. That's
all. Just ask. Our Lord said ask as a beggar
and you'll receive. You will receive. Pray as a child,
pray as a worshiper, pray as a servant, pray as a beggar. And verse 12 says, and forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Pray as a sinner. Pray as a sinner. Call on God
as a sinner. Lord, forgive us our debts. Lord, we're sinners. But he goes
on to say, as we forgive our debtors. He said, pray to the Father that
he would give you the ability to forgive those who sinned against
you. It takes the grace of God to do that. You know that? It
takes the grace of God to do that. My nature is totally contrary
to that. Lord, please give me the ability
to forgive those who sinned against me. Please. Turn over to chapter
18, Matthew chapter 18. Matthew 18 verse 21 says, Then
came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me? And I forgive him till seven
times. Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven
times, but until seventy times seven. Then the Lord tells a
story about a man right here in these next few verses who
owed his king 10,000 talents. And he couldn't pay. And the
man fell down and he begged the king for mercy. I can't pay. And the king forgave him all
the debt. Every bit of it. And that man went out and somebody
owed him money who couldn't pay. And the man whom the king forgave
had the other man thrown in prison. Prison. And when this king found
out, look at verse 32. Matthew 18, verse 32. Then his Lord, after that he
had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave
thee all that death, because thou desiredst me. Because you
asked me. Shouldest not thou also have
had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on
thee? And his Lord was raw and delivered
him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto
him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you
from your hearts, from your hearts, not with lip service, not I know
I'm supposed to do this, so I have to and I will. From your hearts,
forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Forgive. Lord,
give me the grace to treat others like you've treated me. Please. Please. At all costs, unconditionally. Our Father is saying, if my son
died for you, died for you, and I'm speaking to me, You forgive others. Forgive others. If Christ has not held a grudge,
neither should we. Neither should we. Let grudges
go out the window. Back to our text in Matthew 6
verse 14 says, For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
In those moments that we truly pray as a sinner, a real sinner,
it's so precious to hear the Lord say through His Word to
our hearts, I have forgiven your sin. I've forgiven it. We have been sitting here, I
sat right there for ten years. I sat in Franklin, Tennessee
for a whole bunch of years before that. And how many times have
we heard this? How many times have we heard
this? Christ has paid our debt and forgiven our sin. How do we take that for granted?
How do we take that for granted? One day, we're not going to take
it for granted anymore. We're really not. We are really
not. When we hear Him say, if the
Lord allows us to get back to that place where we see, I'm
a sinner, to hear Him say, forgive me. Oh, that's wonderful. We sin and then we hear the Lord
say, I forgave that. We sin, Lord, I'm so sorry, I'm
so sorry, I'm so sorry. I forgave that. I made an intercession
for that. Pray as a child, pray as a worshiper,
pray as an obedient servant, pray as a beggar, pray as a sinner,
and pray as a recipient of faith. Now this is wonderful. Our text, Matthew 6 verse 13
says, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for
thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen
deliver us from evil from the evil one lord we know you're
able we know you're able if you will we know you're able for
thine is. It is. You have the power and
the glory forever. We know that what God does is
forever. You know what we say to that?
Amen. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless
His Word. You dismissed.