Well, I just read in your ears what is known as the Lord's Prayer, but in reality, it's the disciples' prayer. The Lord's Prayer is in John chapter 17, and this is when he teaches his disciples to pray. How many, and I don't think I would be exaggerating to say billions of time, billions of times over the centuries, has this prayer been quoted by people?

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. I remember when I was in junior high, before a football game, we would quote that prayer and I was always embarrassed because I couldn't quote it. Everybody else knew it and I didn't. I hope I do now. I hope I know the meaning of it now.

Look in verse five of Matthew chapter six, when thou prayest. If you pray, but when you pray, every believer prays to his heavenly father. It's so touching throughout this passage of scripture. The Lord refers to his father as your father. It's part of a relationship that every believer has with God because of Jesus Christ. He's our father. He's not everybody's father. He's only father to believers.

Remember when he said to the Pharisees, you're of your father, the devil and the lusts of your father, you will do. Those are scary words, but true nonetheless, not everybody can say he is their father, but every believer can. I love when the Lord said to Ananias, when he was going to send him to Saul of Tarsus, he said, behold, he prayeth. He never had before. He'd gone through the motion. I'm sure he was like the Pharisees standing before the synagogue in the street so everyone could see him. But now he prays for the first time. Behold, he prayeth.

prayeth. You know, the Pharisee prayed thus with himself. He never got past that. But what said of Paul when God saved him? Behold, he prayeth. Now, whatever the Lord God is going to give us, he's going to cause us to ask him for it. We have a beautiful illustration of this in Ezekiel chapter 36. I counted 20 things that the Lord said he would do for his people. Among those, a new heart also will I give you. I'll put my spirit within you. He talked about all these things he's going to do. And then he said in the 37th verse of Ezekiel chapter 36, thus saith the Lord God, I shall yet be inquired of. of the house of Israel to do it for them.

Actually, whatever you ask him that he's going to give you, he put it in your heart in the first place. The reason you're asking is because he put it in your heart. David said, I found it in my heart to pray this prayer. He put it in your heart. He moves you to ask for it and he gives it to you. That is the way prayer to him works. When the Lord told David all that he would do for him, what did David say? Do as thou hast said. Find out what he said and then say to him, do as thou hast said. Find out what promises he's made in his word and say, do as thou hast said.

Now in Luke's account, where he gives this prayer, it was a different occasion. And evidently the Lord prayed audibly and the disciples were listening to him pray. Now try to put yourself in their position. What must that have been like to hear the Lord pray to his father? That must have been, well, I can't even put words to it. And when he finished, the disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray. as John taught his disciples. Now it's interesting, not one time did they ever say, teach us to preach. But they did say, teach us to pray. When Peter is establishing the office of a deacon, because there were too many things distracting him from the ministry, he said, you, Have these seven men as deacons that they can take care of the business so we can give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. There is no ministry of the word without prayer.

When thou prayest. You know, I've read numerous books on prayer, and I've got to say that everything I read was trash. You know, somebody writing a book on prayer, they ought to write something else. That's just not something to write a book about. But there's one thing that I read that really did help me. We ought to have set times of prayer. Set times, where we're reading the word, praying, And this man said this, and this helped me, before you pray, read the word. What God has to say to you is more important than what you have to say to him. And that puts you in more of a mood of, I don't know the language to use this, but it puts you in more of a serious reverent mood when you first read the word instead of just Start, well, I think it's time to pray. No, hear what he says first. That's much more important than what you have to say.

Prayer is the Lord allowing us to talk to him. And the word is him speaking to us from his word. Now, I think it's interesting when the Lord's given this instruction with regard to prayer, he first tells us how not to pray. And that happens a lot in the scripture, doesn't it? When you pray, 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 as men. Look how devoted they are. Look how bold they are. All they care about is God. You can see that by their actions. They want everyone to see how devoted they are.

I remember talking to somebody on the phone. I said, what are you doing? He said, well, I'm, I'm doing my devotions. I thought, Oh, thanks for telling me. Um, that's ostentatious. He says in verse six, but thou and thou prayest enter into thy closet. And when thou has shut thy door. pray to thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they may shall be heard because of their much speaking. Some people think the longer the prayer, the more factual it is. I mean, if I can pray 15 minutes, that's better than five minutes. Or if I can pray for a half an hour, an hour, that's more than, you know, just the length of prayer. And what that is doing is trying to manipulate God. This prayer is better because I spoke more. That's trying to manipulate God with your words and your actions. He's not impressed. He knows the heart. So don't try to manipulate him with much speaking and much words and much religious language. They think they should be heard for their much speaking.

Be not therefore likened to them for your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him. Now I love thinking about this. Before I ask the Lord, he already knows what I need. And the reason he already knows what I need is because he knows everything. He's never informed. He's never surprised. He never learns anything. This is speaking of the omniscience of God. He knows everything. And if he knows everything, that goes along with all of his other attributes. They all stand or fall together. Not only is he omniscient, he's omnipresent. He's not bound by space or time. And think of how bound we are by space and time. If I'm here, I can't be out there. He is. He's omnipresent.

Well, I can't tell you what's going to happen tomorrow. He can. Because he's not bound by time. He's eternal. He's eternally never had a beginning. He's independent. This all goes with his omniscience. He doesn't need something to happen to help him do what he wants to do. He's utterly independent. He has no needs. He's absolutely sovereign. He's the first cause behind everything. He's God. And he's your heavenly father.

Your heavenly father knoweth what you need before you ask him. That is such a blessed thought. Verse nine, after this manner, therefore pray. Now this prayer, we're going to spend, I'm just gonna look at the whole thing tonight. I wanna look at it the next time as what a believer is. You've heard that saying, you are what you eat. Well, you are what you pray. And we can learn what a believer is through this prayer. And then I want to take each part one at a time, the fatherhood of God, the will of God, the kingdom of God. So we're going to be here for a while and pray for me that the Lord would enable me to bring out what needs to be brought out about this passage of scripture. but our father, which art in heaven. And the first thing that I would notice is he doesn't say my father. He says our father. Now this speaks of the relationship of the believer with the father and with his brethren, our father. The personal possessive pronoun is not you, it's me, my, I, it's always ours, us, we, our Father which art in heaven.

Now God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessed thing it is to think of the relationship between the father and the son, the love that exists between the father and the son. He's the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I love the way Paul said, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the father of Christ and he's the father of every believer, just as he's the father of Christ. And there's only one son, but we're in him and we are his children. You think about how much you love your children. He loves his children infinitely more than we love our children in a much more glorious way.

Our father, which art in heaven, not the man upstairs, not some kind of irreverent view of him. He's in heaven. Where's heaven? Well, I personally think it's outside of the created universe. I don't know where heaven is. I think it's somewhere past the universe. Just like I think hell is the same way. Does it matter what I think? No, but I do know this. He is our father, which art in heaven. And there's a reverence of the child to his father in that language. And before we make a request now, I remember one time talking about Psalm 103, I read where not one request is made in Psalm 103, nothing but praise and thanksgiving. And while I love Psalm 103, I've never done that. I come into God's presence asking for things, and that's what children do. They ask their father for things.

But the first thing he says, our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. name. And this is a knowledge of who he is. Holy, hallowed, reverend be thy name. Now I've read so many different commentaries on this and when they would deal with this passage of scripture say, let your name be glorified, let your name be honored. That's not what it says. It says, hallowed be thy name. This is the attitude of worship.

Now, you think of the Lord's name. Moses said, I'm gonna tell them when I go back what your name is. I am that I am. Tell them I am, hath sent thee. and that means I am that I am. I am self-existent and all of his attributes arrive from that name. The reason he's self-existent, therefore, he's absolutely sovereign. He's independent, therefore, he's all-powerful. He's self-existent, independent, or the same thing. All of his attributes arise from his name. The name is the person behind the name. It's his character, his attributes. I don't care if we're talking about his justice, his immutability, his holiness, his sovereignty, whatever we're saying with regard to his person, hallowed be thy name. Holy and reverend is thy name. Before any petition, hallowed be thy name.

Verse 10, thy kingdom come. Don't you love to think about the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ? It's not a political kingdom. It's not an earthly kingdom. He said, my kingdom is not of this world. He said, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. You can't say, well, there's the kingdom, there's the kingdom. No, it comes not with observation. The kingdom of God. Oh, how the thief long for the kingdom of God. This is something that just comes out of the heart of a believer. When the Lord saves them, they've got a new nature. They want his kingdom to come. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Thy kingdom come. I'm really not a citizen of this world. I'm not, I'm a stranger here. I'm passing through. Yes, I'm here, but this is not my home. I'm looking for His heavenly kingdom. And this is the desire of my heart, the desire of every believer's heart. Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done. In earth, as it is in heaven. Now how's his will done in heaven? Promptly, perfectly, gladly, willingly. But think of heaven. There's no sin there. There's no disobedience there. Now, when we talk about the will of God, there's the will of decree, which is always done. There's the will of command, which is never done. In heaven, that will be no longer. His will will be done perfectly. And this is what we really want for our life. Lord, thy will be done, not my will. And I know the Lord said that in Gethsemane's garden, but I want my will to be crossed and I want His will to be done. If my will's contrary to His, I love the song, take my will and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is thy own. It shall be thy royal throne. We want His will to be done.

And I love to think of what the Bible has to say about the will of God. For instance, in Hebrews chapter 10, it says, by which will? We are sanctified once for all through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. By which will? By God's will. This is God's will, that we are sanctified. Not we will be sanctified, we are sanctified perfectly, completely, can't add anything to it, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Don't you love His will? Christ said, I delight to do thy will, O God. I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. He's the one who works all things after the counsel of his own will. So this isn't some kind of vague generality. This is the very desire of our heart. We know it will be done, and we want it to be done. Thy will be done. on earth as it is in heaven.

Verse 11. Give us this day our daily bread. Give us what we need. We are utterly dependent upon you for everything. Materially, what we eat, what we drink. Give us this day our daily bread. And this is very important. Give us this day our daily bread. Do you remember when the Lord had man come down from heaven? And you were together, how much? One day at a time. And if you bring in two days, the next day what you had left over would breed worms and stink and you couldn't eat it. One day at a time. Give us this day our daily bread.

And I would like to enter into this thing of living in the present. Give us this day our daily bread. Look what the Lord said in Matthew chapter six at the end of this chapter. Verse 31. Therefore, take no thought. Don't worry. Don't be careful. Saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or whether with all shall we be clothed. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Are you doing that? I want to have His righteousness. That's more important to me than meat and drink, to have His righteousness as my personal righteousness before God. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow. Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. You've got enough to deal with by way of evil today that you don't even need to worry about tomorrow. Sufficient the day is the evil thereof. Give us this day our daily bread.

I'm so dependent, even for my bread, for everything else. This is the attitude of the dependence of the child. Give us this day our daily bread.

Verse 12, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. In Luke's account, it says, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us. If I'm gonna come into the Lord's presence and have any idea of who He is, one thing I'm gonna be conscious of, I'm gonna be conscious of the fact that I am a sinner and I must confess my sin before Him. I can't come into His presence without some awareness of my own personal sinfulness. The Apostle Paul, at the beginning of his writings, he said, the least of the apostles. Toward the middle of his apostleship, he said, I'm less than the least of all the saints. And shortly before he died, he said, I am the chief of sinners. He didn't say I was the chief of sinners. Now this is Paul. Paul wasn't out selling drugs or robbing banks, but what was it that he thought of himself before God? The worst man to ever live. That's how he felt about himself. And if I don't feel that about myself, it's because I'm in some kind of hard-hearted, backslidden condition. Oh, wretched man, not that I was, and this is the way a believer always feels with regard to their sin. Oh, wretched man, that I am. And when I come into God's presence in prayer, Lord, forgive me of my sins. I've got so many of them. I've got so many of them that I don't even know about. Just every time I breathe, it's sin. Forgive me of my sins.

And let me say this. If you don't know who the Lord is, this will seem morose. What's wrong with him? Why is he so negative? Why is he so down on himself? When somebody thinks they have weight, it's because they don't know who the Lord is. If you know who the Lord is, you have some awareness of your sins. And you say, I remember hearing somebody say, well, if he's already forgiven him, why do we got to confess him? Why do we got to ask for forgiveness? That's just a dumb question. As long as you have sin, you'll have reason to ask him to forgive you of your sin and ask for his mercy.

Forgive us of our sins, but look what else he says. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Forgive us as we forgive. Now, when we ask forgiveness, we're asking to a sovereign to forgive us. We're not saying, I'm gonna accept your forgiveness. I'm going to receive your forgiveness. No, we're asking for an absolute sovereign to forgive us for Christ's sake.

And when we ask for forgiveness, he says, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Now, can we pray that? Would you forgive me as I have forgiven that one who has sinned against me? Now, that's what the Lord says to do. You forgive me as I have forgiven that one that sinned against me.

And actually, this is the only part of the prayer that the Lord commented on. Look in verse 14, after he'd already giving them the instructions regarding prayer. Four, if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Somebody says, I never forgive. Hope you never sin then, because if you sin, the Father won't forgive you. Now may God place this into our heart. Lord, make me a forgiving person. I want to be a forgiving sinner. And I want to be a forgiving sinner. And that's what the Lord comments. Oh, may we all be quick to forgive.

I think the most, I say this, I hope reverently, hope fearfully, the most God-like thing me or you could ever do is to forgive somebody of their sins. Not that that's going to help them before God, but for their sins against you, you forgive them.

And then in verse 13, he said, and lead us not into temptation. Not only do we confess our sinfulness in this prayer, we confess our weakness. How do you do with temptation? I'm not asking you to answer me, but within your heart, when you're tempted, how do you handle it? Pretty good? No, you know better than that. You know that if you're tempted, you'll fall. And you're asking the Lord, don't let me be tempted. I know what'll happen if I am, so put a hedge about me. Keep it from taking place. Don't let me be tempted. I'm not strong before temptation. I know what'll happen if I'm tempted, so let me not be tempted.

Somebody says, are you talking about trials? Well, I suppose that's included. I don't want trials. Lord, don't send trials my way. I don't want to suffer. I don't want to. I'd rather everything be easy. I know if he sends trials my way, it's for my good and his glory, and he'll give me grace to deal with it. But I'm not praying for trials. I'm not praying, oh, Lord, send me trials. No, I'm not praying that. Deliver me from temptation. Deliver me from being tempted because I know I'm so weak that I will fall if I'm tempted. Therefore, don't let me be tempted.

Now, that's weakness, isn't it? You know you can't handle temptation. And the only way you can be preserved is if the Lord keeps it from happening. And you pray, Lord, deliver me from temptation. And I love this word. Deliver. I did some research on it, and the word actually means it's like you're flowing in a torrent and somebody rescues you. You're being carried by a swift current, powerless to do anything about it, crying out, there you go, and the Lord rescues you. He delivers you. That's what it is to be delivered. Deliver us from temptations. Also says with regard to that, look in verse 13, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Deliver us, rescue us from evil. And in the original, the definite article is used, the evil. Rescue me, first of all, from the evil one, Satan. I'm no match for him. I don't want to have anything to do with him. I hate it when preachers get up and talk about going back to hell devil and the way they talk. So do you not have any fear? Oh, deliver me from the evil one. Rescue me.

Rescue me from this present evil world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, that's all that's of the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of this world. Lord, deliver me from this evil world, because there's something in me that finds that attractive. Deliver me from this evil world, and most especially, deliver me from myself. I am the evil one.

And let me show you this in this passage of Scripture. Look at Matthew chapter seven. Verse seven. Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you of whom his son asked bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, what are the next two words? Being evil. And that is what the Lord says. And he's speaking to his children and his children know exactly what he means. If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children. How much more so your father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask

Deliver me from me, the evil one. Back to our text. Here's the last thing he says. And this is an understanding that every believer has. Thine is the kingdom. You know that, don't you? This is not some earthly kingdom. This is not some political kingdom. This is not some kingdom ran by men. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion ruleth over all. And we understand that and we acknowledge it. Thine is the kingdom and thine is the power. Power belongeth unto the Lord. And he's got a monopoly on it. Only he has power. When we talk about powerful men and women, that's so ridiculous. Only he has power. And he has the power to cause his kingdom to come. He's got the power to cause his will to be done. He's got the power to give us our daily bread. He's got the power to forgive our sins. He's got the power to enable us to forgive those who sin against us. He's got the power to lead us not into temptation. He's got the power to deliver us from evil and we Rejoice, thine is the kingdom, thine is the power, and thine is the glory. We understand that in salvation, he gets all the glory, just like he gets all the glory in creation. Did somebody say, well, I helped out there. No, you didn't. He gets all the glory in creation. He created the world from nothing. No man can take any credit. It's the same way in salvation. And we love it that way, not only because he deserves it, because only if he gets all the glory is salvation all of grace. If he doesn't get all the glory, there's some work in there that I must do. That's no good. Mine is the kingdom. Thine is the power. Thine is the glory forever. Amen.

Now let's close by looking at Luke's account in Luke chapter 11. There's some very encouraging words here with regard to prayer. Verse one, and it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. You know, we need to be taught to pray, don't we? It comes from our heart, I realize that, but we need to be taught to pray, and the Lord is teaching us to pray.

So he says, 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's indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

And he said unto them, which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight? Now, If it's midnight and you're in bed, you're asleep, you don't want somebody coming over to your house. That's pretty rude, isn't it? To come over to somebody's house at midnight.

Which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight, saying to him, friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine is in his journey, has come to me, and I have nothing to say before him. And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not. The door is now shut. My children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee.

And some real nice people would do it. There's some people that say, no way. It's midnight. I say unto you, though he'll not rise and give him because his friend, yet because of his importunity, his shameless persistence. Go away. I said, go away. I said, go away. How long does this go on? I say unto you that though he will not rise and give him because he's his friend, yet because of his importunity, his shameless persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needed.

You know, the Lord said men ought always to pray. and not to faint. And then he talked about that widow, this is very similar, that came to the master and said, avenge me of my adversaries, and he wouldn't do it. And finally said, well, I'm going to do it, lest by her continual coming, she weary me. This is what this is talking about.

Verse nine, and I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you. Seeking you shall find, knocking it shall be open unto you for everyone that asketh receiveth. And he that seeketh findeth, to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that's a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being 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?

Ask and you shall receive, and do so with importunity. I love what Paul said, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

When you pray, let's pray. Lord, would you take this prayer from your word and put it in our hearts? So our prayer inspired by your spirit with the new heart you've given us. that we can say, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.