"The Person of Prayer"

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13

The earthly ministry of Jesus was barely three years long. Yet in those three years,a great amount of His time was spent in prayer.

The gospels picture Jesus praying early in the morning before daybreak. In the evening He would frequently go to the Mount of Olives or some other quiet place to commune with His Father.

Prayer was a regular part of Christ's routine, not just an occasional add-on when time permitted.

Jesus knew how to pray.

  • He wants you and me also to know how to pray as well.

Let me ask you a question.

  • Do you believe that God really hears and answers prayer? Say amen
  • That means that you and I can link our nothingness with God's almightiness through prayer!

I heard Adrian Rogers say in a message in Jacksonville, Florida, "If it is true that God hears and answers prayers, then we are fools if we fail to pray or fail to learn to pray."

Jesus wants us to know how to pray.

That is the purpose of this passage that we commonly refer to as "The Lord's Prayer".

In about seventy-two words in the KJV text Jesus shares with us the essential elements of real prayer.

For example, Jesus teaches us about...

  • The Person of Prayer (v.9)
  • The Purpose of Prayer (v.10)
  • The Provision of Prayer (v.11)
  • The Pardon of Prayer (v.12)
  • The Protection of Prayer (v.13)

Anyone that is interested in engaging in "Real Prayer",

  • Not just Routine or Religious prayer, but "Real Prayer" needs an understanding of this passage of God's word.
  • When Jesus was asked by his disciples to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-13), Jesus repeated the words that we find recorded here in Matthew 6.

As we study these words together, my heart's cry and I hope your heart's cry will be. "Lord teach us to pray."

Let's begin today by focusing on verse 9. Notice how our Lord's model prayer begins... "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."

That statement, ladies and gentlemen, establishes the two foundational requirements of Real Prayer.

(You ought to write these down)

Notice that Jesus' words teach us that...

  1. Real Prayer Requires An Intimate Relationship With God
  2. Jesus instructs us....”When ye pray, say, "Our Father..."
  3. Right away Jesus makes it clear that in order for an individuals prayers to be effective they must be a child of God.
  4. Someone may protest, "But God created everybody, so God is the Father of everybody."
  5. I beg to differ. He is not the Father of everybody.God does not become Father by creation.

a) He created cats and dogs, flies and frogs, but He is not their Father.

b)He is only their creator!

  1. The Bible makes it very clear that some human beings are not His children.

a)Jesus said of the unconverted Pharisees, "Ye are of your father the devil.."

1 John 3:10 plainly declare that those who practice unrighteousness are "the children of the devil".

b)Everyone does not have the rightto address God as their "Father".

c)God is the Father only of those who have entered into His family through a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ.

John 1:12 says.. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."

d) Because of what Jesus did for us at Calvary, we can be born into God's family.

  1. Prayer is the privilege of the Christian.

a)The Bible is clear, only the child of God can gain access to the Father.

Illustration (Daily Bread 10/17/79)

Many years ago an elderly gentleman sat outside the main gate to the White House in Washington D.C. His threadbare clothes were covered with dust and his eyes were filled with tears. A young boy stopped and sympatherically asked why he was crying. The man said that his son was in the army and was condemned to be shot because he had deserted his post. The distraught man went on to explain, "The guards will not let me in to see the president. Mr. Lincoln is so kind and generous that I'm sure if he heard the full details of my son's desertion that he would pardon him."

The little boy to the man's surprise said, "I can take you to the President." "You." "Yes, he is my father and I can talk to him anytime I like." The little fellow took the man into the White House and after Lincoln heard the story, he pardoned the condemned soldier."

Today if you know Jesus, God's Son, then you have access to the Father.

  1. Real Prayer Requires An Immense Reverence For God

"Hallowed be thy name"

Story... little boy praying.. Howard ... I heard about a little boy who was over heard by his mother one night as he was saying his bedtime prayers. She listened intently at the door. She was somewhat confused though because he kept using the name Howard. The next morning she told him that she had heard him praying and was wondering who Howard was. He said, "that is God." "Why are you calling God Howard?" she asked. "Because that's His name. You know mom, Our Father who art in heaven Howard be thy name!"

What does it mean to "hallow" something? It means to treat something sacred, to hold something or someone as set apart and holy.

  1. To hallow His name means to reverence all that God is...
  2. His character,
  3. His Word,
  4. His will.
  5. Entering into the throne room and communing with the living God should awe us. When it does our praying will never be the same.
  6. God in his grace delights to meet our needs and some of our wants. But God offers us much more than that. He offers Himself... He offers us the opportunity to fellowship with the Father.
  1. Conclusion: May I ask you this question... Can you call God your Father? If not, today you can become His child.