We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve.

Religious or non-religious, atheist or agnostic, almost everyone finds themselves praying at one point or another in their lives. People pray in fear and distress, as part of some religious duty when they want something badly or when they simply need answers to life's questions. But what is prayer? Prayer, at its essence, is talking to God. The God who with His spoken Word brought the universe into being; the God who holds the vastness of creation together in His power. This God actually listens to us and He listens as an attentive father, as the Shepherd of his sheep despite how unworthy we may feel in approaching Him or feeble we may think our prayers may sound, God has done what we could never do, and made access to His throne possible for us. We need to reduce our distractions and increase our interaction with God because true prayer is the means by which we align ourselves to God's will. It's the means that we draw nearer to a holy God and so may we pray: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.

A very good morning to all of you, welcome to Gospel Light and our first English worship service this morning, I'm glad you're able to join us in our brand-new series in “Teach us to pray” - it's a continuation of our study in the book of Matthew, we come to Matthew chapter 6 verses 9 to 15 this morning.

This is a picture of an American lady named Dorothy Holm. When she became elderly, she was stricken with lung cancer, there was extensive, it spread to her brain and that caused her to be unable to speak. So subsequently, she would communicate with her family by writing and especially writing on cards and there was a particular card she wrote that her family couldn't decipher, it, it didn't make sense. It was just seemingly a random collection of letters of the alphabet. She subsequently passed away and nobody knew what Dorothy wrote on that card. 18 years later, when everybody has sort of given up, one of Dorothy's granddaughters decided to give it a shot. She decided to put this card on the Internet in case some computer whiz kid would be so brilliant as to be able to crack the code as it were. So, she took a picture of that card and put it up on the Internet and said, “This is what my grandmother wrote, we, we as a family couldn't figure out what it was during these 18 years. Could someone out there in cyberspace be able to help?” Within 13 minutes, a man wrote back and says, “We know, I know what this is about, this is the Lord's prayer.” You say, how is this the Lord's prayer? Every letter here is the first letter of every word in the Lord's prayer: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom comes. 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. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. This is the Lord's prayer.

Some people ask why is this called the Lord's prayer when probably Jesus never prayed this prayer. I, I, I agree with them, I think Jesus probably never prayed this prayer. You say why? Well, number one, there is no record of it; number two, I don't think Jesus needs to pray this prayer because he has no sin to confess of, he has no debt of sin before the Father, he doesn't need to pray “Forgive us our debts”. So, this is probably not a prayer Jesus would have made himself, the prayer that he made is recorded for us, for example in John 17. But here, this is a prayer Jesus taught us to pray that he probably never really prayed. So why do people still call this the Lord's prayer? Probably because He is the author of it, He's the giver of it, He's the One who gives it to the disciples, taught the disciples. So, for that reason, we will still continue to call this the Lord's prayer.

My son, Shawn, has been, has been learning to pray. I've, every night when we do the Bible studies together, I would generally pray for the two boys, sometimes I'll get Shawn to pray and he, I think, gets a little bit frustrated; he doesn't really know how to pray as he should. I think deep inside him he probably wants to pray better, but he doesn't know how to. So, he asked me, “Dad, how can I pray better? I, I said, “Shawn, wait till daddy preaches this on Sunday.”  So I'm glad he's here today. I hope this will be a helpful lesson for Shawn and I help, and I hope it will also be helpful for all of you. I hope you want to learn to pray better, I hope you want to pray more in line with God's desire.

Of course, anyone can say whatever they want in prayer but they know that, that may not be the right approach toward God. So, if that is your hearts' desire, you want to pray more accurately, more biblically, you want to pray the way God wants you to pray, then I think this is a tremendous passage to learn from. One thing I want to caution you against is a mere memorization and a recital of these words. There are some people who say “I know how to pray I just need to memorize this and chant it 10 times”. Every morning, Our father which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name…”  and you say as fast as you can. Well, I don't think that is the way God wants you to pray at all, because earlier on in Matthew 6 verses 5 to 8, last week we said, Jesus mentioned that when you pray do not pray like the Gentiles do, how? When they heap up empty phrases. So, we should not be memorizing this and reciting this as if it is a mindless chant or incantation, that's certainly not what God wants. The key is to understand the principles herein, to understand what prayer is about, to understand what each line is about, then I think you can pray very meaningfully, pray the way that is pleasing to God.

I, for one, have benefited from the understanding of Matthew 6 verses 9 to 15, this is a short passage, but I have benefited big time. I think a large part of my prayer life is patterned after this prayer, so I have benefited a lot and I hope you will also benefit. You see, all of us we, we somehow need some models, mental models of prayer, right? It's not just a random shot in the dark as it were, for those of you who have been praying for some time, you might be familiar with some models for prayer and you have been using these models for prayer, for example. OK, there are two popular models for prayer today, they are acronyms, do you know what they are? Sorry? ACTS, okay, let's go to ACTS, it is ACTS. This is nothing to do with the Acts church for today, our vision, but ACTS is what people use to help them in prayer. They say, number 1, I need to adore; number two, I need to confess; number three I need to give thanks and then number 4, I begin to ask God for things, that's supplication.

So, another model people use is…okay, this is, may not be that well-known, it is PRAY. Pray so P stands for praise; R stands for repent; A means to ask; Y is to yield yourself - Lord I surrender myself. So, people have used different acronyms to help them in prayer.

I, I of course I would know these models, but personally in my life, I think this is the best model. You say what model is this? This is so many words, well, after seven weeks together, we are going to take seven weeks to look at this prayer alright? You say, what in the world are you doing? This is so, so much to say meh? I, I hope you will see that there is great richness in this passage, a bit like the Beatitudes, right? The Beatitudes, it took eight weeks to cover eight Beatitudes. There will be seven things you look at in this prayer and at the end of these seven weeks, I hope you have a great model for prayer for your own life, not only the model but the principles and understanding behind it. Now don't underestimate this 7 verses, 6, 7 verses. There's a Chinese saying that goes: 麻雀虽小，五脏齐全。You know that? Well, it means the sparrow may be a small bird, but all its organs are in place. And this is a little bit like that. It's a small， short prayer. Really, it's very short. You take fifteen seconds you can probably recite the whole thing quickly. But within these words contain a whole world of truth, not just for prayer life, but also for your Christian life.

So today, we are just going to focus on one line, ok, just one line. It’s going to be a short sermon, don't worry. So, one line and it will be on the first line - Our Father in Heaven. That's all we're going to look at. So, we can go home quite fast, alright.

“Our Father in Heaven” － what do you learn from this? Well, number one, let's, let's do this very simply. Let's start with the first word. The Lord's Prayer begins with ‘Our’. And that is in a sense rather surprising for many of us. Because when we pray, what do we pray? How do we start? “My Father”. We like to think about me, myself and I. We will probably say “My God”, “My dear Heavenly Father”. We think about individualistically. We think individualistically. But the Bible tells us you pray by saying “Our Father”. Implication is that now in your prayer, you're not just thinking about yourself. You think about other brothers and sisters in Christ. You see, that is what the Gospel is all about. Man, left to himself, is self-centred, individualistic. But the Gospel calls us out of this world to belong to God, and also to belong to a community, the church, the people, the family of God. And later on, when you look at this prayer, there's a lot of reference about others. It says, give “me” this day? No, it says give “us” this day our daily bread. It means I'm not just to pray about my needs, I'm to pray about my brothers' and sisters' needs.

How often have we just prayed for our own needs and forgotten our brothers' and sisters' needs? It says forgive “me” my debts? No, it says forgive “us” our debts. We are mindful not just about the sin of my life, but the sin of the church. Of my care group members who are struggling and trudging along in they life. We pray for them. We pray “deliver us from the evil, lead us not into temptation”. We pray, we pray also for the protection of God's people from spiritual attacks and sin. So, Jesus, here with the very first word, reminds you and I, that we are called to a community, to a church, and that should be one major principle in your prayer life.

How “other-minded” are you? So, Shawn, I say, you want to have a rich prayer life? It's very boring, it's very limiting if you are only thinking about yourself. Well, the prayer deepens and is closer to the heart of God when you pray for others also. Now, don't forget about yourself in your prayer, of course. “Our” includes you. But let it not be limited to you, ok. Simple word, simple understanding, alright.

The second word we will look at of course is the word, ‘Father’. It’s very encouraging that Jesus tells us that when we pray to God, we are praying to ‘Father’; Daddy; Abba. We're not praying to a monster. We're not praying to an ogre. We're not praying to a slave driver or a tyrant. We're praying to daddy, father, Abba. That means Jesus is telling us we pray to someone who really cares for us. We pray to someone who is tender towards us. Someone who loves us. Someone who is approachable for us.

Imagine if Jesus says, “pray to the great God who will rain down judge…”, I mean, that will be not very easy to pray. While that is true, but this aspect of God's love and approachability is highlighted in this affectionate term called “Father”. And actually, if you notice, the word, ‘Father’ has been the main, er, word used in the sermon on the mount. For example, in Matthew 5, it says, let your light so shine before others, and so on and so forth, so that they may give glory to your ‘Father’. And then in Matthew 5:45, that you may be the sons of your ‘Father’. In Matthew 5:48, your heavenly “Father”. Matthew 6 verse 8, your “Father”. Even later on, in Matthew 7 verse 11, how much more will your ‘Father’. So, this idea, this motif of God's Fatherhood is clear in the Sermon on the Mount. The disciples of Jesus, the followers of Jesus, we can pray to our God, ‘Father’.

Now to you, you say, what's the big deal? I hear you pray this every time. True, but this is a big deal, this is a revolutionary term if you were living in the time of Jesus. Because as far as we know in the Bible in the entire Old Testament, there is no individual, there is no individual who will call God, my Father. The nation, as a whole, will call God as their Father, but no one would dare say in his own prayer for himself, by himself, Father. No one. But when Jesus came into this world, he now teaches his disciples, he says, you can now pray, our ‘Father’.

Wow! How can we pray to the great God whom we have sinned against as our Father? Aren't we like sinners in the eyes of a holy God? Aren't we according to the rest of the Bible enemies to God? Yes, we are. But because of what Jesus has done, because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, his payment for our sins, we are now reconciled with God, we are now no more enemies but we are now sons and daughters, we are children of God. This is the reality spoken of in the Bible (John 1:12): “but to all”, that is you and I, “who did receive him”, who is the ‘him’? Just to be clear; “but to all who did receive him”, who is this “him”? Jesus. For all who received Jesus.

If you never really, really repent and believe or receive Jesus, you can't pray, our Father. But to those who did received Jesus, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. The authority, the adoption into God's family is possible through Jesus Christ. So therefore, Jesus comes and says, this is how you pray, you can call God Jehovah, Abba. Huh? Yes! Because I'm going to die for your sins. Because I'm going to give you the authority to be the children of God. You say, how can we get that?

If you believe in me, you receive me into your life, you repent, you turn and you believe. So, this is a revolutionary term. Now the bible tells us because of Christ, because of the Gospel, the good news of Jesus, we receive the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

A, a Christian, a, a true follower of Jesus Christ, he has this, he has this spiritual instinct as it were. He, he in his heart knows God as someone intimate, personal, and he has this witness that says “we are the children of God”. He has this confidence. And we see in First John 3, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God”. It’s an astounding privilege! Wow! what a love of God that he would turn enemies to sons.

So, this is how you should pray, our Father. Can everyone in the world call God, Father? No, only those who received Jesus Christ, who believed in His name. Then, they have given, God has given the right to become the children of God. Now, one point to note, Jesus teaches us to pray to who? To? To the Father. That should be the regular pattern of prayer. You see, there are people who today regularly when they start praying, almost always, I've, I've heard that many times. How do they start? Dear “Jesus”. Now, am I saying it is wrong to pray to Jesus? No. There are many people who cry out to Jesus, that's fine. But, I think the regular pattern of prayer in the Bible is to the Father, in the name of the Son, with the help of the Holy Spirit. I think that should be the regular pattern of prayer. That's the way the Trinity has revealed themselves, alright? Now, by and by, it's not that you can't pray “Spirit of God help me”. No. I, I actually caught myself praying that earlier in our prayer time. That's not wrong, but I think the regular pattern should be praying to the Father in the name of the Son by the enabling of the Holy Spirit.

Now, I want to say this because some people have this thinking that “I should pray to Jesus because Jesus is kinder”. Because when I, when I read the Bible about God the Father, the Holy God of Israel, He's the Mount Sinai God. He's the one who gave thunder and lightning and volcano and smoke, He's the scary one. So, if He's the scary one, then I pray to Jesus easier. It's like a child, he wants to get something, the daddy is very fierce, so go to mummy. Or in my family, mummy very fierce, come to daddy. My wife is very strict, alright. So, it can be this way, so we think, aiyah, God very fierce one, so I go to Jesus. Or, better still, Holy Spirit is like a dove, I do not know what it is but I just go to the Holy Spirit.

Now, I, I suggest to you if you pray to Jesus and pray to the Spirit because you think that God the Father is fierce, something is wrong with your theology. And I want to say, don't think that, it's wrong to think that. Why? Because Jesus already said He's your Father. Now fathers can be strict, but fathers, a good father is always for your good. And a father is always someone you can approach. A good father, that is. And God is our good Father, who loves us, cares for us, who's approachable for us. He's not an ogre, he's not a monster, he's not a tyrant. He's a loving God, and you can come to Him freely.

A story is told of an emperor, an emperor who is having a parade in the streets. And then this little boy was just running and running towards the carriage of the emperor and, and there were people who say, “don't go there, don't go there, don't you know he's the emperor, he's our emperor?” The little boy says, “ya, he's your emperor, but he's my daddy.” And that makes all the difference, isn't it? That child has absolute authority and privilege to come to the emperor because he is his son. God is majestic and great, but you know something, you can come to God because He's your Father. That is what Jesus is teaching us.

Well, let's move on to the last phrase. Now, don't expect me to talk about “in” lah, ok. So, so our Father, together, “in Heaven”, alright. When you talk about “in Heaven”, this is to lift our view, to lift our view to a high view. Because when we talk about Father, sometimes we may have this wrong attitude of flippancy before God, we become too casual with God, we take God for granted. So, there is a perfect balance in that a Father is very intimate, and “in Heaven” reminds you of the greatness of God.

So, the Bible uses the word “heaven” as something that is great, of course. You see, “You have set your glory above the heavens” (Psalms 8:1), “How majestic is your name” (Psalms 8:1), “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalms 19:1). So, when we say our Father “in Heaven”, we are saying He's great, majestic, glorious and supreme. He is all-powerful, He is all-wise, He is altogether different from the people of the world, He is holy and pure. That's the idea.

So, in case we slip into a kind of a flippant, bo chap (dialect: careless), casual spirit towards approaching God, Jesus reminds us He's “Our Father in Heaven”. So, the word heaven here warns us against a kind of a flippancy because the word “heaven” is communicating the transcendence of God. Now, the word transcendence means He's high, He's so high. That's the idea. Whereas the word “our Father” communicates, this is a theological term, the imminence of God. Imminence means the nearness of God, alright, that's all it means. Imminence means God is very near to us. He's a Father, very near to us, loving Father who comes around us, ok. But transcendence is His greatness.

Our Prime Minister is more communicating like a Prime Minister, a president of any nation, he's far away. But your father is very near to you. But in God, we have both imminence and transcendence. God is great, but God is also near. Ok? So, when you look at the Lord's prayer, this understanding of the first line is very important, you realize that? Because if you do not know that He is your Father and if you do not know that He's the great and majestic one, you can't really pray the rest of the prayer properly. Because you will be doubting if you should pray them, are you allowed to pray them? Or you may be praying things that are too small and you forget that He's the great God. So, a proper understanding of God, the person you pray to, is fundamental before you even get to pray. So, I've this little phrase that may help you: right theology is key to right praying.

Shawn asked, “daddy, how can I pray better?” You know, I could have told him, daddy writes down some words you just repeat them every day can already. I think that will not be right praying. Because if you want to pray properly, you need to know who you are praying to. Theology, the word Theo- is God, -logy is the knowledge. So, the right knowledge of God, the right theology is fundamental, is key to right praying. I hope you get that.

Before we, before we look at, eh “what I should pray for?”, “what are the items?”, “what is good and what is wrong to pray?”; first understand who you are praying to, so this phrase instead of rushing into the “what's” in prayer, we must begin by knowing the “who” of prayer. I think that is the lesson I would want to communicate.

So many of us, when we say “teach us to pray”, we are concerned about the posture, eh should I kneel, should I stand, can I pray when I'm sitting, can I pray when I'm lying down? We ask this kind of questions. Actually that, that question will be answered if you know who you are praying to, right? We are often wondering, Pastor, can I pray for my exams, can I pray for this and that, what should I really pray for? I think a lot of times that will be answered if you know who you are praying to. Very simple. So, right theology is the key to right praying.

Now, when you know who God is, then it changes the way you pray, for example, we looked at that last week, when you pray, you will not heap up empty phrases like the gentiles do. They repeat the same phrase mindlessly, mechanically, over and over again, because they somehow think that their deity is dumb, blind, blur, sleepy, distracted, or can't be bothered. Jesus says don't, don't pray like that. If you know your Father, if you know who God is, then you don't have to heap up empty phrases. So, right theology is key to right praying.

So, the bible tells me and reminds you today that He's not a dumb idol. He's not a block of wood, He's not a block of metal that sits there and needs you to somehow shake Him up before He can hear you. NO, He knows, He's your, He's the great God in heaven. And therefore, I say, in our prayer life, because he is the transcendent one, the holy one of Israel, prayer must be in awe and reverence. Doesn't it make sense? We come to God with awe and reverence. We ought to come to God in deep humility, knowing how sinful we still are. Even after we are saved. So, prayer to God is not casual, is not flippant but is filled with awe and reverence and humility and at the same time deep gratitude. Because He's the holy one of Israel, He's the great God of heavens, but He will hear me because of Jesus, because of Christ and what he has done, and that should give me tremendous joy and gratitude in coming to God.

So, Shawn, when you pray, pray for others, when you pray, pray with reverence and awe in your heart. Respecting God for who He is. Pray with an understanding that it is His mercy that has enabled you to come. Pray with a deep sense of gratitude. That's what I think I can learn. Besides that, I think this is the key. And I think this is helpful - He's our Father, He is our Father. So, prayer, I say, another lesson in prayer is that I should come with joy and excitement and confidence. I don't have to come to God in terror and in nervousness; being very uptight. I don't have to come to God thinking: I need to have a 15-minute speech before God will hear my prayer, I need to convince Him that He should hear my prayer. I don't have to. He's my Father. I don't have to be nervous and uptight. I need to be reverential. But I can come with joy, I can come with confidence, I can come with excitement.

Suppose today you are invited to my house for dinner, and with my family, my kids. And after dinner my kids suddenly bowed their heads and, and said, “O my high lord, Jason, O the high and great Jason, we beseech you if it be possible, if in your mercy you would consider this that we would very much appreciate something that will satisfy our souls, so it be possible would you give us a little bit of ice cream?” I mean, if I prayed that and you are a guest in my house what would you think of me? What kind of father are you, man? Your son has to talk to you like that? You're not a father, you're a monster. And you'd probably think that my kids are the weirdest kids in the world. I mean, what would my kids do? “Dad, can I have an ice cream please?” And that's all they need to say. Why? Because I am their father. And yet you see Christians like “Oh,……” and they could go on long, and they talk about themselves how they have served God, how they have sacrificed. They, they seem to have to, need to justify themselves before God. Just call Him Father and ask. That's what it is. You know when God is our Father, it just reminds me how approachable He is.

Matthias, right now, he still er, he still needs to wake up to pee. Er, I, rather we need to wake him up to pee at night. And sometimes, he has drunk too much the day, the night before, and he pees in the middle of the night even though we've woken him up earlier. You know what does Matthias do? He hides in his room and he cries, “no one is going to help me.” No, that fellow…that fellow just opens the door. “I'm wet.” I mean, that's all. He doesn't need to, he doesn't, he doesn't need to “Please help”. “I'm wet.” I mean, how cool is that? And daddy and mummy will never say “Who are you to come into our room?” We wouldn't say that. We say, ok. Both of us still sleeping but we will get up, do anything, everything that is necessary, change his bedsheets, whatever and get him back to sleep. Why? Now, if anyone of you do this in my family, you'll be dead. Hahaha. You can't because you're not my son. But this is a privilege accorded to sons and daughters. Because I'm his daddy.

So, hey, there is no time inconvenient for God, you know that. In the middle of the night, you can't sleep. You're stressed, you're worried, you're fearful. What do you do? I've got to struggle through this..no, your Father knows your needs, come to Him. You're guilty over the sins of your life. Well, come to him, confess your sins. That's fine, He's your Father. You know, when I think about father, I think of someone who always does what is good for their kids, don't you think? You may not like it.

My son, Shawn, now exam period. He may not like it that daddy and mummy are always giving him assessment papers to do. But I think he will understand daddy and mummy are doing this “for my good”. They may not be doing “what I like”. But they are always doing “what is good for me”. When you realize that God is your Father, not just Father, but the Father in heaven who knows everything, who is altogether wise, you can have confidence in God when you pray. That even when He doesn't answer you the way you like it, it's always for your good. You know, someone asked me last week, “Pastor, when we pray and you said that prayer always works, if we pray in the right motive, it does not come true in my life, there're many times in my life it doesn't come out the way I want.” You're right, prayer doesn't always come out the way you want, because prayer always turns out the way God wants. And what He wants is not the same way you want, but what He wants is always better than what you want. You see, a father knows what a child needs.

For example, if Shawn today says “dad, I'm very curious but I would like to drink some detergent. Can I, have it?” What would I do? I say, “NO! Of course not!” You're forbidden to do so. Why? Even though that's what you want, that's not what is good for you and so daddy says, no. Suppose my son again, Shawn, nine years old, he says, “dad, I want to be married.” What, what did Matthias say? Yes, ah? No. No, of course. Of course. Now getting married is not a bad thing, but I'll say to him, not yet. You're nine years old, not yet. Slow. What if, Shawn now is twenty-one years old. He says I want to get married but he's really an immature guy. I mean he's just clowning around, can't even take care of himself. I'll say to him, “Shawn, I know, I know it's probably ok but I think you need to grow a bit more before you can be married.” Or what if, Shawn now is twenty-five years old; he's mature, he's a man of God, he understands what it means to have a family. He says, dad, can I be married? I've met the right girl, she's a wonderful godly lady. I'll say, go ahead.

So, when your Father hears your prayers, there're a few possible responses. For example, number one if your request is wrong - “I want to drink Dettol”, your Father says no. Father. Why? Maybe, maybe it goes like, you pray, “God, let me work in the casino.” Well, maybe you are very easily tempted to gamble, so God says, no, don't, don't do that. Or, or you pray, God, can I marry this girl who is not a believer? God says no, because that's not good for you, right. So, if your request is wrong, God answers your prayer but his prayer answer is no. Maybe what you ask for is not a bad thing, but the timing is wrong. A nine-year-old boy wants to get married, then God says to you, slow. Ok? I, I, God, I, I want to serve you as a missionary full-time. That's a great request. But maybe it's not the right time. So, He says, slow. He doesn't immediately open the doors for you, but maybe later on.

Or sometimes it's because we are not mature enough, we're wrong, we're not, we're not walking right with God. God says to you, grow before I answer that prayer that way you want. And finally, if there's nothing wrong, God says, Go. But God always answers prayers. It's just not the way you expect it to be.

And all that is encapsulated in understanding that He is our Father in heaven, then with the right theology you have the right attitude in prayer. You'd be grateful, you'd come to God in a reverential way, you’d come with joy and excitement. You'd come with trust and confidence that even if He doesn't answer us the way we want, it's all good because He's our Father in Heaven. And when you understand this, let me say this, when you understand that God is the great God, the great Father in heaven, you would begin to pray: Hallowed be Thy name, not my name, but Your name. Because you are amazed by His love for you. You see how worthy He is. Now the first petition makes sense. Then you would pray, Your kingdom come. Because you see the, the wonder of who God is, and you say, I wish everyone would come to this Kingdom.

Then you will pray, Your will be done. Because you know the superiority of His will versus the inferiority of my will. Now you will pray with confidence: Give us this day our daily bread. You're not like: “hope God give me something”. You know God is able to provide. He's your Father and He's in heaven, what's the problem? You would pray with humility and gratitude and joy that He will forgive you your sins, your debts. You'd pray with confidence and joy He will protect you from spiritual sin and temptation. Hey, everything makes sense when you understand “Our Father in heaven”.

I just want to close with this: Jesus himself prayed to God, addressing God as his Father. In fact, there was more than 70 occasions of how Jesus addressed God as his Father. But there was one time he did not address God as His Father, as his Father. And that was when he was on the cross. And there his prayer was, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He was forsaken. And could not call God Father, in order for you who are sinful to be able to call God your Father.

This is the reason why we can pray. Jesus gave it all that you might get it all. What a wonderful passage of scripture. I hope you'll be patient with me. We'll take the next 6 weeks, look at every petition and at the end of this 7 weeks, I hope that all Gospelighters, we all have a wonderful model of prayer. Not ACTS or PRAY. I think they are not wrong, but I think it's so good if we could base it on what Jesus himself gave to us. And may we all be enriched in our prayer journey on this earth. Let us bow for a word of prayer together.

This morning I want to bring you to a proper theology, a right knowledge of God. He is our Father in heaven. I'd like to give you some time right now to just reflect upon what that all means for you. Maybe today you've been very fearful and nervous about coming to God, you've forgotten that He is your loving, affectionate, tender, caring Father. Or maybe in your life you have been overly casual and flippant in your attitude towards God. Maybe it's a time for you to repent and confess your sins. But I pray this day, in our lesson in prayer, before we rush into the “what” of prayer, let us be firmly rooted in knowing the “who” of prayer. The loving heavenly Father.

Maybe this morning, you know in your heart you can't call God Father, because you understand that in the bible God has called himself the Holy one of Israel, and we are the sinful people of this world. How can a sinful, broken, wicked, evil, filthy people call God, Father? This is the marvel of marvels, the miracle of all miracles. God would give His Son Jesus Christ that he may be forsaken on the cross so that you may be received into the family, so that you may have the right to be called the sons and the daughters of God.

So, I invite you this morning to recognize your sinfulness, admit your sins, admit your inability to save yourself, and then believe in Jesus, believe that He is the Son of God, who lived a perfect life and who gave himself as a sacrifice and a substitute for your sins. Believe in God's son that you might now be sons. The Son of God became the man of God so that man today might be called the sons of God. This is the good news, not because of what we will do or what we have done. But all because of what Jesus has done. Would you today repent and believe in Christ that you may be part of the family and together we can cry “Our Father in heaven”?

Father, bless your word to the hearts of your people today. We thank you for this amazing reality given to us in the bible - your word, that we who were sinful are now reconciled adopted into your wondrous family. I pray sinners will be saved today and I pray saints will be encouraged in their relationship with you and that, Lord, through these 7 weeks you will make us a house of prayer. Thank you. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve.