We think we need food, clothing and shelter and the rest will follow. Jesus’ radical teaching is that our basic need is for God, and the rest will follow.
A sermon on the Lord’s Prayer. In this sermon we see that Jesus gives us a model prayer to pray, and that this prayer turns the way we live our lives upside down. He says we should pursue God first and then the other needs of life. Our secular culture says we have to meet our basic needs first, then work on the others. Hear the radical and challenging teaching of Jesus on prayer.
Quotes:
[Hallowed be thy name] is not then a request that it be made holy —it is holy already. Rather, it is that people may recognize and acknowledge its holiness by giving God the reverence which is his due.
-R. T. France
True Christian prayer is always a preoccupation with God and his glory.
-John Stott
We had a father and mother on earth, that we might be born to labors and to death: but we have found other parents, God our Father, and the Church our Mother, by whom we are born unto life eternal.
-St. Augustine, 5th c.
See how He straightway stirred up the hearer, and reminded him of all God’s bounty in the beginning. For he who calls God Father, by him both remission of sins, and taking away of punishment, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, and adoption, and inheritance, and brotherhood with the Only-Begotten, and the supply of the Spirit, are acknowledged in this single title.
-St. John Chrysostom, 4th c.
Pray like this three times a day.
-The Didache, 1st c.
Links:
Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs
The boy who said, “wow!”- CBS News Story
The Boy Who Said, “WOW!” children’s book.
Why Do We Say the Long Ending of the Lord’s Prayer? – Pastor Tim
Scripture Texts: Psalm 146
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! 2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; 8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. 9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!
Matthew 6:5-14
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
“The Prayer of the Lord” preached by Rev. Dr. Timothy R. LeCroy. Sunday, September 15, 2024 at 10:00AM. New Life Presbyterian Church in Ithaca, NY. Come see the beautiful Finger Lakes region, and worship God with us. www.newlifeithaca.org.
Sermon music is from “We Will Feast in the House of Zion” provided by Sandra McCracken and with her permission. www.sandramccracken.com.
0 Comments