WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.799 Can you imagine trying to get a meeting with the President of the United States? 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:10.880 You know, you couldn't simply walk into the Oval Office whenever you wanted to. 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:11.439 Right? 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:12.400 Everyone knows that. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:13.839 You would need all types of things. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:20.079 You would need security clearances, you would need appointments, you need approvals, if you even got that far. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:24.960 Now imagine if the president had a little child. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.760 That child doesn't need credentials. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:29.519 He doesn't need an appointment. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:34.560 He can simply walk into his father's office and come to him. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:37.119 What's the difference between that child and us? 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:39.920 Well, the difference isn't necessarily importance. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:42.880 The difference is relationship. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:55.920 When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he could have taught them to begin by saying, Almighty God or sovereign Lord, but instead he chose a word that emphasizes relationship. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.240 He chose the word Father. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:02.560 That one word changes the way that we approach God. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.359 Last week, we looked at this question that Jesus was asked by one of his disciples. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:09.760 Lord, teach us to pray. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.879 The disciples wanted to learn the right way to pray. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:19.120 They were already learning from his example, but the disciples wanted to know what they should include in their prayers. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.079 How should we address God? 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:24.400 What should or we shouldn't we ask for? 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:27.439 What are some things that our God wants to hear from us? 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:37.439 These are great questions, and they're questions that each one of us as believers should want to know because, like the disciples, we should have this desire to pray the right way. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:43.680 And thankfully, Jesus has given the church those answers, answers to those questions. 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.920 It's in the model prayer that we know as the Lord's Prayer. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:52.159 We find it in Matthew, but we also find it here in the Gospel of Luke. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:58.159 And this morning, we will begin looking at what Jesus teaches us to include in our prayers. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:07.359 Now, the Lord's prayer is not simply to be prayed word for word every time, although at times it's good to pray it word for word as a reminder of how we should pray. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:10.479 We include it, as you know, in our liturgy for that reason. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:12.879 However, the model is just that. 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.919 It is a model for how we should pray. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:19.280 There are certainly more that we can say in our prayers. 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:21.599 And we don't want to pray vain prayers. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:23.520 We don't want to pray vain repetitions. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:27.919 We don't want just to repeat phrases without truly meaning them. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:42.639 Jesus actually gives us a warning about this in Matthew chapter 6, verse 7, where he says, 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. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:47.439 Prayer is ultimately a heart issue. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:56.000 This is why, as I mentioned last week, it's good to have our hearts and our minds shaped by the scriptures, shaped by the Word of God. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:01.439 And we should allow our prayers to be led by his word and to be led by the Spirit of God. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:16.479 In Ephesians 6 18, we read, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:24.159 Prayer is a spiritual thing, which means that we need the Spirit very much involved in our prayers. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:28.719 Again, we're not just repeating words and we're not just repeating phrases. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:31.120 We are praying in the Spirit. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:34.639 We need the Spirit to lead us in our prayers. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:37.520 We need the Spirit to empower us as we pray. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:44.879 And even, as Paul says in Romans 8, to intercede for us in our weaknesses when we don't know what to pray for. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:52.719 So as we begin looking at this model for our prayers, don't neglect the Spirit's involvement in them. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:58.400 Now, let us go to what we should include in our prayers. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:01.919 I titled this sermon, Addressing the Father. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:05.039 This is the part of the prayer we're going to be looking at this morning. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:15.439 Before getting to the petitions and what we are to include in our prayers, Jesus teaches us a way to approach God. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:19.360 And he teaches us to approach God as Father. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:24.399 As he says, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name. 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:27.360 This is the first thing that the Lord teaches us. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:33.199 He teaches us how to pray and come to God as Father. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.199 The question for us is why? 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:36.800 Why Father? 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:41.680 Of all of the titles attributed to God, why this one? 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:42.639 Why not Lord? 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:43.680 Why not Maker? 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:44.800 Why not Most High? 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:45.680 Why not King? 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:50.240 Of all the titles, why do we begin our prayers addressing God as Father? 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.000 Well, the answer to that question is what I want to spend our time on this morning. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:56.639 I want to answer why we address God as Father. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:58.800 And here's what I want to point out. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:03.759 When we address God as Father, number one, it establishes his position. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:07.439 Number two, it reveals his character. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.120 And number three, it draws out our reverence. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:13.519 It establishes his position. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:15.839 It reveals his character. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:18.160 And it draws out our reverence. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:21.519 Let's look at that first one. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:23.680 It establishes his position. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:30.240 By addressing God as Father, we are establishing his headship. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:35.920 Just as a father is the head of the family, God is head over all. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:37.600 He is first in order. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:39.120 He is first in rank. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:42.639 There is no creature or being that is above God. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:47.920 In our prayers, we are acknowledging that all things come from the Father. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:56.560 This is why before we even get to petitioning our requests, we acknowledge who these requests that we are asking for will come from. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:01.360 And that nothing will come to us unless they come from Him. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:12.000 James 1.17 says, every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:21.839 So when we open up our prayers, addressing God as Father, we are not only acknowledging his position, but we are also acknowledging our position. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:26.240 It establishes the creator and the creature distinction. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.439 It sets forth who God is in the relationship. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:41.040 How tempted we are to think that we are self-sufficient, that we can obtain all things on our own, that we have the power within us to accomplish everything that we need to need to. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.639 We are so quick to set ourselves up in the place of God. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:50.079 But by addressing him as Father, we are reminding ourselves who he is. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:58.079 And we are reminding ourselves who we are, that he is the Father, and we are the children, that he is the creator, and we are his creation. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:02.079 Malachi 2.10 tells us, have we not all one Father? 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:04.079 Has not one God created us? 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:08.720 Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:20.160 Genesis 2.7 says, Then the Lord God formed the man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:24.800 It was God the Father who gave us life. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.480 He breathed life into us. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:35.600 You know, there's a humility that comes with knowing that you are a created being. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:37.680 Because to be created means something. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:44.639 It means that you are not dependent, uh, that I'm sorry, that you are dependent for someone else, for your existence, for your very life. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:48.879 In other words, you wouldn't exist without someone else. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:52.240 And in a sense, we we we understand that by way of birth. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:57.519 Some of you are probably old enough to remember that old saying, I brought you into this world and I'll take you out. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.800 You can't say that anymore, they'll call the police on you. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:06.079 But as a kid, you can argue with that because you know it's true. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.600 Because we know that we didn't give birth to ourselves. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:12.639 We have our mom and dads to thank for that. 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:15.839 But yet, our mom and dads were also birthed. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:18.240 And whoever birthed them were also birthed. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:25.279 And it says we could keep going back until we reach the first man ever created, and we can give God creation credit there. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:30.240 However, that kind of makes God seem uninvolved. 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:33.840 As if he just set things in motion and let them be. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:38.639 But God is not only our creator, he is also our sustainer. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:43.840 He also directs everything, all things according to his own sovereign will. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:52.559 As Psalm 135, 6 says, whatever the Lord pleases, he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.159 The text says, Whatever the Lord pleases, he does. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:58.559 Not whatever the Lord pleases, he has done. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:01.279 Our Father is an active father. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:05.039 He's not, as some people would call, a dead-be dad. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:09.679 And as Colossians 1:16 says, all things were created by him. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:17.679 In other words, even the birth that was given to you by your parents is a result of God's created work. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:23.440 Theologians speak of first and secondary causes, first and secondary causes. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:25.279 God is the first cause. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:26.240 What does that mean? 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.480 It simply means that nothing happens unless God says so. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.759 If God wants something to happen, it will happen. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.840 It's gonna happen, and He will make it happen through various means. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:44.000 Staying with this birth analogy, you were born because God said you would be born. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:46.080 He is the first cause. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:49.440 Again, nothing happens unless God wants it to happen. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:53.440 You were born because God wanted you to be born. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:56.159 The secondary cause was your mom and dad. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.240 He used them to make it happen. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:02.399 But never think you were born out of the pure will of your mom and dad. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:06.639 All things, even you, were created by him. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:16.320 This is important to keep in mind when we petition him for things because he doesn't just create us, he creates everything around us. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:20.799 He created the sun and the moon and the stars that give us light. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:23.519 He creates the air that we need to breathe every day. 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:27.360 He creates the fertile ground that produces our food that we need to eat. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:31.600 He creates the materials that we use to shelter us and close us. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:36.960 We are dependent creatures, dependent on our Heavenly Father for everything. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:42.240 Just as children are dependent on their fathers for provision and for care. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:46.720 The creatures of God are dependent on Him for every need. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:50.159 From the biggest need to the smallest need. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:55.679 When my children were little, they certainly needed me for the big things. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:00.000 They needed dad to provide shelter for them. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.759 They needed dad to provide food for them to eat every day. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.159 But they also needed me for the little things. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:14.320 They needed me to pick them up and put them in the car seat and buckle them in, even though it took me a while to understand that concept. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:19.759 They needed me to teach them how to hold a pencil and how to tie a shoe. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:35.840 Likewise, we need our Heavenly Father for all things, for the great things, for creation, for creating us, for salvation, but also for the little things, for the things that we take for granted every single day. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.559 We need God for today and for tomorrow. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:40.960 We need God for the body and for the soul. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.600 We need it for the temporal and the eternal. 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:56.240 When we begin our prayers with Father, what we're doing is we are establishing that we are little dependent children coming to our Father who meets needs. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.360 We are saying, Father, there is nowhere else to go. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:01.039 There is nowhere else to turn. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:10.720 There is no one who is more able or sufficient or powerful or capable to meet my needs than you, Heavenly Father. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:15.039 This is why we open up our prayers in the Father. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:21.200 Number two, addressing God as Father reveals his character. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:30.639 Again, it's interesting that Jesus said to address God as Father rather than creator and rather than Lord. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:37.360 You know, in the Old Testament, rarely did the people of Israel address God as Father. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:44.000 Now it would be an overstatement to say they never did, but we do see a shift in the New Testament. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.679 Not a shift in God's character, because he's always been the same. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:49.679 He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:54.320 He never changes, but a shift in his revelation. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:05.039 In the Old Testament, God was called by names like Yahweh, which means Lord, or Elohim, which means God, or El Shaddai, which means Almighty. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:12.799 These names emphasize his holiness and his sovereignty and his covenant faithfulness and his majesty. 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:17.360 But in the New Testament, we get a fuller revelation of who God is. 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:20.480 Not only is he those things, but he is those things. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:28.720 He is holy, he is sovereign, and he is majestic, but he is also loving and caring and personal. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:35.440 So personal that Jesus says, we can address him as father. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:40.480 Now maybe you didn't grow up with a loving and caring father. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.480 Maybe your father was absent. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.440 In the worst case, maybe your father was abusive. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:48.799 Maybe he was just distant. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:56.000 So for some of us, it might be a little difficult to see the goodness of fatherhood. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:58.000 And I do want to be sensitive to that. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.200 But God is not like that. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.279 God is the ideal father. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:06.559 God is the father of all fathers. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.200 God is the father to the fatherless. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:13.840 In God, we see what a father is supposed to be. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:17.200 In him, we find a loving father. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:25.919 Every good father knows the love that they're filled with when they see their child for the first time. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:45.840 There is a love that wasn't there before until we go into that room and we hold that infant in our hands, and we don't know where these feelings are coming from because I didn't have this love yesterday, but today I'm holding this infant in my hands, and I have this newfound love. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:51.360 And the moment you set your eyes upon that newborn child, you have this newfound love. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:15:00.080 Well, in Ephesians 1, we are told that God chose us before the foundation of the world. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:06.879 And it says, in love, he predestined us, which means that God didn't have to find love. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:08.720 He always had love. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:10.960 He didn't stumble upon loving us. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:13.519 He has always loved us. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:18.000 And his divine love is greater than any earthly love. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:24.799 It is a love that doesn't come from what we do or how we look like or how cute we are or who we are. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.840 But it is a love that comes from who he is. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:32.159 See, love with God is not something that needs to be stirred up. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:34.559 He doesn't have to be moved to love. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:35.759 He is love. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:43.519 He is not drawn to love, but he bestows his love, the love that he is by his own free will. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:48.320 And he has chosen to bestow his love on his children. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:50.320 That's you, if you're a believer. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:59.840 John, 1 John 3, 1 says, see what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God, and so we are. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.679 The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:09.279 If you're a child of God, you know him. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:11.360 Like the world doesn't know him. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.039 Why is this important to know in our prayers? 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:21.840 Why does it even matter that we know we are speaking to a loving God before we even petition him? 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:28.720 Because we can be assured that our loving Father has our best interest in our prayers. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.399 We can be assured that He will only give us good things. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:35.840 He's not going to give us things that are going to harm us. 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:45.120 You know, He's not going to give us things in our prayers that are going to drive us, that are going to drive the children away from the Father. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:17:00.399 So we can have full confidence that even when our prayers are missing the mark and we're asking for the wrong things in love, our Father will keep some things for us because he intends us no harm. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:07.519 Matthew 7, verse 9 says, or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:10.480 Or if he asked for a fish, we'll give him a serpent. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:19.920 If ye then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:31.680 It's hard to compare our earthly fathers to our heavenly father because, as the text says, earthly fathers tend to do evil. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.079 But God is good all the time. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:39.920 Even the best of earthly fathers can have an evil day. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:49.119 Earthly fathers may have good days, but there is no millisecond when God the Father is not good. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:56.640 So we have this confidence in our prayers, as 1 John 5 says, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.680 His will is always good. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:03.039 Ours might not be, but his is. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:13.759 And if he only gives us things according to his will, it means that he will only give us things that are good or that are for our good. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:17.279 And we're saying, well, it doesn't seem good, Lord. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:25.279 How are you giving me this thing, this trial, this tribulation, or how are you not, how come you're not taking away from it me? 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:28.720 How come you're not taking this away from me in my prayers? 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.440 It seems like you're not answering my prayers. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:43.279 Well, we can trust that whatever he's doing, we might not understand, but whatever he's doing, because he's a good and loving Father and intends us no harm, that he is doing it somehow, some way for our good. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:46.240 We address God as Father. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:48.400 We have this confidence. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.960 This confidence that he's good and he's loving. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:56.400 But also this confidence that he's approachable. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:06.079 By beginning our prayers, addressing the Father, we're reminding ourselves that God has given us, his children, this free access to him. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:14.480 That we have the freedom to come to the God of the universe, the God who created things out of nothing. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.640 The God is that is so transcendent and vast and great. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:24.240 We have access to come to this God like a child does a father. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.480 My children don't have to make appointments to speak to me. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:31.920 Neither do they have to ask for anyone's permission. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:33.440 They can just come. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:40.559 That is the relationship that the children of God have with their father. 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:43.759 It's the relationship that every Christian has with God. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:45.119 We can just come. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.519 We don't have to wait until we get to church. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.559 We don't have to wait for a mediator. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:54.400 We don't have to wait for a priest. 00:19:54.559 --> 00:20:01.119 Christ is our priest and mediator, and he has made it possible for all God's children to come to him. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:14.319 Hebrews 10 19 says, Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:27.839 And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:38.000 Because of Christ, believers, Christians, have no need to approach God in fear. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.279 We have no need to approach God in uncertainty. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.480 We don't have to wonder, will God accept me? 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:46.240 Will God hear me? 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:52.000 But we can come to him with conf full confidence, joyful confidence. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:21:00.000 We can come to him with sincere hearts and complete assurance that we are accepted by him. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:13.359 Romans 8 15 says, For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry, Abba Father. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:22.720 There are some fathers in this world who make their the their children afraid of them. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:32.319 Now there is a healthy fear that children should have of their fathers, but there's also an unhealthy fear that some children have of their fathers. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:37.599 God doesn't want us to fall back into fear, as the text says. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:40.960 No, no, you haven't received a spirit of adoption. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:44.559 You can cry, Abba Father. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:51.759 What's interesting about this word Abba in scriptures is that it's left untranslated. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:57.759 It's an Aramaic word, which is the primary language that Jesus spoke in his day. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.519 However, some of you may know this. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.880 Authors of the New Testament didn't write the New Testament in Aramaic, they wrote it in Greek. 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:10.480 Yet they left this word Abba untranslated. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:13.920 They left it in its original Aramaic form. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.160 This word Abba means father. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:38.160 Theologian Robert Stein comments: the presence of the Aramaic word in letters that were written in Greek indicates that Jesus' use of the title and the early repetition of the Lord's Prayer were so meaningful that the Gentile church continued to call God Abba even though it was a foreign word to them. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:45.599 In other words, Abba became a cherished expression in the early church. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:50.960 Because this word was associated with Jesus' very own words. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:52.559 Jesus said this. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:53.759 So we want to say this. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:23:02.799 And essentially it's saying, this is what Jesus called his father, and because I am also a child of God, I'm going to call him that as well. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:04.319 I'm going to use Abba. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:08.400 Because God is my father. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:17.839 And because God is your father, not only can you come to him, he desires for you to come to him. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:23.839 Every good father is pleased when their children come. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:27.599 When their children are around the dinner table. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:36.000 When, you know, in the summertime we get the kids get a little busy with some things and the boys are working. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:41.119 So sometimes our our our family family dinners are kind of broken up. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:43.279 We're missing one, we're missing two, right? 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:45.599 Because they're at work or they're off doing something. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:47.759 So it feels a little different. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:55.599 But when they're all together, when when all of the children are home and we're we're around the table, it feels full. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:58.240 The father, it makes the father feel good. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:02.240 And this is how God the Father treats his children. 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:04.319 He wants us to come to the table. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:17.279 Let the children come to God. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:18.160 Amen. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.960 Number three, last point. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:30.240 Addressing God as Father, in addition, hallowed be their name, it draws out our reverence to him. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:39.599 As we open up the prayer, we are told not only to call God Father, but to also ask for his name to be hallowed. 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:42.640 This is really the first petition in the prayer. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:46.240 We are to pray, Hallowed be your name. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:49.440 It's not just a proclamation, it's a petition. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:55.680 The Greek form of the verb can literally be translated, let your name be sanctified. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.640 Or may your name be regarded as holy. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.920 We are asking God to do this. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:06.240 God, do this of your own name. 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:11.759 Make your name hallowed, make your name holy among the earth. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:12.799 What does that mean? 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:16.079 What does it mean for his name to be holy or sanctified? 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:18.799 It simply means to be set apart. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:31.440 It means that we are asking God to reveal to the world and to us his otherness, his holiness, his glory by his name. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:35.359 It's not a request for God to be something that He already is. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:37.680 He's already hollowed. 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:42.720 But we want His name to be hollowed in our hearts. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:52.640 It's not a prayer for God to do something in Himself, as much as it is for God to do something in us, and for God to do something in the world. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:53.519 A.W. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:26:10.000 Pink says, it's a desire that God's matchless name might be reverenced, adored, and glorified, and that God might cause it to be held in the uttermost respect and honor, that his fame might spread abroad and be magnified. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.160 In the scriptures, we are told that God's name is to be honored and his name is to be referenced. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:17.440 We even have a commandment, right? 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:25.519 One of the commandments says, do not take the Lord's name in vain, because his name reveals who he is. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:31.440 When Moses asked God for his name, God replied, I am that I am. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:37.039 In other words, why would you need to ascribe to me another name as if there is another God? 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:42.960 Now, me and you, we need to be identified by names because there are a lot of people in this world. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:44.720 But there is only one God. 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:47.920 So no need to ascribe to God a different name. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:48.880 He is God. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:51.759 To have the name God should speak for itself. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.799 We are to honor and glorify that name. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:27:00.640 Psalm 8.1, O Lord, O our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:06.000 Psalm 34, 3, O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.240 Psalm 72, 18 and 19. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:10.319 Blessed be his glorious name forever. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:14.000 May the whole earth be filled with his glory. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:20.880 The Westminster Shorter Catechism has a section on the Lord's Prayer. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:34.960 And in this petition, it says that we are to pray that God would enable us and others to glorify him in everything he makes himself known by, and that he would dispose all things to his own glory. 00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:50.319 So when we start our prayers here, when we start our prayers petitioning that everything that we ask for be directed to the glory of God, we are rightly ordering our petitions. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:56.079 We are saying, Lord, let your kingdom come, that your glory might be revealed. 00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:59.279 Give us this daily bread, that your glory might be revealed. 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:08.079 Forgive us our sins, that your glory might be revealed, and lead us not into temptation, that your glory might be revealed. 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:10.319 The end is not us. 00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:15.759 The end is not our happiness, but the end is God, and the end is his glory. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:19.680 And when we order those things properly, then we can rightly pray. 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:28.960 Then our prayers won't be self-serving and they won't be in vain and offered up from a desire to gratify our flesh. 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:35.279 It is also a petition for him to make his name known everywhere, throughout the earth. 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:39.359 It is a prayer that he will be lifted up among the nations. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.319 In many ways, it's a prayer of praise. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:49.759 It is acknowledging his goodness, and it is giving him glory before we do anything else. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:50.880 We start here. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:57.680 Psalm 100, verse 4 says, Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:01.279 Give thanks to him, bless his name. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.440 Thanksgiving. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:14.000 It is the doorway into God's presence because it acknowledges that everything we have comes from him. 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:27.359 It is saying, Lord, the reason that I have this spouse and this home and these clothes and this food is because you answered yesterday's prayers. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:29.839 So I'm coming to you again. 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:37.039 I am bringing you my petitions once more because I have seen your goodness in the land of the living. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:46.960 I have recognized your providence all over my life, and I know where everything I have in this sad world comes from. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:49.440 It comes from your right hand. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:58.960 So we thank him and we praise him and we glorify his name even before we get to those other needs. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:02.799 We say, Lord, here is my greatest need. 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:09.519 My greatest need is you, because my daily bread would be a rock without you. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:14.559 My cup would be bitter if you were not there, because you are there. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:25.119 I am going to start by asking that your name be hallowed and glorified and magnified throughout all of the earth. 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:29.359 And Lord, let that begin in my very own heart. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:34.960 Let me be the first one to offer you praise from my lips. 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:41.119 Allow me to glorify your name as I enter into this prayer. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:47.599 When we look at it from this perspective, then the order makes sense. 00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:57.680 We can see why Jesus teaches us to start our prayers by addressing God as Father and praying that his name be hallowed. 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:02.720 Because we want everything that we ask for directed to the glory of God. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:09.680 And his glory will always result in the good of his children. 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:17.680 As we close, there's one important truth that we must consider when praying to God the Father. 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:22.880 You must ask yourself if he truly is your father. 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:28.079 Because despite popular belief, God is not everyone's father. 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:32.480 He's everyone's creator, but he is not everyone's father. 00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:41.359 John 1.12 says, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:46.000 According to this verse, what does it take to be a child of God? 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:47.359 You need to be given a right. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:48.720 What does it take? 00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:52.079 How do we become, how are we given this right? 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:54.559 Well, it doesn't just take existing. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:59.920 That's what many people think, because God created them and God made them. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:03.599 They believe they can come to God as a child does a father. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:06.799 But as John one says, it is those who receive him. 00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:12.720 It is those who believe in his name who have been given this right to become his children. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:14.079 Who is John speaking of here? 00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:15.759 Receiving and believing who? 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:17.599 He's speaking of Jesus. 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:24.480 Only those who receive Jesus, only those who believe on his name can call God Father. 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:31.359 It's a right that one must be given, and we're given this right when we receive and believe in Jesus. 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:32.400 What does that mean? 00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:34.160 What does it mean to receive Jesus? 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:36.480 It means to receive the truth. 00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:44.480 The truth that he is Lord, the truth that he is savor, that he is redeemer, the truth that he can set you free. 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:55.680 It means to receive his grace, it means to receive his mercy, it means to receive his kindness that leads you to repentance, to receive his faith that he has granted to you, to believe. 00:32:55.920 --> 00:32:59.039 It means to receive his lordship over your life. 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:01.119 The question is, have you received him? 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:03.200 And have you believed in him? 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:09.759 It's not a question of do you believe the story or do you believe all of the facts? 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:12.319 Do you agree with all of the facts about Jesus? 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:16.480 It's do you believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ? 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:22.240 Do you believe that you're a sinner and that Jesus is the only one who can save you? 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:25.119 Do you believe that he is mighty to save? 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:31.440 Do you believe that if you confess your sins to him, that he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins? 00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:34.079 And do you believe him enough to follow him? 00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:35.839 That's key. 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:45.039 Because there are plenty of people who encountered Jesus in the scriptures in the Bible and said they believed. 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:48.559 They believed in his miracles, they believed in his power. 00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:53.599 They even believed that he came from God, but they didn't believe him enough to follow him. 00:33:54.400 --> 00:34:01.759