SA Ep68 - Becoming a Prayer Warrior (Part 2)

SA Ep68 - Becoming a Prayer Warrior (Part 2)

In this episode we begin walking through the Lord’s Prayer by examining its opening words: “Our Father which art in heaven.” Jesus deliberately started the prayer with relationship, reminding believers that prayer is not merely a religious act but a conversation between a child and a Father.

The phrase “Our Father” functions like a spiritual paternity test. While God is the Creator of all people, the Bible teaches that becoming a child of God happens through salvation. According to John 1:12, those who receive Jesus Christ are given the right to become the sons of God. Through faith in Christ, believers are adopted into God’s family and gain the incredible privilege of calling the Creator of the universe their Father.

This relationship transforms the nature of prayer. Instead of approaching a distant deity, believers speak to a loving Father who cares for His children. Jesus illustrated this truth by asking whether any earthly father would give his child a stone when he asks for bread. If imperfect human fathers know how to give good gifts, how much more will our heavenly Father care for those who come to Him in faith.

This episode sets the foundation for the entire prayer by reminding listeners that salvation brings them into God’s family. Those who belong to Christ are not only forgiven but also adopted as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Because of that relationship, prayer becomes the privilege of a child speaking to the Father who loves him.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Seeking Approval Podcast. I'm Dr. Chris Smelster from Iliad Baptist Church. You know life moves fast, and faith is not meant to be rushed. I want to take some time and slow down with you and have some honest conversations from the Word of God about daily living. So join me here today on Seeking Approval. So who is the Father? That question could spark a litany of emotions depending on the situation that someone is in. But when speaking in spiritual terms, we should be able to answer that question as Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter number six, verse number nine, as we're looking at the Lord's Prayer, the model prayer. It says, After this manner, therefore pray ye, our Father, which art in heaven. Before there's any request of provision, asking for forgiveness, asking for protection, Jesus directs the disciples to confirm the relationship they have with heaven. If we are going to pray, we need to make sure that God is our Father. The prayer doesn't begin with a need. So often begin with, God, I need this. Oh Lord, here's another problem. And there's not that there's anything wrong with praying and bringing your supplications and your petitions to the Lord, those things that you are begging or asking for. There's nothing wrong with that. The Bible tells us to do that. But it also gives us the form of it. And there are times when you don't have time to run through the framework of this Lord's prayer that we've been given, or the model prayer. And there's times when maybe you're laying on the hospital bed, maybe you've just had some terrible news given or some of that effect. The life has just hit you really hard. And the best you can get out is, oh God, I need help. There's nothing wrong with that. Don't get me wrong. But when we get down to pray, when we have that time to commune with heaven, it should always begin with the paternity test. It should begin with our Father. And those two words could be the most profound words. Really, not just in the entire prayer, but really in the entire Bible, in the whole canon. I mean, is there two other words you could think of that would uh that would that has more meaning associated to it? I mean, I'm I know that, but but just think about it, our Father, I mean, for us to be able to say our Father, Jesus had to die on the cross, for us to be able to say our Father, Jesus had to shed his blood, for us to be able to say our Father, Jesus had to rise again for us. I mean, all the things had to happen before we could ever say our Father, because without Christ, without our relationship with Christ, he's not our Father. So it, I mean, there's there's so many things that have to happen for us to be able to say our father. Just think if Christ came and died and never rose again, we could call Christ our brother. There's a lot of folks who say, you know, our brother in arms, or, you know, uh, you know, there's different organizations and stuff that call each other brothers and sisters and all that, and they're not really blood brothers or sisters. We could call him our brother. But that doesn't make, you know, Jesus, uh that doesn't make God our father. But because he came, he lived, he died, he rose again, and is sitting at the right hand of his father, we can now say our father. Those are two very weighty words that we have. And it speaks to our relationship with him. That is the what we call the spiritual paternity test. Many people will say our father, but does it do you really mean it? It really forces us right off right from the beginning that when we when we say this prayer, it forces us right from the beginning to admit our relationship with heaven. Can I truly say that God is my father? I know that God is the creator of all things. I know that He's He's a creator of the cosmos, He holds the world in His hands, he He sits upon the uh the solar system, he He casts the stars over Him uh as a as a as a shade in the evening. He He props His feet and His arms upon the planets as they're around I mean this is the image that we have of God and for most people they have no problem with saying that God is there, God is real, and He created all things, but But can they say my Father? Every life can trace its origin back to Him. He breathed life into man. But the Bible makes a very clear distinction between being created by God and being a child of God. The Bible tells us that becoming a child of God is something that happens through salvation. Uh John 112, a wonderful verse out of the book of John. I encourage you sometimes just read those first 13 verses of John, it'll it'll set up the entire book for you. But it says, But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. That means as many receive him. And just a few verses before that, in John 1 7, they said that uh the Bible says that they sent a man named John, John the Baptist, as a forerunner to preach to the people that all men might receive the light, that all men might be saved. And then just a few verses later, it says, But as many receive him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God. That tells us that if if we believe and receive Jesus Christ in faith, that salvation is not just forgiveness of sins. That's a that's a if that's all it was, that'd be that'd be well worth it. If I could just pick three or four sins to lay to lay on salvation, it would be well worth it, because there's there's some things that I would love to just mark off my list and say I don't have to worry about those anymore. But the fact that all my sins have been forgiven, past, present, and future, that's that's uh a blessing in itself. But then, but then to be called an heir and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, that all things that are given in him are are given unto me, and there's some things that's given to me that's not his and not given to him, but because he already owns it, but then there's some things that's given to us jointly, that's what heir and joint heir means. But then on top of that, to have the Creator as my father, salvation is so much more than just God saving us from hell. Understanding him to be our father is an essential, an essential step before we can ever pray to him. When when Jesus told the disciples to pray, pray as this, he said to pray after this manner, our father. He wouldn't have just given a polite title. And if Jesus would have said, my father, maybe it would just be Jesus talking, we could have questioned, well, is it just Jesus talking to his father? How do we approach him? How do we how do we say that? Do we say, uh, oh Lord or or my God, or how do we say that? But he said, Our Father. He was declaring that real that there is a relationship that exists between us and God, not as a stranger approaching some distant king sitting high up on a throne that we are not able or worthy enough to talk to. When we approach God, when a child of the king approaches God, it's the same as if you're talking to your earthly father, your own father here on earth. I'm not trying to elevate our dads on earth to that relationship. I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about in their in their honor, but I'm talking about in that style of relationship. It transforms the nature of the prayer. It becomes more than just, you know, I hope that the ruler hears my plea. Maybe it will make it to his ears if he deems it worthy enough. No, it becomes more than just a religious act or a political act. It becomes a personal conversation between you and the Heavenly Father. And just think again, when Jesus said, Our Father, he's including himself in this prayer because he's Jesus' father. That alone is remarkable to even think about. That we are brought into the family of God, and we can approach God the Father the same way that Jesus would approach him. Romans 8 15 says, For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, we cry, Abba Father. The same two words that Jesus prayed in the garden. Abba Father. That word Abba, it's a it's a word, it's an old Hebrew word that uh it it it displays uh the closeness and affection. It's like the cry of a little child. We're saying, Daddy, daddy, daddy, you know. That's that Abba. Paul, he goes on in there in verse 17. Verse 17, he says, Heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. There it is. Just think about that for a moment. Heirs and joint heirs. Is that why when do you think does that make you sit just a little bit taller? Does that make you kind of put your shoulders back a little bit and say, wait a minute. Maybe I don't need to be slumped over here saying, Woe is me, you know, everybody have pity. Look at me. Kind of kind of makes you sit a little straighter a little bit, you know? Ah, maybe not, maybe it's just me. Jesus then taught him in uh chapter number seven of Matthew, just a chapter later after this, he said, Or what man is there whom if you if the son ask of bread that he would give him a stone, or if he ask a fish that he would give him a serpent? If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? He said, You wouldn't even give a a rock to your kid if they ask you for some food. And you and you're evil. You don't even know how to Good doesn't just reside in you. It's it's bestowed upon you. Righteousness is imputed upon you. And you know how to take care of your child here. How much more do you think God can take care of you? This relationship, this paternity test that is that is given to us in the first two words of the Lord's Prayer, the model prayer. It changes everything. And knowing that we can pray to our Father should give us confidence. Knowing that our Father is not gonna give us a stone or a serpent. And he's probably gonna give us more than what we're actually asking for. Now, sometimes we ask for things and we ask, as the Bible says, we ask amiss. We don't really know what we're asking for. We're actually asking for something that's gonna do detriment and harm to us. I've heard many, many um, speaking with a lot, you know, a lot of men and and uh throughout the years and just being in around more men than I have been women when dealing with uh you know uh boards and and uh and leadership communities and all that. You know, you'll hear a lot of times men will say, you know, well, I remember when I was young, I was praying that God would let me marry, you know, so and so. And boy, I look at it and I'm so thankful God did not answer that prayer. I think probably most every man could could say that at some point along in his his life that boy, I'm so glad that God didn't uh let me stay with her. I know I prayed and prayed and prayed about that, but I'm so glad, you know, seeing what how things have turned out. Sometimes we ask things amiss, we think it's what we want, but God knows better. God knows now that's not who you're supposed to be with. I've got I've got the one for you, just hang on. So we we do ask amiss, you know, and and God being our heavenly father knows that that's not what you really need. You know, it's like the child driving, you know, down the road on a getting on a long road trip, and you know, you pull off to get some gas, and everybody wants to get a snack, and they run in and they grab, you know, uh three tubs of of cotton candy and uh uh a thing full of uh you know sugar-covered gummies and uh and a Yo-hoo. And you know, the dad's looking at it like, you'll be throwing up in the car within five minutes. No, we're not getting that. The kid really wanted those things, but the father knew better and made them get what you know. Sometimes we we don't get what we ask for, and we you know, we kind of get, well, why didn't God give me what I asked for? Because he knew you'd be throwing up within five minutes. So sometimes we ask amiss, but but we can take those things to him, and we can have confidence that those prayers will be answered. And that brings the balance in the the first two words of the Lord's Prayer. It's the balance of of the the the God of of all, of all creation, not just the world, but all creation. The God who can who could sculpt everything and set everything in motion, we can still pray to him as our Father. And those two words strike a balance in our prayer life. His authority extends over all creation, yet at the same time, it's almost like you can you can feel him just place place his hands on the back of your back of your head while you're praying and just holding you saying, It's gonna be alright. It's gonna be okay. Understanding from the very beginning that we're not praying for some religious act, we're not praying to check the box of the day. We're praying because we have a relationship with our Father should change how we view our prayer life. It should change the first and most important weapon we have in this spiritual war that's going on around us. To know that God, the Creator, is our Father. The judge has become our redeemer, and prayer has become a privilege of a child speaking to the one who loves him the most. Thank you for joining us today on Seeking Approval. You know our faith oftentimes grows in quiet places. I hope today's conversation gave you something worth carrying throughout the rest of this day. And join me, Dr. Chris Smelser, again next time as we continue thinking, learning, and walking together. Until then, grace and peace to you from Seeking Approval at Gilead Baptist Church.