First Baptist Church
Inviting and Accepting
9 West Main St. Earlville, NY 13332, Rev. Jeremy Stopford, Pastor
“KEEP THE THY BEFORE THE MY” (Matthew 6:9-10)
March 11, 2018
“Teach Me to Pray” Series – Part 2, March 11, 2018
By Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor
TODAY’S “SPECIAL”: “A Vote Funny”
The pastor of a church decides that God is calling the church to a new vision of what it is to be and do. So at the elders meeting, he presents the new vision with as much energy, conviction and passion as he can muster. When he had finished and sat down, the senior elder called for a vote. All 12 elders voted against the new vision, with only the clergyman voting for it.
“Well, pastor, it looks like you will have to think again,” says the senior elder. “Would you like to close the meeting in prayer?”
So the pastor stands up, raises his hand to heaven, and prays, “LOOOOOOORD!…will you not show these people that this is not MY vision but it is YOUR vision!”
At that moment, the clouds darken, the thunder rolls, and a streak of lightning bursts through the window and strikes in two the table at which they are sitting, throwing the pastor and all the elders to the floor.
After a moment’s silence, as they all get up and dust themselves off, the senior elder speaks again. “Well, that’s twelve votes to two then.”
INTRODUCTION
Palm Sunday is the last Sunday of this month, and Easter is April 1st. To prepare our hearts for these special days, I have initiated a season of prayer every Thursday at 7 pm throughout this month. I really hope you can come – or take an evening a week to pray at home. But how do I pray? Is that foreign to you? For the several weeks, we are looking at a most familiar piece of Scripture where the Lord Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray. It’s in there! TODAY: “Keep the Thy before the my”. PRAYER
#1—A FRESH RELATIONSHIP “Our Father in Heaven”
This is a most unusual expression that our Savior is sharing with his first disciples, children of the new kingdom. Why is it most unusual?
In the Bible, the word “father” appears 1103 times, 753 of which are in the OT. And only once in the OT, and quoted in the new, is God referred to as a “Father”. Illustration: David wanted to build a temple for the Lord’s ark, but Nathan the prophet said that David’s son – who wasn’t yet born nor thought of – would build it. And God through Nathan assured David that God would be a Father to his son. (2 Sam. 7:14). Paul quotes that expression in 2 Cor. 6:18 to show that because God is our Father, we are to live lives separate from the world’s ways and values.
Turn to John 20:17 – In Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene, He reports that “I have not yet returned to the Father”, and for her to tell the disciples, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Why is this unusual? Because He is now giving voice to a fresh relationship that is available for children of the kingdom – because of the resurrected Savior, His Father can now be their Father (and ours as well!). Wow.
And note that Jesus said to pray “OUR Father”. This is completely unheard of in OT Theology. In kingdom living, Jesus’ Father is ours as well. Double Wow.
We are reminded of the Father’s Home: “in Heaven”:
2 Cor. 5:1-4 our new dwelling as a result of a fresh relationship. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.”
Phil. 3:20 our citizenship in heaven. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…”
Heb. 11:16 our longing for an heavenly kingdom. “But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them”
Turn to: Rev. 5:6-14 The heavenly worship is the fruit of a fresh relationship.
#2—A FAMILIAR REMINDER “Hallowed be Thy Name”
You may remember these most familiar words which we found in 1 Peter 1:14-16 describing the relationship which a child of God has with his heavenly Father. Applying the words of Leviticus 11, Peter wrote, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
God’s name is holy. His character is holy. He is altogether holy. There is no sin, no shortcoming, no imperfection in Him. And when we approach Him in prayer, we are approaching more than just another Facebook friend that you can follow or unfollow with the flick of your finger.
Because He is holy, we have a unique assurance that He will respond to our prayer in a way no person will – with an answer which is absolutely perfect to the need you petition.
There is a holy approach, and there is an unholy approach to God. But remember that it is not we who are innately holy – it is God Himself. He invites us to come as we are: “come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, “Jesus wrote. The invitation is there, the Lord Who is in Heaven is holy, and He wants us to come to Him.
#3—A FIXED RESOLVE “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done”
This is a most unusual way to finish this part of Jesus’ model prayer for His disciples. The first resolve is one of focus: “Thy kingdom come”. I read the other day that the richest woman in the US is the owner of Walmart. I don’t know her, never met her. I’m sure she worked hard. Perhaps she is related to Walmart’s founder, Sam Walton, who was a most honest Christian man. Yet her kingdom, for all intents and purposes, is Walmart. As Walmart succeeds, so does she. Her focus is the advancement of Walmart.
Jesus is encouraging His praying disciples that the focus of all believers should not be THEIR kingdom, but His kingdom. Think this through – what a newfound freedom that gives the disciple who is no longer concerned with his advancement, but with the advancement of the Lord Jesus and His kingdom. Freedom. No pressure to be an earthly success. Simply a desire to be a pleasure to the King of kings.
But Jesus also reminds His disciples that a kingdom follower will be one who seeks the Father’s will in all things. How can we do this? There are at least two ways: first, by prayer, submitting all our goals and purposes before our wise heavenly Father. Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
But the second is perhaps a bit harder: by being sure that the direction we are heading is not in disagreement with the written Word of God. In 1 John 2:15-17, the apostle John wrote: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
Such a disciple is living according to the revealed will of God as well as according to the operation of the internal Spirit of God Who never does anything contrary to the Word of God. What a privilege to pray according to God’s resolve!
CONCLUSION
Let’s review! In His model prayer for His disciples, Jesus gave a fresh relationship: the eternal relationship which He had been enjoying with His Father was now theirs by virtue of their relationship by faith in Jesus. And if that wasn’t enough, Jesus reminds them that His Father’s name is holy – that’s a good thing in light of all that is in this world which isn’t holy. And if THAT wasn’t enough, He then puts purpose to their prayer: the furthering of God’s kingdom, and the fulfillment of His will.
And that’s where the sermon title comes in. Note the placement that our Savior put with this. Each of these introductory words of prayer are Theo-centric! GOD-centered! Before Jesus continues with the personal requests which are introduced with the personal pronoun “my”, He makes sure that His disciples enjoy prayer because it is first of all “Thy” centered – fixed upon the Father Himself.
We need to keep the “Thy” before the “my”.
One last thought. Our Savior’s model prayer – given as an answer to the disciples’ request to teach them how to pray – is written NOT for all people. It can only be prayed by faith by one group of people in this world. You know that MANY religions and denominations have this prayer as part of their worship. We do here, too. BUT it can only be given in faith by those who love Jesus as Savior. No one else. It is exclusive for those who are children of God by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Savior for my sins. Have you prayed this prayer? Did you pray it from a platform of faith or from a platform of empty religion? Big difference. The answer is the answer of your eternity. Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Then enjoy the sweet intimacy that He invites us to have with Him in prayer!
close in prayer