The Lord’s Prayer
5-4-2011 Vol. 4 Part 4
Psalm 34:1-10 NKJV A Psalm of David When He Pretended Madness Before Abimelech, Who Drove Him Away, and He Departed. I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. Father I pray that your grace falls on all and saturates those that seek you like a gentle rain. Bless them and their loved ones. Thank You Jesus!
Our Father Who Art In Heaven
The following points I will be covering for the first phrase of the Lord’s Prayer are these:
A. The Fatherhood of God
a. The Person of the Father
b. The Place of the Father
B. Implications of the Fatherhood of God
a. We Have a New Relationship
b. We Have a Whole New Reward
c. We Have a New Resource
d. We Have a New Responsibility
The Person of the Father: Have you ever looked at the difference in the Old and New Testament on how God was looked upon. In the Old Testament the term Father was rarely used in regards to God being a Father to the people. The people invariably referred to God as Lord or the God of Israel. There was very little intimacy with God. The Israelites showed great fear and reverence to God. They knew he was all powerful in how he dealt with them whenever they were disobedient. We know by the trivia questions God took the lives of some of the sons of leaders and opened up the earth to swallow up the disobedient people Numbers 16:30. We also know the Israelites would insist on Moses or Levite priests to intercede with God for them because they feared God. Those that had a relationship with God invariably referred to themselves as servants of God. Even those that didn’t have the close relationship with God like Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, etc. were called Gods servant or the servant of the Lord.
In the New Testament with Jesus being the son of God, and we being the brothers and sisters of Jesus, we refer to God as our Father. When we are Born Again we are adopted into God’s family and become his children. 1 John 3:1 NLT See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know Him. In Matthew Chapter 6 God is referred to Father twelve times and in Chapter 5 seventeen times. Jesus refers to God as Father more than 70 times in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The key passage that tells us we are adopted is this; Galatians 4:4-7 NKJV But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. When God sent forth his Son Jesus, our relationship with God changed when Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead. The veil in the Temple was torn and the door to God was opened up to us to have a direct relationship with Him through Jesus Christ as our mediator. 1Timothy 2:5 NKJV For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
The Place of the Father: Gods residence, “Heaven” is a majestic royal place. Take the most royal exquisite place on earth you can think of, and then times it a 1,000 times and it still wouldn’t equal Heaven. Our Father is surrounded by angelic host and at His right hand is His son Jesus Christ.
As mere sinful human beings that we are, how do we relate to the love God has for us? He is the creator of all things, all powerful, all knowing, and all present. So how is it we can go to him with all things and be in his presence as his children? It is that Father child relationship He has with us and the best way to illustrate that is with this quote from Dr. David Jeremiah. “A magazine ran pictures of President John F. Kennedy working in the Oval Office in the White House with his two young children, John and Caroline, playing near his desk with their toys. The power of the place was counterbalanced by the personal access the children had to their father, the president. Neither your children nor my children would have been allowed into the Oval Office to play on the floor. But the children of the president of the United States were. It was his place, and he was their father, so they had access to him in the realm of his powerful position. Without the father-child relationship, that would not have been possible.”
Knowing our Father is always there for us at all times is what we should model for our own children as parents. When our children are young and with us at home shouldn’t we always be available for their every need? Even when they are grown we should still be a role model of our Father and always make our self available to help them.
I can’t help but think and wonder if we as parents, don’t make ourselves available to help our children, then how does our Heavenly Father treat us? Do you think our prayers fall on deaf ears if we aren’t good parents? We are to live our lives as Christ did. If we aren’t good parents and always make our self available, we will cause our children to sin by turning to someone that could cause them harm. By turning to someone else they might get involved in drugs, alcohol, disrespect other human beings, etc. So with what Jesus stated in this verse, who would be the first to get the millstone hung on their neck? Matthew 18:6 NKJV "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
As a Christian, and God being our Father, what does that mean for us on a practical level? There are four things that happen to us when we give our heart to Jesus:
A New Relationship: When we are saved we start a new relationship with our Spiritual Father. It is a relationship where the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us instead of just being with us. John 14:17 NKJV the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. We are regenerated in a new life and we see the world with a new set of eyes. With this new relationship comes special prayers/protection. John 17:9 NKJV "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
New Rewards: Paul tells the Galatians this. Galatians 3:29 NLT And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. He also states in Romans we are joint heirs. Romans 8:17 NKJV and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. When we become a child of God we are placed in God’s will. The will was executed when Jesus died on the cross. When we die we will receive the inheritance in full, by eternal life with God our Creator in Heaven.
A New Resource: With the Holy Spirit living in us after we are saved we have spiritual guidance to walk, talk, and live as a child of God. This is what God meant when he said he would write his laws on our hearts and in our minds. Hebrews 8:10 KJV For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: The Holy Spirit is in us and puts great conviction on us when we sin and keeps us from sinning when our flesh has a desire to sin. Does the Holy Spirit always keep us from sinning? No, we will still sin, but a person that is truly saved will be convicted of their sin, go to God and ask for forgiveness, and repent by asking God for help so that you can overcome that sin. The only way we have of walking in a Christ like manner is having the Holy Spirit living within us. Our human nature is a sinful nature inherited from Adam that is incapable of living for God.
New Responsibility: The Lord’s Prayer starts with “Our Father” not my Father. This implies we are all part of one family when we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour. If we are squabbling with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ here on earth, then I ask you this. Are we living a Christ-like life? By squabbling over frivolous issues are we taking our walk with Christ seriously? If we are going to spend eternity together, live in Gods house together, then we need to get along with each other here on earth to model our life in Heaven. James 4:1 NLT What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you?
When we pray “Our Father...” and we are in the midst of a quarrel with our fellow spiritual siblings, are our prayers heard? Before we go to prayer, to the Lord, do we need to do a spiritual reality check before asking God for blessings? We need to forgive others and ask God to forgive us of our conduct. After all, in the Lord’s Prayer it states, we must forgive others so God will forgive us. If we don’t keep the relationships we have with each other free of un-forgiveness, then it clouds our relationship with God.
God wants our fellowship to be constant, mature, and free of conflict with other human beings, especially those that are adopted into God’s family. If conflict is always being brought about, then this question comes up; who is spiritually born and who isn’t? If this happens to you, search scripture for the answer, and go to the Lord in prayer asking him to reveal to you who is at fault. If it is you, swallow your pride, apologize, ask forgiveness from the other party, and ask God to forgive you. If you aren’t at fault then pray for the other party and ask God to fight for you. Exodus 14:14 NKJV The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."
I can attest to this so far with my short walk with Christ; I can have an intense discussion with other Spirit Born Christians and walk away as friends. Discussions with individuals that are not born of the Spirit, I have to be still and walk away before it gets out of hand.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth,
Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."
Bill
Last Week’s Trivia: Did the presence of the Ark of God ever destroy false gods?
Answer: Here is the scripture that gives the answer; 1 Samuel Chapter 5. This leaves me with this thought. The Philistines could see the power of God and acknowledged this power through what was happening, why did they continue to hang on to their god? The Jews in Jesus time did the same thing, they couldn’t let go of their god of rules and regulations and believe in Jesus. Many religions of these days do the same thing and hang on to their god of rules, regulations, and handed down beliefs instead of Jesus and all that is in his word. If we are to be Jesus disciples, we must believe and not doubt.
This week’s Trivia: Do you think God can guide animals to do his will?
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