Beloved Kinney,
As we continue this blog series on prayer, I want, once again, to remind you of the working
definition of prayer I provided: Prayer is our word-response to God’s initiating word that
expresses our faith-filled dependence on him, as his redeemed children.
We’ve explored what it means that God initiates his word to us. Then we talked about how
prayer is our word response to God. And last week, we considered the idea that prayer
“expresses our faith-filled dependence on him.”
For this Word from the Pastor, let’s finish out the last part of the definition that we pray as
redeemed children of God. (We’ll still have two more posts on prayer: one about personal
prayer and the last on corporate prayer as church!)
What does it mean to say that we must pray as redeemed children of God? It means we pray because God is our Father. God is no longer our judge. We do not speak to him as one who condemns us. We speak to him as one who forgives us, loves us, and welcomes us into his family.
This is why Jesus says that we should address God as Father. Listen to how Jesus puts it…
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. 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.
(Matt. 6:5-6)
Isn’t that glorious? You don’t need to make public your prayers to show off how spiritual you
are (which is not spiritual at all! It’s hypocritical!). Rather, you can and should pray in secret
because you’re praying to your Father who sees. You’re not praying for others to see; you’re praying to your Father who already sees.
Jesus continues…
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. Do not be like
them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
You don’t need to pray in lofty speech or with a lot of words, because God YOUR FATHER
already knows what you need. How reassuring!
This is why Jesus then instructs his disciples to pray in the way he does…
Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your
kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’
Can you see how Jesus’ template for prayer is driven by the fact that God is our Father. We pray as his redeemed children! Tim Keller said, “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is his child. We have that kind of access.” How did we get that kind of access? Here’s what Romans 5:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.”
Amen and amen. Let this truth inform and guide and govern the way you pray: you are a
redeemed child of God. He is your Father.
Love,
Pastor Josh
As we continue this blog series on prayer, I want, once again, to remind you of the working
definition of prayer I provided: Prayer is our word-response to God’s initiating word that
expresses our faith-filled dependence on him, as his redeemed children.
We’ve explored what it means that God initiates his word to us. Then we talked about how
prayer is our word response to God. And last week, we considered the idea that prayer
“expresses our faith-filled dependence on him.”
For this Word from the Pastor, let’s finish out the last part of the definition that we pray as
redeemed children of God. (We’ll still have two more posts on prayer: one about personal
prayer and the last on corporate prayer as church!)
What does it mean to say that we must pray as redeemed children of God? It means we pray because God is our Father. God is no longer our judge. We do not speak to him as one who condemns us. We speak to him as one who forgives us, loves us, and welcomes us into his family.
This is why Jesus says that we should address God as Father. Listen to how Jesus puts it…
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. 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.
(Matt. 6:5-6)
Isn’t that glorious? You don’t need to make public your prayers to show off how spiritual you
are (which is not spiritual at all! It’s hypocritical!). Rather, you can and should pray in secret
because you’re praying to your Father who sees. You’re not praying for others to see; you’re praying to your Father who already sees.
Jesus continues…
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. Do not be like
them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
You don’t need to pray in lofty speech or with a lot of words, because God YOUR FATHER
already knows what you need. How reassuring!
This is why Jesus then instructs his disciples to pray in the way he does…
Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your
kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’
Can you see how Jesus’ template for prayer is driven by the fact that God is our Father. We pray as his redeemed children! Tim Keller said, “The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 AM for a glass of water is his child. We have that kind of access.” How did we get that kind of access? Here’s what Romans 5:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.”
Amen and amen. Let this truth inform and guide and govern the way you pray: you are a
redeemed child of God. He is your Father.
Love,
Pastor Josh
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