Gary Sullivan
Member
- Sep 25, 2017
- 48
- 9
Firstly please remember the theme of the bible is not salvation but the glory of God. Concerning mankind every time a person puts his faith in Jesus then he is saved and that brings glory to God. However, our faith must be tested and we must face trials and difficulties to prove our faith and to give ourselves the certainty of our salvation. All the saints in the Bible were severely tested but because they knew their GOD they prevailed. Even the believers in the bible failed at times but the LORD once gives up on us.The great thing we can do is pray. One of the reasons I teach about God and His attributes is that as we get to know Him more we trust Him more and this will produce an effective prayer life.
There is much to understand but we will begin with Matthew chapter 6:1-15 where Jesus teaches the Jewish believers how to pray and the 6 principles He teaches upon are true today. He starts off in verses that our prayers are not to show how spiritual we are or show off oratory skills. If we perform before others we have our reward ie people may think we 're clever but God is not fooled. God will not answer. In the context of Matthew 6, The unbelieving Pharisees were dealt with ie they professed a religion but clearly did not know God. The purpose of prayer is to communicate with God and most pray is on our own and concentrating on GOD and the issues we bring before Him.There are times we will pray with other believers but remember that it is the heart's desire that reaches the LORD not how well we pray. An older believer should have more understanding but God meets us all where we are.We are all children to Him. Verse 6 reveals how God wants us to come into private time with Him.
Verse 7 tells us that God will not receive vain repetitions ie prescribed prayers from prayer books. At that time the false Jewish religious leaders had degenerated to prayer books like the idolatrous Gentiles. Indeed there are so-called Christian religions today that use prayer books. Such prayers are unacceptable to the LORD because He states this here in His Word. Our prayers need to be extemporaneous ie from us personally no matter how poorly we speak. For this reason, the command of Jesus is not to then pray the words He then command.
Getting back to Matthew 6:8 we then read that the Father knows the things of our heart and mind before we speak - He is already predisposed to commune with us if we are believers and honestly seek Him. He loves us and wants us to bring all things to Him. Having told us not to pray in vain repetitions He states our prayers should not be haphazard either in verse 9. There are 6 points now made in the manner we should pray-note we are not to vainly repeat these words but to understand the format commanded.
1 The first command is to pray specifically to God the Father not to the SON or the HOLY SPIRIT but to the Father. Note in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 that there is one GOD and that Jesus is the only mediator. We know that is one GOD in the unity of the 3 persons. I will show from other passages how God the SON and God the Holy Spirit are still intrinsically involved in our prayer life but let us progress in Matthew.Also note there is no possibility of prayers being mediated by Mary, the apostles or any other fallible means. We pray to the Father through the mediator God the SON.
2 Jesus then tells us we are to set the Father apart in absolute reverence. To do this we need to know Him and His divine attributes through His Word He is all-knowing; all-powerful; everywhere the same time; Holy - His pre-eminent attribute; sovereign etc. We must only trust Him from the words of scripture not those of men. In other words, our faith is only to be invested in His Word as we see in 1 Corinthians 4:6 and Revelation 22:18-19.
3 In verse 10 He states " Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth. " This deals with His kingdom programme relating to all things. We are to pray for the salvation of all unbelievers we know and often to answer part of the prayer ourselves by sharing the gospel with them.We are to pray for our fellow saints, pastors, missionaries always seeking the spiritual welfare of believers and physical, mental and indeed every area of each others being. Also, we are to pray for the soon return of YESHUA and the peace of Jerusalem as in Psalm 122:6 and for many other things revealed in Scripture.
4 In verse 11 we are to pray for all our daily needs ie spiritual, physical, financial etc as well as for those others on our heart.
5 In verse 12 we are to confess our sins. In 1 John 1:9 we read " If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is a prayer only for believers. When we confess we are cleansed in our daily walk. As believers, we have already been cleansed once and for all by His blood. Note, however, in Matthew that to enjoy intimacy with God we are to forgive others sins against us.
6 The last point deals with spiritual warfare. We contend with the world system, our own sin nature and Satan and his demons. Our own selfishness, the world of invalid and false religion oppose our fellowship with God but the author of the opposition is the evil one. Note however Satan and his demons are not all powerful, nor all-knowing and nor is the demonic realm omnipresent but our God is.
When our prayer ends the warfare begins. Note today we pray in the name of Jesus as He later commands in John14:14 etc Praying in His name is then revealed to pray in His will revealed in the WORD.
There is much to understand but we will begin with Matthew chapter 6:1-15 where Jesus teaches the Jewish believers how to pray and the 6 principles He teaches upon are true today. He starts off in verses that our prayers are not to show how spiritual we are or show off oratory skills. If we perform before others we have our reward ie people may think we 're clever but God is not fooled. God will not answer. In the context of Matthew 6, The unbelieving Pharisees were dealt with ie they professed a religion but clearly did not know God. The purpose of prayer is to communicate with God and most pray is on our own and concentrating on GOD and the issues we bring before Him.There are times we will pray with other believers but remember that it is the heart's desire that reaches the LORD not how well we pray. An older believer should have more understanding but God meets us all where we are.We are all children to Him. Verse 6 reveals how God wants us to come into private time with Him.
Verse 7 tells us that God will not receive vain repetitions ie prescribed prayers from prayer books. At that time the false Jewish religious leaders had degenerated to prayer books like the idolatrous Gentiles. Indeed there are so-called Christian religions today that use prayer books. Such prayers are unacceptable to the LORD because He states this here in His Word. Our prayers need to be extemporaneous ie from us personally no matter how poorly we speak. For this reason, the command of Jesus is not to then pray the words He then command.
Getting back to Matthew 6:8 we then read that the Father knows the things of our heart and mind before we speak - He is already predisposed to commune with us if we are believers and honestly seek Him. He loves us and wants us to bring all things to Him. Having told us not to pray in vain repetitions He states our prayers should not be haphazard either in verse 9. There are 6 points now made in the manner we should pray-note we are not to vainly repeat these words but to understand the format commanded.
1 The first command is to pray specifically to God the Father not to the SON or the HOLY SPIRIT but to the Father. Note in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 that there is one GOD and that Jesus is the only mediator. We know that is one GOD in the unity of the 3 persons. I will show from other passages how God the SON and God the Holy Spirit are still intrinsically involved in our prayer life but let us progress in Matthew.Also note there is no possibility of prayers being mediated by Mary, the apostles or any other fallible means. We pray to the Father through the mediator God the SON.
2 Jesus then tells us we are to set the Father apart in absolute reverence. To do this we need to know Him and His divine attributes through His Word He is all-knowing; all-powerful; everywhere the same time; Holy - His pre-eminent attribute; sovereign etc. We must only trust Him from the words of scripture not those of men. In other words, our faith is only to be invested in His Word as we see in 1 Corinthians 4:6 and Revelation 22:18-19.
3 In verse 10 He states " Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth. " This deals with His kingdom programme relating to all things. We are to pray for the salvation of all unbelievers we know and often to answer part of the prayer ourselves by sharing the gospel with them.We are to pray for our fellow saints, pastors, missionaries always seeking the spiritual welfare of believers and physical, mental and indeed every area of each others being. Also, we are to pray for the soon return of YESHUA and the peace of Jerusalem as in Psalm 122:6 and for many other things revealed in Scripture.
4 In verse 11 we are to pray for all our daily needs ie spiritual, physical, financial etc as well as for those others on our heart.
5 In verse 12 we are to confess our sins. In 1 John 1:9 we read " If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is a prayer only for believers. When we confess we are cleansed in our daily walk. As believers, we have already been cleansed once and for all by His blood. Note, however, in Matthew that to enjoy intimacy with God we are to forgive others sins against us.
6 The last point deals with spiritual warfare. We contend with the world system, our own sin nature and Satan and his demons. Our own selfishness, the world of invalid and false religion oppose our fellowship with God but the author of the opposition is the evil one. Note however Satan and his demons are not all powerful, nor all-knowing and nor is the demonic realm omnipresent but our God is.
When our prayer ends the warfare begins. Note today we pray in the name of Jesus as He later commands in John14:14 etc Praying in His name is then revealed to pray in His will revealed in the WORD.