Dealing With Your Prayer

Upside Down Kingdom
Pt. 13 Dealing With Your Prayer
Matthew 6:5-15

RESPECT for who God is
God is a living, personal God that designed humans to have an intimate relationship with Him (Gen. 1:26-28). One aspect is the ability to pray or converse with God personally. As God knows what you need before you ask, His focus is the motivation of your prayer. To God, it doesn’t matter the place or the posture but the purpose of your prayer. Jewish rabbis of Jesus’ day would stand and pray out loud in public to be seen and heard by others. Jesus called them hypocrites (Gr. hupokritēs, ‘an actor, stage player’) as their heart wasn’t to connect with God but perform for others. Similarly, pagan cult priests would say incantations and phrases repeatedly to appease their non-existent gods. However, there’s nothing wrong with standing, praying out loud, or repeating phrases if you mean them. God cares more about the heart of why you pray rather than the words of what you pray. As believers are in the family of God, they can address God as Father (Gr. patēr, ‘originator, head of family’) and Abba (Aramaic term of fatherly respect and love in warm family relations, Eph. 1:5; Gal. 4:6). God loves to hear from His children!

RECOGNITION of what God does
The “Lord’s Prayer” was not given as the formula of what to pray but the ingredients of how to pray. After respect for God as Father and Creator, believers recognize Him as Ruler of history. They pray His kingdom comes and His will is done on earth like in heaven. The Kingdom of God is presently spiritual until it becomes ‘futurally’ physical (Mark 1:15; Luke 17:20, 21; 19:11; Matt. 19:28; 24:14; Dan 2:44; 7:27; Rev. 11:15; 21:1-4). Believers help God’s Kingdom come as they build God’s Kingdom by sharing the Gospel of the King! Believers know God as Provider and trust Him with their sustenance and survival (Ps. 37:25; Luke 12:22-31). They also know God as Savior who forgives their moral debts (Gr. opheilēma, ‘legally owed or due’) against Him. God is also a Protector who delivers us from evil. Our Father guides and provides for our lives!

RESPONSE to what God has done
Believers should show the goodness, greatness, and grace of their King. As children act like their father, so should the children of God. Love and forgive like you’ve been loved and forgiven!