Matthew 6:9-15 - How Should We Pray?

[0:00] So, Matthew chapter 6, and we're not dependent on the screen this morning, so like if you've got a Bible, that's all you need this morning, right? And if you don't have a Bible, there's some on the back table, you can help yourself to one.

[0:15] So, in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is laying out, he's in the middle of this sermon, he's laying out some problems that we all face.

[0:28] And the problem is simply this, that we are prone, because of the fall, because of what happened in Genesis chapter 3, because of what happened in the Garden of Eden, we are prone to be self-centered, shallow, or hypocritical in prayer.

[0:47] I mean, like, ouch. We seek our own glory, we seek our own needs, we think about our own appearance.

[0:58] We think about our own words, I mean, like, how many times do we sit in a prayer meeting, and we're not praying or thinking about what someone else has prayed, we're trying to think about what we're going to pray, to get those words right, right?

[1:11] And then someone else prays what we've prayed, and we're like, oh, don't. Or we sit there in silence, because we don't know what to pray. We're so worried about someone else judging what we've prayed, that we don't pray at all.

[1:25] And so there's a problem. And Jesus is going to outline this problem for us in this text, in Matthew chapter 6. And also, he's going to give us a lesson on how to pray, not by saying this, say that, say this at the right time, but by reorientating our hearts towards God as Father, grounding our requests in his kingdom, his provision, his forgiveness, and his deliverance, made possible through Jesus.

[1:58] So, as we think about that, let me just tell you that prayer is one of the most natural things for us to talk about, should be one of the most natural things to talk about as Christians.

[2:10] And yet, would you agree with me, it's one of the hardest things to do right? Most of us know the feeling our minds wander, our words stumble, and often our prayers sound more like shopping lists and desperate cries and real communion with God.

[2:24] And sometimes we pray, again, to impress others. Sometimes we only pray when we're in trouble, and sometimes we pray not at all. And deep down, we know the prayer should be more than what it is in our lives.

[2:40] Today, when people do surveys of various different kinds, they sometimes ask, do you pray? Or have ever prayed? And usually, the answers are high, in the high 90%.

[2:53] People pray. All kinds of people pray. The disciples that we will see this morning, that are being given this lesson to, they are used to praying.

[3:06] That is not a foreign concept to the disciples. They're not like, what do you mean pray? All right? These men and these people would have gone to the synagogue weekly.

[3:17] They would have known the feast. They would have grown up reciting the daily prayers. When I was in Nepal just this last summer, people know how to pray. Right?

[3:29] Hindus do us Christians shame in terms of how often they pray and how fervently they pray. But it's the same. So prayer is a common thing that we understand what prayer is.

[3:45] We have this common need to pray. And so in this section, Jesus isn't going to give us a script to recite, which I'm really thankful for because my memory is terrible.

[4:00] So he's not going to give us a script. He's going to give us a pattern to transform the way we think about God, think about ourselves, and about what it means to live as his people. And so the question is, simply for this, if you want a heading for today's sermon, you can jot this down.

[4:15] How should we pray? Question mark. How should we pray? And so in this text from verse 9, Jesus is going to give us six things. And rather than, you know, approach this, there's several ways you could approach this text.

[4:31] I get it. The way that I approached it is that Jesus, I think, is going to give us six things that diagnose the problem of prayer. Okay. So he starts off by giving us just problems.

[4:45] Then he's going to give us the gospel cure. And then he's going to tell us how we should be responding. So you could go, right, you know, number one, here's the diagnosis. Here's the gospel cure in Jesus.

[4:57] And here is how we should respond. Right. And so what I want to tell you is that these are all heart level issues. These are deep things.

[5:09] Because let's agree that the lack of prayer isn't because of the lack of time. Can we agree that? Like we find lots of things to do, don't we? That are completely unnecessary.

[5:21] Right. You know, we have lots of time. We find time for the things that we value. And if we're not praying, guess what? We probably don't value prayer.

[5:32] And that can't be sorted with a list of things that we should be doing. And so Jesus calls out, diagnoses our hearts.

[5:44] It's almost like, you know, we're there and the psalmist is saying, search me, O Lord, and know my heart. So look, for sake of time, because we're going to run out of time.

[5:57] Verse nine. The first thing. The first thing that prevents us praying. I put it up on the screen. If it comes off the screen, but I'll keep repeating it. The first thing that prevents us praying.

[6:09] The first thing that diagnoses us is this mentality that we are on our own. Like we have to do this. The diagnosis is the pursuit of individualism.

[6:24] Now, the big problem is that sooner or later, the problem with individualism is sooner or later is that we give up because it's tough doing something on your own, isn't it?

[6:38] That's why we marvel at these people who are able to things like, I don't know if you've been following, the people who have been rowing across the Pacific. Have you followed that?

[6:50] Absolutely. I mean, they're not even doing it on their own. But it's people who do that kind of crazy stuff on their own. And we're all like, wow, how do you do that? How do you manage the isolation? How do you not give up?

[7:03] And there's that idea that actually, if we do things on our own, we have the tendency to give up, to stop, because it's tough. And notice that Jesus comes along and he not only diagnoses the problem.

[7:15] Look at verse 9. He says, pray then like this. And he uses this word, ah. Now, just stop there. Don't go any further. Ah. So he not only diagnoses the problem, but he gives us the cure, because this prayer speaks corporately to us, not individually to us.

[7:36] Jesus does not say, my father, my daily bread, my debt. But with the community in view, our father, our daily bread, and our debt.

[7:50] And like, that's super crucial for us to understand, because in our culture, our culture promotes this like radical individualism, doesn't it? Especially when it comes to spiritualism. Like, don't talk to me about spiritual things.

[8:02] Right? It's just that that's my choices, you know, my private thing. And look, it might be good. It might be good. And I think it probably is good, you know, for our souls to have a quiet walk in the woods, or, you know, one thing, just to sit by the beach.

[8:15] Right? That's good for us. And we absolutely see Jesus on occasion, don't we? Withdrawing from the crowds. Right?

[8:26] And even the disciples themselves to be by himself. And that's needed. And that's what we need too. But Christianity is not an individual pursuit.

[8:37] As much as it is a communal one. Jesus did not call isolated individuals to follow him. As much as he called a group of disciples.

[8:52] Who can lean on each other, learn from each other, support and help each other. When you look at the book of Acts, right? Look at the book of Acts. When God moved among them, It was after they came together to pray.

[9:06] And look, no doubt individuals were praying. Like I'm not for one second suggesting, give up your individual prayer life. Right? But the early church prayed together.

[9:20] They worked out the ramifications of the Lord's prayer together. Let me give you a quick example. In Acts chapter 1. And, you know, at this point in Acts chapter 1, Jesus has died.

[9:33] He has been resurrected. He has given the disciples the great commission to go out into all the world and make disciples. He has told them that they can't do that on their own strength.

[9:44] That they have to wait for the Holy Spirit. And look out there how they responded in verse 14 of chapter 1. All these things with one accord were devoted themselves in prayer. How did the church respond to that?

[9:56] What did they do? They came together and they prayed together. And as a result, chapter 2, when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Presumably doing the same thing that they'd been doing in chapter 1 verse 14.

[10:10] Praying. And suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon them. And then Peter stands up, preaches, and 3,000 people get saved. So what do they do?

[10:23] Like how do you go from a church of 120 to 3,120? In one day. Like someone's asking about chairs, aren't they?

[10:36] Can you imagine a leadership meeting on that night? Like what do we do next week? How do we set out the chairs? I don't even know the answer to that.

[10:48] But here's what they responded. Chapter 2 verse 42. The church gathered. They devoted themselves to prayer. Prayer. Chapter 4.

[11:00] They pray. Acts chapter 6. They pray. Acts chapter 12. They pray. Each time God answers in crazy ways. Listen, Christianity is inherently communal.

[11:11] It's done together. It is an extension of your prayer life. Not the sum total of it. And so the diagnosis that Jesus brings out is that this pursuit of individualism.

[11:23] We isolate ourselves from each other as a result of the fall. But the gospel cure is that God has placed us in a family to be the people of God together.

[11:34] And our response is that we, and you could guess what I'm about to say because it's our prayer week. Our response is that we come together to pray.

[11:48] Right? And I'll add to be vocal and pray in a prayer meeting. Like I know that sometimes it's difficult to gather together and then voice your prayers actually to speak in a prayer meeting.

[12:02] But please don't be afraid. You should feel confident that God is your audience and no one else. It is also not an opportunity.

[12:14] And I know that this is a challenge. And sometimes, I'll just be honest, it's been a challenge for me in the past to go to a prayer meeting and not have a quick nap. Do you know what I mean?

[12:26] Like it's middle of summer. It's like 10 o'clock at night. It's really warm. Like, yeah. Right? I know that. I get that. But it's not an opportunity to do that, is it? You know the answer to that is stand up.

[12:39] Stand up and pray. You're less likely to fall asleep. And if you do, you can't hide it. And you'll wake up probably on the floor.

[12:50] So, look, our response is not just to go to prayer meetings, but our response is to gather together and pray. Right? Attend life groups where prayer happens every single week.

[13:05] Form regular prayer partners. You don't have to wait for the church to kind of go, you know what? We're going to do prayer partners this week. And it then becomes an event. Prayer isn't an event. So, Jesus is diagnosing the fact that we have this radical individualism.

[13:23] And he says, look, the cure is I didn't save you just to be out there on your own. I saved you to come together. I've broken down the walls of separation. Second diagnosis is this, is that we have a misunderstanding of God as Father.

[13:41] Look what he says. He says, when you pray, pray like this. Our Father in heaven. And there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the disciples are sat and they're sitting there right now. And their heads are just kind of, their minds are just exploding.

[13:54] Because normally you wouldn't refer to God the Father, especially as a good Jewish, you know, man or woman as Father. You know, they, and sometimes we, the problem is that we understand God as judge and he is a judge.

[14:08] We understand God as sovereign and he is a sovereign. We understand God as king and he is a king. But to approach God as a good father is a completely different thing, isn't it?

[14:21] And that's what prayer is, first and foremost. And I think this is really important for us to understand, is that it is a relationship with God as Father. And Jesus modeled this for us as actually part of the cure.

[14:36] Because every recorded prayer, apart from one, every recorded prayer of Jesus in the New Testament, he starts, he addresses God as his personal Father. And the only time he doesn't is found in Matthew 27, where God has forsaken him on our behalf on the cross.

[14:57] And so Jesus goes to the cross and he suffers the abandonment of a father that we should have received. So that we wouldn't receive that.

[15:09] Like, none of us have the right to call God Father except that we have that right because of what Jesus has done. That's the cure. And what Jesus is saying is that there are plenty of people who pray.

[15:25] But the basis of prayer and the basis of people praying is different. Like, some approach God on the basis of what others think of them. Others, and this is what he addresses actually earlier on in that chapter.

[15:37] He says, don't be like the hypocrites. They pray like this. Don't you pray like that? Some approach God based on how many words they can use. Right?

[15:48] Good Elizabethan English. King James English. Right? And we get lost. There's a chap I used to pray with on a weekly basis.

[16:04] And I can say this because I've said this to him. He used to say something and then he used to follow it with Father. And it's great because that's what we're talking about.

[16:15] Right? But it was every third or fourth word. It was like something, something, Father and Father and something, you know, Father and Father. We would never talk to any of us like that, would we? It would be like, and Joe and Joe and Joe and Joe and Joe and Joe, Joe and Joe.

[16:30] It's like, it's just like, that's not a normal conversation. But here Jesus encourages us to approach the truth on one word. And that's Father.

[16:44] But listen, he's not giving us a theology lesson. We don't need to get caught up in the lesson on the Trinity. He's asking, on what basis do you think your prayers are going to be heard?

[16:57] On what basis do you think that God's going to listen to you? Like, what rights do you have? Do you think God's impressed with you? You think God's impressed by your many words?

[17:11] And that's why he listens and hears? He's like, oh my, my. That guy does know King James English. Brilliant. I'm going to listen to that chap. But the guy who's speaking in New International Version.

[17:24] No, not him. Sorry if you're any NIV readers in here. But you get my point, right? On what basis do we think that we're going to be heard?

[17:35] Prayer is not, here God, I have something for you. Here's my education. Here's my many words. Here's what I look like to everyone else. And on that basis, God, you better listen to me.

[17:48] Prayer is instead, I am something to you, not I'm bringing something for you. Jesus says, when you pray, pray like this, Father.

[18:06] It's intensely relational. John chapter 1, verse 12. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become what?

[18:18] Children of God. What do children call God? Father. That's a shift in relationship. He gave the right to become something we weren't.

[18:31] Now we are. Well, what are we? We are children of God. Now, look, this doesn't mean that we become flippant or irreverent in our asking. But it does challenge us to change our view about how we approach God.

[18:47] And so our response, maybe even today, try beginning your prayer simply addressing God as Father and pausing then to think and to thank him for adopting you in Christ.

[19:00] That's the pinnacle of our salvation. You know that. Galatians teaches us that. The pinnacle of our salvation is not that we are saved, justification. Not that we are being saved, sanctification.

[19:11] Not even that we are going to be glorified one day with Christ. Paul argues that the pinnacle of our salvation, the reason that we've been saved, is that we might be able to call him Father.

[19:25] We've been adopted as sons and daughters. If you're not yet a Christian, consider what it would mean. And look, there's no getting away from it.

[19:36] Are many, many fathers in the world? No, I'll rephrase that. There is not one father in the world as good as God the Father.

[19:48] All fathers at some point fail, don't we? Like two people nodded. I know that we've got more fathers in here. Right? And so the tendency is for us to build this idea of God the Father after our own fathers.

[20:05] I had a great father, but look, he was flawed. What would it be like to be able to call the creator of the universe, the perfect father because of Jesus?

[20:20] Look, the third diagnosis comes at the end of verse 9 and then into verse 10. The diagnosis is this. This is the one we really hate. If you didn't like the first two, you're not going to like this one.

[20:31] It is self on the throne. Self on the throne. Here's what he says. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[20:44] I love this diagnosis. Why? Because it's super honest. Like, isn't this an honest prayer? It confesses that things on earth, and we prayed this this morning already, it confesses that things on earth aren't being done in God's name and by God's will.

[21:00] I know that there are many times when my own will, and I want my own will to trump the will of God's.

[21:15] I find myself praying for things, and I, you know, maybe just the Spirit stops me and asks me, like, I wonder if this is his will or yours. And so do you see what Jesus is doing from the start?

[21:30] What he's doing is exposing the idolater in us. He's saying, don't forget that God is the center of the universe, not you.

[21:42] Ouch. God is the center of the universe, not you. God is on the throne, not you. So when you pray, say, Father, great is your name.

[21:55] Like, how often do we stop and just kind of go, let me just praise you for who you are. Great is your name. Let your name, let your renown, let your reputation, let who you are be seen and magnified and glorified and exalted and loved and wondered about and written about and sung about and pursued.

[22:16] That's the diagnosis, because we don't do it. And of course, the cure is in the gospel found in the person of Jesus who came to us.

[22:32] Because we could turn around and go, well, you know what? I don't know what God's like. Like, how can I praise him? I don't know what God's like. I've never really met him. Never really read about him. Don't know who he is. And so God says, let me do something about that.

[22:44] In steps Jesus, who the Bible says is the fullness of God. Displayed. You want to know what God is like?

[22:55] Look at Jesus. Praise God for everything that you find in Jesus. So what does that sound like in our prayers?

[23:08] How do we respond then in our prayers? Well, it sounds like making much of God and not your problems.

[23:21] Oh, but when I tell God my problems, I'm making much of him because he is the one who is going to fix them. Yeah. Nonsense. God is great regardless of your problems.

[23:37] If he doesn't fix your problems, God is still great. And we'll see that there is a place. Of course, there is a place in prayer to ask God for things that we need.

[23:51] But that's not where we start. We start with God. It's like this. Oftentimes we come to God and we come to God like we use a microscope.

[24:04] So a microscope makes small things look big. And that's sometimes what we do with our problems, isn't it? Our small, insignificant problems.

[24:15] We make them look huge. We come to God and we go, look, God, I've got this massive problem. And we forget that God is massive and our problems are really, really small. And we've used a microscope to blow up our problems.

[24:28] Instead, we should come to God like a telescope because telescopes make those things that seem small, but are actually massive, look big.

[24:39] And so Jesus is here asking us to stop and consider God through the telescope and remind us to submit our hearts again and to say out loud, great is your name.

[24:52] Your kingdom. God, there are things in this world that do not look like or sound like you are ruling. There are things in this world that run contrary to your will.

[25:03] Please put an end to that. Would righteousness reign? Justice be on the throne. Kindness rule. And let it be now. And then he gives a fourth diagnosis, which is the illusion of control.

[25:24] Look at the really basic things that Jesus says that we should be praying for. Verse 11. Give us this daily bread. So food for the body. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

[25:39] Forgiveness of the soul. And in both instances, we are called to be honest about our need. I'm hungry in need of food and I'm a sinner in need of forgiveness.

[25:55] And so what I think the Lord is talking about is this illusion of control. Like, why does Jesus include the most basic things for us to pray about?

[26:12] Simply because everything in this world teaches us a formula. Like, if I do this, then I'll get this. If I put this in, then I'm guaranteed to get this out.

[26:26] Like, go to a Christian bookstore. Who does that anymore? Go on to Amazon. And you'll see if you search for books on parenting or books on Christian marriage.

[26:38] Here's what it's going to tell you. You want your husband to do this or you need to start doing this. Right? Husbands, you want some more romance in your life?

[26:48] Here's what you need to do. Start doing the dishes. Not to love her, but to get what you want. You know what that's called?

[26:59] That's called manipulation. That's not called love. It says that you can control your environment.

[27:11] That you can control your spouse. To get your spouse to do and give you what you want. It says that you can control your kids. And get them to do what you want.

[27:25] To ensure that what you put in is what you get out. Listen, that's an illusion of control. And Jesus in this prayer is calling that out.

[27:36] He's calling us to give that up. To give up control. Because the truth is, when we realize how out of control we actually are, guess what happens? We begin to look beyond ourselves and pray.

[27:50] When the farmer realizes that he can sow the seed, but can't make the crop grow, he begins to pray. When the parent realizes that they have done everything right and still watch their teen walk away from God and there's nothing that they can do about it, guess what?

[28:09] They start to pray. And one of the greatest illusions of our day is this illusion of control. That we are the masters of our fate. Not our feet.

[28:21] We are the masters of our fate and the captains of our soul. And with a little effort and a little time, things are going to be okay. Listen, prayer shatters that illusion.

[28:34] If we are prone not to pray, this is a heart issue and it's probably a heart issue of control. Prayer shatters that illusion reminding us that we are creatures, not a creator.

[28:51] Dependent children, not sovereign rulers. So how does the gospel help us? Well, it reminds us that even Jesus, even Jesus submitted to the will and work of the Father.

[29:06] Didn't he? Like what did he pray on the night of his trial? If there is any way for this cup to pass by, nevertheless, not my will, but yours.

[29:18] I'm going to give up control. And as Jesus died and rose again, there was a new creation being offered to us. One that is powered by God himself, changing our hearts and lives so that we are transformed each and every day.

[29:35] As Paul says in Romans chapter one, he appeals to us by the mercies of God to present our bodies a living sacrifice. What does that mean? Give up control. Give up control. And so this then also then becomes our response.

[29:53] And maybe this strikes a chord with you. And I wonder what areas of your life you've been trying to manage without God or been trying to control God. Your work?

[30:05] Well, I'll just work harder. I'll work longer hours. Your finances? I'll save. I'll stop buying dumb stuff.

[30:17] I'll create a spreadsheet. Family. Health. I'll go to the gym. Maybe that needs handing back to him.

[30:32] The fifth diagnosis is found in verse 12. And the fifth diagnosis is unconfessed sin. Look at verse 12.

[30:44] Forgive us our debts. And he's not talking financial debts, right? He's talking about sin debt. Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. And I love this because, look, it reminds me that we're going to come to God as a sinner.

[30:59] Do you know that? Like, you don't have to get yourself cleaned up before you come to God. God's like not on the door, or the Holy Spirit's not on the door to prayer and going, well, you're not good enough to come and pray.

[31:16] The whole purpose of our coming is that we come broken. This isn't when you pray, pray like this with no mention of brokenness, no mention of short circuits in our spirit, no mention of the fact that we're not there yet.

[31:32] Jesus is acknowledging that when you pray, pray like this, forgive me of my sins. Here Jesus says, when you pray, come broken, come weak, come in need.

[31:45] Don't wait. And we often, don't we, is this true? We often treat sin as the reason to hide from God.

[31:58] Maybe not purposely, maybe not thinking about it, but maybe in our intentions. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we cover ourselves and run the other way and the enemy whispers, you've blown it again.

[32:10] God doesn't want to hear from you. And so instead of praying, what do we do? We step back, we pull back. But listen again, the gospel flips that thinking upside down because the gospel is about what Jesus has done rather than what I can do.

[32:27] So sin should not keep us from God. Listen, sin should be the very thing that drives us to God. Why? Because only he can forgive it. Only he can cleanse it.

[32:38] Only he can heal the brokenness that it causes. Jesus here is reminding us that prayer is not for the perfect, but for the needy. This prayer assumes that we're going to come as sinners in need of mercy.

[32:53] It assumes that. And since through the cross, God has already made a way for sin to be dealt with, every failure is an invitation to run back to the arms of the Father where forgiveness is freely given in Christ.

[33:10] And then look at the response. Interestingly, the response is actually in the text as we also have forgiven our debtors. He's acknowledging that when grace has taken root in our hearts, we are able to extend grace to others.

[33:30] There is an immense trust in God to place our sins with God, believing that he's dealt with them, right? But even more practically, it's when others have sinned against us, what do we do with those sins?

[33:45] Well, look, there's a lot of things we could do with those sins. We could, like maybe what I would have done once upon a time, just got really angry and gone and sort them out. Maybe you run, isolate yourself from them.

[33:59] Maybe you just get bitter in your own soul about them. Maybe you grieve. Jesus says, don't do any of that. When you've discovered that you can trust God with your sins, you'll discover that you can trust God with someone else's.

[34:17] And that's the point. Maybe it's not just your and mine unconfessed sins that are the problem. Maybe it's the sins of others that we haven't just laid on the Lord.

[34:31] That is a burden that you and I carry that we can't carry the weight of. All of the sin that's been committed against you, some sins that you've even hardly noticed, other sins that you can, that you maybe still bear the scars from.

[34:49] Can you trust God to handle those sins as well as your own? Now, finally, the sixth diagnosis in verse 13.

[35:01] And we certainly run into this one more often than we probably care to admit, and that is complacency. And I'm not just talking about hitting the snooze on the alarm first thing in the morning and then getting up late and going, man, I haven't had any time to pray.

[35:19] I'm not talking about that kind of complacency. Listen to what he says in verse 13. He says, lead us not into temptation. If I think that I am so strong and I am so wise and I am so knowledgeable in the Lord, there'd be no reason to pray this.

[35:48] If there was no danger, if there was no challenge, if I felt like I was just, you know, spiritually on holiday all the time, sitting by the pool, there's no danger, no problem at all.

[36:04] Why would I need to pray a prayer like this? And simply the reason is because of the problem of complacency. Cast your minds back to the Garden of Edom and Adam and Eve.

[36:16] They were fooled into sinning, weren't they? There was deception that took place. Peter picks this up and he says in 1 Peter chapter 5, he says, be sober minded, be watchful.

[36:32] Why would he say that if there wasn't a danger? Why would he say that if we're not prone to be tempted? Why would he say that if we don't fall into this issue of complacency? Well, he said that for this reason, your adversary, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion.

[36:51] Listen, the devil is not a butterfly floating from flower to flower. He is a lion. And if you've ever had cats, you know how evil they are.

[37:07] They sneak up on things. I mean, they're nice because they bring you gifts like we had a pigeon brought to us this morning, still flapping, which causes us to flap.

[37:24] But Peter says, look, the devil is not complacent.

[37:35] The devil is not asleep. We are not spiritually sitting at the beach with no danger at all. The problem is that we are so complacent to the work of the enemy, we fall far too easily, don't we?

[37:51] The gospel cure is that Jesus modeled for us how to deal with temptation. Read Matthew chapter 4. And that's to be strengthened in the word of God and in the power of the Spirit.

[38:08] The cure is that we've been given the word of God, which is a what? A sword. To take on the lion.

[38:19] Don't you love it? Jesus hasn't gone, you know what, you're on safari, but I'm not going to give you any tools to deal with the lions that are coming after you. He hasn't said that. He said, I'm going to give you a sword and then if you think you lack strength, I'm going to give you the strength to actually wield that sword in the power of the Spirit.

[38:40] And so Paul writes to the church at Galatia, he says this, I want you to walk in the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh. In other words, when you walk in the power of the Spirit, you won't give in to that temptation.

[38:53] You won't gratify the desires. And then here's how Jesus called us to respond. Here's what he's saying. He says, when you pray, ask the Father to help you. That's it.

[39:05] Like you don't need Elizabethan language to get that. Right? When you pray, after you've kind of done the other stuff, ask God to help you. And some of us are like, I need help to pray to start with.

[39:18] Okay, we'll start there. God, would you help me pray? And then get to praying. You see, he's not only acknowledging the weakness of the sinner and his need for forgiveness.

[39:33] He's also acknowledging the weariness of trying to carry the burden of sins done against him. He's also acknowledging that even the righteous man and the righteous women need help.

[39:45] Do you need help? Four of you. Brilliant. Like this is good news. It's not bad news to admit that we need help.

[40:01] It's good news because what Jesus is saying is that sinners can come to the Father and the redeemed can come to the Father and both can say, help me.

[40:13] Both can say, forgive me. Both can say, forgive them. Both can say, deliver me from temptation. That's great news that we have a place to go and the place we go is the Father.

[40:27] Father, deliver us from evil. He says, deliver us from evil because I don't have the strength to do that on my own.

[40:44] And so can you see these six things that Jesus is diagnosing in us? Individualist mentality. Father misunderstood.

[40:59] Self on the throne. The illusion of control. Sin unconfessed. And complacency. And he comes to us and he says, well, don't just try harder.

[41:12] I want you to lean on the gospel. Have your minds shifted. Your mindset shifted. That he has placed us in a family and that we come together.

[41:23] We hold each other accountable. We pray together. That will help our individualist mentality. understanding that we now have the right to call God Father.

[41:40] So do it. Understanding that Jesus is on the throne. We're not on the throne. Make much of him in our prayers.

[41:52] Submit to him. Give up control. There may be something this morning where you're just like, you know, I've got this. I understand I'm trying to control it. Give it over. Maybe there's unconfessed sin in your life or maybe there is sin done against you that you are trying to carry the burden of.

[42:17] You can't do that. You can do it for a while. But you can't do it for very long. Understand that every failure is an invitation to return to him.

[42:31] Be filled with the word and the spirit and walk in it. I'm going to pray. Joe and Matt are going to come back up and lead us in a couple of songs.

[42:45] And as they do, I want you to think about those six points and I almost guarantee that one of those has struck high more than others. Respond today in one of those ways and ask God to help.

[42:58] Father, thank you for your word. Thank you, Lord, that you have given it to us to help us. Lord, thank you that you haven't left us on our own. Lord, thank you, Lord, that we can respond to you.

[43:11] And we ask now this morning, Lord, as we have heard these things from you, Lord, we ask that we would have the courage, the boldness, the willing, the strength to respond to you in kind.

[43:23] Lord, forgive us of all the times we've tried to either have control, maintain control, or we've just tried to go our own way and do our own thing. Lord, we pray.

[43:34] Lord, we just bring these things to you this morning. And Lord, help us to have our hearts changed and kind of just like our minds shifted to see you in the way that you want us to see you.

[43:49] Lord, we thank you for the gospel. Lord, we thank you, Lord, that you came to save sinners. Lord, and we're thankful this morning, Lord, that prayer isn't a, or perfection isn't the standard.

[44:04] Brokenness is the standard. And so, Lord, we come to you this morning knowing that we're sinners, asking you to forgive us. And Lord, it's just we pray, Lord, in the quiet of this room as we come before you in worship, Lord, help us to understand, Lord, then may you just, your spirit just work on our hearts right now as we respond to you in song.

[44:26] Lord, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[44:52] Thank you.

[45:22] Thank you.

[45:52] Thank you.