Lord teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.
When you pray say:
Father hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins. For we forgive everyone who sins against us. Do not allow us to enter into temptation. Deliver us from the evil one.
John 14: Be not troubled you believe in God believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many rooms, I am going to prepare a place for you.
I am the way the truth & the life no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew me you would know my Father also.
John 5: My Father is always at work & I too am working.
22: The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son. That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
40: My Father’s will is that all who look to the Son & believe in Him shall have eternal life & I will raise Him up at the last day.
44: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him & I will raise him up on the last day.
7:37: If a man thirsts let him come to me & let him drink who believes in me, out of his being will flow rivers of living water.
PRAYER
Father: We can only speak to the Father when Jesus has played His role. He alone took on Himself our sin, was punished for it when He died on the cross. He alone rose from the dead & intercedes for those who put their trust in Him.
When we come through Jesus who took on Himself our sin & punishment we come to know the Father who does not find fault with anyone because Jesus has played His role as the way to the Father.
I went to university at Wits. An Aussie, was asked if Jesus was the only way to God? He said He was the only way to the Father. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Thereafter we know God as Father. He continues to work in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Changes take place in the lives of those that come to faith in Jesus. We discover that as we keep our focus on Jesus. We look not at ourselves as He alone brings about change. Silently quietly the Holy Spirit continues to complete the work begun by Jesus who dealt with our past sin & assures us that we are righteous in the sight of God.
God does not want you to focus your attention on yourself but on Him as your Father & Jesus as your Lord & Saviour who continues to bring about change through the Holy Spirit.
Father.
A father in the areas of the Bible is in charge of the family. He provides the needs of the family. He arranges brides & grooms. He advises the line of work. Very often sons are trained by the father in the same line as the father. The father is the expert.
Muallam = teacher.
The father provides for the family who all look to him for advice for their needs to be met. No one acts without consulting the father. He alone knows what is best to meet the needs of everyone in the family.
So when we call God Father we are admitting He has brought us into His family to do what He wants us to do because only He knows the future. He alone has the experience.
Children of the Father seek to promote the welfare of the father’s family. They will do nothing to tarnish the name of the father & his family. To address God as Father is to acknowledge that He has paid the price to make that possible. We are members of His family. Our role is to do only that which pleases Him.
Hallowed be Your Name. Nothing must cause shame by any member of the family rather they must all act so that the Father rejoices. A good example is the rejoicing in the home when the prodigal was restored.
If you address God as Father you are admitting He is in charge & you will do whatever He requires. You cannot go your own way. All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way & the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
That was prior to us being restored by the Father. Then we allow Him to order our lives & we live in obedience to Him.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Everyone has to discover the will of the Father in their lives.
The area that the Father owns to carry out His purposes must be extended. I accept responsibility. I have a role to carry out to be part of extending the Father’s area over which He has His way.
I must remain obedient in carrying out the role You have given me. Not my will or my way but you own me & nothing less than doing Your will every day is acceptable to You. Not just on a Sunday but every day.
People will cross your path. A lady of 83 asked how to be born again. I read to her John 3. Next day she was born again!
God can use you at any time, anywhere. I used the ABCD.
She told everyone at Carmel. She heard me preach that Sunday on a parable & said it was the best sermon she had ever heard.
She was born again. Months later at Athens airport I was told that she spoke to all at George that Jesus had changed her life.
Do you know it?
A – Admit I do not know You Jesus. I have gone my own way & there is an emptiness inside of me.
B – I believe that You died for me taking on Yourself my sin & punishment that separates me from God. I believe you rose again & want to come & live in me.
C – Come in Lord Jesus as my Saviour & cleanse me of my sin. Come in as Lord & teacher & show me the person You want me to be. Come in as Friend & share life with me.
D – Declare – tell someone that Jesus has come into your life & that you now belong to Him
Give us each day our daily bread.
Bread is the tool of the meal. Used to convey food to the mouth. Needs to be fresh every day.
A reminder we live one day at a time. We have daily needs.
As your Father He meets your needs provided you make His kingdom your priority.
Forgive us when we go our own way just as we forgive those who harm us by what they say or do.
Boers: we can forgive but not forget! That is not forgiveness! Help me to treat others the way I want You to treat me.
Do not allow us to respond to temptation which comes from the enemy of our souls. We look to You for deliverance when we are tested by the enemy of our souls.
The prayer taught by Jesus is short & specific. No repetition. The Father knows your need before you pray. Make His kingdom & will your priority. Not your way. Fit in with His plans & do not ask the Father to fit in with your plans.
A church in the Bible came to faith in Jesus & through His being involved in their lives, they prospered & slowly over time drifted away from Him. Jesus told them that they considered themselves as rich & needed nothing. He said they were wretched, miserable poor, blind, & naked. To show His love He disciplined them. They had left Him out of their lives. So He showed His love by rebuking them. You have left me out of your calculations.
It is Me standing outside the door & knocking. I come as a stranger. Rev 3:20 If anyone hears My voice & opens the door I will come into him & eat with him & he with me.
No mention of what Jesus would say.
When Jesus received Gentiles He welcomed them & ate with them. No mention of what He said to them. When Jesus is present in a life, changes take place.
People become aware of those changes later on. The way they speak, how they use their time, what they value. Sometimes the change is dramatic.
Namibian doctor at Parow golf club. Had cancer & faced operation. Explained salvation to him. Used ABCD. He wanted to tell others Jesus had come into his life.
Golfer explained ABCD . Prayed after me & wept openly. Never thought it would take place in his life .
Onlooker aged 48 was told about Jesus. He replied aged 18 that one day Jesus would want to come into his life. Prayed with me radical change. Brethren all rejoiced as he had broken up meetings in the past & ridiculed them.
ABCD. Do you know it? Jesus found me many years ago .
I was in Lebanon as field leader attending to the needs of many. I became aware I had lost sight of Jesus. So I prayed the ABCD & was born again! Not possible? In Acts the Holy Spirit poured out on Pentecost many spoke in tongues. In Acts 4 after persecution they prayed & were filled with the Holy Spirit & spoke the Word of God boldly.
A – Admit. Jesus I have lost sight of You. There is an emptiness inside of me that only You can fill.
B – I believe You died in my place taking on Yourself my sin, my punishment, my separation from God.
C – Commit or come. Come into my life as my Saviour & cleanse me of all my sin. Come in as my Master & teacher & show me the person You want me to be. Come in as my friend so that I will never experience loneliness again.
D – Declare Help me Jesus to declare I trust You for salvation, that I belong to You. Remove from me the fear of what others might think. Make me aware of Your life-changing presence.
When Jesus is restored to His rightful place in the life of a person changes take place. The way they speak. No dirty jokes. Anger is replaced by peace. Changes that people only become aware of over time.
Read your Bible daily. Spend time talking to the Father the Lord Jesus & the Holy Spirit. Ask for insight & how to share what God has done in your life.
Parable on Prayer 11:5-8 To build up confidence.
Then Jesus asked them, Which of you has a friend who goes to him at midnight & asks for 3 loaves of bread for a friend of mine has come to me on a journey & I have nothing to set before him & the one inside says do not trouble me as I am in bed with my children I cannot give you anything. I tell you though He will not get up & give him the bread because he is his friend yet because of his not wanting to be ashamed, he will get up & give as much as he needs. Verses 5-8 are the parable. It is to teach that when we pray we must expect God to answer.
What is Jesus teaching here? God answers our prayers in His own time & way. He assures us He hears & knows how best to work so that your relationship is one of trust. If you give good gifts to your children, your Father gives the best gift of all the Holy Spirit which is another way of saying He gives Himself. We all need Him. Every day & in every situation.
So I say to you ask & it will be given to you, seek & you will find, knock & the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, to the one who knocks the door will be opened.
The timing shows that God is involved.
Which of you fathers if your child asks for bread will give a stone, asks for fish will give a snake, asks for egg will be given a scorpion, If you then though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
Why introduce the Holy Spirit? It is another way of saying get your priorites right. Consider your relationship with the Triune God as the most important factor in the shaping of your character.
The Father whom you have come to know through the Lord Jesus wants to be involved in your life. He expects you to make known to Him your needs of wisdom, insight, understanding & daily discover the life He wants you to live. He wants you to make Him known to others so that they too may be forgiven & live to please Him. The Holy Spirit will help you in prayer. Be specific.
Do not keep on repeating the same prayer. Exercise faith in God to answer in His own time & way.
I was guided to place my savings in US $ in 1980. I did so reluctantly. Others tried to point out my foolishness. God warned me in advance to keep trusting only Him. Told to walk down the road. Led a man to faith in Jesus. Back in Cape Town. The Father made it possible for us to buy our house for cash when the bond rate was 25% . In 1996 the Lord led us to buy a house for David & Jeanette before God called them to serve Him in Lebanon. Only God made that possible. They served Him for 14 years in Lebanon & were able to move into their house without a bond.
To God be the glory great things He has done.
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son
But purer & higher & greater will be our wonder
Our rapture when Jesus we see.
Praise the Lord Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord let the people rejoice
We come to the Father through Jesus the Son & give Him the
glory great things He has done.
GRACE – God’s riches at Christ’s Expense.
Totally undeserved. We experience grace upon grace. Precious surprises. Enter the atmosphere of grace. Only possible through Jesus the gate, the way to the Father.
