Prayer Q and A (4/4) - Nigel Beynon

Romans 8: v15

Part four of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer, looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “

This week: Q and A. Nigel invited invited questions in advance and these were asked by our vicar Nat at our service.

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom. As a live Q and A, there is no transcript available this week.

Prayer by the Spirit (3/4) - Nigel Beynon

Romans 8: v15

Part three of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer, looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “

This week: ‘by him’. That is, by the Spirit. What does it mean to pray ‘by the Spirit’? Or elsewhere Paul talks about praying ‘in the Spirit’? What’s that? Can you have normal prayer – and then upgrade to ‘prayer in the Spirit’? 

Please note: this is a recording from our Sunday service currently meeting on Zoom.

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Transcript

This is the third and last sermon on prayer – next week is a question time. Thanks for questions so far – do send in yours if you’d like to.

We’ve been thinking about the phrase “And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’.”

We’ve thought about Abba Father – being children of God. Last week we talked about ‘crying’ – groaning in suffering. 

This week we’re focusing on ‘by him’. That is, by the Spirit. And so our question is - what does it mean to pray ‘by the Spirit’? Or elsewhere Paul talks about praying ‘in the Spirit’? What’s that? Can you have normal prayer – and then upgrade to ‘prayer in the Spirit’? 

It’s easy for questions like that – and talking about the Holy Spirit more generally - to make us feel insecure. We hear people talk about experiences of the Spirit – particular emotions or feelings – and we think - I don’t have those. And so we feel insecure – we have a sense of missing out or not being truly spiritual. We’ll come back to that. 

I want to make one big and general point about the Spirit’s work. And then we’re going to what that looks like in prayer. 

So – big point is this,

The Spirit makes it real

I realise that sounds sloppy – what is ‘it’? What does the Spirit make real?

Well here in v15 - ‘the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children’. So he is making being God’s children real to us. 

But can broaden that - the Spirit makes Jesus real, God real, being saved real. The work of the Spirit is to make these things true for us personally. Make them real. 

Let me use an old illustration about cold baths. Only to get this – you have to realise there was a time people used to think that having a cold bath was good for you. I don’t know why they thought that – I imagine you’re unconvinced – but they did. Imagine I said – I believe in cold baths. 

I could simply mean I believe that cold baths exist. I think they are factually true.

I could mean I believe not only that cold baths exist but if you have one – they are good for you. But I don’t ever have one myself. The cold baths thing is just theoretically true. 

Or I could mean – they exist, they are good for you and I have one every day. Personally true. 

Now imagine someone says I believe in Jesus. 

They could mean – I believe there was a man called Jesus who lived, died 2000 years ago. Factually true. But that’s it.

They could mean – not only do I believe the facts about Jesus but I understand Bible says Jesus died for our sins so we can know God. I don’t trust in Jesus – but I understand the theory.  

Or they could mean – I trust Jesus to save me. 

The facts about Jesus are crucial. The theory – the understanding – is vital. But there is another level when you move beyond the facts, and beyond the theory, and Jesus becomes real for you. 

The objective truth becomes subjectively true. The theoretical becomes personal. The truth out there – becomes true in here. 

And that move, only happens because of the Spirit. 

That is what I mean when I say the role of the Spirit is make it real. He takes the facts of Jesus, and the truth of Jesus, and brings inside. So we get it. Personally. It’s becomes real for us.

That is a general point about the Spirit’s work. 

I want us to see what this looks like with prayer. But before we get to that let me give an example from earlier in Romans so we get the idea. 

The Holy Spirit makes God’s love real

Back in Romans 5 Paul says ‘God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’

So Jesus’ death is an historical, objective demonstration of how much he loves me.

But Paul also says ‘God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’ This is internal, personal grasp of his love in our hearts.

That’s not separate from God’s love in Jesus’ death. 

It’s the same love of God. It’s demonstrated in Jesus’ death. But the Holy Spirit works in my heart so that I personally grasp God’s love for me. The Spirit makes God’s love – real. 

Now, main example,

The Holy Spirit makes calling God father real

V15, 16 again. ‘by the Spirit we cry Abba Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.’

The Spirit bears witness to our spirit, he gives testimony to us, to tell us – we are children of God. So he’s saying being God’s children – is real for us. 

We get more in v15 – you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption. 

Paul is saying – you were fearful of God – he was your judge who condemned you – it was like you had a spirit – a sense – of being a slave. But now you understand Jesus died for you – to bring forgiveness and acceptance. So you’re not scared of God now – you have peace with him – you have the spirit – the sense – of being his child. 

It’s the Holy Spirit who gives us that sense of peace and adoption.

Imagine I offended my brother. We’re having a zoom chat, I try and make a joke but it comes out badly and it’s rude and he’s right hurt.  I say sorry, but I can feel he’s upset. 

Later on – my brother thinks - Nigel, he is an idiot – but I forgive him. Writes me a card – says – don’t worry about it. 

Two or three days later – the post arrives – I open the card – and think – oh good. That’s better. 

Now – Graham forgave me days ago. But I was still worried about it. I’m feeling we’re estranged. I only got that sense of forgiveness – peace and acceptance – when his card arrives. That’s when it became real for me. 

That’s what the Spirit does. Through Jesus we are forgiven, at peace with God, adopted as his children. But the Spirit brings that home to me - makes it real to me. He testifies to our spirit so we grasp – I’m at peace with God, I’m accepted like an adopted child. 

So let me ask. Do you have any sense God forgives you? You have peace with him? 

Do you have any sense you are God’s child? You can call him father? 

I know it varies day to day. We go up and down. But if we have some grasp that is true – that is the Holy Spirit’s work. He has worked in us so it’s real to us. 

Couple of reflections

Before we finish let me make a couple of comments on the Spirit which I think are relevant here.

The Spirit usually works through his word. The Bible is described as the sword of the Spirit – it’s his weapon – it’s how he teaches us and convinces us and make things real to us. I say usually – because the Spirit is God and he can do what he chooses. But the way he says he works and usually works – is through his word. 

So for us to have this sense of being God’s child – and for us to grow in that – we should both ask his Spirit to make this more real to us. But we don’t just do that – we also look at his word, meditate on what he says, because the Spirit works through that. 

Second comment: the Spirit doesn’t draw attention to himself, so you might not notice him. In John’s gospel Jesus says the Spirit’s work is bring glory to Jesus and the Father. His role is shine a spotlight on them. Not himself. 

What this means in practice is we might have a very strong experience of the Spirit – but not call it that. Say we hear a sermon and we think wow – God loves me. He sent Jesus die for me, that’s amazing. Hits us afresh. 

Or we are talking with a friend and something they say makes us think – I’m actually God’s child. How wonderful. 

Well – those are happening because of the Spirit’s work - making it real. But – in my little descriptions – I didn’t mention the Spirit. And talking about it - you might just say – I had a real sense of being God’s child – you don’t mention the Spirit. 

That’s fine – the Spirit likes that. His role is to focus on the father and the son. Bringing glory to them. 

We must remember that because it means just because he isn’t mentioned – doesn’t mean he isn’t very involved.

So let’s say we have some sense we are God’s children. We can talk to him as our Father. And that leads us to pray – Father – I’m sorry for how I behaved yesterday please forgive me. It leads us to say – please help me today with what I find hard. It leads me to pray for others. It leads us to thank and praise. 

It’s not brilliant – it goes up and down – but to some degree – it happens. I pray. 

Why? Why is any of that happening? It’s because of the Spirit. He is making these things real to us and that leads us in prayer. We are praying by the Spirit, or in the Spirit. 

Three applications to finish. 

Be assured – if you trust in Jesus – you have the Spirit. You don’t need to feel insecure. Like you’re missing out. If you’re praying – if you have some sense of God as your father – you’re showing the signs of the Spirit in you. He doesn’t draw attention to himself – we don’t go on about him. But you can be confident – you’re praying in the Spirit – because he’s why you’re praying at all.

Secondly – let’s be thankful for the Spirit. I say we don’t go on about him – and in many ways that’s right – but we should be aware of what he does in us - and thankful for it. If I pray, call God father – it’s because of him. Left to myself I wouldn’t talk to God. None of this would be real to me. 

We should say to God – not only thank for Jesus dying for me – but thank you for your Spirit – working in me so I get it and it’s real to me. Everything we do as Christians – believing, trusting, obeying, serving – praying – it’s only happening because of him in us. Let’s open our eyes to all the Spirit is doing for us – and appreciate it – thank him.

Lastly – let’s seek to grow in this. We can grow in knowing God as our Father. That will lead to growing in prayer – talking to God as our father. That happens by his Spirit. Let’s pray this week – Father, by your Spirit – make these things more real to me. 

By your Spirit give me a greater sense you are my Father. Know your love and peace with you and  security of being your child. 

By your Spirit lead me to cry out to you and groan in my struggles. 

By your Spirit – lead me in thanking you, praising you, requesting from you. 

Would lead me forward in prayer – by your Spirit. 

Suffering and prayer - Groaning (2/4) - Nigel Beynon

Romans 8: v15, v18-27

Part two of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “

This week: ‘Cry’ - Suffering and prayer - groaning to God.

Please note: this is a recording from Zoom. Due to a blip at the time of recording there is no picture throughout.

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Transcript

Good to see everyone. You may know we’re spending a few weeks thinking about prayer. Our last Sunday in June is going to be a question time. So if a question comes to mind – or you want to ask something else about prayer - please send it to me – email on the notices.

We’re focusing on this phrase in v15 – by him, the Spirit, we cry Abba, Father. Last week we thought about Abba Father, being adopted as children of God. 

This week we’re focusing on the word ‘cry’. By the Spirit, we cry Abba Father. Now I thought that word just meant ‘call out’ or ‘say’. But I’ve learnt that the word often means cry out in distress – or pain. 

And you may have noticed in our reading there’s a lot about suffering and pain. Back in v17 Paul talked about suffering with Christ. Then v18 we get our present sufferings, then creation being in the pain of childbirth and so on. Paul talks about suffering a lot - so it seems he is talking about crying Abba Father – in suffering. 

So we’re going to be thinking about prayer in suffering, but let me make two quick general comments at the start – the Bible says lots of other things about facing suffering – in addition to what we get here. So don’t think this is all the Bible says about suffering.

Secondly – don’t think life is nothing but suffering - elsewhere Paul talks about the many good things God gives us – family, friends, food, nature, art etc. He says we should receive those things as gifts, enjoy them and thank God for them. 

But here, in our verses, Paul is facing the reality of suffering. 

That raises the question – how do we respond to suffering or hardship. 

It’s a relevant question for now - coronavirus is causing great suffering – in illness and death. The news of racism – another death yesterday - makes us aware of unjust suffering. At a personal level – we might be finding lockdown has a way of taking the difficulties we already faced – and intensifying them. Our own failings. Relationships. Family life. Work – lack of work. 

How do we respond to all that? 

Some people can tend towards denial. They pretend it’s all good. Put on a brave face, don’t talk about it, try not to think about it. Distract yourself, keep busy. Don’t emotionally invest in anything for fear of being hurt. Various forms of denying the reality of suffering 

Others can tend towards despair. They don’t deny suffering - they focus on it - they look at the world – look at my life – it’s all bad. You can become cynical, think Jesus is a waste of time, feel hopeless. 

Denial – we try and run from suffering. Despair we’re overwhelmed by suffering.  

But Paul – he responds to suffering in a very different way. Before we get there I need to mention one other theme here. And that is hope. 

V18 ‘I consider our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’

We’ll see Paul is talking about the glory of heaven or God’s new creation. But v24, 

Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

We don’t have this new creation yet – it’s a hope we wait for. 

Now – when you take suffering – combine that with this hope of glory. Put those together – Paul says that produces – groaning. 

We’re going to talk about prayer as groaning. 

In this chapter we get three things that groan. First of all,

Creation groans

In v22 ‘We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth’. 

Why – well v20 – ‘For the creation was subjected to frustration’ and v21 it longs for the day it will be ‘liberated from its bondage to decay’. 

Back in Genesis, when humanity rejected God - he says – now the earth is cursed - it will produces thorns and thistles. Creation isn’t not going to work right. As Paul says – it’s been frustrated.  

It’s not just thorns and thistles – we can think of earthquakes and tsunamis – or today of course we think of viruses and pandemics. Here’s the ultimate cause – creation is fallen or put in bondage to decay. 

But it longs to be right – it has a hope of being liberated to be what it was meant to be. Released from its lockdown if you like. And God promises one day there will be a new creation – and it will be perfect. 

And so now creation groans. 

Notice the two sides to groaning. There’s frustration with now. Creation says, I shouldn’t be like this. 

And there’s hope - longing for the future – one day I won’t be like this – I’ll be put right and be what I was made to be. 

We groan, v23

Secondly we groan, v23– ‘we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for …. the redemption of our bodies.’

We groan because we’re not right. In Romans Paul has described our problem with sin – our rebellion against God – the wrong we do. Even for the Christian cries out - I do what I don’t want to do. 

We also face the problem of our mortality – physical weakness, illness and ultimately death. 

The answer to both of those things is what Paul calls – the redemption of our bodies. Being raised with new bodies – sin free – disease free – perfect in every way. 

And so now we groan. Again groaning is expressing frustration – we shouldn’t be like this. And expressing longing – one day I’ll be what I was made to be. 

But with us there’s another element - notice how Paul says it’s we have the first fruits of the Spirit who groan. 

The picture of first fruits is – you’re growing crops and when it’s ready you pick the first bit of corn or whatever – that is the first fruits. And the point is – it shows you what is coming. It gives you a taste, a sense, a guarantee of what is coming – because here it is – the first bit. 

Well the Spirit is the firstfruits of being saved - we said last week the Spirit gives us life with God, he makes us new inside, makes us children of God. 

If you like – it’s a taste of heaven. There’s much more to come – new bodies – new creation – perfect world – but the Spirit gives us the first fruits of that – a taste of knowing God, being forgiven, being in his people. 

And Paul is saying – this taste of that future – makes us groan. 

I want to try and illustrate this – not sure if this is a bit contrived – but run with me on this. 

Imagine a situation where food is awful. Maybe – you’re in prison – hospital – don’t want to be rude – but imagine its bad food. Day after day. 

One day – someone from your family comes to visit you. They say – we’re really looking forward to having you home. When you come back we’re going to cook you your favourite meal. 

The thought of home food – the flavours – the taste – you can’t wait.  

Then they say – actually I brought you a snack – it’s a little bit of what we’re going to have. 

You eat the little morsel – and wow – the flavours, the depth, the richness – it’s wonderful. It kind of makes it worse – because it’s gives you a sense – of that meal you want. So it makes you long for it even more. You groan even more.

It’s something like that for us. We groan – frustrated with what’s hard now. 

We groan – longing for that perfect future.

And the Spirit gives us a taste of it now – knowing God as father, being forgiven and at peace, being changed to be like Jesus, the goodness of that - it’s like a taste of heaven – and makes us more frustrated, and more longing. 

Spirit groans

I said three things groan in this chapter – creation, us, but also the Spirit. V26 ‘we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.’ 

Sometimes we don’t know what to pray for. Especially in suffering.

Do I pray for my friend to get well, or to have patience while ill? Do I pray for my annoying boss to be moved on or for godliness to bear with it? Do I pray my missionary friends to stop being persecuted or pray they will be a great witness as they suffer? We don’t always know. 

But the Spirit helps us – as we groan he groans with us – and v27 he intercedes in accordance with God’s will – he knows God’s plan – so he prays the right thing. 

So even when we can’t find the words - our groaning is not wasted – the Spirit takes it and prays it to the Father in the right way.

So hope you’re still with me – to sum up - we face hardship or suffering. We have the certain hope of glory – everything put right. And we have a taste of that by the Spirit. That should lead us to groan.

What does this look like?

Thought I’d finish by trying to give a picture of what this might look like – I’ve got three. 

This morning I read about another shooting of a black man in the States. So I groan. Oh Lord, thinking of your perfect world where everyone is equal - makes me feel how wrong racism is. I grieve over it. And repent of what is wrong in me. Please help now – bring greater justice now – thank you that one day just and equality will be complete - I long for that day. 

Or maybe we’re struggling in lockdown. 

So I groan – Lord I’m struggling. Lost it with kids today trying to work and homeschool. I’m worried I’ll lose my job, I’m stressed about finances. I miss my friends, I’m lonely. Thank you that one day you’ll put me right and I’ll trust you completely - I’ll delight to serve you perfectly in everything I do. What a thought. One day relationships will be perfect and we’ll just enjoy and celebrate each other. One day I’ll be so rich and so secure – I won’t have a worry in the world. 

Thank you - I long for that day. Please help me now – change me by your Spirit – and help me live for you today. 

Or we think how Jesus said pray for God to be glorified. So I groan. Lord – it’s tragic how so many think so little of you. That is so sad and wrong. Thank you one day – you will be seen for who you truly are and will receive all the praise and adoration you deserve. I sense how good and right that is by your Spirit. So may you be praised today – help me praise you and praise you to others.

Well there are my rather poor efforts at what groaning might look like. I’d love to hear from you your thoughts of how we groan. Sometimes we don’t get to express words – it’s just a groan. I hope you get the sense of holding suffering and glory together – and that leads us in prayer. 

I asked - how do we respond to suffering?

Denial? – pretend it’s all good - not face up to it. Paul says – suffering is very much part of life.

We can despair – it’s all bad - think there’s no hope. Paul says that’s not right – there is hope. Certain hope of a new world – you can taste it now by his Spirit. 

I think Paul wants us to face up to the suffering and have a firm grip on our hope – as we get both of those – let it come out as a groan. This week whatever hardships and difficulties come – face them – think of God’s wonderful future – how it will answer everything. Put them together – and groan. 

Foundation of prayer - Adoption (1/4) - Nigel Beynon

Romans 8: 14-17

Part one of a mini series by Nigel Beynon on prayer looking especially at the phrase “by him [the Holy Spirit] we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ “

This week: ‘Abba, Father’ - Our adoption in Christ is the foundation of prayer.

Please note: this is a recording from Zoom. Due to a blip at the time of recording there is no picture until about 30 seconds in.

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Transcript

We’re going to spend 4 weeks thinking about prayer.  And our focus is going to be the phrase in v15 – ‘And by him – that’s the Holy Spirt – by the Holy Spirit we cry, Abba, Father.’ 

Let me start by asking – why do we pray? And what does that mean our prayer look like?

We can pray because we’re in trouble and need help. In that case prayer probably looks like a 999 call. The pressures of lockdown might have led to a lot of those prayers - Lord would you help me get through this.

We often pray because we want God to change something. So our prayer looks like requests. You might have prayed that kind of prayer this week hearing about the events in the US – Lord – change this situation.

We might pray because we feel guilty about what we’ve done – so our prayer looks like confession. 

Or we might say – to be honest I don’t really pray. 

Foundation of prayer - adoption

I want us to look at what I’ve called the foundation of prayer – the starting point – the heart of prayer. And that is adoption. Being adopted as a child of God. 

To sum up this sermon - what I want us to get is – if we’re going to pray – I want us to get to hold of – to be gripped by – being children of God. Because that is the foundation of prayer. 

So I’m going to talk about adoption for a while – and then we’ll come back to prayer. 

Adoption

I want to suggest that being adopted as a child of God is the centre of being a Christian.

Now – I made this point in a sermon from 1John a couple of months ago. I used an illustration of a judge and an orphan. You might remember it. We’re not doing that again – this time let me try and show adoption is so central by seeing how God’s actions to save us – have adoption as the goal. God acts to rescue us in various ways – but often – the purpose of it all – the aim - is to adopt us.

God chooses us in mercy – to be his children. 

So for instance - we could say in his rescue God chooses to have mercy on us. But listen to how Paul describes that choosing. 

Paul writes, ‘God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world – in love he predestined us to be adopted as sons or daughters – through Jesus Christ according to his pleasure and will’.

Now – we’re not going into questions about predestination and all that – what I want us to see is why God chose us – he choose us to adopt us . That was the goal – that’s the purpose. And I love that it says – this was according to his pleasure and will. So God before the beginning of time - took pleasure in saying – I want you to adopt you. The thought of you being his child – pleased him. 

So God chooses us to be his children.

Jesus died to redeem us or rescue us – in order to adopt us. 

Second example - God rescues us by sending Jesus to die for us. But listen to how Paul describes that. He writes,

‘God sent his Son, to redeem those under the law that we might receive the full rights of sons and daughters.’

So Jesus died for us – to redeem us or rescue us – but with the ultimate goal – of making us God’s children. That was the aim. 

There is the cost of our adoption – this is how much God paid to make us his children. His own Son. 

Spirit brings us new life to make us his children. 

So the Father chooses, the Son dies – thirdly – to rescue us, the Spirit brings us alive. We’re spiritually dead and he regenerates us – brings new life. But again – he does it – to make us his children. 

This is our passage from Romans. Paul has said the Spirit makes us alive – but v15 – he is the ‘Spirit of sonship’. Or literally is ‘adoption’. He is the Spirit of adoption. 

So he makes us alive – but with the ultimate goal of being adopted as God’s children. 

That’s why I say, being a child of God is the heart of being a Christian – because this is what God is working for – this the goal of God’s rescue. The Father choosing, the Son redeeming, the Spirit bringing life – it’s all with the aim of making us his children. 

I know a couple of people who have adopted children themselves. Through them I’ve seen it’s a long process. And a difficult one – interviews and assessments. Saw one friend have some big setbacks and disappointments. But they went through all that - because they wanted to care for a child. Look after them, nurture them – and know them, love them. They go through all this work – because they want them. 

Well, if you trust in Jesus that is how God feels about you. He wants you as his child. 

That’s why he went through all of his rescue - choosing – sending Jesus to die – giving you his Spirit – it’s all to make us his children. He does it all because he wants you. He wants you in his family. He wants to care for you and look after you. He wants to have you close and to know you. That is how he feels about you.

I want to ask - do we know that? Do we feel that? I know I often don’t. It’s very thin. But we need to grasp this, we need to grow in this. Because it’s the heart of being a Christian – and because it’s the foundation of prayer. 

Leads us to pray 

Paul goes on - we received the Spirit of adoption and by him we cry, Abba Father. In other words – being a child of God – leads us to call him Father, it leads us talk to him – it leads us to pray. 

I don’t know if you’ve seen any videos of reunions doing the rounds. People who have been isolated from their family because they are health care professionals – being reunited. I saw one of a nurse who had been isolated from her children for two months – being reunited. She comes up behind them and just asks – what are you watching? The little girl turns, and shouts, mummy. 

It’s a lovely moment. It’s so instinctive and natural. 

It’s the most natural thing in the world for a child to call mummy, daddy. 

Paul is saying that is what prayer is – if you’re God’s child – prayer is simply calling to your father. So in many ways it should be the most natural thing in the world. 

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray – he emphasized this. He said, when you pray – don’t show off to others – go into your room and pray to your Father. And when you pray – don’t go on and on trying to force God to do something – your Father knows what you need. This is how you should pray – Our Father in heaven.

Being his children - calling God father - it’s the foundation of prayer. 

Now, when I just said, it’s the most natural thing in the world to pray to God as your father – you might have thought – not for me it isn’t. Prayer doesn’t come naturally at all. So to finish let me make three comments on that. 

Some of us might be thinking – this isn’t helping me because from my father – my parents – I didn’t get loving, caring, nurture. I got disappointment and hurt. So thinking of God as my father doesn’t help me pray.

If that is you then I’m sorry. But I want to appeal to you not to give up on the idea of God as your father. The understandable hurt and pain you feel testifies to how we should have been cared for – or it points to how we need a father to care for us. And in God we find the father who is all the things our earthly parents failed to be. He will never let us down, forget us, hurt us. Rather he is everything a father should be. Perfectly loving, caring, understanding, encouraging. In other words – he’s the father we are crying for. Now there’s much more to say on that we don’t have time for – but do get in touch with me or Nat if you’d like to talk more. 

Second comment – calling God father doesn’t come naturally because often we don’t live like his children. We get things wrong, muck things up – we feel guilty – and that means prayer is last thing I feel like doing. 

Again – there’s lot to say on this but one comment - we must realise we’re secure as God’s children. Our sin doesn’t undo our adoption. When God choose us to be his children – he knew exactly what he was taking on. When Jesus died for our sin to make us his children – he died for it all – including what we’ve done today. And when his Spirit comes into us to make us his children – he says – I know what you’re like – but I’m not leaving. 

A while ago I heard this testimony about adoption:

“As a teacher’s assistant I often work with children in the foster system. Because of the transient nature of a foster home, many kids feel very insecure. They are allowed to stay with their foster family only if they perform correctly. 

God didn’t choose to be our foster parent. We don’t get kicked out of the family because of our behavior. When I accepted Christ I became a permanent member of his family. He died to redeem me. He signed the adoption papers with his blood.”

We are secure as his children. Even when we muck up – God is still our father. 

Last comment – calling God father often doesn’t come naturally – because we don’t realise we are his children. 

We probably know it – in our heads – but it’s a distant idea. We don’t really get it – we don’t feel it as a reality. That’s why I’ve spent most of our time on how God has worked to adopt us – because I hope that helps us get this. 

You can describe yourself in a variety of ways. I could say, I like rugby. I could also say, I’m married to Jo. Both are true but being a husband is a deeper thing than liking rugby. It’s more at the core or the essence of who I am.

Paul is saying, if you go really deep, go the centre of who you are. You find the Spirit of adoption making you God's child. That is, in essence, who you are. 

As we increasingly grasp that – as the Spirit makes that real to us - it will increasingly become natural to pray. To call God father. 

I asked at the start, why do we pray? Cry for help, requests for action, confession?

First answer, foundation answer is, we pray because he’s my father. 

There are still cries for help. We might cry to God about what we face this week, pressures we feel. But we do so as children crying to their father.

Yes, there will be requests – please change the injustice in society, overcome racism.  But we do that like children going to their father. 

Yes, there will be guilt and confession – but we do it like a child going to their father. 

Or maybe you rarely pray. Let me encourage you – look at who you are in Christ – see who God has made you - and then talk to your father. 

Pray

Quick comment – I said we’re having four weeks on prayer. The first three weeks are talks – we’ve just one the first one. The fourth week is going to be a question time. So if a question comes to mind from the sermons – or you’ve got another question about prayer – do send it to me? We’ll put my email on the notices in case you don’t have it – or use whatsapp. Then we’ll try and answer those in our last week. 

Ephesians 3:14-21 - Nigel Beynon

A while ago I read about a Vietnam veteran Bob Campbell, of Baltimore. After Vietnam, Bob became an alcoholic. However years later – Bob says – quote - “I gave my heart to God. That night the old Bob went away. Up to that moment, I was drinking Scotch from 6.30am until 8pm at night. But after that, I didn’t drink again - and I haven’t to this day.”

I read that simply to raise the question of what we expect God to do in our lives today. For Bob there was very real action by God in his life. Very tangible and immediate effect of knowing God. I wonder what we think of that? If we are Christians – or if we were to become a Christian – what would we expect God to do in our lives today?

Let me paint two possibilities – which are extremes: some Christians talk a lot about what God has done for us in Christ in the past – died for us so we can be forgiven. They talk about how one day God will act so we will go to heaven. But there is almost nothing said about God acting in our lives now. It’s all back then – or still to come. 

The other extreme is to see God very active in our lives now – these Christians are often talking about how they had a problem – they were late – but they prayed and God helped them be on time – and it’s very present day – God’s acting in my life now. But it can be about God solving my problems – making my life easier. God becomes my divine PA. And while there’s lots of God acting now – I set the agenda that God works to. 

These are extremes but you get the idea. How does God act? It’s all back then, or still to come but there’s nothing for today. Or - it’s all about today – but it’s all about me. 

We’re going to look at Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians – see what answers that gives us. 

I want to start by looking at the overall goal of this prayer – where it’s going. Then we’ll break it down a bit. So first - the big picture - Paul prays for 

Power to realise Christ’s likeness

So Paul prays for God to do various things – but it all builds up to - so that end of v19 – here’s the goal – READ.  He’s praying we’ll become the fullness of God. 

Now that phrase – the fullness of God, or fullness of Christ – I think that means being fully like Christ. Full of his character and loves and hates – it’s full of him – or fully like him.  

Now you might think – why didn’t you just say – Paul is praying for power – to be like Christ. Why did you use this odd phrase – power to realise Christ’s likeness. 

Let me try and explain. Back in chapter 1:23 – we’re told Christ has died, risen and he’s head or Lord over everything – and I quote “for the church – which is his body, the fullness of him”. So the church is the fullness of Christ – or fully like Christ. It’s done and complete.

But when we get to chapter 4:12,13 – Paul says church should work in a certain way – so that the body is built up, until – one day – “we become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” So here – we’re not fully like Christ yet – it’s something we’re working towards and growing in. 

So chapter 1 – we’re fully like Christ already. Chapter 4 – growing towards it.

The difference here is the difference between how God sees us because of Christ – and what we are in practice. Or what is true of us – spiritually – and what is true of us - on the ground. 

Because of Christ – in God’s eyes - we are fully like Christ. Spiritually that is true of us. We’re washed clean, perfect. Fully like him. 

But in practice – on the ground – we do things wrong, we fail, we’re weak – but we’re changing and gradually becoming like Christ. 

That is why I said Paul is praying that we would ‘realise Christ’s likeness’.

There are two senses of ‘realise’. First of all we realise by ‘taking something in’. Grasping it. Paul is praying that we’d realise we are fully like Christ, chapter 1. Because of his death and resurrection God sees us as Christ. That’s who we are to him. So Paul prays we’d realise that’s true – that we’d get it. 

But secondly realise can mean – make it real in our lives – live it out in practice. And Paul is praying for that – that we would actually become like Christ in our lives, and words and actions. 

A couple of year ago I went with the kids to see Good night Mr Tom at the theatre. Don’t know if you’ve read the book or seen the play. It’s the story of a boy called William who has a terrible upbringing with an abusive mother – then in the second world war he is an evacuee sent to live in the country with Mr Tom. 

On his first night – Mr Tom says it’s time for bed – shows him his room – and William starts to get on the floor under the bed. Mr Tom, says what are you doing, get in the bed. But you get a little insight into what his life has been like. Another time Tom takes his belt off – innocently – but William cowers in fear – because he thinks he’s going to get beaten. 

The story is about how William changes. It’s a beautiful story of seeing him stop being so frightened and grows in confidence, and relationships. Starts doing new things – turns out he’s a wonderful artist – he makes friends – he’s funny - he comes out of himself and grows into this lovely sweet creative boy.  

You could say he realises himself. He takes in – discovers - who he really is and then he lives that out. 

That’s the sort of thing I mean by saying - we are to realise Christ’s fullness. To take in who we are now – we’re like Christ. To grasp that is how God sees us – so that’s the real us. 

And then to live it out – make it real. To gradually become like Christ in our daily lives. 

Now that is the big picture on this prayer. To get there Paul prays for two others things.  

Power to realise Christ’s lordship

V16-17 READ. 

This word ‘dwell’ – doesn’t mean arriving somewhere – or visiting somewhere. It means staying somewhere permanently - making your home there.  

And this Christ who dwells - is the Lord – raised above all powers and authorities. So Paul is asking that this supreme Lord would make his home in us.

I imagine a lot of us are or have lived in rented flats/houses. Thing about a rented place is that you can’t change it very much. I used to live a rented house that had shocking wall paper – you know that embossed stuff – felt like a padded cell. If you had Velcro on your clothes you had to be careful – you could end up getting stuck to the wall.

But we couldn’t do anything about it – wasn’t our house. 

But imagine if you bought the place you rent – so you own it. Well first thing I would have done would hold a wallpaper stripping party. You’d start making the changes wouldn’t you? Carpet, furniture – things out, things in. 

It takes some time and effort. But the longer you are there – the more you would make it what you want it to be. Until one day you could imagine your friends would look at your place and say – this place is really you.

Well Christ is in us, and he’s not renting. He’s our Lord – he owns us. And so Paul prays that Christ would make his home in us – increasingly make our lives what he wants them to be – some things out - getting rid of some things we do – some things in – adding new character and habits.

So that one day people will look at us, and say to Christ – they are very you. They reflect your tastes and character and values. Because we are Christ’s likeness. That is what Paul is praying for – power to realise Christ as our Lord. 

Now do we see we the idea of ‘realising’ here. You could say all Christians have Jesus as their Lord – there’s no need to pray for it - that’s what it means to be a Christian – to accept him as your Lord or King. 

But Paul prays we’d realise that. Firstly in the sense of take it in – to increasingly grasp - that Jesus is raised, ascended, he’s really in charge – and so he’s in charge of us. Paul prays we’ll get that more and more. And then realise it in the sense of living that out – so we increasingly live with Christ in charge of us – so he makes our lives what he wants them to be. 

As we do that – we become more like Christ. 

Now I don’t know how you’re feeling about this – what reaction this is bringing on. I imagine some of us might react to this with some pessimism or cynicism. You are well aware of how you are not like Christ – you’ve learnt how hard it is to change. Because you’ve tried and failed. So hearing Paul’s prayer – and me talk - about becoming like Christ - makes you feel fed up and cynical - because you think – that’s not going to work.  

Well I have some sympathy with that. But I find it encouraging here how Paul’s prayer talks so much about God’s power at work in us. V16 READ. 

Pessimism in some ways is right – we won’t change easily, habits run very deep. And Paul knows that – knows it’s an enormous job to change us –– so he asks for God’s even more enormous power. We might feel change is impossible. And it would be impossible – if we didn’t have God’s divine power – working out of his glorious riches. Or v20 READ – we can’t even imagine what God can do - that’s how powerful God is. 

And with that power – there is hope. Change might be slow and hard, two steps forward, one step back – but we can have hope – whatever we’re battling with at the moment – whatever we’re tempted to give up battling – or have given up - we can have hope – we can pray this prayer – look to God – for power to realise Christ’s Lordship. 

Second thing he asks for,

Power to realise Christ’s love

Now – again - straight away - you could say if we are Christians, we know Christ loves us. That’s first base, that’s Christianity 101. But again Paul wants us to realise – to take in and live out – the enormity of Christ’s love. 

V17b-19a READ.

Heart of sin is to not trust that God loves us. Back in Genesis 3 the snake says to Eve – God said don’t eat the fruit – because he knows when you eat it you’ll be like him. In other words –– God is keeping things from you – he doesn’t really love you. Disobeying God will be better, fuller and richer. 

We probably don’t say that explicitly – we might not always recognise it. But that is very deep in us – the suspicion that God doesn’t really love us, and going your own way will be better for us. 

I’ve noticed this in me – how I can think that obeying God fully will mean I’ll miss out. That’s the boring option where you lose out. And while we doubt God’s love we’ll never fully trust God, and obey and be like Christ.  

So Paul prays we will realise Christ’s love for us. He prays we’ll be convinced there is nothing higher, wider, deeper – nothing bigger than this in the universe. Nothing more certain or real. 

Because if we get that then we’ll see that living his way – being like Christ – is the best way to live. 

And so convinced of his love – we live like Christ. 

I asked a moment ago how you were reacting to this ‘being like Christ’ prayer. I said we can be pessimistic about change – but we should take hope from God’s power. Another reaction we could have is – reluctance. We understand all this – but frankly we don’t particularly want to be like Christ – that idea doesn’t grab us – doesn’t excite us – it feels like a duty we know we should do but don’t really want to. Be more fun doing our own thing. 

Again I have some sympathy with that – but I’ve found it helps to remember what we’re saying here – that God loves us. He’s not out to give us a hard time. Spoil things. He loves us beyond belief – he’s absolutely devoted to us – Christ died for us – he’s given everything for us – so of course he wants the best for us. That means living his way really is the best way to live. 

In fact this life like Christ – is the way we were made to live. It’s about being truly and fully who we are – as God intended.

It’s a bit like in Goodnight Mr Tom, William gradually becomes the boy he really was – the boy he was made to be. And it’s wonderful and beautiful to watch.

It’s the same for us - as we fight sin, and say no to things, and yes to other things, and love others and serve and give – as we become like Christ – we are becoming the true us – as we were made to be. We’re becoming the best us. 

We can embrace this – not reluctantly – but eagerly. As we grasp there is nothing bigger in the world than God’s love for us. 

I started by asking what we expect God to do in our lives. There’s the “it’s all about the past and future – but nothing for today” camp. Or it’s all about today – but it’s all about me, my needs camp.

Well this is a long way from ‘nothing for today’ isn’t it? This is God is active and working in our lives. With power, by his Spirit. Yes it’s based on the past and it will be completed in the future – but now - Christ is making his home in us. So God is very active today, powerfully changing us.

But it’s also very different to – ‘it’s all about me’ – because this power and change is very much on God’s terms isn’t it? It’s a long way from making me have a nice time – and solving what I think are my problems - rather it’s all about God’s plan to make me like Christ. 

Now that will affect things in our daily lives, the problems we face of course – that’s the terrain in which we work this out - but it’s his agenda – not ours. We see that in the ultimate purpose of all this – v21. Ultimately his work in us, making us like Christ – is about his glory. So it’s change on his terms, not ours.

God is powerful and active in our lives today – very much so – this week we can pray to him – pray this prayer - ask him and expect him - to work in us with power - so we’ll realise Christ’s lordship and love – so we become like Christ – so ultimately he receives glory. 

Prayer Luke 11.5-8

 We are in a series looking at prayer during this season of Lent. The reason is I want us to be praying church and a praying person this year. 

Last week we talked about the pattern for prayer - the Lord’s prayer.

We saw that the key to the Lord’s Prayer and to all prayer is found in the first words Our Father. This is incredible. To be able to call the God who created the heavens and earth your father. And yet that’s what happens when a person becomes a Christian. You are adopted into God’s family. He becomes your father. Prayer is the way you communicate with God your heavenly Father. What a privilege prayer is. Prayer we saw, according to the pattern of the Lord’s prayer begins with praise. Wow God! Hallowed be your name! Your kingdom come. Prayer continues with Confession - sorry. To remind us that we are people who need forgiveness and people who are forgiven. And prayer ends with asking. Please. Give us this day our daily bread, Lead us not into temptation. We are to ask, knock seek in prayer..

Which raises a question which I want us to look at this week. And the question is this. Why don’t we ask more? 

Statistics show that all of us pray at some time. Some of us only pray occasionally when we are in a crisis. Others of us pray a little more frequently. But none of us would say we pray a lot. We are slow to pray. But why? If God is your father and you are his child why wouldn’t you come to God in prayer? There’s only one answer.

It’s the oldest lie in the world. the one that the serpent used in the garden of eden. a lie that runs deep. the lie that God is not good. that he’s mean and doesn’t answer our prayers. our trials and sufferings and seeming unanswered prayers seem to back up the lie and so we feel that God says, No alot.. And so we don’t pray. 

Jesus realizes this might be an objection to us praying and so in v5-8 he gives us a parable. I want us to look at the parable to motivate us to pray by seeing that God will answer when we pray. God will answer when we pray.  He must! 

There are two things I want us to look at this afternoon .

1. What the parable means
2. How the parable should affect the way we pray

1. What does the parable mean?

Parables are stories that Jesus taught to communicate big ideas about God. The key to the this parable is the word translated persistence in v8. Sometimes it’s translated boldness, sometimes impudence. But in Greek the word literally means the avoidance of shame.  And so the question is who in he story is trying to avoid being shamed? 

Let’s look at the parable:

A person has come into the village at midnight and knocked on his friends door wanting a place to stay the night. His friend is not expecting him and so in a culture where hospitality is very important he finds himself unable to provide his guest with an appropriate meal to eat. So what does any 1st century middle eastern person do in this situation? He goes to one of his neighbours who has some bread to ask them to lend him some. He doesn’t knock on their door he calls out to them so they would recognize who it was. He says to his neighbour ‘I have nothing appropriate to offer this guest.’ 

In middle eastern times bread was the knife and fork and spoon for the meal. No bread no meal. Can you give me some bread so that he can be fed and he won’t think I’m not a good host and we are not an hospitable village. My honour and the honour of the village is at stake. 

When Fiona and I were on our honeymoon in Morocco we were invited to stay for a few days in the humble Marakech home of a grand lady called Halima. We accepted her hospitality and on the first day we were there we arrived back at her appartment after a very large lunch to discover that Halima had been cooking. A huge tagine was put in front of us with the exhortation ‘Mange Mange’ Eat Eat! Out of politeness we ate and it was delicious and we were stuffed and only then did Halima appear with the main meat course! The tagine had just been a starter! The main course was placed before us. ‘Gilles, Fiona.. Mange Mange!!” 

In oriental cultures laws of hospitality dictate that whether the wayfarer is really hungry or not, the host must serve his guest and the guest must eat. And it must be food adequate for the occasion. Honour is at stake. 

That’s why the man is out in the middle of the night calling through his neighbours letterbox.  ‘A friend has come and i have nothing to set before him.’ He would have had something in the house. People had basic foods stored. But he has nothing adequate for the occasion of welcoming a guest. He needs unbroken loaves. To give someone a half eaten loaf was considered an insult. And 3 loaves was the right number to be seen to be generous and lavish. This is only the beginning of what he would need for the meal. Perhaps more neighbours would need to be got out of bed. Though notice, end of v8, that true neighbourly behaviour would be to get up and give your neighbour everything he needs. 

Because of the homogeneous character of life in the East.  The guest is a guest not just of the individual but of the community. The whole village is responsible for his entertainment. The honour of the village is at stake. 

This background helps us with understanding the manner in which Jesus tells this parable and the response it would have got. It’s as if Jesus says “this guest has come to your village, to your house in the middle of the night and you have nothing to set before him so you go to call to your neighbour -  so much so normal..

But then imagine says Jesus that your neighbour says - “Aww look 

the doors closed and bolted I can’t give you any bread!” Or imagine he says “my children are in bed with me” - in the one room house the whold family slept on a mat in the middle of the floor - “if I get up they’ll wake up too.” Can you imagine such a thing?? The idea is ridiculous of course he’s not going to say that. Just imagine what the village would say in the morning. Look there’s the guy who dishonoured our village. Did you hear what he said to Fred last night - couldn’t be bothered to give him some bread because his door was closed.  Afraid of waking up the family.  What a mean fella he is. Dishonouring our village like that. Shame!

Jesus says of course he wouldn’t make these excuses. Even if he doesn’t like the fella who asks he’s going to give him whatever he wants so that he won’t be shamed by the village as a mean and dishonourable person.

And now here’s the point: If this guy will give to his neighbour who asks him so he is not dishonoured what will God our heavenly father do when we come to him with our prayers and requests?

Do you realize that God’s honour is at stake when we pray? God has to answer our prayers otherwise we could rightly accuse him of being mean and dishonourable. Or other people could accuse him. People could say you know their God he doesn’t answer their prayers even though they call him father.  

But God won’t allow his name to be dishonoured like that and therefore when you pray he will answer you. 

He might answer you in a different way than you expect. Or a different way than you want. More on that next week. But He has to answer you because his honour is at stake. It’s ridiculous even laughable to doubt that he will answer you. That is a huge incentive to pray. God will answer in the best way for the sake if his honour. 

In light of this how 

2. How should this affect the way we pray

should we approach God in prayer? If God’s honour is at stake in the prayers of his children how should we pray? 4 ways

1. Approach God confidently

Many of us don’t approach God confidently or we don’t approach God at all because we feel unworthy of approaching him. We’ve messed up in some way and we say well I can’t pray. I’d feel a hypocrite if I prayed. I’m not good enough. But the question is not are you good enough to pray but are you a child of God? Are you trusting in Jesus Christ? If not then put your trust in him and pray to your father maybe for the first time. If you are then no matter how you feel, no matter what you’ve done, no matter how good or bad you are God will hear and answer your prayer. Not because you are good enough but for his honour. He has to answer the prayers of his children. 

Maybe we don’t approach God confidently because we don’t feel that he cares, it feels like he is often silent and doesn’t answer. The age old lie of the serpent.. God is not good, God is mean. But Jesus says we are wrong. If the neighbour approached at midnight, who isn’t a friend and doesn’t care, for the sake of his honour gets up and provides everything needed. How much more so will God who is a friend - A Father, and does care. How much more will he for the sake of His honour provide us with what we need. God never, never ignores our prayers. He always answers in the way that we need. 

So approach God confidently 

2. Approach God comprehensively

Pray about everything and anything

Nothing too small – parking spaces (how else do you get a parking space when things are busy?)

Nothing too big –  

Nothing too easy - 

Nothing too difficult – One example in OT nebuzaradan

Pray about everything 

What’s the result when we don’t pray? We worry.  

Don’t get to that point. Take your cares, your concerns to the lord in prayer. Put it on the shelf. Place them at the foot of the cross. 

Worried about your children? pray, 

worried about work? pray, 

worried about the future? pray, 

worried about dying? pray. 

Don’t talk about those things or think about those things but pray.

And leave it with him confident that he will answer all our prayers because his honour is at stake.

3. Approach God constantly

Set times for prayer - QT yes they’re great am, lunch time, evening 

But pray at other times as well. 

Pray as you work

Pray as you drive. I always try and pray before I drive my car.  And there are other cars that you get into where you don’t just pray before they are driven but throughout the whole journey!

Pray as you have a meeting at work. 

Pray when you meet your boss 

Pray as you change a nappy

Pray in all circumstances. 

Pray when money tight, when money abundant, 

when healthy, when sick, 

on celebrations, in sadness, 

at the midnight hour 

when all alone and sad, 

pray at birth of newborn baby, pray at funeral. 

One good example from the Bible was Nehemiah. Prayed in his heart before he spoke to the King. Why/ because he was always praying. Why would you not pray to your heavenly father who is going to answer your prayer and honour his name.

4. Approach God continually

Be persistent in prayer. I prayed and it didn’t work. 

But it’s not like a recipe you see on bake off. O I tried that recipe it didn’t work. Not trying it again. No, pray and keep praying. Sometimes God answers prayer immediately, sometimes after a year sometimes after 10 years, sometimes after we have died. One great example of persistent prayer was George Muller.

George muller 19th century director of orphanages in Bristol 

In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every day without one single intermission, whether sick or in health, on the land or on the sea, and whatever the pressure of my engagements might be.
Eighteen months elapsed before the first of the five was converted. I thanked God, and prayed on for the others. Five years elapsed, and then the second one was converted. I thanked God for the second, and prayed on for the other three. Day by day I continued to pray for them and six years more passed before the third was converted. I thanked God for the three, and went on praying for the other two. These two remain unconverted. The man to whom God in the riches of His grace has given tens of thousands of answers to prayer, in the self-same hour or day on which they were offered, has been praying day by day for nearly thirty-six years for the conversion of these two individuals, and yet they remain unconverted; for next November it will be thirty-six years since I began to pray for their conversion. But I hope in God, I pray on, and look yet for the answer.* 

*One of these persons was converted before Mr Müller’s death, and the other only gave clear evidence of conversion after Mr Müller had passed away.

What makes you able to keep praying? God’s honour is at stake in answering the prayer. He will do it. 

Conclusion

God is a God who wants to honour his name. He told us to pray that in the Lord’s prayer. Hallowed be your name. He will make sure it is honoured by answering us when we pray. 

He has already given us his son JC.

He gave him to us when we didn’t pray, 

He gave him to us when we weren’t his children. In fact when we were his enemies.

He gave him up for us to make us his children.

If he loved us so much that he would not spare his own son but give him up for us all to make us his children won’t he along with him also give us all things? He’s promised to do it. He will do it.

Let’s pray

Prayer Luke 11:2-4

As we travel through Lent – the season of preparation for Easter - we’re thinking about Prayer. We’re spending 5 weeks in Jesus Christ’s school of prayer here in Luke 11:1-13.  Last week we saw that the foundation of all prayer is just one word ‘Father.’ We’ll come back to that. Today we’re looking at the framework for prayer that Jesus gave us - The Lord’s prayer. Probably the most spoken form of words in the history of the world. And yet it’s not just a formal prayer to be said by rote.. but a framework that takes us into the world of prayer. 

Prayer is a struggle – sometimes we don’t desire to pray, or our prayers seem to go unanswered so long that we lose heart. We don’t know how to pray. We don’t know what to pray.

Jesus gives us a framework for prayer. More crucially there are deep reasons to pray within the framework. Thousands of books written on prayer to help us pray. One of the most prominent recently was spiritual writer, Anne Lamott’s book on prayer entitled. Help, Thanks, Wow: The three essential prayers. 

Jesus’ pattern of prayer is a little different. And, good as Lamott’s writing is, Jesus’ is the pattern worth following. 

Jesus’ pattern is WOW, sorry, please  

The first element of Jesus’ pattern for prayer is PRAISE. Wow!  

Father, 

Hallowed be your name! 

Your Kingdom Come

Hallowed means Holy. Holiness is a rather alien concept in our culture it speaks of God’s otherness his greatness, his goodness, his glory. Holy is your name! It’s an expression of Praise. You are amazing! Kingdom refers to God’s Lordship his government of lives which brings life and transformation. Don’t you want relationships to be mended, don’t you want hatred to cease don’t you want injustice to end, don’t you want poverty to be a thing of the past, no more stabbings on our streets, don’t you want peace on earth? That’s what we pray when we pray your kingdom come.

Praise! 

When you meet people who just desperately need praise all the time - it’s not great is it? It’s kind of all about them and their insecurities. God seeks our praise for precisely the opposite reason. He is supremely worthy of all Praise. Constant praise. It’s for our good and our wholeness that we praise him. If we don’t praise him we live completely out of kilter with reality, with the way things are. If we don’t praise him the rocks will cry out! 

Last week we saw that prayer begins with the foundational principle that God is Father. There is a sense in which all human beings, made in God’s image are God’s offspring, his children. But Father describes a relationship that is not there by nature. By nature we self destructively reject God with all our beings. We cut ourselves off from God and his life. For God to become our Father meant forgiveness won at the cost of his own life. He sent his Son to his enemies to become one of us - united with humanity Jesus died for our sins and rose to establish our life. United by faith with Jesus the Son we can know God as Father. God would rather lose his own life than lose us. Such is his kindness, such is his love and when the reality of Father touches your heart. You must cry out in praise

Hallowed be your name! Your kingdom come! Your will be done! 

Prayer starts with God not with my needs. My needs are important to God but he wants me first. Prayer is about relationship. About growing in relationship with God. Prizing God over all things. Wanting him for him. Not for him meeting my needs or the things that he can give me. 

Prayer is always firstly about God. It is God centred. 

See If you think that prayer is asking God for things (and getting frustrated and angry when he doesn’t give them). the presumably you believe that it’s these things that you so want that will give you the signifcance satisfaction and security that we all need. 

But the Lord himself IS our ultimate and only need. He is the source of all signifcance, satisfaction and security.  The gospel of his love and power tells us that and encourages us to first and foremost enjoy Him. Rest in his fatherly care. spend time with him to get him not the things that you can get from him!! 

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these other things shall be given to you. 

PRAISE 

praise spreading - the kingdom

The second element of Jesus’ pattern for prayer is CONFESSION - sorry Lord, I’m sorry. 

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

saying sorry is not easy and it’s not popular in our culture. I think that’s why sorry does not feature as one of the three essential prayers in Anne Lamott’s book. Sorry humiliates us, admits our failings, sorry might get us into trouble - we’ve admitted we were to blame, sorry puts us in a place of weakness before the person we’re apologising too, sorry might make us depressed.. 

But we are to say sorry to God all the time. NOT to wallow in our failings and NOT because our forgiveness hangs in the balance or is constantly in doubt. NO - we, if we trust in Jesus, we have been forgiven once and for all through Jesus’ death on the cross for us. We are right with God not on the basis of our performance but on the basis of Christ’s performance. And we are right with him by trusting in Jesus Christ.  We say sorry to God every day not to get forgiven but to constantly remind ourselves that we are people who need forgiveness and to remind ourselves that we AREpeople who have received forgiveness! 

Remembering this is very powerful for our lives. It produces both happiness and humility.

When you remember that you are forgiven it makes you happy. Some of us have an MP3 playing in our heads that says ‘I hate myself I’m really rubbish, I always mess up.’ That music weighs us down. But forgiveness changes the record to ‘I’m forgiven and loved and accepted by God just as I am.’ That gives you a joy, a happinness in your life. it frees you from self accusation and guilt. Enables you to live differently.

And when you remember you are forgiven it makes you humble and able to forgive others who wrong you. The reason we don’t forgive is we think we’re better than someone else. We say to ourselves ‘they’re bad I’m good.’  But forgiveness reminds us that we can’t say that because we do wrong things. We ourselves need to be forgiven. And if God has forgiven us our wrongs shouldn’t we forgive those who wrong us? Shouldn’t we let go of bitterness and grudges? That person who wronged you years ago well you can let that go, you can forgive.

If we are to live joy filled and humble lives free from guilt and bitterness we need to remind ourselves every day, bring it to mind, every morning say to ourselves ‘I am a forgiven sinner pardoned by God through the cross of Jesus Christ.’ 

WOW - SORRY 

and the third part of Jesus pattern for prayer 

PETITION - please 

2 parts to this 

Give us this day our daily bread 

Lead us not into temptation 

We do ask God for things. For help. We do depend on him. 

Do you remember we said last week that being united to Jesus the Son and drawn into the Father-Child fellowship of the Trinity means that Christian maturity is not becoming stronger, more self sufficient. It’s to become more dependent more aware of my weakness and therefore more and more in prayer 

Please 

Give me today my daily bread 

Notice that we are to pray for our needs not our wants, it’s our daily bread not our daily caviar. And notice also we are to pray for daily bread that is daily provision like the Israelites who were provided with manna to collect each day in the wilderness. We are to look for today’s needs to be met. not for tomorrow’s needs to be met today so we don’t have to pray tomorrow. Money, food or whatever else we need today.

Someone might say but i don’t even have the wisdom to know the difference between my wants and my needs. Many of my longings have gone unanswered and i feel paralysed to know what to pray. John Calvin is helpful here in his treatise on prayer in his magnum opus the Institutes. Pray with restful trust and yet pray with confident hope. God loves you and he knows what’s best for you. He’s not gonna give you something that’s bad for you. When you pray your heart must always be saying like we’re told to here and as Jesus prayed in the garden ‘yet not what i will but what you will be one. Your will be done’ We can rest in the will of God. And yet we should pray with confident hope. pour your heart out to God. Sometimes we don’t receive because we don’t ask.. and God sometimes will not give things without our asking because he doesn’t want us to think we did it, we don’t need God! God wants to hear our requests because he will gives us what we most need. 

Martin Luther saw a social dimension to this prayer as well. For all to get daily bread, there must be a thiving economy, good employment and a just society. Therefore to pray ‘give US this day our daily bread’ is to pray against wanton exploitation in business trade and labour which crushes the poor and deprives them of their daily bread’ 

Give us today our daily bread. 

And lead me not into temptation 

But deliver me from evil 

We are all tempted. But this is a prayer to not be LED INTO temptation but instead be delivered. It’s the danger of entertaining and considering giving in to sin. It might be prosperity that I am led into pride - the sin of thinking that i don’t need God. Or in adversity that I am led into despair - losing all hope and becoming angrily estranged from God. Seductions and trials come on us like a storm and can knock us off our feet. Please give us strength and grace to stand firm in them.

Wow 

Sorry 

Please 

The life transforming, world transforming privilege of prayer. Knowing God, loving him, receiving the assurance of his forgiveness, depending on our Father utterly. 

It’s a costly wonderful gift - access to God our Father. It cost God the suffering and death of his Son. Jesus was forsaken with our sins that we might be welcomed in. Jesus was rejected that we might accepted. God would rather lose his own life than lose us. You are worth that much to Him. How much he must love you. How much he must want to get to know you and bless your life. 

Let’s pray. 

Prayer Luke 11:1-2

Checkups in the interest of well-being are familiar features of modern life. You take your car in for its yearly MOT.  You buy software that scans your computer’s hard drive for corrupt files and other nasty things and gently heals them for optimum performance. As you get older – you’re wise to get check ups on your physical health and take seriously any treatments recommended. 

What about your spiritual health? Is that any different? 

On Wednesday we began that season in the church year called Lent. It’s been observed throughout the Christian church since the 3rd Century: 40 lent-gthening days of preparation leading up to Holy Week (recalling Jesus’s death) and Easter(celebrating his resurrection). Lent is not just about giving up chocolate. It is a season of check up.  it’s a time to look to our spiritual health.  A time of self searching, of repentance, of healing and renewal. 

And so for these weeks of lent begins we’re going to focus on renewing our lives of prayer.  Prayer is so vital to our spirtual health. 

Let me start with 3 observations 

The first one is that statistics show that everyone no matter what they believe prays at some time. Even my hairdresser Dave who never goes to church told me that he prayed when he was having a heart attack. When the chips are down. When someone you love is ill, when you find yourself in a desperate situation you pray. It’s a natural response. 

Second: most people find a life of prayer very difficult. Many of us want to pray but we just feel like we have no words. We pray for thirty seconds but then we give up we get distracted, we get bored. OR we’d like to pray but we just lack faith.. John Calvin defined prayer as ‘the chief act of faith’ so we don’t pray because we don’t really believe.. OR we think we’re just too bad to pray, God doesn’t want to hear me.. i’m just a failure..i’m in the midst of my sin when i’ve cleaned up my act then i’ll pray OR we’d like to pray but we just feel no desire to do so - maybe we’re just disappointed with God, feel let down by him.. he hasn’t answered our prayers. what’s the point? Finally, we don’t pray because it just feels like a dry duty. And if God knows better than I do what i need and he’s sovereign - he’s going to do what he’s going to do anyway - why bother praying?

Third observation 

When Jesus’ disciples were confused about prayer and how to pray. They asked Jesus to teach them. Here in Luke 11 we’re slowing right down to hear Jesus’ teaching on prayer. If you don’t know how to do something - you’re probably not going to succeed, you’re gonna give up. But why not listen to someone who does know how to do it??

We’re going to enter Jesus’ school for prayer 

And this afternoon we will focus on just one word which Jesus teaches is utterly utterly foundational to prayer. The doorway to kick start your prayer life.. 

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’

2 [Jesus] said to them, ‘When you pray, say:

‘“Father,

Father 

this is the foundation of all prayer. Father 

Jesus doesn’t begin with whats or hows but with who.  If we are ever to truly pray it is not subjects or methods that we need. We need to know who it is that we are invited to pray to.. 

Father 

What does it teach us about prayer that we pray to the Father?

well 3 things: 

First and it’s so obvious and yet we need to see it. 

by saying Father we see that prayer is about Communicating with a person. 

When someone becomes a Christian. Turns away from their sins and brokenness and puts their trust in JC and his cross. When that happens you are adopted into God’s family. He becomes your father and you become his child. As a result you begin a personal relationship with God. That relationship is developed through prayer. Just as human relationships are developed through conversations as we get to know each other better. My relationship with my wife is developed through conversation. If I didn’t talk to her it wouldn’t develop. So prayer develops our relationship with God as we talk to and have a conversation with him. If we don’t pray our relationship with God won’t develop. 

But what are we going to talk about?

How should I begin? What words should I use with this Parent of mine up there in the sky?

Where do i find the words? Where do i find the faith??

Well…

There is a sense in which ‘All speech is answering speech.’ Let me explain. 

How did you learn to talk? Babies do not enter the world and then immediately speak. That would be so weird wouldn’t it? Freaky! Neither are toddlers left to search to find words and language within themselves. No from the earliest days your parents speak to you - in simple words and sounds and loving tones that you heard and learned and when you were ready you said ‘duck’ or ‘mama’.

All speech is answering speech. 

And that is true with our Father God. 

We need to think about the overwhelming previousness of God’s speech to our prayers.

In one sense.. God’s blessings to us in our lives. Things we’re thankful for. God’s own recognisable answers to our prayers are part of his side of the conversation. But there is an overwhelming previousness to our speaking to God and that is God speaking to us in his word - the Bible, the gospel and supremely speaking to us through his Son, Jesus. 

Prayer is not really asking God for things and getting upset when we don’t get things our way. We can of course ask for things we’re commanded to and we’ll address the problem of seeming unanswered prayers in these weeks. But prayer doesn’t begin there. Prayer is God centred and it is responding to God’s speech. The continuation of a conversation that God has started. 

We can pray at any time.  Ideally we’re conscious of God throughout our day,  giving thanks, enjoying him, seeking his help, praying for that person. But our voice of prayer will dry up if we are not reading the Bible as God’s word to us.. His love letter to us. 

We often don’t pray because our faith, our belief in God as the source of reality get’s drowned out by the immediacies of the world around us. If we are not feeding our faith by hearing his voice in his word, by encountering His presence which is more real than reality itself then we won’t pray - we’ll have nothing to say. 

But if we do just read the Scriptures as from God our answering voice will emerge..

So that’s the first thing Father tells us. Prayer is communicating with someone. Responding to God’s speech 

2 Second by saying Father we see that prayer is based on grace not on performance.  

The way a child relates to their parents is very different to the way an employee relates to their boss. Your relationship with your boss at work is based on performance. But a child’s relationship with their parents is based on grace. As a father I am really bothered about the behaviour of my children because i want them to live well, i want them to honour God,  and because in some sense my reputation is connected with them and what they do. But my childrens’ position in our family is not dependent on how they perform. At the end of the day they are my children even if they don’t perform well. 

We all know what happens to employees who don’t perform well. You’re fired! 

But that is not the relationship we have with God. God does not fire any of his children. And so we can approach God in prayer with confidence not fear knowing that our standing with him as sons and daughters is based on grace not on how well we are doing. 

That means we can pray just as we are. We don’t need to clean ourselves up first. We can come to God as his children anytime. It’s all by grace.

Donald Trump. whether you like it or not, is the most powerful man in the world. 

There was a great picture of the Oval office that i saw online earlier today. Donald was sat at his desk surrounded by maybe 30 or 40 suits standing looking at the camera ready to act.. And in the foreground on one of the cream sofas with her feet up not looking at the camera is a woman who I assume is one of Trump’s daughters. 

See .. you have to be someone very powerful or influential to get an appointment with Donald Trump. You have to go through so much red tape and checks to even get close. But if you’re his child - you can walk into the oval office pretty much anytime you like.

I’m aware as I talk about God as a Father that some of us have not had good experiences of fatherhood but we all know what a good father should be like that’s why we get angry when we see or experience bad examples of fatherhood. When it comes to fatherhood earthly fathers are not the standard for God but our Father God is the standard for earthly fathers. He is the perfectly loving, perfectly wise, perfectly good Father who loves and cares for us his children.

think you’re just too bad to pray? God doesn’t want to hear me.. i’m just a failure..i’m in the midst of my sin when i’ve cleaned up my act then i’ll pray…

No - you’re his child. He longs for you to answer him. He’s constantly talking to you. he feels compassion for you in your sin. Turn to him.. Run into his arms. He loves you. 

3. by saying Father we see that Prayer is to be taken up into the very life of God. 

Look again at how our passage begins One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray…

One day Jesus was praying ..

He actually does this all the time, Jesus. Read the gospels. He’s always going off to pray by himself. He does it so much that’s why the disciples say teach us what you’re doing..

But - don’t you find it weird that Jesus prays all the time? cos I do. Cos this is God praying to God. What does this say about Jesus? When he came to our world, took upon himself our human nature. Did he kind of make himself then less than God the Father for a time - so he had to depend on Him in prayer - cos when he does pray he asks for a lot of stuff. 

Well the RC Theologian Karl Rahner puts it like this (and i think he’s bang on). "the economic Trinity is the immanent Trinity, and the immanent Trinity is the economic Trinity".  That is to say, God communicates Himself to humanity ("economic" Trinity) as He really is in the divine Life ("immanent" Trinity). Put it another way the relationship that we see Jesus the Son sharing with his Father in the gospels is how God is in eternity. The Father didn’t become Father when he adopted us. Jesus didn’t become the Son when he came into the world.  

No God in himself IS from all etenity:  A Father constantly giving life to and lavishing his love on his Son who is eternally receiving from and praising his Father and that flow of life and love IS the unity of the Holy Spirit!!!

And you see …

When we become Christians, adopted as God children. You have to understand that you’re not just being forgiven, you’re not just given a place in a childrens home NO you’re united with Jesus in order to be drawn RIGHT INTO the very centre of the trinitarian LIFE of God!

And you see when you PRAY - all three persons of the Trinity are involved. You are expressing the trinitarian life. You pray to the Father above you, through the Son alongside you by the Holy Spirit within you. The Spirit is the wind in the sails of our prayer as he catches us up into the Son’s love for the Father… testifying to us that we are God’s loved children and causing us to cry ‘Abba.. Father’ We’re brought into the divine fellowship. The Spirit of the Son cries to the Father through us! 

Think about this: If God WAS a single, independent person (the Muslim God) - then independence would be the godly thing. That would be how to be like God. To be closest to what reality really is would be for me to be self sufficient and alone! 

But that is not God. Not the deepest reality. No, God is a Father loving his Son who receives that love in the praise of the Spirit.  And so as the Son always depends on the Father THAT is the nature of Christian godliness. Being a Christian, a child of God is first and foremost all about receiving, asking and depending. Growing as a Christian is not about feeling more self sufficient it’s about feeling ever more needy and if you feel needy you will pray..

And when you are on your knees, literally or figuratively, in prayer enjoying the care of a powerful Father. That is when you are at the heart of reality. 

WOW! Prayer!! WOW! 

Enjoy your prayer life.