How To Pray: Building Our Relationship with God Through Prayer

What I want to talk to you about today is the fact that God desires a relationship with us.

Let's notice in Jeremiah 29, verse 12. Jeremiah 29, verse 12.

God says, And then you will call upon me, and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and find me. And when you search for me with your own, with your... I'm sorry... with all your heart. So if you sincerely seek a relationship with God, you will find Him. He promises. He will be there, and He will let you know that He wants that relationship with you. He will listen to you. But He says when you go and pray to Him...

And I wonder if a lot of us actually have gained the skill of how to pray.

And if we gain the skill of how to pray, do we remember how we are supposed to pray? Today I want to give a very specific message, not on prayer in general, because it's such a broad topic. There's different kinds of prayers, and different ways to pray in different situations, like emergencies, or when a brother is in trouble.

Today I'm going to talk about a very specific kind of prayer, and how to do it. Your daily prayer, and improving your relationship with God.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ tells us how to pray.

Most of Christianity has this memorized, and dare I say it, without trying to come across as judgmental, they get it wrong. And if we're not careful, brethren, we will get it wrong, guaranteed. Especially if we pray on autopilot, which a lot of us do, which I will cover in this sermon today.

We're going to talk about how to pray. Very simple. Simple title, How to Pray. How to Pray in Your Daily Prayer. Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount starts with His instruction on how to pray, on how not to pray.

Have you ever had a conversation with a person, and you want to further your relationship with this person? Be it a friend, be it a romantic situation. Remember back when you were courting your wife or your husband, or a potential wife or husband, and you were having a conversation with this person, and this person wasn't paying a lick of attention to you. You would say something, and they would go, uh-huh. But they were looking around at what everybody else was doing, or thinking, or saying, and they were seeing if people were noticing them. How would you feel if you had a conversation with a person you were trying to develop a relationship with, and they weren't paying attention? In fact, they were paying attention to everybody else in the room, but you. Would you feel like that person actually desired a relationship with you, like it said in Jeremiah, seeking it with all their heart? No. We would not. How would we feel like this person really didn't want a relationship with us? And yet, we pray to God, and sometimes people make a big show out of prayer. I don't feel good for the guy who gives closing prayer today. They make a big show out of prayer, and they want everybody to see them pray, and how good of a prayer warrior that they are. How do you think God feels about that? That they care what other people think, instead of what he thinks? When you pray, remember it's a one-on-one.

Even if you're up here giving opening or closing prayer, you are praying to the Creator of the universe. You are not praying to the people in the audience.

You're praying to God on behalf of the people in the audience. We're a family, and you're asked to come up here and represent all of us to God. But I tell you, you have an audience of one. God is your audience. Matthew 6, verse 5. The same thing in your daily prayers.

A lot of people make a show out of prayer.

And I think they think they're being a good example. And you know what? For argument's sake, maybe they are. Maybe it's okay to pray out loud at a restaurant. I have no problem with that, unless they're doing it for show. Matthew 6, verse 5. Be careful praying in public, brethren.

Jesus Christ warns, and when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. Who's a hypocrite?

Someone who does one thing or says one thing and does another. They're phony. They're not really into the relationship with God. He says, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues, on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.

Assuredly I say to you that they have their reward. A man's compliment, what is it worth?

What is a compliment worth to you? People will give up great things with God to have a compliment from men. Do you know the value of the compliment of a man? It won't even get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Hey, could you give me a cup of coffee? He just said I have a great, I don't know, great pair of eyes. Yeah, as soon as you pay me five bucks, because the compliment's worthless. Assuredly I say to you they have their reward. Verse 6, but when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. So, in instructing us on how to pray, the very first thing that Jesus Christ does is He tells us what not to do.

If you're going to have a relationship with God, this is a whole heart issue.

Don't make a show out of it. Even if you're praying up here, remember you have an audience of one, the great God, and that is only who you are praying to. Jesus Christ then goes into verse 7 and talks about something that I think most of us fall into. He calls it vain repetition or getting in a rut and saying the same thing literally every day. Brethren, we can do this.

All of us tend to do this once in a while. Instead of actually having a conversation with God and pouring our heart out to God, what do we do? We say some kind of a routine prayer. We get into a routine. We get into a rut. Marriages don't last when conversations get into a rut. How do you think your relationship with God will last if you get into a rut? Why don't marriages last when conversations get into a rut? How was your day? Fine. How was yours? Yeah, good. How was work? Fine. How's Joe at work? Yeah, good. Okay, time for bed. Yeah, good night. Love you. Kiss, kiss.

You do that for 11 years. You're going to get sick and tired of that conversation.

How do you think God feels? You know, good morning, Father. Please give me this. Please give me that. Please guide me here. Please forgive me. Yada, yada, yada, yada, yada. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, time for coffee. Off we go to work. Next day you wake up, you do the same thing. Jesus says in verse 7, And when you pray, do not use vain repetition, as the heathens do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

All you got to do is mouth some words and you've got a relationship with God. Bingo! Wrong.

Therefore, do not be like them. Your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.

And if God knows, here's the question. If He already knows what you need, what's the point of praying? What is the point of praying?

Think about it.

We tend to go to God like we're going to Super Walmart.

And ask Him for all the things we need that day. Please heal me. Please protect me. Please provide for me. Please, please, please, please, please. Oh, I forgot. I'll never whatever.

Because I also need this off the shelf. God's not a Super Walmart.

God's a person. Do you ever think about it that way? God is the original person.

He made you a person.

You think maybe you should do more than just ask Him for what you need. And I say, yes, the purpose of prayer is developing a bond, a connection, a relationship with God.

So vain repetition, or getting in a rut, that's what Christians do. Most of Christianity gets into a rut when they pray. In fact, most denominations, when they come into services, recite the Lord's Prayer. Okay, the very next few verses are the model prayer that Jesus gave us on how to pray. And what do most, and it doesn't matter the denomination, it could be Catholic, it could be Baptist, it could be Methodist, Episcopalian, it doesn't matter. They almost always repeat the model prayer in services. I remember we were watching a show that Tammy likes to watch called When Calls the Heart, and it's a show set back in the 1800s in Canada. And there's this little boy in the town named Cody, and Cody gets sick, he has appendicitis, and the doctor doesn't recognize it's appendicitis in this big drama. And another doctor who's supposedly not qualified comes in and does an emergency surgery, and they might not make it, and everybody's biting their nails, and what do they do? The whole town, worried that Cody's going to die, go into the church, and the minister starts a group prayer. And do they pray to the great God that he will intervene and heal Cody? No, they just recite the Lord's Prayer.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, your kingdom come, your will be done, and it's a group chant, so it's got a certain rhythm to it, you know, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And they sound like lemmings. You know, you've ever seen a group of lemmings, they all just jump up and down together, boing, dee, boing, dee, boing, dee, boing. And that's, I mean, literally mindless prayer. It's literally repeating the words of Jesus Christ mindlessly. How do you think God feels about that? Well, ask yourself, how would you feel about that?

You're courting a young lady or you're courting a young man, and they look into your eyes, and they say, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard. You are so funny. I just love talking to you.

And then the next day you hear that person with somebody else. That's the funniest thing I've ever heard. You are so funny. I like hanging around with you. And the next day that you hear them again, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard. Okay, either they're telling the truth and they're telling the truth and the jokes are getting, you know, consecutively more funny, or it's just routine. That's just what that person says. Do you think they mean it if they just mindlessly say it? Of course not. How much more God? How much more when He actually can hear your heart and He knows what you think. So why even pray if He knows how you think?

Do you think it's for His sake? I say it is not. I say it is for your sake. Oh, I believe He loves to hear your prayers and I can show you the scriptures that prove that. Although this is a narrow topic, I'm not going to get into that right now. God does love to hear you pray. So from that point of view, it is for His benefit.

But the main benefit, brethren, is ours. Let's go through this model prayer today and let's break it down. Let's break it down, brethren, and get out of the rut in prayer and really further our relationship with God by actually having a real conversation with Him every day. Jesus Christ opens with our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. What does the word hallowed mean? How many of you, when you woke up this morning between then and now, have used the word hallowed? Now, I know some teenagers will raise their hand. There's a video game called Hallowed. We're not talking about that. I challenge you. Do you know what that means? If we don't know what these words mean, we're not following the example of prayer because you have to take this and put it in your own words and actually have a real conversation with God. So what does hallowed mean?

Holy means special. So what makes God so special? Well, King David was an artist when it came to prayer. King David shows us how to say to God, every day, hallowed be thy name.

Let's dive into Psalm 103 and just take a look at the first six verses.

This entire psalm is chock full of hallowed be thy name. We just don't have time to go through it. Let's just look at the first six. Psalm 103 verse 1. A psalm of David, Bless the Lord, O my soul! All that is within me, bless his holy name. Hallowed be thy name. Okay, here's a clue. How do you bless his holy name? How do you and I, in our everyday language, say, Your name is holy to me? Verse 2, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

All the things that he has done for you that make your relationship special.

So Jesus Christ says, You do not start your prayer with, Good morning, Father in heaven, please give me this.

That is an incorrect way to address the creator of the universe.

And forget not all his benefits. Listen to just the list in the first six verses, the David list. Forgives all our iniquities, heals our diseases, redeems our life from destruction. Yes, when we get ourselves into a tight spot, God pulls us out. You can thank him for that. Who crowns us with loving kindness and tender mercies. Yes, he gives us things we don't deserve. Be specific when you pray to God. Hallowed be thy name doesn't cut it. And the reason it doesn't cut it is it's not your words. You're supposed to use your words when you address the great God. Who satisfies your mouth with good things. I don't know about you, but I had an awesome breakfast taco this morning. And I thank God for it. Because he filled my mouth with something great. So that your youth is renewed like eagles. The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. And you can thank him for the plan of salvation that he has for all of mankind. And it goes on and on and on. What does hallowed be thy name mean? Well, King David shows us that blessing his holy name means talking about all the benefits that God has given to you. And remembering that and praising him. So the question is, we haven't asked for anything yet. And we've opened this prayer with praise. Why do you think we do that?

Does God need to hear from you that he's special in order for him to be special?

I would suggest he does not. God is special whether you forget to praise him or you praise him today. He's already special. So if he's already special, why do you and I need to verbalize that every day? Is it for his sake or is it for ours? I say it's for our sake. This model prayer benefits you and me. When we open with prayer, we state and we say the words that help us remember who it is we're talking to. So that we set the right frame of mind. This model prayer is all about priorities and putting things in their proper order. For our sake, this isn't an ego thing with God.

God does not need our praise. We need to give it to him. We need to set the right perspective when we're praying. It will help us to pray and it will help us to develop a closer relationship with God. I remember watching a YouTube video and you might have seen it. And I remember Mr. Petty referring to this many times as well. And this professor on YouTube takes this cylinder, this glass or plastic cylinder, it's about that high, and he pours golf balls in it and it fills the cylinder all the way to the top. And he asks the class, is it full? And they say, well, yeah, obviously it's full. He says, no, it's not full. And then he takes little rocks and he pours the rocks over the golf balls and shakes it up a little bit. And the rocks fall in between the golf balls and fill it up. And he says, class, is it full? And they say, well, yeah, now it's full. He says, no, it's not full. And then he takes sand and he pours sand in the cylinder and the sand works its way in between the little rocks. And he says, now is it full? And he says, they say, yes, now it's full. He says, no, it's not full. And he takes two cups of coffee and he pours the coffee in and it works its way in between the sand. And he says, now it's full. What lesson do we learn there? He said, put the big things in life first and the little things will fit.

And you always have time to have a couple cups of coffee with a friend.

That's a good point. I thought it was a really good illustration of putting your priorities and putting first things first. If you put the big things in first, the little things will fit. And that's what this model prayer is like. How do you prioritize your prayers? Well, you start by praising God for your sake, for my sake, not for his sake. And then the very next thing you do is a shopping list of things you need, right? Wrong.

That is not the very next thing we need to do. First things first. Set your priorities right and you will learn, brethren, to not do this by vain repetition and not do it for show and get your priorities straight so that you actually develop a relationship with God. And I know I said it before, but I'll say it again. Prayer is about relationship because God already knows what you need. So that's not really what prayer is for, although prayer does accomplish getting what you need. We'll get there. The very next thing that Jesus Christ tells us to pray for is, thy kingdom come. So I have a question for you. Does that mean pray for the return of Jesus Christ?

A lot of people think that they have to watch Fox News in order to pray, thy kingdom come, because you need to be up to date on all the world events and every cyber attack, like we heard in the sermonette, and every terrorist attack. And if the economy is holding up, just to see when Jesus...

it's almost like the kingdom of God is opt-in. If we don't all opt-in, it might not come.

No. News flash. Only God knows the day or the hour, and He's already got it set. He already knows when Jesus Christ is going to return. He calls, remember, the end from the beginning. So this is not about the timing of the kingdom of God. Let me make an argument with you. This is also not about the return of Jesus Christ, although that is part of it. However, that's not the main focus of your daily prayer. You mean we're not supposed to seek the return? Of course, we're supposed to seek the return of Jesus Christ. My point is, that is not enough.

And that is not the point of praying, Thy kingdom come. And if you don't get the point, you miss a huge part of your daily prayer. First things first.

Thy kingdom come. When Jesus Christ returns, He will set up His kingdom, and it will last forever. But I argue that is not the kingdom of God. Not yet. That's what we call the millennium, although you won't find that word in the Bible. That's the thousand year period when Jesus Christ repairs the earth and prepares for the great resurrection. Then all the dead will be resurrected after the thousand years. Is that the kingdom of God? No! That's the great white throne judgment. And then those who are condemned will be burned in the lake of fire. That is certainly not the kingdom of God. And then there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and new Jerusalem will come to the earth. And then it's the kingdom of God. And my point is, if Jesus Christ returned tomorrow, we're still a minimum of a thousand years away of the fulfillment of Thy kingdom come. So I argue, Thy kingdom come is not about praying for the return of Jesus Christ. At least not only, although that is part of it. Well, then what is it? Get to the point, Rod. Okay. Then I will. Matthew 6, verse 33.

Matthew 6, verse 33.

In the same chapter that we're reading the model prayer, I argue Jesus Christ makes the point for us. Just drop down a few verses, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

And all these things will be added to you. Remember, God knows what we need already.

What are we praying when we pray, Thy kingdom come? We are praying, Thy kingdom come today, now, in me. That's what you're supposed to pray. You're not supposed to say, can I have that car? Can I have that spouse? Can I have that house?

Can I have that purse? Can I have those earrings? You're supposed to say, create in me a clean heart, O God. Psalm 51. That's what Thy kingdom come means.

When God builds His character in you, you are an ambassador for Jesus Christ on this earth. You are the kingdom of God, if you will, in embryo. And that kingdom is supposed to come now. Today, daily prayer, Thy kingdom come, isn't just waiting for the gun lap to go off so that Jesus Christ will return. Because Christians, for thousands of years, have been instructed, pray, Thy kingdom come. And that's not to rush God like we have to opt in to get Jesus Christ to return. He's going to return. And He's going to return when He's going to return. The question is, will He find faithful followers on the earth? Because the last days, trouble is predicted. And I think we are going into those days, brethren. And I believe that we need to pray, Thy kingdom come, every day. Where? In me. Thy kingdom come in me. Change what I need to change. Grow what I need to grow. Thy kingdom come in me. We've done two major things in this prayer, and we haven't even asked for anything yet. We have praised the great God and set our perspective on who it is we're talking to. And then, before we ask anything else, we humbly ask God to convert us, to change us, to make us like Him. These are not to be empty words. Thy kingdom come. This is to be backed up by action. James 2, verse 17. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say to you, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works. That is a funny play on words. That's like asking somebody to raise their hands who's embarrassed to raise hands.

Right? Okay, let me see a show of hands.

Show me your faith without your works. That's a hilarious joke that James makes. You can't show somebody anything unless you do something. Right? That's why that's so funny to me. Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.

Yeah, duh! It's an action item. You can't show anybody anything unless you do something. So praying thy kingdom come is about you and I changing and God's kingdom coming in us. Oh, and it's also about looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ. And it's also about looking forward to repairing the earth and the millennium. And it's also about looking forward to the great resurrection and the new heavens and the new earth. All of that. But do not neglect your daily prayer of thy kingdom come, which is mostly about thy kingdom come in me.

And then we can ask for stuff, right? No. We're still not asking God for things yet. There's another statement that Jesus Christ makes and it's a huge statement. Thy will be done before we ask Him anything. We have praised Him. We have asked Him to change us with a humble and contrite heart. So we have really set our frame of mind here before we ever ask anything. And that really helps us to ask in the right frame of mind. And then we make a trust statement. This is a statement of faith. We must express our faith.

Why do you think we need to do that? Can't God know whether or not we have faith or not? Yeah, of course. But stating it means we'll more than likely believe it and do it. I know when I've talked to my kids when they were little. It's one thing to tell them to do something. It's another thing to ask them the question and make them say that they will do it.

They are much more likely to actually do the thing you want them to do if it comes out of their mouth. All right. Now what are you going to do as soon as we're done here? I'm going to go clean my room. Okay, go clean your room. And off they go and they clean their room. But if it's, go clean your room. Oh, they'll go to their room, won't they? But they didn't say, yes, out of their own mouth, I will clean my room.

And what do they do? They sit and they find all kinds of distractions. They draw and they play and they move toys from one part of the room to the other part of the room. And they move this clothing pile from this part of the floor to this part of the floor because they were wrestling with each other. And when you open the door an hour later, you say, I thought I told you to clean the room. Oh, I forgot.

But if you get them to say it, they're much more likely to do it. And I think in part, that's what God is asking us to do in our relationship. Say it. Thy will be done. Remember, when Jesus Christ, the night before He was crucified, He knew what was going to happen to Him.

He was Jesus Christ. And there were all kinds of prophecies about what would happen to Him. He knew that that very night He would go before the Sanhedrin and they would stand around Him in a big circle. They would mock Him and they would slap Him saying, prophesy, who slapped you? And they would ridicule Him and disrespect Him, a thing that men can't handle. And yet He didn't speak a word, but He knew that was going to happen to Him.

And then He knew He would be delivered to the Romans where they would beat Him with sticks, put a crown of thorns on His head, and put a robe around Him, and humiliate Him and say, hail to the King, even though He was the King, the King. And He knew that would happen to Him. He knew that they would torture Him with the cat of nine tails and with Him beyond recognition that His own mother would not be able to recognize Him when they were done with Him. He knew that they would nail Him to a tree and He knew that He would be pierced in the side and His blood would flow out.

He knew all of that. And in Luke 22, before that happened, He didn't just tell us to say, thy will be done. He showed us how to do it. He said in Luke 22 and verse 42, Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me. And that was not for show. That was a sincere feeling so that you and I could relate to that. Because sometimes, you know, in prayer, God says no. And Jesus Christ showed us how to deal with it when God says no. That's not good for you.

Can't do that right now. We'll fix that later. And we ask Him, please heal me or heal Him or her. And God says no. It's not time for that yet. And how are we to respond daily? And Jesus Christ says in Luke 22, 42, Father, if it's Your will, take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done. And He went through with it and He died on our behalf. So how much trust does Thy will be done express when we say that every day?

100% trust. Holding nothing back. Like we read in Jeremiah at the very beginning, this is an all of our heart thing. Okay, but not My will, Your will be done. And we're supposed to express that every day. It's not that God needs to hear it.

It's that we need to say it to Him. It helps us. And God is loving and Jesus Christ is loving. And they're giving us instructions on how to pray so that we will have a relationship with them. So that we won't get our attitude, our nose all bent out of shape, and walk away from the relationship. Jesus Christ is teaching us how to have a relationship with the Father. And we don't start with, please give me this, give me that. I gotta have some coffee and I'm on my way.

No, we start by praising Him. We start by asking Him to bring His Kingdom in us, to change us. And then we make a statement of absolute 100% trust. Your Kingdom come. Now step out of the sermon for a second and think back to how most people think of this model prayer.

Like lemmings jumping up and down together. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Yada, yada, yada. And it's meaningless.

And this isn't meaningless. This is like the key that opens the door to a relationship with the Creator.

But you gotta decode it and put it in your words and make it a daily thing. Now we get to the part where we get to ask Him for stuff. Give us this day our daily bread. We're running short on time. I won't belabor this point. I'll just let you know bread represented life in Jesus' day. Bread meant everything that sustained life. In fact, it even went so far as to represent salvation itself. Remember, Jesus Christ said, I am the bread of life. He who eats will never die, so to speak. Bread represented anything that sustained life. This is where you ask for what you need. Once you have set your perspective, once the golf balls are in place, now you start putting the little rocks in the sand in.

Now you start getting into the details. Please heal me when I'm sick. Please help me out of this financial situation. Please help me to improve my financial situation. Please help me with a relationship. Please help me with whatever it might be. What kinds of things can you bring to God?

I had a lot of scriptures about bread. We just don't have time for it. You can ask for the things that you need when you're asking for daily bread, but what about the things you want? Is that sort of shallow and selfish? You don't really need a new purse. You don't really need a different car. Your car works. If it's got four wheels, decent gas mileage, the air conditioner, you need air conditioning in Texas, the air conditioning works. You don't need a new car. You might want a new car. You don't need it. Are you shallow?

Are you greedy? Are you selfish if you ask for what you want? No!

Brethren, this is a relationship with a God, a Father, who loves you. And remember, God's not male. He is complete. I say that for the lady's sake, because when you're praying to God, remember that God understands how you feel also. And you should pray about your feelings in this portion of your prayer. Pour your heart out. Am I sure about that? I am positive about that. There are statements in the Bible that indicate God is not male. God is complete. It says in Genesis, remember, that God made man in his image, male and female. He made them. We are equal but different. God put part of his nature in a man, a male, and part of his nature in a female. And of this, I am sure. Like there are statements in Isaiah where God will take them under his wings like a hen, takes chicks under her wing. A guy would never say that!

God is complete. God is not lacking. God knows every hair on your head, knows when a sparrow falls, knows your needs before you know your needs. That's not male. Males don't even... we're so compartmentalized and single track minded most of the time. We don't remember what we had for breakfast yesterday. I can literally be sitting in the living room on my computer, chaos going on all around me, and I am clueless. The dog chases the cat. This is a daily thing. We have a little dog and a little cat. Well, actually a large cat.

The dog chases the cat. He runs around. The cat arches her back and hisses and goes at him sideways like a ninja. The dog runs around and bites her tail. Then books over to the couch, jumps off the back of the couch like he's in the Matrix, and spins around and jumps back around and comes back at the cat. She pops him on the nose. All of this is going on. I'm still in my computer.

One of the girls is squabbling with one of the boys.

Tammy's trying to cook something and not burn dinner, and she says, do you not see what's going on all around you? And I look up and I say, huh?

I'm not.

God notices everything. That's not male. God is complete.

So, ladies, when you're praying to God and you're pouring your heart out to God, you are talking to your Father in heaven. But remember, we're using human words, and those are limited. Remember that God is complete. And the way you feel, the way He made your mind, His mind also works. So, you are talking to somebody who understands you and feels you better than even your mother. Right? So, a lot of ladies can, if you had a good relationship with your mom, can tell your mom anything. You can tell God anything. He's like your mom infinity squared.

Guys don't have a problem relating to God, because we think of God in male terms anyway. And God does have those male attributes. He does. So, guys generally don't have that issue, but I wanted to bring that up, because we're talking about prayer, which is a relationship, which means you have to relate to somebody. Ladies, you can relate to your great God.

He is complete. He understands you. He made you on purpose.

And He loves you. Can you ask for the things that you want? Yeah, absolutely! Psalm 37, verses 3 and 4. Psalm 37, verses 3 and 4. God loves to give presents and gifts.

Do you like to give a present? Do you like to see when you've given a present, when that person opens the present, and their reaction, and when they actually do appreciate it?

Doesn't that feel good? You know where you got that from? God.

Psalm 37, verse 3. Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

Not just safely in the land, but prosper.

That's not a need. That's not crust of bread and glass of water.

That's more than what you need. That's also what you want.

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires.

The things that you want, not just the things that you need. Now, sometimes God says no, because kids will ask parents, and God is our parent, for things that are not good for us, and God is not going to do harm. Can I have ice cream every night? No. How about twice a night? No!

Can I go to bed at 2 a.m.? No! That's not good for you. You will go to bed on time and give mommy and daddy a break so that we can actually have a conversation, and you will get some sleep for your health, and we will save our marriage.

No, you don't get everything you want, but God does love to give to you.

I mean, think about it. Human parents love to give gifts to their kids. My son Zach loves these things called fidget spinners now. You may have seen them. You hold them in the middle, and you just spin them. That's what you do. They spin.

So he has these fidget spinners, and so I bought him one, and then another one, and then another one, and then another one. He has so many he gives them away, and then we'll be going through the store, and you'll see a cool fidget spinner. I'll walk up to my computer. He has unlocked my computer, and he has looked up a new fidget spinner on amazon.com, and it's front and center on my screen. Good morning. Fidget spinner!

He'll ask me, dad, can I have a fidget spinner? Do you know what I tell him? If I have the money, yes, you can. Does he have enough fidget spinners? He's got enough to last all of us a lifetime.

But if I can afford it, I will get him another fidget spinner. Within reason, bucko, if you're watching this. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires. Give us this day our daily bread is what we ask for. What does that mean? It represents life itself. Everything you need, yes, but also what you want. Pour your heart out to God. He already knows what you need. This is about relationship. Does that make sense? Yes.

And then we have to state something. After we've asked for daily bread, and it's daily bread, by the way, it's not weekly bread or monthly bread, we are to have a daily relationship with God. Interesting that he uses bread, by the way. Food, sustenance. Imagine skipping a meal. It's like skipping prayer in the morning. I skip breakfast sometimes. Too busy, got to run out the door. Couldn't do prayer justice anyway, so I make a quick prayer, and I get out the door. I can skip breakfast, and I'm okay. But I certainly don't want to miss lunch if I've skipped breakfast, because my blood sugar is going to start to get low. So will my relationship with God, if I do not eventually pray, fairly immediately thereafter. What about if I miss the whole day? Well, now I'm pretty weak, aren't I? What if I miss a couple of days, or three days, or a week? Even walking would make me winded. Can't accomplish anything. Why do we skip prayer?

Some of us get out of the habit of praying. It is daily bread.

It's not weekly or monthly bread. Pray every day. Keep that relationship going. And then we say, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Jesus Christ puts forgiveness in terms of a financial transaction, because forgiving is very similar to a financial transaction. It is a transaction, if you will. Forgiveness is not a feeling. The sermon is not about forgiveness, so I'm not going to delve too deeply into it. However, when you have transgressed against God, you owe Him something, and that is your life. You can only pay that once, and you're done.

Your goose is cooked. Stick a fork in you. You're done. So Jesus Christ paid the penalty.

And yet, people hurt our feelings all the time, and they owe you something. If they stole something from you, or cheated you out of something, they owe it back to you. But they also owe you an apology. And sometimes it's nothing tangible that they owe. They still owe you. Maybe they marred your reputation with other people. Now they owe you to make your reputation right.

I don't have time to go into all of it, and it's not wrong to pray that that person be made by God to pay that back. However, it is wrong to hold a grudge and not relate to that person anymore, unless there's danger to you involved. So I'm not talking about abuse. Let's set abuse aside. If there's danger, that's a different topic altogether. If the danger is ongoing, you don't go, I forgive you, and go back and die. You don't do that.

But if it's hurt feelings, if it's a slap on the cheek, as Jesus said, right? That's not a knife to the heart. That's not death. That's an insult. You are to turn the other cheek. Why do we have to say this to God in our prayer?

Again, it's the same idea. If you state it, you're much more likely going to do it.

And you have to put it in terms of, God, I know you're forgiving me of the big things, so I'm going to forgive everybody else of the little things. And you do it every time. Every day. This is something we might tend to forget a little bit, if we're honest with ourselves. And we'll go through the first part of the model prayer, and we'll skip this part.

Oh, you might ask God to forgive you, but you may not list everything people have done to you that day or the day before and forgiven them. And you can't skip that part. When you're talking to the great creator, God, and you've made the trust statement, your will be done, his will is that you forgive. And forgiveness is a transaction when you can honestly say, they no longer owe me.

An apology, whatever it is, I am not owed anything, then you have forgiven. He puts it in terms of a financial transaction. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. So, just a few verses down, Jesus Christ ends the model prayer as soon as he ends it. He says, if, verse 14, Matthew 6, 14, if you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. If the biggest two-letter word in the English language.

You know, one of my favorite passages on forgiveness is kind of a remote passage that we don't read very often. And there are so many that we could turn to, but let's go to Micah, chapter 7. This is how we are to be with other people, because this is how God is with us. And this is something we're supposed to state to God every day. How does God forgive us? Micah, chapter 7, verse 18 and 19. Micah 7, 18 and 19, right after Jonah.

Who is a God like you? I love this passage.

Pardoning iniquity and passing over transgressions of the remnant of his heritage.

He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in mercy.

Yeah, I think I'm reading this from the New Living Translation. I forgot to write it down as New Living, but I'm pretty sure this is NLT. He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in mercy. Delights in it. Makes him happy to forgive. Does it make you happy to forgive?

Can you state it to God in your daily prayer? He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. Like iniquities are our enemy, something that needs to be conquered, and he comes in like a hero. Bam! It takes our iniquities away. He will again have compassion and subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Who has hurt your feelings recently? Can you go to God and honestly say, forgive my debts as I forgive so and so for doing this to me? And throw that right into the ocean that you will never see it again, down into the deepest depths of the Marianas Trench, where human beings can't even go. It's no longer available to you to even think about. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And then he ends the prayer with a couple of things. First of all, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from...

New King James says, the evil one. The old King James says, just in general, evil, which I think is a better translation. In this case, temptation does not mean it can include, but does not mean tempting you to sin. God doesn't lead you into temptation. You don't have to ask Him that.

This means a sore trial or something that's really difficult. In other words, this is a statement of trust once again. God, I'm about ready to close this prayer with you. I'm about ready to get into my day, but you're recognizing you're going out into a dark world, an evil world, and you say, do not lead me into trouble today. Please protect me and protect my family from evil today.

Why do you say that? Does God not know it's a dark world? Does He need to be reminded? No. Again, it's for us. It's for us to remember we depend and we rely on God. It's for us to be reminded that we live in a dark world. It's for us to remember that we rely on God for protection, and we're supposed to state it. Don't let this become routine, brethren. Don't let this become something that you just say, but remember who it is you're depending on. And then something amazing we're supposed to do at the end before we say in Jesus' name, how do you end your prayer every day? Do you do this for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever?

You praise Him again. You've already praised Him at the beginning. Now you praise Him at the end.

Is God that egotistical that He needs to be praised twice? No. You and I are that forgetful of who it is we're talking to. It is you and I who need the reminder that we are talking to the Creator of everything. You know, my granddad used to open with every prayer, and this wasn't vain repetition. This was a humble man praying to God, and he didn't care who heard it. He would open his prayer, our Father in heaven, our Creator, and the Creator of everything. And that was his hallmark opening to any prayer. And brethren, that should also be the closing that we have to any prayer. Remember who it is you're talking to. It's not just a person, it's the person, the Creator of the universe, our Father in heaven, God. Jesus Christ ends this with amen. But later we are instructed to pray in His name. Let's just take a quick look at that. John 14 and verse 6. Why do we pray in Jesus' name? John 14 and verse 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man comes to me, I'm sorry, no man comes to the Father, but by me. Now, if you are addressing your Father in heaven, you have to do it through Jesus' name. Why is that? We're all like sinners sitting on death row. So imagine yourself in a prison cell, and you want access to the outside, which is where the Father is, but the executioner is coming. And you can hear the footsteps coming down the hallway, and the lawyer opens the door and pulls you out and takes your place.

Your lawyer actually takes your place in the cell, and you go outside and talk to the Father. You remember that happened every time you pray, and you say in Jesus' name. And this is the one place that we really get vain repetition. We put our heart into a prayer sometimes, and then we just go, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. And we don't even think about what we're saying. You're using the name of Jesus Christ, your Savior. Remember the depth, the power of what you're saying. I cannot even come to you, Father, if it was not because of the sacrifice of my elder brother, Jesus Christ, your only begotten Son. In his name we pray, amen.

In John 16, verse 23, the night before he was crucified, he told us this. John 16, 23, do we pray to Jesus? I know a lot of people do, but I tell you, no, we do not. Jesus Christ did not want us to pray to him. Interesting. Mr. Ken Thompson just told us in the book of John alone, 90 times, 9-0, not 19, but 90 times did Jesus Christ point us to the Father, his whole purpose for coming to this earth was to point us to the Father. And he said in John 16, verse 23, in that day you shall ask me nothing. We don't pray to Jesus Christ.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you.

Why do we pray to the Father in Jesus' name? Because he told us to. Because he made it possible to. Because when he died, the curtain in between the Holy of Holies and us was ripped in two.

And symbolically, access to the Father was given. And that was why he came. And we should not take light of what he came for by changing what he said to do. He said to do it this way. We appreciate what he did enough to do it that way.

So God wants a relationship between you and him. He wants you to talk to him.

What relationship would survive without conversation?

Do this in private and not for show. Don't get in a rut and make this just vain repetition.

He wants to be with you. When we started, we read Jeremiah 29 verses 12 and 13.

Let's read the verse just before that. Jeremiah 29 verse 11.

God wants to hear from you. God is looking forward to a daily conversation with you.

He wants that closeness, that relationship. He said, Jeremiah 29 verse 11, I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You may or may not have had a great relationship with your parents, with your mom and dad. You were called out of that, brethren. You were called to have a great relationship with your true parent, God the Father, who is not male, who is a complete being, infinitely superior in thought and ways to us. He understands us. He gets us. He even knows what we need before we ask. The purpose for prayer, brethren, is to develop a close bond, a close relationship with your parent, God the Father.