The Single Greatest Prayer Ever

Alright. As you see on the page there, announcement bulletin, the title, A Single Greatest Prayer Ever. Anybody ever have that in your mind? My friend in the back, who I will dunk in the water tomorrow. Do you have it nailed? We talked on the phone.

Okay, you're close. Yes, you are. Yes, sir. John said it. Oh, that's a good one. Yes. I've heard that too, but no, you're wrong. I'd love to tell Nameth that, if not anybody else. At least, Nameth. So, arguably, I said arguably, the single greatest prayer in the Scriptures takes place in Matthew. Okay. And the reason I say it is because it was delivered, it was given to us puny humans by a God, and not a little God, but by the God. This prayer instruction was given. If I were to ask Jesus Christ, if he was here today, how do I get to Key West? I wouldn't have to ask Christ because I could ask you. But if I was to ask Christ, he would say, take the turnpike south. He wouldn't say, take the turnpike north. The reason is, he cannot lie. It is impossible, as Hebrews 6, verse 18 says, it is impossible for God to lie. So, we see a prayer given to us in Matthew 6, verse 9. And he actually says, and I'll read different translations here, the New King James, he says, Jesus is in the Sermon on the Mount, and he says, in this manner, therefore, pray. New Living Translation says, pray like this. In IV, this then is how you should pray. Another translation, pray in this way. And another translation says, this is how you should pray. So, I think it's pretty important. And that's why I wanted to cover this topic today, this subject today, because each and every one of us needs to pray. We talked about it last week in the Bible study. We know how important it is. So, I'd like you to go back with me, if you will turn back to Matthew 6. And I'd like to look at something. Matthew 6, he's about halfway through the Sermon on the Mount. And in Matthew 6 and verse 5, the little heading I have above this group of scriptures actually says, the model prayer. The model prayer. I think most of us know what a model is.

But Jesus Christ in Matthew 6 and verse 5 through 8 actually tells us, before he tells us how to pray, he tells us first how not to pray, which is kind of good. Because otherwise, we're liable to follow what the rest of the world or someone else teaches you to pray. But he says, how not to? Let's look at how not to. I'll read from the new King James Version in verse 5. It says, and when you pray, not if, look at that, when you pray, not if, these are followers of Christ. This is why he's given the sermon. They followed him out to listen to this incredible sermon, greatest sermon ever given, if I could use those words. So he says, when you pray, not if, you shall not be like the hypocrites. The Greek word for hypocrites actually means actor. Actors. Don't act like you're something you're not. But he says, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogue. And on the corners of the street, that they may be seen by men. He's willing to do great prayers. You even see groups of people that love to get together and pray. We know God's all about prayer, but it shouldn't be for show. Let's just say it better not be for show, because that's not what he's about.

And they knew that the leaders of the religious groups at that time, whether it be Pharisees, Sadducees, scenes, many of them, they love to make a big show. And they were standing in front of some people, oh, and everybody looked, oh, that must be a religious man. Have you seen it today? You click on tomorrow morning and you see these preachers who are on TV, and too many of them are just like you'll catch them. Oh! Oh, and they'll lay their head down and their hand out, start to cry, or make it sound like they're going to cry, make these great long prayers. Christ tells us, don't do that. Don't be that way. He says, assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, I think this is interesting, and in verse 6, I'd like you to consider that verse right there, and I'd like you to read it because I'll read it in the New King James. But what's interesting, in just that one verse, it has, from the Greek, eight emphatic pronouns. So Christ structured this in such a way that it should leave an impact. So it says in verse 6, but you, pronoun emphatic pronoun, you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you shut your door, pray to your father, who is in the secret place, and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. There's a reason he put that structure together. He wants us to relate to what he's telling this to us. This is part of how you should be praying. Now, we have open prayer. When someone opens a prayer here, we have prayer over food, but we don't make a habit of just, oh, brethren, let us pray, oh, and raise your hands, and they have great revivals that have all this, and they have big prayer meetings, and I've had people go, can't we have prayer this? Well, what's he saying here? This is about a relationship, a unique relationship that he's about to teach us even more about this prayer, but he says, when you, and he goes, but you, when you. So, it's like he's pointing his finger at me, making sure that, okay, this is for you, I want you to get it, because he saw all the platitudes by all the, all the leaders of the day that just, oh, they really just wanted to be seen and thought of as religious.

Then he says in verse 7, but when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do. It sounds like an error. Well, there you go. That's what it sounds like when I see all these people and they show all these and they're just sitting there doing this. When I think of the scripture that Jesus Christ met with his disciples, had his disciples and said, do it this way, and then they say, oh no, we're fine, Christ, we're going to do it this way, when he tashes not to. Okay, but when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them. How many times does he have to say it? At least twice right here. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Then you might say, well, then why do I even need to pray? He said he knows everything you need or everything you're about to ask, and why in the world do we even need to pray? All we have to do is say, thank you, God, bring it on. Right? But that's not what he says, because it goes in verse 9, he says, in this manner, therefore, pray. This is a model prayer, but just think about it. There's only 65 to 66 words, depends on what translation, in this prayer. It takes less than a minute to read, less than a minute, or to even say, because many people use this prayer, and they repeat it, and they'll say it over and over. There are some churches that read this every week as a group. They will say this prayer. Thirteen pronouns, seven or eight statements are made, and it's one of more than 70 times Christ calls God, Father, in the Gospels. Now, I say this is a model, an outline. Why? Why isn't it the prayer? If Christ said in this manner, pray, so let's just do this. Let me ask you a question. Do you think God deserves more than one minute of your time? I believe he does. Do you think your life and the life of your family, your friends, and your brethren are worth more than a minute? I would have to think yes.

I think Sam's worth more than a minute. I do, don't you? Your mate. Worth more than a minute because this is all you need to do? I think so. So let's go there. Time we have left. Matthew 6 and verse 9. The very first words, our Father, what? In heaven. Our Father in heaven. There's only one up there. Only one Father. And it's interesting because Christ is teaching us this. He knows better than anyone else, and he uses the personal pronoun, our, our Father. Not my Father in heaven, but no. He's teaching us, so he says, guess what? He's yours too. It's a very personal relationship. Our Father. Not some Father, but our Father. And it makes you think, wait a minute, I am a child of God. Whether you're adopted in this world or never knew your Father, never knew your mother, anything else, it does not matter because Christ said, yes, you have a Father. And not just a Father either. But he's picturing a close relationship. A close relationship where he called Father, and you had to understand, at that time, you had thousands of people sitting out there, listening to this incredible sermon that was saying, well, where'd that come from? They had never been taught that God was their Father. God was this incredible entity or being that you just, oh, don't get me. That's what they were taught, that he's this mad, upset God who will strike down on them. That's why Jesus Christ said, no, I came to reveal the Father because you get the wrong picture. So he said, when you pray in this manner, this is how you do it. Father! And you see, those two words at the very start, our Father sets the tone for the entire prayer. Just like us, when we pray, do we open up? Father, my great and precious, wonderful Father. So he actually starts out and tells us to whom we are to be praying. There was any doubt. And then where he's located? Our Father in heaven. Not some idol sitting on this piece of stone or a piece of wood sitting on some stone. Why don't we worship that? Our Father sitting over there on the corner. No. He wants you to know where he's from, where he's at. Heaven is actually derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word, heave on. Heave on. Meaning to be lifted up or to be uplifted. I'd like you to turn back to James, if you will. Hold your paper here. I'll hold mine. Because I'd like you to turn back to the half-brother of Jesus Christ, because he says something very spectacular here in James 1 and verse 17. He said for all those that have any doubt about praying to heaven, he says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. What does that mean? There's no doubt when he gives something, there's no doubt where it came from. He's from God. And yes, you know it's from God. No, he's not in the first heaven. He's not in the second heaven. He's in the third heaven. Way past. Way past where we can see, because he's so powerful, he can observe and keep an eye on things from that far off. That's how great a God he is. No doubt about that. Isaiah even called him high and lifted up.

You know, when it comes to God, you knock on the door. No need to knock, because he's there. He's always there and he's always listening. Your father, your dad, your papa, whatever you call him, he's there. And he's listening. And not only is he listening, he's always home and he's all-powerful. He isn't...see, you had to understand, at the time he was teaching these people out here, they had heard about all these other gods and each one had limitations just like humans. But he's saying, no, the God is not like any of that.

It's not like they had a God, the Greeks did of agriculture. They had a God of rain. The sun god have all these and that's just what they did. But no, he's saying, no, this is your God. This is the God. And he's saying that you have a relationship, a close relationship.

Like I know growing up, I never had a problem. My parents lived not far from me. I could walk there. And because it was my family, I just...I never knocked on the door. My mother probably wishes I had sometimes, but I never did. I just walked in. Hey, daddy, mom!

This is how it is with us. That's how God is. We're his son, we're his daughters. We just go to him at any time, any place, anywhere, about anything. That's what Jesus is teaching here.

Our Father. Our Father in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Hallowed. Holy. Another word for holy. Holy is your name. Why? Because you're God. There is something he's teaching us here with these two verses that when we wrap our head around it, and that's why, to me, this message is so important. When we grasp just these two verses, everything changes with our relationship with God through our prayer. He's Father first, but then you have to realize he's God. He's that big. He's all everything.

He don't really worry. I don't believe Donald Trump's kids worry about where they're going to get their next meal, whether they're going to be able. And Donald Trump is this pathetic person, peon, not even in the realm of God. You see the relationship? Christ is trying to say, please understand that this is your Father and he is God.

You talk about a powerful resource. It's kind of like what a show that used to be on. Who wants to be a millionaire? And I don't know, it's been 10, 15 years ago. And you had a lifeline you could call? I think what they call that a lifeline? Okay, you could pick up and call because you need to know. This is our lifeline! We have the most powerful, all everything is our lifeline! Because he's our dad. He's our Father. He's our Father. And this is holy is your name. May your name be honored. May it be revered, respected, held in awe. Remember when Moses was saying, well, who do I say, you know, Moses go down, do this? Well, who do I tell them that you are? And he says, I am that I am.

They would know what that meant because I am was, I always was. I always will be. I am eternal. I have always existed and I will always exist. Hallowed be your name. Holy is your name. The angels in heaven, we see many times in the scriptures, what do they say? When they come before him, it's holy, holy, holy. Making a point that God is very, very holy. See, our Father is not an important person. He's it. He's everything you could ever dream of and then some. And he's ours. You see how you wrap your head around this, how you understand that you are understand. See, Christ wanted all his followers to understand what he knew in the human flesh. He still had access to all the power in the universe. We do too. We do too. That's why it's so important, this prayer, so we can truly understand it. In Isaiah 6, verse 1, Isaiah actually looks up and has his vision of the throne of God. And he hears the angels going, holy, holy, holy, three times, which means it's a superlative that God is the most holy. And he sees him high and lifted up, as he's saying in Isaiah 6 and verse 1.

He knew. And he actually, then you read, because I won't go through it now, I want to make sure I put on time, and you can read that yourself in Isaiah 6, 1 through 5. It actually tells you just what he sees and then how he feels the same way we would feel. Because he said, I'm, as referenced, I'm not even, how can I be here? I'm a man of unclean lips. I am in the presence of holy and I'm scared. Because he saw truly what his father was really like. He was in awe. Are we in awe? Are we in awe? Are we humble when we kneel to pray? Because, see, there's this dichotomy because I understand because of my relationship with my physical father and knew just how great he was, I was in awe of him as a man. But I never was humbled. And so I'm looking, wait a minute, I wasn't really scared of him once I grew up. Well, with God, here, Christ was taking these people who had always been scared of God and he's saying, no, no, no, don't do this. He should be held in awe. He is this, but what? Don't be scared of him. This is how he wants us to have this relationship that he had. Just how incredible this prayer is that people look over this one-minute prayer. But that's Christ's words. It only takes a few. And when you break them down, it's just loaded. It's just loaded. Who are we praying to? God, a Father who is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, sovereign, divine. All those words put together to help to describe him, but he says, guess what? Father, that's what he wants us to do. Father. But we should know that he is who he said he is, and he's ours. That's awesome. To me, I just wrap your head around that. This is what Christ is trying to teach us. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your kingdom come. The kingdom of God. You see, all the promises of the kingdom of God. Do we want them? The Bible is full of them. Teaches what the kingdom is going to be like, everything that's going to be there.

Or do we sometimes say, wait, still got some stuff to do. Wait a minute. I remember when I was 19, I was talking to somebody at the funeral the other day, and she was talking to me. It grew up the same time I did, and I was like, I was like, oh man, is the kingdom going to get here before I get a chance to get married? I'm 19. I need a woman. You know? That's how you got. Oh, my life is not complete. I have a woman. God, hold that kingdom off.

You know, each year at the Feast of Tabernacles, we're told about the promises in this book, about the thousand-year millennial reign of Christ.

When you would pray for thy kingdom to come, and because that's what he says do, okay, this is part of it. Your kingdom come. You are praying for the Prince of Peace to come, not just for you, but for the entire world. You're asking. Boy, does this world need peace. But then he says, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And boy, did they just... That one's loaded. That your will on earth may be done as it is in heaven. World peace. It's not coming until Christ comes. We've had 6,000 years to look at it.

Your kingdom. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You know, true peace in your life cannot even begin to start without Christ. Without this book, you will not have true peace. Oh, you can look for it. The world's searching for it every day. And it's farther and farther away.

But then there will finally be a righteous ruler. Do we truly want that? Are we going to pray for it? Because if you don't pray for it, obviously you don't want it. That's what Christ is saying. And it even says, if you don't understand, as he says in Hebrews 7, verse 25, if you don't understand, God says, I'll give you an intercessor. A mediator. One that's willing to sit here at my right hand and help you and help your prayers, help this feeble, pathetic human being realize just who he is and what he has and what she has. He gives you access to great God Almighty.

Wow. So what is God's will?

What is God's will on this earth? It is to have peace. It didn't start. Adam and Eve had some peace. But he wants peace and he wants agape. That's his will. Do we show that? Are we known as a peaceful person or are we someone who always has conflict? Always. Seems to find something wrong. Agape. Like you were talking about in your sermonette. There's so much there in the Beatitudes of Sermon on the Mount. Do we pray daily that his will will be done in our life? That's part of this prayer. Do we pray daily that his will is done? Not our will, but his will every single day? That's big. That's going to take some time. That's going to take longer than a minute.

What are you about to do today? Where are you about to go today? What will you be confronted with today? Kind of a good time to start your prayers in the morning. Kind of a nice time to end it in the evening. Jesus Christ knew what God's will was. I don't. I think I do sometimes. I think I have a hint. But the more I study this book and the more I study the life of Christ, the more I realize, Chuck, you've got to get in line better with Christ. That peace that agape needs to start with you. And people need to see that. So I'm far from being there.

I'd like you sometime, because just like Namath said back there, one of the greatest prayers in the Bible is John 17, the high priestly prayer of Jesus Christ is the last hours on earth. I'd like you to read that. We are going to actually do that before pass over, but I'd like you to read that sometime just in the context of prayer. And think about that's the prayer that Jesus Christ gave. We have the insight that could only have come from the Holy Spirit, being John was near him, but wasn't right next to him when he gave that prayer. And look how the prayer is structured. A lot like this prayer that he recognizes who God is, and he makes sure how many times he says, Father, Father, Father. And then he talks about himself, but then he talks about others, and he spends a lot of that prayer on others. And you know, some of those others that he talks about is us. Those who will come after him shows that agape, and it gives us a great example. How about our prayers? How much do they include others? Your family usually takes me a while. This morning, it took me a while to go through every single one of you that's in this room, or most that I knew were going to be here. Sorry, Stephen, this client, I didn't know you were going to be here, so I didn't pray for you. By name. This is a great teaching tool for us. What about those people that mean a lot to you? Not just your family members, but everyone. Christ teaches us that. You will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then he comes to this point right smack in the middle of this prayer, and he goes, give us this day our daily bread. So here we were keeping you way up here, and it was like, wow!

And then he just kind of in the middle says, oh, give us this day our daily bread. Which sounds, when you see the structure, it sounds almost strange. Because right in the middle of the discourse, it's like all about physical needs. I'm sure we a lot of times don't have as much problem praying for physical needs as we do spiritual needs. Now, I'm sure many of you were praying that you were related to those people in Tennessee that won the lottery. When I first heard it, I got, it's got to be a cousin. Now, got to be somebody that owed me money in the past. No. But it says, give us this day our daily bread, physical needs. And you know, he says, give us this day our daily, what's he saying? Today, this day, not tomorrow. This day, you need God. That's what it says. Give us this day our daily bread. So he's telling us, guess what? You need God today. Not talking about tomorrow, but today. This prayer needs to be for today. Well, wouldn't it be nice where you just pray like an hour tomorrow and just cover the whole week? It gives us so much more time to do what we really want to do, right? That's not what he's saying. He's instructing us. Give us this day our daily bread, period!

Are we thankful for our daily bread? You know, because our daily bread, this can encompass a lot of stuff. It's the stuff we need. This can mean the physical stuff all there. You know, I guess that's why, you know, he said in Matthew 4, 4, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So Jesus Christ is keeping his focus. Okay. It's just not only about the physical bread we will eat and the food we will eat, but it's about the spiritual food. Because that's what we really need to live on. Because that's going to take us into eternity. Think about it. Give us this day our daily bread. You remember, he's your dad. He's your father. He is God. He is all everything, owns everything, and he just said, Father, I need food. When you say, how much more? He's going to give us a stone, give us a serpent. As Christ would say, no. We have that certain special relationship. The air, gods, right? Water, gods, food, gods. He owns everything. And he's even telling us now, Jesus Christ is telling us, we have such a relationship, all we have to do, you ask. Give us. Give us. Guess why Psalm 24 verse 1 says, the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. Right? Want to remind us that it's all God's. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. New Living Translation said.

Give us this day our daily bread. Give us everything we need. Not give us this monthly bread. Give us everything we need, right? Give us everything we need, just like those people that won the half-third of a billion dollars. Now see, I think they think, what else could we need? Right? But Christ instructs us, no matter who you are, no matter how much you have, it's God who gives it. He actually shows us through the Scripture. I have the power to give it, I have the power to take it away.

But he loves his children. We need to pray daily, because we need God daily. That's what this is teaching us. Remember, remember 3500 years ago when the children of Israel came out of Egypt and all of a sudden they needed bread? And what did God say? I'll give you manna. And he gave them manna. You remember the manna? It came what? Daily! Except for Saturday, which you could collect twice on Friday. He didn't say, here it is, here's your week supply. He didn't have the original Publix, where you drove up there and say, okay, let me have a grocery cart full of that, last me a week. Didn't happen. Why? He was making them reliant on him. Right? This is what Christ is trying to teach us. It's not a weekly thing. Oh, everybody's here on the Sabbath. How great? Oh. Okay, now we can, Sunday we can go about and just have to straighten up next Friday night. That's not. You don't play church with God. This is it. He says, hey, guys, this is it. This is church. This is us. Rely on me. That same thing that he taught them all those years ago. It's the same for us today. We need him. Remember what Christ said earlier in the same sermon? Bless are those who hunger and thirst for bread. You shall be filled. He didn't say that, did he? Bless are those who hunger and thirst for what? Righteousness. You'll be filled. You think he won't fill you. He's going to fill you with everything you need for righteousness. He's saying, bless are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness because I'll take care of everything else. If you'll do that, just like Matthew 6 33, you put that first, everything else will be taken care of because I'm your father. I'm your father. I'm going to take care of my kids. We do not have a deadbeat dad. And too many in this country have experienced a deadbeat dad. We don't have one.

You know, as a youth, you eat and you grow. And you grow, and when you're a teenager, you'll eat like no man has ever seen before. And you grow. You're growing. And you see, with us, with God, when you eat of his word, you grow. And you grow, and the more hunger you have, the more you will grow. And grow. And the more you'll find. Can't believe I said and did that. Because you become more like Christ, and it becomes a part of your nature. Then he says, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Ooh, that's another big one. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Other translations said, forgive us our trespasses, our shortcomings. What we owe our sins are wrongs we have done. Do we desire forgiveness in this world? Do we? Is it easy for us to say, I'm sorry? Do we? There was a famous TV character. He had such an ego and so forth that when he had to actually say it, he got, I'm suh, ugh, I'm suh, ugh. And he just couldn't get it out of his mouth as a TV thing would show.

He just, he couldn't say, I'm sorry. Are we that way? Maybe we can say it to other people, but we have a hard time saying it to our families. To the person that we should be able to say it the most to. You know, this incredible game we used to play as a child, as young people, and guys played it. I don't think girls ever played it much. But it was a game called Mercy.

You remember playing Mercy and you would lock up your fingers like this, okay? Guys would lock up their fingers and then they would turn their ears like this and see who was the strongest. And then you would cry out Mercy. And you were hoping that person would then let go. You know, amazing part was it, no matter how much it was, you never let go when he first said Mercy.

Did you? And nobody ever let me go. When I said Mercy, and then he said Mercy! Right? That's us. We just do that. See, God's not like that. Because when we say Mercy, what does He say? Yes. Yes. And to make the point, He gave His Son to die for us so that we did not have to cry Mercy all the time. There's no feeling like being debt free. There isn't. It's similar to showering after a day of work in the sun. Oh, it feels so good. Oh, just, you know, you feel game in, clam in, and you go in and take a shower, and it's just, oh, that's what God gives us by this forgiveness where He just cleanses us from all of our sins, as debt, debt we owe.

Because we're indebted to Him because His Son died for us. And that's why you go back and read the Old Testament. Well, what's all those priests doing with all these washings? It physically was to show that, hey, you need to be cleansed. And they need to be physically cleansed. And we get to be spiritually cleansed because we are the priesthood. And it's so great. See, this request, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, this request requires a mindset, a contrite heart, a repentant life.

And then read it. The most amazing thing is, when you get this, it's conditional. This is conditional. Okay? And forgive us our debts as... Why did He put that as? Because He's making a condition. As we forgive our debtors. So if you're not a very forgiving person, guess what your father's going to teach you? Because that's what dads do. They teach us good lessons. Except these are to last for eternity. They become part of our character. And He says, Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Did you read that right? I've read that and I said, Wait a minute, do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. God wants to lead us into temptation. That's what I read. Right? If you read it, that's what it says, right? And lead us not into temptation.

Oh God, please don't lead. No, no. Don't lead me into temptation. Because boy, here, I'm going to throw this at you, boys. Dads don't do that, do they?

James explains it in James 1, where he said, Our own desires pull us away. James 1, 13 through 15, if you want to read that later. It's not a contradiction of scriptures. When you go back and you read the original Greek, and I'll read just because I pulled this out of one of my books, from the original Greek, it's, Let us not be led into temptation. If you have the New Living Translation, it says, And don't let us yield to temptation, to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. Better translation, more like what the original Greek says. God's not going to lead you into temptation.

I had a wonderful father. He wasn't God, by any means, but he wasn't Gogo. Chuck, let's go down to the strip bar, and you and I will hang out and have some beers and look at naked women for four hours.

I hope none of you had a father like that. I didn't.

But God isn't that way either, see? And that's where some people read into this. We are led into this old world by two powers. So the world has two powers. Satan, which controls the flesh, and the lust. And then there's the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit. But I'd like you to turn to Matthew, since we're in there. Matthew 26, as we begin to wrap this up. Matthew 26, verse 41, Christ's own words.

This is that last prayer. Prayer in the garden. It's before he died. Chapter 26, in verse 41, said, Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He's saying, I'll give you the Spirit to help you. And it's strong. But the flesh is weak. You need help. I need help. Daily. Temptation is a big, big word. And it's used by the evil one. Because the evil one, he is alive and well and hanging out in your neighborhood. In case you didn't know it. And that's part of this prayer. It's a big part that we need to know. It's a big part that we need to be aware. If we follow him. He may not be hanging out in your neighborhood. He may be in your backyard. Or he may be even in your second bedroom. Hanging out. Remember the garden of Eden? He knew just how to tempt them. Oh, look at that fruit! Man, it looks good. It tastes even better. And besides that, it makes you wise. It makes you smart. And not only that, you'll become like God. Because you will know everything that God knows. And it brings that pride. And Satan loves that. And Jesus Christ knew, He tried me, He will try you. But God's going to give you help. Because He said, Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world. As 1 John tells us. Deliverance! It's not just a Burt Reynolds movie. It's something we need every single day. Deliver us from the evil one. Deliver us! Give us the power, the strength. You have it all! I'm your son. I need some power.

Pray to be delivered each and every day. Pray for your family. It's part of this prayer. See, He's telling us how to pray. Who do you need to pray for? Who do you need to pray for in this world? You have a problem? Say, well, you know, I pray, but it's only for like five minutes, or I can only do 10 minutes. And that was an incredible speaker one time. Really respected Him. Until when He talked to me, He said, Oh, yeah, I can only... I don't pray about 10 minutes. I can't pray any more than that. Shocked me. I actually said, talked to myself, Boy, I'd hate to have that. If God's wanting to work with you, He can make you pray. He can make you pray longer. Right? How much time do you pray for your family? See, you have this special relationship because He's your dad. Dad, I need you to help this friend of mine. Dad, I need you to help one of the relatives. One of the relatives. Pray for your family. Just think, because Satan is out there, and he wants to destroy us, but if he can, he would mind some people we deal with that we care about. He's just a destruction machine. Right? You would not have any problem praying. And praying long if you and I were left here today, went back home, and we were in the city of Mosul. ISIS has control of Mosul. We wouldn't have any problem praying, would we? Because they are out to destroy and to kill anyone that does not think like them. You would pray if they controlled your city. Brethren, we live in a hostile territory, with a hostile ruler, that the world looks to, and that's Satan. We just happen to have a power greater than his, and access to it. So finally, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory. For ever. Amen. Go back to the... He's talking about our Father, our glorious, all-powerful, forever. We do not pray to wood, stubble, or stone. We do not pray to bones, skin, and blood. But we pray to our Father. Now, I think you will find this very interesting, that this verse is not in the Bible. This verse is not in a lot of the original translation. It just ends with the verse before it.

Have you thought about that? I'd like to go back to Matthew as we wrap up.

Because in a lot of the original translation, do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Period. But what is in every one of the original translations, all 3,620-something that is there, is verse 14 and verse 15. Of everything Jesus Christ covers in this prayer, He comes back to recap that. And look what He points us to. He says, I'd like to say, amen. Because He has taught us, this is the model, this is the mindset, but you see, it isn't just the words you say, it's the spirit in which you say them. And it's so different when you talk to somebody on the street, and when you walk in your house, and you talk to a family member. And that is what Christ wants us to realize. When we kneel and we pray to the Almighty God, it is to our Father.