We recently finished our first study on Spiritual Warfare from Ephesians 6, teaching that we need to be armed and ready for battle every day as Christians. We also realised that all the weapons are quite loving, humble and kind towards humanity but are hostile to our true enemy who is the opposite of all of them.
Quite a while ago now we did a 2 part study on 2 secret weapons that the Christian has available to them. Fasting and Prayer. Both of these weapons rely humbly on God, in fact Jesus specifically instructed us to keep them from others.
Matthew 6:5-6
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
What could be less threatening to people than prayer offered to God in a secret place? Did you hear about the woman who was arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic in the UK? The hostility towards her did not come from a human source let me tell you.
Similarly, with fasting, Jesus said;
Matthew 6:16-18
“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Jesus specifically instructed us not to let people know when we are fasting, once again it in no way threatens people, however it provokes hostility from the enemy. Big things happen in the spiritual realm when we fast - it is one of the ways God approves for connecting the physical and spiritual realms. This week we are going to look at the secret weapon of prayer. If there’s one area of the Christian life I’ve personally struggled to be disciplined in, it’s prayer. And yet prayer is of the utmost importance. Isn't it interesting that Jesus emphasised the secret to prayer is secrecy? We think that prayer effectiveness is proportional to the number of people present but Jesus says the only people that need to be present at a prayer meeting are you and God. We are not seeking the attention of people, only God. God is the one who moves mountains. Fasting and Prayer combined are an explosive combination and we are living in a time where we need to push back the darkness like never before. This is not Mortal Kombat, this is the real thing! This is the time to get serious and engage with the real enemy. The way Jesus prayed was something that impacted the disciples. They could see that Jesus’s prayers were powerful and probably like you and me felt lacking in their own prayers. How much we could change the world, if we could pray like Jesus.
Luke 11:1-4
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”
The recent experience being tempted by the Devil was fresh in Jesus's mind and you can hear that in the prayer. Remember the 3 temptations Jesus faced and his responses to each one;
- To turn stones to bread ("Give us this day our daily bread")
- To throw himself from the temple so the angels would save him ("Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil")
- To receive all the kingdoms of the world if he would worship the Devil ("Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven")
No wonder then, having experienced the most difficult life and death struggle himself, Jesus taught his disciples to pray "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil".
In essence the Lord’s Prayer is one for Spiritual Warfare.
When Jesus began his ministry, the fight really began. In the same way, while we are sitting comfortably, the Devil will gently rock our chairs. But once we determine to take the Gospel to the World, we experience the same opposition that Jesus faced. Soon after Jesus started his ministry, John the Baptist was arrested and put in prison. What a great discouragement it would have been to Jesus. Don't be surprised at an immediate attack! So Jesus with strength and courage, takes up the work of John and goes out proclaiming John’s message “Turn from sin and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”. And at the same time he begins healing every kind of sickness including demonic possession. This isn’t Jesus just being nice. He is rolling back the Darkness, chasing the Devil out of town. Taking the land back for God. We can't do that without engaging in Spiritual Warfare. We need to fast and pray.
This Spiritual Warfare continued all the way to the Cross at Calvary.
As with fasting, prayer needs to be from the heart to be effective. If we don't feel it emotionally then it will most likely be less effective. You know that family member or friend who is living their life apart from God and it's breaking your heart? You are afraid for them, you have cried many times for them. Keep letting Jesus know about those ones in prayer, it's not for nothing they are on your heart. Don't give up on them! The Lord once clearly told me to share the Gospel with my colleague who was leaving that day to return overseas and who I thought I would never see again. Maybe I'll never see the final result but the Lord has promised that his Word does not return void.
Everything Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer is a foundation, a guide for effective prayer. Jesus wasn't giving a magic formula nor giving the details of what to pray in every situation faced. Instead he sets the foundation blocks like the good builder he is.
Let’s look at the Lord’s Prayer line by line.
The first part of the prayer is about our relationship with God and who He is. Quite often we start off our prayers with what we want forgetting that the most important thing to God is our relationship with Him.
Let’s Pray Together;
Our Father - he's our Dad, he loves us. He's a good Father. He wants us to grow up and be successful in life, in our relationships, in our character. To do our best. to avoid foolishness and evil. He wants us to be wise, strong, beautiful and popular for all the right reasons. He wants us to fulfill our potential, to be healthy, blessed, fulfilled in our dreams but to do more than we could ever dream of. To have a good reputation. To leave behind goodness and a legacy to be proud of. To be courageous and stand up for what's right. To be faithful and true. To be hardworking, to have a strong foundation for the storms of life. To be filled with joy and to always have love. But if we're not on track for all of that we can expect some "correction" from Dad. Because he loves us!
in Heaven - He's the Rock, a strong and mighty tower. A safe refuge. Heaven, that place where there is only peace and beauty and goodness and no evil. He is not susceptible to the troubles of the World, he can see everything clearly and he knows what we are facing, what we should do and where we should go. He is ruling over everything, every evil principality and power and every situation we are in. And he has untold number of angels at his command to protect us and guide us. A NZ citizen can appeal to the Privy Council if they face an injustice but we are heavenly citizens and we can appeal to the highest Authority there is but more than that, we are the kids of the King!
Hallowed be your Name - Let the mention of your name bring a hush. The demons are afraid of the name of Jesus. May everyone shut their mouths and stand in awe of you. When people look at us, let them be reminded who we represent. Don't let people use your name like a curse word, let them realise who you are.
Your Kingdom come - Your Kingdom come whether we are ready or not. May your power be demonstrated to the World so that nobody can deny you. When your Kingdom comes, people are going to tremble and fall to their knees and on their faces but let it be so! Let the earth shake. Do your healing and miracles so that the people will discover you are real.
Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven - Down here people follow all kinds of different rules and philosophies. Some follow a strict religion. Some just live by the "golden rule". Some people do whatever they like as long it doesn't hurt anyone else. Some do what they whatever want and don't care for how it affects everyone else! Some "Just Do It". Some are just looking after No.1. And down here there is one big mess! No-one has it all together, we're all a bit screwed up. But you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. You made us and you know what's best for us. If only we could do what you want and not what we want. Then we would have Heaven and not Hell on Earth.
Then after getting our priorities in prayer straight we can move on to what we need!
Give us day by day our Daily Bread - The Lord's Prayer is for the morning, asking provision for the day ahead. It is looking forward not backwards. This verse has a direct connection to the first temptation Jesus faced in the desert. We trust that God will provide even in the leanest of times because he is Jehovah Jireh. There is also more to life than our physical needs. We don't live by bread alone but by obedience to God's Word, doing his will on Earth as it is in Heaven. Doing God’s will satisfies us.
And forgive us our sins - Only the person who is owed the debt can forgive us. Jesus knew the day we were saved, it wouldn't be the last time we sinned so it's in his prayer! So many debts! Now God is our Father so we're not talking about things particularly. God doesn't give us something for a favour. He gives out of love. But there is a kind of debt in love. A feeling that you need to repay love with love. Because if we just take, take, take the giver can begin to feel they are being taken for granted. Those are the debts we have to God our Father and we can never repay them. Do we realise how much we owe Jesus for what he gave to us? That is our greatest debt.
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us - The people who owe us something! Those debts we find a bit easier to remember don't we! We gave them something and they never gave it back. Or we did something for them and they never even thanked us for it. They took us for granted. Or they hurt us. Now we're holding a grudge and we don't like them and are angry with them. We need to forgive them that debt. We need to let it go. We can, if we remember that God has forgiven us a much greater debt!
The year of Jubilee was the year all debts were forgiven. It came once every 50 years! We’re not too old to forgive what happened long ago. And with Jubilee came a promise of a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy.
Isaiah 61:7
Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
In one of his parables, Jesus tells the story of the dishonest accountant who knew he was about to lose his job. So he goes around tearing up the contracts between his employer and his customers, writing down the debts in order to win some friends for when he is unemployed. Cancelling someone's debt can be the smart thing to do!
And do not lead us into temptation - As we saw last week, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by Satan. But Jesus encourages us to pray not to be tempted. Knowing our frailty, that is a very good thing for us to pray! Is there any weakness we have, any place we should avoid so we don't get tempted to do evil? When we are engaged in Spiritual Warfare, one of Satan's key weapons is temptation. Jesus is encouraging us to pray against Satan's weapon, to neutralise it. We need to anticipate when he is going to use it before we are in the heat of a battle!
But deliver us from the Evil One - Not just on a personal level, but our Nation, our World. We are unable to escape on our own from the grip of the Evil One. If we are trapped in our sin, the Lord is able to deliver us, Jesus paid the price for every sin to set us free. If we are in an evil situation through no fault of our own as were the Israelites in slavery in Egypt we can cry out as they did to the Lord to deliver us. He sent Moses and delivered them with many miracles and he can do the same for us through Jesus. We can be delivered from any evil principality and power if we will cry out in prayer!
The Lord’s Prayer is not a one-time sinners prayer that saves us. It is something that can be prayed every day. Speak out the Lord's Prayer and what each line means to you at this moment in your life.
The final words Jesus speaks on prayer are ones of encouragement. Firstly, to persevere.
Luke 11:5-8
And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. “
It was often said at my old workplace that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Not the one who deserved it the most, who was first in the queue, who was the most loyal customer, but the one who made the most noise. It’s funny to think of us being like that with God, if we cry a bit, go around with a pout on our face, repeatedly asking like an annoying kid that God would listen to us. But the ones who got Jesus’s attention were often the ones who made the most noise. Think of blind Bartimaeus shouting out « Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! » so much noise did he make that people in the crowd told him to be quiet. Modern life has taught us to give up too easily. Companies count on us not bothering with the hoops we have to jump through, they make money out of their processes being a pain. They prefer people to give up and go away. God is not really like that, but what Jesus is saying is that he does respond to perseverance.
Jesus taught what God is really like in the following verses.
Luke 11:9-13
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
These verses are about perseverance as well. Asking, seeking, knocking involve perseverance but Jesus gives us an insight. God is our Father, he wants to give us good things. A lot of people have trouble believing that God is really for us. And others are seeking the gift and not the giver, they just want material things. But we see here that above all, the gift God wants to give us is the Holy Spirit. And if we think of the fruit of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, what else is there worth having?
Amen.
