Harvest Pointe Christian Church, Milford Ohio is a non-denominational Christian Church (Church of Christ) on the Eastside of Cincinnati OH

Respecting God's Nature | Series: Teach me to Pray | 02-28-10

Respecting God's Nature (Hallowed Be Your Name)
Series: Teach Me to Pray (The Lord's Prayer)
Matthew 6:9-14; Luke 11:1-4

Luke 11:1;  Matthew 7:8;  James 5:16;  John 5:14;  Matthew 6:9-13

  I. To whom do we pray?  "Our Father".
      A. What kind of a being is God? Psalm 113:5-6; Hebrews 4:14-16
      B. What is God's title? Luke 2:49; Luke 23:46; John 15:13; Romans 5:8; I John 3:1; Luke 15:11-31; Romans 8:15

Old Testament Titles of God (Definitions taken from Strong's Analytical Concordance.)
Elohim:  "majesty…with a focus on great power…God."
Adonai:  "lord, master, supervisor, one who has authority over another."
Jehovah: "the one who exists."

The title that Jesus used the most was, "Father".

 II. Where does God live? "Our Father in Heaven." James 1:17; Psalm 139:7-12; II Kings 6:16-17; Acts 17:24, 27-28

III. How should God be approached? "Hallowed be your name" James 1:13; Isaiah 6:1,5; Psalm 145:3; Psalm 92:1; John 3:16

"Hallowed" means set apart for special purposes.

Full Text 

In Luke 11:1 we read, "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.'"  Now, Jesus' disciples came to him with a very simple request.  They said, "Lord, teach us to pray."  Now, these men are Jews.  They had said their prayers multiple times a day since they were little boys.  But there was something special about the way Jesus prayed and they wanted that for themselves.  So they said, "Lord, teach us to pray just like you do." 

Even today that is still one of the most common requests of Christians.  Remember when the book, "The Prayer of Jabez" came out?  It was an instant hit.  Millions of copies were sold.  Christians yearn for a more meaningful prayer life.

Some of you can even quote some promises about prayer: Matthew 7:8.  "For everyone who asks receives…"  James 5:16.  "… The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."  John 5:14.  "… if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."  A survey showed that 76% of people in America say they pray.  Over 50% say they pray every day.  So we believe in prayer and we attempt to pray, but we know we're not as effective in prayer as we should be.  We lose our concentration, or we get impatient, or we just forget and don't take time to pray. 

One poll asked American Christians what subject they wanted to hear about when they went to church, and the #1 request was, "How to make prayer more effective." 

Now, when Jesus was asked, "Teach us to pray,"  He didn't respond with a long lecture.  He just gave a simple example of how to pray.  In Matthew 6:9-13 He said, "9This, then, is how you should pray: 

'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and
the glory forever. Amen.'"

Now, we call this "The Lord's Prayer", but in reality it's a model prayer.  It's the prayer Jesus gave as a demonstration of how we should pray.  So, through Easter we're going to examine the Lord's Prayer phrase by phrase to gain some insights as to how we can be more effective in prayer.

Today, let's begin with Jesus' opening lines that tell us a great deal about the nature of this God to whom we pray.  Jesus begins with, "Our Father".

Now, this introduces us to the crucial question,
I. To whom do we pray? 
What is this God like that we're trying to contact?

Let's imagine that you're on vacation.  You're in warm, sunny Mexico.  You decide to take a drive.  After going through a lot of poverty, you come across a gorgeous estate with white fences, perfectly manicured lawns, beautiful pastures and freshly painted barns. You're so engrossed watching some beautiful horses running through the field that you miss a sharp little curve and cross the ditch and run right through that white fence.  Nobody's hurt, but the car isn't going anywhere.

You know you need to walk up that long lane to the house and tell the owner what you did and pay for the fence.  But as you start to walk up the road, you get to thinking.  You've heard horror stories about people getting in trouble in Mexico and being in jail for a real long time.  And you don't' know what kind of a man lives in that mansion.  He might be mean and powerful.

Just as you get to the drive, a carload of American tourists comes along.  They see what happened and tell you to head for the border.  If not, you could be in jail before nightfall.  You ask, "Do you know the owner?"  They say, "No. We just know these people are ruthless," and they drive on.

But, because it's the right thing to do and besides, they could trace the plates and catch you at the border, you head down the long drive.  About halfway down the lane there is a gardener working in the shrubs.  He asks, "Sir, can I help you?"  You're relieved he speaks English.  You say, "Well, I need to talk to the owner.  I just drove through his fence."  He says, "I'll take you to meet the owner."

As you walk along you ask, "What kind of guy is the owner?"  The gardener says, "Well, he's very powerful, but I think you'll find him understanding."  Then you ask, "Do you know the owner very well?"  A smile comes over his face and he says, "Actually, I'm his son. I'm a co-owner of the estate.  You know what? I almost lost control of my car on that same little curve the other day.  I can understand how that could happen.  I'll explain that to my father and I'm sure he'll understand."  Now, all of a sudden you feel a lot better about the situation.  You know something about the owner's nature, and you also have the son on your side.

Now the first question that has to be answered in prayer is,
A. What kind of a being is God?
What is the nature of this one to whom we're praying? 

Psalm 113:5-6 asks,  "5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, 6 who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?"  We instinctively know that we have damaged his property.  We have broken His rules, which is what we call sin.  Some people will say, "God's going punish you for that."  Others will say, "God's not going punish anybody. He's full of love and grace."  But it's pure speculation.

So, Jesus came to earth and He introduced Himself as God's Son.  He says, "I understand what it's like to be tempted.  I'll help you get through to God when you pray.  Make your request in my name."  Hebrews 4:14-16 says, "14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." 

Jesus, the Son of God, said, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father.'"  That's the kind of being God is.

Next let's see,
B. What is God's title?

A person's title can tell us a lot about who they are.  You ask me, "Who is Marsha Robinson?"  And I will tell you she has been different things to me through the years.  When I met her she was an attractive cook at a Church camp.  Soon she was a regular date.  Then my fiancé.  Then wife, best friend, partner, mother of my boys, and … boss.  Actually she's too sweet to be my boss, but I just couldn't resist.  But all those titles help you understand who she is.

Now, there are several names for God in the Old Testament.  Just to name a few, (Definitions taken from Strong's Analytical Concordance) God was known as Elohim.  It means "majesty…with a focus on great power…God."  God is called, Adonai, which means "lord, master, supervisor, one who has authority over another."  Jehovah, "the one who exists."

But there was one title that wasn't used very often in the Old Testament to refer to God and that is, "Father".  But the title that Jesus used the most was, "Father". In fact, the first recorded words from his lips, when he was 12 years old and His parents found Him in the temple, Jesus asked them in Luke 2:49, "Why were you searching for me? ... Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"  And the last words of Jesus on the Cross before he died are found in Luke 23:46.  "…Father, into your hands I commit my spirit…"

And Jesus taught us to begin our prayer with "Our Father".  And that is a homey, everyday, family word, like "Dad".  I like that because I had a great, loving earthly father.  But maybe you didn't.  Maybe the term father brings up a negative image for you. So I want to tell you about two fathers who demonstrate what Jesus meant.

Patrick Morley in his book the Man in the Mirror tells a heart-wrenching story about an ill-fated Alaskan fishing trip.  After spending the day salmon fishing in a secluded bay, three men and the 12-year-old son of one of the men got into a small seaplane to head home.  It crashed a few minutes after takeoff and all four survived.

After praying in the sinking plane, they began to swim toward shore, fighting the cold waters and the vicious riptide as they went.  Two of the men, strong swimmers, exhausted, reached the shore.  But the third man, the father of the 12-year-old, saw that his son was unable to swim against the strong current.  He swam back to his son, but he was unable to pull him to safety and  he was unwilling to leave him.  So the father cradled his son in his arms and they both were swept out to sea.

That father could have made it to shore by himself, but he loved his son too much to let him die alone.  That's the kind of devotion that Jesus had in mind when he said, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father.'"  He didn't just die with us.  He died for us so that we could live.  That's why Jesus said in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  And I John 3:1 says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! ..." When you pray, say, 'Our Father.'"

In Luke 15 Jesus told about another father that God is like.  He said a man had two sons.  The younger went to the father and demanded his share of the inheritance, even though the father wasn't dead, yet.  So the father divided up the estate and the son headed for another country and blew his inheritance partying.  He found himself penniless and friendless.  Out of desperation he took a job feeding somebody's pigs.  He got so hungry, he wanted to eat the pigs' food. 

That's when he came to himself and thought, "What in the world am I doing here?  My father's hired hands have it better than this."  So he headed home to tell his father that he was no longer worthy to be his son and ask his father for a job.

Now, the big question was, what kind of father was waiting for him?  The boy's father saw him while he was still a long ways off.  It was a father with unconditional love.  It was a father who could let the boy leave the home but he would never leave his heart.  And the father, ran to meet him, and he hugged his son.  He had his servants bring the boy fresh clothes and a ring.  He said, "My son was dead, but now he's alive again!  He was lost, but now he is found!"  And they threw a big party!

Jesus said that when you pray, you pray to a Father like that - a Father who runs to meet you when you turn to Him.  Romans 8:15 says, "15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."

II. Where does God live?  "Our Father in heaven."

Now, normally we think of heaven as being "up there" somewhere, and Biblically that's appropriate.  Jesus ascended UP into Heaven.  James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

So often when we pray, in our minds we think of God in Heaven way up there, like He's on another planet, and he's watching with supernatural binoculars and we're beaming a message up to him.

But Heaven must be in another dimension that we cannot see or touch, but it is real and it is within reach.  The Bible teaches that God is a spirit that no man can see and live and that He is not confined to temples made with hands.  He's in another dimension.

The Bible teaches that God is everywhere.  David says in Psalm 139 that we can't get away from God.  He is everywhere.  If we go up into the sky or into outer space, God is there.  If we jump in the ocean, God is there.  If we sail to the other side of the sea, God is there.  If we hide in the dark, dark is like light to God.  God is everywhere.

How can that be?  We know from science that nothing is really solid.  Everything, including you, is made up of molecules and atoms and sub-atomic particles, all spinning and orbiting around each other.  And we have all kinds of waves flowing through us all the time.  We have radio and television and microwaves passing through us all the time.  [Call someone on cell and tell them "You're supposed to turn off your cell phone in Church.  Did you all feel the waves passing through you?" Things are passing through us all the time!]  We don't see or feel them, but they are there.  So, isn't it only logical that God and Heaven are in another dimension, surrounding us all the time?  So, God is not just "up there" in Heaven somewhere watching.  He's right here surrounding you where you are.

In II Kings 6, the king of Aram is at war with Israel.  But every time he would set a trap for Israel's Army, the Prophet Elisha would tell the king of Israel where the Arameans were.  The king of Aram was so frustrated he sent out a large army just to get Elisha.  During the night they surrounded Dothan, the city where Elisha was spending the night.  The next morning Elisha's servant woke up and saw the army and panicked and yelled, "What shall we do?"

We read in Verses 16-17, "16 'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' 17 And Elisha prayed, 'O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.' Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."

You see, there was an army of angels there all the time.  Humans just can't see them.

By the way, when army of Aram attacked, they were struck blind, led to the king of Israel where they were given back their sight, ate a feast, and sent home and the Arameans quit attacking Israel.

But there is an unseen world that coexists with our world.  It is another dimension.  That's what Paul was talking about in Acts 17.  The people of Athens didn't want to leave out any gods, so incase they didn't know about one, they built an altar for the Unknown God.  So Paul told them about the true and living God.  He said in Verse 24, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands."  After telling how God created humans and nations and has control over them he said in Verse 27, "27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being…'"  God is close.

I read that Billy and Ruth Graham went to visit George and Barbara Bush when they were vacationing at Kennebunkport, Maine.  On Saturday night they decided that the next morning all four of them were going to go to the local church (a small congregation), but they would go unannounced. 

Can you imagine that preacher getting up on stage the next day, looking out and there in the audience is Billy Graham?  I guarantee you that preacher gave it his best shot.  But let me give you a more important truth:  The Creator of Billy Graham and this whole universe is here in our midst right now.  Jesus promised in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."  So we should pray and we should praise Him to the very best of our ability.

Here is an even more critical truth:  God is with you, sticking closer than a brother every moment of your life.  So when you pray, don't think of God as far off in space somewhere and you're beaming a long-distance email.  Say, "Our Father in Heaven," and know He is right there with you.  We are not pantheists, believing that God is in everything, but we do believe that God is everywhere.

So,
III. How should God be approached?  "Hallowed be your name"

That word, "hallowed", is not a word we use too often in the new millennium.  It means to set something apart as special.  To make something sacred and holy. 

The best example from our society is dishes.  Do any of you have dishes you use for everyday and dishes you only use on special occasions?  The dishes used only for special occasions are hallowed, set apart for special purposes.

God's name is to be special.  It is to be set apart as sacred and holy.  That means we are to approach God with reverence.  And that is because God Himself is sacred and holy.  James 1:13 tells us, "… God cannot be tempted by evil..."

In fact, God is so righteous that very good people are immediately overwhelmed with their own unrighteousness when He is near.  Isaiah was one of the great prophets of God.  He was a very good man.  In Isaiah 6 he has a vision of being in the presence of God.  He writes in Verse 1, "…I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple."  How did Isaiah react?  Verse 5.  "'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.'"  A good man and a great prophet in the presence of our holy God felt unclean.  He said, "Hallowed be your name."  When we come to God in prayer, we need to be respectful.

Now, you might be thinking, "Isn't this contradictory, to say that God is a loving Father on one hand and then say we're supposed to reverence or respect him?"  No.  Love and respect go hand and hand.  They do not contradict each other. 

Let's think back to the story about the Lost Son.  What do you think happened the morning after the son returned?  The Father goes into the boy's room, sits at the end of the bed and says, "Son, I'm so glad you came home.  This is just wonderful.  You've just made my life.  Now, son, today I'm going to go out and harvest some wheat.  Would you like to come out and help?"

Can you imagine the son saying, "Hey! Look, old man, let's get one thing straight.  I'm glad you forgave me and fed me and reinstated me, and all that, but I'm not going to change and do that any of that kind of stuff. No way.  I'm doing my own thing!"

That's ridiculous!  The son came back in a repentant spirit.  He was willing to be a servant.  Being a son again was beyond his wildest imagination!  I'm sure he said, "Father, you have been so good to me. I'll do anything I can for you, Sir." When we come to God in prayer, He's a Father we deeply love and respect.

If you know me and my family at all, you know we like to tease and have fun.  And as much as I love Marsha, I also respect her and there are some lines I would never consider crossing.  Like, you will never hear me talk about "the old lady" or some of the other terms commonly used.

And I like jokes about the battle of the sexes.  We might as well laugh about the way we are, but last week, when someone started to seriously talk about the way women are, I said, "I've got a good one.  We've been married for 33 years."

Love and respect go hand in hand.  We don't pray to "The Old Man Upstairs or Our Father and our Mother, or the Universal Chairperson of the Metaphysical Realm.  We call Him, "Our Father".  We come to him with respect.  "Hallowed be your name."

I love my Dad and we've had a lot of fun together.  But I also respect him.  I would never even think about calling him by his first name. 

The word hallowed also means we approach God with praise.  We recognize the greatness and holiness of God.  Four times we read the 1st line of Psalm 145:3.  "Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom."  Praise God when you see a sun rise or the returning robins.  Praise Him when you think of that special person in your life.  Praise Him for your forgiveness.  Tell Him how great He is.  "Hallowed be your name."  Psalm 92:1 says, "It is good to praise the LORD…"

When you pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" you are recognizing that God is great and powerful.  He is great enough to offer us forgiveness of our sins through His Son Jesus Christ.  John 3:16 tells us, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

If you are ready for God's forgiveness, come forward and we'll help you confess your faith in Jesus and be buried with Him in baptism.  Or maybe you've already done that and you would like to place your membership with us.  If so, come as we stand and sing.

Based on a sermon by Bob Russell of South East Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.