This study was first taught on August 18, 2010

Topic: The Believer’s Responsibilities (2): Prayer (6)

No audio available for this study.

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Background
Last week we saw that our honest prayer must not only be in secret and in sincerity, but it must also be personal, experiential, relational, and reverential. We noted that the Lord gave us a pattern of prayer, with the intent of enabling us to have a rich relational experience of God in prayer; not just some words that we are to dogmatically recite.

We noted from the study of the pattern given by the Lord that although prayer can be corporate, it must also, of necessity, be private and personal. Thus, while we may pray “Our Father ...” we also need to pray, “My Father …”, “My Lord …”, “My Shield …”, “My Shepherd …”

We also saw that prayer is to be directed to God, who is able to answer the prayer in a just, fair, and equitable manner; and not to men who do not have the answers we really need. We observed that although the Old Testament people related with God through the priests and prophets; in our day (the New Testament), He seeks direct and personal relationship, through the finished work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And as we experience God, we come to acknowledge Him for who He truly is, and are better able to acknowledge His awesomeness. We are thus able to worship and reverence Him as we ought to. This we said was very significant, as the Lord’s pattern of prayer emphasized worship before petition. Indeed, no matter how crucial, no matter how precarious, no matter how pressing, and no matter how perturbed a situation or challenge may be; the worship of God must always precede our asking. As our experience of God deepens, so will our worship of Him.

We concluded by noting that our worship of God should be a daily and central part of our lives, and so we will always be in the right position to bring our petitions before Him.

Scripture Text(s)
Matthew 6:9
Tonight we want to focus on one little yet highly significant aspect of the opening of the Lord’s pattern for praying: “Our Father which art in heaven …” We pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us, as always, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
The few words in our scripture text hold very important and significant truth that is relevant to our prayer life. The first is that we are not just praying to God, but to our Father; and the second is that God resides in heaven where His throne room is, and also in here on earth. These are very significant for honest praying as we shall see.
Deuteronomy 32:15-18; Psalm 68:5; 27:10; 103:13-14; John 3:16; 1 Peter 5:7; Luke 15:11-32; 11:11-13; James 1:17-18; Psalm 23:1; Hebrews 12:5-10; Numbers 12:13-16; Malachi 1:6; Deuteronomy 5:16; Isaiah 9:6; 66:1; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Habakkuk 2:20; Psalm 11:4; Zechariah 2:13;Job 40:1-5.

Conclusion
In these few words, “Our Father which art in heaven” we have seen many tremendous truth which hold several implications for us in our relationship with God. As a Father, God is our Source (our beginning), who loves, cares, and is compassionate toward us. He is however, also a Disciplinarian. All those God loves, He chastises, so that they will not miss being with Him in heaven ultimately.

This lets us know our own responsibilities toward our heavenly Father: we can trust Him absolutely; we can thrust our problems on Him, and rest assured that they will be taken care of; we can be sure that when we are disciplined by God, it is for our own good; and we must honour Him, so that it will go well with us in all that we do.

Not only is God our Father; He is an everlasting Father, which means that all the above is not seasonal, but life-long. In other words, His love, care, and compassion are forever (Lamentations 3:22-23; 1 Chronicles 16:34); therefore, our trust in/honour of and for God must be forever, not just when we have a need!

Our Father has His throne in heaven, and in His temple, all keep silent. But more than that, He is resident within us, which means that in our everyday walk, we should be careful what we say and do, for He is ever present. Let us honour God not only with our mouths, but let our hearts be united therewith also.

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