Pray Avoiding Temptation!

While it is true that it is no sin to be tempted, it is a dangerous thing to get comfortable with being tempted. Chuck Swindoll says that we are prone to want to fly close to flame, hoping not to get burned. However, I have learned that there is an intersection where temptation and opportunity meet and when they do, there is an occasion for sin. I recommend that you avoid that intersection all together. Weight has always been an issue in my life. If there is ice cream in the fridge, I will eat it.(Opportunity+Temptation often=Sin) But if I do not bring it home from the grocery, then I will avoid it. Matthew 6:13a says, And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Satan tempts you so you may stumble. The Lord tests you so you may succeed at developing your character. Lord, help us not to fly so close to the flames that our hair is singed by the fire.
Chuck Lawless teaches that sin (temptation) looks so inviting while we are being wooed by it. However, when we step across the line to act upon the temptation, we are then trapped by the Evil One (Satan). One drink or one use of whatever the drug of choice it might be will not hurt is the lie. But then you are addicted and cannot get free. We even call it the "monkey on our backs". So we are taught to pray for deliverance from the Evil One.
I John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I think we get this, that God will forgive us after we have sinned against Him. However, Matthew 6:13a is the preventive measure. If we prayed this one, we'd have to pray I John 1:9 much less often.
Pray Avoiding Temptation!

Pray With Forgiveness!

Did you know that it is possible to pray the Model Prayer and be asking the Lord to refrain from forgiving you of your sins? Notice Matthew 6:12, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. In other words, forgive me in the same manner in which I forgive others. It is easy to see that if you are unwilling to forgive those who have wronged you and you repeat this prayer, then you are asking the Lord not to forgive you. You may take out the as in verse 12 and insert an equal sign (=) in its place. So you are actually praying forgive me equal to the way I forgive others. The same door you open to give out forgiveness is the one through which the Lord will come to deliver your own forgiveness, so if you don't open it, He will refrain from forgiving you. That prayer can be scary. Do you harbor ill feelings toward anyone in your heart? The book of Hebrews calls this a root of bitterness. I once read that anger and bitterness held toward someone else is like an acid, it is worse on the container than the one on which it is poured. I know that, in my life, I have learned that I can only find room in my life for one enemy and that is Satan himself.
You may want to suggest that perhaps no one has ever hurt me like they have harmed you. And if I had experienced what you had been through, then I would not be able to handle it even as well as you have. He was dying on the cross for our sins and said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Surely you and I have faced nothing that can even be compared with the torture of crucifixion, the bearing of our sins, and yet He was able to forgive us.
Every word in the Bible is inerrant and inspired and is there by the Spirit's design. Of all the elements in the Model Prayer, only this one is repeated in the following verses after the prayer. When the Lord sees fit to repeat something, I think it means we need to give it some special attention.
Pray with forgiveness!

Praying Dependently!

In Matthew 6:11, our Lord teaches us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. It is interesting that at no time does He indicate that we should pray for our monthly needs, annual budget, retirement to be vested; but for our daily ones. Many people are finding that there is more month at the end of their pay check during these times of recession. Throughout biblical history, there is an emphasis upon daily dependence upon the Lord for our provisions. The children of Israel tried to store the manna provided for them for multiple days only to find that it spoiled. It was as if its built-in obsolescence was for 24 hours only. This required the followers in the wilderness to trust that the Provider would not forget them tomorrow. This fact prompted the words, His mercies are new every morning! No need to eat leftover mercies when His are new every morning. However, that requires us to trust Him! By the way, my wife refuses to ask the blessing over leftovers. She says they have already been blessed.
It is also interesting that He never suggests that we pray for our daily steak and potatoes. But we are taught to pray for our needs to be met, not our luxuries and wants to be satisfied. My dear bride and I will soon celebrate forty-one years of marital bliss. But when we first married, there were some rocky times. She is the baby and I am the oldest. We had many discussions about what is a necessity and what is a luxury. For instance, if you have seen a recent picture of me, you would know that I consider all hair brushes to be a luxury that I can see no need for.
Philippians 4:19 reads, And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Pray dependently!

Praying Submissively!

There is a beautiful couplet in the Model Prayer in Matthew 6:10 that reads, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. This is a statement of fact, Thy kingdom come, followed by a statement of amplification or description as to what that statement might look like, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The Scripture teaches that the kingdom of God is not territorial. In other words, you cannot say it is here or there, but it is in you. In short, the kingdom of God is in your life when you let Him be the King of your life. When He is King in your life, you will do His will. Surely if there is any place where the will of God is done, it is in heaven. This verse says that His kingdom becomes reality in us when we obey Him as is true in heaven.
Mr. Hughes, a fine deacon who served in the FBC, Central, (near Baton Rouge, LA) once told me that so often in his life when he reached the end of his rope, he just tied a knot in the rope and kept hanging on. He went on to say that he really only lived in obedience when he turned lose of the rope and fell into the loving arms of our Lord. You cannot submit to His will as long as you are still nursing your own will. Except a person die, he cannot live again!
When we pray, we do not seek to have Him submit to our will, but we submit to His! Pray submissively!

Praying Reverently!

While the first element of the Model Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13, "Our Father who is in heaven..." teaches us to pray confidently. This familiarity does not need to be to the exclusion of reverence. The same Jesus who said "Abba, Father" (which is translated, Daddy) also taught us to pray, "Hallowed be Your Name" . No matter how intimate our relationship with Christ, we need never forget that He is not like us. He is not just at the top of the list of humans, He is on a totally separate list. "His name is above every other name." Philippians 2:9 It seems that we either reverence other things than His Name in this country or we don't reverence anything at all. We are to come boldly before His throne of grace, but never to take this access to the Almighty for granted in any way. It is a unique privilege to approach the King of Kings in such a way. This is why I could never refer to Jesus Christ our Lord as the "Man Upstairs". Let us pray with confidence and reverence!

Praying Confidently!

Looking at the Model Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 gives us insight into seven elements that should be prominent in our prayer life. Notice that I do not refer to this prayer as the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer is recorded in John 17. However this passage is an answer to the question as to how we should pray. Therefore, this is the Model Prayer. The first element of prayer is confidence. In 1975, I became pastor of the Jerusalem Baptist Chruch in Pumpkin (most often pronounced "punkin") Center, Louisiana. Our daughter, Cheri, was two years old at the time. She often accompanied me as we visited the homes of the families in the community. Her usual spot was standing on the front seat of my pick-up truck immediately behind my right shoulder. (Please note that this was long before child restraint seats or seat belt laws) She had so much confidence in her Dad until I could have told her that the cows in the pasture were snakes and she would have believed it. Or that the horses were dragons. Or.... Well, you get the idea. I believe that may be something of what our Lord had in mind when He said, Except you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom... Do you have that kind of confidence in your Lord when you pray? Simon said they had toiled all night and caught nothing, but nevertheless at your word...Luke 5:5 Do you take Him at his word?

Ultimate Love!

Today we conclude the series of thoughts highlighting How To Guarantee a Productive and Effective Life from II Peter 1:5-11. The pivoltal verse in this paragraph of Scripture is verse 8 which reads, For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowlege of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have looked at these qualities: 1. Faith is the foundation for all things, You must be born again! 2. Add to your faith virtue involves Taking Out the Trash! 3. Add to your virtue knowlege, which we called Christianity for Dummies Like Me! 4. Add to your knowlege self-control, which we called Living a Balanced Life! 5. Add to self-control perseverance, Keeping On Even When It Hurts! 6. Add to perseverance godliness, You Must Say 'Yes' Before You Hear the Question! 7. Add to godliness brotherly kindness. 8. Add to brotherly kindness love, which we are calling Ultimate Love! Romans 5:8 reads, But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You can never say that no one cares about you again. Once and for all, the Lord has demonstrated his love for you and that's unquestionable. Someone has said they they asked Jesus how much he loved us and he stretched out his arms and died for us. Wow! No one ever loved like that! When I was younger, I often took up for other folk in school, on the bus, in the neighborhood. Those whom I took up for and often fought for knew that I loved them. However, on occasion, I got whooped! It's not all about just taking up someone's cause, but it's also about winning. Jesus took up for us and in a few weeks, we will celebrate Resurrection Day, which was his vindication that he won! You and I had no hope of ever paying the debt for our sins that we owed. Jesus owed no debt for he had no sin. However, he demonstrated his love for us in that he paid a debt he did not owe for you and me, who had no hope of ever paying our own debt. This is ultimate love! Agape means to lose sight of meeting my own needs in the meeting of the needs of the object of our love. Reminder: You are guaranteed a productive and effective life if these qualities are in you and increasing!