The Laborers' Podcast- Prayer part 2

Welcome to the laborers podcast prayer part two. Please stay tuned. Welcome everyone to the laborers podcast. We're so thankful that you decided to listen or watch or however, you've joined with us. We appreciate your support.

We appreciate your prayers. We're so thankful for you. We want to partner with you our desire is to glorify God and reach our community With God's Word with the truth of God's Word for Jesus with the gospel so that people are saved so that people are transformed are born again, and they begin to And that just begins to overflow into their lives and their family and their community and in our nation's.

So we're thankful that you join us for that tonight. We are going to continue from last week. I'm so thankful to be back. We're going to continue our conversation on prayer. Welcome. I'm Rob and I'm glad to be here tonight.

We have with us. He's given himself a new name Covenant or Dan he is with us tonight. He's with me in the truth and love podcast. We got big John with us real talk with big John podcast. Go check him out.

We've got sandy with us. He's with God-centered theology. Check him out the happy cabinet Claude. He is with us tonight the here. I stand theology podcast go check him out. He just released a new interview with a guy who.

Um.

Reviews Bibles, is that what he does? Yes, sir. Reviews Bibles go check that that latest interview out with with Claude and Tyler the bread of the word podcast who puts one out at least every Sunday for us.

And we're thankful for that check bread of the word podcast out with Tyler knowing so. Again, thank you for watching. How you guys doing?

Well doing doing good.

Covenant or Dan. Where spaces don't matter.

That's my name on tick-tock and Rob sent me a message the other day saying it I should make that my name. So I'm like, well, I'm not gonna put spaces in there.

He took my shirt. Literally that I have. There's no gap in between.

Oh.

Mercy let's jump right in to our conversation on prayer and I'm thankful that that God has brought these brothers together to be my friends to be my brothers and they carried on the podcast the past two weeks that I was absent and last week the the podcast on prayer was a Blessing it was encouraging it was convicting and and I'm so thankful that they were able to carry on and And have such a good conversation on prayer.

The Lord's Prayer and Reverence for God's Name

We're gonna look pretty much totally at Scripture tonight. If you want to get your Bibles have them out. We're gonna look at Scripture tonight. We're gonna first look at Matthew chapter 6 and and our Lord Jesus Christ his example prayer.

Walk through it that's how we're gonna do is walk through it and and glean from these brothers what they have learned from Jesus teaching on on how we should pray and then the next passage that we'll go to is James chapter 5.

So if you're if you're in your scriptures, I'm gonna hold it up. So I'm not looking down and you're not looking at the top of my head. Matthew chapter 6 starting. In verse 9 the the disciples asked Jesus.

Or pray and Jesus says pray then in this way our Father Who was in heaven? How would be your name? Um?

John.

Sir, let's start with you. In your time over the years as a Christian as a teacher. And you started off teaching this passage. How would you how would you share? What is Jesus teaching us here? In this introductory part of his prayer.

Well.

To begin with where we're coming out with the preconceived understanding that we are followers of God. Because we're referring to him as father. I'm not referring to him as anything else and Just just in the way you took you start with his name you make sure that It is honored and it is respected and it is cherished.

Hallowed be your name. To me whenever Jesus begins pray it appears that his prayer and whenever he's worshiping or his prayers Is his worshipful as well as it is? I guess community in a communicated way if that makes any sense at all.

Mm-hmm. Do you me go to ten or do me stop at nine? I.

Really wanted to go to to Dan on team. I was thinking about you. I understand but but that's where.

That's where that's where I always started as it is that we don't we don't even begin this we don't even begin a prayer. Without the utmost respect do God there's no there's no reason to come to to begin a prayer any other way and I think that in the first Nine words You see the heart of worship.

That should be What what ours is whenever we're praying this is not Any other way I see it anyway.

So so John I I'm thinking back to the conversation that y 'all had last week. Yes, and and you gave the the testimony of when you were on a missions trip and.

The.

Just what the Lord taught you when when you You were in a place that that for you What was different from where you came from and When you were aware of yours your surroundings your circumstances, but then the the people that you saw And how they worshipped despite those circumstances and so relate that experience to verse 9 here.

And and what you were just saying about how that relates to. To our father and honoring his name and who he is.

That's a It's a tough thing to do. Whenever Whenever they begin to pray Over there. I don't speak their language. So I don't know exactly how they how they began. But one of the words that I learned over there was was their word Santo for holy and and if I heard it one time, I bet I heard it 9 ,000 times when I was there.

They they referred to God. Every time they referred to God they referred to him as holy. They didn't refer to him as anything else and one of the things that I've found in this country Contrasting How how impoverished that country was?

Versus how wealthy our country is is how at times so carelessly we begin our prayers. I was watching Paul was Paul Washer. It was like an excerpt from one of his Sermons, and he said how many times have we began a prayer?

So carelessly the the man gets up behind the pulpit. He's a good morning. Everybody. I hope everybody's doing well. And then he has a quick little snarky joke and he's laughing. He got a big guy. Alright, let's go ahead and get started and let's go to the Lord in prayer and he closed his eye and he and he just started Immediately requesting, you know things of God to move in that and that service.

There was no absolutely no reverence. There was no. There's no taking time to honor God's God's name. As we as we moved into this time of prayer and Paul said that was at his core was sinful and that's one thing that I will say I noticed down there was.

The reverence people had for God seemed to be something that we might be lacking in this country, you know in a wholesale manner.

So.

God is holy thrice declared holy throughout Scripture and We have no reason to come to him in a manner anything less than the seraphim. Do you think about a Six-winged creature that I can't really wrap my mind around.

It covers its feet and its its face as it flies around the throne. And all he can cry is holy. We shouldn't go to God and refer to him as his daddy right out right away. And I Thought I've said too much on Leave it at that.

Yeah.

That story that you gave was really impactful to me and I think the other guys as well and to God be the glory when you describe those people that you were. It was interesting. I was putting myself in your shoes and I was like, you know, if I was there I'm going to minister there, but they would end up ministering to me and my spirits.

And I don't know how much they changed my approach. We've become. I Didn't think I was. Uh, I was spoiled. I've always thought of myself as being just a regular guy. But we have forgotten the amenities that we have in this country and what they've what they've done to our.

Our.

Expectation about church and about the way we minister. I think a lot of times if we're being honest, we tend to. We tend to focus too much on on us or our own comfort whenever we're supposed to be spending 100 of our time on God and his glory and.

That's one of the things that they didn't seem to be bothered at all by the heat by the by the dirt floors. That it didn't you know, it didn't seem to bother them a bit and. An argument could be made that that's their culture and that they're used to but whenever I see a people who don't have two nickels Rubbed together and they go to the floor to praise God for how blessed they are.

It sent me back, you know, I don't know about 37 years or so. As to how little I've been thankful and how much I've just expected to have. If I can be just as hard as I can be to myself, you know.

It just seemed like they had a speaking of that. The holiness of his name and the reverence for his name and which is representative of who he is. It just seemed up to me like to me listening to that story that they had a perspective on who their father is.

That we don't have and it was just such a teachable moment for me and I. You know I appreciate that story.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, we should share anything we can do to help give God glory. He deserves it. He deserves it.

Then are you ready to tackle verse 10? Let's do it. Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

God's Kingdom, Daily Bread, and Forgiveness

It's a beautiful verse. It starts off recognizing Christ is King. God is even controlled everything. What to what Christ is saying when he said that he'd come preaching the kingdom of God. He came preaching the kingdom that he he was.

He was coming. It ultimately would lead to the salvation of man through him going to the cross, but that he was in charge we see it in the end of End of the same book Matthew That all authority had been given to him.

So that prayer your kingdom come was was actually answered. No, obviously it hadn't spread Everywhere it hadn't reached its fullest expression everywhere. So we still pray that his kingdom would flourish and grow and reach.

Earth is full and free as it ever will be. Um, but You're praying that that God's kingdom would would come and then not only that but since he is King That his will would be done. This is on earth as it is in heaven.

So it's already being done in heaven. So he's praying that his will will be done on earth as well. Now. Here's the thing Since he is holy Since he is in heaven since he is to be praised since we're supposed to pray to him.

We can take it to the bank that his will will be done on the earth just as it's done in heaven there's issues With it being done on earth because it's sin, but Christ came to take care of that. He came to die on the cross to bring an end to sin only eradicate sin to resurrect the dead and Man it's just beautiful.

So when you look at it, we're praying for The wonderful Creative purposes of God that he would rule and reign as he created Created the earth for him to do that his will his purposes on the earth will be done.

Just like they're done in heaven. So that way in heaven he speaks and something's done. He says let there be light. It's lit he said. You know, the rocks are gonna cry out if you don't Praise BAM it's gonna happen.

He says Lazarus come forth. Lazarus comes forth. Really you're saying God whatever you want. Have happened so it's a progression start off recognizing who God is. Then you recognize what God's doing and you're not from our perspective trying to change that That mindset of what he's doing you're just recognizing God for who he is.

You recognize him. He is our father. He's in heaven. He should be worshipped and everything that he says is gonna come to pass. And it's only after that that we get into verse 11 start asking for stuff.

Even then we need to be a little careful.

Hey and brothers, I don't want to take away from the organicness of what was going on last week. So if you all have anything to add, I know I'm trying to assign verses. But if you have anything to add feel free to jump in.

If y 'all are ready. Tyler, how about the next verse? Verse 11.

Yeah, is that that little back table of churches or daily bread.

So one thing that I'd like to highlight with that verse That I think often we have a tendency to pass over No pun intended is that it doesn't say give me the food that I need. This is give us and in the Greek there It's that word give is dido me which is in third person that it's a the posture of a group of the collective Give us the food that we need give us our daily bread.

And I think oftentimes we take that and we individualize it and It's God. Give me God grant this God do that. But the reality is God has brought us together in Christ that he has made us a a people for himself and Part of that is rooted in the fact that there is a God who is not us.

That we are dependent on someone over us and As Dan was laying out that we're seeing this progression with each line of this prayer who God is what he's doing and Here's the fact that we need him. The fact that we are entirely Dependent on him that we are insufficient to meet our own needs.

And so yes, God give us the food that we need give us what we need because it all comes from you when Jesus Feeds the 5 ,000 and he lifts the basket up and he he blesses the the five loaves and two fish and He doesn't ask for food, but he says we thank you God for through you all things come to be.

It's we're anchored in this notion that it all comes from God that God is the thing from which everything Comes from him to him and in him are all things as this verse Reminds us of.

Absolutely. And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. Well, what do you think about that?

Well, I think that you're you're forcing on us to be ready to be instant in season and out of season. By signing by assigning us these which I I say praise the Lord for. But forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.

Instruction as Tyler just said Total reliance upon God and The forgiven forgiveness of sins coming only by and through the Lord. He he's teaching His disciples there and us here that we are to be forgiving.

I mean, he the Apostle Paul told the church in Ephesus in chapter 4 and 32. He said be kind one to another tender-hearted. Forgiving one another or God. For God in Christ has also forgiven you so we're taught this as a pattern throughout the scriptures as we also have forgiven our debtors, so Ultimately Christ is pointing them to his sacrifice.

And as a matter of reflection looking back. And we know that they reckon the disciples recognize this looking back because we have it in the scripture. So that is divine inspiration being set forth and we're kind of getting the.

It's not good English, but the front words in the backwards of it. So.

Deliver Us from Evil and the Meaning of "Lead Us Not into Temptation"

We'll probably get some more the the forgiveness conversation here it's here at the end. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is power and the glory forever. Amen, Andy.

Well, even before we look at that I want to step back for a little bit if we get too far away from it because I think Dan had a lot of good points on 10 and I just want to kind of info and I think Tyler really hit the transition so I want to kind of Centralize on this, you know when he talks our father.

This assumes adoption this assumes salvation. We spoke about this last week prayer being in interchange or The interface if you will, you know, we all have Phones and the phone by itself Isn't gonna call anyone.

It isn't gonna text anyone and if it does probably something wrong with it. You're probably being monitored by the FBI.

You know.

They have enough agents now.

Story for another day probably. But yeah, it's pretty much not gonna do anything on its own. You can lay a gun on the table. It's not gonna shoot anybody. You've got to be able in order to use it. You got to have some sort of interface to be able to properly use it.

And so that's why we have a way to turn it on we have a way to interact with it. That's all what prayer is. It's interacting with the Creator and it is the literal wishing of us and the desires of us going to God and being exchanged with his will and exchanged with.

What our desire should be. So this? The very first two words of this model prayer for his disciples, which means it's for disciples of Christ assumes.

One's.

Membership the kingdom to use a human category of membership it assumes Salvation it seems adoption. But particularly when you get to verse 10 when it says your kingdom come. It's a very to me. It's one of the things in my limited knowledge.

I am Working through in expanding my understanding of the original language is one things. I've spent a lot of time with is Greek verbs. I love them because there's so much more developed and Have so much more depth of meaning.

Based on how and what kind they are in the mood and the the voice and the tense and all these things. So without getting too deep into that that what's really interesting the word come your kingdom come.

Has it what at once and at the same time two different phases or two different aspects of it in terms of its? action the kingdom come in the sense. It's the one time you so a Person in their day in a person our day could very rightfully say God's kingdom is here.

We're not waiting for it to come. It's here your kingdom come your kingdom has come and at the same time The kingdom is not fully realized and since that we're not in a state The last enemy of Christ which will be death or or excuse me The all the all the enemies of Christ have not been dealt with have not been put under his feet.

So we're seeing that happen in time. So there's this Sort of this double nature of it in in time and we see this so when we say your kingdom come we're saying Your kingdoms here, but your kingdom is being you think of Isaiah 9 the ever expanding growth of the kingdom.

And then to take it one step further. Your will be done. Interesting verb in a sense. It's the same type verb the same thing with or the same word rather when you look at the prologue of John and it talks about how Christ's self-existence.

But when in verse 3 we talks about all things came into being which were not in Existence and they came to being in it and without Christ nothing would have came into being which hadn't came. The whole came into being is the same word be done to Come to exist to come into manifestation to come into reality.

So it's such a beautiful thing when you think about it that as the world Through individual Christians that are saved and raised to life learn and then obey the will of God and as the Holy Spirit and the truth of God covers the world and The will of God is done.

The kingdom is more realized it is growing and it I think we would prefer it grow a little quicker. But it grows very slowly and one of the things that was told what I heard Probably about a year ago now that I'm still wrapping my head around is when Doug Wilson says we could be in the early church.

I'm like at first I was like He's sounds a little loco. Little crazy and then I started looked and thought some more. I was like, well, I Don't sound all that wrong anymore to me. So but I say all that to say this, you know, you've led us to.

It was verse 13 there about leading the temptation so and so forth when you get past verse 10 And you understand that now on the earth the will of God's could be done to mirror how it already is in heaven and that Will be progressively happen in light of that.

Here's how you should live. Here's how what you should pray for pray for your daily provision all the things that Tyler hit on be a forgiving person as Clyde was talking about and What's really interesting with me with verse 13 here is You know not lead us into testing into trial.

We we want to not necessarily be in that We won't be delivered from evil. We want to see ourselves Delivered from these things that would keep us from from fully living out your will and so you really get a great picture here of What a kingdom citizen looks like and praiseful and I think it just beautifully ties all together.

Absolutely, um, I just wonder if it has any relationship with the beginning of Jesus's ministry. He was led into the wilderness for by the Spirit. Does anybody see any relationship here with with verse 13 and what Jesus experienced or is it Is it speaking of two separate things?

I'm not sure I Get exactly what you're saying By that. I never thought of that before ever. I always thought about when Jesus was driven into the spirit or driven in the wilderness by the Spirit. Was the was reminiscent of whenever they would take the scapegoat and drive it into the wilderness before the Before the sacrifice, but one of the things that I would say is I think that The same way he begins With this preconceived idea that we're followers of Christ.

He's our followers of God fault. You know followers, of course, he's lending it the exact same way. By saying and do not lead us it comes with the assumption that we're following right. We're ending with the exact same notion that we started with.

We're following and I've always thought about this part about lead us into temptation. The Bible says that God doesn't tempt us With evil, right, right. So when I see that lead us into temptation, I've always Always thought that this is a sign of understanding that we are so fallible.

That we're asking God to remember how weak we are When he's leading us that he not take us to something that can cause us to fall. Now obviously God would know that he's all-knowing. But I think that that's more than asking God to do something.

What was it you said last week brother Andy about how. Praying is not simply making God aware of the things that we need as much as it's. I can't remember the quote exactly and I never did find it, but.

Do you remember what it was exactly? Oh, yeah.

It was a W pink a W pink on Ligonier, yes, but prayer is not simply a Inviting God to understand what we need or something like that. But I guess.

The quote from a W pink prayer is not designed for the furnishing of God with the knowledge of what we need. But it's designed as a confession to him of our sense of need and I think that fits right there perfectly.

We say Lead us not into temptation is not to somehow another act as if though we need to tell God How to do his job, but rather as a sense of confession of That we need to make sure that we're kept Away from anything that would otherwise tempt us.

I don't know. I mean, I've always thought about it that way when I read that.

And then I say I say I agree a hundred percent with what you're saying John because everything from the beginning in the Lord's Prayer there is designed as a recognition and a Realization of the holiness of God which in turn leads to his Authority his power his righteousness his goodness who God is.

That's where theology should always start when we start talking about the Bible to people. We shouldn't start with what kind of a person you are. We should start with how holy God is and then that. I'm sorry.

I'm pointing at my screen here. And that 13th verse like you said When you were talking I thought man and then Andy you had Andy quote that Quote may make that quote again, and I thought how? How really how truly logical this prayer is that the Lord gives us for that lead?

It's not a temptation, but delivers from evil is a recognition of our weakness in God's strength. As it's beautiful the way that you all described that.

I'll jump in. Go ahead Tyler. I.

Was just looking at what that phrase lead us in Comes out to in Greek and I thought it was interesting that the word there is literally Pharaoh which means I bear or I bring and then it has the Suffix ice for into so it literally is asking God not to bring us into temptations.

So I think there's an element here at least in part of Recognizing another one of the attributes of God that God is a good shepherd. He doesn't bring us into evil. And that he delivers us from evil that we are held in his hand and.

So it's this line is about resting in the sovereignty of God in that that God doesn't bring us into wickedness.

He rather deliver it delivers us from evil. Yes. Yeah, that's why I'll say I'll take it one step farther. We have to be careful when we because the goal of Interpretation with scripture is the normal plain sense of the reading of the text with the context that the original author intended.

So that's why you can't interpret the Bible Literally because you have so many different types of languages. If you're gonna temper it literally then you must believe Christ is an actual rock laying out in the yard because he's a cheap cornerstone.

You've got to interpret it based on the type of literature is the only thing so and in this case You have Jesus giving a model prayer. For sinful weak both weak in the sense of physically but also morally we're obviously justified and holy.

We're growing in holiness, but we're still weak morally in the sense that we battle with simple flesh every day. So you have to understand once you get past verse 10. You've laid out the recognition of who God is.

Now in my view from the rest of the prayers about who we should be in light of who God is. We go to him for what we need, but you could this isn't an actual translation per se but you you could render this in the sense of what is being said is because you've forgiven us we need to be forgiving of Other people and what they owe us.

Because you are the God that saves from sin and because we know from other scripture that God cannot sin. Nor can he tipped us with sin. We know that you will deliver us from evil. Because in our sanctification as a good shepherd, we do not want to be led into temptation.

We want to be delivered from evil and you know, because you are a forgiving God. We should be forgiving others and so on so forth. So it really Speaks to the understanding of not just who God is in terms of his deity, but as Tyler correctly pointed out you're gonna see so much woven in these Gospels about the shepherding aspect of Christ and how We as his sheep could be rightly related to him practically and in a daily sense.

So you see in these verses 11 through 15 very practical ongoing Daily things that we need to be seeking to do and learn more about so it's I think everything that everybody is saying is really Putting a great bow on this where we see.

There's so much here. But it's very simple. Amen.

Yeah, it's uh. It's why fasting is so important because it while we when we fast we Either put away some food or all food or for a period of time or whatever and it It causes you to be hungry. I mean, it's not pleasant.

Even if you know say you just fast from something where you've been having too much sugar. You're gonna feel that because your body gets used to having the sugar or you feel hungry because you don't have all the sustenance that you Need and it helps you to realize.

But you know, if I don't have no food for You know a few weeks if I don't have water for a few days. I die. If I don't have the power of Christ. If I don't reach out to him to sustain me in this life and in my spiritual walk in my physical life.

And everything that I have I don't look to him for that self-less. Then I don't have anything. So I'm really walking living breathing. Because he sustained me so I recognize him for who he is. I recognize him for what he does and I plead with him to sustain me because without him I'm like somebody who can't find food or somebody who can't find any water.

That's why it's important to fast every once in a while you get a Kind of remind yourself that they're just you're only like three days away from dying. At any given point if you can't You're a lot closer to dying if you don't have the sustaining hand of God in your life.

Rob the The the remained the that this is this is a perfect example of why? When we go to the scriptures that we always look at the context because Jesus basically in the remainder of his speech here in the remainder of this text He he goes through literally everything that he's taught them in the prayer.

From fasting to laying up treasures in heaven to not being anxious. He goes through every bit of that and it's all in relation to the kingdom because he says seek first the kingdom of God in His righteousness and these things will be added to you.

So he he this that's the beautiful thing about scripture. The Lord doesn't leave it. It don't get me wrong when I say this he He doesn't leave it to be a mystery. He clearly lays out everything we need to know in the scripture.

Concerning him in his will it's beautiful. And Claude just to kind of sum up what you did the point you just made. So much you see it a lot in the book of Matthew, but you see it in other places. But primarily in the book of Matthew when Jesus is teaching.

I don't I'm ignorant on this. So I don't know this to be true, but it I could be wrong. But I think it might have even been a Jewish culture thing when when they teach they almost say okay big idea. And then here's examples in a circle at the beginning of chapter 6 when he talked about beware of practicing your righteousness.

For men to be noticed by them. Okay. Yeah, what does that look like? Oh, I'm glad you asked. So you see that repetition there. So everything you just said makes perfect sense, yeah.

Yes, that's beautiful stuff and I appreciate that that point that you make love. Bringing that to light and just gives us a further hunger to dive in not only see teaching us about prayer. But he's relating it.

He's putting it all together. Yeah, and and just making it beautiful for us and helping us understand Who God is and what he's what he's telling us. And and then I appreciate you bringing in one of my other questions about fasting.

And the the relationship the fasting kit has that the Bible teaches with fasting and praying. And and I think you guys were also defining as you were talking about the Lord's Prayer the Lord's example prayer you were also defining in and Bringing out one of my other questions.

The sovereignty or providence of God. Versus man's responsibility. I mean you guys were all over it in your questions or in your answers. You know looking at verse 13 Do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil.

I mean, we are pleading to the Lord because he is the one who's sovereign. He is the one who.

You.

Know we we contribute the providence to and it's us on our behalf.

We.

We're going to him in submission. We're going to in we're going to him in reliance. Because he's the one in control. He's the one ruling and reigning and it just shows that this Lord's Prayer shows our relationship between and our Responsibility versus the sovereignty and providence of God, that's that's our place.

In that relationship. And going, you know going from the bottom to the top It's pretty pretty easy to see in verse 13 that who's in control and and who? We can take verse 11 and kind of sometimes in our lives.

There's certain things that we think we can Have control of you know our daily bread. Well, I work for my money I work for my food, but in in reality if we look at these verses and working backwards back up to the top Jesus is really teaching our Reliance on the sovereignty and the providence of God and even to our daily bread you guys Beautifully brought that out.

I.

Think that in when you see.

2611 I.

Think there's a certain amount of of that we probably would be uncomfortable if we thought if we if we lived every single day this way, but you go down to 19 do not store up for yourself treasures on earth or mall and rust destroy.

But where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourself treasures in heaven Near the mouth no rush or must rust destroys. I can't talk and what these do not steal. Breaking and steal so many of the things in our life.

We we tend to Find comfort in our excess or comfort in what we're in our storehouses if you could use an old word, you know I I'll put up and fat times for the lean times to come and there's a sense of how to say this Self reliance as opposed to complete.