Prayer and Worship

We live at the dawn of  "information highway."  Fiber optics -- those little wires like strands of human hairs -- carry millions of bits of information.  With wireless or cellular technology and satellite communications  -- we have the ability to communicate with astounding speed and to great and far-reaching distances. Communication is virtually limitless. 

Prayer is about getting connected – to the God of this universe. The good thing about prayer is that we don’t need a gadget, we don’t need a fiber optic to be connected to God.  God is always just a prayer away and no matter how technology may have advanced over centuries, the way we communicate with God remains the same. All He asks is our pure heart and our unwavering faith.

Background

In the King James Version of this passage there is an additional phrase: “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” The difference between these versions was due to the manuscript versions used by the translators. 

You may also notice that it has similar passages in Luke 11:2-4 and they were spoken by Jesus on two different occasions. Matthew 6 is part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus addressed the crowd while Luke 11:2-4 was a response to an unnamed disciple’s request

Matthew 6:9-13 is not entirely accurate to call “The Lord’s Prayer.”  If this is the Lord’s Prayer you will not hear him saying “forgive our debts or forgive our sins” because the Lord has no sin. This prayer is more appropriate to be called “the Disciples Prayer” or “Our Prayer.”

In Matthew 6, before Jesus taught the crowd “how to pray,” He first taught them “how not to pray.”  (See verses 5-8)

A popular phrase in our society, “A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian”, can be replaced with the more accurate quotation “A prayerless Christian is actually not a Christian.”   Prayer is not just about power.  It’s not about our ability to make things happen. It’s not about changing God’s mind.  It’s not about being able to manipulate God into doing certain things our way.  

Common Questions concerning Prayer

•  If God is all-knowing, why bother praying?   Can we just say “God… you know… Amen!”
• If we are to pray according to His will, why bother telling Him what we want? The Bible says we are to pray according to God’s will.  If we should always pray for His will, then what about our own will?  What about our wants?
• If He is God and He knows what’s best for us, why bother asking? Is it possible for us to think of something better?  If God knows what is best for us, then probably there’s really no sense telling him what we want.

Life Lessons:

  

1.  Prayer is a command to all believers (v9a)

Jesus said “This then is how you should pray (v.9a).  The word “should” here means “must” which indicates a duty or an obligation. Before we even question the rationality of prayer based on the life questions that we posed earlier, we should all agree that it is a commandment from the Lord to pray.

2.  Prayer is an important expression of our worship (V9b-10) 

Worship is the bigger picture.  Worship is our lifestyle.   Prayer is in fact not just a form of worship but an important expression of worship. There are a lot of things that represents our worship to God.  Serving God in the church is a form of Worship.  PRAYER – is also a form of service.  There are people who’s ministry is to pray.   There was a person mentioned in the New Testament about a person whose ministry is praying.   In Luke 2:36 Anna was very old;  was a widow until she was eighty-four.   She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

3.  Prayer is humbly submitting to God’s will (v10) If we say God is God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, if we say God is Omniscient and He knows everything, if we say that He is Omnipotent and all-powerful, can we not entrust our lives with Him?  We pray for God’s will because we know that whatever that will is… that will be the best for us.  Sometimes it’s funny when we pray, as if we’re telling God what to do.  

Notice the common denominator in the following verses:

• This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  1 John 5:14
• Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.  John 16:24
• When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  James 4:3

It's all about His will, His name and asking with the right motives.  Prayer is not about us.  It is about God!

Conclusion:

Prayer brings us into a deeper and a more intimate relationship with God. 

Prayer develops our maturity in faith.  The more we pray, the more we become spiritually mature.  The more we call up to Him, the more we know Him and the more we understand His ways and humbly submit to His will.  

Prayer brings us closer to a God “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20)

Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”  -- of course He does not mean you go to heaven now and talk to Him.  He said come to me in PRAYER… and I will take care of everything for you.  Isn’t it wonderful that the God whom we prayed is able to do more than we ask for or imagine?  Isn’t it amazing to know that Jesus whom we pray to, has the kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever?

Have you prayed to God today?

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life.
Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.  Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCF Richmond on  March 15, 2015.

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors.  

If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:
 www.wordchristianfellowship.com

Giving, The Macedonian Way

Read:  2nd Corinthians 8:1-15

Giving is an act of worship.  It is essential for a healthy personal relationship with God and church development.

Background:

• 2nd  Corinthians is a very personal book that shows how complex handling a church is in times of crisis – this time the church in Corinth.  
• Authorship:  The Apostle Paul, possibly along with Timothy 
• Date & Place Written:  It was written approximately in 57 A.D. during Paul’s 3rd missionary journey while he was in Macedonia, after he left from Ephesus (where he wrote 1st Corinthians)
• Purpose: To vindicate his apostleship and encourage the church to remain faithful especially in the area of helping the needy.   2nd Corinthians was actually the 4th letter of the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth.  

Who are the Macedonian Churches?
The northern part of Greece was called Macedonia. The southern part was called Achaia where the city of Corinth was located.  After the close of the Old Testament in the book of Malachi around 400 BC, the Jews returned to Palestine from Babylonian captivity.  Years later, Palestine was captured by the Greeks. This was also the reason why we have a Greek translation of the Bible called the Septuagint.  Macedonia became the center of history because of Alexander the Great, who was considered by most historians as one of the most powerful conquerors in history.  So Alexander the Great was from Macedon. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle and he succeeded his father, Philip II, where the name Philippi came from.  Alexander conquered territories making him not only the king of Macedonia, but also the pharaoh of Egypt, the King of Persia and the king of Asia. 

Macedonia became very poor and oppressed when the Romans conquered it sometime in 60 BC and that continues even up to the time of the Apostle Paul.   You can see from the map who are the churches of Macedonia:  they were in cities such as Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea and we know that in the New Testament, Paul has also sent letters to the Philippians and to the Thessalonians.   Paul spoke highly of the Macedonian churches – not only because they were faithful in giving but the fact that they are able to give despite their situations.

Important Lessons in Giving:

Like the Macedonian Christians --

1.  We can give voluntarily and with overflowing joy in our hearts

     -  Jesus said "You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things" (Mat.  23:23)

The Israelites were very good in following this concept.  This is the reason why we didn’t see Jesus not spending a great deal of time teaching about tithing in the New Testament.  They were already very good followers so there is really nothing to teach anymore.  In fact, they were very legalistic but in doing so, they forgot the more important things like love and mercy and compassion and humility and even free-will giving.  It has become more like a stressful obligation rather than a joyful act.  Jesus had to correct the hearts of the Israelites.

     -  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, 

        not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7)

2. We can give not just out of our abundance but beyond what we perceive to be our 

    limitations

    -  I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing 

       (2 Sam 24:24)

Paul was commending the Macedonian Christians not because of the DOLLAR VALUE of their gifts, right? Remember they were poor.  Paul was commending them for their attitude, for their eagerness to give.  Same way Jesus did when He commended the poor widow who gave two coins.  It’s not about the money.  It was never about the money.  It’s about our attitude.  The Macedonians still give out of their lack.  This is the reason why the principle of tithing is good because it is based in proportion to what we have.  It tells us to set aside something for God, first and foremost, before anything else.  

3. We can treat giving as a privilege being part of our worship and

     service to the Lord

       “they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s  people.” (They understood that giving is a privilege; a form of worship)

      When you give, you must feel it. When you give, there should be a bit of a sacrifice on your part.  Whenever you give you must have given up something.  Some people can do anything you ask him to do in the church, he can give you his time, his talent, his connections, he can pray for you all day long, he can teach Bible lessons, he comes to church every Sunday, he can counsel you about life, but when it comes to giving, when it comes to financially supporting the church, he becomes very protective of his resources.

       I like how my favorite preacher Adrian Rogers puts it:

-        

-
   

Conclusion:

• God owns everything.  The grace is not in the gift itself nor in the one giving but grace comes from the One who enables us to give (This explains why Paul calls it the grace of giving)
• We can give like the Macedonian Christians because we are partakers of the same grace from the Lord Jesus Christ  
• So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (we can give because Jesus gave first)
• Jesus is the true grace giver (Remember what the Bible says about giving and doing good works – they are considered filthy rags if not done with the proper attitude and if Christ is not the reason for giving.  
• If you have not given yourselves up to Christ, then your giving will just be “an exercise in futility.”
• We don’t give to be SAVED. We give because WE are saved.

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life.
Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.  Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCF Richmond on  March 1, 2015

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors.  

If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:
 www.wordchristianfellowship.com