As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

– Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

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Matthew 7:9-11

One of the greatest joys for a father, especially a grandfather, is to give his children good things. To see a radiant smile from your child because they appreciate your gracious gift encourages our hearts. How much more for the Father in heaven. Jesus uses this example to provide a basis for praying. We ask because our Heavenly Father is gracious.

We must reflect on God’s grace as we sit in our prayer closet. The devil desires that we fail to grasp God’s gracious essence. Life’s experiences which we pray about are often not good. Burdensome relationships we pray about are not always good. We intercede about a doctor’s prognosis because it is not good. But God is good. His nature inclines Him to give good gifts to His children. Thus, we pray for challenging trials we face, broken relationships requiring restoration, and bodily infirmities needing remedy. He invites us to draw near, to inquire, and to ask.

Consider Jesus using bread in His illustration to highlight the necessity of our praying. No good parent would mock his child who asks for bread, a daily necessity to sustain life, by giving him something worthless like a rock. Our heavenly Father knows what is essential to our lives and promises to supply those things. Remember His promise for the cure to anxiety over what to eat and what to wear in Matthew 6. Seek Him, His kingdom and His righteousness, and He will supply! We pray because our Heavenly Father is a gracious giver of what is essential.

Further, Jesus reminds us when a child asks for a fish, again a necessity of food, his father does not give him a snake, something harmful. No parent who loves his child will put them in danger’s way intentionally. Neither would our Heavenly Father. We pray and ask for good gifts because He is not inclined to give us what is worthless and what is harmful.

We should be more motivated to ask for God to supply every grace we need today as we face situations and circumstances that are not good. Our prayers are motivated by His goodness. We can ask, seek, and knock with complete confidence because we have tasted and seen that He is good. Do so this morning!

Pastor Chris Thompson

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Matthew 7:7-8

For our prayers to be effective, they need to be persistent. We pray with assurance because we know that God answers and that He is good. Jesus teaches that we must pray earnestly asking for God to supply. The Greek verb tense for ask, seek, and knock indicates God’s children continually and persistently make their requests known. We ask because our God is gracious. His nature is to respond.

What do we ask for? Thankfully, Jesus does not limit what to ask for. We just ask. And God’s nature is to respond and to give. We must be careful not to adopt a name it and claim it prayer mentality. Nowhere in God’s Word do we find warrant for such false doctrine. God works through the prayers of His people. As James says, sometimes we have not because we have not asked. Within the context of this passage we should be asking for wisdom to discern between what is right and what is wrong and to speak truth in love to the world around us.

What do we seek? Again, there no limitations or qualification. There appears to be an escalation though in the nature of our requests though as we move from asking to seeking. We are looking for God to respond since He has promised that He will do so. Our posture of prayer includes eyes of faith that ask believing He is gracious and good and looking for His response. Too frequently we are satisfied to ask and then never return to look harder and see if God has responded. When we consider the kingdom, the supreme thing we are seeking is the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). Our requests should enable us to see His kingdom come and His will be done.

Why do we knock? Jesus says the door will be opened to you. Again, the requesting escalates to the point where we knock on the door we asked to be opened. Such persistence and earnestness with God are commendable. The door that is before us is opened by grace through faith. The just learn to live that way. Such truth must govern our times of prayer as we persist to knock on closed doors believing God can open them if it is His will.

Ask, seek, and knock! Jesus teaches us it is essential that we be persistent in our prayer time today. Try it out. Make a list so you can watch and see how your Heavenly Father answers each request. Do not give up in your prayer time. Who knows if the door might just open today!

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Matthew 6:13

How do we finish our prayer time? Jesus teaches a final principle in his instructive prayer. This element will provide confidence in our prayers and enable us to say amen. This principle invites us not to wonder whether our requests will come true. Instead of doubting what God will do, we conclude with a moment of rejoicing about God’s ability to provide, pardon, guide, and deliver us.

Our prayers begin and end with praise for our Father who works in His children’s lives to accomplish His will, to establish His reign, and to mature our faith. Believers close their prayers with a doxology, a time of praising and worshipping God. Why magnify His name?

We ascribe glory to God because of His nature. He is faithful and all-powerful. He is in control and good. Additionally, we know God is true and faithful to His promises. This is the basis for our confidence when we pray. He answers because of who He is and not who we are. Learn to back up your prayers with God’s attributes.

We rejoice in His sovereignty. Because God is over and above all things, His will is what happens. He has chosen to work through our prayers. When it seems like the world is going crazy, remember God has the situation in control! All things, even evil things, are working out according to His plan. Therefore, pray acknowledging His supremacy.

Next, rejoice He has the power to control all things and do whatever He desires. We serve a God of infinite power! He can do anything He pleases to do because He is the Almighty. We ask believing He is able. We also rejoice because God is working all things together for His glory. Do we realize that His name is at stake? He is faithful to keep His promises. He cares for His children. Remember that not only does our Father have the authority and the ability to answer our prayers, but He does so to magnify His name and not ours.

This great Model Prayer closes with the word “Amen.” What does “Amen” mean? A lot of us say it, but we never stop to think about how we use it. It means “Let it be true.” It also means, “Yes.” Let us pray rejoicing that He can answer and choosing to believe that it is true! Amen.

Pastor Chris Thompson

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Matthew 6:13

As we study the Lord’s prayer, we discover this is more than a rote prayer. This prayer gives principles and precepts to guide us into deeper communication with our Lord. The world is filled with temptations and an enemy seeking to destroy us. Our final petition in the prayer closet is to ask for deliverance from the temptations and the tempter.

We pray for God to deliver us, to rescue or to snatch us from “evil” or “the evil one.” Is it evil or the evil one? Well the author of all evil is the evil one. There is a worldly spirit of darkness that once influenced our lives and now is our enemy in spiritual battle (Eph. 2:2 and 6:10-20). Matthew 4 reveals when Jesus was personally tempted by the devil.

We ask God to lead us not into temptation and to deliver us, snatch us, and save us from Satan and his evil schemes against us. Satan prowls about as a lion seeking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). Every Christian has an enemy who hates us and wants nothing more than to see us fall and fail. Our enemy does not wear a body of flesh and blood. He is spiritual in nature and must be battled with spiritual weapons (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

We plead for God’s help in the battle with this enemy. We acknowledge our inability to wage war on our own. We call on the name of the Lord, employing His power to stand against the devil. Remember our previous prayers. We praised our Father who made us His children. We pray for all His children to experience victory in this battle. Our Father is in control, in heaven, from where He already cast out the evil one (Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28). Our God reigns! Our God rules! Our God is in control! We have prayed for His will to be done which includes enabling us to choose His will in the moment of temptation. His kingdom is coming, and the devil will eventually be destroyed. We can overcome the darkness with light!

Be on guard against relying on our own strength for deliverance. We cannot face the battle without the Lord. Are we humble enough to recognize we need God to give us daily victory over sin? Step into the closet this morning and offer a prayer to God and watch Him deliver us all from evil today.

Pastor Chris Thompson

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Matthew 6:13

Prayer acknowledges we must rely on God in all things. The Lord teaches us four primary prayer requests: Give, Forgive, Lead, and Deliver. All four require we rely on the Lord in particular ways. The prayer for deliverance from temptation is connected to our previous prayer for forgiveness.

We ask for help in our daily battle with sin and temptation. We need God’s guidance in life. We are sheep that need a good Shepherd. Sheep often wander off and place themselves in danger’s way. Our prayer requests God’s direction. Jesus reminds us we need to ask for guidance. We rely on the Lord for direction to avoid the pitfalls and find a pathway that avoids obstacles that will trip us up.

Jesus instructs us to pray about trusting the Lord in the greatest battle we will ever face—the battle of temptation of the flesh. We must pray for God’s leadership and direction because our hearts are inclined to sin. The human heart is exceedingly wicked. If you doubt that read Jeremiah 17:9-10. The great hymn says it this way – Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above.

We have fallen natures that have been redeemed and are being redeemed. We can all identify with the Apostle Paul in Romans 7. Temptation is merely an outgrowth of who we are by nature, and that is why it is so often so hard for us to resist. The heart of the problem is a problem in our heart (Matt. 15:17-20). Temptation in and of itself is not a sin. But, the very instant that temptation is embraced and pursued it results in sin.

Temptations are trials for our faith to be proven genuine. God never leads us into direct contact with sin, but as we travel the path of life, every crossroad along the way brings with it the option to take a path which leads us away from the Lord’s will for our lives. We have previously prayed “Thy Will Be Done.” Our Lord has given us some precious promises that serve to strengthen us during our temptations and guarantees us the victory over them. Read 1 Corinthians 10:13 and Romans 6:6-18. Present yourself as a slave of righteousness unto holiness in your time of prayer.

Temptation may be a powerful foe, but it is not in the same league as our Savior! God assures victory to all who trust Him for it! You do not have to fall into sin! God will lead us through the trials but not into temptation. He will allow our faith to be refined and desires that it be proven genuine. He desires that our faith grow and mature and withstand these temptations, not in our strength, but in the power of the Spirit and the Word.

Pastor Chris Thompson

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Matthew 6:12

American household debt levels are at an all time high. Our time in the prayer closet is not spent there to address our debts in an economical sense but in a spiritual sense. It makes sense that people who need release from their debt would pray to the God who gives. But one type of giving that we desperately need is forgiving. Jesus says we should pray for it.

Everyone who is part of God’s kingdom acknowledges they are broke and broken (Matt. 5:3-4). Because of sin we are spiritually bankrupt and in bondage. Sin has also affected our relationships with others as we have been offended and are offenders in a spiritual sense. As we ask God to supply for our physical needs, we realize our need for Him to provide for our spiritual need of forgiveness. We move from asking for provisions to asking for a pardon.

As broken members of his kingdom we also are those who mourn over the effects of sin in our own life and in the world. We hunger and thirst for righteousness because we realize how unrighteous we are. We desire to be peacemakers because sin has caused so many wars in relationships. We desire purity of heart because we have had impure desires. We understand we need to be salt and light because of the darkness and decay in the world due to sin. So, we ask for God to forgive us.

We also ask God to help us forgive others! After we have confessed our sins and dealt with our sin debt, we ask God to help us cancel the sin debt of others. We offer a prayer for God to extend forgiveness to the same degree that I extend forgiveness to others. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. If we expect the Lord to forgive us, then we must be quick to forgive those who have wronged us. If I refuse to forgive my brethren, then I should not expect the Lord to forgive me. When we have been wronged and hurt by others, we are to carry that need before the Lord, leave it with Him and forgive the offending party (Rom. 12:19).

A great theologian once said A praying man will stop sinning. A sinning man will stop praying. Our Father wants us to deal with our sin debt and live free because of His grace. Talk with Him about it today!

Pastor Chris Thompson

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Matthew 6:11

The entire first half of The Model Prayer is focused solely on God. Everything centers, as it should, around the God of glory. We rest in our new relationship as part of His family. We reverence His holy name. We surrender to His reign and the pursuit of His kingdom above our own. We relinquish control by surrendering to His will. These are essential heart attitudes we must have in our daily discipleship and prayer life. But what about our needs? Our interests? How shall we pray for those things?

After praising God’s name, praying for His kingdom and will to be manifest in us and around us, we now know how to pray for our interests. Why? Because we have made His interests our priority. The request for personal needs is intensely spiritual in nature. Even though we are here making request for ourselves, the spotlight still rests squarely on the Almighty. As prayer is about adoration, devotion, and worship, it is also about asking, dependence, and needs.

The second half of this instructional prayer guides believers to pray for daily physical needs, spiritual needs, trials, and temptations, and for the ultimate glory of everything in our lives. We see that in the verbs used to highlight our requests – give, forgive, lead, and deliver. The request for daily bread highlights our physical needs.

Jesus is teaching us to ask for our necessities. A simple request for God to supply. We ask, seek, and knock (Matt. 7:7-12) because God is good and gracious to give. If He were not good, we would not ask. Remember He is our Father who cares for His children, our King who cares for His people, and our Lord who supplies for His servants. So sprinkle some praise into each request!

His provision is according to a plan. We are in need every day so we should pray every day. Like manna in the wilderness, He will be faithful to supply! The prayer closet helps eliminate anxiety about tomorrow and worry about the unseen future. It teaches us to live in a moment-by-moment dependency on the Lord and His provision.

Realize He delights to give good gifts to his children. Nothing honors God more than His children coming to Him in childlike faith, asking Him for what they need, believing that He loves them and that He is a generous God. Consider all the great gifts God has already given. If He did not withhold the most precious thing to Him, His Son; what will He withhold from us.

Pastor Chris Thompson

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Matthew 6:10

Let go and let God. Surrender. It is never easy. But at the heart of prayer is the realization that God has a will that we may not understand or perhaps do not like, but we find ourselves coming and inquiring and asking about it. We are not merely asking about it but finding the resolve and strength to ask for a heart willing to yield to His plans and purposes.

Prayer is about surrender. Jesus was consumed with one thing as He walked on earth; He came to do the will of His Father. Psalm 40 foretold it was written of him whose ear would be pierced and dug as a bondservant that the scroll written about Him recorded that “He delighted to do Thy Will.” One asks if it should be any different for His followers.

It only makes sense that after we hallow His name and ask for the presence of His kingdom in our lives and on earth that we would express a desire for His will to be accomplished. If He is the Father in heaven and in control of all things, then there is every reason why we would desire to do His will and see it accomplished.

Prayer is the means by which we grow in our faith to the point where we lay all that we are on His altar and yield the totality of ourselves, and our wills to the will of our Heavenly Father. We relinquish control. But we don’t always enjoy doing that do we? While it is not an easy task, it is an essential task. As Paul beseeched the Romans in chapter 12, we accomplish this only by His mercies. Thankfully, they are new every morning!

So how do we pray for God’s will to come. We humbly admit our complete dependence upon God’s Spirit and Word to make that clear. First, we ask God to define His will for us. This is most clearly found by reading His Word, hearing Him speak through His Word, and asking His Spirit to enable us to obey. Second, we ask that God would transform hearts and minds to surrender to His will and discover the joy of submission. God’s will is not being done on the earth as it is in Heaven. If it were, there would be no teenage rebellion against parents. There would be no gangs and criminal activity. There would be no murder and abortion. There would be no lying and deception. There would be love, joy, and peace in our lives and the world.

When we pray that God’s will be done on the earth as it is in Heaven, we are praying that lives will be brought into perfect conformity to His revealed will. I am yielding all I have and all I am to the hand of the Potter. In this we see the power of the gospel that saves us and transforms us daily as we die to self and find life in Christ. It all begins with a prayer to relinquish control to Him!

Pastor Chris Thompson

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Matthew 6:10

What kingdom are you building today? What consumes us and all our energies? What do we love to brag about and find satisfaction in most? Our prayers reveal whether God’s kingdom is the priority of our lives. To pray “hallowed be Thy name,” expresses a desire to see God glorified. We know that He will never receive all the glory due His name until His kingdom becomes a reality both in us as individuals and in the world. Therefore, we pray “Thy kingdom come.”

The kingdom we are praying for is not one with castles, motes, knights in shining armor, and ladies in waiting. We are considering a spiritual kingdom that belongs exclusively and totally to God. We are praying that God’s royal power and authority be evident in His reign and rule in the hearts of His people who surrender and submit to Him. Our prayer is that we would see the full manifestation of His reign. We long for it because we see the destruction that is caused when little tyrants rule with their little scepters. These are the fiefdoms of imposters who suppose they were made to live as kings and queens ruling their own lives.

After hallowing God’s name, our first petition is the manifestation of God’s kingdom upon the earth. When God rules there is peace, prosperity, and holiness. We know that Jesus is the King of kings and those who follow Him seek His kingdom and His righteousness. It makes sense that we would pray for God’s reign and rule.

As we pray about situations and intercede for individuals, we ask God to bring everything under His reign; that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. We pray for this in our lives and in the lives of those around us. For God to be enthroned in hearts means that someone or something must be dethroned. Those that know Jesus as Savior have surrendered to Him as Lord. A lot of people want a Jesus they can manage and command what to do. But praying under His reign helps put things in their proper place. If you want the Jesus of the Bible, you must surrender all to Him and His Kingship (John 14:15).

While the literal reign of Jesus is a future event, it is true that those saved by His grace are presently citizens of His kingdom (Phil. 3:20). When we become a citizen of a kingdom, we are expected to keep the laws of the King. We pray that His kingdom will be revealed gloriously in our lives and that everything will be brought under His dominion. As we long for the appearance of our King Jesus and the establishment of His reign upon the earth, let us pray for our lives to be under His reign through our daily pursuits and priorities.

Pastor Chris Thompson

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