Study Guide: "Praying Like Jesus, Part Three"

Text: Matthew 6:10

OPEN:

We seldom notice that Jesus taught his disciples to seek God’s kingdom and will before making their petitions and requests.  “Thy kingdom come and thy will be done” precedes “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Jesus told his disciples to focus on God’s will rather than on their needs.  He said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (i.e. material needs) will be given to you as well” (Mt 6:33).

Even more revealing, Jesus told his disciples to focus on God’s kingdom before they focused on God’s will.  Understanding God’s kingdom is the key to discerning God’s will.  Another way of saying this would be that kingdom concerns and demands come before personal desire and preference.  To seek God’s will without understanding his kingdom is like setting out on a journey without a map.  Once we glimpse the kingdom of God, finding our path becomes simpler.  The question becomes, “How may I work to establish the kingdom of God?”

Kingdom citizenship means kingdom building takes priority and that God’s will for us is inseparably connected to that task. Many of us have ignored our responsibility to be about the work of the kingdom.  We have assumed God’s kingdom will only come when Christ returns.  This is not what Jesus taught.  According to Jesus, the kingdom is within us, waiting to be expressed and experienced on earth as it is in heaven. 

I. God’s Kingdom is Different From the Kingdoms of this World.

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

He was reminding us that the kingdoms of this world are not identical with the kingdom of God.  

There are many competing kingdoms in this world: dictatorships and democracies, socialism and capitalism, corporations and religions.  Some have been more successful than others or at different times.

Often, Christianity, rather than standing in critique and opposition to these kingdoms, has imitated them.

II.  The Kingdom of God is usually the very opposite of what you  would expect.

Donald Kraybill, in his book, The Upside-Down Kingdom, suggests: “the kingdom of God points to an inverted, or upside-down way of life that contrasts with the prevailing social order.”

In this upside-down kingdom, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, the exalted will be humbled and the humbled will be exalted, sinners are forgiven and welcomed while the self-righteous are chastised, the poor are blessed and the rich condemned, the lost are found and the dead are made alive, the lion lays down with the lamb and spears are reshaped into pruning hooks.  This is the language of the kingdom (James Mulholland).

Indeed, the consistency with which the kingdom of God is the opposite of the kingdoms of this world should serve as a warning.  Conventional wisdom and common sense are not signs of the kingdom of God.

III.  Most importantly, God’s kingdom is most concerned with those who have been ignored, neglected, and even oppressed by the kingdoms of this world.

Jesus began his ministry with similar words; “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

Jesus seemed to think the kingdom of God would only appear as we work to eliminate poverty, free those who are prisoners (either of their own making or of others), give sight to the blind (especially those blind to their responsibility), and release the oppressed.

IV.  Our Role is to Remake Earth According to the Pattern in  Heaven.

In the context of the kingdom, seeking God’s will is always discerning our role in making earth as it is in heaven.

Establishing God’s kingdom is not about large financial donations, ministries that look more like corporations, or churches that resemble shopping malls.  It will appear in the most unexpected places, seem small and insignificant in contrast to the kingdoms of this world, and will be most obvious in those places where men and women are acting in ways counter to the kingdoms of this world.

The workers of the kingdom will be recognizable because they always seem odd.

They do the will of God even when it seems absurd.  This is because they seek God’s kingdom first and realize His will is for them to order their lives accordingly as kingdom citizens.

CLOSE:

The will of God has always been to see his kingdom established on earth as it is in heaven.

Unfortunately, we have not only resisted this call, we have explained it away.

This call to kingdom citizenship is a radical call to self-denial.

Most churches downplay the responsibilities of a relationship with God and emphasize the benefits.  No wonder many have rejected the church.  If the church is not committed to changing the world, it is irrelevant.

What would it mean if Christians saw themselves as kingdom citizens first, and committed themselves to the kingdom of God?

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)

Never Underestimate the Importance of Where You Are

I read this morning from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest and was reminded of something I thought I'd pass along to you -- never underestimate the importance of where you are.  Chambers puts it this way:

"A Christian worker has to learn how to be God's noble man or woman amid a crowd of ignoble things. Never make this plea--If only I were somewhere else! All God's men are ordinary men made extraordinary by the matter He has given them. Unless we have the right matter in our minds intellectually and in our hearts affectionately, we will be hustled out of usefulness to God."

In other words, God works through the ordinary in order to make something extraordinary.  This calls not for an unholy resignation, but instead a holy acceptance and willingness to surrender to Christ the most commonplace circumstance, allowing Him space to do an uncommon work through us.  Try something different today--celebrate everything that is normal in your life and return it to Him as a holy sacrifice.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)

Study Guide: "Praying Like Jesus, Part Two"

Matthew 6:9-13

 

"Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God."

                                         __Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

 

Jesus teaches us that prayer is possible because God invites us to pray and Jesus instructs us on how to approach God.

"Our Father ..."

I. Prayer is intimacy.

1. The early Hebrews struggled with how to address or even speak about God.

·      The Old Testament begins by using the Hebrew word Elohim.  This was a generic name for God and probably was used by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  But Elohim was not God's name.

·      Moses is credited with learning the name of God.  At the burning bush, God (Elohim) commands Moses to return to Egypt and free his people from slavery. Moses said, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"  God responds, "Say to the Israelites, 'The Lord (Yahweh), the God (Elohim) of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." (v. 13)

·      Yahweh may not be the correct pronunciation.  Early Hebrew did not include vowels and Yahweh was written YHWH.  When Jews encountered these letters in Scripture they would use the word Adonai, which translates as "Lord." They discouraged people from speaking Yahweh because it was thought too holy to utter out loud.

2. Jesus changed the rules on how to approach God.

·      Approaching a king is a complicated process. You request an audience. You choose the right gift. When you approach the throne, you kneel or bow.

·     People have approached God in prayer in much the same manner.  Often using sacrifices, candles, incense, and altars, they hoped to influence God by ceremony and with decorum.  God was approached in fear and addressed from a distance.  No one dared run to the throne of God, jump in his lap, and call him "Daddy."

·     Yet, this is precisely what Jesus is teaching his disciples to do. He did not tell his disciples to pray to Elohim, Yahweh, or even Adonai.  He did not complicate prayer with ceremony and ritual.  Jesus cut through the confusion and eliminated the pretense.  He tells us to call out to our "Daddy."

 3. "Father" is actually a metaphor.

·      All Scripture given in a specific historical context.  Jesus used father imagery to counteract those titles that kept God distant and impersonal.  "Father" communicated to the patriarchal Hebrews -- father was the patriarch of the extended family.  Protector, provider, authority.

·      God is neither male nor female.  What concerned Jesus was not God's gender, but any term that denied God's intimate knowledge and concern for his children.  Jesus spoke of a father who gives good gifts to children, who knows the number of hairs on their head, who dresses them more splendidly than wild flowers, and feeds them more faithfully than the birds in our yards and gardens.  This father Jesus spoke of was not a stern or distant disciplinarian whipping us into shape by brute force.  He is a devoted, attentive parent.

4. Intimacy is allowing someone in increasing measure to get inside of you.

·        To know the real you that no one else sees/ knows.

·        The greatest potential for true intimacy is with the Father since He already lives in us.

·        Intimacy develops primarily through listening.

"Who art in Heaven."

This is given as amplification of the intimate term Jesus has just used to address God.

1. His meaning is not as obvious as one may think.

·        Traditional view is that Heaven is some far off place in the clouds.

·        If this is the meaning, it places God in a far off place (e.g. Bette Middler song, "From a Distance").

·        Jesus said Heaven is here, inside of you.  Closer than breath or touch.

 "Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'The kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you.'" (Luke 17:20-21)

 ·        Heaven is a matter of dimension, not distance.

 II. Prayer is Worship.

 "Hallowed be Thy name"

1. All true worship begins with the recognition of who God is.

·     Worship in Scripture begins most often with someone falling on their face as they realize that they are in the presence of Almighty God.

2. Worship proceeds with praise & thanksgiving.

·        Praise him for who he is.

·        Thank him for what he has done.

·        This dynamic duo is what creates trust.  And trust is the foundation of faith and all prayers of faith

 

CLOSE:

Jesus teaches us that prayer is possible because God invites us to pray and Jesus instructs us to approach God as a father who desires intimate connection with his children.

 

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)

The Enormity of God's Grace

A glimpse of God's vastness brings both a discomforting shock of our smallness and amazing solace in the enormity of God's grace in knowing us.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)

    Photo of Sierra Blanca near Ruidoso, New Mexico.

Study Guide: "Praying Like Jesus, Part One"

Text: Matthew 6:5-13

OPEN:

I’ve always had heroes and my favorite books have been biographies.  I guess I’ve always appreciated someone you can look up to. The thing about heroes is that along with admiring them, we want to know as much as we can about them and imitate their lives as best we can.  There is no one I want to imitate more than Jesus Christ.  But if you choose to imitate Christ, want exactly is within my reach?

What am I able to imitate?  Actually, you and I are able to imitate the most important aspect of the life of Jesus—the way he prayed.

Prayer was the most important part of Christ’s life.

·   Jesus frequently drew away to quiet places away from anyone else in order to communicate with the   Father.  He prayed before every major decision. He uttered prayer as naturally as breathing.

Here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray.  Some call this “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Others term it the “model prayer.”  It seems to be both a literal prayer to learn and a model for putting prayer into our own words and experience.

Praying like Jesus is both the goal and the pattern of the Christ life.

I. PRAYER IS EXPECTED OF CHRIST-FOLLOWERS. (v.5a)

“And whenever you pray…”

Three times Jesus states, “And whenever you pray…”

1.    It would be unthinkable for believers not to pray.

II. PRAYER REQUIRES A PROPER ATTITUDE. (v. 6)

“your Father who is in secret will reward you …”

1.    Real prayer comes from the heart, not the head.

Elsewhere Jesus said:

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored in his heart.  For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

Prayer is a window to the human heart and mind.  The prayers we recite reveal more about us than about God.

Prayers need to be judged by their motives as much as their words.

·        Prayers motivated by anger, selfishness, or mistrust are not good models.

David, on one of his better days, prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

• This may be a prayer we should pray before we begin praying.  It acknowledges how easily we pray the wrong prayers for the wrong reasons.  David was asking God to teach him how to pray properly.

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1ff).

·        It was not as if the disciples had never prayed.  Devout Jews prayed the Shema twice a day and 18 other prayers throughout the day.

·        In asking Jesus to teach them to pray, they were seeking more than another ritual prayer.  They were asking about the proper attitude of prayer.

The proper attitude of prayer has nothing to do with whether or not we close our eyes, fall on our knees, lift our hands, or lay on our face.

It is not about finding the right words and the correct formula for addressing God.

The proper attitude of prayer is not a matter of posture or eloquence; it is a matter of humility and trust.

·        Do we recognize our utter dependence on God?  Do we trust God to faithfully meet our needs?

2.    Prayer is communion, not performance.

Beware the trap of praying to impress people rather than to communicate with God.

Jesus once told a story about two men who went to the Temple to pray.  One was essentially a deacon and a Sunday School teacher.  His prayer was similar to this: “Oh, God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, Omnipotent and Holy, thank Thee that thou hast created in me a pure heart, that thou has kept me from evil and blessed me above other men.  Thank Thee that thou hast allowed me to give both my spiritual wisdom and my significant contributions to the church.”

The second man was the ancient equivalent of a drug dealer and pimp.  He huddled in the back row of the balcony where he was hoping no one would notice him.  His head was bowed to hide the tears streaming down his cheeks.  His prayer was a simple, yet desperate cry: “God, please forgive me.”

Jesus concluded, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18)

III. THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER MAY SURPRISE YOU. (v. 8)

“your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

1.    If God is sovereign/all knowing, why does he want me to pray?

1)   Praying is more for me than it is for God.

Richard Foster: “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life.”

William Carey: “Prayer, secret, fervent, believing prayer—lies at the root of all personal godliness.”

• To pray is to change.

Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.  “If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives.  The closer we come to the heartbeat of God the more we see our need and the more we desire to be conformed to Christ.” (Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 30)

·      God knows what I need before I ask; He knows my heart before I confess.  I am the one who needs to come clean; I am the one who needs to shed my pride by acknowledging my absolute dependence and denounce the lie of independence.

CLOSE:

Praying like Jesus is both the goal and the pattern of the Christ life.

Praying like Jesus cleanses our heart of self-righteousness and strips our motives of self-interest.

Praying like Jesus reminds us to whom we are speaking—prayer is not persuading an indifferent Lord, or manipulating an obstinate Master, or lobbying a reluctant Ruler, or pleading with a stingy Boss.

Praying like Jesus is climbing into the lap of a Parent who knows what we need before we ask.

Praying like Jesus makes me look, sound, and act like Jesus.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)

(photo from www.memorialparkchurch.org)

Called and Surrendered

Many years ago--37 to be exact-- I made a commitment to God and myself with mostly good intentions (I'm unwilling to claim that I'm immune from a selfish motivation here and there). I called that decisive moment "surrendering God's call to the ministry" and received profuse affirmation from my faith community and family. Again I'll say that my motives were mostly pure and that I was thinking concepts and using vocabulary with which I was familiar through the teaching of my church. All these years later I understand the fallacy of much of what I expressed that day and exhibited in the years that followed.

First, the idea of "surrendering" carries with it the twin acts of forsaking and relinquishing. In my 16 year-old mind, I was turning my back on everything I enjoyed and was good at in order to lift and drag through life the horrible burden of serving Christ. Somehow my ministerial penance would merit God's favor. Tragically, no one corrected my thinking and helped me understand that God has created each of us for a high purpose and that our living out that purpose includes using every God-granted gift and ability for his glory and kingdom advance, while enjoying the adventure of doing so. Instead of surrender it was more akin to a grand blip on the EKG of discipleship. The Creator intends fulfillment, not rejection.

Second, my scope of understanding "calling" was much too narrow and sterile. Somehow I had reached that tender age believing that a divine call was hoarded by those who served visibly in churches as pastors or in foreign lands as missionaries. Certainly only church leaders of the highest profile were the ones carrying out the "high calling." No one helped me understand the threefold aspect of call as presented clearly in Scripture: every believer is called to salvation, every believer is called to Christlikeness, and every believer is called to ministry--to live out a vocation--doing whatever they do with a strong sense of divine directive.

Finally, all those years ago I succumbed to what I now call the "heresy of the definite article." I was mistaken in accepting and attempting to practice pastoral ministry as "the" ministry in the church. Such a mentality leads to anemic churches and burned out pastors. Such a superman complex may produce adrenaline highs, but the end result is a low ebb of ministry and even lower trough of longterm spiritual impotence. Rather than relying on what one minister can do, God intends every believer to minister according to their various spiritual gifts. Frank Tillapaugh was correct many years ago when he called this interpretation "unleashing the church."

I am older now and, I hope, not only wiser but better understanding of what God was doing in my life 37 years ago and what he continues to do today. Yes, I was-am-and will be "called" by God to live out a divine purpose. And so are you. So is each of us that follow Christ as Lord.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)

Study Guide: "Private Practice"

Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18

Open:

Matthew 5:21-48 focuses on the teaching of the law, on what people believe.  Matthew 6:1-18 focuses on the practice of the law, on what people do.  The first section emphasizes inner moral righteousness--giving six illustrations regarding murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge, and love. This second section emphasizes outward righteousness--giving three representative illustrations of religious activity.

- The first has to do with our religion as it acts toward others (vv. 2-4).

- The second has to do with our religion as it acts toward God (vv. 5-15).

- The third has to do with our religion as it acts in relation to ourselves (vv. 16-18).

Essentially, Jesus is warning us against hypocrisy in our religious activity with others, with God, and with ourselves.  Our public acts of religion must match a private motivation that is pure and authentic.

False Righteousness in Public is a Serious Matter.

Jesus begins with a warning.

The statement in 6:1 introduces this section and applies to each of the three illustrations in 6:2-18:

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven."

 The word that springs to mind is "hypocrisy." The word comes from the Greek word hypokrisis meaning to act on the stage, and from hypokrinesthai, meaning to play a part, to pretend.

Hypocrites are mentioned in Scripture from Genesis through Revelation.  Cain was the first hypocrite, faking worship by offering a kind of sacrifice God did not want.  When his hypocrisy was revealed, he killed his brother Abel out of resentment (Gen 4:5-8). The supreme hypocrite was Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord with a kiss.

- This game of pretense was a game at which the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day were masters. Because their religion was mostly an act and a mockery, Jesus' most scathing denunciations were reserved for them.

Hypocrisy is never treated lightly in Scripture.

- Through the OT prophet Amos, God said: 

"I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." (Amos 5:21-24)

2. Jesus provides three specific examples of his warning.

Warning against false giving (6:2-4).

- The word "alms" literally refers to any act of mercy, but it came to be used primarily of giving money, food, or clothing to the poor.

- Jesus does not introduce this teaching with "if" but "when", indicating it is something he expects us to do.

- God is always delighted with acts of mercy and generosity.

Micah 6:8, "He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

- Jesus does not denounce the act of helping the needy; he warns against helping for the wrong reasons.  Just said earlier in chapter 5 that we're accountable for what is in the heart.  Here he says that what counts in what we do is the motives of our heart.

2) Warning against false praying.

- Once again, Jesus begins with "when" rather than "if".  Jesus is not condemning or prohibiting public prayer.  Nor is he condemning other outward expressions of religious devotion.

- Here Jesus warns against any outward expression of devotion that masks a distant heart.

3) Warning against false asceticism.

- Many Pharisees fasted twice a week, usually on the second and fifth days of the week. They claimed that those days were chosen because they were the days Moses made two separate trips to receive the tablets of law from God on Mt. Sinai.  But those two days also happened to be the major Jewish market days, the two days when public fasting would have the largest audiences.  They would put on a gloomy face and neglect their appearance to impress the public with their austerity and religious devotion.

II. What Matters Most are our Motives.

Impure motives produce hollow actions.

- Jesus says that we may get exactly what we want--praise and admiration of men, but we forfeit what really matters--recognition and acceptance by God.

- Wrong motives negate the best of actions.

2. What motivates you?

- Acceptance by others?

- To honor & please God?

I have often been asked how to define success as a church.  Is it how many attend? Is it how much people give?

- I believe success as a church is how well our members narrow the gap between what we profess and what we practice.  In other words, what matters most is how authentically we are living out what we hold to be true, and our motivation in doing so.

One of the heroes of the faith is not named in Scripture.  Jesus himself offers her to us as an example of authentic Christianity.  She never preached a sermon, never sang a solo, never taught a class, never organized a movement, never built an edifice, never amassed any wealth.  She was an anonymous widow, but Jesus hailed her as a hero,of the faith and an example for all of us to follow because she gave everything she had to the Lord simply because she loved him.

Luke 21:1-4

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said. "this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Close:

So, what motivates you? How authentic are you in how you go about practicing your religion?

Our public acts of religion must match a private motivation that is pure and authentic.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)

(image from www.thelordismyhelper.blogspot.com)