The God-focused Prayer

Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6. It has been referred to as the Lord's Prayer, but many have duly noted that it is in actuality the prayer for the follower of Christ. In verses 5-6, Jesus gives the prescription for effective and God-focused prayer. This type of prayer deals more with a private seeking of God rather than a public proclaimation that seeks human recognition: "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

It is in this context that we may see 2 truths about God in the beginning of the prayer:

1) God is paternal. It begins with the two words "Our Father." The focus of all prayer is to be directed to the God of the Universe, who is also your or my Father if we are in Christ. Our prayers should begin with a God-focused intention! John MacArthur stated it this way in his commentary on Matthew, "(Prayer) is not simply to lay claim on God's promises, much less make demands of Him, but to acknowledge His sovereignty, to see the display of His glory, and to obey His will." But also notice that He is "our Father." This means that we are in a personal relationship with God - a relationship where we may approach Him as a child does his earthly father. Purpose today to have a childlike faith in God the Father and to approach Him as the focus of your prayer.

2)God's position. The next line says, "Who art in Heaven." Again the focus of the prayer is all on God - who He is and where He is. One does not have to read long in Revelation 21 to see that Heaven is a very unique and totally different place from the planet on which we live. Many today are interested in going to Heaven in order to see relatives or to achieve various humanistic desires. However, Heaven is Heaven because God is there! The righteousness, wrath, love, mercy, and justice of God all proceed forth from the heavenlies. I cannot say it enough Christian - God is there! May we seek to pray to God, in spirit and in truth, and know that He is the glory of Heaven.

Serve Christ by Service to Others

Recently I went to Southern Seminary to attend two seminars for my schoolwork there. I attended one which was called Theology and Leadership. One of the assignments revolved around writing an essay in which I defined leadership in the light of service. Basically, it was about how being a leader foremostly involves service to people. You may be thinking how can being a leader relate to servanthood? Isn't being a leader about prestige and honor? Yet, Jesus (the ultimate Leader) set the example by serving the disciples and washing their feet. Mark 10:44-46 says, "and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Jesus came to serve and this is something that we must imitate in our walk with the Lord.

I have to admit that this is sometimes hard for me. Service is not glamorous or romantic. It is hard work! It may involve giving of time that you'd rather spend doing something else. It may involve giving money that you would like to buy something for yourself with. Or it may involve giving of yourself when you simply don't feel like it. But each of these sentences has something in common - an obsession with what you might want or desire. This is where dying to self comes into play. We must forget about what we want and do something for someone else, for the glory of God!

This past Saturday I experienced the pattern above - being asked to serve, but feeling selfish about it, and then serving anyway. God provided the opportunity for me to work with new Mid-America students as they moved into student housing. I had originally planned to go home that weekend because I have not seen my family or friends from home since June. And I had been feeling homesick lately. Yet out of obligation, I stayed in Memphis. It was amazing being there and seeing about 50 different volunteers from 3 Memphis churches come together. They all worked from 8 am to 3 pm in the hot summer heat - unloading trucks with boxes of belongings for people they did not know. The only connection was our kinship in Christ. He had called us to serve. As I walked down the steps in the breezeway of one of the student housing buidlings, I was overwhelmed with the fleshing out of Christ's love at that instant. We (part of the body) were fulfilling one our many purposes and calling in Christ - serving one another. Although I was tired, hot, and drenched in sweat, I began to praise the Lord. Jesus was being glorified and I was right where I was supposed to be.