Collierville First Baptist Church

00;00;07;25 - 00;00;46;14
Unknown
Well, I am so extremely blessed to be back home today. Grateful for my pastor's invitation to preach for him today and to be with you. It it's hard to believe that it's been 12 years since I was on staff here. Those 12 years have flown by, and I'm the worst church member you have here. I'm never here on Sunday morning, but I drop by once a month and give my tithe.

00;00;46;14 - 00;00;53;27
Unknown
So Pastor and Sam are happy about that.

00;00;53;29 - 00;01;34;29
Unknown
Our text this morning takes 20s to read. But it takes a lifetime. To apply and live out. If I ask you this morning, probably at least 75% of you could say it by heart. But I wonder if you like me. Have ever reflected deeply upon the meaning of the Lord's Prayer?

00;01;35;02 - 00;02;18;16
Unknown
Our message this morning is teach us to pray. But there is a subtitle, The Prayer Jesus could and pray. He taught his disciples to pray. It, but he couldn't pray it. If you want to know the Lord's Prayer, you have to go to John chapter 17. That's a prayer that we can't pray, but it is. He taught his disciples what we know universally as the Lord's Prayer.

00;02;18;17 - 00;02;53;07
Unknown
Let me read it for you. It's found in a couple of places in Scripture that lets us know that Jesus taught this prayer more than one time. Our text today is in Luke chapter 11, but we could also find the prayer in Matthew chapter six. I didn't choose the Matthew passage for two reasons. Number one is our pastor is teaching the sermon on the Mount on Wednesday nights, and I didn't want to get in his territory.

00;02;53;10 - 00;03;31;16
Unknown
And so I'm leaving it. But the second reason and you'll be proud of this Luke 11 is the shorter version, so I know that'll make you happy. So let's read Luke chapter 11. It's one through four. Jesus, it's he says, and Luke tells us that it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place after he had finished one of his disciples had said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.

00;03;31;18 - 00;04;04;12
Unknown
And he said to them, when you pray, say, father, let me say in Matthew's account, and let me put it here, because it's important. I'm going to come to it in a moment. Matthew tells us, he says, our father. And that's not an insignificant word. Father, father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.

00;04;04;14 - 00;04;22;00
Unknown
And forgive us our sins. For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation.

00;04;22;02 - 00;05;04;02
Unknown
If you are interested in hitting a golf ball 250 275 yards straight down the fairway. Don't come and ask me how I can teach you how to slice it to the right or hook it to the left. But if you want to know how to hit a golf ball, ask Scottie Scheffler because he's an expert. If you want to know how to hit a three pointer, don't ask me, but ask Caitlin Clark.

00;05;04;04 - 00;05;32;10
Unknown
She's a master at it. If you want to know how to write a bestseller, don't hang around me, but spend some time with John Grisham. I knew John when he was a country lawyer in South Haven, Mississippi. I pastored there and he used to come to Brotherhood Breakfast. My oldest son dated his secretary. She used to come over to our house and we'd say, Tracy, how's your day been?

00;05;32;11 - 00;05;40;28
Unknown
She said, oh, I've been typing all day. My boss thinks he's a writer.

00;05;41;01 - 00;06;16;19
Unknown
Turns out he was. He's an expert. Friend, if you want to know how to pray. Let's go to the expert. The expert in prayer is Jesus Christ. His three and a half years of ministry was saturated with prayer. He never made an important decision. But what he preceeded in prayer. When he started this ministry, he spent 40 days fasting and praying.

00;06;16;22 - 00;06;45;24
Unknown
When he fed the 5000, he looked up to heaven and blessed the food. When he was with the disciples, they recognized him by how he prayed over the food. When he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, a sweating drops of blood. The disciples witnessed him on his knees, praying. And even as he was dying, you know, he spoke seven times from the cross.

00;06;45;24 - 00;06;53;29
Unknown
Did you know that three of those times were praying?

00;06;54;01 - 00;07;29;18
Unknown
Jesus epitomized a person of prayer to the point that on one occasion, the disciples stumbled upon him while he was on his knees, and they watched him until he got up. And one of them, I think, perhaps timidly, said, Lord, teach us to do that. We want to know God that intimately. We want what you have. We want to be able to call God father.

00;07;29;20 - 00;08;06;29
Unknown
They had read their Old Testament. They never heard Moses cry out to God in the tabernacle. Oh, father, they never heard David, even though he was a man after God's own heart. They never heard David say, father. They never heard the prophets. Daniel, Eli, none of them. Because Jesus made it possible for us to enter into the veil and for us to know God intimately.

00;08;07;02 - 00;08;40;20
Unknown
And so Jesus gave them this prayer, not a prayer he could pray because he can never say, forgive us our sins, because though he was tempted in all ways like we are. Hebrews 415 says, yet he was without sin. And you remember Pilate said, I find no fault in him. Jesus couldn't pray this prayer, but he said, you pray it.

00;08;40;22 - 00;09;00;14
Unknown
And he gives us this template not to be spoken by rote. And I think that's a mistake. We can we can mindlessly pray this prayer. Our father, which art in heaven. Go, grizzlies.

00;09;00;17 - 00;09;30;10
Unknown
Hallowed be thy name. I wonder what's for dinner. See what I'm saying? Many, many times we held hands before we ran out on the floor. And as a basketball team, would pray the Lord's Prayer. But I'm saying you can say it in 20s. But when you begin to break it down and unpackaged what the Lord is saying here, and you look at the template he's giving to us, it is so important.

00;09;30;12 - 00;09;55;24
Unknown
The Lord's Prayer can easily be divided into two sections. The first section is what I'm calling the foundation of prayer. And if the foundation is not correct. Then the rest of the prayer is insignificant. For the second half of the Lord's Prayer, deals with the focus of prayer. When the foundation is right, then the focus can be right.

00;09;55;27 - 00;10;36;00
Unknown
The first half of the prayer we talked to the father about the father. In the second half of the prayer. We talked to the father about the family. So listen to it. The foundation, first of all, of prayer. Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. He says the first foundation of prayer is the ability to relate to God as our Heavenly Father.

00;10;36;02 - 00;11;19;16
Unknown
There are many named for God in the Old Testament. Almighty God, King of kings, Lord, judge, master. But Jesus said, when you pray, you can say, because you know me personally, and we share a common heavenly father. Pray our Father, which art in heaven. Jesus referred to God every time he prayed as father, with one exception. Remember when he was hanging on the cross?

00;11;19;19 - 00;11;56;08
Unknown
Dying in a substitutionary way for you and me. When he felt the sense of alienation from God, when he was bearing those sins as though he himself were a lost man, and he cries out to God, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The only time. He never called him father was when he was dying for you and for me.

00;11;56;10 - 00;12;23;28
Unknown
So the foundation for prayer is to be able to relate to him as father. Do you know him as your Savior? Do you know him as one who? That you've been born into his family, that you've been adopted into his family? That you've been saved? Jesus said in John, John said in John 112 but as many as received him to them gave him the power to become the white church.

00;12;24;00 - 00;13;02;01
Unknown
The children, the sons of God. Do you know Him as father? That's the first plank in the foundation. That's not the only plank. He says, our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. The words which art in heaven does not relate are refer to his location. It refers to his elevation. He is almighty God. O Lord my God.

00;13;02;03 - 00;13;32;25
Unknown
When I and often wonder. I love that song about you. How great thou art, how great thou art. When we come before the Lord. The first plank is the plank of assurance. We've got to know that we know him. But. And I refer back to Matthew now. It says our father. That simply means that we. One of the foundations is we not only need to be right with God.

00;13;32;28 - 00;14;02;16
Unknown
We need to be right with one another. You see, the Lord's Prayer was not meant to be prayed just for ourselves. He says, lead us, us not into temptation. He says, give us this day our daily bread. He's talking about community. He's talking about the church. He's talking about us as a family of faith. When we pray, we not only need to be right with God, but we need to be right with one another.

00;14;02;21 - 00;14;15;00
Unknown
Jesus said, when you come to the altar to pray and you realize that your brother has something against you, then get up from the altar and go and make things right.

00;14;15;03 - 00;14;37;17
Unknown
It's tragic that people live for half a lifetime. Carrying around grudges and bitterness and bitterness is like acid. It destroys its container. And if we want to come to God in prayer, we need to be right with God and right with one another.

00;14;37;19 - 00;15;18;09
Unknown
Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Assurance that things are right is the first plank. Adoration. Worship is the second plane. Hallowed be thy name. Holy be thy name. Isaiah, God of the presence of God. And all he could hear was the antiphonal sound of the angels crying out, Holy, holy, holy! I agree with Sproul that if I only had one word to describe God, it would have to be the word holy.

00;15;18;11 - 00;15;45;01
Unknown
It says so much about who he is. Hallowed be thy name. In the Hebrew language, the way you made something superlative was to say it three times. Do you know that's the only attribute of God in scripture that stated three times? Holy, holy, holy. So there is the assurance that we're right with God. Assurance that we're right with others.

00;15;45;07 - 00;16;35;12
Unknown
There is also the adoration and worship. But there's one other plank in that foundation. Notice what he says. Thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom come. Surrender is the third plank. That is essentially saying, father, I lay my agenda down. Father, I give my self to you as my Lord and as my master. To say and pray and mean it by kingdom come has both an immediate and a future.

00;16;35;15 - 00;17;00;25
Unknown
Since when we pray for the Kingdom of God to come, we're praying for Jesus to rule on the throne of our heart. When I pray for the kingdom of God to come, I'm saying, Lord, I want you to be master of my life. So you see, it's easy just to say those words and not understand what it means to live under his lordship.

00;17;00;27 - 00;17;28;25
Unknown
Spurgeon said, the word Lord is the most lifeless word in the Christian's vocabulary. Thy kingdom come, we surrender to him. It's both now. But it's then, because there's one day when Jesus is coming again, when he real really come and establish his kingdom. It is both imminent and it's transcendent. It is both now, and it is then. It is both present, and it is future.

00;17;28;27 - 00;18;05;24
Unknown
Thy kingdom come. And wherever he's ruling in our hearts. That's a little branch of the kingdom of God. Surrender. John Parker said, the kingdom exist whenever we enthrone Jesus as master of our life. Well, that's the foundation as your foundation. I've laid a foundation. Now I've got a few minutes to talk about the focus. But make sure you foundations right.

00;18;05;27 - 00;18;46;11
Unknown
Make sure you know him. Make sure you love him and worship him. And make sure that you've yielded your agenda to him. And if that is true, and the foundation is good, then he says, give us this day our daily bread. Can I say that simply means we express through prayer or our dependance upon God. You know, when the Lord told the children of Israel, I'm going to feed you every day.

00;18;46;13 - 00;19;09;17
Unknown
You're going to go out every morning and you go to pick up the manna. But he gave one caveat. He said, you can only get one day's manna one day at a time, because if you try to get more manna, it will rot and there'll be worms in it. What's God saying? What's God teaching the children of Israel?

00;19;09;19 - 00;19;41;14
Unknown
He's teaching them daily dependance upon him. When the Scripture says, give us this day our daily bread. Don't think of a loaf of bread. That was a metaphor in the language of the New Testament for what ever was essential to life. Yes, it means food, but it means so much more than food. Essentially, what our Lord is saying here is this.

00;19;41;16 - 00;20;20;21
Unknown
Whatever. I need to live a godly life. Lord, give it to me. Give us this day our daily bread. Give us our needs, not our creeds. Give me what I need to be able to live for you. It's a it's an expression of dependency. And then he says, forgive us our sins as we have forgiven others.

00;20;20;24 - 00;20;56;06
Unknown
Jesus is not saying there that our forgiveness is contingent upon us forgiving others. He's not saying we earn our forgiveness by forgiving others. But here's what he is saying. He's saying a forgiven person is a forgiver. He doesn't say they ought to. He says they are. My dear friend, if you're unable to forgive, there ought to be a red flag.

00;20;56;06 - 00;21;32;10
Unknown
Rise up in your heart. Jesus tells us in the gospel of Mark that when we stand in chapter 11, if you want to look it up sometime, that when we stand before the mountain, you remember that he said that we can say to that mountain, be removed and it'll be removed. You remember that text? And then he follows that up by saying, when you stand before the mountain, forgive if you have aught against anyone.

00;21;32;13 - 00;22;03;09
Unknown
What does Jesus say? He's saying, if we want the mountain to moved in our life, and I don't know what ever your mountain is, but whatever that mountain that stands between you and an intimate walk in fellowship with God, he says, if you want that mountain removed, then you've got to be willing to forgive. Is that a hindrance in your prayer life?

00;22;03;12 - 00;22;44;14
Unknown
Are you holding something that's grieving God's Spirit? Quenching God's Spirit in your life? He says, forgive as we have been forgiven. Can I say this to you? The most influential person in your life is the person you have not forgiven. There with you all the time. And the enemy uses that to keep you distracted, to keep you defeated.

00;22;44;16 - 00;23;23;29
Unknown
So we express dependance, but we also. Here's the second. If you're a note taker, we express forgiveness. Lord, you have forgiven me so much. You know, the height of self-righteousness, the height of hypocrisy is when we receive the grace and mercy and forgiveness of a God who could rightly send us to hell, but he doesn't. He sent his son to die for us.

00;23;24;02 - 00;23;58;12
Unknown
When we receive that, and then we turn around and refuse to extend that to someone else. The focus of prayer, number one, is we are to express dependency. Give us bread. We're to extend forgiveness. Lord, help me to forgive others as you have forgiven me. And here's the third and last thing the focus of prayer. When we get our foundation right and we're ready to step out into prayer.

00;23;58;15 - 00;24;44;03
Unknown
I want to warn you. You're not walking on to a playground. You're stepping into a battlefield. You're walking right into the midst of spiritual warfare. Notice what he says. He says, lead us not into temptation. And Matthew adds, but deliver us from the evil one. Here's what I think he's saying. He's saying, Lord, help me to step. Steer clear of the evil one who walks about seeking whom he may devour.

00;24;44;06 - 00;25;11;18
Unknown
He's saying to us, beware! Don't put yourself in the way of temptation. You see, the Lord doesn't lead us into sin. James tells us that he's holy. The Lord will never lead you into sin, but he will allow us to be put in a situation where we have to rely upon him. If if your problem is alcohol, don't go to the bars.

00;25;11;21 - 00;25;23;09
Unknown
If your problem is pornography, don't put yourself in a situation where you're tempted to that what he's saying is.

00;25;23;11 - 00;25;51;06
Unknown
Watch and pray that you not fall into temptation. You remember that passage in Ephesians six where Jesus gives us the armor to put on, put on the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation. Shout our feet with the gospel of the gospel of peace. All of that. And gives us the Word of God as our sword. Let me look over here.

00;25;51;07 - 00;26;22;10
Unknown
My wife says I always preach to the right side. You know that. But if you ever if you thought about the fact we get all dressed up with nowhere to go. But Jesus tells us where to go. Have you ever noticed that at the end of that account of telling us to put on the whole armor of God, the very next words verse says, praying with all pray.

00;26;22;13 - 00;27;07;22
Unknown
You know why you need the armor? Because the devil trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on their knees. When you bow your knees to the Lord, it stirs up hell. We focus. Because we know we're engaging. When we pray, we're engaging the enemy. I love so much what Hadden Robison, who wrote about this very thing of testing and temptation.

00;27;07;24 - 00;27;38;23
Unknown
He said, Lord, when I have the opportunity to sin, keep me from the inclination, and when I have the inclination to sin, keep me from the opportunity. Isn't that a great prayer? Lord, keep me from the opportunity. Doctor Rogers used to tell the story of the man who was interviewing folks for a job. The job was to be his driver.

00;27;38;26 - 00;28;05;22
Unknown
And the way he would interview them, he would take them out into the yard, and there was a drop off there that would drop off severely, and he would question them each each person who had applied for the job. How close could you come to that drop off? One man very proudly said, all man, I could get within ten feet of that drop off.

00;28;05;24 - 00;28;28;19
Unknown
Another said, that's nothing. I can drive within five feet of that drop off. The third guy interviewed and asked that question said, sir, I'm just going to be honest with you. I wouldn't drive within 50ft of that drop off. He said, you're hired.

00;28;28;22 - 00;29;06;04
Unknown
That's our attitude towards sin. Jesus is saying that we need to focus, not on how close we can get to sin without falling over, but how far we can stay away from sin. Spiritual pride says, oh, I can handle it. But the Bible says, flee from temptation. Proverbs 28 six says, he who trust in his own heart is a fool.

00;29;06;07 - 00;29;52;19
Unknown
If you had been living when Christ was upon earth. And had met the Savior, kind. What would you have asked from him? Supposing you were stone blind? The man reflected and then replied, well, I guess without a doubt I'd ask the Lord for a dog with a chain to lead me daily about. How often, true of our faithless prayers that it comes as no surprise that we have often settled for a dog with a chain.

00;29;52;21 - 00;30;44;25
Unknown
When we might have had open eyes. First Baptist, Collierville. Don't settle for a dog with a chain. Don't settle for less than all God has for you. Make sure your foundation is right. Then the focus will be right. As I close this message. I just want to ask you, each one of you individually. How is your foundation? Can you honestly call him father?

00;30;44;28 - 00;31;11;10
Unknown
Do you know him? Has there been a time in your life when you've repented of your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ? Then? Are there those who are Christians? But you'd have to say the plank of adoration is not strong in my personal walk with God. How much time do you spend with the Lord? Not just on Sunday, but in the word.

00;31;11;14 - 00;31;44;15
Unknown
In prayer, in private. How is your foundation? How is your foundation? Is there anybody you need to forgive? And it's robbing you of that intimacy? Make sure your foundation is right in a moment. We're going to sing an invitation. Our staff is going to be here at the front. There'll be opportunity for you to come pray with any of our staff, or to come and just get on your knees and talk to the Lord about your foundation.

00;31;44;18 - 00;32;09;01
Unknown
Maybe there's a focus, somebody. Something that you need to focus on. Somebody you're praying for. You can come and pray. And if you don't know the Lord, just come and say to our staff, I want to know God. I want to know how to call him my father. Would you bow your head with me while our staff comes?

00;32;09;08 - 00;32;36;22
Unknown
Let me pray. And then our. We would sing a hymn of appeal while we're singing. If God has spoken to your heart, you need to come and pray for anything. I hope you will. Impression without expression leads to depression. So don't leave depressed. Get things right with the Lord. Father. Thank you so very much that you sent your son to die for us.

00;32;36;24 - 00;33;02;20
Unknown
To take the penalty for our sin so that you're no longer our enemy because we've been justified. We've been regenerated. Your spirit has come to live within us, and we've been born into your family. Through faith in Jesus. Thank you, father, that we can call you our father. I pray for anyone in this building or anyone listening who can't do that.

00;33;02;22 - 00;33;20;29
Unknown
Father, may they get it settled now? May they get it settled today. Lord, we'll praise you and thank you for all your pleased to do in Jesus name. While we stand and while we sing as the Holy Spirit has spoken to you. If you need to come, please come while we sing.