Thank you all for being here today. If you're joining us online or in the room, thank you so much. I really want to say a couple of things about this week, and one of the biggest things I want you to hear me say is this. This week wasn't an event. It's just not a point in time.

And now we go back to life as usual. This week was intended to change perspective and change our behavior. I had two goals going into this week. The first one was that we would make prayer priority, that we would pray first. But the other thing is that it would draw us closer together, to unify us, so that we would pray together, praying, always praying together, and praying first.

And so I want to challenge you that even if you could be here, if you couldn't be here, we pray in our closet. Is that not what we learned last week? But, you know, Wednesday night I did a devotion about how God needs to empty us so that he can fill us. And today I want to talk about worship because I believe sometimes the reason that we don't glean from our time in prayer in a transformational way is because we haven't emptied our cup enough. In Exodus 16, it says that every day they went out and they took a jar and they filled it with manna.

And they were intended to use the manna in that jar for just that day. If they left it over, what would happen? It would rot, it would smell, it would be full of worms. And so it was intended to be emptied every day so that the next day they could get up and it could be filled again. And I want you to think about prayer in that regard, that each day that we get up, as Jesus has taught us to pray, there are things that we state, there are things that we express that are an overflow of our heart that call us and remind us that the purpose of prayer is to fit focus on God alone.

So I want you to turn to Matthew, chapter six, and we're going to start at verse number nine. And from this point on in the series, every week we're going to read what is known as the Lord's Prayer. And I want it to be done in such a way that you and I, we commit this, if we haven't already, to memory. Why not so that it becomes the only thing I pray. Not so that, like he said in a few verses before, that, that I am using repetitious words, but that the words contained in this prayer become mine, that they become an expression of my values.

We learned last week the only confidence we have in praying is not that I can recite a prayer. The only confidence that I have in praying is not that I can pray eloquently. My confidence in prayer is based on the person of God as my father alone. Are you with me? Like, that's the only confidence that I have.

My confidence and security is that I have a relational connection with God through Jesus Christ, who has gone before us, who sits at the right hand of God, our only high priest, paid for by his blood. And the spirit of God, intercedes for us, translating our grumblings in words that we can't even imagine. We pray relationally by reproaching him intimately. And today, as we dig into this, we're going to start with verse number nine. So go ahead and stand with me and let's read through this prayer.

And again, if you're younger and you have not memorized this as a passage of memory, do that, do that. Take cards, whatever you've got to do so that you can do. As we begin to pray this, we can begin to adapt. That is what is the expression of our heart. So Jesus said, pray, then in this way.

Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. You ready?

For yours is the kingdom. You, yours is the power. And yours is the glory forever, ever. Amen. Let that be our prayer today.

Have a seat. Because I could pray. I could pray after that. But why said everything right there. What a wonderful.

Wait a minute. Let's look at it as a whole. It's easy to jump in here and start going to the parts, but can I show you something? This prayer is an expression of valuing the kingdom of God and God himself above all things. Throughout the book of Matthew, we're called to repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.

And I can't know that kingdom living unless I know the king of that kingdom. And he says, Jesus says, pray. Then in this way, he's commanding us in the present tense of ongoing action. This is the way that you ought to pray. And the phrase in this way is a combination of an adverb and a conjunction.

An adverb and a conjunction. So he says, therefore. When you hear the therefore, what should that kind of signal in your mind? What did he say before this? In verse number eight, he said, do not be like them for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The Lord's Prayer is done in such a way. God already knows what you and I need. Jesus didn't give us a script on how we tell God what we want. What he did is give us a script to elevate the king of the kingdom and how to live in that kingdom. He said, pray then in this way, not so you can promote your righteousness.

Not in such a way where you're standing on the street corner going, look at me, or saying it with repetitious words so that everybody around you can hear you going over and over and over and over and over and over again. He said, because God already knows what you need. There's our security right there. There's our confidence right there. God already knows.

And he begins this prayer by elevating this idea of who God is, where God is, and what God does. Are you with me? I want you to hear what one author said about the structure of this prayer. He said, the first three petitions in this prayer deal with God, and the last three deal with us. Let me highlight those for you.

Hallowed, come and done are the first three. Hallowed come and done are the first three. They're imperatives in the Greek language. In other words, it's a command. But can we tell God what to do?

No. They're a petition. We're saying, let this happen, let this happen, let this happen. And they all deal with God. The last three, give us, give us, or give, forgive and deliver us are imperatives that deal with us.

That I need daily sustenance, I need my debts forgiven, and I need to be delivered from evil. All of this being encapsulated by the idea of living in the kingdom. Here's another thing I want you to know about these six petitions. They're in what is known as the aorist tense. You're going like, what in the world is that?

Aorist tense in the Greek is simple past tense. I ate. Like, that's simple past tense. I ate breakfast. That's simple past tense.

What this implies, since Jesus said, pray continually this way, is the idea that this needs to be done every day, at least once, reflecting on who God is and reflecting on what God has done for us. And so the whole picture here is this idea of coming to God, my father. I was thinking about the words that Randy shared on that card. The young lady who said, I've learned to worship with my hands. How many of you have had kids or grandkids?

Raise your hand. Is there anything more touching? I Was sitting there just a minute ago. My daughter came down to the altar just a minute ago. And I remember that little.

When Emily came out of the room, man, she had a head full of hair, little locks off the side, and there was nothing better to come home. See that little girl or Caroline, who didn't have a hair on her head. And she come in and listen, I'm telling you, you want to get your cup filled, you need to break through that pride of going, I don't want nobody to make fun of me. And you put your hands up, that's a sign of submission. Even Micah.

I got this little video sitting on the porch with Micah and he babbling as a little two year old. I miss those days when I could. I can't pick him up anymore. He picked me up.

My father, some of you, as I said last week, you didn't have a good experience with your father. Maybe for the first time in your life, you need to put your hands up, say, daddy, pick me up, pick me up. Hold me, Lord, I need you. Because you're my daddy. That's what you need today.

He doesn't want to compete with anything in your cup. He needs to be primary in your life. And that's why praying is worship. And worship is praying, singing is actually praying. All those things we sang today, you know what you were doing?

You were praying. That's why when you look at our core values and it says we pursue God daily, we didn't put singing in that. We put honoring him. We put praying and giving. You know why?

Because when we sing, we're proclaiming and we're praying. Your name is power. Like we're praying exactly what Jesus taught us to do. In this passage, when you read it, here's what we're elevating. Who God is, where God is the power and the sovereignty of God, his name and his notoriety, his other than us ness, his holiness, God.

We need a God who's not like this world. We need a God who's not formed in my image. That's what's being preached to you guys. I am. Can I get on a soapbox for a moment?

I'm sick of pastors getting political.

Listen, I listened to enough garbage this week from pastors justifying and attacking. We don't need that. We need to come to the feet of the cross where everyone comes equal. We need to hear the gospel, not your political spin. We need to hear about a God who's not like this world.

I don't want confidence in man and ideologies. I want confidence in the one who died on a cross and proved his power by coming back from the dead. Don't you want that, man? It makes me mad. I listen to this one video, and this guy started off saying, I'm a pastor in Minneapolis.

I don't care what you are. He started preaching and condemning Christians for not keeping something in context. And he missed the context because he missed Romans 8, 12, 18. That says, whatever hinges on you, be at peace with all men. You don't justify either sides of an argument with Scripture.

Jesus went like a lamb to the slaughter. And that's the God I want to lean on. Not the God of this world. Not something that's been made with hands. My God's bigger than that.

That's why when we pray, we need to start the way Jesus told us to start. He said, therefore, pray that this way, Our Father. Remember what I said from Romans 8 and Galatians 4, Abba. Father God, my Father, my daddy. It's relational.

I come to him because he paid the price for me to be adopted into his family. I need to pay homage to my Father who is in heaven. Like, there's no greater space in this world than the heavens above. It encompasses the entire world. It fills every little spot and slot in space.

The heavens is his throne. And why is that important? Because he can see everything I do and know everything I can do. He knows my thoughts and he hears me. Our Father who is in heaven.

And then we get that first petition, hallowed. Hallowed be your name. This is this idea of making something holy. His name's already holy. Like, what can I do to make God's name any holier than it already is?

What can I do, in my language, to make his name any more sanctified than it already is? What I need to do is declare to my soul his name is holy. It is to be revered. It is to be venerated and held with highest respect. His name.

We spent two months going through the titles and the names of God in the Old Testament. God, our righteousness, God my shepherd. All the different aspects and facts of who this God is. Before I utter one word, I need to stop. And I need to remind myself who this God is who gave his life for me.

Before I say anything, before I pray, I must praise. I must praise. You know why? Because I need to tell my soul. I need to get my soul in alignment with who it is I'm about to talk to.

So follow along in your study, guys. Let me give you a couple of quick Points here. First one says this. Our Father. Praise God for being our God.

Praise God for being our God. Last week when we talked about God being our Father, Mark Bailey, former president of Dallas Theological Seminary, said that there's only 15 allusions in the Old Testament to God being Father. And then Jesus shows up on the scene and that's all we hear. The whole Book of John. The whole book of John is about Jesus saying, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, because I and the Father are one.

This is why. Again, I'll get on the soapbox. Let me get on it one more time. That's why we need to stop listening to people who are trying to conform Jesus into their image because they're removing the power of his name. My gosh, he hung on a cross to die for our sin.

I don't need to sit here and try to conform him into my sin to affirm it. I need to run from it. It's killing me and it's killing you. The wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God.

Come on, folks, is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Father. I mean, even Philip questioned. He said, show us the Father. Like, they're frustrated. Like Jesus has said, I'm leaving.

And he says, show us the Father. And he said this. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe for the sake of the works themselves to as many as have received Him. To them he gave the right to become his children.

You, today I'm asking you again, I'm going to ask you every week, are you God's child? Because if you are, you should start looking a little bit more like your daddy. And when I say our God, I need to be care. I mean, I'm saying this because I've been in places where we recited the Lord's Prayer in a little bit of a trite way. I need to be careful the words I speak because I'm either venerating God or I'm pulling condemnation down on myself.

If I'm going to say he's my God. Is he? Is he really my God? Or like the psalmist wrote, is he your God? Psalm 31:14.

But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord, and I say, you are my God. Is he? Or like Psalm 61:63 1, do you seek him as the only satisfaction of your life? Listen to what the psalmist said. Oh, God, you are my God, and I shall seek you earnestly.

My soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you. Does that describe the yearning of your soul? If not, maybe. Maybe your cup still has worm eaten manna all inside of it. It's time to empty it out so he can fill you up.

Psalm 118, verse 28 do you give him alone all of your praise and thanks? You are my God and I give thanks to you. You are my God and I extol you. Again, if you claim that God is your Father, how are you living? As if he is.

Is he yours if he's not? Today, by faith in Jesus Christ and repentance of your sin, you can give your life to Christ today and experience the eternal life that he intends for his children. That that very presence that we're gonna talk about in just a second, that that exists in the heavens can exist inside of me. By the Holy Spirit. Is he yours?

Second point in Heaven Praise God for His excellence. We praise him for being ours, but praise him for his excellence. James 1:17 says that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above. Coming down from the Father of Lights, like that's good stuff. Like what some of these people experienced this week.

And if. Hey, by the way, tangent. If this week you came to prayer and you had an experience or something you want to share, there's still cards up here to fill out these little impact cards. Come up and grab one. Say, you know what God answered my prayer, or this is what God did in my life.

Like, I've got this insatiable hunger to gather with other believers and pray now. Like, whatever it may be, do that and give it to me. I'd love to hear the story. Why? Because I want your life better.

As a result, all of your pastors, your shepherds, want life better for you in Christ. Come and share that. Because we want to make his name excellent. Praising God for His excellence recognizes that God is in a place of other than ness. I don't know if that's a word.

I just like to say it. Because when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God didn't stay in the garden, did he? He's in heaven. When Jesus died and was raised again, where did he go? He went back to heaven.

He went back to his abode. But someday, in Revelation 21, we read, there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth, and where does the Jerusalem come from that we're going to live in? It comes down from heaven to earth. Y' all remember that little chorus we used to sing? You came from heaven to earth to where did he come from?

Heaven. He came from heaven. Isaiah 57 says, for thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever. He's eternal, whose name is holy. It's separate.

Then I dwell on a high in a holy place. Wow. He's not like us. But listen to what else he said. He said, but I also dwell with the contrite and the lowliest spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

Yes, he is high and exalted over all. He's separate and should be treated as holy. But that same God comes to you, and he comes to me. When we think of God in heaven, it should give us hope that this massive and great God of the universe cares enough about you that he knows the very number of hair on your head. Our God, Our Father who is in heaven.

This reminds us of the Father's transcendence. I know it's a big word. His transcendence and his sovereignty. And it also reminds me I can't control Him. If you think for one moment that you can twist God's arm into making him answer a prayer for you, you're wrong.

What I want to do is get in line with him where he can bless me according to his will. I love this passage. And Ecclesiastes 5:2. I don't have it in your study notes, but write it down. Ecclesiastes 5:2.

It says this. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of the Lord. What does that sound like? Sounds like prayer to me. Let me read that again.

Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. What I want to know is that have you come to that place and that experience where you've been so empty that the only thing that will satisfy is what God will fill you with? Because he's the God of heaven, and there's no container on earth that can contain his fullness.

Even when he would come to the tabernacle and the temple, it couldn't contain him. When Isaiah saw him in the temple, the temple couldn't contain him. The only thing that contained him is when God put on flesh, and his name is Jesus Christ. And he promised that the same Spirit that raised him from the dead, guess where it is now? It's in us.

If we've accepted Christ, that heavenly God lives inside of us. Third one hallowed Be your name. We need to praise God for the greatness, the greatness of his name. Hallowed again, means this separateness, that his name is not like any other name on the face of this planet. On one hand, we need to be careful how we use his name.

I mean, isn't that what the third Commandment said? Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And what we were taught is this. Don't say GD it's so much more. It's so much more.

It means that I'm living in such a way that I don't bring defacement to his name. In Ezekiel 36, verses 20 and following, he begins to scold the Israelites for defacing his name among the nations. So what did God do? He sent his son to die on a cross to bring salvation first to the Jew and then to the nations to make his name great again. So I'm asking you, in your life, how do you make great the name of the Lord?

Or how. How do you deface his name? Fred Lodge said earlier, as we were talking to an individual, he said, you're not gonna live a perfect life. Well, we won't. But how can I make God great in my life if I'm continuing to stumble in sin?

Because I run back to him every time. I run back to him every time. I don't go down that slope and continue in my sin. I don't try to justify it, try to pass it off. I realize that I have been branded by.

By the name of Jesus. And so, like the psalmist wrote, not to us, O Lord, but to your name. We give glory elsewhere. Where he said, I will sing praises to you before all the gods. I will bow down towards your holy temple and give thanks to your name.

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights. Praise his host. Praise him, angels.

Praise him, sun and moon. Praise him, stars of the light. Praise him the name of the Lord. When I begin praying like that, it changes the way I see things. It changes the way I approach God.

It changes my confidence. It changes my energy, and it gives me fuel for faith because I have placed God in my heart where he needs to be on the throne. It changes me just coming to go, God, I've messed up again. Would you help me through this situation? He goes, God, before I ask you anything, let my words be few.

You are holy. You are majestic. You are awesome. You are wonderful. You are awesome like you.

Just get it in your mind and you begin to let the Lord fill Your cup with praise. For this reason, Paul said God exalted Christ because he died and was raised again and bestowed on him the name above every name. So. So that the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven, on earth and under the earth, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Get this to the glory of the Father.

There's salvation by no one else. For there's no other name under heaven by which men must be saved but the name of Jesus. So we pray this way. We praise God for being our God. We praise him for his excellence, and we praise him for the greatness of his name.

What would it look like in your prayer praying life if you were to start doing that before you ask a thing? Don't. This. This means you can't pray in your car, folks. I mean, you can pray in your car, but I don't know about you, but I dodge people and deer, and I don't stay very focused.

I need to separate myself long enough to get my mind focused on who it is that I'm talking to, where he is and how great he is. It's worship. That's why we call this praying worshipfully. See, this is what happens. We need to let the overflow of worship be the fuel of our faith, that it needs to be the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Or as the psalmist wrote, I will bless the Lord at all times and his praise shall be continually on my lips.

It just does something. I can't explain it, but when we come to the Lord, just completely empty of ourself, when I allow myself to go, you know, there's nothing else on this earth that can satisfy me but my Father. When it's empty, empty, and it's cleaned by the blood of Jesus, then something begins to happen. Like when I begin to pray. Say, lord, thank you so much for being my God.

Thank you, Lord, for being so awesome. For being full of love and mercy and grace. God, thank you for not giving me what I deserve. Thank you, Lord, for sending your son to die on the cross for me. Thank you, Lord, that you see everything and you know everything.

God, thank you that you're other than all the disappointments in this world. Thank you that you are enthroned on heaven and above the stars of the sky. Thank you that you're bigger than any storm, anything that can come in my life, whatever earthquake, whatever hurricane can come. Thank you, Lord, that you are awesome and majestic and that you are holy. Listen, listen, listen, guys.

I get to that point and I'm Filled to the full, as Paul wrote in Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 19. But then I just keep on going. And God, Lord, thank you for your love. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, for being awesome.

You see what's happening now? Oh, when I begin to praise the Lord and it becomes first and I make him my priority, it isn't just filled up, it's flowing over, Filled to the full and overflowing with praise. Why? Because God is good. He's more than deserving of our praise, is he not?

You prepare before me a table in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. You know the next one? My cup. What does it do?

What I want to challenge you to do right now is just whatever you've got, close it up. I want you to bow your head. This is going to make you uncomfortable, and that's okay for the next three minutes. Can we do three minutes, little exercise? Three minutes.

I want you to bow your head, and all I want you to do is focus on who God is. I want you to focus on where he is, and I want you to focus on the greatness of his name. I don't want you to ask him for anything. I mean, it's tempting, but I want you to sit there. Maybe all you can do in these next three minutes is say, God, you are awesome.

If that's all you can muster, great. But then sit there and dwell on that, and the spirit of God may erupt in your life. Say, well, God, you are so merciful. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your love.

Thank you that you are above and over all things. Just take three minutes to sit there and dwell on who God is, where God is, and the greatness of his name. And then when that's over, the band's gonna come up, they're gonna start singing. This altar's gonna be open. It's open now.

You can come pray up here if you want to. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, don't leave this place. Come take one of our pastors by the hand and say, lord, I need to be saved today. I've played this religious game for way too long, and he's not my God. Tell me how I can be saved.

Or maybe you just need to come say, you know what? I just need somebody to pray for me. I need them to pray for me right now. When they start playing, you start moving, you start standing. Father, we love you.

We bless your name. You're good to us. Lord, Father, you're holy. You're other than us. Thank you that you're other than us, God.

You're enthroned in the heavens and you see all things and you know all things and you hear all things.

I humble myself before you, God, because of your greatness.

I'm blown away, God, by the power of your name. I'm blown away, God, with just the knowledge that you have all knowledge. I'm blown away, God, that you are above everything you know my past, my present and my future. Thank you that you're a merciful God. Thank you, your God.

Grace.

Sit there and focus on those things. Focus.

Let God be enthroned in your heart.