October 20-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:9, “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven,”
Observe what it is saying.
In this sermon where Jesus lays out the nature and character of His kingdom, He gives us a very clear picture of what it looks like to be His disciple and a member of His kingdom. I love the fact that Jesus not only tells us what not to do in prayer but goes on to give us a model for praying. He tells us that we should not babble mindlessly in long public prayers for show but go to a solitary place where we can spend quality time with our Father. Now, Jesus turns to giving us the content as a guide for all of our praying. He reminds us with the word “Our” that we belong to a community of believers. We do not live out our Christian faith in isolation but we are together in this. “Father” communicates the personal and close relationship God desires to have with each of us as His beloved children on whom He has lavished His extravagant love. This same Father longs to give good gifts to His kids because He knows exactly what we need before we pray. Since He is the one true God, He is in heaven, separate from His creation, all powerful, sovereign, reigning over all, able to deliver on His promises and our requests. In these few words of prayer, we discover we can come confidently before God as our loving Father who knows us each by name but yet rules His whole universe from the highest throne.
Relate it to your life.
My praying should be filled with confidence because I have a loving Father who is in the position to deliver on His every promise and prayer uttered according to His will.
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, thank You for being the perfect God who knows me intimately and cares for my every need, and yet rules in Sovereign power far above all creation. Amen.
October 21-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:9b, hallowed be your name,
Observe what it is saying.
When we understand Who we are addressing in prayer, then we will join heaven in declaring the holiness of our Father. When we ask for His name to be hallowed, we understand His name represents His glorious nature. Everything about God is holy. When we call Him by name in prayer, then we will humble ourselves before His wholly otherness as the one and only God who reigns triumphant and rules over all. When we grasp the true nature of God, then we will see what the prophet Isaiah saw: the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne as the seraphim called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” In a similar vision, the Apostle John had a similar vision, as recorded in Revelation: the living creatures were around the throne and never stopped declaring, “Holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” If the closest beings to the throne declare God as holy 3 times, then can we do any less? Cultural Christianity has severely dimmed our vision of how majestic our God is. We have a much weaker view and do not grasp how utterly different God is from the world’s priorities and passions. If we are going to pray this prayer as Jesus intended, then we will respond as Isaiah did, “Woe to me, I am a man of unclean lips,” and we will respond as the 24 elders in Revelation and fall down before Him in total abandon. Such heartfelt responses reveal that I am totally undone in His presence and have nothing to offer but my whole self.
Relate it to your life.
When is the last time I responded to the Lord with such conviction when I prayed and worshiped Him?
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, holy be Your name in my life, on my lips, and in my obedience to Your will. Amen.
October 22-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:10, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Observe what it is saying.
The first part of the prayer focuses on the holiness of God and the priority of the kingdom. We do not pray asking first for our stuff. We begin with recognition and adoration for Who we are praying to and then we surrender ourselves to God’s perfect will being done. Jesus brought His kingdom to earth when He first came. Our prayer is that the kingdom will continue to infiltrate earth just as it defines heaven. As the Sermon on the Mount reveals the nature and ethic of this kingdom, we are to embody it, and by doing so together, we answer this prayer through our lifestyle and witness. The kingdom has come, is coming, and will fully take over at Christ’s return. We are told to pray for its coming and for God’s will to be done beautifully, wonderfully, and supernaturally just as it is perfectly known in the eternal realm. The heart and desire of every true Christ follower is that God will sovereignly rule our lives, our churches, our communities, and our nations. This is not a simple ritualistic prayer but one that calls us to absolutely surrender ourselves to the authority of God’s rule by following His will as known in Scripture.
Relate it to your life.
My driving desire is for the kingdom to come and God’s will to be done in me just as God desires it to be.
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, may it be so. May You rule the earth and by the power of the Holy Spirit may Your perfect will be done in my life. Amen.
October 23-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:11, Give us today our daily bread.
Observe what it is saying.
In our model prayer, we find the place where me make our requests. It is a rather simple one. Give us food to eat. In a time and culture where each day’s meal was difficult to get, they understood the angst of wondering where their next meal would come. So, this was no mindless prayer but one that required a deep trust in the Lord to provide what they needed. It was also a call back to their history when God fed them day by day with manna in the wilderness. It was there, they were taught to trust Him for each day’s provision. In the same way, this calls us to trust in the Lord for our daily needs. It is here we, as His children, ask our Father to supply our needs, heal our hurts, and help others. It recognizes that we are not in control of our lives as we might think we are. It does not ask for what is extravagant, but for what is necessary. It is, also, an appropriate time to give thanks for all that God has provided and what He will continue to do. We could summarize the first four parts of the prayer in relation to what we are to do: I acknowledge, I worship, I surrender, I trust.
Relate it to your life.
All good things come from God so I can trust Him to provide all that I need when I need it.
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, I ask that You will provide exactly what I need to live for You this day. I trust You for food, housing, and clothing. I ask that You will heal my hurts and help my loved ones to know and follow You. Amen.
October 24-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:12,14-15, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Observe what it is saying.
Our model prayer includes seeking spiritual wellness. Forgiveness is central to the kingdom of God. In fact, Jesus immediately returns to this topic after He finishes giving the prayer. If we do not get forgiveness with God and one another, we do not get the kingdom of God. We pray and confess to receive forgiveness so that our relationship with the Father can be whole and well. We do not want anything to hinder our walk with Jesus so we make sure we humbly confess our sin. In doing so, we recognize that staying whole with God also involves staying whole with one another. We cannot expect to be forgiven by God if we have unrepented sin of harboring resentment toward someone else. The very nature of our forgiveness with God demands that we forgive each other. The result is disastrous if we fail to do so. Let us be clear, we will not be forgiven. As difficult as it is to forgive others for the real hurts and pains they cause, the nature and prayer of the kingdom of God is for heaven to be on earth where all relationships are whole and well.
Relate it to your life.
If I do not practice forgiveness in my relationships, I cannot expect to have forgiveness with my God.
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, I want to be whole with You. I confess and ask forgiveness for the things I have said and done to bring harm to You and others, as well as, the things not done in obedience to You to be a blessing to others. Please, give me the grace and strength to forgive as I desire to be forgiven. Amen.
October 25-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:13, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Observe what it is saying.
We ask God to help us to recognize and resist temptation. This is a real threat for every Christian that never ends. The specific temptation may change, but no matter our age, the enemy is always seeking to find an entry point into our lives. The devil prowls around our lives like a roaring lion looking for a way to take us down. The more we seek the heart of God and His kingdom, the enemy becomes more intensely focused on our weakness in order to take us down. As a lion in the wild with its prey, Satan has a greater chance to bring us down if we remove ourselves from the pack, the body of Christ. If we are serious about this prayer being answered, then we will make sure we stay faithfully connected to Christ and His Church. When we fully comprehend the nature of our spiritual battle, we will passionately pray that we will be delivered out of the clutches of the enemy’s attack. We need to understand this is a life and death prayer! David prayed in Psalm 23 for the Lord to lead him in the paths of righteousness which is the positive side of this prayer. May we have such a focused heart to faithfully follow Jesus wherever He leads us doing His holy will.
Relate it to your life.
I will passionately pray for victory as I take Ephesians 6:11-12 to heart: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, grant me spiritual success in the life and death battle for my soul. Amen.
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:9, “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven,”
Observe what it is saying.
In this sermon where Jesus lays out the nature and character of His kingdom, He gives us a very clear picture of what it looks like to be His disciple and a member of His kingdom. I love the fact that Jesus not only tells us what not to do in prayer but goes on to give us a model for praying. He tells us that we should not babble mindlessly in long public prayers for show but go to a solitary place where we can spend quality time with our Father. Now, Jesus turns to giving us the content as a guide for all of our praying. He reminds us with the word “Our” that we belong to a community of believers. We do not live out our Christian faith in isolation but we are together in this. “Father” communicates the personal and close relationship God desires to have with each of us as His beloved children on whom He has lavished His extravagant love. This same Father longs to give good gifts to His kids because He knows exactly what we need before we pray. Since He is the one true God, He is in heaven, separate from His creation, all powerful, sovereign, reigning over all, able to deliver on His promises and our requests. In these few words of prayer, we discover we can come confidently before God as our loving Father who knows us each by name but yet rules His whole universe from the highest throne.
Relate it to your life.
My praying should be filled with confidence because I have a loving Father who is in the position to deliver on His every promise and prayer uttered according to His will.
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, thank You for being the perfect God who knows me intimately and cares for my every need, and yet rules in Sovereign power far above all creation. Amen.
October 21-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:9b, hallowed be your name,
Observe what it is saying.
When we understand Who we are addressing in prayer, then we will join heaven in declaring the holiness of our Father. When we ask for His name to be hallowed, we understand His name represents His glorious nature. Everything about God is holy. When we call Him by name in prayer, then we will humble ourselves before His wholly otherness as the one and only God who reigns triumphant and rules over all. When we grasp the true nature of God, then we will see what the prophet Isaiah saw: the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne as the seraphim called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” In a similar vision, the Apostle John had a similar vision, as recorded in Revelation: the living creatures were around the throne and never stopped declaring, “Holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” If the closest beings to the throne declare God as holy 3 times, then can we do any less? Cultural Christianity has severely dimmed our vision of how majestic our God is. We have a much weaker view and do not grasp how utterly different God is from the world’s priorities and passions. If we are going to pray this prayer as Jesus intended, then we will respond as Isaiah did, “Woe to me, I am a man of unclean lips,” and we will respond as the 24 elders in Revelation and fall down before Him in total abandon. Such heartfelt responses reveal that I am totally undone in His presence and have nothing to offer but my whole self.
Relate it to your life.
When is the last time I responded to the Lord with such conviction when I prayed and worshiped Him?
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, holy be Your name in my life, on my lips, and in my obedience to Your will. Amen.
October 22-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:10, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Observe what it is saying.
The first part of the prayer focuses on the holiness of God and the priority of the kingdom. We do not pray asking first for our stuff. We begin with recognition and adoration for Who we are praying to and then we surrender ourselves to God’s perfect will being done. Jesus brought His kingdom to earth when He first came. Our prayer is that the kingdom will continue to infiltrate earth just as it defines heaven. As the Sermon on the Mount reveals the nature and ethic of this kingdom, we are to embody it, and by doing so together, we answer this prayer through our lifestyle and witness. The kingdom has come, is coming, and will fully take over at Christ’s return. We are told to pray for its coming and for God’s will to be done beautifully, wonderfully, and supernaturally just as it is perfectly known in the eternal realm. The heart and desire of every true Christ follower is that God will sovereignly rule our lives, our churches, our communities, and our nations. This is not a simple ritualistic prayer but one that calls us to absolutely surrender ourselves to the authority of God’s rule by following His will as known in Scripture.
Relate it to your life.
My driving desire is for the kingdom to come and God’s will to be done in me just as God desires it to be.
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, may it be so. May You rule the earth and by the power of the Holy Spirit may Your perfect will be done in my life. Amen.
October 23-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:11, Give us today our daily bread.
Observe what it is saying.
In our model prayer, we find the place where me make our requests. It is a rather simple one. Give us food to eat. In a time and culture where each day’s meal was difficult to get, they understood the angst of wondering where their next meal would come. So, this was no mindless prayer but one that required a deep trust in the Lord to provide what they needed. It was also a call back to their history when God fed them day by day with manna in the wilderness. It was there, they were taught to trust Him for each day’s provision. In the same way, this calls us to trust in the Lord for our daily needs. It is here we, as His children, ask our Father to supply our needs, heal our hurts, and help others. It recognizes that we are not in control of our lives as we might think we are. It does not ask for what is extravagant, but for what is necessary. It is, also, an appropriate time to give thanks for all that God has provided and what He will continue to do. We could summarize the first four parts of the prayer in relation to what we are to do: I acknowledge, I worship, I surrender, I trust.
Relate it to your life.
All good things come from God so I can trust Him to provide all that I need when I need it.
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, I ask that You will provide exactly what I need to live for You this day. I trust You for food, housing, and clothing. I ask that You will heal my hurts and help my loved ones to know and follow You. Amen.
October 24-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:12,14-15, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Observe what it is saying.
Our model prayer includes seeking spiritual wellness. Forgiveness is central to the kingdom of God. In fact, Jesus immediately returns to this topic after He finishes giving the prayer. If we do not get forgiveness with God and one another, we do not get the kingdom of God. We pray and confess to receive forgiveness so that our relationship with the Father can be whole and well. We do not want anything to hinder our walk with Jesus so we make sure we humbly confess our sin. In doing so, we recognize that staying whole with God also involves staying whole with one another. We cannot expect to be forgiven by God if we have unrepented sin of harboring resentment toward someone else. The very nature of our forgiveness with God demands that we forgive each other. The result is disastrous if we fail to do so. Let us be clear, we will not be forgiven. As difficult as it is to forgive others for the real hurts and pains they cause, the nature and prayer of the kingdom of God is for heaven to be on earth where all relationships are whole and well.
Relate it to your life.
If I do not practice forgiveness in my relationships, I cannot expect to have forgiveness with my God.
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, I want to be whole with You. I confess and ask forgiveness for the things I have said and done to bring harm to You and others, as well as, the things not done in obedience to You to be a blessing to others. Please, give me the grace and strength to forgive as I desire to be forgiven. Amen.
October 25-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 6:13, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Observe what it is saying.
We ask God to help us to recognize and resist temptation. This is a real threat for every Christian that never ends. The specific temptation may change, but no matter our age, the enemy is always seeking to find an entry point into our lives. The devil prowls around our lives like a roaring lion looking for a way to take us down. The more we seek the heart of God and His kingdom, the enemy becomes more intensely focused on our weakness in order to take us down. As a lion in the wild with its prey, Satan has a greater chance to bring us down if we remove ourselves from the pack, the body of Christ. If we are serious about this prayer being answered, then we will make sure we stay faithfully connected to Christ and His Church. When we fully comprehend the nature of our spiritual battle, we will passionately pray that we will be delivered out of the clutches of the enemy’s attack. We need to understand this is a life and death prayer! David prayed in Psalm 23 for the Lord to lead him in the paths of righteousness which is the positive side of this prayer. May we have such a focused heart to faithfully follow Jesus wherever He leads us doing His holy will.
Relate it to your life.
I will passionately pray for victory as I take Ephesians 6:11-12 to heart: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Do something.
Our Father in heaven, grant me spiritual success in the life and death battle for my soul. Amen.
Posted in Daily Devotionals