Alrighty, I think I'll take advantage of that lull. Thank God we've got a little more elbow room today. Not sure, maybe some of you like the intimacy of the teen room, but I kind of like the open space. So I'm going to thank God that we're in here. I'm going to thank God we have a roof over our head at all, but he gets all the honor and all the glory. So we'll pray and we'll get started. Lord, thank you so, so much. And even though we're here, I gotta think we take that for granted. I don't know how many of us actually stopped today and think that we could have easily not been here. All over this globe, Lord, you've allowed people to not be here, whether they're your children and you took them home or not. I thank you that we have that to look forward to, but I'll also thank you that that wasn't today, that we do get to continue to enjoy each other's company, continue to get to praise you and honor you and study your word together. Lord, we know it's all in your perfect time. Nothing can happen to us until You decide it's time, and until then, you will continue to work on us and have your spirit speak to us and in us and through us. And I thank you for that confidence. Thank you for your patience and long-suffering as we try to get it right. So I thank you for every person that's here. Thank you for everyone who's coming. I just look forward to your spirit speaking here, and in service, and even in the potluck, Lord, that everything we say and do brings you honor and glory. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, Matthew 6. We are chugging along. Last week, Mike got us started in Matthew 6. He did the first 8 verses. Today, I am only doing verses 9 and 10, which might sound strange on the surface. Wow, only two verses? Yeah, wait till you see what those two verses are. They are the first two verses of the Lord's Prayer. which isn't exactly a long prayer. So the fact that we're breaking the Lord's Prayer up, you might think, well, why don't we just do it all at once? We could. But if you know the Lord's Prayer, you do know that there kind of is a division of parts to it. There is a mindset of who you're speaking to. That's what we're going to focus on today. And then a more of what I would call the petitions, even though they're all called petitions, but the petitions that you go before God with, that Mike will talk about next week. And again, God's perfect timing. Some of you know that I did a sermon not that long ago on the second half of the Lord's Prayer. So I just couldn't help but have a little smile on my face when I saw that God said, yeah, now go do the other part. So we're going to look at the first two verses. of the Lord's Prayer. Before we do, I want to see if anyone here is like me. We'll see if anyone peaked or not. Don't think about this too much, but just if I were to ask you, why did Jesus give us the Lord's Prayer? Why did he even, what led him, what initiated or instigated him to share the Lord's Prayer? Is there anyone here who would be like me and just say, Yeah, because the disciples ask. That would always be my...Lord teach us to pray. Right? Look, I guess I knew this. Maybe I forgot. That's the Luke version, not the Matthew version. And I'm giving you a little spoiler alert because I really enjoyed studying the difference between the two of them. So there's probably going to be a sermon coming up real quick on that aspect of the Lord's Prayer. But that's not today. Today we are in the Matthew portion where nobody asks him, Lord, how should we pray? But if you were here last week, you know that Mike spent all of last week telling us that Christ was showing them who do not be like, don't pray like the Pharisees, don't pray like this. So I think we would agree it makes sense. And he transitions from that to, but here's how you should pray. Okay. So here we go. Matthew six verses nine and 10, pray then like this, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's as far as we're going to go today. You will see that the title of the notes is, who do you pray to? And maybe some of you heard, I already had a good discussion with that in Judy, long distance from here to here, over the different answers that people could have to that. People could say, I pray to God, I pray to Mary, I pray to my dead aunt, I pray to, That's not really what we're doing here. Okay, if your answer isn't God, as a shepherd of this church, you have to tell me. You have to let me know if you have infiltrated this church as someone who thinks we pray to anyone other than God. Okay, we need to talk. I hope we don't need to talk. But oh my goodness, I would say based on what Jesus is sharing right here, if your only answer is God, that's as far as you can go. Who do you pray to? God. You're missing it big time. Big time if that's the extent of who you pray to. Because guess who the Pharisees prayed to? God. And guess who many people on this earth today pray to? God. Like, it's the right answer, but it's not The right answer. It's not in totality who we should be praying to. We're doing a little family feud here. Okay. Is God the number one answer? Yes. But does Jesus want it to be the number one answer? I'm going to argue no. He doesn't just want to sing, I pray to God. And I think he makes that clear in these two verses. So that's what we're going to talk about today. I'm going to give three and they all have question marks. So Jake, you just make sure that I explain all the question marks because the question marks do take on different meanings based on where they are. But obviously the very first thing you need to ask yourself, and that's what this is about. Are we trying to learn from the Bible? Yes. Have most of us known the Lord's Prayer since we were three? Probably. We know the Lord's Prayer, but do we take something from it? Does it help us, like the disciples asked, know how to pray better? Let's not take for granted that the first words out of Jesus' mouth when he said, pray then like this, is our Father. Okay? So that's the first question. Who do you pray to? Your Father? And the question mark is there for two reasons. The first is the obvious one. Is he your father? If you're one of these people who think that God is everyone's father, then you're forgetting that Jesus came right out and said that you were of your father, the devil. God is everyone's creator. I could technically argue that God is no one's father. Technically, God didn't procreate. God didn't have children. We're going to look at a verse in a second. I don't want to get too ahead of myself. But that question mark is firstly there to make sure you're a Christian. Okay, you can pray to God all you want. If he's not your father, please don't expect anything, even though he does. He blesses everyone, to be honest. The breath in our lungs is a blessing from God. But is he your father? going on the hope slash assumption that everyone can say yes to that, well then is that who you're praying to? That's what I'm asking you. When you pray, not is he your father, but are you praying to him like he's your father? That's something that I would have taken for granted. I am blessed beyond measure to the point that sometimes I got to remind myself to not feel guilty about it. I grew up with a loving father. I know what it's like to have a loving father. I grew up in a Christian home. Calling God father, like, that's not difficult for me. But I have learned in talking with people and counseling with people. Some people have a big time problem with it. Sue, I guess, is with the Sunday school, but she has shared many times. that she struggled, struggled, past tense, seeing God as her father because of her lack of a relationship with her own father. So I can't take for granted that everyone here is going to say, well, duh, of course he's my father. All right, yeah, he's your father, but do you pray to him like he's your father? So I came up with two bullet points. You do not have to use mine, but if you're gonna have to use mine, yours had better be better, okay? Otherwise use mine. Two things that don't confirm he's your father, but that should affect the way we pray to him as our father. So the first one is your father who loves you. The question mark there isn't there because I'm wondering if he loves you. It's because I'm wondering, do you pray to him like that? Do you have that intimate, personal relationship with your father that you speak to him knowing how much he loves you? Jake, can you read for me? First, John 3.1, please. See what kind of love the Father has given to us. the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. And I'll be honest, that's my fault. I meant to take that end part off simply because the focus is see what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. Not that we are children of God. I know what the rest of the verse says. I get it. But it says that we should be called children of God, that our creator, that this God of the universe says, call me father. I will call you child. When it says, and so we are, the and so we are only because he says we are. You understand what I'm saying? We do not hold any status before. Well, you have to take care of me. You're my dad. No, no. He says, I want you to call me father. I want you to see me. In fact, I love how John words it. See what kind of love the father has given to us. There are other verses, right? In this is love that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, for God so loved the world, he gave us a... But in this case, as John's writing to people that he loves, the beginning of 1st John makes that clear, see what kind of love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, that we could have that title, that he wants us to have that kind of relationship with him. Is that in your prayers? I can somewhat speak for Jewish people because I work at a Jewish school and I've actually asked some. No, they don't feel we should be allowed to have that intimate type of relationship. They call God father, but that's because God's father of everything. God's creator of everything. He's father of everything. But in the ones I've spoken to there, there just isn't, I don't know, there isn't that intimate relationship that I really believe Jesus is saying should be at the forefront of our prayers. Okay, so do you pray to your father? A, is he your father? B, is that your mindset as you're praying to him that he loves you? Gabe, would you mind reading for me Jeremiah 319, which I know you're just going to flip the paper, which means you are reading from the ESV, but I specifically have to say from the ESV, please go. I said, I made a big deal about diversion because In the ESV, and you know, based on the manuscript or whatever, I said, how I would set you among my sons and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me my father and would not turn from following me. The rest of Jeremiah three is not pretty. Just know that. It's all talking about. Israel's disobedience, their unfaithfulness to God, and the way they word it here, you can hear God's heart for what He wants. He wants that relationship with us. Now, if you were to read it in the New King James, and based on how I studied, I'm better in Greek than Hebrew, but It says, how can I put you among the children and give you a pleasant land, a beautiful heritage of the host of nations? And I said, you shall call me my father and not turn away from me. I don't want to lose anyone here. But in one version, it's kind of God saying it's going to happen. And we know one day it's going to happen. But oh, my goodness, I just love this version here. I feel like it's just, it's God pouring his heart out, not just that we can call him father, but how badly he wants us to, how badly he wants to have that kind of relationship with us. And again, I take that for granted because I'm spoiled, but I don't know how many of you in here struggle with that. I will never forget, for those of you who remember Wanda Lowney, back when we had the in-reach adult class, and I just made, we were studying the Lord's Prayer, and I just made the somewhat, I thought, obvious comment that it's so much easier to pray than study the Bible, because in prayer you're just talking to God, and in Bible study, you really gotta work. And if you knew Wanda, actually, John, I find it way easier to study the Bible. I don't know how to talk to God. I feel weird talking to God. I mean, you're talking to God. And that has always stuck with me that I gotta stop thinking everybody shares my experience. There's a lot of people in this room. Do I hope all of you can call God Father? Yes. But if you can, are you living in that? Are you taking advantage of that? that God wants you to call Him Father. He wants you to know how much He loves you. Is that in the heart of your prayers as you go before Him, as you raise your petitions to Him, as you raise prayer to Him? Is it with that, not just awareness that He's your Father, but just being infused with that understanding that, again, I don't think any of us are ever going to fully get, but He loves us. He loves us. And then my second bullet is that He provides for us, which is more so what Mike's going to talk about next week, that we go to God for our needs. But Mike, I guess on that note, if you could read for me, Matthew 7, 9 to 11. Which one of you, your son asked a friend, Don't tell me we don't got to read this I know we got to read this Pastor just mentioned it in the men's group yesterday how he pastor believes everything this Bible says but oh my goodness sometimes it's tough to step out on that belief I know God's my father. I know he hears me. But how many of us pray for something and then go on and worry about it anyway? How many of us pray for something and know that God loves us but still feels like we got to take care of it in case he doesn't? Like, I'm not even trying to knock you down. I'm trying to be real here. If he really is our father, who really does love us and really can provide for us in a way that no one else can. I love my children. I want to provide for my children. But I have no problem admitting that I can't do everything for them. There's going to be things that I can't do no matter how much I love them. That will never be gotten. Ever. Is that at the heart of our prayers? Even when we are nervous about a diagnosis or a lost job or a... I'm not saying don't be nervous. The Bible says cast your cares on him. But as you're casting them there, are you casting them on your father who loves you and has promised to provide for you? Yeah, but John, one time I prayed for something. Look, I don't want to downplay that, but dare I say, when I say I don't care, I mean it in a holy way. Is that possible? Yeah, good, good. Yeah, I'm exempt because I'm in this chair. Look, he loves you and he'll provide for you so things don't go your way. Maybe that wasn't the way they were supposed to go. Like, we have to have that mindset. We have to say, let God be true and every man a liar. James 1, 17. Becky, do you have a paper? I love this verse. Every good and perfect gift is from above. I mean, I quote this all the time, but every good gift means it's what you need. It's good. It's intrinsically good. That's what the word means. But every perfect gift means it's good is what you need. Perfect is when you need it. That's it. Man, why did I meet my wife at 22? Because I didn't. Because it was God's timing. She is the good gift he had for me, but perfect was, and you will meet her when you're 28, whatever I was. But we have to, we can't just say we believe that, but not let it impact our lives. I believe it's at the heart of what Jesus is telling us when he says to pray to our Father. We are lifting up praise, honor, glory, and requests to the one who loves us, to the one who says, call me daddy, and to the one who says, listen, I've got this. I can provide for you. Now, pop quiz. So it's OK. I'm a math teacher. I'm used to people not answering. Do you happen to know what James 117 comes right after? And please don't say James 116. Yeah, he comes after that too. That no man say when he is deceived, I have been deceived by God, for God is not tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. And when that desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. But every good gift and every perfect gift, like, I'm sorry if I did that too quickly. But the context for that verse is you do things your way and what you think you want. Oh, my goodness, that's going to take you to the wrong place. You want a good gift. You want a perfect gift. You go to your father for it. And you trust that your father who loves you and provides for you is going to do what's right. And that segues us perfect into the second question. OK, who do you pray to? Yes, the answer is God. But the answer needs to be your father. And the answer needs to be your king. I'm using that word because he says, thy kingdom come. Again, a phrase that technically doesn't make any sense because God doesn't have a kingdom. Everything's his. It's not like one area is his. We know. thy kingdom come can mean a bunch of things but in general it's a submission before God saying thy will be done not my will but yours Christ's own words is an acknowledgement that he's not just we can't just see him as a father now Robert you barely know me at all so you go anywhere you want with this do you agree that we can't just see God as a father why talk to me like a human What do you think? Okay, so I'm gonna be a little sarcastic here, but you'll get used to me so I can just spin the wheel and whichever one comes up that day Oh, it's father. He's father today. Come on. I can't be the only person in here if he's only my father I I know we should respect daddy, but come on, like there's gotta be that level of, I've shared openly because of my spoiled upbringing, I find it so much easier to see God as my father than as my Lord, even though I treat him as Lord. But, but, you know, I just, I feel stupid saying this, but I feel like I got the intimate part. I'm so comfortable going before God that I got to remind myself I'm going before God. So that's where I feel the word king is important, is vital, because otherwise we are just going to go to him. What does James say? You ask and receive not because you ask according to your own desires. Right? We're supposed to go before him. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Not my will, but can we honestly say that that's our prayers? And again, I'm not stepping on toes here. But really, is God our genie? Is God our grandfather, who just hands us five bucks for no reason? Or is he our father, but more importantly, our king? Many verses where God says, would you do this for your dad? Would you do this for your governor? Right? So let's see. Sean, can you read for me Malachi 1.14? Oh, and I'm sorry. So the first blank is any English majors in the room? You'd be so proud that I used whom there. Whom is the proper. Whom you fear. Now, if you want to put the word respect, go ahead. But I put fear on purpose because I admit I have trouble I sound so bad, I have trouble fearing God, but you know, I focus so much on his love that I gotta remember, listen, this is God. All right, don't get too buddy-buddy here. When John saw Jesus, he didn't high-five him, he didn't hug him, he fell at his feet, he's dead. So I don't mind having that word fear there, even though I understand it can take us down certain roads. You put what word you want. But as king, there should be a level of fear. And what does he say in Malachi 1.14? Okay, I think this a because he referred to himself as a king He doesn't explicitly say the word prayer, but he does say bow, which is something that you do before God Did they keep their vow somebody played devil's advocate here? Technically, yeah, they said they'd make a sacrifice they made a sacrifice but what was the sacrifice and blemished, garbage. I don't need the sheep anyway. Fine. I'll let this one. And God's like, Are you kidding me? I think you're forgetting who I am. And my hope is that no one here. I hope I don't do it. But I try to consciously make sure I don't. Don't get so comfortable with God being daddy. that we forget God is King, that it's not about us. It's not about our will being done. Yes, you can bring your petitions to him. Lord, I want this job. Lord, please heal this person. Look, he doesn't mind as long as in the end it's, but your will be done. And I know there's people who argue with that. I have had people argue with me about that. They call that a lack of faith. Oh, don't tack that on the end because then God thinks you don't really believe he can do it. I know he can do it. I just don't know if he's going to, and I'm okay with that because he's king. He's in charge. He's in control. So when I go before him, whether it be a vow, whether it be a petition, whether it be anything, it needs to be with the fear, respect, honor, whatever word you want to put in there that a king deserves. Let's go with, oh, go, damn. I think they do in 910, actually, if you want to read it. Proverbs 9 10 No, that is right, he's right on a couple night I purposely skipped hallowed be thy name You can probably figure out why we will definitely circle back to what I promised but from a king point of view Probably the more popular proverb is the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom But fools despise instruction and knowledge if you've heard that before I like this one better. I because I'm hoping none of us are fools, first of all, but also because of the circular nature of this verse. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is insight. I would never argue with the Bible, but I think God's okay with me kind of flipping that. In math, it's called the converse statement, that if you're growing in knowledge of the Holy One, It's helping you grow in insight. As you grow in insight, you can't help but grow in the fear of the Lord, because you do start seeing him as who he truly is. Darlene was praying it this morning, that as she reads God's word, she was just thanking him, that he's just revealing things to him and helping her see him in ways that she'd never seen him before. And my mind just keeps going back to That's why John has to remember he's not just dad, he's also Lord, King. But probably some in here have to remember he's not just King. I almost feel guilty saying that, but Jesus is saying it. He is King. But that doesn't mean you cower in the corner in fear. And you're just all right. He's a king who wants you to love him, who wants you to call. How amazing that this king wants you to call him father, wants to and hopefully has adopted you as sons and daughters. How can that not permeate our prayers to him, our relationship with him, our conversations with him? I certainly hope it does. So yeah, so it's all over in Proverbs. that the fear of the Lord isn't just a fear that makes you cower. It helps us grow. It helps us understand him better. And as I think back over the course of my life, I said I loved my dad, but there was a time when the fear was probably greater than the love. And you know, as I understood my dad more, And it's not because he started making more sense, it's because I started living life and seeing things more the way an adult sees them, the more I really could appreciate that fear, that love, all of it. I understood. I hate little me now. and I see how much I took for granted and how much after everything they did I said yeah but you didn't like oh what a brat but I know it was said out of ignorance I know it was said out of whatever it was but as I grew in my understanding I grew in my love I grew in my respect and that should be the same thing with our Heavenly Father. Amen. Perfect. So, I'm going to put a pin in that as well because you're all pointing to our ultimate goal. I'm just trying to inch our way there, okay? So, father, I'm starting there because Jesus started there. Jesus didn't say our king who's also our father. He easily could've. He said, our father, he loves you. He wants a personal relationship with his children. But, yes, Hallelujah, thy kingdom come. Right? We say that out of respect. We say that out of fear. We say that out of honor. And that's why my second point, I really bounced around where to put this, but I ended on whom you are loyal to. I said it that way. I was just going to say whom you obey. Izzy, this is an easy question, so don't overthink it. Are there times you obey someone whether you like it or not? Yes. Your father, your boss, your whoever. Like it or not, do it. Is that the case with God? I won't even give you a chance to answer. You better believe it. Like it or not, you better obey God. But is that supposed to be our mindset? Well, I have to do it. He's king. No. Like, I assume there's no British among us. I don't think we have any experience with our attitude toward a king. But in the Bible, there is. There's kings who were loved. There's kings who were hated. They were all obeyed. In fact, the more evil they were, the more you better obey them. But God doesn't want us to obey him just because we fear him. Yes, there's a fear there. He's king. But he wants our allegiance. He wants our loyalty. And again, that's why there's question marks next to all of these. Because I don't know. I don't know the last time you asked yourself, yeah, do I really show a fear of God? I mean, I know I pray to him, but am I really loyal to him? That should be our attitude, the God that we want to serve, the God that we want to honor, that we want to lift glory to, not because, well, because if I don't, lightning might. Yeah, if he wants to, he'll hit you with lightning. God created lightning. But oh my goodness, if that is your driving force in praying to him, because you're afraid he's going to get upset, I wouldn't want that for my kids. That's not the relationship I want. So Dave, can you read Joshua 24, 15, very popular verse. Can you read my mind, sir? If you can't, it's okay. I don't blame you at all. Well, what's very interesting about what Joshua, I'll lead you right into it, about what Joshua seems to be allowing as an option. Other gods. Yeah. Whoa, Joshua, what are you, stupid? Don't tell them to. What's Joshua saying? You are the God of, you know, Abraham and Isaac. God is so beyond that other gods are false. Listen, I'm not going to twist your arm. I'm not going to force you to do this because if I did it wouldn't work. God would see right through it. If you're going to serve another god, do it. Okay, at least you think that other one's a god too, at least. But even if there were other gods, I know that sounds stupid to say, but I'm telling you right now, if there were other gods, I'm sticking to mine. Because I'm loyal to mine. Because mine said, call me father. And mine said, I love you. And mine said, I'm going to send a son to die so that you can spend eternity with me. You better believe I don't pray to God. I don't serve God. I don't blank God because I have to. Man, I hope everyone here can say that. I hope you find it an honor and a joy. Doesn't mean it's easy. Nothing worth doing is easy. But oh my goodness, I hope you want to. I hope when you're praying to God and praying that his will be done, you really mean it. And not a, because if I say his will be done, he'll be happy and then he'll do my will. No, no, I don't want my will if my will isn't his will. And that's easier said than done, but I really do mean it. And I hope everyone here means it. You're going to go pray to somebody else, pray to somebody else. I don't mean that at all. But I can't change your heart. I can't force you to want. Only the Holy Spirit can. And even the Holy Spirit isn't going to twist your arm. You can grieve him. You can quench him. You can decide, I'm going to blank. But why? That should be at the heart of our prayers as we lift our petitions to him. Cast your cares on me, but it's not about you. It's about Him. It's about giving Him the glory He deserves, not because you have to, but because you want to. So, Francer, can you read for me Joshua 1.9? Okay. Now, how many of us, again, Yes, God is with me. So I'm going to go out in fear knowing that God's got my back. And I know the video, the audio can't see I'm pointing behind me, but almost like God's coming with me. Yeah, but no, God leads. God's king. You understand? When you've got the king saying, don't be afraid, you're not stepping out there saying, all right, well, I sure hope. No, you're stepping out in confidence. You're stepping out in knowing that your God, your father, who loves you, who provides for you, who you fear in a healthy, productive, correct way, of course you want to be loyal to him. Because we know he's loyal to us. One verse I almost put down. It's in Timothy. And if we are faithless, he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. He's loyal to us. How can we not be loyal to him? Again, which is a statement for our entire life. But I'm trying to keep this focused on prayer. I don't know how you pray. I hope you pray to God. But I hope you pray to your father. Intimate relationship and I hope you pray to your king meaning an appropriate Relationship and awareness of who he is and who we are Lastly anybody want to guess what the last one is? Had to be on the list. Come on Your God I had to put God on the list because who art in heaven and Our Father, who art in heaven. And that's why, Dan, I paused on the hallowed be your name. It's one thing to hallow the name of a king. No, we're hallowing the name of a God. Could I have spent more time on that? Yes. Did God lay on my heart to do so? No. That's to each person. How are you going to hallow his name? It's not in words. I mean, it kind of is. It's nice when you verbalize it. But again, most of us weren't in prayer this morning, I get it. But Darlene, right off the bat, and Lord, I'm so sorry that I can't express in words how truly thankful I am. That's nice of her, but I guarantee you God's up in heaven saying, don't worry, kid, I get it. I know what you're trying to say. I know you want to hallow my name in ways that words can't even do it, but all that matters is you want to. Okay? Is a father worthy of respect? Yes. Not the respect that a god deserves. Is a king worthy of honor? Yes. Not the honor that a god deserves. So, of course, God is at the root of all of it. All I said at the beginning is you can't just say God. God has to mean something. It can't just be a three-letter word that people all over the world think they know what it means. He's not just a deity. He's not just a supernatural, like there's so many things you could say a God is, but our God is our father. At least it says to call him that. He is our king, which means he is worthy of all respect and honor. So the things that I put down for God, I was going to start with who created you. I guess that's a good mindset in prayer. I just had trouble seeing where I'd go with that. Okay. So again, you guys can fill in the blanks anywhere you want. But oh my goodness, you better believe he is a God who chose you. Now, don't raise your hands. You can just think within yourself. But it does feel nice when daddy chooses you for something, right? My dad wasn't any more into cars than I was. But I know some of you, you know, that first time that my dad showed me how a carburetor works. I don't even know if that sentence makes sense. I don't care. You just feel good when your dad's like, come here, I want to show you something. Your dad chooses you. We have a God. who chose us. God choosing you, great. King choosing you, wow. God choosing you? Again, I can't be the only one in the room who finds it pretty easy to close my eyes and say, dear Lord, thank you for... Just pause for a second. You're talking to God. You're talking to a God who chose you. There's so many people in this world that pray to God, but they don't know what they're doing. He didn't choose to open their eyes, at least not yet. I don't know what his plan is, but I know he chose me. So I know that I can speak to him in a way that other people just flat out can't. I'm not going to go down the whole election route, but let's go with Mike. I don't know if I had to read you. Oh, I did. All right. So let's go with Dom. Can you give me first Peter to nine? You are a chosen race. I know they're popular verses but there's a reason verses are popular oh my goodness you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation of people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. We always think proclaim his excellencies is to, who do we proclaim it to? I always think of it as the world, right? We're the ones who can give God glory, yeah, but you better be proclaiming it where? Each other and kind of the emphasis of today's passage, in your prayers, right? Half of the Lord's prayer And again, Mike, you can cover next week about the ending that isn't in all the... But I would say the beginning and the end of the Lord's Prayer that I grew up with, all praise to God, all giving Him honor and glory. They don't explicitly say that I was chosen, but I understand that I can give Him the praise and honor that He created me to give Him because He chose me to give it to Him. That's an amazing, wonderful thought that we can just hopefully do spend the rest of our lives thinking about. But the next time you pray, I hope you spend a little bit of time before you jump right into, and I need this and I need this. And he's our father. He knows our heart. He's okay with that. But oh my goodness, give him the praise that he chose you to be able to give him. 2 Timothy 1.9. How about Anthony? Can you give me 2 Timothy 1.9? Yep, not because of our works. Oh wow, John's giving me praise. Woohoo! No. No. No. John, I'm choosing you to give me praise. Jake, I'm choosing you. Simon, I'm choosing you. I don't know. Just pick a name. Like, put your name in that blank. I can't be the only one with a knot in my stomach right now. That the God of the universe said, I want praise from my creation, and you get to give it to me, and you get to give it to me, and you get to... I don't know. If that's at the forefront of your mind when you pray, keep it there. But if it's not... After spending last week talking about how not to pray, Jesus says, oh, when you do pray, pray to your father, hallow his name, his kingdom become, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. A lot of comments there that he's not just your father, your king, he is your God. And then lastly, and this is what Gabe pointed to, he chose you and he has a purpose for you. Ken, when's the last time you thought about that while you were praying? It's a game changer, I'll tell you right now. Oh my goodness, if you prayed for something with the mindset, yes, he loves you, but that can backfire when you don't get what you want and then you question his love, which is your fault. But when you remember that he has a purpose, And you know that whatever you're praying for, if you don't get it, it's only because that's not how he chose to fulfill his purpose in your life. We don't have time to talk here, but I think if I open the floor for a discussion on people who didn't get what they wanted and then later found out that was the best thing that could have happened, that if they had gotten what they wanted, this never would have happened, this blessing never could. He has a purpose. He's in control. He knows what he's doing. He chose you to give him glory. You don't think he's gonna give you everything that you need to give him that glory? But can we be honest? Sometimes the glory has to come from the things you don't get. The healing that didn't come, the job that didn't come, and you still give him glory? I'm sorry, it's a little... I don't know what word I'm trying to say. Insincere. Every time I get what I want, I point straight to good. And I hope every time you don't get what you want, you point straight to heaven, because that's he created us for a purpose. He will give us what he wants. And that's the confidence that you can go before him with. So Ephesians 2, 10, we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. A popular verse and I just don't know if it ever enters your prayer life. If it's ever a part of the confidence that you use when you go before him, Lord, I know you're my father. I know you love me. I know you'll provide for me. So I'm going to ask for this. But I know that if I don't get this, that doesn't mean that I can't fulfill the purpose you have for me. It means for some reason you said, I'm not doing it this way. I'm doing it this way. And as my king and as my God, I am going to trust in that. And I am going to praise you for it. And then lastly, Philippians 1.6, I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Let's see who can read my mind. Who was that written to? Thank you, Joey. The Philippians. And why do I focus on that? The Philippians were known as the most mature of the churches. I don't take it lightly that Paul doesn't show that confidence to every church. I'm sure Paul was confident that God could do something in them. For the Philippians, he was sure that they would, because of the path they were on, because of the focus they had. Paul was confident, and my question is, are we? Are we confident as we go before him in prayer? Are we confident in his love for us as a father, in his ability to provide for us as a father, in a fear of the king, but a king that we are loyal to? And that there's a fear there, but we are on the Lord's side. So we're not afraid of Him. We just have a fear that keeps us humble and respectful of God who chose us and has a purpose for us. You stay focused on that. You better believe that He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ. All right. So not bad for two verses, right? See, we still have another half of a prayer to look forward to next week, if God allows it. But just a beautiful mindset. Go back to the beginning. Who do you pray to? You want to add to that list? Go ahead. You pray to your shepherd. You pray to your... I know. But do you pray to your father? Is he your father? And do you see him that way? Is he your king? And do you see him that way? And is he your God? No, I could have put more there. I get it. But in the end, if he's just a father or just a king, all this is a way he's God and he chose us and he has a purpose for us. And I hope that helps us go before him even more intimately than an hour ago. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you. I know how you've spoken to my heart. I know not just in the last few weeks, certainly in the last few decades, I've been blessed to see your hand on my life, to see you guide my thoughts and my, my understanding of you. And I, I'm excited that that will go on, not just here on earth, but through eternity. And I'm never going to fully grasp who you are and good because that's who you are. But thank you that we can grow in knowledge and that growing in the knowledge of you gains us the insight, the fear, the wisdom. Lord, I can't relate. But anyone in here who struggles seeing you as a father, just please give them extra grace, extra sense, extra something. I can't imagine only seeing you as God. You loved me, and you sent your son to die for me. You chose me. I know you're the only God, but it's just so humbling, and I'm so thankful that I can also call you Father, with the knowledge that you are King, and that it's your will be done, not mine. But I wanted to do that. Even when I don't, I do. Thank you for forgiving me, and for getting my head on straight. So Lord, I feel like this room is full. I thank you for that. And I pray for each person that they can call you Father, that they do see you as King, that of course they understand you are the only God, but that they see you as so much more than the rest of the world would define a God as. So I thank you. I have no doubt that you will build on this with whatever you laid on Lenny's heart for the sermon. Thank you for communion. Thank you for the ability and the opportunity to remember what your son did and why. And even that word wasn't strictly for us. It was for your glory. It was your will, your purpose that he died, that he rise again so that your chosen ones could spend eternity with you. I pray that this flood our mind during the service, during the communion, during the potluck and throughout the day. Thank you, thank you, thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.