Title: Our Father in Heaven!/
Contents
Our Father in Heaven!
Luke 11:1-4
From today, I hope that you will study the 'Lord's Prayer' and share your grace. Through the sermon of the Lord's Prayer this time, I believe that it will be an opportunity to pray more before God and receive answers and blessings.
This Lord's Prayer is the prayer taught by the Lord. However, this prayer was taught at the request of the disciples.
It is not that the disciples did not pray. They must have prayed three times a day according to the Jewish custom.
But they asked me to teach them to pray. At that time, the rabbis used to teach their disciples to pray. Their prayer was to repeat the 18 prayer patterns daily.
It was to teach them the art of prayer. From the moment prayer becomes a skill, it cannot become a true prayer. Prayer is a spirit, not a skill. Because the Pharisees practiced their prayers with skill, their prayers became hypocrisy, and they were rebuked by Jesus.
Jesus speaks of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9 and below, but before that, in verse 5 and below, he is talking about false prayers.
As the disciples saw Jesus praying, they must have discovered a different form of prayer than they had expected. That is why I am asking you to teach me that I want to learn the perfect prayer of Jesus.
But the sad thing is that our prayers often look like the prayers of the Pharisees of old.
For example, when you enter the chapel, pray first. But there are many times when it becomes a form. Through that prayer, we confirm our existence before God and renew our relationship with God while arranging the scattered hearts of the world. However, it becomes a form and becomes like a ritual performed unconsciously.
However, the 'Lord's Prayer' that the Lord taught me has also become like a form.
Luther said, 'The Lord's Prayer is the greatest martyr of this age'. The word 'prayer' is missing from the 'Lord's Prayer'. After all, it is not a prayer, but a 'spell'.
The Lord's Prayer is the best prayer. Those who cannot pray will receive great grace before God just by praying this prayer.
I went into the CCP with a Bible, and when I prayed the Lord's Prayer 30 times, the customs officer did not recognize it.
-Let's first look at "Father in Heaven!"
John Calvin said that there are two essential things in prayer: being conscious of the Father's love for God and trusting in His infinite power.
In the phrase 'Father in heaven', we can directly find the two things mentioned above.
Our greatest emphasis here is that we call God our Father. This is the basis on which we pray to God.
The psalmist says: “Who will ascend on the mountain of the Lord, and who will stand on that holy mountain?” Then he said, "He has clean hands, a pure heart, and does not set his mind on falsehood, and does not swear falsely" (Psalm 24:3,4).
But according to these words, we cannot help but be hopeless. We are the unclean. We have dirty hands, and our hearts are dirty and empty. How on earth can this sinner come before God? How could this sinner come boldly to the throne of divine grace and pray?
There is nothing in this world. This is possible only with the right of 'Our Father'.
Example) When a Roman emperor improved and entered the city of Rome, soldiers lined up on both sides, and a child broke through the area and ran to Hoazee. When the soldiers were startled and controlled him, the boy said one word. "That's my father." At those words, no one could stop him.
That's right. Holy God, God who rules the world with infinite power, the way for this sinner to come boldly and pray before the King of kings and Lord of lords, who cannot lift his head even an angel and have to cover his face with his wings, is He Because he is a 'father'.
Who in this world will stop us as fathers and children?
That's why Jesus said, "When you pray, say 'Father'."
Ex) J.R Miller said, "The word of our Father in heaven is the golden door of prayer."
Indeed, when we come to God, when we pray to Him, we must not go to anything in the world. Not even with money. We must not go forward with the power and pride of the world. Only He is my Father and I must go forth as His child.
When our Jesus also called God, he said 'Father'.
You used the word 'Father' 17 times in the Sermon on the Mount.
His first written words are, "Did you not know that I must be in your house?" and his last words are, "Father, into your hands I commit my soul."
Example) The story of a person who makes a long prayer-
After praying for 20 minutes, I said, 'What more can I say?' An old man said, 'Call me Abji.'
It is a great blessing that we can call God our Father.
This is the work of salvation that takes place only through Jesus.
Paradoxically, "God is the Father of all mankind. But everyone knows his Son."
It is only through Jesus that we can become His Son and call Him Father.
“To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).
“Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of the Son into our hearts, calling him Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6).
When you are so heartbroken and sad that you can't pray properly and don't know what to say, when you are wandering, just looking at God and calling out 'Father!' makes God take flight.
'Abba Father!' Enjoy this wonderful blessing. Happy are those who pray and enjoy the privileges of being His children.
-Our Father is in heaven.
The word 'from heaven' appears twice in this short prayer, once in the singular and once in the plural. In other words, the heaven of the verse 'as will be done in heaven' is recorded in the singular, and today's verse is plural, indicating the omnipresence of God.
Therefore, this is not to say that He is not with us on earth, but that He is the Most High, Holy, and Eternal.
He is absolutely different from the people who live on this earth.
This means that our Father is the one and only perfect, omnipotent, unaffected one.
Our Father is Almighty. He can do things that humans cannot do.
You may have noticed how powerless the great love of man is often by the side of a loved one when he lies sick.
But our Heavenly Father is not like that. He is a person who loves us and is able to accomplish the work of blessing in all of our lives.
Truly, we must realize what our spiritual father is and open our hearts, and we must have courage in the midst of everything, and put everything before the Father with hope and pray. The way to make our father a father is to pray to him and receive blessings through answers.
Ex) Three things we can glorify God.
1. Through praise.
2. By obeying the Word.
3. By praying.
I hope that we will glorify and praise the fact that we have become this great and wonderful child of God through Jesus, and we will be more obedient to the Word and glorify Him for ever and ever.
- He is our Father.
He is not only my father, but also our father.
Ex) The Apostles' Creed is "I". But the Lord's Prayer is "we".
This means that all who call God Father are brothers and sisters before God.
Therefore, as children of God, we must love one another.
1 John 5:1 "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Begotten loves him who is born of him."
Ex) In 1 John 3:12 it says, “Do not be like Cain.
People who kill their brothers for their own gain and face. Kill with words, kill with eyes, kill with character, kill with venom.
We must build one another up and save one another. To wrap with love and to give for.
Example) In 1977, when we crossed the water that swelled in Anyang during the rainy season, everyone crossed the road with their shoulders clenched.
In order to overcome the harsh and harsh winds and waves of this world, we must become one, love each other, and build strength.
The wrong thinking that prevents us from being one is thinking that we are superior to others and thinking that we are inferior to others.
With this thought, they secretly show off or ignore themselves, and fall into a sense of inferiority.
Also, you should not compare yourself to others.
Example) Campbell Morgan said, "To compare with a brother is to kill him."
Comparing yourself to others will lead to jealousy. I get jealous and I'm put to the test. Naturally, he becomes like 'Cain'.
Furthermore, we should pray for each other. Don't pray for yourself, but pray for each other.
I must seek not only my own needs, but also the needs of others. It's not just me who's doing well, it's that other people also have to do well.
-"Our Father in heaven!"
Dear all. We became children of God because of Jesus. As children of God, we should pray to our Father Almighty Father, no matter what happens, and live a blessed life. And we must all, as children, love each other, make our fathers happy and make life in this world beautiful and prosperous.
Amen.