Talk

Talking to the King

Brad Jones
July 18, 2021

Healthy relationships require cultivation. How can prayer help us cultivate our relationship with the king of the universe?

This week, Brad Jones joins us to continue in our collection through the Sermon on the Mount. Brad shows us how Jesus’ teachings on prayer in Matthew 6 model a healthy prayer life and encourages us to prioritize the time we spend with our Heavenly Father.

Key Takeaway

It's time for Jesus' people to have our hearts set on meeting with our King so we not only have life, peace, and sustenance given to our souls but also to the souls surrounding us. God's presence is the reward of prayer.

Matthew 6:1-18

Jesus focuses His sermon on giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. These are conducts that honor God, but we need to watch out for the motivation behind our actions. We are missing the reward if these things are just a duty.

We want to be seen, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. God sees everything, especially the heart. Don't focus on others; focus on God. Hebrews 11:6 - seek him and give honor to God.

It says "when" you pray. Not if. Jesus is saying don't learn prayer from the hypocrites, who are actors that would put on a mask during the play. Essentially, don't do it so others applaud you for attention or status. Jesus says to go into your room, close the door, and speak to your Father, who is unseen. He will meet you with intimacy as He sees your pure heart in the secret place.

Mark 1:35

find time alone with God. In this unsteady world, when we pray, we are building our lives on the unchanging one. He is the anchor of our soul.

Matthew 6:9-13 is a model, not a script.

  1. "Our Father." Prayer is essential to cultivating our relationship with God. Cultivation takes time.

  2. "In Heaven, hallowed be your name." Start your prayer with praise instead of a list.

  3. "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." These are all vertical. It's you and God and knowing that God is God. Prayer is about aligning our hearts with God's heart.

  4. "Give us this day our daily bread." This is our proof of our dependence on God. If we're not asking God for help, do we really know we need His help? Pray for your friends to have the same. It says give US.

  5. "Forgive us our debt as we also forgive our debtors." Prayer has the power to change the relationships that have hurt us the most. Bitterness, anger, and rage have taken some of us over. Prayer allows us to get in touch with God, who has forgiven us.

  6. "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." God rewards our prayers. He sees us. He celebrates. Delivery from evil is being delivered to Jesus. The reward of prayer is Jesus. He delivers us from the lesser things of life and delivers us to the greater.

“
"We are so quick to say the Lord gave us a verse and then post it on social media. In the secret place, some things need to stay there."
”
Brad Jones

Discussion Questions

  1. What are the three main things this passage focuses on? (Hint: they are conduct to honor God.)
  2. Do you do things out of duty, for attention, or for the joy of time with Jesus?
  3. What is the promise made in Hebrews 11:6? What are the conditions of the promise?
  4. How does Jesus tell us to pray in Matthew 6:6? Read Mark 1:35. How does this verse tie in with Matthew 6:6? What is the point of going into a room or going out to a solitary place?
  5. Why did Jesus, when teaching how to pray, start with "Our Father"?
  6. What does "hallowed be Your name" mean?
  7. What is the goal behind "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"?
  8. What are we putting on display when we ask for daily bread?
  9. Forgiving others as we have been forgiven has the power to do what in our lives?
  10. When we are being delivered from evil, what are we being delivered to?

Scripture References

1
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
3
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4
so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9
“This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10
your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11
Give us today our daily bread.
12
And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13
And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.
’

14
For 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.
16
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
17
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
18
so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
35Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
36Simon and his companions went to look for him,
37and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

The Remnant of Israel

1I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3“Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

7What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, 8as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that could not see

and ears that could not hear,

to this very day.”

9And David says:

“May their table become a snare and a trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them.

10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,

and their backs be bent forever.”

Ingrafted Branches

11Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

13I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

22Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

All Israel Will Be Saved

25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;

he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

27And this is my covenant with them

when I take away their sins.”

28As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Doxology

33Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

34“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

35“Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay them?”

36For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.

5Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

6As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

Brad Jones
Brad Jones
Passion City Church Atlanta is pastored by Brad Jones. Together, he and his wife Brittany have been a part of the Passion Movement for over a decade helping carry the heartbeat of Passion Conference and Passion City Church. They live in Atlanta with their two children, Caleb and Addy.