The Name

This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us.! Just to kind of give you a big picture view for the next several weeks while we're walking through this, we're going to divide this Lord's Prayer, just a few verses, into two main headings.

First, we're seeking the glory of God. Second, we're seeking the help of God. We seek the glory of God and we seek the help of God.

Under each of those headings, there are three specific requests, six total. We seek the glory of God first by seeking the glory of His name, His kingdom, and His will.

And then we seek the help of God in our daily bread, our forgiveness, and our deliverance. And so we're looking tonight first at that first big category, seeking the glory of God, specifically the first request that His name would be hallowed among us.

Look with me here in Matthew 6. Verse 5, When you pray, door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him, pray then like this. And what follows is the Lord himself giving us the lesson of how to pray. How do we pray? How should we pray? What's the kind of prayer that the Lord himself desires for us to pray? As I just mentioned, the first thing he's going to do is teach us to seek the glory of God.

And the first three ways we do that, first three requests, he says pray like this, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. We pray for the glory of his name to be known. Your kingdom come. We pray for the glory of his kingdom. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray for the glory of his will. And then we see that not only that we seek his glory, but we also seek his help. And we see three requests here for help. Verse 11, give us this day our daily bread. Second request, forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And third, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We seek the glory of God. We seek the help of God. Specifically tonight, we're looking at this first aspect, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. So thinking about that simple phrase, the name. We pray asking for God's name to be glorified. Think with me about how do we do that and what is entailed when Jesus teaches us to pray like this, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

And it teaches us, I want to share with you four things that teach us. Number one, it teaches us that we belong to a family. It begins, our father in heaven. We belong to a family.

School, for some has started, for others it starts in just a few days. So in the keeping of going back to school, let's do a little homework, all right? But we'll do homework as a group, all right? Everybody's least favorite thing to do, group work. Let's do some group work here. It's been three months since some of our children have read, so let's do a little English, okay? Don't feel bad, kids. For some of you are parents, it's been years since they've read, all right? Look at the Lord's Prayer here, and I want you to circle in your Bible all of the first person pronouns. I, my, me, mine. Circle every one of them. Give you a few seconds. Have you noticed that? There's not any.

Jesus has prayed like this, and the first thing that we notice is that all of the prayers are either directed to the Lord, your name, your kingdom, your will, and when it's spoken of our request, it's our Father. Give us our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from evil. The pronouns when speaking our request are plural. Us, we, our.

not singular. Me, my, and mine. I think that's worth noting because one of the things the Lord is teaching us as we pray is to remember that we belong to a family. Right off the bat, we notice that as Jesus teaches us, Jesus teaches us how to pray, and when Luke records a similar rendering here, it's the disciples saying, teach us how to pray. It's perfectly good to memorize this. It's perfectly good to pray this. Just understand the idea behind the Lord's Prayer is not a magical formula. The idea behind the Lord's Prayer is teaching you how to pray is that we belong to a family. It's not only that it's my Father in heaven, though that's true, it is our Father in heaven, which reminds us that when we are saved, we are saved into a family. And the Lord emphasizes this from the very beginning of the model prayer.

We're a part of a family. Yes, we are connected to Him, but in being connected to Him, we're also connected to all others who are connected to Him. So the Christian life, while absolutely a personal relationship with Jesus also enters you into a personal relationship with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Which is part, there's so many reasons why there's a problem with this sentiment in our world today, but part of the whole thing of, I love Jesus, I don't love the church, here's just part of why that's such a fallacy.

You're a part of the family of all who belong to the Lord. And he says, pray like this, our Father, which teaches us that we must be praying with each other and for each other. Of course, we can pray by ourselves, and there's all kinds of biblical examples of that. I don't think most of us need to be reminded of that. We know that. Whether we do it or not, we know that that should be true. Part, though, of what is missing in many believers' lives is the reality that we are to pray with other believers and for other believers. And Jesus prayed like this, and the very first thing He utters is a reminder that we belong to a family.

Our Father, who is in heaven. Now, it's true in Psalm 23 that one of the great blessings of belonging to the Lord is being able to say, the Lord is my shepherd. In fact, Charles Spurgeon said it exactly right when he said, the sweetest monosyllable of the entire Bible is Psalm 23.1, the Lord is my shepherd. Not just the Lord is a shepherd, not that the Lord can be a shepherd, but the Lord is my shepherd. And that speaks to the personal connection we have with the Lord.

Absolutely. But remember that once you are personally connected to the Lord, it ushers you into a family. That's so important.

That's the testimony we just heard from Ben and Stacey tonight. We bear burdens. We bear burdens of those who are in need and others help us. Why? Because we're a family.

And one of the things that is so obvious, but I'm afraid often just overlooked, is as the Lord's Prayer starts, this is not just about me.

It's about we. It's about we. The very language tells us that. Pray like this, our Father.

Remember as you pray that you are connecting your heart and your mind and your care with believers all around you.

It used to be a very popular thing back in the days when I was in youth ministry. 25, 30 years ago, people would lead music at camps or retreats or different events.

And it was very popular to say, you know, I know there's hundreds of you in here, but nobody else matters except just you and God. And draw a circle around yourself. And the only thing that matters in here is just you and God.

But that's just not true. Of course it matters that you personally connect with God. But it also matters about the people around us.

The Christian life is not a life of just me and God. Of course it includes that. But when the disciples say to Jesus, teach us to pray, he doesn't say, draw a circle around yourself and the only thing that matters is just you and God.

He says, okay, pray like this, our Father. Be reminded that you ought to pray with each other and you ought to pray for each other.

It's not just about my daily bread. I'm praying for our daily bread. It's not just about my family.

I ought to pray with and for your family. It's not just about the spiritual well-being of my children. It's about also the spiritual well-being of your children.

Jesus says, you want to learn how to pray? Pray like this. Our Father. Every time you pray, be reminded you are surrounded in spirit by brothers and sisters in Christ.

Think about them. Be encouraged by them. Live your life in such a way that you build them up. Bear their burdens as they bear yours. We belong to a family.

Second, not only do we belong to a family, but we in this family have a Father. Our Father. Our says we belong to a family.

Father says we have a Father in this family. We have a Father, a protector, a guide, a shield, a teacher. All the things that an earthly Father should be, we have perfected and exemplified in our Heavenly Father.

Our Father, he says. Which begs the question, is God the Father of all people? When Jesus says pray like this, our Father in heaven, is this something that everybody can say?

Is God the Father of everyone? Well, in one sense, yes. In the sense of God has created all that exists, including everyone who lives.

Yes, in that sense, the Bible says God has knit together in our mother's wombs everyone who lives. God is the creator of all people. All people bear the image of God.

All people have inherent value because they are made in the image of God. In that sense, God is the Father of all people. But in the sense of relationship, privilege, and blessing.

God is only the Father to those who are connected to him through his Son, Jesus Christ. God is the Father of all people.

So you can teach a business or a ball team or a club or a group of people to recite the Lord's Prayer together.

God is the creator of all people. But this is only uniquely true, the privilege and the blessing for those who are connected to God through the work of his Son, Jesus Christ.

God is the creator of all things. But in its truest spiritual sense, only those who are adopted by the work of redemption can truly call God their Father.

Even in the Old Testament, you did not see individual people calling God Father. As a collective sense, as the nation, yes, but not individually.

When Jesus says, pray like this, our Father, this is revolutionizing the way people understand their relationship with God.

This is the work Christ is doing in their life. Direct access to the Father. Direct access to the God who made all things, who uniquely is the Father of those who believe.

John 8, 42, you might just make note of that. Jesus said to them, if God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and have come forth from God, for I have not even come on my own initiative, but he sent me.

Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your Father, the devil. And you want to the desires of your Father.

Humanity is divided into two categories. Those who belong to God, he is their Father. In the words of Jesus, those who do not belong to God, and the devil is their Father.

Or as one author put it, speaking of this phrase, to call God Father is not a human right. It's a divine privilege. Our Father.

It reminds us that we have been adopted by God, and we are his children. How is it I know God as Father? Why can you say our Father in heaven?

Why can I say our Father in heaven? Because we have been adopted into his family. Ephesians 1. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him in love, he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ himself.

Galatians 4. When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son.

And if a son, then an heir through God. How is it that we can say our Father?

It is because in grace we have been adopted into his family. So when Jesus says pray like this, we're only two words into the prayer, our Father.

And in two words, he's teaching our mind to be engaged in thinking about the connection we have with all who know God as their Father.

Teaching us to be reminded that we've been adopted into the family of God. Teaching us to stop and realize the reason we have direct access to the Father is because of the work his Son has done in purchasing our adoption.

We're just two words into the model prayer. And our mind should be flowing and flooding with thoughts of gratitude for the body of Christ.

That we can say our and flooded with the privilege of knowing we were saved and adopted and chosen by God. And that's why we can say Father.

So to simply say our Father is to say that God has given us more blessings than we could ever possibly return in 10,000 lifetimes.

Friends, when our prayer life becomes anemic, it is because our doctrine has grown cold. If I were to ask you to go home and pray tonight and do nothing other than thank God for your brothers and sisters in Christ, for your family in the Lord.

To do nothing more than to thank the Lord for those who teach you and have made a difference in your life, who have prayed for you, who have modeled the Christian life for you, who have helped to bear your burdens, and to thank the Lord for the cross and for redemption and for the gift of adoption, my friends, that would take you more time than you possibly even would have to exhaust it.

And we haven't said a word yet about our jobs, our health, our children. Those are not bad things to pray for, but Jesus says, if you're going to pray, pray like this.

Let's start with the name, our Father. It means something. We belong to a family. Our family has a father.

Third, we have salvation. He says, pray like this, our Father in heaven. It's not just that we have a father, it's that our Father is in heaven.

It's not just that we have a father, but it's that our Father himself is God. This is so important because so many people will pray, at least in times of desperation, but understand that you're not praying to the big man upstairs, the great architect of the sky, or some deity, or some higher power.

We're praying to the God of the Bible. There is a heaven. There is a throne. And we know who God is because he's revealed himself in the pages of Scripture.

We are praying not only to a father, but to our Father who is in heaven. This is what makes it Christian prayer. You go to a place where the ACT test is being passed out, and you've got high school students taking the ACT, everybody prays.

Right? Everybody prays. Your team's down by two points. They're kicking a 43-yard field goal with one second left. What's everybody turn into? Theologian.

Everybody surrenders to missions in the fourth quarter. Everybody's on the sideline, kneeling, praying. Praying to who?

Praying to the God who is in heaven, who created all things, who sent his only son to die on a cross, who gave his son to be crucified as our propitiation, laid in the tomb, brought back to life, descended to heaven, coming again to judge the living and the dead.

Is that who we're praying to? Or do we just really, really want to make a 30 on the ACT? We just really want the football to go through the goalpost.

Jesus says, you learn to pray. Pray like this. Our Father in heaven. The one that the prophet Isaiah said, that the Lord says, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool.

The next time you kind of flippantly treat prayer like it's a genie in a bottle, you're praying to the one that in Ecclesiastes Solomon said, be not rash with your mouth, utter not a hasty word, for God is in heaven, you are on earth, let your words be few.

When you say, our Father in heaven, you're acknowledging that our God has created all things that exist. He is sovereign, He is eternal, He is omnipotent, He is the judge of all the earth.

We are four English words into the Lord's prayer and there is more doctrine here than we have time to possibly consider. Our Father, we belong to a family.

you are in heaven and in heaven is where your glory dwells uniquely. You have created earth and to the earth you have sent your only Son and in Christ the earth beheld His glory as He tabernacled among us.

God, you are in heaven and yet you welcome me into your presence through prayer. Do you really want to make that a trivial thing?

The disciples said in the Gospel of Luke, teach us to pray. Jesus did not give them in Luke nor in Matthew 6 a lengthy sermon.

He gave them doctrinal truth. Our family, Father adoption who is in heaven sovereign creator.

that's who we're praying to. This is why when as a church we often on a Sunday morning Sunday we'll do corporate times of prayer where somebody may be here behind the pulpit and they're praying but this is about offering a prayer on behalf of all of us.

Why? Because all of us who know Christ as Savior are part of the same family. family. This is why when someone's praying in a worship service it's not the time to let your mind go to your to-do list tomorrow.

Because we are praying as a family our Father in heaven. Think about that. Think about the glories of heaven.

Just what we know. Just what God chose to the Spirit to reveal to us through His word. Think of what you know is happening in heaven right now. And when you pray He hears.

That's staggering. Remind yourself when you pray Jesus says that we have a Father who's in heaven.

And then finally we express our deepest desire Hallowed be your name. Hallowed be your name.

I want you to notice this is actually the first request that's given. This is not just a statement of praise. This is not saying God your name is wonderful. It's not what this is.

This is a request. Christ our Father in heaven here's the first request. Hallowed be your name. Make your name holy. Make your name revered and praised.

God help me to live in such a way that the glory of your name shines through my life. God hallow your name. Make your name great and glorious.

Through who? Through us. Through the church. the body of Christ. God help us to live in such a way that when we gather to sing as a congregation it's clear to those who are here that your name is what we're consumed with.

God help us to live in such a way during the week that people would be clearly able to determine and see in us that it's your name that matters not our own.

God in our lives make your name great. We need to get his name right. You ever have anybody mispronounce your name?

How does it make you feel? Hopefully not angry but you're kind of thinking I'm not sure we're that close. I was asked to speak somewhere a few months ago and the guy said Michael's a great friend of mine.

I love to hear him preach. I appreciate his ministry. I'm thankful for his friendship. You guys please listen as Michael Stanton comes to preach. And I'm like I'm so glad we're talking.

I've been called Stanton, Staten, Satan, Station, Staten, even got a letter addressed two weeks ago, Staten.

My name is not that important. But I'm not the one that created the heavens and the earth. He did. His name matters.

How much? Enough that in the Old Testament when he gave his law, one of his ten commandments was do not take his name in vain.

His name matters. Jesus here is asking God to teaching us to pray for God to so move and so act in the world that people would value his glory and esteem his holiness and see his character to be as great as it is.

And this also absolutely has an evangelistic emphasis to it because how is it ultimately that God's name will be hallowed and respected? It's as dead sinners come to life in Christ.

The greatest example of God's name being shown to be great and glorious is when a sinner says, I have been saved by grace and I am a Christian.

I claim his name. I'm not ashamed to be called a Christian. Now this is absolutely an evangelistic prayer.

Our Father who is in heaven, here's our first request, make your name great through us.

and as you make your name great through us collectively, we, as the body of Christ, the greatest way we see God's name glorified is when a sinner comes to faith in Christ and is given a new name.

Amen. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. This is not just a statement of praise, this is a request, a desire.

This is teaching us to say, God, help me to live in such a way that the world sees your name is first in my life.

Eight words, God, he's taught us about ecclesiology, the church, the collective hour.

He's taught us to think about what we call theology proper, who God the Father is. He's taught us about the doctrine of creation, that God is in heaven and we are on earth because he has created it.

he's taught us to think about what it means to be adopted into his family. He's taught us to think about what it means to do evangelism and missions that others would see his name to be great.

And he's taught us about worship. Lord, teach us to pray. He says, okay, pray like this.

It's not magic words. It's a heart. Our God. I'm reminded that I'm a part of a family and it's not just me.

It's our God. And you're not just God. You're our heavenly father. We can have a relationship with you. All the things that earthly fathers should be are perfected in him.

You're our father and you're our father in heaven because that's where you live and that's our future home. And while we're on this earth, we want to live connected to you because where you are is where we're going to be as believers for all eternity and we're thankful for the promise of heaven.

But while we're on earth, let us live in such a way that your name would be magnified and glorified through us. And the great way we can do that is to praise your great name and proclaim the gospel so that other sinners can be brought into spiritual life and they too can understand what it means to say with us our father in heaven.

Lord, we thank you for your word tonight. We pray it would be an encouragement. We pray it would give us vitality as we pray. We pray it would give us focus as we pray.

we pray it would give us passion as we pray. We are connected to each other. In you we have our heavenly father who has adopted us to be a part of your family.

May we live every day of our life to make your name great among us that others would see the beauty. music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music