The Lord's Prayer - Zack Morgan

As many of you know, I was due to preach a while ago, and I kept getting pushed back. And I've been waiting for this, and I'm very excited. I'm very, very excited to share this morning. And I believe that what I have to share today, if we can grasp this and if we can practice this, this is going to be something that will affect our church and affect each one of us individually. So I'm going to be sharing on the Lord's Prayer today.

So I'm not going to be delving into the prayer itself much, unpacking the prayer. There are many messages that you can listen to on that. Rather, I'm going to be sharing three aspects of the Lord's Prayer. The first one is going to be my story and how the Lord's Prayer—what the Lord's Prayer has done for me. The second aspect is I'm going to be talking on the historical significance of the Lord's Prayer.

And my third is going to be on why being persistent is effective and what does repetition do to us, do for us. The Lord's Prayer has been prayed historically by Christians throughout the world three times a day. And this is one way that God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

So my story takes place 30 years ago. The year is 1994. It's actually mostly my parents' story. But my parents were chasing the American Dream. They were trying to find happiness. And the background to my parents is they believed God. My dad grew up nominal Catholic. My mom would have attended church, but there was really no relationship with God. They might have prayed when they needed something, but that was about it.

But they wanted happiness. And when my parents found their dream home situated on six acres in the suburbs of Detroit, they thought they had finally made it. But of course, they were wrong. And in order for my parents to be able to make the mortgage payments, my dad had to work during the day at a plating company. He had started a plating company with his grandpa a couple of years before that. They took parts and they plated it with nickel.

And he worked during the day doing that. And then at the nighttime, he delivered newspapers, Japanese newspapers. So he was working all the time. And my mom, she took on more work and more babysitting jobs. And so their life was difficult. And of course, it was by their own doing and their own choices.

They were being worn thin, and their relationships were—their relationship, there was strain in their relationship, of course. And yeah, it was a difficult time for them. So in the midst of this, my mom was stopped at a traffic light, and she was rear-ended by a big truck. I don't know what kind of truck, just a big truck. Like I said, I've only heard this story, right? So it was a big truck. And this is the '90s, of course. So it was the time of the big sedans and the big trunks.

And the truck crushed her trunk from the bumper. It pushed the bumper all the way into the rear window. So this was a significant crash impact.

And this resulted in her being in and out of the emergency room and physical therapy for five months right up to the time of labor. Of course, she was pregnant with me at the time. So the trauma from the accident resulted in swelling and extra fluid in the womb, and that resulted in more movement.

And the umbilical cord became wrapped around my neck multiple times. And during birth, the oxygen supply was cut off. And when I was born, I didn't have a pulse, and I, of course, wasn't breathing. And I was a bluish-gray color.

My dad, when he saw my limp body, he wanted to do something. My mom said they should pray, but he was embarrassed. Then he thought, "What if prayer actually works? What if prayer can actually make a difference? Am I going to let my son die because I'm afraid to pray?"

As the midwives were doing CPR, my dad let out in the Lord's Prayer. And at this time, I'd like all of us to close our eyes and say the Lord's Prayer together. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

When my dad opened his eyes, he saw my mouth and nose move. He watched as a small pink spot appeared in the middle of my chest. From that spot, I quickly turned pink all over. So this was a start of a new life, not only for me, but for my parents as well.

They came before God, humbled and repentant. There was no doubt in their mind that God was real and that God cared for them.

This propelled my parents on a spiritual journey. One of my first memories in my life is watching my parents being baptized. I was very young, but I do remember my parents' baptism. And this was many steps. And they went on to become missionaries in Japan. And many years later, they eventually joined the Mennonites.

And this all started with the Lord's Prayer.

The Lord's Prayer was a small step in a direction of many changes for my parents. And I want to encourage you today and tell you that the Lord's Prayer can also be a small step in a direction of much change in each of our lives.

The Lord's Prayer has been prayed historically by Christians at 9 o'clock in the morning, 12 o'clock noon, and 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The beauty to this tradition is that although we may be alone, we all pray together.

You may ask, "Is doing this long-term three times a day, is this feasible?" And my answer is, "Of course. We've been doing this 2,000 years."

I know many of us here have tried different things to help us create a habit of praying the Lord's Prayer. And there's the WhatsApp chats. There's the sending the praying hand emojis. There's the alarms. There's all these things that we've tried. And those are good things. They're not bad things, all right?

You need to find something that works for you that helps you remember, whatever that is. If it's praying hand emojis, if it's this praying hand emojis or this praying hand emojis, whichever ones you choose, use whatever helps. Now, so for myself, I found that having an alarm on my phone does not help me because it eventually just becomes annoying, and it rings in inconvenient times.

But having an alarm on my watch has worked very well. It's really convenient. I'm able to just swipe, and I can turn it off. And so that has helped me. So I want to encourage you. Use the tools that help you to be able to create a habit.

But the reason why I'm sharing this message today is until you realize the importance of the Lord's Prayer, all the dingers, all the dongers, all the bells and the whistles will eventually fall on your own deaf ears. So the vital thing is to actually own this prayer for yourself and own it that this is your lifeline.

This summer, my family and I memorized Matthew chapter 5. And that coincided with me becoming reinspired to pray the Lord's Prayer three times a day. And what I found out this summer was that daily reading of the Sermon on the Mount, or at least Matthew chapter 5, a portion of the Sermon on the Mount, coupled very well with praying the Lord's Prayer.

As I would pray during the day, different verses from Matthew 5 would come to my mind. This, of course, it was fresh in my mind. Matthew 5 was just right there. And whatever was relevant for me in that moment would stand out from Matthew 5, from the Sermon on the Mount.

And the Lord's Prayer is in Matthew chapter 6. The Sermon on the Mount is 5, 6, and 7. And it's right in the middle of Matthew chapter 6. And the Lord's Prayer is cradled right in the center of the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord's Prayer is part of a bigger message.

It's a summary of the Sermon on the Mount.

So we know the Sermon on the Mount starts with the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the ones who do not have the advantage in society, who are on society's lower caste, lower rung of our caste system that society has created.

And what I find interesting is that the Sermon on the Mount starts with this. And in order to read the Lord's Prayer, in order to get to the Lord's Prayer, you need to walk through the Beatitudes.

I think this is symbolic of what needs to happen before we can pray the Lord's Prayer.

This prayer is for the humble. There's no pride in the Lord's Prayer. "Give us this day our daily bread." That's the most humble thing I could think of. "Just provide for me what I need today." There's no pride in the Lord's Prayer.

This is the prayer for the humble and the broken. This prayer represents faith, humility, and ultimate dependence on God. So let's look at this prayer.

Matthew chapter 6, verse 5 through 13. "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.

Therefore, do not be like them, for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. In this manner, therefore, pray." And let's all say this together. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

One of my goals is to change our official Lord's Prayer to the new King James Version.

And I always follow along. When I'm in a congregation, I'll say in the King James Version, but I think it's better the new King James. I think it's more relevant for us.

So Jesus is saying that do not pray as the pagans, the heathens do with their vain repetition. And if you look in David's Matthew commentary, this word encompasses two things. Now, I didn't get permission to put this in, but I guess it's copyrighted. But I added enough of my own that I think it's fine.

So there's two things that vain repetition, the phrase vain repetitions, there's two things that it encompasses. Number one are frivolous prayers, and number two, wordiness. So modern Christians believe that they are following, that they are obeying Jesus when Jesus says, "Do not use vain repetitions." They think they're really good at following that.

But they ignore the command which follows, "Rather pray this prayer." These two commands are given in tandem, right? They're together. So I'm going to say that the disobedience in not praying the Lord's Prayer actually makes people use vain repetitions. And I'm going to explain myself.

So as a young person, I thought the Lord's Prayer was second class. I thought it was a backup prayer that you prayed when you didn't know how to pray a real prayer. A real prayer went something like this, "Lord, thank you for Jason.

And Lord, just be with Jason in a very special way. Lord, just reveal your will to him as he walks down the grocery aisle. And Lord, just show him exactly what type of mayonnaise he should buy.

Lord, be with him spiritually, emotionally, and physically." It goes on and on.

As a kid, I thought the Lord's Prayer was second class because Jesus said, "Don't use vain repetitions." And so therefore, if you pray the Lord's Prayer, since it's not original with you, you're repeating something. So therefore, it's vain, right? And I don't know, did my logic as a 12-year-old short circuit right there? Or is this actually what I was taught?

There's some reason why evangelicals are not very quick to pray the Lord's Prayer.

So it wasn't until my family finally joined the Mennonites that I heard it on a regular basis. And interestingly enough, the early church said the exact opposite. The Lord's Prayer is your main prayer. It's your main course. And all other petitions are in addition to that.

So my example of prayer that I gave is a frivolous prayer.

People who pray this, they're trying to avoid praying using vain repetitions. They're trying to make it real personal. But in the end, they end up doing the very thing they're trying to avoid.

This kind of prayer shows this kind of prayer is a person who is praying for the trivial and the insignificant things of this life.

A mark of spirituality with modern Christians is praying for trivial things. People believe that this shows how close you are to God and how close and how intimate you are and how much you're depending on God for every little thing.

With novel being equated with spiritual, evangelicals have become more and more creative with their prayers.

Early church writers said the exact opposite. If someone prays for the trivial things, it shows how distant they are from God. You can read more about this in Mr. Berceau's commentary.

Praying frivolous prayers is a result of immaturity and an incorrect paradigm. It comes from incorrectly believing that Jesus is my very own personal Lord and Savior without being coupled with the fact that Jesus came to this world to save a people. Jesus came to this world to create a nation.

When we are an individualistic Christian, we turn God into a genie. We cannot pray well until we change our theology and recognize that the spiritual world does not revolve around me, but it revolves around us. And remember that this prayer, the perfect example of prayer, is given.

It's nestled right smack dab in the middle of the constitution, of the constitution of this new nation. It's right in the middle of this. It's about a kingdom. And all the pronouns in this prayer are plural. "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

It's about us. It's not about me.

So the second aspect to vain repetition, wordiness. I'm going to quote origin for this. "Being wordy is another type of vain repetition. And those who babble are usually wordy. There's no unity of matter or of bodily substance. The word of God is one, but the words alien to God are many.

Therefore, no one will be empowered to escape sin by using wordiness. And no one who imagines he will be heard as a result of wordiness will be answered."

So I'm trying to convince you that Jesus does not contradict himself by saying, "Do not use vain repetitions." And then he goes and gives a prayer for us to repeat, a specific prayer. Jesus is not saying repetition is wrong.

Jesus gave us this prayer expecting us to repeat it. He told us to repeat this prayer, to say this prayer. Rather, Jesus is saying, "I want you to repeat this prayer because this prayer is not worthless. This prayer is not vain. This prayer is truly transformative."

So my third point, I'm calling it the habit of prayer. And what is the definition of habit?

First definition is settled of regular tendency or practice. A second definition can also be a long loose garment worn by a member of a religious order. So I'm going with two definitions today. A habit is something that you do on a regular basis, something that becomes a part of you, something that becomes second nature. Or a habit can be a piece of clothing that's worn by a religious person, like a nun.

Prayer is most effective when it is worn by the Christian and it becomes a part of their everyday life. Prayer is most effective when it is worn by the Christian and it becomes a part of our everyday life.

How many of you have read or listened to the book Atomic Habits by James Clear?

Nobody except a few. Okay, a couple. Oh, wow. Okay. I thought there would be more hands. I was expecting more. Anyway, that's great. That means you can all go home and read it. If you care about life at all, you will read this book.

So obviously, if you don't care, then that's fine. But this book really has been, I would say, one of the top 10 books in my life that has made a big difference.

And so James Clear, his theory is how you affect and I don't have a I was expecting a little bit more would have read this book. And so I'm not going to explain this very much. But just a quick concept is that how you affect huge amounts of change is by tiny, or as he puts it, atomic habits.

So what is the definition of atomic? Atomic is something that's relating to an atom or atoms, or it's forming a single irreducible unit or component in a larger system. So it's basically the tiniest building block that you can break anything down into.

So going to the moon, for instance, Neil Armstrong is quoted as saying, "That was one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." We know that Neil Armstrong didn't get to the moon in one small step, nor did we get there in one giant leap.

But it was breaking down everything into the tiniest, tiniest problems and taking care of each block. And eventually, after they figured out the bathroom and zippers and Velcro and all those tiny insignificant things, they eventually got to the moon. We got to the moon.

We have a journey that is farther, and I could say maybe even more intimidating than going to the moon. Growing in character and into the image of Jesus Christ will be the biggest, most important journey that any of us will embark on.

If we look at our desired results, that could be intimidating. But I have good news. If you pray the Lord's Prayer, or if you use and this applies to really any Christian discipline, but if you pray the Lord's Prayer, it's like one atom.

One isolated instance won't do you a lot. Praying it one time, two times, three times won't do you a lot. But when you persevere and repeat and build off of each of these atoms, and you continue to add and you add and you add with repetition, do you know what you eventually get?

You get an image of Jesus Christ. You become transformed into the image of the Son of God.

"Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11.

What is it about hiding God's word in our heart, internalizing the things that he said that keeps us from sin? So when we pray the Lord's Prayer, we aren't just petitioning God to change us.

But we are actually we're doing something. We're verbalizing the ideal. And when we verbalize this ideal, when we verbalize the way that God wants us to be, we create a way for that to become materialized.

Not only does God change us through prayer, but what we pray affects how we think, and how we think affects how we act, and how we act affects how we become, who we become.

The Christian disciplines aren't just acts of holiness. They actually make you holy.

So my other question is, so what is spiritual? So modern Christians, Christians today, believe that spontaneity, new things, is what the Holy Spirit embodies. There is this idea that the spiritual things are the new, the impulsive, the novel. If you want to have spiritual worship, you need to change things up. You need to do things a little more different. You need to be more impulsive. You need to be just more spiritual.

No. No, that is not true.

I believe that modern prayer, modern worship is the junk food for the Christians.

You get that instant hit, the artificial high without the work. It tastes good, but it makes you fat.

Jesus clearly told his disciples that the Spirit would not embody anything new, but would only bring to remembrance the things that he taught.

We need to get this out of our mind that anything new, anything spontaneous is of the Holy Spirit. In reality, we embody the Holy Spirit when we do the things that Jesus taught, and we pray the Lord's Prayer.

Pray without ceasing. I used to be confused with this verse. How are we to always be praying? Well, we found out that wordiness is not the answer. Constant babble is not the answer.

Some people say that we should be prayerful about everything.

No, God isn't looking for us to be praying for the trivial things, things that we've already been promised.

Paul knew this. Rather, I believe that Paul was encouraging the believers not to break the continual cycle of prayer.

And that's my encouragement to you all is let's not break the continual cycle of prayer. Let's pray at 9, 12, and 3 every day.

And I'm excited to see the change and all what will happen in our church if we can do this collectively.