Pastor John Danganan
July 29, 2018 - W1830

Aloha, New Hope! What an honor it is for me to share with you today the word of God. I'm the campus pastor at New Hope Community Church in Aina Haina, which started about 2-1/2 years ago; the Lord has been blessing this ministry! Thank you Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, Pastor Jon Burgess, and New Hope Oahu so much—you're in the middle of a building campaign; yet, you decided to plant a church in Aina Haina!

Success is not measured by numbers; but by the number of lives changed by the gospel! Let me share a brief story about the life of one of the boys in our church. The assignment in his English class was to write the definition of the word “haven,” and use it in a sentence. He wrote: "When my mom and I go to church at New a!”

This week we’ll continue Part 2 of the Lord's Prayer: The importance of the Lord’s Prayer is that it proclaims the Triune God. For instance, when we say, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we’re saying Our Father is provider; when we say, “Forgive us our sins,” we’re saying Jesus Christ is our Savior, the forgiver of our sins; and when we say, “Lead us not into temptation,” we’re saying Holy Spirit is the one who strengthens and empowers us to resist temptation!

The disciples had asked: "Jesus, teach us how to pray" because they had watched Jesus always praying and seeking His Father's will and asking that His kingdom come. Jesus didn't practice what He preached; He preached what He practiced!

Last week Pastor Jon Burgess explained that the Lord's Prayer could be broken down into six petitions: The first three is about Our Father, His kingdom, and His will; the second three is about us—our food, holiness, and forgiveness. Today, we will focus on the second three:

1. Pray For God’s Daily Provision And Our Personal Contentment.

God provided food/manna for the children of Israel in the wilderness, with one instruction: gather enough only for today! But some disobeyed and gathered extra for the next day—the next morning the leftover manna rotted and could not be eaten! 

This is the idea of praying Matthew 6:11 KJV, “Give us this day our daily bread...” “Lord, provide just for today because I want to depend on you for what I need today; help me to be content and grateful.” 

All of creation (including people) depends upon God to provide their daily food. The provisions and goodness we receive from God are not something that we should take for granted; just as all of creation, we look to God!

Psalm 104:27-30NIV says, “²⁷All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. ²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. ²⁹ When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. ³⁰ When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.”

Not only should we pray for our daily provision but also for personal contentment.

Proverbs 30:8b-9 NIV says, “…give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”

This perfect balance is called contentment—where we (the people of God) need to live in. Pastor Wayne says, “God is more concerned about you having a grateful heart more than anything else.”

1 Timothy 6:6-8 says, “⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

Contentment is not settling, but being grateful for God’s provisions: we get to live another day, there's breath in our lungs, our eyes see, and we get to worship God for His goodness. He causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust! His goodness and mercies are new every morning!

2. Pray For God’s Forgiveness And The Grace To Forgive Others.

1 John 1:8-9 KJV says, “⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

So when we ask for forgiveness, we're saying, “ Lord, you've forgiven me so much. You've canceled all my debt, but at the same token, I need to forgive others.” But how important is it for us to forgive one another? Jesus says in…

Matthew 6:14-15 KJV, “¹⁴For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: ¹⁵ But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

God forgave us so we forgive others. Therefore, make every attempt to forgive others; then God will forgive you!

Matthew 5:23-24, AMP, says, “²³So if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and while there you remember that your brother has something [such as a grievance or legitimate complaint] against you, ²⁴leave your offering there at the altar and go. First make peace with your brother, and then come and present your offering.”

When we come before God with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, we can experience real forgiveness and the pleasure of God. Your worship and prayer to God becomes a sweet smelling aroma, and you will hear Him say, “You're my beloved son. You're my beloved daughter. I am well pleased with you!” We just don't talk about forgiveness in theological terms; but we experience forgiveness! 

3.   Pray For Holiness And Deliverance. How many times have you prayed, "Lord, help me to live in holiness and don't lead me into temptation; so Satan could sift me like wheat, but deliver me from evil." How much of a character formation is in our prayer life when we pray for integrity to be forged in us—when we pray for wholeness and the strength to resist sin? Make that a part of your prayer life.

W.G.T. Shedd, a reformed theologian said, "Sin is the suicidal action of the human will against itself,” because every time we sin, we weaken our ability to resist that sin; that makes it that much easier to sin again, and much harder to resist the next time. It's a self-inflicting wound! We should pray, "Lord, today, please deliver me from evil. Give me the strength, to make godly decisions." That’s a legitimate prayer because the Lord’s Prayer says in Matthew 6:13 KJV“¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Matthew 26:41 KJV says, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”

Regarding our prayer life, the truth, I believe, is that we don't need to hear another sermon on prayer or read another book on prayer in order to have a better prayer life. Our problem is not a lack of information or better theology; our problem is pride that makes us pray less because the enemy has convinced us that we'll be fine without prayer and he “prowls around, seeking whom he may devour.” Therefore, it’s important that we pray, “Lord, help me to resist that sin and deliver me from evil!”

2 Thessalonians 3:3 NIV says,“ But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”

Jesus told Peter that the enemy wants to sift us as wheat. It seems, looking at the world situation (the divorce rates, people experiencing anxieties/panic attacks, mental illness, drug addiction, pornography, etc.), that he may be succeeding, BUT Jesus says, “I’m praying for you that your faith may stand!” And…

Luke 10:17?19 NIV says, ^“17The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ ¹⁸ He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.’”

We have a God who loves us and gave His very own life so that we could live a victorious and an abundant life! However, when we pray we must come to the Lord with a repentant and broken heart for our casualness towards prayer!

We, the church, must take our authority and pray for the Kingdom of God to come and reign on the earth“in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost!” (Romans 14:17 KJV)

Questions:

1. Why is the Lord’s Prayer so important?

2. Why does God want us to have a grateful heart?

3. Why does God want us to forgive others?

4. What happens to us when we sin?

5. How do you defeat Satan when he comes prowling for victims?