Live Free with Josh Howerton - You Might Be Praying The Wrong Way | Ep. 397 | Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Most people assume that prayer should be primarily a way to “get God to give me what I want”, but Jesus teaches that prayer is primarily us, aligning our will with God’s. Today, take your time and meditate on what you’re praying. Fix your mind first and your Heavenly Father’s name, his kingdom, and what His will is. Then, pour out your heart as you ask for forgiveness and protection and as you share your needs with him. Matthew 6:9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.combe.com slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Well, hey guys, welcome to our daily drive. If we haven't met, my name is Carlos, and I get to be a part of the pastoral team here at Lake Point. And we get to hang out this week for a few minutes every day as we dive into the Word of God.

And this week, what we're doing is we're going to be talking about the most famous Bible verses that are most commonly taken out of context or misunderstood. And we're reviewing what most people think they're about. And then we're clarifying what they're actually about. And so as we do so, I believe God will be speaking to us in a unique way through them so that this week you and I can be continued to be formed to the image of Jesus. And so thank you for joining us today. And today, let me just take a moment and start here. You know, it's interesting when you look at the life of Jesus, you find that Jesus was this amazing communicator and teacher. And yet his disciples never asked him, Jesus, would you teach us how to teach?

Jesus does miracles. He turns water into wine, heals the sick, he casts out demons, and yet his disciples, they don't ask Jesus, hey, would you teach us how to do those things? Now, the only thing the disciples asked Jesus was, Lord, teach us how to pray. Now, why would they do this? Because they knew if we could pray like Jesus did, then we will have the power Jesus had. If the disciples knew if they could pray the way Jesus prayed, the disciples knew they would experience the life Jesus lived. And so Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray. And this is what he says.

I'm reading today from the book of Matthew chapter 6, verse 9 to 13. He says this. This then is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. heaven, give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Now, here's where I think many people misunderstand this prayer that Jesus gives us. Most people assume that prayer should be primarily a way to get God to give me what I would like or somehow have God's will align with mine. But Jesus teaches that prayer is primarily us aligning our will with God's. And what many Christians miss about the Lord's prayer is that Jesus gives us this prayer primarily to recalibrate our vision and recalibrate our desires. Let me explain to you what that means. If you read this prayer carefully, you will find that they are basically,

two sections to this prayer. The first part addresses three things. That's the father's name, the father's kingdom, and the father's will. The second part of the prayer addresses another three things. If you pay attention, you will find that it addresses my needs, my forgiveness, and my protection. Now, the first part's focus is the father in his name, his will, and his kingdom. And then the second part's focus is your needs, your provision, your protection, and your forgiveness. Now, if we're honest, oftentimes we find ourselves praying primarily about my name, my will, my kingdom, what I want, what my needs are, what's on my mind. And then maybe if we have time, if we remember, then we pray about God's name, God's will, and God's kingdom. In addition to that,

we also live in a culture where everybody ultimately is seeking to be happy by focusing on my will, my name, my comfort, my kingdom. And ironically, sociologists have found that since the 1960s within the United States, the divorce rates have doubled, teen suicide rates have tripled, violent crime rates have quadrupled, the prison population has multiplied by five times, out of wetlocked births have multiplied by six times, and cohabitation without marriage that ultimately leads to divorce has multiplied by seven times. So today, sociology is finding that focusing primarily on my happiness, my needs, my desires, and my want is simply not working. Jesus throughout the Lord's prayer

is saying, hey, when you pray, start by setting aside whatever's on your mind, whatever's concerning you, whatever ambitions you might have, just for one moment, set aside whatever needs you have, and start by focusing primarily on who God is. how good he is, how faithful he is, how he reigns, how his name is glorious, how you can trust his will, how you desire to see his kingdom come, how you want to submit your desires to his desires. Jesus is saying, start there so that your vision and your desires and your heart can be reoriented. And then you move on to tell him what you need. My wife and I, we have a two-year-old at home and man it's honestly just so much fun he is changing every day he's getting taller every day he's

learning new words now having said that my son is also discovering his own autonomy and somehow he's learned that when his mom or dad is asking something from him apparently he's learned that he can say no and often what he wants is different than what his father and that's me by the way wants now i love my son. I love to give him good gifts. I love to do the things he wants to do. I enjoy saying yes to him, but ultimately, in this season of his life, my relationship with my son is not primarily about all the things that my two-year-old son wants, but primarily about what he needs. Yes, I care deeply about all the things my son cares about, and yet I care more about who he is becoming. And I want him to learn to trust me as he aligns his will with mine.

And something similar happens with you and your Heavenly Father as we pray the Lord's Prayer. Jesus teaches us to shape our prayers this way so that our prayers consequently shape us as we grow. to become more like him and find true joy in him. And so today I want to encourage you, hey, would you find the time in your day? Would you set aside your phone somewhere else? Find a place where you can be alone with God. Go find the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6 in your Bible

and slowly pray the prayer Jesus gives us. Meditate on what you're praying. Fix your mind first and foremost on your father's name, your father's kingdom, your father's will, and then pour out your heart as you ask for forgiveness, ask for protection, and as you share with him your needs. We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.com slash daily drive. Also, if this podcast was

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