Charles Spurgeon is still considered one of the greatest preachers in all Baptist history.  He was a pastor in England during a time of increasing biblical illiteracy and doctrinal laxity.  In fact, Spurgeon’s day in England is very much like our day in America.  Spurgeon was greatly concerned about the situation. He wrote a series of questions and answers about the Christian faith based on the Bible and the great confessions of faith from the years before.  The first question is crucial to understanding the focus of the “Lord’s Prayer.”  It says, “What is the chief end of man?”  The answer,   “Man's chief end is to glorify God, (1Co 10:31) and to enjoy him for ever (Ps 73:25,26).”  In other words, our primary purpose is to glorify the God who has created us and redeemed us.  That is the same focus of Matthew 6: 10.  After we acknowledge God’s greatness and worthiness to be worshipped, we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” 
          When we sincerely pray that God’s will be done and that his kingdom will come, we are telling God that his glory is more important to us than our own lives.  His kingdom and will are supreme over my needs and my desires.  As we will see in the following verses, my personal petitions are secondary to his glory. The acronym ACTS is a healthy pattern for prayer that follows the model Christ provides.
A – Adoration:  In adoration we should take time in our prayer just to worship God for who he is and what he has done.  Tell God all about his greatness.  This is what we were created to do.  We were created to reflect and magnify the greatness of God. 
C – Confession:  After we have told God of his infinite greatness, then we must admit our sinfulness.  We must confess our sins, our failings, our complete need of the forgiveness given us through the cross work of Jesus. 
T – Thanksgiving:  We then thank God for his constant love, protection, and blessings. 
S – Supplication: Finally we bring our needs before the Lord.
          Unfortunately, we too often skip right to Supplication.  There is nothing wrong with asking God for his blessing or his healing, in fact Scripture commands bringing requests before him.  The key lies in recognizing the glory of God.  He is not a vending machine.  He is Lord.  The wonderful lesson of the “Lord’s Prayer” is repeated in Matthew 6: 33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”    

In Christ,
Blain Craig

          Jesus begins his model prayer with the words, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name” Matthew 6:9b.  So often, we say those words and pray those words without really stopping to consider the awesome meaning behind them.  In these first words of the prayer we are reminded that all prayer is first and foremost to God, for God, and about God.  Prayer is always to be conducted to the glory of God.
            God receives glory in a couple of ways in these first words of the prayer.  First of all, he receives glory in his name.  Jesus calls him “Father.”  This would have been earth shattering as those first disciples heard Jesus pray this.  Of course, the Jewish people had always thought of God as Father in a very general sense of the word, but to address him directly as Father was new.  Remember, Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray.  They too can refer to God as Father. How?  “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” John 1:12.  If we are his children, He is our father.  Our father’s name is hallowed.  It is holy, consecrated, sacred, revered.  That means every time we say his name, we do so in reverence and awe – to His glory!!
            Secondly, Jesus reminds us that the Father is in heaven.  Now we know that he is God so he is also everywhere, but Jesus is once again emphasizing that God is not a mere human living on earth.  He is other, separate, and transcendent.  Jesus is not implying that God is impersonal, but the emphasis is on his total worthiness of worship and glory.
            Isn’t it interesting that Jesus begins this model prayer with the worship of God.  It is only when we have a right view of the power, wisdom, love, and majesty of God that we can ever hope to see ourselves in a right way.  I can’t speak for you, but I am ashamed of the number of times I have prayed and gone straight to whatever concern or burden I was facing.  I didn’t give a passing word to the fact that God is great and he is worthy of praise and worship.  When we don’t acknowledge the holiness and greatness of God, we miss the most important part of prayer.  So when we pray the first words of the Lord’s Prayer, our thought should be; we serve a great and glorious God.  “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” 1 Corinthians 10: 31.
             
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig

What role does prayer play in you life?  What role does prayer play in the life of Oak Crest Baptist Church?  I hope your response to both of those questions is:  a crucial role.  If prayer is not at the heart of all that we say and do, we are in grave danger of charting our own course, rather than following the course God has set for us.  We need a revival of prayer in our lives and in our church.  May God make us a praying people.
          I just conducted a search of the word “prayer” on amazon.com.  There are over 118,000 books available on the subject of prayer.  By that fact, it seems there are a lot of people who have something to say about prayer.  The truth is that you can read all the books and listen to all the sermons, but until you experience the life changing power of prayer in your own life you will never really know the difference it makes.  I am certain you already know that power in your own prayer life, but we could all stand to be reminded from time to time.  The disciples understood the importance of learning to pray in a God honoring way.  After witnessing Jesus’ consistent devotion to private prayer, they said, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples” Luke 11: 1b.
          In the next few articles, we will be reminded of those very same principles Jesus taught his disciples.  We are going to examine the “Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6: 9-13.  In this particular prayer, Jesus provides his disciples and all of us, the perfect model prayer.  All the essential elements of a healthy prayer life are found in the words of Jesus.  As we examine the phrases of the prayer, we will see clearly that we must pray acknowledging both God’s Glory and God’s Grace.
          I can say to you without any hesitation -- God wants Oak Crest Baptist Church to be a praying church.  If we neglect prayer, all is in vain.  My great desire is that our church be saturated in an atmosphere of prayer.  May God guide us all into the truth of His Word.
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig