Dr Charles Stanley - A Pattern for Prayer - Part 2

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Naturally.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
I want the will of God to be done in
the hearts of other people. I want to pray for
God to show his will to others. I want to
pray for those for whom I'm concerned to know the
will of God for their life. And I want to
pray that they would be obedient and do what God
wants them to do, because I know that's always best.
So you have to put names and feelings in places
and times and situations and circumstances in the words.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Don't just quote repeat the prayer.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's through prayer that we bring needs to God, intercede
for others, and most importantly, develop intimacy with our loving
heavenly Father. So today on in Touch the teaching ministry
of doctor Charles Stanley, you'll see how to move beyond
a repetition of words to learn how to converse with
God and enjoy his friendship. Now here's part two of

(00:51):
a pattern for prayer.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Well, there's the prayer.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Lots of folks have repeated and repeated and repeated. In fact,
millions of people have prayed this prayer or repeated it.
Didn't know what it meant. God never heard it the
first time. And you and I call it the Lord's prayer?
But what in the world does it mean? And you see,
if you just repeating a prayer and you don't know
what it means, it's meaningless and God's not going to
answer it. Well, that has three parts to it, and

(01:19):
I want you to look here for a moment. The
first part is in verse nine when he says our
follow which are in heaven. That's sort of the doxology,
or rather the invocation. And then comes the petition beginning
with halle be thy name, and then comes the doxology
at the very end when he says, for Thine is
the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Amen.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
A very short prayer, But I want you to ask
yourself this question. I want to explain it that I
want you to ask yourself this question. Can I really
pray that prayer? And here's what I want you to see.
And I want you to understand this because I don't
want to be critical to say to someone you can't
pray this prayer.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
I just want to tell you the truth and.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
I want you to understand why you can't pray this
prayer until, first of all, you have received Jesus Christ
as your savior, and have been willing to say that
you have accepted Christ as you save it. Therefore, now
the Father becomes your father. Let me show you why.
First of all, the first petition in this prayer, and
there's six of them, three of them have to do
with God.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
He says, our Father.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
With the pray, who are in heaven, halliwood be thy name,
and listen to this Thy Kingdom come again, my friend,
if you've never received Jesus Christ as your personal say,
you can't pray this prayer Thy Kingdom come. What does
that mean?

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Here's what it means.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
It is a confession that I choose to have the
rule of God in my life because the kingdom is
the rule the Greek word basilia. That does not mean
not necessarily some geographical location, but the rule of God
in my heart.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
When he says in Matthew chapter.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Six, verse thirty three, seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and his righteousness. That is, seek first the rule
of Christ in your life and the character of God
in your life.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Says we're to pray.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Our Father, which are in heaven, who are in heaven, hallow,
will be thy name, Thy Kingdom come.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
What we're saying, is.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Father, I choose your rule in my liave, I recognize
your lordship in my lave, my friend. For you to
stand and repeat that prayer, and you have rejected the
Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, You're saying one
thing with your mouth and denying the other thing with
your heart. You can't pray that prayer. This is a

(03:27):
prayer for those who have acknowledged. Listen, who have acknowledged
and are living under the lordship of Jesus Christ, Thy
Kingdom Come. How in the world can you pray that prayer,
Thy Kingdom Come when you are living in willful known
rebellion against.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
The lordship of Jesus Christ in your life. You can't
do it.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Look at the next petition, Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. We
think when we pray that prayer, were usually thinking God's great,
general perfect will out yonder on earth as it is
in heaven. No, for the person who prays that prayer,

(04:12):
what we are saying is, Lord, I want your will
in my life. I want to know what your will is.
And the answer or whatever you require of me, Father.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
Is yes, yes, yes, yes, thy will.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Be done on earth. Listen, we're not talking about dirt.
Thy will be done on earth. That is in the
hearts and minds of people. But if I'm gonna pray that,
it's got to be first of all in me. How
can I pray God's will to be done in your
life if I'm not willing to have His will in
my life, thy will be done. What I'm saying is, Father,

(04:47):
I want to know your will. I choose to walk
in your will. The answer to your will is yes, Yes, Yes,
I want the will of God done, and I want
it to begin in me.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
Friend.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
That prayer is pact full of commitment. Holy is the
name of Almighty God. I recognize the holiness of God.
I yield to the rule of Christ in my life.
I submit to the will of Christ in my life.
The answer is yes. What a powerful challenge of commitment

(05:23):
and all that is centered upon God. It is the
name of God, the Kingdom of God, the will of God,
this God whom I have the privilege of calling my
heaven the Father. And what it cost him to make
that possible for me to call him my father.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Then he says the second.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Part of that prayer, the first is to glorify our God.
We recognize his wholeness, his kingdom, and his will. Now
he says man's needs, and he begins with give us
this day our daily bread. What is he referring to,
you know, slice bread, loaf bread. No, and he says,
give us our daily bread. What he's really referring to

(06:03):
is the sum.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Total of all of our needs.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
And what we are saying is, Father, I recognize you
as the source of all my needs, my physical needs,
my material needs, my emotional needs, my spiritual needs. I
recognize you as the source of them all. Do you
only pray when you get in trouble? Is this an
emergency prayer that you've been praying.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Then you've wasted your time.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
The ultimate goal of this prayer is communion with the Father,
because it's all God directed. Father directed, give us this
day our daily bread. We have the right and the
privilege and the authority given by God in this passage
and many of us to ask Him for every single
need we have. If he knows we don't need it,

(06:48):
he won't provide it. If he knows their other needs,
we're not even aware he will give us those two.
But he wants us to come because he wants us
to see him as the source. So he says, we
to pray, give us this day, our day, the bread,
but listen to this next one now, and forgive us
our debts, as we have forgiven our debtas he says,

(07:09):
our petitions when it comes to us.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
We to pray for our needs.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
And secondly we to pray for the forgiveness of our sin.
Now what does he mean here? He isolates this to
one particular case when he says, forgive us our debts,
as we have forgiven our Debtas now, when you and
I sin against God, there is a spiritual debt we
owe to him, a spiritual debt which Jesus Christ took

(07:34):
upon himself at Calvary and paid in full two thousand
years ago when he shed his blood. The only thing
that brings about forgiveness is the blood of Jesus. It
is not confession, it is not repentance, it is not prayers,
it is not sermons, it is not singing, it's not
going to church, it's not giving money, is not anything
but the blood of Jesus Christ. That is the only

(07:55):
thing that can atone for sin. So when Jesus says
that we are to do what we are to ask
for the forgiveness of our sins. That is what he's
saying is when you pray, make sure that everything is
right between you and the Father, and make sure that
everything is right between you and others, because if it's not,

(08:16):
the prayer is not going to work. He said, what
do you mean the prayer is not going to work? Well,
I want you to look at verses fourteen and fifteen.
Let me give you a brief explanation. After he's completed
this prayer, Jesus said, for if you forgive men for
their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But
if you do not forgive men, then your Father will

(08:37):
not forgive your transgressions. Now, when you first read that,
it looks like Jesus is saying, well, you can't be forgiven. Now,
this has absolutely nothing to do with salvation. It has
to do with a believer sinning against God. Now, let's
take the example of a brother. Let's say that you
have someone has sinned against you, I mean, really done

(08:57):
you wrong, and you have a very unforgiving spirit. An
unforgiving spirit creates tension and stress and anxiety. And it
can develop into bitterness, and there's a tension there between
you and God and you and that person. God says,
if you don't release the other person from their debt

(09:20):
to you emotionally, if it's something they said about you
hurt you, or if it's something they owe you, He says,
if you don't release them, then the Father won't release you.
Which is what he's saying is you're going to continue
to suffer the consequences of your unforgiving spirit.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
And what he's saying in.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
This passage is this, you want God to free you
from discipline, then you must be willing to free the
other person of the debt they owe you. That is,
if I hold something against someone else, I'm sinning against God.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
God's willing to forgive them. I won't forgive them.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Then how can I experience listen, how can I experience
in fellow the forgiveness of God which He's already provided
for me.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
I can't experience it.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
I can't enjoy it unless I'm willing to get my
heart right with someone else.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
When you release them, then you get released.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
And besides that, why is God going to listen to
a very hypocritical prayer? Now listen, let me show you
how hypocritical this is.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Father.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
I want your rule in my life, but I am
not going to forgive him.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
That's pure hypocrisy.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
You can repeat that prayer and it's absolutely meaningless until
you begin to put faces with it, in names with it,
in circumstances with it. So he says, when you and
I come to him, we're to ask for the things
we need, but likewise to deal with sin in our life.
And that doesn't mean that every single time you pray,
you've got to get on your knees and rack your
brain to see if there's something wrong, Because every time

(10:52):
you pray doesn't mean that you've sinned since the last
time you prayed. He said, Oh, we sin all the time,
then you're not saved. Saints don't sin all the time.
Saints sin at times. And every single believer of the
Bible says has been sanctified, set apart by God, cleanse clothed,
and the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the spirit of

(11:14):
God is living within us. The person of Jesus Christ
is living within us. And you and I are not
sinning all the time. If you're sinning all the time
and that's your lifestyle.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
You've never been saying.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
But because we are saved with the grace of God,
Christ is living within us, and we're still in this
human body, and we still have our five senses and
our normal natural desires.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
We will choose at.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
Times to sin against God, and when we do, we
need to deal with it. Our God is not going
to answer our prayer. If we understand the holiness of God,
we will live holy before God and not to do
so as a contradiction of everything we profess, everything we
claim to be, and everything.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
We said of the world. We are my Father, who
are in heaven. You're holy. I want your Kingdom's rule
in my life. I want you will in my life.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
I look to you as the source of all my need.
You're the only one who can forgive me and cleanse
my heart.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
And listen to this.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Next petition, because it looks like a contradiction, he says
in verse thirteen, And do not lead us in the temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Now go back to James
Chapter one for a moment, and any one of these
phrases we could take a whole message on, because they're
all so vital and all so full, But listen to

(12:30):
this particular phrase, lead us not in the temptation. In James,
Chapter one, verse thirteen, very clearly, the Bible says, let
no one say when he is tempted, I am being
tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil,
and He himself does.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
Not tempt anyone. Now, wait a minute.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
If the Bible says God doesn't tempt anyone, why should
I be praying lead us not in the temptation. Well,
the word temptation here not only can apply to enticements
to evil, which God never leads us in enticements of evil,
but it also refers to testings and trials. And so

(13:10):
when he says, here we're to pray, do not lead
us into temptation, what we're saying is God, because you're
in control his kingdom, will, because you're in control. I'm
asking you to restrain me from going into that, participating
in heading in a direction that would injure my soul. Lord,
protect me, protect me from getting involved in anything that

(13:35):
would lead me into any form of sin.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
Lead us not into temptation.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
It does not mean God, You're gonna lead me into
some enticement evil Please don't do it. Oh God, don't
do it. That's not what he means. But Father, protect me.
And I believe that probably here one of the implications
is unrecognized temptation God, And you think about it. All
of us go through a given day a week, and
they are temptations of all sorts, and some of those

(14:01):
temptations we're unaware of until suddenly we're confronted with him.
He says, we're to pray, Lord, restrain me from heading
in that direction or this direction, in some form of temptation,
which my soul may be injured as a result.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
And the second thing I think he means here is this, don't.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
Allow us to suffer intense temptation or trials which may
lead us to sin. That is, Lord, control my circumstances
in order that I may not fall into sin, that
I may not yield to temptation, that I may not.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
Find myself falling.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
And so it is a prayer not that God would
do something in contradiction to his will, but Lord protect
us in those subtle temptations we face, that we're there
before we realize it, in those trials and hardships. Lord
that when we go through those he says, lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, that is Father,
in these circumstances in which I find myself self, deliver me.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
From the evil one, that is from Satan.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
So he says, our petitions concerning ourselves is what for
our material needs and physical needs, for our sin problem,
and then for victory, victory over temptation, victory through trials
and hardships and struggles and difficulties in light. Lord, restrain
me from going the wrong direction, uphold me and strengthen me,

(15:26):
and protect me when I go through those things. I
cannot explain and cannot understand. Notice how he ends, For
Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
Amen. What is that?

Speaker 2 (15:39):
It is a declaration, that is a doc sulage that
I recognize that the kingdom is God's kingdom, the power
is God's power, and.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
The glory is the glory of God.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
If you look at that prayer from beginning to end,
it is God's sinnered what my Father who art in heaven.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
It is the name of God that is holy, the
Kingdom of God.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
Bed to pray about it is the will of God
be to yield to It is God who is the
source for my need, the source for my forgiveness, the
source for my strength and victory. And it is his
glory and his power and his honor and his majesty
and his kingdom. It is all God centered. And what
does that do to you praying? I'll tell you what

(16:22):
it does. It breaks you out of this little egotistical, selfish,
self centered praying. God, me myself and I and my troubles,
my heart aches, my homes, my finances, my birds, my prayers,
my sickness is my ills. We go on on and
on on and on, and what happens. Gods know where
to be found. Next time you get on to pray,

(16:42):
open the Bible to Matthew six and say, all right, Lord,
talk to him just like he's your friend.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
I want you to teach me how to pray.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
Your objective is communion, and the object of your focus
is God.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
You don't have to worry about anything else.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
If the object of your focus is God and your
purpose is fellowshipping and loving him and being loved by
him and loving him enough to give him some exclusive
time just for himself, He'll deal with the needs.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
He'll bring to your mind.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
The sins that need to be dealt with, and he
will assure you of his strength over the evil one. Friends,
I love you and I want you to learn how
to pray the Bible way, and the best way to
do that is to take the pattern that God gave
get down when you start praying, and just get down
there and just say, now, Lord, just show me how

(17:37):
to pray.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
And what you may do.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
Is just go verse by verse our father, who aren't
have a Lord, show me what you really like. Just
help me to understand who you are. I want to
know more about you, and help me.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
To understand your name. Here's what will happen.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
You start praying with the Word of God, and you're
going to get in the Word of God. You're going
to start searching the scripture names of God. What are
those names of God? By the way, And you're gonna
begin to understand what Jehovah Yahweh and Jehovah Jireh and
Jehovah shalam mean. In other words, all of a sudden,
the name of God's going to become precious.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
And you start looking up what does.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
The Bible mean by the Kingdom of God, And all
of a sudden, you can realize I'm part of this great, vast,
infinite kingdom of God. I'm a member of this family
of God. What is the will of the Father. What
is the Lord's will for my life? In this given situation.
You're gonna begin to see how God has provided your
material needs and your physical needs, and He's going to

(18:33):
begin to purify your heart as you deal with sin.
And you're gonna begin to understand how God has watched
over you and cared for you and protected you.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
You see what's going to happen.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
Your whole prayer life's gonna take on a whole new,
blessed meaning because what's happening. You've begun the fellowship with
the Father. You've begun to love him, You've begun to
listen to him. You've let you let him do some
talking through his word speak into your spirit.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
And you know what will happen. You can't wait to
get by myself to talk to him.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Thank God for the privilege of being able to get
along and talk with somebody that I knows me perfectly
and completely and loves me just the same. There's some
things you can't tell anybody but God, my friend. Don't

(19:26):
settle the repeating prayers get serious.

Speaker 1 (19:29):
Here's what will happen. It will affect you, your.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
Family, and when the people of God in this country
really begin to understand what praying is all about, it'll
affect this whole.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Society of hours.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
When we begin to pray the Bible Way, something will
happen to our heart.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
You're listening to in Touch, the teaching ministry of doctor
Charles Stanley. Prayer is meant to help us get to
know God and his will. When our desires are in
tune with his, our problem will look less daunting, and
answers will become clearer. Our series on prayer continues tomorrow,
but in the meantime, you can find out more about
talking and listening to God at in touch dot org.

(20:12):
Or listen to today's program again by following the link to
Today on Radio. And if you go to the bookstore page,
you can order a copy of doctor Stanley's Complete Message,
A Pattern for Prayer, or his teaching set Learning to
Pray the Bible Way Again. You'll find these resources at
in touch dot org. To call our text the number

(20:32):
is one eight hundred in Touch. To write to us,
address your letter to in Touch post office box seventy
nine hundred, Atlanta, Georgia, three zero three five seven. God
doesn't hate you, but he does hate the things that
will destroy you. Stay with us. Today's moment with Charles
Stanley is coming up.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
You've got to be willing to set aside time.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
That's a real victory.

Speaker 4 (20:55):
Just imagine what it would have been like to look
over doctor Stanley's shoulder as he was spending time with
the scriptures. Doctor Stanley spent hours in preparation for his sermons.
With photos of his Bibles, resources, and handwritten notes, This
new book will give you an intimate look into doctor
Stanley's daily walk with the Father God turned the light
on Charles F. Stanley's personal Bibles, books and notes available

(21:17):
now go to InTouch dot org slash store.

Speaker 5 (21:22):
In places where churches have closed or never existed, the
need for discipleship beyond evangelism is urgent. Our mission is
to train people on the frontlines of ministry through life
principles training based on the Biblical teaching of doctor Charles Stanley,
shaping people to reflect Jesus and empowering them to fulfill
the Great Commission. For more info, visit in touch dot

(21:46):
org slash Global.

Speaker 3 (21:53):
You're listening to in Touch. How much do you know
about God's grace? Here's a moment, Old Stanley, the.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
God of grace so loved you admit that he sinned,
his only begotten son, Jesus Christ into this world, demonstrating
what the Father's like, a God of grace and love
and mercy and forgiveness and kindness, and then dying on
the cross, making it possible for anybody and everyone who
really and truly desires to have a relationship with the Father,

(22:24):
to have an intimate personal relationship with God. You know why,
because He's a loving God, and the Lord Jesus Christ
came and fulfilled the law that Moses talked about the
final death of the son of God who was God
in Christ, Jesus walking among men when he died, the sin.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
That of the entire world was paid.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
If God were an angry god lurking over you and
waiting for you to do something wrong, why would he
send his only be gotten son to make it possible
for you to be saved forgiven and to live in
peace and joy and happiness and contentment in your life.
It doesn't make sense because it's not true. What is
the truth about this God. All through the New Testament,

(23:07):
the theme is grace. God's goodness and love and mercy
toward his children. Do we sin against them?

Speaker 1 (23:12):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (23:13):
What's grace all about? Forgiveness, kindness and understanding. Does that
mean we can live in the old way you want
to live and get.

Speaker 1 (23:19):
By with it?

Speaker 2 (23:19):
No, Because God disciplines his children and sometimes discipline is
very painful. You say, well, if he loves me, what's
this discipline business. If God did not discipline us when
we sin against him, that wouldn't be a God of grace.
That's not kindness, that's not goodness, that's not love. Allowing
us to get by with something that he knows will

(23:41):
cause us to ultimately destroy a life could not possibly
be an act of grace. It is an act of
careless indifference. And that's not who he is. He's a
God of grace.

Speaker 3 (23:52):
Learn more about God's grace and forgiveness when you visit
in touch dot org. And if today's program has encouraged
your relationship with Jesus, we'd love to hear from you
tomorrow on in Touch. We'll focus our attention on a
spiritual discipline that's almost forgotten among believers today. Learn about
the place of fasting in prayer Friday on in Touch,

(24:12):
the teaching Ministry of doctor Charles Stanley. This program is
a presentation of In Touch Ministries Atlanta, Georgia and remains
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