Joyce Meyer - What Does The Lord's Prayer Mean To Me? (08/20/2019)
In this powerful message on the Lord's Prayer, the preacher shares how God revealed its depth during prayer walks, emphasizing that God is our loving Father who provides, forgives, and guides us. Using Matthew 6, the sermon explores each phrase to show its practical and spiritual impact, concluding that truly understanding this prayer transforms how we live, pray, and pursue God's will daily.
Our Father – A Loving Daddy God
In 40 years of teaching, I've never taught on the Lord's Prayer. And I walk in the mornings and I pray. And I don't know why, but I get a lot of great, anointed, creative ideas when I'm walking. And a couple weeks ago, I was praying the Lord's Prayer and God began to just take it apart for me and show me just really how amazingly powerful this prayer is. And I felt very compelled that I was to teach on this prayer. And I think after hearing this teaching tonight that you will never again pray what we call the Lord's Prayer and it not mean something a great deal more to you than it might right now.
So we're all going to pray this together. We're going to put it up on the screens. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done 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.
Now, if I don't work at it, I could spend the whole night talking about the first sentence of this prayer. Our Father. God is our Father. Our Father. And that's especially good news to those who had an absent father, or no father, or even worse, a bad father. I think, honestly, like the situation I was in, and many of you had similar situations. You were mistreated growing up. Maybe you weren't loved. Maybe somebody yelled at you all the time. Maybe you were hit or punished unfairly. Maybe you were sexually abused like I was. But I would have been better off to have had an absent father rather than the one that I had. And so, I have no frame of reference at all for what it would be like to have a loving, earthly father.
Healing from Earthly Father Wounds
Now, those of you who had a great dad, you should appreciate him, and you should tell him how much you appreciate him. And you should let him know that you're grateful for the way that he raised you. Because not all of us had that opportunity in our life. But, God always wants to be anything and everything to us that we might have missed in the natural. And the Bible says in Psalm 27:10, Even though my mother and my father have forsaken me, the Lord will take me up and adopt me as his own child. So, guess what? You all have a loving father. My daddy loves me. Can you shout that out? My daddy loves me. Amen.
Now, Romans 11:36 is one of my favorite scriptures. I love Romans 11:36. And I open this up sometimes. I did this last week. And I just look at it and I just shake my head. Because it's just so powerful. Romans 11:36. For from him and through him and to him are all things. For all things originate with him and come from him. God our father is the source of all things. Everything that we need is wrapped up in him. All things live through him. Everything that's alive is alive because God gave it life. And all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in him. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
God as the Source of Everything Good
Now, although this message tonight might be considered a little more spiritual, it is also very practical because when you really know who God is and that he's for you, that he's never against you, that he loves you, and that he is the source of everything that you need, boy, does life ever get good and exciting. You have a father who loves you, and nobody better get in his way when it comes to his kids. From him and through him and to him are all things. In other words, it's just all about him. You know, when we get in trouble is when it becomes all about me instead of all about he. Amen?
I just wish that I could unzip you and fill you full of Psalm 139 that says, In our mother's womb, he created us with his own hand. Intricately and curiously, in secret, he created us and formed us. And God looked at everything that he made and said, It is good. It is good. Don't ever let anybody tell you that you're no good. Don't ever let anybody tell you that you were an accident. They didn't want you. Even if your parents didn't plan to have you, God planned to have you. And he's got a purpose for you and a plan for you. And he is your father. You have somebody on your side that is the biggest of the biggest of them all. He is your father. And he loves you.
It's just like snug... How many of you got a nice, fuzzy blanket you love? That's the way this part of this prayer feels to me. It's just like... See, to be honest, because of the sexual abuse, I never one time in my whole life ever remember comfortably sitting on my father's lap. There's so many things that I missed and many of you missed that we don't even know what it was that we missed because there's no frame of reference out there for it. But let me tell you something. God will give you a double recompense, a double reward for anything that you missed. And God has invited us into intimate relationship with him.
Abba Father – Intimate and Close
Romans 8:15. For you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Father. Abba is an Aramaic word that most closely is defined in English as Daddy. Abba, Father, Daddy, God. Amen.
Well, what do fathers do? Well, they provide, they nurture, they train, they comfort, they encourage, and they correct. But everything that they do, everything they do is done for your good. And it's hard as a child when your parent says, I know you don't get it now, but I'm just doing this for your own good. Even when they punish you or take something away that you want, and they say, I'm doing this for your good, you just don't get it. And it's the same way with God. Sometimes he doesn't let us do the things that we want to do, and it's for our own good, and we need to trust that just like we want our children to trust us.
Now, I don't know who it's going to be or how many people it's going to be or if you're in this building tonight or if you're watching my television, but I can tell you that there are some people whose lives are going to be totally turned upside down and put in the right place just by understanding tonight that God is your Father, your Daddy God.
Our Father in Heaven – Holy and Near
Our Father who is in Heaven. God is on His throne in Heaven. But you know, God lives in two places. He lives on His throne in Heaven, but He also lives on the throne of our hearts. How much closer can you get than inside? You know, it seems to me that religion is all about me trying to reach God. But Christianity is about Christ reaching down to us. He lives in you if you're a believer. Christ in me, the hope of glory. You are the home of Almighty God.
Our Father who art in Heaven, but who also came down to redeem me, to touch me, to heal me from my loneliness and my brokenness, to save me, to energize me, and to give me a life worth living. Amen? Amen.
When we recognize the holiness of God, the holiness of God, if it were not for us being able to go to God through Christ, not one of us could live through a moment in the holiness of God. When we recognize the holiness of God, we are filled with reverential fear and awe. Why do we have so much sin in the world today? And why is there even so much sin among God's people? Because we lack reverential fear. And I'm not in any way suggesting that we be afraid of God. I'm not afraid God's going to hurt me. He's my Father. I know that He loves me. But He is to be reverenced. And we need to understand that God is not just our buddy. He is God and He is a holy God.
Balancing Intimacy with Reverence
And if God says, do this and you'll have a good life, do this and you won't. If you do this, you're not going to have the life that God wants you to have. Every man will eventually give an account of himself to God. Every one of us will stand before God and give an account of ourselves to God. And this is not spooky, scary preaching. I told you this morning, I've told you tonight, God loves you. His mercy is new every day. The grace of God is always available for us. But God means business. And I just think it's time for us to straighten up a little bit. I think it's time for us to get a lot more serious about the God that we serve and the fact that we are alive on the planet today and there surely must be a purpose and God needs us to do something besides sit around and want to get another blessing for ourselves while we watch the rest of the world die and go to hell. Amen.
And the thing is God is our friend. I spent a lot of time this week studying about the friendship of God. We have an intimate friendship with God but we also have to balance that with reverential fear and awe where we know that God is holy and He means what He says. Amen. We belong to God. To Almighty God.
Our Father who art in heaven, holy is your name. You're not going to pray the Lord's Prayer anymore and pray it the same way you did when we started. This prayer covers everything.
Your Kingdom Come – Priority on God's Work
Your kingdom come. Our Father who is in heaven holy is your name. Your kingdom come. What does that mean? Just to put it simply church we need to be a lot more concerned about the people that are lost and about the growth of the kingdom of God than we are just getting what we want all the time. Our world is filled with pain and immorality of every kind. Don't seek after things. Don't ever waste your time seeking after things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you.
The cry of our hearts should be God what is my assignment? What is my assignment? You know your assignment may not be the worship leader or the pastor or to do this or the owner of a business. Maybe your assignment is to clean the toilets in the church but do it with a smile on your face and do it unto the Lord because somebody's got to do it why not you? Amen? I love it when people say to me that's my assignment. We need to know what our assignment is from God. Maybe your assignment right now is just raising your kids and being a great wife. Maybe your assignment right now is being the greatest dad. But maybe your assignment is also reaching out to some other child in the church that doesn't have a father and including him.
What is your assignment from God? It may be a public assignment. It may be a very private assignment. But whatever we do in secret unto the Lord we will be rewarded for openly. Matthew 6. Do your part to see the kingdom grow. Ask God to break your heart over the conditions in the world today and learn to be an intercessor for the lost.
This World Is Not Our Home
You know, the Bible says that the whole earth is groaning, waiting for the redemption of the sons of God. I don't know about you, but I don't want to misstate this. I'm happy, but you know what? I'm not happy here. I'm not fulfilled here in the earth. You know why? I don't belong here and neither do you. This is not our home. This is a passing through place. There's nothing here that's ever going to totally, 100% satisfy us. So why don't we stop trying to get things in the world to satisfy us and just get around to doing what we're here for, which is living for the glory of God.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Your Will Be Done – Surrender to God's Plan
Your will be done. Father, if you're willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will, but always yours be done. You know, we quote the scripture all the time. All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. And we only hear the all things work out good. That's really all people hear. Oh, yes, this is going to work out good. To those who love God and are called according to his purpose. For those who crave and pursue and passionately go after the will of God in their lives.
And I can tell you if you want God's will more than you even want to breathe, if you would rather die than to live without God's will, then there is nothing that can happen to you that won't work out for good. Let me tell you something. Doing the will of God is not always easy. It's not all just fun and games. And a lot of times there's a lot of groaning before we get to the glory.
We're having fun and this is a fiery message but let me tell you I realize that what I'm asking people to do to forgive the people that hurt you to stop talking bad about the people that are so... man, sometimes I almost have to bite my tongue off to shut my mouth. Okay, I've circled this scripture on here and I wrote in blue must use this tonight. So here we go.
1 Thessalonians 4. Are we doing okay? You like this all right? And nobody needs to go home condemned and think, oh my God, now I've got to stop doing this. I've got to stop doing that. You don't have to do anything except what God tells you to do. And if He tells you to stop it, then we should be smart enough to realize if God tells me not to do it, then it's hurting me in some way, shape, or form and I ought to be thankful to get rid of it.
Consecrated Living as God's Will
For this is the will of God, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, For this is the will of God, that you should be consecrated, separated, and set apart for pure and holy living. That you should abstain and shrink from all sexual vice. Whew! That each of you should know how to possess, control, and manage his own body in consecration and purity separated from things profane and honor not to be used in the passions of lust like the heathen who are ignorant of the true God and have no knowledge of His will.
You stepped into a holy meeting tonight. How many of you are with me? May you understand that if we don't hear this along with everything else that we are going to get ourselves in deep, deep trouble. Grace is not an excuse to live a sloppy life. It is the power of God not to have to. And the love of God covers a multitude of sins but Jesus said if you love me you will obey me. He did not say if you obey me I will love you. God already loves us but our love for Him when we see His holiness when we see how amazing He is when we know that He's our Father that He lives in us how can we not want to say my God my God my God your will be done in my life.
Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread – Trusting Provision
Give us this day our daily bread. Jehovah Jireh the Lord our provider. You know if you look at the story of the manna for the Israelites it came one day at a time just enough for one day at a time. And you know God wants us to learn to trust Him one day at a time one moment at a time. One day at a time trusting God day by day. Don't worry and be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will have anxieties and worries of its own. God is our provider. If they gathered more than they needed it got rotten and began to stink. Our needs are many and God provides them all.
Forgive Us Our Debts – The Seriousness of Forgiveness
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Do you really want God to do that? You probably didn't hear me. Do you really want God to forgive you the same way you forgive everybody else? That's His promise. We better take this serious. Hmm. Well I didn't write the book don't look at me like that.
I think if I were you I wouldn't go to bed the night before I forgive everybody that I got anything against. I mean I'm serious. I am as serious as I know how to be. Well I just can't help the way I feel. No you can't help the way you feel but you can make a decision live with a heart full of hatred after what you have done for me I will not take your mercy and your goodness and then hold things against other people.
And you get on your little face and you bury your face in the carpet and you stay there until God gives you the grace and the strength to get up and love people that would fit in the enemy category. Boy I wish I had another night.
Deliver Us from Evil – Daily Protection Prayer
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Every day of your life pray that. Pray for discernment every day of your life. Lord deliver us from evil. Show me wicked people. Help me get away from people that are not right for me. Help me God show me who's really my friend and who's not. Help me not to come into temptation. The disciples fell asleep for grief and Jesus said can you not get up and pray that you don't come into temptation. Don't wait until you are in the throes of the biggest temptation and you're in this huge emotional mess. You pray every day. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. Why? Because you're the only one that has the power to do it.