Peter Tan-Chi - Connect to God Our Father
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Summary
In this sermon on True Prayer from the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6, the preacher connects prayer to understanding God as our perfect Heavenly Father, revolutionary in the New Testament. Jesus teaches to begin prayer by addressing "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name," focusing on worship, God's holiness, and aligning our lives to glorify Him, then "Your kingdom come, Your will be done," submitting joyfully to God's perfect plan. The key takeaway is that true prayer starts with God first—adoring Him as loving Father and sovereign King—before presenting our needs, transforming how we live, trust, forgive, and anticipate His kingdom.
Connecting Prayer to Fatherhood
Our new series has to do with True Prayer, and what the Bible has to say about prayer. Now, I changed my message this week to connect True Prayer with fatherhood. So this message is something that I really believe is for everybody. Why? Because some of you long for a father, which you don’t have. Some of you have been wanting to have a father except you don’t have a good father. Perhaps your father is irresponsible, or your father left home, or your father was abusive. Whatever it is, I have good news for you. You have an amazing Heavenly Father.
For fathers, this message will help you evaluate yourself. How close are you to God the Father? God the Father is our ultimate model. How are you behaving? Are you behaving like God the Father? So this message is for everybody.
Why Focus on Prayer
Why do we focus on prayer? In the next few weeks, I want to teach you how to pray. This is the teaching of Jesus, how to pray. Because the disciples asked Jesus one thing, «Teach us how to pray.» The disciples did not ask Jesus, «Teach us how to perform miracles. Teach us how to preach.» No, no. They asked one thing, «Teach us how to pray.»
Have you ever wondered why? Because they saw the connection between the power of Jesus and His prayer life. It’s so evident in the life of Jesus.
How Not to Pray
So, if you don’t mind, this is what Jesus taught the disciples. First, how not to pray. Let’s read Matthew chapter six, verse seven and eight. Everybody read, «And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.»
You know, some people they keep repeating when they pray. According to Jesus, that’s not how you pray, you must pray from the heart. Many people think if they bombard God with so many words, they keep repeating and repeating, and repeating. Somehow God will feel sorry and answer their prayers. That’s not how to pray. You don’t use meaningless repetitions, or meaningful repetitions but you keep repeating it, it loses its meaning.
Praying to the Father
How should you pray? According to Jesus, how should you pray? You must realize who you are praying to. «So do not be—» everybody read, «Do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.» He now introduces something revolutionary. When you pray, you are praying to the Heavenly Father. That’s revolutionary.
Look at the next verse, «Pray, then, in this way: » Now, when you see this word „in this way“, He is saying, „this is a pattern, this is a model, this is the basic outline of your prayer life.“ What is the basic outline? You start with God, and then you talk about your personal needs. God first.
Our Father in Heaven
Let me explain to you. „Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.“ Notice, he starts out by saying, „you must pray, ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.’“ What is Jesus trying to tell us? Jesus is trying to tell us you must connect to God, our Father. So the topic today is— one more time, Connect to God our father.
What does it mean to connect to God, our Father? Who is God in your mind? In the Old Testament, they believe in God, even though He’s a Father, but the emphasis is on the holiness of God, the power of God, but not personal relationship. Jesus changed the mindset of His disciples.
Do you realize how many times the word Father, God, as our Father, is repeated in the New Testament? Guess how many times? It’s 173 times, God as our Father. In the Old Testament, it’s 15 times only. So this is revolutionary.
Healing Father Wounds
I want you to know something. The father you have been longing for is God, your Father. Except you may have a problem. You may find this message not comforting because you have a hard time relating to God as a good Father. Why? Because your earthly experience tells you otherwise. Some of us have fathers who are abusive. Some of us have fathers who have a temper problem. Some of us have fathers who are present—who are physically present, but emotionally absent. Some of us have fathers who are totally irresponsible.
So if I were to tell you God is your Father, I don’t know what’s in your mind. Is it a happy time? Is it something positive or is it something negative? Starting today, you must change your mind. When you hear the word, God is our Father, you must now imagine the greatest, best father in the world. There’s no perfect father on earth. But think of the greatest, best father in the world. And that is who? God, your Father.
So tell your neighbor, God is your Father. Why do I say He’s the perfect Father? God is most loving. God loves you. Your Father loves you. God is very patient. Your Father is very patient. God loves you in terms of wanting what’s best for you, because God knows everything, and He knows what’s best for you. That’s your Father. He knows what’s best, and He wants what’s best. So tell your neighbor God is the best Father.
And the best father will discipline you. God disciplines you. If you are not walking properly, He will surely discipline you, because God does not spoil us. He disciplines us. He wants to transform your character And above all, God is our provider. He provides for you. Some of you, your father is willing, but not able. God is different. He’s willing and able. So we have the best Father in the world. Amen? Praise God.
Hallowed Be Your Name
Question— Let’s look at that verse one more time, Jesus tells them, when you pray, you must pray „Our Father who is in heaven, ” notice, „hallowed be Your name.“ What does that mean? You have a Father who is not just on earth, He is the Supreme Being. The word hallowed means from the Greek word hagiazo, it means you set apart to make holy, to consecrate, to sanctify, to dedicate. To hallow something is to treat it as absolutely sacred.
Your desire when you pray, „Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name.“ You are saying, „Lord, may Your name be glorified. May Your name be lifted up because You are so special. You are so sacred. You are the ultimate. You are my ultimate concern.“ To make it the most important thing. To give it the greatest honor. So when you pray this prayer, you are actually saying, „Whatever I do, in word or deed, I will do it all for the glory of God.“ Understand?
So tell your neighbor, by repeating this verse, „Whether then—“ look at your neighbor now, „—you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.“
The Heart of a Father
Now, you must know something. I was blessed with a good father, but not perfect. My father did not shout. My father was faithful. My father provided. But I never understood the heart of a father until I became a father. I have five wonderful children. But I realized I love them so much—I couldn’t even explain this.
I remember when my son, one of my sons, when he was sick, I prayed to God. I said, „Lord, transfer his sickness to me.“ Literally, I was willing to give up my life to save my son. Why would I do that? Because that is the heart of a father. A normal father. You love your son. You love your children. When something happened to my daughter, I cried. I never cried more than— realizing I would have done everything to protect my family. My friend, that is your heavenly Father. He loves you. He will do everything based on what is good for you.
So how do you pray? „Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name.“ Because of who God is, you want to honor Him in whatever you do. Now, remember, when I pray this prayer, I now connect my whole day. Listen, if you pray this prayer, how will you behave? If you pray that God’s name be glorified and you are at home, let’s take for example, you are a housewife. What kind of a wife will you be? You are a husband at home. What kind of husband will you be?
If you sincerely pray, „may Your name be glorified.“ I will tell you, you will not do any stupid thing to bring shame to the name of the Lord. Yes or no? What I’m trying to tell you is this, this is True Prayer. When you understand you are praying to God, your Father, and you want to honor His name. Are we clear?
Your Kingdom Come
Next. How should you pray effectively? Let’s look at the next verse. „Your kingdom come. Your will be done.“ You must understand our Father is not just in heaven, He is the King of Kings. What does that mean? God has a kingdom. He has kingdom agenda. So when I pray that prayer, „Your kingdom come. Your will be done.“ You know what happens to me? I think of my day’s appointments. Okay, I’m going to see this person, I’m going to have that meeting.
So you know my prayer? „Lord, I pray I will know Your will. And whatever I do, it will expand Your kingdom.“ You see how you pray this prayer? You pray every day with that outline, you begin with „Our Father who art in heaven.“ You begin with adoration. You worship Him. „Hallowed be Your name.“ I want to bring glory to Your name. „Your kingdom come.“ You remind yourself that God is a king and His kingdom is coming. But you want to pray, „Come quickly.“ So that Your kingdom be manifested.
Becoming Children of God
Question, is God your Father? Yes. You see, the Bible tells us not everybody, not everyone of us here—I do not know in this room how many, some are children of God, some are not. We are all creatures, creatures of God. Created beings. But how do you become a child of God? Well, the Bible tells us there’s only one way. The Bible tells us in Galatians, everybody read together, „You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.“
The way to become a child of God is to put your faith in Jesus Christ. To trust Him as your Savior. To believe He died on the cross. Let me share with you another verse. Look at John chapter one, verse 12, everybody read, „As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.“ To believe in the name of Jesus His name means what? Yeshua. Yeshua means what? Savior. Do you believe God is your Savior?
Two Kingdoms
Why is this important? Because the Bible tells us today you are either—you are either a part of God’s kingdom or you are part of the kingdom of darkness. In this room today, you have two kinds of people. Let me explain. Colossians chapter one tells us, together read, „He rescued us from the dominion of darkness, transferred us the kingdom of His beloved son.“
What is this verse saying? Once upon a time, you and I belonged to the dominion of darkness. My proof to you, when you were born, when I was born, when my children were born, I noticed something, I never taught my children—I did not teach my children how to lie. I did not teach them to be rebellious. But today you look at children, today— You don’t have to teach them to do bad things. Did anyone teach you to do bad things? Or did you do it by yourself? Louder. Did you disobey your parents? Who told you to disobey your parents? Did you lie? Have you ever lied? How many of you have lied? Raise your hands. Who taught you how to lie? Your parents or yourself? You mean you taught yourself how to lie?
You know why? Because the Bible tells us, the dominion of darkness, that’s your value. Once upon a time, the Bible says you are blind to the light. You don’t know what’s right and wrong. Now one day, something happened. You heard about Jesus. So the Bible tells us God transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved son, the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God simply means you have a new King, and that King is God. Is Jesus your new King?
So today there are two kinds of people in this room. One, you belong to the kingdom of God because He is your king. You submit to His will. Another one, you belong to the kingdom of darkness. You don’t submit the will of God. How are you transferred? Look at this verse, „In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.“ So two kinds of people, redeemed, or not redeemed. Completely forgiven, or not forgiven. Jesus is your Savior and King, or Jesus is not your Savior or King.
Your Will Be Done
So how do you pray? You know, this is amazing, according to Jesus— Let’s look at, praying about God’s will. Look at Matthew six, verse ten. „Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.“ You know? When I pray this prayer, I say, „Lord, today I only want to do Your will. So what is Your will?“ In our business meetings, I pray, „Lord, give me wisdom. What is your will?“ You pray this prayer, your life will never be the same.
Do you know there are many ways to respond to God’s will? Do you know what are the ways? Number one, indifference. You don’t care. My concern is, some of you are here you don’t care about God’s will. You know why you don’t care? You don’t have a relationship. In Tagalog, „wala kang pakialam.“ (You don’t care) „Anong God’s will, God’s will?“ (I don’t care about God’s will.) You just don’t care.
The other one is, resignation. „I have no choice. it’s God’s will.“ The other one is, anger. You get angry at God. „Sige (Ok fine), Your will!“ „Galit!“ (Angry!) The other one is my recommendation, trust. Joyfully, „Lord, Your will be done. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand it, it’s painful, but I submit to Your will.“ You will only submit to God’s will if you are convinced that God’s will is the best for you. You will never pray this prayer if you think God doesn’t love you, if you don’t think God is wiser than you, you will always want to insist you’ll be grabbing. You’ll be fighting.
You know why some people have no peace? They have not surrendered their will. This is the bottom line of Christian maturity. You have come to a point where you surrender your will to the will of God, joyfully.
Jesus' Example in Gethsemane
What do I mean? You know? When Jesus was about to die on the cross, look at His prayer. According to Jesus, this is His prayer. „Lord/Father, if You are willing— If You are willing, remove this cup.“ „Don’t let Me go through the cross, but not My will, but Yours be done.“ Can you say that together? „Not My will, but Yours be done.“
You know, this became true in my life when the Lord impressed upon my heart how wise God is, how much He loves me. You know, when I was courting my wife years ago, 50 plus years ago, when my wife was courting me, also. I was in the States, and the Lord spoke clearly to my heart. The Lord said, „Peter, I know you love Deonna, but do you know I love you?“ The Lord spoke to me. The Lord said, „I love you so much. I want what’s best for you. I want what’s best for Deonna.“
You know, I got liberated. You know why I got liberated? Because in my heart, when I go back to the Philippines, I was gonna propose to her. And when you propose to somebody, there are only two possibilities, right? What will the girl say? Yes or no? So, gentlemen, do you get nervous when you want to court somebody? What if she says no? Ladies, I give you a secret. When somebody courts you and somebody wants to marry you, and that guy tells you, „the Lord told me it is His will for me to marry you.“ Ladies, what will you do? I’ll teach you. „Oh, interesting, but God has not told me yet.“
You see what I’m saying? „Huwag kang magpa-bola.“ (Don’t be deceived.) Don’t allow men to use the God card. You know what is the God card? „God told me this, God told me that.“ Excuse me. If God tells you something, let Him tell me also to confirm. Is that good? So be careful with any guy that keeps using the name of God in vain. „God told me this, God told me that.“ ‘Yun pala demonyo. (Turns out he’s a devil.) Okay, but I don’t want to judge, okay?
Now, I was so liberated. I asked my wife. „Honey—“ No, I did not call her honey yet. „Deonna, will you marry me?“ The rest is history. Praise God! If you want God’s will, you must follow God’s way. So all singles, if you want to get married, you make sure you get the blessing of those in authority. Amen? Amen.
So what is the meaning of this application? It’s very simple. Among the leaders, Among the elders, when we gather together, we don’t really have problems. Because all we desire is we only want God’s will. We remove our personal agenda. Only one thing. „What is God’s will?“ „Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.“ Amen?
The Coming Kingdom
So that’s how you pray. How do you pray? Recognizing God our Father, who art in heaven. May Your name be glorified. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. Now, do you know the implication of praying for God’s kingdom to come? God’s will to come? Remember, I told you two kingdoms. In the book of Revelation, the Bible tells us, one day the kingdom of God, the will of God will reign supreme. What do I mean? Are you ready? All right. Please read, Revelation, are you ready? Revelation chapter six, verse 15. „The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.“
Why is this so important? The kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of Christ. Let me tell you why. Look at Revelation 11:8. Together, let’s read. „The nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged and the time to reward your bond-servants, the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great.“
You see friends, the kingdom of God is the day when God will honor you. The kingdom of God, when it comes again, is the day when God will judge the unrighteous. You see, today, let me tell you again and again, it may not seem fair. Wickedness is running rampant a lot of people are getting away with their crimes. Relax. You pray that prayer, „Your kingdom come.“ When Jesus comes to reign again, judgment will begin. There will surely be a day of judgment, but there will also be a day of, what? Reward. So you can relax. Don’t try to fight everything. Understand?
So today, what must you pray? „Lord, Your kingdom come.“ What must you do? When you pray for God’s kingdom, you have to ask yourself, do you value the things of the kingdom of God, or do you value the things of this world? You see, you’ll become very, very materialistic if you don’t set your heart on the eternal kingdom, that’s going to come. Let me repeat. If your happiness is on this earth alone, you will fight for everything. You will not be able to let go, you know why? I trust God, His kingdom will come.
Do you know the last prayer in the Bible? What’s the last prayer? The last prayer is simply this, „Come, Lord Jesus.“ This is the last prayer. Come. Come. Can you honestly pray every day? „Come, Lord Jesus.“ When you pray this prayer, it will impact your values, impact your actions. You know why? You will want to share Christ, you will want to evangelize.
What’s my proof? In the book of Matthew, God tells us when He will come. „This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.“ If you are sincere in praying, „Lord, Your kingdom come.“ You know what you will do? You will share the gospel, and you will make your life in such a way that you are ready. You see, are you ready to meet Jesus today? That prayer will make you ready. „Your kingdom come. Lord, am I ready to see You?“
Our Daily Needs
So what is prayer, true prayer? You begin with God. Worship Him. God is our Father. God’s kingdom. God’s will. God first, and then you now tell Him your needs. So let’s look at how Jesus taught us how to pray. „Give us this day our daily bread.“ Physical needs. „Forgive us our debts.“ Spiritual needs „—as we have forgiven our debtors. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.“ This is spiritual protection. It is protection against future problems that are so tough, that you need God’s help.
So is it okay to ask for your needs? Of course. Do you know God wants to meet your needs? Our Father is not somebody reluctant, our Father is more than willing to provide for all our needs. I do not know your concept of who God is. Can you tell your neighbor? „God is your Father.“ Tell your neighbor. „God is your Father, He wants to provide.“
What’s my proof? In the same chapter, if you don’t mind, please read. In the same chapter— Okay. Look at— look at Matthew 6:26. „Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your—“ notice, „your heavenly Father feeds them.“ And then He’s telling you, „are you not worth much more than they?“ Are you not worth much more than birds? If God takes care of the birds, will He take care of you? Louder! Yes!
Do you believe you are more valuable than birds? Why? You are a child of the King. And God is saying „I love you.“ Look at the next verse. „Do not—“ everybody read, „Do not worry ‘what shall we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? ’“ Isn’t this what we worry about? You know why you worry? You worry because you don’t really believe that God will take care of you. You worry because you’re not able to trust. And you are not able to trust because you don’t know God.
If you don’t know God, how will you trust Him? And that’s why here we teach people to read the Bible, get to know the promises of God. Look at the next verse. Stop worrying. That’s a command. Do not worry. What else? „The Gentiles eagerly seek all of these things;“ everybody read, „your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.“ God is saying, „I know all your needs.“ Are you happy that God is our Father? Yes or no?
So should you worry today or not? Well you can, it’s up to you. But every time you worry, you are telling God „I don’t believe You. I don’t trust You.“ That’s why it’s a sin to worry. Look at Max Lucado, I like what he said. „Our Father is not only willing to meet our needs—“ everybody, „He delights.“ He delights.
Forgive Us Our Debts
And then look at the next verse in Matthew six, verse 12. „Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.“ Now, do you notice why it is so important that you learn to forgive and ask for forgiveness? Let’s read. Why is this so important? Look at part of the connecting words when it comes to forgiveness. Everybody read, „If you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your transgressions.“
Have you ever thought about what sin did Jesus warn us against the most? Think about it. He did not talk about immorality. He did not talk about pornography. He did not talk about adultery. He did not talk about murder. He did not talk about stealing. You know what He talks about? The sin of unforgiveness. This is the sin that will really condemn you.
What’s my proof? One more time. „If you do not forgive others, Your Father will not forgive you.“ Look at Mark 11:25–26. „When you stand praying, forgive—“ it’s a command. Present tense, keep on forgiving. On what condition? „If you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.“
Very clear. Do you recall in Matthew chapter 18, Peter came to Jesus. He asked Jesus, „how many times should I forgive my brother?“ Jesus replied, how many? 70 times seven. In the book of Luke. „How many times should I forgive my brother? Seven times?“ Jesus said „Every day, if he commits sin against you seven times a day, you forgive him seven times a day.“ In other words, forgiveness is so crucial.
The Parable of Unforgiveness
What’s my proof? In the story of Jesus, He gave a parable about somebody who owes a king so much, he could not pay. It’s called the unpayable debt. He could not pay, and the king forgave him. The unpayable debt. Billions of today’s dollars in debt, billions. He could not pay. But the King forgave him. And then the Bible tells us somebody owed this guy money, but it is a small amount. This guy did not forgive. Jesus, gave that story to drive home a point. Why you need to ask for forgiveness, and then to forgive.
Can I tell you why? Look at what Jesus said in the parable. „And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.“ Notice, he was brought to the torturers. People who don’t forgive are tortured. People who don’t forgive, they will have bitterness, anger. They get sick. They have all kinds of problems. But more than that, their eternal destiny is horrible.
„My Heavenly Father will also do the same to you—“ everybody read, „if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.“ You see, to forgive, look at this quotation. „To forgive and to be forgiven are linked and cannot be separated. Divine forgiveness and human forgiveness are inseparable.“
My question to you, is there anybody in your life today that you have not forgiven? If there is somebody in your life today, I want you to make sure you tell God, „Lord, I choose to forgive the person.“ You see, forgiveness is not a feeling. Forgiveness is an act of obedience based on your forgiveness. People who don’t forgive is simply because they have not experienced the forgiveness of God. People who do not forgive do not understand their own sin. But if you are forgiven, you will surely forgive.
So, my friend, is there anybody that has offended you? Anybody that has taken advantage of you and you are angry, but you haven’t forgiven them, don’t be deceived. People don’t forgive because they don’t want that guy to feel better. They don’t want that guy to recover. In your mind, „if I don’t forgive the person— if I don’t forgive, he will learn I’m angry.“ Excuse me, that is not your job to correct the person. See, some people say „if I forgive them, it’s too easy.“ Excuse me. That’s not your job to correct the person who offended you. Whose job is it? Louder? God. God is the avenger. God is the disciplinarian. It’s not you. You have one thing to do, forgive.
If you want to go to hell, according to one speaker, this what you do, don’t forgive. People who don’t forgive is making a choice. „I don’t want to go to heaven. I want to go to hell. I don’t need forgiveness. I don’t forgive.“ Okay, you don’t want to forgive?
Deliver Us from Evil
And lastly, look at this prayer. Asking for your spiritual needs, now it’s protection. „Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.“ Deliver us from all evil. You know this word, „Do not lead us into temptation.“ Many times people are confused. „You mean God will lead me to temptation?“ No. Listen. The word temptation can be translated in different ways. The word temptation comes from the Greek word, „peirasmos“. Peirasmos can be translated two ways, one is temptation to sin, the other one is trials, to strengthen our faith, to make sure you understand your faith is real.
So, that prayer includes the latter part, „Lead us not into trials. Deliver us from evil.“ You can translate the last word „from the evil one.“ What do I mean? Look at the book of James. The Bible tells us, „Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various (trials)—“ „peirasmos“, same Greek word, trials. So trials is not always bad, but He connected it, „Deliver us.“ In other words, in the midst of trials, you’re asking God to give you the strength.
You see, you are not asking God, „make my life storm free.“ That’s not what you are praying. „Let my life become storm-proof.“ Let’s read, „Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing.“ Sometimes the only way for you to grow is to go through trials.
But in the same chapter of James one, he tells you the other meaning of trials. Let’s read together. „Let no one say when he is tempted, ” peirasmos, „’I am being (peirasmos) tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, He Himself does not tempt anyone. This one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.“
So my friend, if you pray this prayer, you know what you will do. You will run away from sin. Remember, if you pray this prayer, „protect me from the evil one. Lead me not into temptation.“ What will you do? You will stay away from sin. You don’t run to sin. You run away from sin. Amen?
[b]God's Restoration