The Faith Walk

Jonathan Evans: Today, on the Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. When Jesus is giving the Lord's Prayer, he's giving you the how-to on prayer. In other words, I'm sending you a link this morning, you received the notification, and you need to open that thing up. Because if Jesus prayed consistently and he used this as a template of his prayer, then how much more do you and I need to be consistent and not complacent when it comes to our prayer life?

Guest (Male): You're listening to the Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. In a moment, Jonathan will continue today's message, but first, to thank you for your support of this ministry, Jonathan has a couple of special gifts for you. The first is the audio series that you're currently hearing called "House of Prayer: Building a Real, Consistent, and Intimate Prayer Life Through Honest, Private Communication with God."

The second part of this gift is a devotional called "Kingdom Family," written by Jonathan and Tony Evans. It covers real-life topics for parents and kids to explore together throughout the year. I'll tell you more about these later in today's program. Or you can call right now at 1-800-800-3222 or visit TonyEvans.org to learn more. Now, let's get started with Jonathan's message.

Jonathan Evans: We're talking about the house of prayer, and that's what the house of the Lord is. It is the house of prayer, and we talked about the Lord's Prayer. We're going to continue in that today, understanding that the Lord's Prayer is not something that we just need to respect; it's something that we need to reflect. So today, we need to resubscribe to the Jesus channel.

As you remember, there was a disciple who asked him, "Teach me how to pray." And so when Jesus is giving the Lord's Prayer, he's giving you the how-to on prayer. In other words, I'm sending you a link this morning, you received the notification, and you need to open that thing up. Because if Jesus prayed consistently and he used this as a template of his prayer, then how much more do you and I need to be consistent and not complacent when it comes to our prayer life?

What we learned last time, and we got stuck on two words: "Our Father." Because we learned that he's using a term of endearment for you to be able to go into your father's room knowing that your father cares for you and will do anything for you. Has he not already proved himself when he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for your sins—not when you were better, but while you were a sinner?

He's already proved his great love and the lengths that he's willing to go in order to save you and love you. So what does it look like for us to go into the room as a skeptical child when the Father has already done so much? I'm hoping last week in your prayer life you approached the throne a little bit differently.

When he continues the Lord's Prayer, he says, "Hallowed be thy name." When you experience and you understand the Father at this level, you ought to be praising his name. Understand this: if I were to say George Washington, you would probably think first president of the United States. If I were to say Ken Griffey Jr., you'd probably think a baseball bat and a baseball.

If I were to say Maya Angelou, you would probably be thinking about poetry and an author. If I were to say Walt Disney, in your mind would pop Mickey Mouse. If I were to say Martin Luther King, you would think civil rights activist, preacher, leader in his time. In other words, these names are not just titles. The names are reputations behind the titles.

When you think of these people's titles, when you think of these names, it goes beyond the title; it goes into their reputation to determine your trust or lack of trust in that particular name. When Jesus says, "Hallowed be thy name," he's saying when you go before the Lord in prayer, don't just think of him as a title. You need to think about his resume. You need to think about his reputation.

You need to think about all that is connected to that name, and that's why you can give him praise and glory. Exodus chapter 34, verses 5 through 7 talks about his name, and it gives you his resume and the accolades, his character that's connected to his name. It says he's a God of compassion and loving kindness, a God you can trust. It says that he's a God who is just and a God who forgives thousands of their iniquities and their sins.

In other words, this is a good God. He has a reputation that precedes him. So when you go before him in prayer, you need to recognize. You need to recognize, not only go before him as a child with a childlike faith, but understand that his name has a reputation. And with that reputation and with that resume, should we not be in awe of that name?

With that reputation and with that resume, should we not be reverencing and honoring and going before him with appreciation and adoration simply because of his name? Because his name should build trust. Everybody's got that cousin. You got that cousin that always got a new business plan. See, the cousin or uncle, somebody in your family will roll up to you and tell you they got a new business plan and new business idea.

Your response is, "Ugh, what is it?" Because you know it's just another one of them things they bringing to you and another one of them ideas. So you'll be listening kind of sort of because they haven't earned the respect or the trust. But what if in your conversation, when you're halfway listening, they said, "Well, yeah, I got this business plan." And you ain't listening.

They said, "But I got a new business partner." And you're talking about, "Yeah, who is your business partner?" They say, "Yeah," and then they FaceTime their new business partner. All of a sudden, you're going to be like, "Hey man, show me that business plan." All of a sudden, you're going to want to be at the table. All of a sudden, you're going to want to know a little bit more about it because there's a name on the other side of the line that changes your countenance about how you approach what's being delivered to you.

In other words, how dare us have a God with a name like this, a character like this, a reputation like this, and go before him as a skeptic? Not only a Father who loves us, but then we're skeptical on whether we should trust him. And he's saying when you go before the name is, "Hallowed be thy name," because behind the name is a resume and a reputation that should be trusted.

That's why Psalm chapter 9, verse 10 says, "Those who know his name put their trust in him." So if I'm a skeptic, I must not know his name. If I'm a skeptic, I must be ignoring all the things in my life and all the ways that he's brought me through. If I'm a skeptic, I must not be remembering all the things that he's done in my life to even put me in this room right now. If anybody has a testimony of how they even got here today, you shouldn't be a skeptic when you pray.

Because behind the name is his resume, and it's not just his resume. I need you to understand: when he says, "Hallowed be thy name," it's the resume of God, the reputation of God, but in his name resides his complete character, will, purpose, and his plan. In his name resides the answer to all your prayer concerns. It already exists in his name.

If you need provision, that's in his name; it's called Jehovah Jireh. If you need victory, that's already his name; that is Jehovah Nissi, my victorious banner. If you need peace, that already is in his name, Jehovah Shalom. If you need him to make a way out of no way, that is his name, Elohim, the God who creates from nothing.

If you need God to tell you where to go and where to be, that is his name, Adonai, the boss who tells you where to be and where to go. That is also in his name. If you need a God who relates, his name is Yahweh; it's a God who relates to his people. If you need a counselor, his name is Wonderful Counselor. You need more time? His name is Eternal Father. You need to get saved? His name is Jesus. Everything you need already resides in his name.

It's already packed in there. So when you go before someone like this, when you go before God, it should command your complete trust in prayer. Because everything you need is already in his name. So how dare we not give him glory? How dare we not praise his name? Spend time in prayer. The prayer can stop here a lot of times where you're just giving God adoration.

I've got kids, some of y'all got kids and all that kind of stuff, and they ask a lot. Sometimes you just want them to say thank you. Sometimes you just want them to appreciate. God feels the same way about us. We ask a lot. But sometimes we can just hallow be thy name because in his name is everything that I need. That means that prayer is first and foremost about God's glory, not man's need.

I need you to understand this. Because when you understand this, this changes how you approach your prayer life. Prayer is first and foremost about God's glory. It is not first and foremost about man's need. In other words, his glory and who he is—that means he's a legend of the universe, who he is. When you approach God, you need to speak.

We've got a legend. She went through all of the phases and she was behind the scenes, but everything you saw happening went through her fingertips. She's my dad's executive assistant; her name is Miss Sylvia Stewart. Now Miss Sylvia had a church mother moment. At her desk, she has a jar of chocolate. It's a jar of chocolate, I make use of it quite often, and it's at her desk.

Many years ago, my son Camden saw the chocolate. He went by Miss Sylvia's desk and he pulled the top off that jar and he put his hand in there to grab a handful. Not one; he came in there to grab whatever he can get out of that jar of chocolate. And Miss Sylvia was sitting there and saw this little kid run up and just pull the jar off. You know kids, they just pull the jar off and stick their hand in the chocolate jar.

And Miss Sylvia had an old church mother moment. She didn't say it like this, but this is the way I heard it. She looked at Camden and she said, "Mmm-mmm. Hello? Hello? Hey, son. You're at my desk. You need to speak." She said, "What's your name? Hmm?" Camden had his hand in there, his eyes got big, he looked up, he said, "My name is Camden." She said, "Mh-hmm, I'm Miss Sylvia. And when you come to my desk, you don't just stick your hand in the jar. You need to speak."

And Camden said, "Okay." And she said, "Well, now you can have one. Next time I may give you two. We're going to try this a second time tomorrow. You need to speak when you come to my desk." What she was telling him is, don't be disrespectful to come straight for what you want and you don't even speak.

Guest (Male): Now this is a thing for people because I was leaving the church last week. There's a group of ladies talking, and they were talking and having a conversation. All I heard as I was leaving: "Yeah, and she came over here, she came over here and girl, she ain't even speak." I was like, what's this? You got so much rhythm. "She ain't even speak. How are you going to come in my presence and you don't speak? How are you going to be in my environment and you don't speak?"

That's a thing for us. And we go to the Lord and take the jar off what we want and stick our hands in there, and you ain't going to speak? We want people to speak in our presence, but we don't want to speak in his presence? Jesus is saying when you come before the one who has this name that is above every single name, you need to speak. You need to speak.

And he's saying when you come into his presence, you should be giving him glory for who he is. That's why Psalm 100, verse 4 says when you come into his gates, you come in with thanksgiving. When you come into his courts, you come into his courts with a praise. Give him thanks and give him praise because his name is worthy of it.

And sometimes, ladies and gentlemen, the prayer can be done. Sometimes you go in and give him glory, and that is all. Because who he is, he's deserving of us to speak. Jesus is telling you: this is the how-to. You've subscribed to the channel, you've opened up the link, and I'm telling you how I pray. Before the fish was multiplied, I spoke to the Lord and said thank you, Lord.

Before Lazarus was raised from the dead, I say thank you for always hearing me. In Luke 11, before he gave salvation to those who didn't deserve it, he said thank you, Lord, for giving to those who are less likely and less wise. In other words, Jesus is telling you how he prays. Often he would thank the Lord that preceded the thing that was about to happen. Don't you know that the person precedes the provision? How are we going to go to the provision before the person? We need to speak.

And then he tells you when you speak, when you come in with a childlike faith and you speak to the Lord and you give him glory, he's not telling you exactly what to say because nobody else in the New Testament prayed this prayer. He's giving you a formula, a template, a how-to on how you approach the throne of God. And he's saying once you speak, then you say, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is—I run in with faith like a child; it's my Father. I give him glory for who he is because everything that I need is already wrapped in his name. And then my focus is the kingdom.

Oh, you still ain't talking about my payday? No. The disciple should have a yearning for the kingdom. Let me say that again. A disciple, a Christian, should have a yearning for his kingdom. Why? Because his kingdom is righteousness. With righteousness, that answers all your prayer requests. The reason why you have a prayer request is because you live in a world of sin, which produces your prayer request.

The culmination of all of your prayers answered have to do with his kingdom coming. So the yearning is for the kingdom to come. And I hope you understand this; it ain't that far off. The birth pains are everywhere. The kingdoms are rising up, nation is rising up against nation, there is pestilence and earthquakes. The earth is shuddering. Matthew 24 lets you know what it looks like when the time is drawing near, and I'm letting you know it's drawing near.

Matthew 24:27 says like lightning striking from the east to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. Psalm 2, which is the first mention of the Christ in scriptures, the anointed one, it says, "You are my son which I have begotten and you will rule the earth with a rod of iron and shatter them like earthenware." Don't you know that Jesus is coming? And when he comes, he will rule with a rod of iron.

And his kingdom will be established, which means righteousness all over the earth. That is the yearning of the disciple. If you have a prayer request, that should be your ultimate yearning. Because once you understand that his kingdom sets everything straight, it's a whole another ballgame. Let me help you understand the kingdom. The kingdom means rule.

And the kingdom was established already in the garden. When you had a perfect God with perfect people in a perfect place. That's the kingdom, that is the manifestation of his rule because it looks just like him. He is a perfectly holy God, totally unblemished, and that's what the garden was like. So you have the kingdom in that scenario, and he gave rule to Adam and Eve.

He said, "Let them rule." And he gave them dominion in this kingdom. But then the enemy came and the enemy got them to disobey God. Once they disobeyed God, they lost the attributes of the kingdom. They were no longer in a perfect place, they were no longer perfect people, and they lost God's perfect presence. Now the kingdom has been shifted to the enemy.

The reason why you have all these problems is because you live in the enemy's kingdom. It was handed to him. That's why by the time you get to Matthew chapter 4, how in the world is the devil able to tell Jesus, "I will give you the kingdoms of this world if you bow down and worship me"? That's because the kingdom has been transferred to the enemy through the people losing dominion by disobeying God.

And so now you have a kingdom problem. There is going to come a day where Jesus comes back, defeats the enemy once and for all, sets up his kingdom, and brings righteousness back on the earth like he had it in Genesis 1 and 2. The Bible is the returning to God's kingdom and his original intent with an upgrade. What's the upgrade? The enemy ain't there. He's been done away with.

And that's why you have in the Bible is God telling Moses, "I'm going to take you to a promised land and you're going to be my people and I will be your God." And he gave them a perfect law because it was always about his kingdom—his place, his people, his presence. And when you understand that he will establish that in the future, you're yearning for that.

The question is: why is it that so many believers really don't yearn for the kingdom? We're not really yearning for the kingdom. We have all of these prayer requests, but we don't even yearn for the ultimate answer. People enjoy the devil's kingdom more than they yearn for God's kingdom.

Well, how do I know? You say, "Well, I want Jesus to return, but first, I ain't got married yet. I want to travel. There are some things I need to do. First, I got this business that I just started; I want to see it come to fruition. I need to get this money. I got ideas." So you want Jesus to come, but he needs to wait until I'm done.

So you want to pray about your problems, but you don't want Jesus to come back and reign on your party? If you don't yearn for the kingdom, then you're less likely to do his will until he comes. Because you don't really want it. The reason why you don't yearn for the kingdom is because you have things you need to do. Which means what you want and your will and your way is more important to you than what he wants, his will, and his way.

Which means I'm not really interested in doing his will. That's why all of my prayers are for him to be Robin so I can be Batman. That's why all of my prayers is for him to be the stepstool that I can step onto so he can take me higher. "Jesus, I just need you to be my rocket fuel. I got somewhere to go." We go to our Father, we're skeptics on who he is, and then we pray only for what we want him to do for us, not what we should be doing for him.

Guest (Male): That was Pastor Jonathan Evans. Before you go today, I want to remind you that we have a couple of special gifts for you: a devotional book called "Kingdom Family" and a four-part audio series, "House of Prayer." The devotional "Kingdom Family," written by Jonathan and Tony Evans, is a practical, easy-to-use guide designed to help your family grow spiritually together through short daily devotionals that fit naturally into busy routines like dinner time or bedtime.

We are also including Jonathan Evans' "House of Prayer" audio series, helping you build a real, consistent, and intimate prayer life through honest private communication with God rather than outward performance. Both the devotional called "Kingdom Family" and his audio series "House of Prayer" are a gift to you to thank you for your donation to help support the ministry of the Urban Alternative.

It's our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible. Call 1-800-800-3222 anytime or get all the details online at TonyEvans.org. Again, that's TonyEvans.org. Or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Thank you for listening to the Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. The Faith Walk is produced as a part of the Urban Alternative, a ministry of Dr. Tony Evans.