The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: You’re praying to the God who is above all gods. He is Lord of lords, He is King of kings, He is Alpha and Omega, He is the beginning and the end, and He is soon coming again.

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Healing Word. Here’s Pastor Jack Morris with today’s message that will grow your faith in God and lead you to a closer walk with Jesus.

Pastor Jack Morris: If Jesus in physical form visibly walked into the sanctuary, what do you think we might do? How do you think we might sing differently, pray differently? How do you think I might preach differently? Jesus would come up and sit down on the platform. Well, I don’t think I’d preach at all. I mean, it’s His word. Why should I speak His word? Let Him speak His word.

Now, if He came in, walked down the aisle, He parked His car, He got in here on time, and then He said, "I’m going to expound a passage of scripture that I breathed 2,000 years ago. I’m going to elaborate on it this morning. But before I do, I’m going to take some questions."

What would you ask Him? Now, I think in my mind that before very many questions would be asked, somebody would say, real early on, "How can I have faith, mountain-moving faith, and prayer? How can I pray with the faith of a grain of mustard seed? After You’re gone, the Holy Spirit is going to be here, Jesus. After You’re gone, I’m going to need to know how to communicate. Would You teach me how to pray?"

Do you know what His answer would be? Do you have your Bibles open to Matthew chapter 6 verse 9? He would say this, "This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."

The question that one of you asked Him, "Teach us how to pray," that was the same question His disciples asked Him way back there. And He gave them this prayer. Now, do you think He would give a different prayer today to us than He gave to them? No. He would give us the exact same prayer that He gave to them. Teach us how to pray.

Because this prayer was the wisdom of God. This was the highest and holiest words that heaven could afford. This was the best that heaven could give. He gave it. We’re His disciples, His followers, His students today. He would give us the exact same prayer.

Two weeks ago, I started this series entitled "A New Level of Prayer." I told the story about how Martin Luther went to his barber, and his barber asked him, "Can you give me some advice on how to pray?" And Martin Luther went to this scripture. I mean, there is no greater advice. This is it. Nothing more blessed, more wonderful is coming. It came, and it still continues to come.

The first two words of the Lord’s Prayer, what is it? Our Father. Now, the very first word was chosen very carefully by Jesus. Our. Helping us to realize and to affirm that we are part of the family of God. Yesterday, we had a great men’s fellowship breakfast, and Al Haynes led us in that chorus, "I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God, washed in the fountain, cleansed by the blood. I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God."

We need to first and foremost know who we belong to. We belong to Him. We belong to each other. We have that connection. And there’s been sometimes a disconnect. And when that happens, you have two wires and they disconnect, the current doesn’t flow anymore. So we need to remember who He is, who we are, and who we’re connected to.

The scripture tells us in Ephesians that there is one God and Father of us all, all of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. There is one God and Father, and we are brothers. I’m your brother, you’re my brother. We’re brothers and sisters. We’re part of a great fellowship of redemption in the Lord. And when we get that into our head in that one word, one word before we can move on, we’ve got to know again who we are. We’re part of a colony of heaven. We are members of a different and a new race, the Christian race. We’re different. We’ve been redeemed.

Then the very next word is Father. The God who created heaven and earth is our Father. An intimate relationship we have with Him. A relationship that is dear and intimate and loving. He’s our provider, and we look to Him for our provision.

You see, we look to ourselves, our education, our jobs, to different people. we have a way to look at all this way, but He is the source of every good and perfect gift, the Bible says. Every good and perfect gift. There’s no gift that is better or more perfect than the gift that He gives.

And so the Lord says before you do anything else, say anything else, remember you’re a part of the family of God, the fellowship of heaven, the colony of heaven on earth. You’re only pilgrims passing through. You’re a new race of people. Do you know who you are in the Lord? And do you know who started it all? You know your heavenly Father.

Now, if you have your Bibles open, I want to give you the outline. It’s right in your Bible, and it’s between two verses today. In verse 9, "Our Father in heaven," that is the Most High God, the God of all gods, the creator God. Now, the first point of the sermon is, "Hallowed be Your name." That’s point number one.

Point number two of the outline is, "Your kingdom come." Point number three of the outline is, "Your will be done." That’s my sermon. Point one, point two, point three. It’s in your bulletin.

Now, open your heart today. Hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. These are the words of Jesus. If He were here today, He would say these words because these words are divine and eternal. Heaven and earth will pass away, but this prayer will never pass away. And once I learn to pray it the way He wants me to pray it, then I’ll have the faith that I need for all my desires, needs, problems, etc.

Verse 9, "Hallowed be Your name." Say those words with me. Hallowed be Your name. That simply means that once you know who you are, our Father, once you know who brought it all about, Father, our Father, now the very next step in prayer, whether you’re in your private devotions or in the church or in your car or wherever you’re praying, the very next step is to begin praising the Lord.

Listen to me. Not giving Him a laundry list of problems. The first thing, thank Him for saving you. Thank Him for making you our part of the body of Christ. Thank Him for making you a child of our Father. Begin to give praise and thanks to Him for who you are, the new race that you are, the people you are, the people you’re connected with, and all the other blessings that He’s given to you.

Do that first. That will bring about a divine presence. And that divine presence will put you in a position to start moving mountains, redeeming all that God has for you to have. Hallowed be Your name. Hallowed, meaning a name to be reverenced, a name above all names. No other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There is no name but His name. No name. Listen to me. No name but His name. Hallowed be Thy name.

Now, the word name, here’s if I can do it, I’m going to try my best. The name. They who know Your name. Oh, I know His name is Jehovah. I know His name is God. I know His name is Alpha and Omega. I know His name is Abba. But now I’m coming into His presence, His nature.

Now, notice it says they who know Your name, meaning those who experience Your name. Now it takes on a different level because we’re going into a new level of prayer. Those who know Your name, those who experience Your nature. Oh, I’m experiencing the love of God. Those who experience Your character. Now I know His caring, His providing, His blessing, His answers. Those who know Your name, those who experience Your personality, that that makes You absolutely different from all other gods and lords. I’ve had an experience with God. It’s an experience that I’m having every time I pray. It’s an experience that is mine forevermore, and I rejoice in that experience.

How am I doing so far? Am I going too fast? Friend, God wants you to pray prayers that He can answer. And just by tacking the name Jesus at the end of every prayer, it’s not going to do the job. You’ve got to know the man, the spirit, the love, the character, the provision, the caring, the personality. You’re in the presence of the Almighty. And when you know that, those who know My name will put their trust in Me. I cannot trust God with my problem until I have experienced His name, His nature, His character, His personality. Those who know My name, those who are experiencing Me and who I am right now.

When’s the last time you’ve had an experience of being touched by the love of God? Your heart strangely warmed. You’ve had an experience of God coming as a father, as a dad, and providing an answer to a prayer that you now can hallow and give praise. You’ve had an experience of knowing His personality, that you’re not praying to an idol, you’re not praying to I don’t know what, but you’re praying to the God who is above all gods. He is Lord of lords, He is King of kings, He is Alpha and Omega, He is the beginning and the end, and He is soon coming again to rapture us into His presence. When we know that God and we are touched by the personality of that God, friend, you are a mountain prayer warrior. You can move mountains in that kind of prayer.

See, the Lord’s Prayer is not something just to be rote-ly said and prayed, although we do it and we should do that. We should pray it like we do here on Sunday mornings. But when we go into prayer, it might be well to open your Bible to Matthew chapter 6 and say, "Father, I’m going to pray. First, I’m going to say 'Our.' Father, I’m going to recognize what You’ve done for me, who You’ve connected me with, the transformation, the born-again experience, the new race that I’m a part of."

Now I’m going to recognize You as Father, the Father of all mercy and all grace. Now, the next thing I’m going to do, it says, "Hallowed be Your name." Now I’m going to praise You and thank You for making me part of that beautiful company of redeemed people. Thank You for being my Father and Lord. I’m hallowing Your name.

Now I’m going to start praying: "Your kingdom come." Notice it’s still on a high level. We’re going to get down to our daily bread. That’s part of praying. But first, it’s going to be the high and the holy and the spiritual. Your kingdom come. Right? That’s point two that I’m going to in the outline. If you have your Bibles open, you have your bulletin open, and you’re making some notes as you’re going along.

"Your kingdom come." What’s He talking about? The kingdom of God is present and it’s future. It’s present in that the kingdom of God has come into our hearts. When we look at that word "Our," we go back to the word "Kingdom of God." When we get to the word "Kingdom of God," we go jump back to the front: "Our Father." Kingdom of God is Jesus in you. That’s why you can use that first word, "Our." He has done something for me, and I am now something that I was never before. He has come into my heart.

Now, one time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and they asked Jesus to talk to them about the kingdom of God and show them the kingdom of God. And Jesus told them, He said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation. It’s not a geographical piece of earth you can put lines around it, like you mark off the state of Pennsylvania. You can say these are the kingdom of the British Isles. No. The kingdom of God is not a piece of geography. You can’t find it on the map." Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you."

Meaning when you accepted Me and made Me king, where the King is, there’s the kingdom. Do I know that I’m a subject of heaven? That God is my Father, that Jesus is my King, and I’m submitting to Him?

Now, what is the kingdom of God? The word "Kingdom of God," "Kingdom of heaven" is synonymous. In Romans chapter 14 verse 17, it says this. It says, "The kingdom of God is within you." In Romans 14:17, it says the kingdom of God is three things. Friend, you ought to be writing some of this down. The kingdom of God is righteousness. The kingdom of God is righteousness. The kingdom of God is peace. The kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Spirit.

Now, when He says the kingdom of God is within you, it means righteousness is within you, which simply means right. You have a right relationship with God. Now you can truly say, "Our Father." You’re connected. And it’s a wonderful connection that God is now your Father and you have an intimate relationship with Him. And Jesus gave you the privilege and the honor of calling God by the name that Jesus called God. And Jesus called God "Father" 172 times in the New Testament. Father.

Verse 10 says the next, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The will of God is being done in heaven. That’s why heaven is heaven, the most beautiful and most wonderful of all places. The will of God is being done in you since you have submitted to the will of God.

We had some people here this morning that were prayed over, and Minister Mezza mentioned their names. We have people here. My daughter-in-law for the next 10 years is going to be taking medication for cancer to keep the cancer from coming back. Thank God, my son has been completely delivered, 100%. And now my son called me the other day and told me. He said, "I need you and Mom to pray." He said the oldest daughter, Caroline, has a lump on her neck. She’s going to have surgery Tuesday. It may be cancerous.

Friend, this isn’t heaven yet. But I’ll tell you what you do have right now: a relationship with the Lord. Or you can have a relationship with God and you can pray, "Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done." And it will be done. Don’t let the trials of life upset you. They come to everybody in every family. They even came to Jesus. Why not you? Why not me? But Jesus will bring us through. The scripture says, "Suffering may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning." Amen. Praise be the Lord.

We hope that today’s message has been a blessing and has strengthened your faith in God. But before we go, here is Pastor Jack Morris.

God is a good God. He’s a heavenly Father, and He loves you. He loves you tenderly, intimately with all His heart. He wants to answer your prayers. Friend, if you do not know Him as your personal Lord and Savior, you have never had a born-again experience. Well, right now, where you are, ask Jesus to come into your heart. He’ll hear your prayer, forgive your sins, He’ll make you a new person. Life will be brand new. You can have a new start, a new beginning. It’s been a joy bringing this message to you.

And friend, I want to pray for you now before I go. Let’s bow before the Lord. Father God, I pray for this dear one. I pray Your blessings of forgiveness, of healing, of wholeness, of completeness, of wellness. In the name of Jesus upon this dear one, I pray. Thank You, Lord, for answered prayer. Thank You for the gift of answered prayer. Thank You for the gift of Jesus. In His name, amen.

If today’s message strengthened your faith, we invite you to stand with the Healing Word through your prayers and your generous support. Every gift helps us take the gospel to more people who desperately need to hear that Jesus still saves. Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message. Until then, blessings on you.