The Purpose of Our Prayers

Let me say right off of the bat, that worship at the First Mount Zion Church was outstanding from start to finish. We first had baptismal service early in the morning for a young man, Freddie McCullough, who is leaving this week for Australia for a school expedition, and the Lord made his presence known and met us in the pool. God be praised.

I did not think that we would have a good worship service @ 10 AM due to it being a holiday weekend which caused my crowd to be off. But what I noticed was, that when we come to the end of ourselves, that's the very point that God shows up. And the Lord was in that place all day long and church was on fire.

I continued our series on the model prayer entitled God's Blueprint For A Prayer-Filled Life, by looking at the second phrase of this prayer housed in Matthew 6:9, Hallowed be your name. Many of us only go to God in prayer when we need him or when we want something from him. But God is not some soup kitchen where you can get what you want without giving up anything. Jesus sets out to tell us in this model prayer that the purpose of our prayers is to ensure that the name of God deserves all of the glory.

Thesis: man's initial purpose for praying to our Father in heaven is so that His name will receive all of the glory

I. We Honor His Name With Our Reverence

-verse 9...hallowed be your name
-we are charged as children of God to live our life committed to praise and worship the name of God

II. We Honor His Name With Our Relationship

-verse 9...hallowed be your name
-we cannot revere the name of God properly nor sincerely until we commit to knowing God in a personal way

III. We Honor His Name With Our Response

-verse 9...hallowed by your name
-we sincerely honor God's name with an action of obedience to the Lord