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You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher, Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro, located in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study our series entitled the Foundations of Faith.

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We begin our prayer with adoration we adore God, we worship God. C. We move on to confession, confessing our sins before him and asking his forgiveness. T we give thanks to God for all of the blessings of our life. And S supplication, we bring our requests to him and ask him both to bless us and to bless those around us, moving into intercession following intersupplication. So ACTS, that's an easy format to remember if you need a formula when you pray. But can I tell you you don't have to pray by formulas, you just need to pray, you just need to talk to.

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God. Even if you're not handy, you know that when it's time to build a house, the foundation must be the first thing that's addressed, and it must be done right the first time. Our relationship with God is no different. We must have a firm foundation in the Word of God that's rooted in a deep and lasting faith in Jesus. That's why Pastor Ken chose to share with you our series entitled the Foundations of the Faith ACTS. This acronym is a great way to remember how to pray. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Heed the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles and let's join Pastor Ken with part two of our message entitled Not If, but when, and several other important things.

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I think, as a new believer, as you come to Christ, or as you're maybe, an older believer who's continuing to walk in Christ, sometimes we cut ourselves off from growing in the Lord because we refuse to give to the work of the Lord and we refuse to give of ourselves to what the Lord is doing. If you want to grow, give. I encourage you to do that, to test the Lord and see what he will do for you and through you. Moving on Verse 5 of Matthew, chapter 6. Jesus goes on and he says and when you pray, you notice he doesn't say if you pray, he says when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men, assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, again the second time he said when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in the secret place, and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him In this manner. Therefore, pray, and we'll talk about that in a moment.

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Now, my goal today is not to give you an exhaustive message on prayer. If I were going to stretch this out into six or seven or eight lessons, then today's message would be on praying. If you want an in-depth study on prayer, I'm going to refer you again to the book room. You can order the series that we did not long ago. Jesus Prayed. It's a three-part series. You can get that for free if you want it and learn all about prayer and why it's important to pray and how Jesus gave us an example of prayer. But the bottom line is this as a believer in Jesus Christ, if you want to grow, you need to be praying. In fact, all of us, whether you're a new believer or not, we need to be praying.

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I encourage you today to examine your prayer life and ask yourself if you've been faithful in this discipline. You know, maybe you would say you know, I don't know how to pray. Well, you know what guys. Praying is just talking to God. You can do it anytime you can. You know, I don't know how to pray. Well, you know what guys. Praying is just talking to God. You can do it anytime, you can do it anywhere. You don't have to use flowery speech, you don't have to have all the these thous and thuses, and you know, you can pray when you're walking down the road. You can pray when you're driving in your car. You can pray when you're cooking or washing dishes. You can pray anywhere and anytime.

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Now I would encourage you that you do set aside a specific regular time to pray, and I would encourage you that that time be early, that it be in the morning, that it be one of the first priorities of your day. I would encourage you to do that. I think that if you do that and you develop what I like to call a good devo time, a good devotional time, a time when you're in the word of God and you're prayerfully reading it and you're talking to God about what you've read and you're laying your day before him, if you develop that strong devo time, you're going to be doing yourself a great favor in your walk with the Lord. That's something that we need to be doing. But, as we read here, when Jesus said, when you pray, pray in this manner. Let's look, at least briefly, at this example of prayer that he's given us in the Lord's prayer. There are at least six elements in this prayer that we need to take note of, and let's read the whole thing, and then we'll go back and break it down a little bit.

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In verse 9, jesus said in this manner therefore, pray our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom, come, your will be done on earth 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. You know, the first thing that we need to notice as we look at this prayer is that this prayer speaks to us of the person of God, because when we pray, we pray our Father, which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. We're beginning with praise, we're beginning with an awareness of who it is that we're addressing, and this, when Jesus gave it, was a departure from what they were used to.

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You don't really see God referred to as Father too much in the Old Testament. You see him referred to as Elohim or Yahweh, which speaks of his omnipotence and the unspeakable glory of his name. And yet Jesus is sitting here saying, when you pray, say Father, abba, daddy, our Dad, who is in heaven. You know, you can tell a lot about a person's walk with the Lord and how close their relationship is to him, kind of by how they pray. Sometimes, you know, if you listen to someone praying and you're there with them and they're like, oh, majestic God, who created all that is and ever was, and you know all this other stuff, it's as though we're addressing this God who's way out there in the distance, right. And while that's not inappropriate, how much closer does that relationship seem when we come to him and we say, dad, abba, father, we need you. There's that familiarity that's there, that closeness that does not lose respect. It still acknowledges who God is, but it also acknowledges the relationship that we have with him.

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What did John write in John 1, verse 12? He says but as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name. So if we are those who believe in his name, if we belong to him, if we've been given the right to become his children. Then when we approach him, we need to recognize that we're approaching our father, a God who loves us. Now you might say, look, I had an earthly father and I don't really think he loved me that much. Well, guess what? Your heavenly Father is a perfect Father. He's the Father you wish you had, the father, perhaps, that you wish you could be. He's a perfect father and he loves you with a perfect love. And so when we pray, the first thing we need to recognize is that we are addressing our father.

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What's the second aspect of the Lord's prayer? Here we see thy kingdom, come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. When we pray, we need to acknowledge that we are praying according to God's purpose, that we aren't going to God to get our will done, but that we're going to God to see his purposes accomplished in and through our lives. What we're saying is our father, who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We're saying, lord, make me an instrument of your divine providence, use me to bring about your kingdom. Let me partner with you, god, in the accomplishing of your purposes.

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The third part is for God's provision. Give us this day our daily bread, lord, give us this day our daily bread. That encompasses our needs. Whatever you have need of, whatever your supplication is, take that to the Lord. The Bible tells us that you have not because you ask not, or that if you ask and you don't get it, it's because you asked it the wrong way. Can I tell you that God understands that you need your daily bread. He understands that you need a certain amount of resources in order to live and he'll provide those. He will provide those. The Bible tells us that my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. But you know what? That's all your needs, not all your greeds. He'll provide what you have need of, not necessarily everything you want, because sometimes what you want isn't particularly good for you. That's why it says here give us this day our daily bread.

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It doesn't say, lord, give us this week our weekly bread, or give us this month our monthly bread, or give us this year our yearly bread. Why does it say that? Because God knows us and he knows that if he doesn't require us to come to him daily, we won't. If all we needed to do is say, lord, give us this month our monthly bread, how often do you think we would pray Monthly? We would pray monthly. But God doesn't want us to pray monthly, he wants us to pray daily. He wants us to pray regularly. He wants us to pray without ceasing. Why? Because he needs our worship and adoration? No, but because he knows that when we spend time talking to him, we get closer to him and we get to know him better. Isn't that how it is with the people that you love in your life? You love to spend time with them, you love to talk with them. Why? Because you enjoy their company and you want to know them better. Prayer should be the same way. It should be the same way.

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Fourthly, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. We are praying for God's pardon, and in that we are also acknowledging the fact that we have no right to hold anything against anyone else. The fifth part and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We're praying there for God's protection. Now, does God lead us to sin? No, but he does lead us through periods in our life where we will go through various trials, and we need to ask him not to lead us there in a sense.

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Well, why should we not want God to lead us there? Why should we not want God to lead us through trials? And why should we ask the Lord lead us, not into testing or into temptation? Why should we ask him that, if temptation and testing actually builds up our faith, it's a question of humility? What kind of attitude would we be exhibiting if we said, oh yeah, lord, I can take it, bring it on, bring on the testing, I can pass, I can make it. Who are we having confidence in, in ourselves?

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But if we pray, lord, lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, then when testing comes, we can know that it was of god because we've asked him to keep us from evil. Then, when testing comes, we can know that it was of God because we've asked him to keep us from it. And so when that testing comes, we know that it's for our good and that he'll make a way of escape from the temptation that has come our way. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We're praying for God's protection. And then for the last part, the sixth part, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. We're acknowledging in that verse God's preeminence, god's majesty, the fact that he is the king of the universe. Yes, he's our dad, but he's also the king of all the universe. We're acknowledging that in that prayer. And so, as we look at the Lord's prayer here really the disciples prayer is a better term for it we see that we're praying regarding God's person, regarding his purpose and his provision, regarding God's pardon, and we're asking his protection and we're acknowledging his preeminence.

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I like the an acronym ACTS, a-c-t-s as a good model for prayer, and it incorporates all of these same things A we begin our prayer with adoration. We adore God, we worship God. C we move on to confession, confessing our sins before him and asking his forgiveness. T we give thanks to God for all of the blessings of our life. And. S supplication. We bring our requests to him and ask him both to bless us and to bless those around us, moving into intercession, falling under supplication. We bring our requests to him and ask him both to bless us and to bless those around us, moving into intercession, falling under supplication. So ACTS, that's an easy format to remember if you need a formula when you pray. But can I tell you, you don't have to pray by formulas, you just need to pray, you just need to talk to God.

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Colossians 4.2, just to add to that thought, says that we are to continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it, with thanksgiving. You know, there's one more aspect of the Lord's Prayer that I really want us to focus on for just a moment, and that is that it's all in the plural. Did you notice that we aren't saying my father, who is in heaven? Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give me this day my daily bread and forgive me my trespasses. It's corporate. It's understanding that as we are praying for ourselves, we are also praying for others. When you pray, don't just pray for your own needs, but pray for the needs of the body around you. Pray for those other people that God has brought you into contact with. In verse 14, I want to continue the thought that Jesus has here when he says for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.

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We, as Christians, should not have to ask that question am I going to forgive someone? We are required to forgive them if we ourselves want forgiveness. That's not an easy thing to do. You might ask how do I forgive someone whom my heart has no forgiveness for? This person hurt me, this person wronged me. They haven't repented. Why should I forgive them? Well, you know what you should forgive them because God has commanded you to forgive them.

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And forgiveness, friends, is not a feeling. Forgiveness is a choice. Healing forgiveness is a choice. You choose to release someone from that obligation. You choose not to judge them or to hate them in your heart and you choose to ask God to help you to love them, because you know what God loves us, in spite of ourselves, in spite of the things we do, in spite of our failings. Aren't you glad today that you have a God who forgives you? And would you be willing to hold a grudge against someone else so long and so strong as to say, lord, I don't care if you don't forgive me. Could you imagine doing that? Some people do. They do, but as a Christian, we don't have that option. They do, but as a Christian, we don't have that option. We must forgive.

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Moving on to verse 16, moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, it doesn't say if you fast, does it. It says when you fast, anoint your head and wash. It says what is he talking about there? Do you have to fast? As a Christian, yes, you do. What do I mean by that? Do I mean you have to abstain from food for a period of time? No, I don't mean that at all, though that is the definition of fasting. That you will see there.

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What is fasting really? Fasting is denying your flesh something that it wants, and as a Christian, you have to deny your flesh some things that it wants, don't you? If we, as Christians, say that we're going to go out and we're going to indulge our flesh and we're going to give our flesh whatever we want, then we are not living a life yielded to the Lord or following his spirit. So, in the broader sense, are you to fast? Absolutely? You're to fast in that you are to deny your flesh the things that sometimes it wants that are in contradiction to God's will and his purpose. I also agree that, as Christians, it's a good idea for us to fast in a literal sense, because it's good for us spiritually.

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Of course, there are medical things that we have to take into consideration, but there are also other kinds of fasts. You can fast from television. You can fast from the radio. You can fast from media of any kind. You can fast from you know media of any kind. You can fast from particular activities.

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The purpose of a fast is simply this to say that I am going to deny my flesh something that it wants that I might dedicate myself to seeking God's face. That's the purpose of it. If we fast without prayer, then we're just on a diet. Do you understand what I'm saying? It is to be accompanied with prayer, and denying our flesh is definitely something that we are to do. Now.

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There's been a theme through the three things that we've seen here, and that theme has been this what you're doing, don't do it unto men, that you might be seen by men and receive a reward from men, but do it unto the Lord, that you might be seen by the Lord, and he will reward you openly. That's the theme, and in doing that then we will accomplish what Jesus is referring to here in verses 19, 20, and 21, where he says do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. As Christians, if we want to grow, we have to recognize that our perspective must be a heavenly perspective, that we need to look to the things that are above, not to the things that are below. That God, yes, will reward us openly, but that the vast majority of that reward will not be received in this life though I'm sure some will be but that our reward comes in heaven, and let's go to Romans, chapter 12. Reward comes in heaven, and let's go to Romans, chapter 12.

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We've been here many times before, but I want to talk about a few more things that are really not optional for the Christian, but are things that, as believers, we really are called to do, and that if we do these things, we are assured that we're going to grow in Christ, because that's really our goal isn't? It Isn't our goal here today that we want to grow in Christ, that we don't want to stay little baby Christians all our lives, who can't handle anything but milk, who can't get a hold of the meat of God's word and chew it and digest it and let it have an effect on our lives and on the world around us. Isn't that what we want? Isn't that what you want? I know it's what I want. I spent too much of my Christian life as a young believer not growing to waste any more of it. I hope you agree with me. I want to grow in Christ. I want to be more tomorrow than I am today. By his grace, amen. How do you do that? Well, you get your eyes off yourself. Get your eyes off yourself.

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Chapter 12, verse 1,. I beseech you, therefore, brethren you know Paul is begging them. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You know, when we withhold ourselves from God and we refuse to become a sacrifice, that crawls up on that altar and says I'm going to die to myself, I'm going to get my eyes off of myself and I'm going to give myself to the Lord completely, then we deny the work of God in our lives, don't we? Then? What's different about us? What am I trying to say?

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If we refuse to give the Spirit of God his way in our hearts and in our lives, if we refuse to say no to our flesh, if we refuse to die to ourselves and to live for Christ, then we are denying the very mercy by which we were saved. We are saying that the fact that I've become a Christian doesn't make a difference in my life. It's just a card that I got punched, so now I can go to heaven. Right, how can we think we'll go to heaven and be there in heaven with God if heaven doesn't dwell in us first? I really believe that for us to be in heaven, heaven must be in us. Does that make sense? For us to be in Christ, christ must be in us, and in order for Christ to be in us, we have to be willing to die to ourselves. We have to be willing to die to ourselves.

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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, not by your own efforts, not by your own strength, not by the force of your own will, but by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That is a passive thing. Be transformed, be being transformed meaning let God work in you. You can't transform yourself, but you can let God transform you. And if, as God is transforming you, you keep saying to yourself I'm not willing to let go of these things, then you're resisting the work of God in your life.

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So what I'm saying, christian, is this If you want to grow in grace, don't resist the work of God in your life, but give yourself over to the work of God in your life by putting yourself in a place where God can speak to you and where his spirit can lead you, and that is in prayer and in his word. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

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Well, that's all the time we have for today. You've been listening to Heed the Word, the radio ministry of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro, located in Burleson, Texas. As you likely gathered, Pastor Ken Davis is currently sharing our series entitled the Foundations of the Faith. Pastor Ken will be covering many topics about how we can be founded in the fundamental truths of the Word of God. If you were with us at the beginning of today's broadcast, you know we mentioned that we'd be giving additional information about Heed the Word and how to get a free copy of this message. For more information about Heed the Word, log on to heedthewordorg. That's heedthewordorg. At the website, you'll find everything you need our contact information, podcast subscription link and a link to our online order form, which will allow you to place an order for a CD of today's message in its unedited form. Since all of our materials are free of charge, supplies are limited, so log on to heedthewordorg and place your order today.

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As we close today, we want to encourage you to not only be a listener of Heed the Word, but to truly apply what you're learning. Take the Word of God and begin applying it to your life every day. Well, that's all the time that we have for this edition of Heed the Word of God and begin applying it to your life every day. Well, that's all the time that we have for this edition of Heed the Word with Pastor Ken Davis. Place a marker in your Bibles and join us next time as Pastor Ken continues with our series entitled the Foundations of the Faith. Thank you,