Ron Lutz ~ Matthew 6:5-13   Sermon Quotes: Matthew 6:5-13 5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. “Prayer is the coupling of primary and secondary causes. It is the splicing of our limp wire to the lightning bolt of heaven. It is astonishing that he ordains to fulfill his plans by being asked to do so by us. God loves to bless his people. But even more he loves to do it in answer to prayer.” -John Piper All right minded prayer starts with a long look Godward. -J. I. Packer Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. -John 1:12 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! -1 John 3:1 “[The Lord Jesus Christ] dwells in unapproachable light.” -1 Timothy 6:16 “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!” -2 Chronicles 6:18 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. -Isaiah 57:15 “[Christian prayer] is not the selfish pursuit of private spiritual advancement.. It is the rhythm of standing in the presence of the pain of the world, and kneeling in the presence of the creator of the world; of bringing those two things together in the name of Jesus and by the victory of the cross…” -N. T. Wright