Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days

When we come into God's Presence with praise and thanksgiving, we meet His authority, requiring us to bow (submit) our will to God, praying: “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done.” This positions us to receive His grace for ourselves, and to be a channel of His grace to others through our prayers (Romans 14:17).

Divine Protocol in Prayer means we don't start with our needs or sins, but we look to 'our Father in Heaven', and come into His Presence by 'hallowing His Name' with PRAISE (declaring His Greatness), and with THANKSGIVING (for His Goodness and Grace to us). Then we bow our hearts to Him in WORSHIP, submitting to His Government over our beings and our lives: "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done."

To fully glorify God's Name we must know His 8 Covenant Names through which He has revealed Himself: Jehovah (1) Jireh, the Lord our Provider, (2) Rophe (Healer), (3) Nissi (Victory), (4) Shalom (Peace), (5) Tsidkenu (Righteousness), (6) Mckeddish (Sanctifier), (7) Shammah (Glory), (8) Rohi (Shepherd).

As we hallow the Name of God we enter into the Secret Place of the Most High (Psalm 91:1-2), where our real prayer happens. One powerful prayer is the Sacrifice of Praise - thanking God before we see the answer, based on His Name (Hebrews 13:15). This opens up a spiritual highway for God to move (Psalm 50:23), as seen in Jehoshaphat's victory (2 Chronicles 20).

The Lord's Prayer provides a Pattern. So our prayer should start with us coming to God with praise and worship. Derek and Hilary share on HALLOWING His NAME, especially in connection with 3 NAMES of God: Elohim (Creator), Adonai (Lord and Master), and El Shaddai (the God who is more than enough).

Prayer starts by lifting up our eyes to Heaven, magnifying God, and looking to Him as our Source: “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your Name." This is how Jesus prayed. He taught us to: "watch and pray." Watching means setting our eyes on the Lord, so we can see His will and receive His grace.

The Sermon on the Mount (including the Lord's Prayer) is foundational for the Christian Life (Matthew 7:24-27). So this Prayer gives His pattern for New Covenant Prayer. The start of: "Our Father in Heaven" signifies our fellowship with God in prayer is to flow from our Father-son relationship (based on grace).

This is the introduction to a Series on the Principles of Prayer, using the Lord's Prayer as the inspired PATTERN for our prayer life (Matthew 6:9-13). Jesus described prayer as the intimate communication between children and their Father, in contrast to the external religious practice of hypocrites and heathen.

In these days we need to enter God's Presence, where we can worship, receive from Him and rest in Him. In this study of Psalm 95, we discover the 3 Stages to enter into His Rest: (1) Enter His Presence with thanksgiving & praise (v1-5), (2) worship (v6-7), (3) hearing and receiving His word to us (v7b-11).

Jesus promised us: "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Simon shares about (1) the REALITY of trouble, (2) how we should RESPOND to trouble, as demonstrated by David, Habakkuk and Jonah, and (3) the RESULT of trouble (glory).