Pray Like This – 6/2/24

Good morning. I’m Ryan Ferguson, one of the pastors here. I’m excited to continue in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, particularly with the Lord’s Prayer today.

Friends, together we face a challenge with today’s text. That challenge is it’s familiar. We know it. Many within the church (and actually a lot of people even outside of the church) know the Lord’s Prayer. There are some in here, if you’re old enough, you might remember being taught this in public school. You might have learned it in Sunday school. You might have learned it at vacation Bible school. A grandparent might have taught it to you. But a lot of people know the Lord’s Prayer. If I started it and asked you to join, I think the vast majority of this room would jump in right with me, word for word, and we would only get confused on whether it’s “debtor” or “trespass.” Which word is it?

We know the content of today’s section of Scripture. If you don’t know it, you’re at an advantage. You’re listening to it for the first time. The rest of us, we have to choose to listen to it as if we’ve never heard the words of Jesus. That’s actually why I asked Cheryl and Heather to give us that song, to try to connect the text of the Lord’s Prayer to our minds and hearts through music in a unique way.

As I’ve studied for today, I’ve realized it is easy to cruise through the Lord’s Prayer. We could quote it and not even listen to what Jesus has to say in it. So what I want us to do right here at the beginning is I want us to all ask Jesus the same question: how do I pray? Jesus, how do I pray?

We’re going to do that together right now out loud with some rainy Sunday morning rainy energy. All right, here we go. “Jesus, how do I pray?” Now I want you to listen to Jesus’ answer. These are his words, not mine.

“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. 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. 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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

“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 also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:5-15).

We could spend weeks within this text. There are entire volumes of books written about the Lord’s Prayer. What I want us to do is focus in on how does Jesus answer our question, how do I pray? So I’m going to use the big idea — like, what is Jesus’ big idea in all his teaching? — and we’re going to work through that as the answer to our question.

So here’s the big idea: pray. Pray.

For Jesus, talking to God is an assumed practice. Two times in the text: “and when you pray.” Jesus is assuming they’re praying. Prayer is mentioned six times within the text. This section is extremely assumptive in a good way: kingdom people pray.

Just like I would assume that a husband talks to his wife, or just like I would assume that best friends talk to each other, Jesus is assuming if you believe in him and you love God, you pray. You talk to God. So the first thing we’ve got to get into our brains is, how do I pray? I do it. I talk. There’s part of my day and my life that is devoted to talking to God.

But Jesus gives us a lot more than just pray. He says pray to your Father. We have a target audience in our prayers: our heavenly Father.

If you’ve been around North Hills for a while and have heard me preach before, you’ve heard me say something like, there are times in the Bible that we read things that we should be shocked at. We just don’t know we should be shocked at them because this Bible of ours was written in a different culture. This is one of those moments where when we read, “Pray then like this:  ‘Our Father…’” we should be stunned. We should be shocked that that is actually being said. Kent Hughes, author and pastor, helps us understand why we should be shocked.

“That God should be personally addressed as ‘Father’ … was absolutely revolutionary in Jesus’ day. The writers of the Old Testament certainly believed in the Fatherhood of God, but they saw it mainly in terms of a sovereign Creator-Father [instead of a personal father]…. You can search from Genesis to Malachi [the beginning and ending of the Old Testament], and you will not find one individual speaking of God as Father … But when Jesus came on the scene, he addressed God only as Father. He never used anything else! All his prayers address God as Father. The Gospels (just for books) record his using Father more than sixty times in reference to God. So striking is this that there are scholars who maintain that this word Father dramatically summarizes the difference between the Old and New Testaments. No one had ever in the entire history of Israel spoken and prayed like Jesus. No one!”

Then Jesus goes and shares it with us. We get to say “our Father,” just like Jesus did. This is a cosmic-sized theological and cultural shift to be able to consider Yahweh, the great God Almighty, as Father. Jesus includes us in the intimate and relational style of praying he did. No one outside the Trinity had ever called God Father until Jesus. And now we get to. We get to participate in the relational fabric of the Trinity!

We’re sons and daughters, just like Jesus is the Son of God. We get to use the same relational language with God as Jesus does. We can say, Abba, Father, Dad, Papa. Anytime someone prays “our Father,” it’s crazy talk. It’s insane.

There’s a guy named Bernard Arnault. He is a Frenchman who oversees LVMH. It is a conglomerate of fashion and cosmetic brands like Louis Vuitton and Sephora. Mr. Arnault, according to Forbes magazine, is worth an estimated $233 billion. As of May 2024, he is the wealthiest individual in the entire world.

Let’s say this summer, Rebecca and I take a little trip to France. We’re in Paris and we’re walking down the road and there’s a guy crossing the street, but he doesn’t see a car coming at him. So I run into the middle of the street, grab a hold of him, jump out of the way of the car, pivot in mid-air so that I don’t crush him when I land on top of him, and I save this man’s life. I save this guy. He gets up, he’s like, “Thank you so much for saving my life. Can I buy you and your wife lunch?” And I’m like, “Of course.” I love lunch. I take free lunch.

We walk down to the Four Seasons Paris, which is one of the most expensive hotels in downtown Paris. He gets into the elevator, he has a key card, scans it, hits the top button. We’re going to the penthouse for lunch, all the way to the top.

He walks out, talks to another really well-dressed man who walks over to me and says, “Thank you so much for saving my son. My name is Bernard Arnault.”

Now, at that point, I’m talking, and realize I just saved the life of the world’s wealthiest individual. He then looks at me and says, “Ryan—” He’d probably say, Rion. “…because you did this, from now on, I want you to treat me like a dad. Actually, I want you to call me Dad.” In France, it would probably be Papa. “I want you to call me Papa from now on. And I’m going to treat you just like I do my own son.” Well, I’m in. I’m down with that relationship right away. I think the first thing out of my mouth would be, “I love you, Papa…can I have my allowance?”

I’ve made up this silly story, but in a way, if Bernard Arnault gives me access to him as dad, that means I have access to all that he is. Everything that he is. His character, his love, his family, his empire, his wealth, his power — I now have access to it.

That is the best I can do to try to help us understand what happens when Jesus says you’re allowed to say, “Our Father who art in heaven.” You have access to the entire kingdom and power of God Almighty. Bernard Arnault, $233 billion, not very bad. I’m not gonna lie. But that’s nothing compared to God who spoke the entire world into existence. That’s who we get to talk to and say, “Papa.” That’s why it’s insanity. That’s why it’s crazy talk. That’s why it’s a shocking moment that Jesus says this is how I want you guys to pray.

Jesus does more than that. He not only provides us the name of Father, he gives us key information about the Father. What is this Father like that we’re praying to? What kind of a Father is it? This is information about God just from this section. I kind of put it in a little bit of a table to make it easier and quicker to go through.

Jesus describes the Father who is in secret. The Father who sits in your room with you. He’s the Father who’s very near.

He’s the Father who sees in secret. He’s the Father who sees you for who you really are, at your best and at your worst moments. He is the Father who really cares.

He’s the Father who will reward you. The Father who by his very nature rewards his children. This Father is kind and generous.

The Father who knows what you need before you ask him. This is the Father who really does know everything that you really need in life, but he still wants to listen and talk to you. This Father deeply loves you.

The Father who is in heaven or our heavenly Father. This is a Father who is beyond our realm. He is very big. He is very powerful. He is unique. He is beyond us.

He’s the Father who will also forgive you, or neither will he forgive you. This is a Father who is ready to forgive you and assumes you will forgive others. The Father has compassion toward you and expects you to live like him.

That is a great Dad. That is a great Dad to talk to. Jesus gives us access to our Father. Jesus tells us, in answer to our question, pray to your Father secretly.

“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. 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” (Matthew 6:5-6).

Jesus tells his kingdom people: don’t pray like you’re an actor on stage. Actors perform on stage to be seen. Here’s an actor. This is me this past February in a production of Macbeth. I’m playing the porter. I’m wearing my wife’s robe and I fluffed out all of my hair. I memorized Shakespearean lines and stood on a stage under blue lights to be seen.

Jesus says that’s not how you pray. That’s not it. That’s not how God’s people pray. Jesus says don’t pray like that. We can get rid of that now. The point of prayer is not to have spectators. But Jesus is really blunt. If that’s what you’re after—if you’re after being seen in prayer, then guess what? You have your reward. You were seen, and that’s it. There’s nothing after that. You’ve got your reward: the attention of the public. The cumulative likes to your prayer is all you will receive.

Jesus isn’t condemning all public prayer. We’ve had two public prayers already this morning. Jesus is condemning prayer that is attention seeking. He’s asking us to desire to be seen in prayer by the right audience, which is the Father, instead of praying to be seen. Pray in secret. Pray in a secret room. Pray in a closet. Pray in your car while you drive. Be by yourself with the Father. And guess what? He’s there with you. He’s the Father who is in secret. He’s with you in your truck, in your closet, in your room, and he sees you. He’s going to reward you. The author of Hebrews says this,.

“Whoever would draw near to God” [Whoever wants to be close to God has to do two things.] “Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists” [You have to believe God exists.] “and that he rewards those who seek him.”

We fundamentally, as followers of Jesus, must believe that God is a rewarder of his people. Pray to your Father secretly, simply. Pray simply.

Matthew 6:7-8, “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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

“Heap up empty phrases.” This is a very, very rare Greek word. I looked it up on the computer. It’s called “battalageo.” The word itself sounds like you’re repeating yourself. Battalageo. Battalageo. Among the Gentiles (non-Jews) the practice was, “I’m going to annoy my deity into hearing me. I’m going to use as many words as possible, and that’s going to convince my god to listen to me.” Apparently that practice had crept its way into God’s people, and Jesus is correcting it.

Jesus is being very focused: what makes God hear you? What makes God hear your prayer? He answers with a negative and a positive. We are not heard because of our volume of words. You can’t convince God to listen to you. We are heard because of God’s volume of knowledge. None of us are verbally powerful enough to make sure God hears us. Neither the quantity nor quality — how we pray — helps God’s ears hear our prayer.

Jesus says your Father knows what you need before you ask him. God hears infinitely well because he already knows everything. You don’t have to get his attention. God’s attention is directed to you because you’re his kid. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. Fundamentally, do you believe you’ve got to convince God to listen? He already knows everything and he still wants to talk to you. His ears are right towards you. Pray simply.

Pray to your Father secretly, simply, intentionally. Now we get to the Lord’s Prayer, which is both a prayer and a model of prayer.

What I mean by that is it is a prayer. We can quote it, we can say it. You can say it at your house. We could say it in a service all together. You can use devotionally. We could use it liturgically. It’s fine to do that, but it’s more than just a prayer.

The structure of it helps us learn how to pray. Jesus answers, “How do I pray?” with the structure of the prayer itself. So let’s look at it. I’ve highlighted some words in bold and color to help us see this structure. Jesus says, pray then like this:

“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 also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:9-13).

Do you see the transition? Your –> us. We talk to God about God and then we talk to God about us. The structure matters. There are three “yours” and three “us’s.” Actually four “us’s” but the last two are a tag team, so we’re going to count them as three. Three “yours” and three “us’s.”

This structure helps us be intentional. We start with “your” statement. Pray to the Father about the Father. Prayer starts with him. You can think of it this way: the way Jesus gives this structure, prayer is us aligning our desires to God’s desires. That’s where we start. Like, God, whatever you are, whoever you are, whatever you want, I’ve got to make sure that you and I are on the same page, so I’m going to talk to you about you first.

“Hallowed be your name.”

Hallowed. Set apart. Unique. Holy. “Name” here is not just God’s name. It’s not just like “Ryan.” What Jesus is talking about is, if you were to interview my friends and family and ask, “What’s Ryan like? What is Ryan?” You could take all of their colorful answers, put them together into a portrait, and my name could stand for all of that. What is Ryan? That’s what he’s talking about. We want everything about God— “hallowed be your name” — everything that is true about God, we want that unique, set apart, respected, loved around the world and honored everywhere. That’s our hope. That’s where we start.

We pray your kingdom come. We want nothing else than the rule and reign of God himself. We have an allegiance to only one kingdom. It’s the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, and we want to live in that kingdom because it’s the best kingdom ever. Who wouldn’t want to live under the rule and reign of God Almighty?

We pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” How is God’s will accomplished in his realm? It’s perfect. In his realm, no sin. God, we want your will done here, just like it is in heaven. All of your purposes and desires, we want to see them happen here.

Kingdom people pray to God about God. Kingdom people pray about God’s name, God’s kingdom, God’s will. We want God honored, ruling, and reigning. We want nothing else than what God wants. That will change your day if you orient to God first. It sets you up. If I’m looking at life through the lens of “I’m beginning with you, what you want, what you say,” that will align the rest of my day. That’s what the structure of the Lord’s prayer does for us. We start talking to God about God. Then we pray intentionally to the Father about us. We talk to God about us.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

If you were to come to my house and walk into our kitchen, you’re going to see a door over here that’s a little walk-in pantry, and it has food. Beside that, to the right of that pantry, you’re going to see a double door, stainless steel refrigerator and freezer that has food. If you go out into my garage, I have an old fridge that we’ve held on to forever. If you open it, you’re going to find food.

I think it’s difficult to understand daily bread when I’m already prepped with weekly bread, and maybe a little bit more on the side. When you hear this, do you ever feel a little disingenuous? Or a little weird? Give us this day our daily bread — What you already have. I’ve got pita and hummus here. I’ve got peanut butter and jelly here.

I don’t individually depend upon the weather or my skill as a hunter or farmer to put food on my table. Daily bread in the culture of Jesus, and actually in a lot of the culture around the world right now, is actually what Jesus is talking about here.

Do you know what the word “daily,” when Jesus prays it. Do you know what that means in Greek? Daily. Like, give me today’s bread. If you’re praying it in the morning, “Will you give me bread for this day to eat?” If you’re praying it at night, “Will you give me bread for tomorrow?” Will you make wheat grow so I can grind it into flour, put some water in it, and some yeast, and bake some bread? Will you let that happen?

I think for us, friends, we’ve got to cultivate an utter dependence on God’s provision even though we buy our daily bread at Publix. And I think it’s hard work. I think we need the wisdom of Proverbs.

Proverbs 30:8-9, “Feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’”

For those of us, if your home is like the Ferguson home, if you have a pantry and two fridges, you are in danger of denying the Lord. We have so much that I can end up saying, who’s the Lord? I worked for this food. I bought this food. I made this food. Or, as the poet writes in Psalm 145:15,

“The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.”

A lot of you are going to go out to eat after this. You’re going to go grab some food. You’re going to go Papa’s & Beer or wherever you want to go — not Chick-Fil-A — but wherever you want to go. I think we’ve got to cultivate the “give us this day our daily bread” prayer with thankful hearts because God gave it to us. So if you’re hitting Ihop and those harvest grain and nut pancakes are being put on your table, you’ve got to think, “You give us food in due season.” You give us food in due season. We pray to the Father about our daily needs and recognize his provision.

We pray, “forgive us as we forgive.” We’re going to come back to this idea more because Jesus comments on it more. I want to ask two questions: when was the last time you asked God to forgive you? Question one. Question two, when was the last time you forgave someone else that hurt you? Just let those kind of sit in the back of your brain.

Next we pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Now that word “temptation” for us is almost always a negative word, like temptation to do something bad, sensual. The word in Greek can mean that. It can mean “tempt to do wrong.” It can also mean “test to determine character.” That’s the way Jesus is using it here. Don’t lead us into tests that we’re going to fail, but deliver us from the evil one. Let us succeed where we’re being tested and grown, and don’t let the evil one overtake us.

Then we get to the end of Jesus’ answer: pray to your Father secretly, simply, intentionally, while forgiving. How do we pray? We pray while we forgive. Jesus talks about that: forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Jesus only makes one additional comment about his prayer which has to do with forgiveness. He doesn’t talk more about his kingdom, his will, he doesn’t tell us how to defeat the evil one. He comes back to the idea of forgiveness. I think that makes this comment of his really, really important. Jesus says this after his model prayer.

Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Stark. It’s binary. It’s an “if… then…” You forgive, you’re forgiven. You don’t forgive, you’re not forgiven. Anybody besides me feel the weight of that? That starkness? It’s like, oh, oh. It’s heavy on my chest. So let’s see if we can figure out what Jesus means by that.

First thing I would argue is Jesus is not talking about our ultimate salvation. Jesus is not talking about “we forgive so that we’re justified,” or so that we’re redeemed, or so that our relationship with God is restored.

We are not saved by forgiving. We are not rescued from sin by forgiving. We forgive because we’re forgiven. We forgive because we’re saved. The way we’re saved, the way we’re reconciled to God is through faith in the belief of Jesus Christ himself. Paul puts it this way (Ephesians 2:4-9),.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ … For by grace you have been saved. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

If I’m forgiven by God because I forgive people, then I can brag about it. I can go, “Oh, I’m forgiven because I’m really great at forgiving people.” No, I’m rescued because God loves me and shows mercy and grace to me. I then forgive coming out of that reality. If he’s forgiven me, I forgive others.

Second observation I want to make here about this statement that Jesus does is, if you are here, and you’re the victim of a crime, or you’re the victim of abuse, this statement can feel like a burden.

If you’ve been sinned against recently, someone’s wronged you, and the sting of that sin is still right here in your heart and close to you, then these statements of Jesus can feel like salt in the wound. It leaves us sitting there going, does the Father have some clipboard system where he’s keeping track of me forgiving, and him forgiving, me forgiving, and him forgiving? Forgiveness can be complex.

A few weeks ago, Matt Nestberg preached up here and referenced Corrie Ten Boom. She and her family, during World War II, saved hundreds of Jews from being killed. She herself was thrown into prison after the war.

She was speaking at an event and one of her captors came up to her and said, “I’ve met Jesus. I believe in him. Will you forgive me?” That is a complex moment. She did forgive him, but I believe she was prepping to forgive long before that action of forgiveness.

I believe Jesus is describing for us an attitude of forgiveness. Our starting point is an attitude of forgiveness that leads us to the action of forgiveness. Are we a person who is willing to forgive? Is that where you start?

If I recognize I’ve been forgiven by God’s grace and if I believe I’ve been forgiven a great debt by God’s grace, then refusing to extend that forgiveness to somebody else doesn’t make sense. It’s in this moment, “Yes. I mean, God, I cannot believe that you would save somebody like Ryan Ferguson, that you would love me even when I was dead, even when I was sinning, even when I was wronging people and hurting people. You still loved me, and you saved me, and you forgave me. All of that. And then over on this side, I’m like, but I’m not forgiving you. I’m not forgiving you for what you did to me. That doesn’t add up. It becomes silly. To use a fancy word, it’s incongruous. It doesn’t add up.

If I pray while choosing not to forgive, to me, that’s like a doctor who goes to the bathroom, doesn’t wash his hands, and then performs surgery. It doesn’t make sense. Who would do that? It’s like a husband who hugs his wife after kissing his mistress. No, it doesn’t make sense. You don’t do that. We can’t pray in faith and in faith not forgive. It just doesn’t add up.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. It can be complex. The question Jesus is asking is where’s your starting point? Are you willing to forgive? It is a hard word to receive, friends. When I read this … One of the things about me, when I’ve been hurt, there is something about massaging hurt and pain that’s happened to me that feels good. Is that weird? Do you ever replay the wrongs done to you and it feels soothing? You maintain your posture like I do of judgment and justice because it only bolsters a view of yourself. But if we start with forgiveness, Jesus is calling on me, and he’s calling on you to act towards others the way God treated you. Forgive.

Praying while forgiving is actually you admitting that you still need forgiveness. Praying while forgiving is declaring that God wants to forgive everyone. The person that wronged you, that sinned against you— guess what? Jesus died for them and God wants to love them and forgive them. Who are we to withhold forgiveness? Forgiven people forgive people.

You and I all ask Jesus the same question: how do I pray? Jesus says, pray to your Father secretly, simply, intentionally, while forgiving.

As we’ve worked through this, as I came in today, my prayer was that the Spirit would, in some area that Jesus gave you, some part of the answer that Jesus gave you, would move in your heart towards prayer, that you would grow from God’s Word, leave today, and engage in prayer.

Perhaps that’s this: you just need to pray. You need to engage your prayer muscles and just talk to God. Perhaps it’s “pray to your Father.” You need to spend time cultivating shock and awe and wonder that you get to talk to “Father,” who’s also God.

Maybe you need to consider praying secretly. Do you pray more at life group, a Sunday school class, with your friends than you do in private with God? Go into your closet and pray.

Perhaps you need to pray simply. Why does God hear you? Because his ears are towards you. He knows everything. He just wants to talk with you.

Maybe you need to pray intentionally. I believe, experientially talking with people, I think all of us can grow in our prayer life of starting talking to God about God and aligning our desires with God’s desires. I hope we all grow there.

Jesus may want to grow your faith in his daily provision. To provide deliverance from evil. To put you into places where you’ll succeed in the test.

For some of us, he’s going to speak to us about forgiving. Perhaps there’s someone right now in your brain that you know you need to forgive. Through the gospel, a belief in Jesus, God gives you the power and faith to forgive them right now.

Maybe when it comes to forgiveness, you need to work on your starting point, and that’s okay. To talk to God about, I don’t want to forgive this one, but I know what your Word says. Will you help me? Will you soften my heart to move towards forgiveness? God has all the power in the world to help you do that as well.

In the most famous prayer in the world, contained within the most famous sermon in the world, Jesus answers our question, how do I pray? The beauty of it is Jesus provides us the access to pray. Without Jesus, there’s no way we can interact with the Father. We’re separated from him. But Jesus’ birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection gives us access to pray.

Since the days of Jesus being on earth with his disciples, followers of Jesus have celebrated a meal called communion, the Lord’s Supper, which is this moment where we stop and remember the cost it took to give us access to the Father, to give us a right relationship with the Father. Paul, a follower of Jesus, describes this meal this way in 1 Corinthians:.

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood.’ [The new strong agreement between God and man] ‘Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Friends, this day where we are celebrating access to the Father in prayer, we are also going to celebrate how we have access to the Father in prayer through the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We’re remembering, celebrating, and experiencing all that Jesus did for us. Without the events behind the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Prayer doesn’t matter. We have no access.

So we’re going to pass out these elements, and I invite everyone who believes in Jesus to participate. Once everything is passed out, I’ll come back up, and we will take the bread and juice together. So I invite you to spend a few moments here praying and talking to your Father.