5-Thy Will Be Done

b. (Personal) Write the parts of David's prayer that best expresses your own heart. Add some thoughts of your own.

2. Define "purity." Be prepared to add to your definition as you complete the lesson.

3. Ask God to give you His deeper insight into the meaning of purity as you study the following passages. Summarize the message of each; then, after the last one, explain what purity means to you.

Matthew 6:19-24. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Mark 12:29-31. "Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Acts 2:42-47. "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

2 Corinthians 11:2-3. "...I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

Colossians 3:23. "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."

2 Timothy 2:20-22. "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

4. Read Matthew 6:1, 5-15. Notice the subtle temptations we face in any area of ministry.

      5. “And 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.
       6.  But you, 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.
        7. 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.

8. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9. In this manner, therefore, pray:

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 forgive our debtors.
13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever!

14 “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."

a. Paraphrase verse 1 above ( write in your own words). How does it fit today's culture?

b. In verses 5-8, Jesus tells His friends how to pray. What did He show you in v. 5?

c. What does Jesus want you to understand from verses 7-9?

e. Study verses 9-13, the model prayer Jesus gave His disciples. Explain why each verse demonstrates purity in prayer.

f. Verses 14-15 underline the message of v. 12. Why is this truth so important to an intercessor? ("If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear." Psalm 66:18)

5. Study Titus 1:15 and explain how a pure heart affects your vision of people, circumstances and therefore also your prayers.

"Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Mark 12:38-40. "Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

James 4:1-3. "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."

7. Do you hunger and thirst for His purity? Then trust Him to work out His purpose for you -- especially in the midst of life's difficulties. How are you encouraged by the following verses:

John 12:24-28. "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

27“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

John 15:4-5. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart Me you can do nothing."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. ^"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."