In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the amazing mercy of God towards His children, comparing it to parents caring for their little kids. He highlights the misconception that many people have about God, thinking they need to perform rituals and say the right words to receive His favor. However, the speaker emphasizes that what is truly important is having a relationship with God. He references Luke 15 and the story of the prodigal son to illustrate the power of confession and the importance of understanding God's love for us.

Many helpful books have been written on the subject of prayer in response to the question, how should I pray? But we need to look no further than God's Word for the most insightful and helpful direction. The Lord Jesus provides the answer to that question in His great Sermon on the Mount, and you can locate that in your Bible now, in Matthew Chapter 6. Dr. K.P. Yohannan is the founder and director of Gospel for Asia, and today he encourages us to begin or continue on the journey of prayer. Maybe you don't know how to do it. Let's allow Jesus to teach us to pray. All right, for our prayer and encouragement in the time, it is in Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 6. We read one of the places where Jesus telling His disciples about how to pray. And this is, you know, from time immemorial, that means at least from the first century, the church, they took it very seriously and prayed this prayer. As, you know, I know from the time I was born, I memorized this prayer. You don't believe that, but you too, I'm sure. Verse 9, our Father in heaven, hallowed. I mean, you know, when Jesus was praying, the disciples saw Him praying, they said, Lord, teach us to pray. We were just trying to figure out how to pray. This is obviously the question. As a matter of fact, as a youngster, youngster means 16, 17, 18, 19 on, when I left my home to serve God with other young people and discipleship and stuff like that. You know, you won't believe the number of books that I read because it was recommended to me about learning to pray. And I didn't want to tell all those books and, you know, some of them. So it was an adventure, kind of a journey, trying to figure out the mechanics, the techniques, and how I must do it, make this thing work. And it will take a while before I understood, something's wrong with me. What am I doing? I mean, I would go through a prayer meeting and talk about all kind of things. And I do not know about your mind, but at least my mind, I can talk to you the same time I can be thinking something else. You're saying, I'm guilty of that too. See, we all are. Like you're praying with someone, and they are really going on with all energy. Oh God, please do all this. And you are traveling to Iraq and Iran and Nigeria and your home and ice cream and Baskin-Robbins 31 ice cream and, you know, and hamburger and whatever else. And of course, you know, in and out, hamburger and french fry. I mean, whatever else you're thinking. And all of a sudden, in the end, you find they are just about to say, in Jesus' name, before they could think about that, you are back. And say, amen. You heard nothing. So the person sitting next to you think, oh my goodness, they really are praying with me and agreeing with me. And you don't even feel guilty about this. And you are talking to me, you mean you did things like that? I thought I was the only sinner. But you see, God is so amazingly merciful to allow us, like the parents watching their little kids just born, and they want to stand. Before they want to stand, they want to run. They fall apart, and they break their nose and, you know, and put their finger in the socket and get, you know, screaming and scratches. You don't kill them, do you? Anyone here guilty of doing that? I mean, you think it's giving a kiss on that scratch is better than a bandage. It look like it is a magic for the little kid. I mean, you thought I'm from Mars. No, I'm from Earth. And I have kids and grandchildren. Now, the amazing thing about it is, I live with this horrible misconception about this almighty, holy, powerful, all-consuming fire, the creator of the universe. And I have to say the right words and say it in the right tone. And I had to have the right posture. I had to perform all the right rituals. And somehow, if I managed to do all that, plus, if I have done everything right, I didn't say any lie. I didn't hurt anyone. I did all the good works. And somehow, in the end, there is a sense, okay, I did my job and now magic will happen. You see, it is one thing to read Apostle John saying, this is what I have seen, I heard, I know, I'm telling you, which he did. It is one thing to say Paul saying that I've been to heaven and I saw this, this is what the Lord told me, I'm just telling it to you, which he did in Corinthians 11. But it is an entirely different thing when God Almighty walk in flesh, incarnate, a human being, saying, this is what you should do. Think about it. A judge who is sitting there to answer, give the verdict, and you are standing before him, scared to death, but you know a secret. You know what the secret is? Just a day before the judgment or the verdict or the reward, the judge calls you into his chamber and says, let me tell you something. You are my son. You are my daughter. And tomorrow when you appear, you simply say, Father, don't say your honor. Oh, great, wonderful one sitting there. Simply say, Father, this is where I am. And the whole world will know you are not a stranger. You are a letter to me. And nobody's going to fight with you. And one more thing. I have already made everything right, what you think you did wrong. And it's all cleared. And just we are going through a motion. I expect Jesus to say, well, you want to know how to pray? First of all, kneel down and imagine all the sins he ever committed. And then start confessing all those things. Well, that's what books told me. First of all, confession. Now, the problem I have is that Paul said, even when I do not know anything against me, still I am not justified. So the sins of commission and omission. Okay, what I said to you was wrong. What I did to you was wrong. What about what I didn't say to you that I should have said? What about I said to you? You are smiling. But if I told you, you know what? You're a nice guy, but you better behave. You see, maybe it's a caring thing. Maybe I appreciate you. Maybe I want your best. But I go away and I said to myself, oh, no, I do care about him. I do love him and I do love her. But the way it came across didn't do anything. Only it did damage. As a matter of fact, tons of times. I mean, tons don't make any sense. At least enough times. Good English. I have talked to people about what's wrong with them and corrected them. Unfortunately or fortunately, I read this Bible. I don't know. I was going to say tons of times, but enough times. And I can quote Bible verses. You know, you wake me up two in the morning and ask me about anything. I'll tell you from the Bible. And so I have all the answers. But how many times later that night or the day as it comes to an end, the sun sets and I kneel and ask Jesus, help me walk through the day. Tell me what you think about this day. The people I talked to, the people I said things and what do you think about that? And how often I would hear him say, you did a good job. You're a person in the middle, but there was lacking love and compassion. You said the truth, but it was all damaging and wrong because they didn't see my love. They only saw my justice. And all of a sudden I feel so horrible. How many times I call people and talk to people and say, and what I told you is the truth, maybe. And I know what I told you for sure is right, but I did it not with compassion and love and kindness. I need you to forgive me. I have done it. You're listening to The Road to Reality with K.P. O'Hanlon. We'll be right back in just a moment to talk more about prayer. K.P. has written a book on this very subject called Learning to Pray. Many Christians rarely, if ever, pray. And when asked why, some say they just don't know how or they don't have the time. This booklet can be of some help as you discover prayer and how it really does change things. You can experience wonderful growth in your prayer life and see God do the impossible in response to your prayers. Learn to pray with K.P. by ordering this booklet today through our website, roadtoreality.org. Again, roadtoreality.org. Or call us, 866-WIN-ASIA. In Canada, the phone number is 888-946-2742. Or turn to roadtoreality.ca on the web. Now let's return now to K.P. for the rest of his message. K.P. O'Hanlon So when you talk about prayer, unless we are careful, we are so self-centered, so self-righteous. Me and my God, and God is a holy, wonderful, mighty God. The whole world is going to hell and I have to come before him and pray for all these things and he's going to answer my prayer based on my holiness and righteousness and my right words. Well, somebody did that. And God said, he's going to hell. The Pharisee. And the guy was not lying about anything. He said, I'm not like this dumb, stupid guy who's living in sin and do all the rotten things. I'm a righteous person. He was a righteous person. If you don't believe me, read also Philippians chapter three, when Paul said, as far as the law is concerned, I am blameless. He was a righteous Pharisee. But God looked beyond the words and the deeds and saw the condition of the heart. What was lacking was relationship. Luke chapter 15, the older son was fundamentally evangelical, hardcore, radically committed to Bible. He was faithful to work in the vineyard. He was a full-time faithful Christian worker who was sacrificing, who gave up everything while the younger boy was a rascal. He was a bad dude. That is American English. I mean, he did everything imaginable rotten. In the end, he takes his money and he runs away. But then this fellow get bankrupt. Then he says, what can I do? My father. And he's scared to death. This is what I'm going to tell him when I reach. You don't read Luke 15. He's saying, Oh, righteous, amazingly wonderful, rich, kind hearted. I will tell him, Father, I made a mess of my life. I know I'm not worthy for anything. But you read the passage that is a perfect description of prayer of someone that God hears. If I were the father, I would say, all right, I got a problem to deal with. You see, your brother, he'd been absolutely faithful, radically honest, like a slave. He'd been working. He didn't ask for one penny. He sacrificed everything. Look at him. He's there in the field, killing himself. And look at you. He got all you want. What else you want? Plus, I got a couple of thousand people out there, servants, and they're looking at this whole thing. What kind of crazy dude I am. Well, we need to figure this out. I don't think I can easily deal with it. You don't read that. The father didn't ask one word. What happened to the money? Where did he go? You look sick. You've been with prostitutes? What happened? Where is your shoes? What happened to the ring? I was almost going to say, why didn't you shave your face? That won't work tonight. He said, from far away, the father, heavenly father, Christ describes and paints so vividly about God the father. Sees this ragged, failing son. And the older brother somehow figured out what the younger boy did. He had no clue, but he made up. This guy was actually living in sin. He squandered the money. He was living with prostitutes. And he just named a whole lot of sins that he had no clue about. Otherwise, the older son was, in the evening times, going around and doing the same thing, maybe. Father runs. So what is my problem? I just want to make sure I'm holy and righteous and perfect. So God will do something for me on my behalf. Heal the sick person when I pray. Answer prayer by giving money. Or cause that miracle to transpire. Because I am meeting all the requirements. Jesus didn't even give a hint of that. And who are these disciples asking the question, teach us to pray? They were not such nice, wonderful, holy people. One was a full-time thief. Judas. And the rest of them were fighting with each other 24 hours. Jealousy, arrogance. Did you know the sins of the spirit is far more damning than the sins of the flesh? You say, what did you say? Well, Jesus condemned the Pharisees all to hell. Not because they were going and robbing people and committing adultery and beating up people. No. He condemned them all to hell. To judgment. Because they were self-righteous. They didn't have God's righteousness. They actually did everything. And they cry out and pray all the prayers. And God got a deaf ear. He wouldn't even look at them. And my brothers and sisters, you see, my son, my daughter, and my children, my grandchildren, they don't have to even think when they ask me for something. Well, he's going to beat us up. Or he's going to say, go and jump in the lake. You see, that's a nicer way to say it than something really bad. You will hate me for that. I mean, just a while ago, I talked to Dr. Danny, my son-in-law. I mean, the first thing I asked, I said, how is Hannah doing? Well, that's my little granddaughter. And she had some fever the last three, four days. And I prayed for her. And I got a thousand things to ask you about all kind of stuff on the mission field. But my emotions drove me to ask, why she got sick? And then he said, well, she got it from, you know, David went to school, and he brought it. I said, you had to figure out a way to build the immune system, as though I'm the medical doctor now. Then I gave a lecture. Well, did you talk to Gisela about maybe some protein powder we can bring, some vitamins I can bring? And I just kept, I almost can imagine him laughing. Daddy, I'm a medical doctor. But do you see the relationship? You see the emotional, the longing, the care? This happened to be my little granddaughter. The other day, I heard about Jonah, didn't go to school. He had some fever or something. I mean, I'm not a very emotional person. Did you know that? He's saying, you're joking. But you know, I, he said, yeah, Jonah didn't go to school. He had a fever. Well, I didn't say nothing, but I feel the sadness. How is he doing? What happened? Why did he get, I mean, but there must be a thousand kids out there going through all kinds of problems. And I hear about, yeah, I do feel for them, but not the way my emotions are hurt and goes after my little kids. What is the confidence we have when we pray? Please, may I beg of you, change your thinking about this God that you pray to. And I say this to you because how many tons and thousands hours have I wasted praying and crying out to a God who is no different than the gods of dead rocks and stones and far away I cannot even talk to. And he's judging, criticizing, attacking, waiting to judge me, cruel, mean. But Jesus simply said, this is what you should do. You want to pray? He's your father. Who is he talking to? A bunch of crazy people who actually were living in very bad shape within. They were mean people, mean to the extent they were disciples telling Jesus, hey Jesus, you got power. Why don't you call down fire and just kill all these rats? Wipe out the whole community. That's exactly what they did. And then he says, when you pray, first of all, confess all the evil things you thought and did and failures, and then do that for 10 hours. Then you say, oh God, please do something for me. No. He said, father. And then everything comes after that. There is no greater power in the universe that propel us to have faith, to believe when we ask, when we say things to God, than simple word, love. God loves me. So what is the one line theology of the whole Bible? Jesus loves me. This I know. If I did sing, he will get up and walk away and I will not do that. God loves me. He loves me knowing all the sins and dumb mistakes I made, things I should have done I didn't do, things I should have said I didn't say, and I have complete ignorance about really the holiness and the things of God. You say, well, that's strange teaching, isn't it? Well, I tell you what, I'm 64 years old. Well, no, I'm 28. This is just a made up beard. No. Well, things I thought and I did 30 years ago, that I thought was absolutely perfect, righteous, good. Today, I am frightened. How did I think those thoughts? Why did I say like that? What caused me to pronounce such condemnation and and hurt people using Bible verses? I just can't believe that I did those things. You think when I did those things, said those things, God said, well, this dumb stupid guy, he has no clue about it. I hate him. He said, he's a little kid just falling and getting up and walking and learning. I love him so much. And he is going to figure this out. He didn't stop hearing my prayer. He didn't stop giving me all the good things in life. He protected me with angels all around me. And when I could have half a dozen car wreck, when I first came to the United States, speed limit, I had no clue about it. Who protected me? He says, whether you do the righteous thing or not, you do the dumbest, the most sinful thing and the right thing. I'm still the unchanging, loving father and brothers and sisters. We are called to be his sons and daughters. The Lord wants us to talk to him like a son or a daughter would talk to a father. You've been listening to our weekend edition of The Road to Reality. K.P. Yohannan has been focusing on prayer, and we'd like to tell you about a book that can help you learn to pray more effectively and consistently. Remember Elijah? He prayed and rain ceased for more than three years. Or how about the early church when they prayed Peter was released from prison? You see, our prayers can move heaven and earth as well. In this book, K.P. shows how significant a role our prayers play on this earth. Order a copy or two of Learning to Pray online at roadtoreality.org. That's roadtoreality.org or call us toll free at 866-WIN-ASIA. For our friends in Canada, you can reach us at 888-946-2742 or go online to our Canadian website, roadtoreality.ca. Start reading and praying today and then join us for the next Road to Reality with Brother K.P. Yohannan. Until then, God bless.