Welcome to our Together on Mission Podcast, where we seek to be with and like Jesus, as we begin a conversation with Jesus in the morning, through scripture, prayer, and meditation, and then continue that conversation with them throughout the day. Your host is Travis Twinden, the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California. In this season of the podcast, we're going to focus on scriptures that call us into prayer for the world as we seek to be at the place where our world is in pain. Morning friends, and welcome to the daily Together on Mission Podcast, where we, friends of Jesus are just being friends of Jesus and friends of one another because we really are doing this together.
And I'm enjoying the journey. So welcome to the podcast. If you're new with us, we want to especially welcome you. You're going to need a Bible, maybe a journal, cup of coffee, cup of tea, find a spot, go on a walk, take a drive, whatever your beginning of the day conversation with Jesus looks like whatever shape it takes.
Because the last thing that we want to do is say that relationship with Jesus must look exactly the same for everyone. There's so much beautiful uniqueness to our relationship with the Father. And as I say, the word Father, that brings us to this specific podcast in Matthew chapter six, and the title of this podcast is going to be Clear Command. And the question is, if Jesus of Nazareth, who is most of our teacher, who's the teacher of most of us, however we're going to say that sentence, if Jesus of Nazareth, who is, at least for most of us, our teacher, if Jesus gave a command that was so clear, so practical, really left up to no interpretation at all.
It was just so clear and so practical, would you obey it? That's the question. Would you obey it? And I would say that Jesus is pretty clear in his teaching, but actually, as I say that, Jesus did speak in parables.
And although I was taught, as you may have been taught, that a parable was a earthly story with a heavenly meaning that made the point more clear, that's actually not historically true. A parable is a story that makes the point more obscure and more veiled. So why would someone speak in parables? Well, if that person's message is so dangerous and so revolutionary and would immediately lead to their death, if they laid it out clearly, that person would speak in parables.
And I'm convinced that if Jesus had not taught in parables, he would have had a three week ministry instead of a three year ministry. So he spoke in parables, and in his disciples, those who were actually curious about his way of life would ask him later on in a house or somewhere in a field, what the heck did that mean? And then Jesus would lay it out clearly. So, often Jesus was unclear in parables, but very often Jesus was incredibly clear.
Love your enemies. Don't judge. Go the extra mile. Pray for your persecutor.
Take the last seat. You can't serve both God and money. Follow me. Lose your life, and you'll find life.
One could go on. In fact, I could do this all day. And that, by the way, was a Captain America reference. There is a pretty clear command.
There's an incredibly clear command that I don't know if we've paid much attention to it. It's probably the most clear command that Jesus ever gave. It's detailed, it's practical, it's clear. It's really not open for interpretation because the interpretation is incredibly obvious.
And this incredibly clear command is in Matthew 6, verse 6. Jesus says, when you pray, go into your room, close your door and pray to your Father. Let's look at that again. Jesus says to his disciples, when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father.
Now, that's as clear as it gets. It's detailed. It's the most clear command I think that Jesus ever gave. And it's not open to interpretation.
It's just that clear. Now, as we back up and look at Matthew 6, Matthew 6 makes a few suggestions or I'm sorry, Jesus makes a few assumptions about his disciples. Jesus says, when you pray, right? When you pray.
Jesus doesn't hold up the... Jesus doesn't hold up models of prayer who are wordsmiths or who make wordy, eloquent prayers in Matthew 6. He says that the model of prayer in my kingdom is one who simply knows that their heavenly Father loves them. And that's why Jesus is talking all about Father in this passage.
When you pray, don't use a ton of words, don't think it's about your words. When you pray, go into your room, close the door, pray to your Father. That's a very clear command. Now, if you had a Father that you feel didn't enjoy you or was always busy, then prayer will be a bit more difficult.
Some of you might be thinking, oh man, Travis, you're engaging in too much family of origin psychology when you say that. But unless we overplay family of origin psychology, it's actually very, very important. Some have said that the entire Christian journey is a re-understanding of the person, the idea of Father. If Father was controlling or demeaning or angry or if we felt our Father was uninterested in us or only interested in himself, we just need to know that prayer may be difficult at first to engage in and to sustain.
But engaging in and sustaining, we must because we're created to enjoy and be enjoyed by the Father. And so maybe you could think for just a moment about how you see your earthly Father. Because we may not be aware of the role that that plays in our spiritual journey. We tend to project unto God that which we feel or felt about our earthly Father.
So let's just put that on the table. And Jesus of course was aware of that dynamic and still spoke clearly and gave the most clear command he ever gave. When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father. Now here's a good question.
When was the last time that you were obedient to that command? When was the last time you went into your room, close the door and prayed to your Father? And that's not an analogy. It's not a metaphor.
It's not an ideal. It's an action. It's practical. It's not a suggestion.
And it's at the heart of the ethic of Jesus. And there are some wonderful results. This relationship with the Father will be the journey of a lifetime. This prayer life with the Father is the only way to stay anchored in a top-sea, tervy world.
Prayer is how we remain sane in a crazy world. It's how we lift up the cares of the world without denying them or sinking into some kind of nihilistic despair. Prayer is the invitation to live a centered life. And then of course there's this.
There's nothing better than feeling the Father's enjoyment. The Father's pleasure, our Heavenly Father's affirmation. And I've been praying consistently and seriously now for about 25 years. I've done many going to my room, closed the door and prayed to my Father.
And sometimes I do feel God's pleasure in presence when I pray. And honestly, sometimes the only thing that I feel is God's absence. Now, do I believe that the Father is ever absent from me? No.
But sometimes that's how I feel. And there's going to be those stages of the journey if we persist in prayer and those stages of the journey where we don't feel anything are necessary. And if I was to go into why they're necessary, this podcast would exceed the desired length. So let's land the plane.
Let's feel beating into this command. When you pray, go into your room, close the door, pray to your Father. And let's take seriously, arguably the most practical, direct, clear command that Jesus and Nazareth ever gave. Let's enjoy a conversation with Jesus this morning.
Let's continue that conversation with him, with his Father, by the power of the Spirit, throughout the rest of the day. And we'll talk soon. Thanks for listening to the Together on Mission podcast. We truly hope that you were blessed and encouraged by you today.
If you had any questions about the Inland Vineyard Church, our ministries, or our Sunday services, feel free to connect with us on our brand new app, which you can find in the Google Play and the App Store, and check out our social media pages like Facebook and Instagram, or even check out our website at inlandvignard.org.