Praying Scripture | Matthew 21:28–46

Our sermon text this morning is Matthew 21:28-46. Here is a prayer guide through this wonderful text that contains two parables of Jesus.

Record your prayer for God’s help.

Father, it is a marvel that you transform the lives of broken people and grant them the privilege of entering your Kingdom.
Thank you that there is mercy for those who resist being stewards and insist on owning it all.
Grant us again your gift of repentance and your gift of your only Son who owned it all. Then, lost it all so that we might have it all for all eternity.
Unveil his beauty to our sight so that we might love him more.

What should you praise God for based on your passage?

We praise you Father that you do not seek slaves to grace your throne and work in your vineyard, but sons and daughters with whom you enjoy a relationship.
We praise you Lord Jesus that you were willing to be rejected, thrown out of the vineyard and killed for those who are hell-bent on owning what rightfully belongs to you.
We praise you Lord Jesus that “there is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!'” You owe it all!
We praise you O Lord that you entrust your vineyard to those who produce its fruit.

What sin should you confess based on your passage?

Gracious Father, forgive us for our obsession with owning Your vineyard.
We resist living and serving as stewards.
We want the garden of our lives for ourselves—ours for gain, ours for fame, ours for comfort.
This disease of our driven hearts causes hostility and misery in our lives and relationships.
Our hearts forget that everything we have is a gift of your grace and that you own it all.
Thank you that your dearly-beloved Son forsook his own right of ownership and laid down his life to rescue us from our destructive ways.
Liberate us to live humbly and joyfully as Your stewards so that our lives are marked by hopeful humility, profound security, and grateful delight.
Do this for our flourishing and your fame, AMEN.

What should you thank God for based on your passage?

Thank you for your willingness to entrust all that you possess to your servants – your vineyard, your winepress, your tower.
One of the fruits of the kingdom of God is repentance. Thank you that you give the gift of repentance and faith to your children (43).
Thank you for sending Jesus, your Son, to experience hostility and death for us (39)
Thank you that it was your will for the Cornerstone to be rejected so that we might be accepted and welcomed into your presence for eternity.
Thank you that you are a just God – those who kill your prophets and your Son will experience a miserable death.

What should you ask for yourself based on your passage?

Give me hopeful humility to really believe that no one is beyond the transforming power of your gospel and receiving the privilege of entering your kingdom.
Give me profound security. You have proven your love by sending your dearly loved son to pay my ransom.
Give me grateful delight for the privilege of serving you in your vineyard.

What should you commit to doing based on your passage?

Record your prayer for God’s help.

I pray for those that I love that they would settle the issue on whether they have entered the kingdom. The only way to enter the kingdom is by repenting and trusting in the Son for he was the one who owned it all, and yet he lost it all in order that we might gain it all for all eternity!
I pray for those who have entered the kingdom to gladly serve the interests of the kingdom by producing its fruit: character, conduct, and converts.
I pray for those whom I love that they will delight to heed the invitation of the Father to work in his vineyard. Grant us, O Lord, purposeful, kingdom-expanding work for your glory and for the good of souls!

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