Prayer
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Introduction
Introduction
How do you pray? What do you pray? How should you pray?
Every week we recite the Lord’s Prayer as a beautiful part of our worship. We use the passage from . It has become known as the model prayer. In Luke’s Gospel in chapter 11, we learn that the disciples had watched Jesus.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
He follows with a prayer similar to what we have in our text today.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew
The Model Prayer we have from Jesus both commands and teaches us how to pray. There are 6 petitions in this prayer, 3 of which concern God’s holiness and purposes; the other 3 contain personal requests. Both are valid, but there is precedence given to God’s honor and kingdom!
Reflect Upon His Grace
Reflect Upon His Grace
We can pray to God in a personal way. First and foremost, Jesus instructed in this teaching to call God Our Father.
“I myself said,
“ ‘How gladly would I treat you like sons
and give you a desirable land,
the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’
and not turn away from following me.
“I myself said,
“ ‘How gladly would I treat you like sons
and give you a desirable land,
the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’
and not turn away from following me.
Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?
Mali
It is because of His grace that we are able to call God Our Father.
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Galatians
God has instilled in us through Christ the opportunity to be adopted as sons and daughters.
he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
Ephesians
Jesus teaches us here that we are to address God in our prayer as Father. This is available to us that by reflecting on His grace.
Secondly, we learn in this prayer that we must relinquish control.
Recognize His Presence
Recognize His Presence
The phrase “Hallowed by Your Name” represents a sense of holiness, sacredness, and to consecrate. We are to Praise God for who He is!
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Psalm
Are you able to praise Him when you pray? Jesus used the word “Hallowed” to attribute praise to His Father.
Next we notice that Jesus teaches us to relinquish control.
Relinquish Control
Relinquish Control
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
We we pray this we are giving up our desires and aligning our pattern of thought of God the Father. I sometimes think that we pray for a test to be passed, a job to be given, or even the lottery to be one. I remember praying once in my early days of ministry for God to give me a bass boat so I could take teenagers fishing and witness to them in the lake while we were fishing. Why do you think I never got that bass boat?
How do you know the will of God?
When we are saved and allow Christ into our lives, God works in us to cause us to WANT to do His will and to enable us to do His will.
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Philippians
From Genesis to Revelation we can see that God always takes the initiative to come to His people. Without Him, we would all go our own way.
As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
Romans
We must relinquish control and conform our will to that of our Father in Heaven. Our priority must become His priority!
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew
When we do so, we can also rely on His provision.
Rely on His Provision
Rely on His Provision
“Give us this day, our daily bread.”
King Solomon wrote of this concept.
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Proverbs 30:
What would happen if we prayed this prayer and meant it? I don’t think this means for us to sit back and wait for every meal to magically appear. God gives us talents and abilities to work and produce. I believe this passage reminds us that of the assurance that God will provide our daily needs.
Luke’s version adds
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Luke
Are you asking for your daily needs to be met or you asking for a lifestyle of the rich and famous?
Next, we see a petition of reconciliation.
Reconcile and Be Reconciled
Reconcile and Be Reconciled
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
We are called to reconcile and be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
You have heard me say over and over again, “Lord help us to love as we have been loved and forgive as we have been forgiven.”
Are you able to do that?
The last verses of the text we read earlier have some strong thoughts about this:
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:
See, we can chose to forgive and be forgiven, or not forgive and not be forgiven.
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Colossians 3
We can be reconciled and we can reconcile.
This model prayer also teaches us to reorder our steps.
Reorder your steps
Reorder your steps
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
This is a request for protection. A request if you will, to change our course in a way that we are prevented from falling into snares and traps that will cause us to turn from God. We have to remember that God does not tempt us:
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
This has been called spiritual LSD: Lust, sin death. God does not desire that for us. This is one of the many reasons Jesus showed us how to pray, “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
We conclude this prayer with a phrase that says “For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Notice that phrase is not in our text. Scholars show that this was added to the form of a concluding doxology that was modelled after :
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Do you realize what you are saying when you pray that prayer?
Lord, I praise YOU for Your SOVEREIGNTY.
“Yours is the Kingdom...”
Lord, I praise YOU for Your AUTHORITY.
“…and the power...”
Lord, I praise YOU for Your MAJESTY.
“…and the glory…”
“
Lord, I praise YOU for Your ETERNALITY.
“…forever...”
I want to encourage you this week to think of the Lord’s Prayer and begin to model your own prayers the same way! Pray daily using this model and ask God to show you what to do next!