Lord, Teach Us to Pray Text: Matthew 6:9-15 Series: Sermon on the Mount [#10] Pastor Lyle L. Wahl January 4, 2015 Introduction This morning we come to the Lord s Prayer in Jesus Sermon on the Mount. There are many good statements about prayer, such as, Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his greatest and his highest when, upon his knees, he comes face to face with God. 1 Or this question, Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? 2 These statements are good. But the question you and I face is Do we believe and experience prayer as an essential and powerful dynamic of our lives? Sometimes we may be forgetful or undisciplined. At other times it may seem that our prayers are not connecting. On Canadian Marc Garneau s first space shuttle flight thirty years ago, U.S. President Ronald Reagan called the crew. The call was broadcast and they took questions from around the world. At one point the NASA operator dialed a number. Everyone heard it ring about three times, and then a recorded message, Please hang up and try again. You ve dialed the wrong number. 3 Sometimes we pray and it may seem like we ve dialed the wrong number. Jesus opened chapter 6 with warnings about false righteousness, hypocrisy, wearing a mask, pretending to be something we really aren t. He applied it to giving and prayer. Now we come to His Model Prayer, or The Lord s Prayer. Let s note a few things as we begin. This is an important prayer, but it is never to be repeated as simply a ritual, or thinking there is power in just repeating the words. In verse 6 Jesus warns us about meaningless repetition in prayer and thinking we will be heard through many words. The prayer is also recorded in Luke 11. The Holy Spirit directing different wording in the two accounts tells us that the model, not the exact words is what is important. Jesus is instructing us in how we are to pray, not what we are to pray. 4
The model prayer has been prayed by Christians since the early days of the church. Some teachers in the first century instructed believers not to pray like the hypocrites, but yet to pray Jesus model prayer three times a day. 5 We realize this model prayer does not cover every aspect of prayer, and certainly not every question we have about prayer. For example, the role of faith in prayer is not addressed here, although Jesus deals with it elsewhere. Today we are taking an overview of this prayer which is to be our model. Our desire should be that of the disciple s in Luke s account, Lord, teach us to pray. Approaching God In prayer. How are we to come to God in prayer? We are to approach, to come to God as our Father. The phrase Our Father points to Biblical images of God. It should remind us of the personal, family relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus said our Father, not my Father. God is not just my Father, but He is the Father of the family, of all believers who are related to each other through Him. Our relationship with God, our prayer life is never just personal. It is defined by our family relationship through Jesus. Praying to God who is in heaven might seem obvious. The point is to remember when we come to God we come to the exalted ruler, sovereign over all. Keeping these two realities in balance can be difficult, but we must do it. Seeing too much of the Father relationship can lead to lack of reverence and awe. Seeing too much of the heavenly, sovereign ruler nature of God can lead to lack of closeness. Ultimately, the accurate balance is seen in the pages of the Bible, in which God reveals Himself. Jesus is building on the Old Testament images of God as our Father. God, Israel s father, who was close, caring, understanding. We read in Psalm 68:5, A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling (NIV). Again, in Psalm 103, The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust (13-14, NLT). As well, God our Father who is always faithful. Isaiah prayed, For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name (63:16, ESV). Then, God our Father who lovingly disciplines us. Proverbs 3:11-12, My child, don t reject the Lord s discipline, and don t be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights (NLT). 2
In summary, the picture of God as our Father in heaven stresses the reverence, security, love and openness we have with Him through Jesus. With this is mind, we need to clarify our own view of God as our Father. When we hear or read the phrase God our Father our minds may look to our own experience, to our own families, fathers. Those who have a father who is/was easy going, even letting them get away with a lot can see God as an easy going, permissive, big buddy and not give Him the respect He deserves. Others who have bad, painful memories of their fathers can have difficulty in relating to God, in seeing that God really loves them, in loving God, even though they want to. Our experience with our fathers can affect our relationship with God, including our prayer life. What comes to your mind when you think of God as your Father? Our view should be shaped first and finally by what God reveals to us about Himself in the Bible. Worshiping God in prayer. Jesus then moves into the first of two sections of the prayer: worshiping God. What does that mean? How do we truly worship God as we pray? First, true worship of God always includes reverencing Him. The last part of verse 9, Hallowed be Your name. We don t use the word hallowed today. It has the same origin as the word holy. The idea here is not that we make God holy or ask God to be made holy, because He is holy. Part of His eternal, unchanging character is to be pure and separate from all that is not. Rather, it is the sincere, urgent request 7 that we and others see and treat God as holy, as He is. Is that a regular, consistent theme of your prayers? Then let s think about Hallowed be Your name. What s in a name? There is an old story about a newspaper ad in the Lost & Found section: Lost: one dog. Brown hair with several bald spots. Right leg broken due to car accident; rear left hip hurt. Right eye missing; left ear bitten off in a dog fight. Answers to the name Lucky. 8 The name doesn t seem to match, does it! God s name refers to who He is, what He is like. During Advent we looked at the names of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6. He is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. There are many other names or descriptions of God that show us what He is like. A few from the Old Testament that you may have heard include Elohim, usually translated God, which speaks of His power and majesty. Adoni, or Lord. God is our 3
Master and authority. El Shaddai, God almighty. Yahweh Rophe, God heals. Yahweh Shalom, God our peace. You see, truly praying Hallowed be Your name is so much more than simply repeating those words. As you read the Bible, try noting the names, descriptions and then the character of God as you read. Then pray that God will be seen and proclaimed for who He truly is. Follow the example in King David s call to magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. 9 Then true worship in prayer also includes in seeking God s rule. Verse 10, Your kingdom come. The word and idea of God s kingdom here is centered on ruling, reigning; the reign of God. God s kingdom refers to His rule in all ages, over all. It is past, present and future. So, what about Your kingdom come? Jesus tells us our hearts and our prayers are to be grounded in a deep desire to see God s rule on earth. This includes seeing people come into His kingdom through faith in Christ. It includes seeing righteousness established, sinful rebellion put down. Sometimes we can get rather fatalistic. We know that there is a day coming when Christ will set up His perfect kingdom on earth. So, we may think, until then we ll just have to hang in there while sin and wickedness thrive. Wrong! The apostles, believers of the first centuries, the reformers could have adopted a fatalistic resignation to sin and evil, but they did not! See what God did through them! We could sit back, throw our hands up at the turning away from God and sin in our country, at governments redefining God s definition of life and classifying abortion as a right, or redefining God s definition of marriage in the Bible as the union of one man and one woman to being a right for any two individuals. We should not. We cannot. We do not know when the end of this age will be. We do not know the extent of revival, of evangelization that might take place in our time. As God s children, we are to pray Your kingdom come. Sincerely and earnestly implore, God, may Your rule, Your truth and righteousness transform people, be seen and upheld in our land, in our day. The too we worship God in prayer as we seek His will. Verse 10, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Question: How is God s will carried out in heaven? There are no committee meetings, no Royal Commissions. It is carried out completely, with no omissions. It is done quickly, with no foot-dragging or delay. It is fulfilled constantly, never hit and miss. It is done joyfully, never with a frown. 4
You see, while it is great to look forward to heaven when we will see and fulfill God s will perfectly, we are to earnestly desire, earnestly pray and work for that here and now. And so, again, we need to read and think through the Bible to see what God s desire for us and our world is. He desire then is to be ours, and our prayer. Bringing our requests to God in prayer. The last part of the prayer is where we might sometimes, even often, begin bringing our requests to God. First there are our physical needs. Verse 11, Give us this day our daily bread. Bread here does not refer just to food, but all physical needs. We are to ask God for everything we need to keep going physically in this world. Living in a relatively affluent place in the world, it can be easy to forget to do this. The word daily pictures coming to God day by day for the needs of each day, or of the next day. A few points to note. Many Christians try to take care of, provide the basics themselves, on their own, looking to God for the big things. Then, sometimes we consider our wants as needs. As well, physical life is not our highest purpose. Faithful Christians do die of starvation, in floods, epidemics. We are to avoid both improper independence ( I can take care of things myself ) and improper dependence (as those Paul spoke of who did not work but sat around depending on others and waiting for Christ to return 10 ). While we don t understand all the details, Philippians 4:19 is true, My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Prayer is key to supply. In addition to our physical needs, we are to bring our spiritual needs to God. Jesus gives us two key examples in this prayer. He starts with forgiveness of your sins. We all need it there are no exceptions. For those who do not yet know Jesus, God tells us, whoever will call on the name of the LORD will be saved. 11 And, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 12 God s word tells those in the kingdom, believers, If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 13 And also that Jesus, gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds (NLT). 14 5
Some people struggle with the fact that God will forgive their sins, all their sins, the worst of their sins. Others struggle with realizing the sinfulness of their sin, of all their sin. We all need and can have God s forgiveness!! Jesus teaches us to pray, verse 12, forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And He adds, starting in verse 14, if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions (14-15). First, remember this is Jesus model prayer for those in the kingdom, for believers. Salvation is not in view. All unconfessed sin, including not forgiving others, affects our relationship with God, not our salvation. It affects our fellowship with Him, our joy, peace, strength, effectiveness. Secondly, forgiveness is part of the character of a forgiven person. If God has forgiven me, how can I not forgive others? If you struggle with forgiving someone, take a brief trip down memory lane of everything, every sin of yours which God has forgiven. People who claim to be Christians and whose character is one of not forgiving others need to check their faith, to reflect on God s forgiveness. All of us need to continually ask God to keep us humbly and joyfully reflecting on His forgiveness, and to truly live as His children in forgiving others. From here Jesus moves to spiritual faithfulness and victory. Verse 13, And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Question: Does God tempt us? The answer is No! James 1:13 tells us, Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God ; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. So, there is no need for us to ask God not to do what He never does. But the word tempt also can mean test or try. Does, or should God keep us from all trials? Again the answer is No! James 1:2-4 instructs, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. So if God never tempts us and does not keep us from trials, what is this request about? Much has been said and written about the possibilities here. In the end we must admit that there is no universally accepted answer. One possibility is that Jesus is using understatement, stating this in the negative to make His positive point. I know what I just said is as clear as mud. So how about an example? When I say David is not an amateur guitarist, I mean, David is an expert guitarist (and 6
he is). That s the kind of statement. Or, going to Scripture, whe God says of His word in Isaiah 55:11, It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it, He is saying My word will be fulfilled, will accomplish its purpose. In fact, some of our English versions change the negative to a positive in their wording. Then Jesus speaks this way in John 6:37 when He says the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out, meaning I will certainly accept and keep those who come to Me. In the model prayer then, Jesus could be saying we should be asking God to keep us in right relationship with Him, to keep us living righteously. 15 Jesus also could be telling us to have a deep desire and to pray for the truth we are given later in 1 Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. Pray, ask God to rescue you from sinning when you go through temptations, to not allow you to be overcome by temptation, to make you faithful and victorious. Yes, we are to, as Paul wrote, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 16 Pray! Conclusion How is your prayer life? What about your approach, worship and requests in prayer? Are you asking, Lord, teach me to pray! Let s close with one person s what I call Amplified Version of this prayer. I cannot say Our, if my faith has no room for others and their needs. I cannot say Father, if I do not demonstrate this relationship in my daily living. I cannot say Who art in heaven, if all my interests and pursuits are in earthly things. I cannot say Hallowed be Thy name, if I, who am called by His name, am not holy. I cannot say Thy kingdom come, if I am unwilling to give up my own sovereignty and accept the righteous reign of God. I cannot say Thy will be done, if I am unwilling or resentful of having it in my life. I cannot say on earth as it is in heaven, unless I am truly ready to give myself to His service here and now. I cannot say give us this day our daily bread without expending 7
honest effort for it or by ignoring the genuine needs of my fellowmen. I cannot say forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors, if I continue to harbor a grudge against anyone. I cannot say lead us not into temptation, if I deliberately choose to remain in a situation where I am likely to be tempted. I cannot say deliver us from evil, if I am not prepared to fight in the spiritual realm with the weapon of prayer. 17 Go to God now, praising and thanking Him for the great privilege of prayer. Then review the state, the health of your prayer life in light of the model Jesus has given us. 1 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Volume Two. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960, page 45. 2 Universally attributed to Corrie Ten Boom. Original reference not known. 3 NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, Edited Oral History Transcript, John A. Mc Bride. <http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/mcbrideja/mcbrideja_4-17-12.htm>. 17 April 2012. Accessed 31 December 2014. 4 See, for example, D.A. Carson, Matthew, Volume 9 in The Expositor s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010, page 201. 5 The Didache, Chapter 8. See, for example, The Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Tim Sauder, Translator. <http://www.scrollpublishing.com/store/didache-text.html>. n.d. Accessed 31 December 2014. 6 1 Chronicles 29:10. 7 For the force of this aorist of request or entreaty see, for example, Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar, Beyond the Basics. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, pages 487-8. 8 Old story. Original source not known. 9 Psalm 34:3. 10 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13. 11 Romans 10:13. 12 Acts 2:38. 13 1 John 1:9. 14 Titus 2:14, NLT. 15 So seen (as a litotes) by D.A. Carson in Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978, 1987, page 70-71 (1978), page 75-76 (1987). It is unclear whether Carson has abandoned or kept to this position since he does not state it in Matthew, Volume 9 in The Expositor s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010, pages 207-208. 8
16 Ephesians 6:10-11. 17 Attributed to Ann Kimmel. Original source not known; not verified. 2015 Lyle L. Wahl Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. 9