“Our Father” - The Model Prayer
In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)
What images or thoughts spring to mind when you hear the word “prayer”?
Did you learn any prayers as a child? What was the earliest one you can remember?
Introduction:
There are a number of names for this prayer “Our Father,” “The Model Prayer,” “The Disciples’ Prayer,” and “The Lord’s Prayer.” I was raised calling it the “Lord’s Prayer” but later came to know that the Lord Jesus never prayed this prayer so that wasn’t a good name for this prayer. He never prayed it because, He was sinless and never needed to ask the Father for forgiveness.
This prayer is so rich, so deep, that a lifetime of reflection could not mine all of the nuggets of truth that is in this amazing prayer. We will try to reach down and get a few nuggets that will hopefully be helpful in everyday living.
How to Study the Bible Note #1: The first rule of studying the Bible is context. If you were to study alligators, you wouldn’t go to the desert, you would go to the swap. There are no alligators, water, turtles, fish, or anything that would help you study an alligator. In order to know about an alligator, you need to know his context – the alligator’s context is the swamp. When you study a passage of Scripture, you look at the context of that particular passage. The context of Scripture is the (a) the passages of scripture that surrounds the Scripture you are studying and (b) the history of the people that was involved.
So begin with Matthew chapter 6. [Chapter six is in the middle of Jesus’ longest sermon called the “Sermon on the Mount” and in it he is discussing what true righteousness is.]
How to Study the Bible Note #2: Ask questions about the passage you are reading. We are not questioning the reliability of the Bible in any way, but trying to understand what is happening. Just like when someone is telling you a story, and you ask, “When did this happen?” “Who was involved?” “How did it happen?” and so on.
Ask: Who? What? When? Where? How?
Questions for Matthew chapter 6
(1) Bible Study Rule:
a. Read the Context – read the passage in light of the surrounding and the whole
b. Ask Questions about the passage
(2) Read Matthew 6:1-15
a. According to Jesus what wrong motivations prompts some individuals to pray? (v5)
b. What name did Jesus call people who pray for show? (v5)
How to Study the Bible Note #3: Word meanings. Meanings of words change and how words are used change over time. When I was in college, there was an older (mid to late 80’s) secretary of the college who helped with the materials for one of the men’s classes – she told the professor one day that this was the “gayest” group of young men she had ever known. Needless to say, the whole class was up in arms immediately, saying “no, we are not!.” Seventy years ago the word “gay” meant happy, not homosexual! Word meaning’s change! If you are reading a book that was written seventy years ago and it said “the man was very gay” – it does not mean the same as a book written in the late 20th century or early 21st century. You have to return to the original meaning of that word when it was used.
Here is the original meaning of the word hypocrite:
hypocrite defined. In the days of Jesus, a hypocrite was literally an actor. Hypocrite was not a bad word during the day of Jesus, it meant actor. There were large amphitheater’s and one actor would play numerous roles, so he disappear quickly behind a screen and immediately reappear with a different costume. They had different masks on sticks and the actor would be holding two different masks. When he was ready to play one part, he would put on the one mask, and when he was ready to play another part, he put on a different mask. In doing so, they would pretend to be someone other than who they really were.
So what did Jesus mean when he called these religious leader hypocrites? He said they were a bunch of pretenders, actors – Their religiousness was nothing but an act. You didn’t see who they really were, you just saw their religious face. Jesus talked about what they were really like underneath the religious mask – they were ugly on the inside of their heart and really didn’t follow God on the inside.
Questions continued:
c. Where do hypocrites prefer to do their praying? (v5)
d. What type of reward will religious showmanship bring? (v5)
e. How did Jesus command His followers to pray (v6)
f. Where did Jesus suggest we talk to God? (v6)
g. What type of reward will humility in prayer bring (v6)
h. What did Jesus say about repetitive or long windy prayers? (v7)
How to Study the Bible Note #4: God is a God of order and not confusion. From the beginning of creation, we see God bring order not chaos. Satan creates chaos, not God. God’s Word is very very very orderly. Did I say it was “very” orderly! The order within Scripture is very clear the vast majority of the times.
Notice this prayer, the first half of it is all ABOUT GOD and the second half of the prayer is ABOUT US. That is pretty awesome. God wants us first of all to be focused on Him and then on our needs. Most of the time we bring our list of wants (not necessarily needs) to God.
1. ABOUT GOD
Our Father in heaven (v9)
A. APPROACH God as your Heavenly Father: What should be our attitude toward God? We should approach God as our Heavenly Father.
- What are different ways people view God?
No matter how good your earthly father was, God is so much better than him. Many people think of their bad experiences with their earthly father and say God is like he was. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is good, loving, caring, and merciful.
- How do children approach their parents?
God’ wants us to approach him as a little child. Jesus taught about coming to Him as a little child in Matthew 18:1-5
Matthew 18:1-5 (NKJV) 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
- Little children are humble not prideful
- Little children are dependent upon someone else to take care of their basic needs
- Little children love purely – love without expecting something in return.
- Little children are believing and trusting
- Little children are under their parents authority
- Little children are learners – they are receptive to what they are taught.
- Little children are accepting –
- Little children model the type of faith we need to become a child of God – child-like faith. God want us to be His children - This is how you can become a child of God. We are not born into this world automatically a child of God.
John 1:12 (NKJV) “But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
Hallowed be Your name.
B. ADORATION for God should be on our lips. God is Holy, and He is nothing like this world. He is totally other. When we ackloweldge God’s holiness we are revering His perfection and high standard of morality. When we ask for his name to be kept holy, we don’t want his name profaned. We want our family name to be kept sacred and not dishonored.
‘Your kingdom come.
C. ALLEGIANCE to the Kingdom of God should flow from our hearts. What should our attitude be toward God’s Kingdom and will? Simply this means our first loyalty is to God. He is the One we serve first and foremost. Not only do we state our allegiance when we voice “Your Kingdom come” but we also state our desire for God’s rule upon this earth. God has promised throughout the Bible that there is coming a day when He will setup His reign and rule on this earth through His Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This will not be accomplished through any means of man, but only by God Himself. The Kingdom of God is the reign and rule of Christ.
Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
D. AGREEMENT with God’s perfect will. When we say “Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven,” we are saying to God that we want His perfect will to be done in this world – this means that we want everyone to obey God’s Word and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives. God’s will is perfectly obeyed in Heaven and we want it to be perfectly obeyed on earth. This begins in our own lives. It is easy to point to others where His will is not being obeyed, but He wants us to begin in our hearts.
Some say, God’s commands are hard to follow. Here is what Jesus taught.
John 14:15 (NIV) ““If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
1 John 5:3-4 (NIV) “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
2. ABOUT US
‘Give us this day our daily bread. (v11)
A. PETITIONS – This is where we ask for ourselves. What should be our attitude toward life’s necessities? When we pray “Give us this day our daily bread” we are acknowledging God as our Provider. God is the One who provides for our needs and not ourselves. He gives us abilities, skills, and health to be able to work and earn a living and this in no way conflicts with this prayer. We also recognize that there are those who are less fortunate than us, and we should be merciful and help them as we can. Simply we are saying, God you are my provider, everything I get from you is a gift, I am very thankful for it, and I need you to provide for my needs today – not all my wants, but my needs.
Have you ever wondered if asking for something for yourself is wrong? I have come across many people who say… I don’t ask for anything for myself… I just ask for others.
Jesus taught us that we should ask God for things for ourselves. There are some things you just have to ask God for – otherwise you will never receive it. Actually Jesus gave us a list of things we should ask God for daily! God actually wants you to bring these requests to Him every day!
- God wants to provide for His children’s physical needs. See Matthew 7:9-11
- God wants to provide for His children’s spiritual needs. See Luke 11:11-13
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (v12)
B. PARDON - This is where we ask for forgiveness. Many people believe God can’t forgive them and some think that God will not forgive them because of things they have done, but God says something different. Just what is a debt? In the Bible sin is described as a debt we owe God. It is such a large debt that we cannot pay it back to God. Jesus told a story about a man who had a debt he could not pay (see Matthew 18:23-27).
We have to come to God for forgiveness, no one else can forgive sins, except God.
Our forgiveness come through the shed blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) “In Him [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”
What should our attitude be toward those who have wronged us? God forgives us as we forgive those who have wronged us. Our forgiveness is conditional upon our forgiving those who has sinned against us. Look at what Jesus said right after the prayer (remember context).
Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV) “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Ouch!!!! I like what Mark Twain said. “It is not what I don’t understand about the Bible that bothers me, but what I do understand!”
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (v13)
C. PROTECTION from ourselves and the evil one. When you pray “And do not lead us into temptation” you are praying that God would protect you from your own self. Yes, yourself. We need protection from ourselves. Have you ever made a wrong decision, had a wrong attitude, gotten a wrong idea about someone/something that has brought you grief? I sure have. Our own sinful lusts and desires drive us at times, and we need God’s power to control them. That is why we pray this. We don’t have enough self-control, we must have God’s help and protection from even ourselves.
God does not cause us to be tempted (see James 1:12-15) but we are tempted when our desires are not under control. Satan will tempt us with sin in seeking to destroy us. God will test us with obedience to determine the depth and integrity of our commitment to Him.
Everyone is tempted in the same ways, but the Bible says that God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to stand (see 1 Corinthians 10:12-13). God will provide a way of escape from every temptation.
When we pray “but deliver us from evil” we are acknowledging we need God’s protection from the evil one, Satan, the devil, his demonic army, and all who are in allegiance with him. Satan is real, no matter what some of the so called “educated” would like to believe. Only God is capable of protecting us from evil. We call out to Him in prayer asking Him to protect us.
John 10:10 Jesus taught “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 Peter taught “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’
D. PRAISE - When you pray “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever” you are praising God for all that He is and all that He is going to do. This statement is a heart’s desire for God to be glorified more than anyone or anything. We begin in praise to God and end with praise to God. It is a statement that says we are looking forward to Christ’s reign and rule upon this earth. God is great and He is good - He deserves our praise.
Amen
Amen is a simply word that means “so be it.” This is a term of conculsion and you are saying this is exactly how I believe and want it to be.
