The Lord's Prayer Series

In our message this morning, we are going to look at what is called “The Lord’s Prayer.” And I want to get started by sharing how the gospel writer Luke prefaces this prayer. We read in Luke 11:1-2, “Now it came to pass, as [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’ So, He said to them, ‘When you pray, say’” – and it is The Lord’s Prayer which follows. Jesus gave His disciples the following prayer as an example of how to pray. In fact, it is sometimes called “The Model Prayer,” and it is an outline for prayer that all of us, as His disciples, should seek to follow when coming before the Lord. So, with no further ado, let us stand in honor of God’s Word, as we read through Matthew 6:9-15:

9 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. 14 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.

Seeking God’s Face (v. 9)

In the beginning of this prayer, “Jesus teaches us to seek the ‘face’ of God first when we pray, not the ‘hand’ of God” (Dodd). In verse 9, we are told to call on God as “our Father.” In Matthew 11:27, Jesus said, “No one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” So, if we want to call on God as our “Father” then we must know the Son; and the Son must reveal Himself to us through the Holy Spirit. Did you know that Luke quoted Jesus as having said these words (Luke 10:22) just twenty verses before The Lord’s Prayer? This means that before Jesus even began teaching The Lord’s Prayer, He wanted people to realize that they had to know Him as Savior and Lord, in order to pray unto God as their Father.

We are also told in verse 9 that we should acknowledge the Lord as being “hallowed” or holy. Because of our relationship with Jesus Christ, we can call on God as “our Father;” but that was not possible before Christ. To call on God as Father was an ancient Jewish expression so sacred that it could not even be uttered in prayer, because of the respect due to His holy name. We can call on Him as our Father now; but let us not forget the part about respect. In addition to meaning holy, “hallowed” also means “respected” and “reverenced.”

So, whenever we come before the Lord in prayer, we must begin by making sure we acknowledge that our heavenly Father is worthy of utmost respect. We should tell God how holy He is, and acknowledge His goodness and righteousness.

Seeking God’s Rule (v. 10a)

In verse 10a, we are told to pray, “Your kingdom come.” So, when we pray for the kingdom to come, what are we praying for? In Luke 10:9, Jesus told His disciples, “Heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’.” So, what does the phrase “near to you” mean? Well, it means that God is “right here” and “within reach.” In Luke 17:21, Jesus told us how close the kingdom of God really is, as He declared, “The kingdom of God is within you.” The kingdom being “near you,” as Luke stated, meant that a new rule and authority was now present on the earth – not just in heaven, but also on earth – because of the arrival of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah.

Jesus preached that the kingdom had presently invaded the earth, and that God’s light had finally pierced the darkness. When Jesus arrived, the kingdom arrived; and with it came kingdom power and kingdom rule. It is the power to defeat the works of the devil. In Jesus was (and is) the power to defeat Satan; and Jesus granted this kingdom power to His disciples to heal diseases and cast out demons. In Luke 9:2, we read, “He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Jesus demonstrated miracles as proof of the arrival of the kingdom. He said in Matthew 12:28, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come unto you.” The kingdom of God arrived with Jesus to defeat the kingdom of this world, which has long been the devil’s domain.