The Lord’s Prayer.
Started with wing clip from Noah’s Ark
I remember some of my prayers, Lord if I win lotto I’ll give away ten percent now that was jolly big of me! Or if I get that job, I’ll tell everyone it’s because I’m a Christian and you’ve blessed me. How often in prayer do we have our little bargains with God?
“You haven’t got a prayer”, flying away on a wing and a prayer, “I pray it goes well for you”, I will pray for you”, “and I pray and I pray”, “we pray for those brave service men and women”, the prayer of Saint Francis, the serenity pray, the AA prayer.
So many prayers, how long do we spend in prayer and how do we pray, why do we pray.
What follows is a less used version, of the Lords Prayer, which is called the Lords prayer because the Lord himself gave it to his disciples, as an example of how they were to pray. Some believe it should be called the disciples prayer.
Let’s read from Luke 11:1-4.
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.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“ ‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
So Jesus disciples were keen to pray, they were keen to learn how do pray properly; well at least one of his disciples on seeing him pray wanted to understand how to pray properly. He requested that Jesus taught him how it pray.
Jesus answer was to pray in a way that followed this format;
• Honour the name of God
• Ask for the coming of God’s kingdom
• Request daily provision
• Ask forgiveness
• Ask for God’s protection
Jesus has introduced a method of prayer.
Let’s break these points down a bit further. Why honour the name of God?
The Hebrew people and many Jewish people today are of the belief that to mention the name of God is in itself an offence against God as he is Holy and his name is Holy.
Jesus tells his disciples to say “Hallowed is your name” this word hallowed occurs only twice in the Bible, in both cases it is used by Jesus; in what we call the Lords prayer, hallowed means to reverence as holy, or it is holy. The very name of God is holy.
When we come before him it should be as a creation before the creator.
I like to sometimes make a self assessing comparison between myself and God the creator of his universe.
First he created the universe, this is [Power Point: Universe, Milky Way, Solar system, Earth, Earth as it was before Galileo (humour), New Zealand, Christchurch, some where down there is me, one of his creations]
God is Holy, his name is Holy, and Jesus tells us to address him with reverence.
It also is a good thing in prayer to thank God for his creation and his kingdom, which can also be thanks for our part in his Kingdom. Jesus also tells us to address him as Father; we are his children, sons and daughters of the Living God. He is not like an earthly father but a is perfect and Holy Father, an intimate and loving father who knows the smallest details of our being. He even knows the number of hairs on our heads.
Jesus tells the disciples to; ask for the coming of God’s kingdom. It should be remembered that this is a now thing. I don’t know about you, but I want to be part of God’s kingdom here and now. I have seen how earthly kingdoms operate and I don’t fancy being part of one of those. As we have already touched on in the sermons I have just completed on parables, God is a king who sees nations of people as precious treasures, individuals as part of a precious pearl and he would give up everything to bring them into his presence. This King we discovered also treats all of his subjects as being of equal worth, no matter when they started their citizenship. If there is a choice, this is the King I want to serve.
This Kingdom stuff is about us being in relationship with God.
We should remember we can become a citizen of this kingdom here and now.
This is something that is evidenced by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, at work in our lives, it is forgiveness and it is freedom from the weight of our sins.
God wants us to talk with him about this.
Jesus in this model prayer tells his disciples to request daily provision. There is something not so obvious about the prayer from now on that becomes understood here. This prayer is a community prayer. Words that are used to highlight this are us and we. Give us; forgive us, for we also, lead us, not Me and I, but us and we.
This does not mean we can’t pray this prayer on our own, but it models community prayer. We are shown by Jesus a model of community prayer and the value of being a praying community.
I happened to be talking to an old bloke recently who told me that God promised us our daily bread, not cake, this took me by surprise but he followed with the words that he had always had God’s provision, though at times he had got down to the last little bit, when someone would provide the next meal.
I know that this is not how we all operate but it is good for us all to call on God for his provision and to give him thanks when he does provide. Weather we believe it or not, all we have comes through God’s provision.
God wants us to talk with him about this.
Jesus tells the disciples to ask for forgiveness, it always interests me that he words this part of the prayer the way he does,. Listen to this again: “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”
What sort of things can we forgive?
Can you forgive your spouse for being late?
Can you forgive your neighbour for dropping over to discuss that issue right on diner time?
The bully at school; the teacher who sends you out of the class when you weren’t responsible?
Can you forgive your children for spending the change?
What about the person who steals your car park, your jacket, your car?
Think about this for a moment or two, how’s this for forgiveness?
From the Dominion Post on the second of March this year. [Power Point of Rasati’s]
The father of stabbing victim Fitzgerald Risati has forgiven the man accused of his sons murder, a jury was told yesterday.
Softly spoken Risati Risati Sr recalled the "joyous boy", he saw for the last time on December 7, 2007 - his 24th birthday. He was killed early the next morning.
The murder had occurred at Cannons creek in Porirua, just down the road from where I was attending the Salvation Army in 2007.
What followed was a conversation where the question was asked of the dead mans father, "And you in turn, you believe strongly in forgiveness in your Christian faith?" Mister Rasiti’s reply was “Yes sir!”
He was then asked if he had forgiven the accussed? His reply was, “Yes”
What an inspiring example of a man who forgave, his son’s killer, an example of a man who lay his burden at the foot of the cross of Jesus.
It really bothers me that in the Christian church are people who hold grudges, not forgiving the sins of fellow believers, when Jesus tells us via an extremely broad hint, in this prayer and more directly in other places to forgive “everyone” who sins against us, not just fellow believers. Read Matthew 6: 14-15.
He said, she said, they did, or even sadder they may say or do.
How many times are we instructed to forgive our brother? If you start keeping an account it’s not your brother who has the issue.
What effect does not forgiving have apart from causing health issues?
Paul goes as far as to say in his letter to the Galatians this about unforgiveness; lumping it among things such as, sexual immorality, debauchery, witchcraft, selfish ambition and orgies; that those who act out discord or hatred and live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. If you would like to check this out it’s in Galatians 5:19-22.
So what is discord? Quarrelling, strife, arguments and rivalry are all examples of discord, all examples of not forgiving. People who make this part of their life or lifestyle need to put this right with the person/s they are not forgiving.
There is also the quiet seething hatred for another that adversely affects the hater more that the hated.
Unforgiveness is a terrible thing in the eyes of God, we need to put it right, along with those other things mentioned unforgiveness keeps us distant from a right relationship with God and we deny ourselves citizenship of His kingdom.
Jesus also instructed his disciples to ask not to be lead into temptation. Interestingly God our heavenly Father tempts no one!
I think that there is something from the 12 step programme that relates to this part of the prayer. The 12 step programme for those who have not heard of it; is used by alcoholics, drug addicts and other’s in need of help to overcome their addictions and other burdens. This is step 11: That having sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
You see that when we are honest about desiring a relationship with God he will help us overcome our temptations. For some this will be easy, for others this will be a day by day journey but with God the Father as King this is possible, not just possible but certain. Our part in this is to live in his will, which leads to life, not by our own will, which leads to sin which in turn leads to death.
Let’ s Pray.
Father , we come before you as your children, your name is Holy for you are Holy, thank you for including us in the plan you have for your creation help us to live for the coming of your kingdom, in our lives and in the lives of all.
Give us what we need to live and thanks for what you have given us so far,
Forgive us our wrong doings, those things that get in the way of our relationship with you; for we forgive those things that are in the way of making all our relationships right.
Lastly Lord, help us to live in your will and we ask that you would help us to carry it out.
Amen
If you would like to come before God now and spend some time with him in prayer please do so. (Response).
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