Let Us Pray
Matthew 6:5-15
When you think of prayer maybe you think of something like one of these two stories taken from Our Daily Bread.
A friend of mine took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands. When lunch time arrived, the two of them went to a familiar diner for a sandwich. The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him. They ordered lunch, and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, "Son, we'll just have a silent prayer." Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but he just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time. When he finally looked up, his father asked him, "What in the world were you praying about all that time?" With the innocence and honesty of a child, he replied, "How do I know? It was a silent prayer."
When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy he once remarked to his mother, "Momma, you can't be good without praying." "How do you know, Robert?" she asked. "Because I've tried!" he answered. This brings to mind a story about another little fellow -- one who had been sent to his room because he had been bad. A short time later he came out and said to his mother, "I've been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer." "That's fine," she said, "if you ask God to make you good, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me be good," replied the boy. "I asked Him to help you put up with me."
Prayer is such a blessing. Prayer is a time when you talk to God. Jesus knew how important prayer was to him and so he wanted to make sure that those he was speaking to also understood just how great prayer was. Jesus wanted to make sure that those he was speaking to knew that they could go to the Father. Jesus knew God and lets us in on how to approach our heavenly Father as well.
READ Matthew 6:5-15
As Jesus has been going preaching and teaching to those gathered he has covered many things. One of the things that we have seen Jesus do several times is to get deeper into the heart of things. When Jesus was talking about some of the commands he went beyond what was generally thought. There was conventional wisdom like in the command “Do not murder.” Okay, so we don’t go out and kill anybody. Jesus went deeper though. It wasn’t just about physically killing but about anger. Controlling your anger and not letting it cause you to sin.
Jesus is getting to this today in their prayer life. Jesus has often picked on the religious leaders of that day during his teaching. I would guess that there was a sense of frustration with them because these are the people that should have known better. These are the educated men. These guys knew what the Bible said and yet for many of them it appears that the struggled to put it into action. It appears that over time the position has maybe taken precedence over the message.
The religious leaders had become more concerned about themselves and their ability to uphold all of the laws and to appear holy. A Pharisee or Rabi would have been revered in those days. They were the somebodies. They made the laws and by all appearance were very good about keeping them, legalistically.
The religious leaders would kind of put on a show for people to see. They were holy and by all means wanted to appear that way. They must have been very public with their prayers. They wanted everyone to see them and to hear them and then revere them.
Now there is nothing wrong with public prayer. I would encourage you to not be afraid to pray in public. I will never forget when I had accepted the call to my first church in Highland, IN. My parent’s pastor stopped by the house one day as we were preparing to move. He asked about the church and how I was feeling and so on. He then said, “Well, we should pray about it.” I thought well that is good, I have been praying about it. He put his hand on my shoulder and prayed right there in my front yard at the corner of E. 1st and Independence.
You see the thing about that prayer is was that it was from the heart. It was not a show. Pastor Dean wasn’t praying on my front lawn so everybody could see the two of us standing there and think, “Wow, there are a couple of holy guys.” He simply prayed because that was the right thing to do and we happened to be in a public place. If those going by saw that and were inspired also to talk with God than that was great.
Why is it that you are praying? Prayer is meant to be a special time with you and God, and time where you can communicate and fellowship. Nobody needs to know. Your conversation is personal between you and God.
I remember when Missi and I were dating. That first year she was off at Dordt and I was still in high school. I’d wait until late at night to call. One, because it was cheaper but the second was this was the time I wasn’t going to be distracted. I took the cordless phone and went into a room where nobody was and talked to my sweetheart. Our conversation was personal.
Jesus is saying the same thing when you pray. Seek the Father. Seek God in your prayers. Seek his heart and his audience. Others don’t need to hear or see. Get away from distractions; get away from even the thoughts of impressing others. Spend some quiet intimate time with God.
Commentator, Craig Keener, talks about how the pagans would pile on the names of many gods. If they listed off a whole bunch of them then the hope would be that at least one of them would be effective. They might ramble on and on and pray for all kinds of things hoping that some of them would be heard. The pagan might also say the same thing over and over again like a chant or magic incantation as if saying it more might make it heard. Was this really a sincere request on just a babbling of something desired by man?
On the contrary Jesus is telling us that God already knows what we need before we ask him. We can come to him in consistent prayer. There is no problem with that at all. It is not wrong to ask God for the same thing many times. In doing so you might realize the sincerity of your prayer or request. Make sure though that you are honest and sincere before God when praying to him and not just throwing all kinds of things out there just to see what sticks.
Jesus then gives them what we refer to today as the “Lord’s Prayer.” It is okay to recite this. I think we said it every week during our service growing up. We will talk about this prayer but caution yourself to not let this prayer just become a ritual thing you say that after a while carries no meaning with it. Then you become like one of the hypocrites that Jesus was referring to earlier.
You will notice that the Lord’s Prayer is a simple prayer. It is not a long drawn out affair. There is no time limit when praying to God. You may have a lot of time to pray to God or you may only have a couple of minutes. There is no certain or special time to come to God. It is not limited to three times a day as was used to be thought so we wouldn’t bother God. God wants us to come to him and talk with him.
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
“Our Father” I don’t know what kind of relationship you have or had with your father. I was very blessed to have a loving and fair father. My dad disciplined when it was necessary, even when I didn’t think it was. He was a provider and an encourager. My dad was far from perfect but I have a great love for my father and so when I pray, Our Father, it is a good thing. You may not have that. Maybe your relationship with your father wasn’t the best. Maybe your father wasn’t much of one. That breaks my heart. We have to put this into context though of when Jesus was instruction those around him. Jewish fathers would have been providers and someone that could be depended upon. They would have been role models to their children and so to address God as Father was to bring him into a loving provider. It was more than that as a father would also watch out for his child and discipline him when necessary. This was not done out of hatred but out of love for the child and therefore our father God is the same. Go on more about how our heavenly father will never leave us, will never disappoint us. He will always love us and care for us.
In Heaven. This father God that we pray to although is not our earthly father. This is our heavenly Father. Our Father in heaven. God is reigning on high. He is all knowing, all powerful and full of his glory.
Hallowed be your name. God is holy and to be revered. This is a holy prayer and not one to be taken lightly. You are not just praying to some being like the pagans. Hoping for rain or a good harvest or whatever. You are praying to Yahweh, Jehovah. You are praying to the creator of the universe. God’s name is to be respected. The Jews would not even say the name of God because they held it in such high esteem. While I do think the Jews take it to a bit of an extreme I also think that we don’t hold up the name of God in a high enough honor. Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come – this is a bold statement. Think about what you are saying when you make this statement. You are longing for a day when there will be no more pain or hurt in this world. You are longing for Jesus to return again. Jesus was not referring to a new king and an end to Roman rule as some might have thought. Jesus was God right there amongst the people. The kingdom had come although they did not realize it yet. We now long for Jesus to return. For God to establish his kingdom here on earth again.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven – Do we really mean this when we say it. God, Your will be done as long as it falls in line with what I want to desire. Way too often we have our own desires and agendas and we ask for God’s will then to be that to fit that into our lives. God’s will is perfect. God can do know wrong. As God rules in heaven is will is perfect and holy. His angels carry out his bidding and his will. When we pray this we need to accept what God’s will is for us and not impose our will upon God. Again, this is a serious prayer. The Lord’s will is not always easy but God is God and he is good and perfect and so we should desire his will in our lives and here on earth.
Give us today our daily bread. This is so much more than food. Remember though this would have resonated with Jewish culture. When the children of Israel were journeying to the Promise Land and were without food what did the Lord do? He provided them with manna. He provided them with their daily bread. He did not give them more but he gave them what they needed. When I look around my home I see that God has provided for much more than my daily bread. He has given me great excess.
God also provides for all of my daily needs. He sees to it that I have whatever I need to get through the day. We are not to rely simply upon our own strength to see us through. We are to rely upon God. He will give us what we need and provides us with jobs and so on to get us through each day.
Forgive us our debts. Think of an account ledger. When you were in need, the lender was there to provide and then you became indebted to them. The list in God’s account ledger would be long on all of the times he gave to us to rescue us from our sin or times of need. All of the times we sin against God and wrong him. We ask God to forgive us, to wipe the ledger clean.
As we forgive our debtors. The Jew would also have been a lender to many and would also have a ledger of those that were indebted to them. Jesus was telling them as he is telling us. Love like me. If God is forgiving you then you do the same to those around you. If God is forgiving your debt, telling you that you owe no more than you should extend that same grace to those around you, those who have wronged you and have asked for forgiveness.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. God will not lead us into temptation. He does allow us to be tested. So what you are praying for here is a deliverance from those times of testing. When Satan comes along and tempts, you are praying for deliverance. Satan is a sly cat and he packages his temptations in forms that are sometimes hard to recognize. When you are praying this you are asking that God helps you to see these things and to rebuke them and to steer clear of them.
You are also praying for deliverance from the clutches of Satan. Maybe he has a grip on your life. You are asking God to deliver you from that, to set you free from Satan.
This is all accomplished through the love of our Father, the sacrifice of Jesus his son and through the wisdom of the Spirit. Expand how the Spirit leads.
Amen.
The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you his peace.
Now and forever more. Amen
