Today, I want us to look at what is perhaps the most popular prayer in the Christian faith. We learn it at an early age and it is easy to remember. It can be prayed at almost any occasion. I have heard it prayed over meals, at weddings, at funerals, even in times of worry and fear.
Ills: Flying for the 1st time
This prayer is most often referred to as "The Lord's Prayer" though it is never referred to as that in Scripture. It seems this is more Christ giving us a template for prayer. I think that is what Christ means in vs 9, when He says "After this manner."
Why did Christ have to instruct His disciples on how to pray? Think about it: People had never had the liberty to pray to God before. In order for your prayers to be heard, you would have to go to the temple, make a sacrifice, and the priest would take your offering and petition before God. What Christ is doing here, is teaching 1st century Christians, and us, how to pray.
No doubt, if we were to have written the Lord's prayer, it would probably go something like this, "Our Father who art in Heaven, give us this daily our daily bread. Now, let's get straight to business." Prayers of petition certainly have their place, but what we are being shown here, is not just how to ask God for things, but how to have a conversation with God. How we should approach God in prayer and what our attitude should be in prayer.
So, instead of rushing through this prayer, I want us to dissect it. I want us to dive into what Christ is really telling us here, and, my hope, is that in the process,we learn a little about our relationship with God and how much He really cares for us.
I. Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name
- Right at the begining, this prayer establishes a few things:
1. It establishes God as our Father
2. It establishes that there is a Heaven
3. It establishes that Heaven is where God resides
4. It establishes that God and His name are sacred.
- There are some of the foundational truths of our faith.
- Christ, in the first line of this prayer, sets these 4 pillars of our faith in stone.
* They are establishes here for all time.
* Anyone who reads, prays, hears, or studies it , is immediately confronted with the facts that God is real, God loves us just as a father loves his child, and the name of God should be honored above all other names.
- As many truths that are stated here, there are many unstated truths.
1. For God to be our father, we must be His children.
* Kris doesn't get to call anyone "Dad-dad."
* That's my title b/c I am his father and he is my son.
* I see the same truth presented here.
* Not everyone can call God their Heavenly Father. That title implies a close relationship with God.
* To recognize God as your Heavenly Father, you must first be His child.
2. If there is a Heaven where God lives, this implies that there is also a hell where God is absent.
* Not many preachers preach on the reality of Hell.
* I'm not one of those preachers.
* My Bible says that Hell is real, Hell is hot, and you will go there is your sins aren't covered in the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ.
3. You shouldn't take the name of God in vain.
* That word "hallowed" means sacred, consecrated, and divine.
* The name of God is too frequently used inappropriately in our society.
* It's used as a swear, as an exclamation, we have even created a text message code that uses God's name in vain.
* Those things should never come out of a Christian's mouth.
- "Well pastor, that's just how people talk."
- Fine, that how people talk. But you're a Christian and that is your Heavenly Father, and I think that His holy, sacred, consecrated name deserves to be treated with more respect. Especially among His children.
That's just the first line. We've got 3 more to go!
II. Give us this day, our daily bread.
- Bread was a staple of the 1st century diet.
- So, the disciples would have immediately understood what Jesus was praying for here.
- What Jesus is saying here, is "Give us daily, the things that we need."
-Bread to you, could mean food. It could also mean health, peace of mind, courage. Whatever you need that day. And God is faithful to supply.
*Matthew 6:25-34 provides us this promise.
* In that passage Christ reminds that the birds don't toil or work or even worry about where their next meal will come from and yet, God provides everything that they need.
* If God loves the birds enough to provide for them, then how much more does He love us? How much more is going to provide for you?
- Notice also that Christ says "THIS day."
* Not weekly, or monthly, or yearly.
* Daily. God provides for us.
- The wording here is very interesting and important.
* Notice that Jesus uses the plural verbs: us and our
* This tells me that prayer is and should be a communal act.
* There is power in prayer, and there is greater power in communal prayer.
III. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
- Some translations replace debts with transgressions.
- Whichever word you prefer, the message is the same: "Lord, forgive us of our sins, just as we forgive those who have sinned against us."
- Now, there is a difficult one.
- We are to forgive other people, just as God forgave us or sins
* We are to forgive others with the same grace, mercy, and unconditional love as God forgave us.
* This applies to Christians as well as non-Christians
- "But Pastor, that preson really hurt me. The really embarassed me. Pastor, they were 100%. totally in the wrong. Are you saying that I still have to forgive them?"
* Yes, I am.
- "But they don't deserve it."
* There it is: It has nothing to do with how they hurt you or made you feel. It's really all about what you think that person deserves.
* Let's concede that point: They don't deserve it. They did hurt and have done nothing deserving of your forgiveness.
- Let me ask you a question: Where you deserving of God's forgiveness?
*Romans 3:10 says, "There is none righteous, no ,not one."
- If God was willing to look past our unrighteousness and forgive us of our trespasses against Him, if He was willing to forgive our debt of sin and reconcile us unto Himself, then surely we too can forgive those who wrong us.
*As Christians, the idea of forgiveness ought to be so dear to us, that we should be the quickest to forgive.
- So, no, they don't deserve it. Forgive them anyway.
- One author wrote of forgiveness: "It's not about condoning what they have done to you. It's about freeing yourself from the burden of carrying a grudge."
-Forgive them, just as Christ has forgiven you.
IV. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
- I have some news for you today: You are not strong enough to face the Devil alone.
- The first part of this line, makes it seem like God will sometimes tempt us to sin.
*That's not what this is saying.
* God isn't trying to trick you or get you to mess up.
- What this is saying, "Give us the strength to overcome any temptation that we may face."
- Without God's help, we are not strong enough to overcome the temptations of sin.
Ills: Krispy Kreme
-One little taste of sin, is enough to end up in a world of hurt.
- Sin makes you do more than you ever intended to do. It makes you stay longer than you ever intended to stay. And it makes you pay more than you ever intended to pay.
-So, we pray that God would keep us from all temptation and deliver us from evil every day.
Closing
