When you saw those children, you probably said to yourselves, “I do not want my children to be like those children.”
That is exactly the way the Lord felt about the Pharisees and Scribes except that He looked at them and knew that they were hypocrites more than spoiled brats. Because of this, He said in verse 8, “Be not ye therefore like unto them...” Jesus did not want His disciples to be like the hypocrites in their alms giving, in fasting, nor in their praying. Jesus gave them a model prayer to consider so that they would not follow the example of the Pharisees in using repetitious words.
Jesus did not give them that prayer just so they could recite it. He wanted them to pray prayers that included the elements of the model prayer. He said, “After this manner therefore pray ye...” That is, “When you pray, pray like this.” Then He proceeded to show them that a good prayer is like a good recipe. A good prayer has certain “ingredients.” Those special ingredients have to be included to make a complete prayer.
Jesus has shown us, verse 9, that every prayer should include:
(1) WHO HE IS - ”Our Father...”
(2) WHERE HE IS - ”...which are in heaven...”
(3) WHAT HE IS - ”...Hallowed be thy name.”
Let us continue to work our way through this prayer to see what every good prayer should contain so we will not be like the scribes and Pharisees. We have looked at
I. THE MANNER OF OUR PRAYERS.
but now let us look at...
II. THE MOTIVE FOR OUR PRAYERS.
Look at verse 10. We read, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” This verse reveals TWO reasons why many professing Christians will not pray this prayer.
A. First, because of selfishness.
If you do not already know this, it is time you find out. Not everyone who prays really wants God’s will in their life! So much of the praying that we do is about WHAT WE WANT God to do, NOT WHAT GOD WANTS TO DO.
Notice, this model prayer reveals to us that the person who desires to pray the right kind of prayer IS CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT GOD WANTS instead of what he wants. We are to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” You CAN NOT BE SELFISH and want God’s will to be done. The Pharisees did not want God’s will to be done. They wanted things their way. They wanted to BE SEEN and HEARD BY MAN! That was why they prayed.
There is another reason why many professing Christians do not pray this prayer.
B. Because they want to be seen.
The hypocrites would pray PUBLICLY, but not PRIVATELY. Why? Because their motive for praying was to be SEEN and HEARD by man. When we sincerely can pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, it will be when we want to be SEEN and HEARD by God instead of by man. The “will” of those who pray to be SEEN and HEARD of men is the same as that of the hypocrites. People basically deal with FOUR WILLS every day.
1. We deal with our will.
This is why the apostle Paul said, in Romans 12:1-2, “12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Paul recognized each person has a will of his own. He also admonished us not to submit to it, but rather submit to God’s will. Our prayers should reflect that what we want is God’s will to be done on this earth.
2. We deal with other people’s wills. Look at I Peter 4:2. We read, “That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” Peter recognized that the man who does not have the mind of Christ lives his life now just to fulfill his own will, but Peter said that the man who suffers with Christ will live his life seeking that THE WILL OF GOD be done.
3. We deal with Satan’s will.
Look at John 8:44. We read, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” About lost people we often ask this, “I wonder why they do what they do?” They live sinful lives because they are “chips off the old block.” Their father is the devil. They live every day, making him happy as they live in sin. That was exactly what the hypocrites of Jesus’ day were doing. Most important of all...
4. We deal with God’s will.
Look at Ephesians 5:17. We read, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” As children of God, this is our goal in life--that GOD’S WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. All good prayers include this type of request. This reveals the MOTIVE of our prayers. We want, being filled with the Spirit, to be SEEN and HEARD by God, and we want GOD’S WILL TO BE DONE. But look at something equally important. That is...
III. THE METHOD OF OUR PRAYERS.
Look at verse 11, “Give us this day our daily bread.” But notice, our PERSONAL NEEDS come AFTER HIS WILL! That is, AFTER we are concerned with HIS WILL being done on earth as it is in heaven, then the Lord teaches we should pray for our PERSONAL NEEDS. This is in complete contrast to the way many Christians feel and what they practice.
Illus: If we could record all of our prayers for a week and then listen to them, most of them would be about what we wanted God to do for us. Probably very little would have been mentioned about what God wants.
Illus: Often you hear married couples talk about their money and you know they are NOT ONE.
Once we want God’s will to be done, then the Lord can show us what we should pray for when it comes to our personal needs because these are closely connected. Our PERSONAL NEEDS must blend in with WHAT GOD WILLS. You see, if we belong to God and God belongs to us, then we have the SAME GOALS and DESIRES. If we are ONE WITH CHRIST, that will reflect in our daily prayers. WE WILL WANT WHAT HE WANTS. Notice, Matthew said, “Give us this day our daily bread.” “Bread” represents the basic NECESSITIES OF LIFE. This little verse REVEALS FIVE THINGS.
A.It reveals our compassion.
We read, “Give US this day OUR daily bread.” The two pronouns are plural. As a child of God I am not only concerned about MYSELF (us), but I am also concerned about OTHERS (ours). The hypocrites (scribes and Pharisees) set an example Jesus would not have us follow. They were concerned only about themselves. God is not pleased with such praying. We should pray FOR OURSELVES, and we should also PRAY MUCH FOR OTHERS!
B. It reveals our trust.
Look at the words, “this day.” They reveal that each day, we simply trust God for the needs of that day. One of the reasons so many people are living with so much anxiety is because they want God to give them their needs for the next six days, and for the NEXT SIX YEARS! God gives to us daily, as we trust Him.
C. It reveals our contentment.
Look at the words, “our daily bread.” Every day God gives believers sufficient portions of daily bread. Notice the word, “OUR.” The reason so many are unhappy today is because they want THEIR PORTION and SOMEONE ELSE’S PORTION.
D. It reveals our priorities.
Look at the words, “Give us...bread.” That is, we ask for THE NECESSITIES of life, not for all the desserts of this world. Most of the praying today is not for ESSENTIALS, but for the DESSERTS of life. If God would be so gracious as to grant those things that we consider “desserts,” that would be great! But, God knows that too many desserts would rot our spiritual “teeth” out and would kill our appetite for those things that are good for us.
E. It reveals our dependence.
Look again at the words, “Give us...bread.” The reason we ask God to give us these things is because we recognize we cannot provide them for ourselves. If we could, we would, but we cannot, so we DEPEND ON HIM to do what we can not do. This is THE METHOD OF OUR PRAYERS. Now let us look at...
III. THE MATTER OF OUR PRAYERS.
There are TWO things that MATTER, if we are going to pray effective prayers. Look at verse 12. We read, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” The word “debts” (opheilema) means dues, that which is owed, that which is legally due.
God, Who created us, has given us certain responsibilities He expects us to take care of! The Bible tells us what God expects of us, and what we can expect from Him! If we do not take care of the responsibilities then we fall short of paying out debt. EVERY PERSON EVER BORN HAS FALLEN SHORT! WE HAVE FAILED IN MEETING OUR OBLIGATION. If we want a right relationship with God, we have to ask Him to forgive our debts that we have failed to fulfill. Aren’t you glad that God has forgiven us of our debts--many of us have what amounts to thousands of sins.
But the Lord was teaching the disciples. In that same fashion that god HAS FORGIVEN US OUR DEBTS, SO WE SHOULD PRAY THAT GOD WILL HELP US FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN SHORT OF WHAT WE EXPECT.
Some Christians are still holding grudges for things that happened ten or more years ago. They have not forgotten that someone did not live up to their expectation. When the Lord forgives us, He wipes the slate clean and forgets about it and God expects us to do the same.
Illus: One reason we have so much strife in churches today is that Christians WILL NOT FORGIVE OTHERS THE WAY GOD HAS FORGIVEN THEM.
Look at what He says in verses 14-15. He said, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” But there is one more MATTER we need to consider as we pray. This part of the prayer is for Christians who always recognize danger in TWO WAYS. Look at verse 13. We read. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Every good prayer should include the petition that:
A.God will deliver us from the evil one—Satan
We read in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Living for Christ is to be taken seriously. That is, according to the Word of God, Satan walks about seeking whom he may devour.
Illus: Suppose we got a call that a vicious lion just escaped in our area. He has already mauled many and is on the prowl for more victims. Knowing this, as you walk to your car to go home this evening, would you not be on the look-out for him?
One of the reasons so many Christians are “being consumed” by sin is because they do not recognize how dangerous Satan is! If Christians realized how dangerous Satan is, they would be crying out to God, “God, DELIVER ME FROM THE EVIL ONE!"
Illus: In I Chronicles 4:9-10, we see Jabez prayed for four things:
(1) “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed,
(2) And enlarge my coast,
(3) And that thine hand might be with me,
(4) And that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.”
We should pray, every day, “God, deliver me from this roaring Lion who is out to devour me and destroy me.”
B. God will deliver us from the evil of temptation.
Satan is the evil one, but it is the TEMPTATIONS of sin that lure us into his traps. The devil knows how to attract people to sin. He can take:
- One small cigarette and make it look so good to a man or woman they will feel they are going to die if they do not get one.
- A small can of beer and place it before a person and he will go crazy if he can not get a drink of it.
- Satan can take a tramp off the street that is a prostitute and cause a man to commit adultery. She may not look half as good as the man’s wife, but when Satan gets through tempting that man, he will have sacrificed everything he has ever worked for just for momentary pleasure.
Listen, Satan is a powerful force, and every day we Christians need to pray, “God, DELIVER US FROM THE (1) EVIL ONE, and (2) TEMPTATION.”
God tells us, in the sacred Scriptures, that we can be victorious.
- In John 4:4, He said, “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
- Romans 8:31, He said, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”
- Jude 24-25, He said, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever.”
1 Cor. 10:13, says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
When we think about the power of God, no wonder the Lord taught us to close our prayers with this affirmation, “...For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, amen.”
Conclusion:
(3 of 4)
I. THE MANNER OF OUR PRAYERS
(#4 of 4)
II. THE MOTIVE FOR OUR PRAYERS
III. THE METHODS FOR OUR PRAYERS
IV. THE MATTER OF OUR PRAYERS
