LORD TEACH US TO PRAY
Jesus had been praying, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). His response was an abbreviated form of what is often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.”
The fact that Jesus did not repeat it word for word—or Luke did not report it word for word—is evidence that the prayer was not a liturgical prayer, that is a prayer to be repeated word for word a prescribed times during worship services. I’ll read from the longer version as recorded in the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 6:9-12:
“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 also have forgiven our debtors.”
The Lord’s prayer is a model, not a template. A template is used to make exact replicates. The Lord’s Prayer is never replicated in any of the recorded prayers of the Bible. Instead, it is a model that stressed at least four things: reverential fear of God, a zeal for advancement of the kingdom, a spirit of loving sonship, and a recognition of his tender care.
THE LORD’S PRAYER IS A MODEL OF INTIMACY WITH REVERENCE
Jews would not pronounce God’s personal name for fear of profaning it. Consequently, we are not really sure what it was. The reason is that not only did they refuse to pronounce it, but they also refused to spell it. Consequently, we have only the consonants Y H W H. The KJV says “Jehovah.” Some say, “Yahweh.”
In contrast to this artificial piety, Jesus invites us to intimacy with God, something some condemn. One preacher who often pontificated against modern translations, insisted that the KJV was the “authorized” version. It is true that the version was the one authorized by King James, but it is no more God’s version than any other legitimate translation.
Based on his contention that the KJV is “the authorized version,” he often said with great emphasis: “Peter did not say to Jesus, “You are the Christ”; he said, “Thou art the Christ.” He simply ignored the fact that Jesus said to Peter, “thou art Peter.” If “thou” showed reverence to Christ, what did it show to Peter when Christ used it?
Jesus tells us to address God as “our Father.” Paul goes even further: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Rom 8:1-17).
“Abba” was the sound that infants and toddlers made when talking to their fathers. It is like our “Dada.” We should have the same spirit of trust and confidence in our heavenly Father as does a child for a loving, earthly father.
Let me share a personal story of our youngest daughter who, when I foolishly moved the family in the middle of the school year when she was in the first grade. She was having problems adjusting. She would try to leave the school to walk home. It was tempting to her because our house was only a block away. There was a godly “mother of Israel” named Ilene who attended church with us. She was also a teacher, but in a different grade. However, when the tears were running down our little one’s checks and she was sobbing uncontrollably, Ilene would try to comfort her. One day, Dana sobbed, “If I could just see my Daddy’s face.” She had not yet learned that Daddy could not fix every problem in her life. It is the child like faith in a Father who can fix every problem in our lives, whose face we should long to see. And someday we will: “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever” (Rev 22:3-5).
While we should possess a childlike faith in our Father, we must always reverence God in prayer, for Jesus said, that we are to say, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt 6:9).
Intimacy must never displace reverence. Jesus, who was God in the flesh, showed reverence to the Father: “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence (Heb 5:7).
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:28-29).
THE LORD’S PRAYER IS A MODEL OF BREVITY
The preface of the model prayer is recorded in Matthew 6:7: “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
We are told to pray for many things, but we don’t have to pray for all of them in every prayer. We will note five things for which we are to pray. We are not limited to these, but these are some Bible examples of prayers or instructions to pray.
1. We are to pray for laborers: “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Lk 10:2).
2. Closely related to prayer for workers, is to pray for open doors of opportunity for the workers: “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison (Col 4:3).
3. We should pray that the word might spread: “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you” (2 Thess 3:1).
4. We are to pray for all people, especially rulers: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim 2:1-2).
5. We pray for the sick: “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (Jam 5:13-15).
While the model prayer given in the sermon on the mount has only 38 words, we should not impose artificial word counts on prayer, but at the same time, we don’t want to ignore the warning about vain, repetitive phrases. Isaiah warned the people of his day: And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote (Isa 29:13, NLT).
Webster’s dictionary defines the word rote: “as a routine or established and often automatic or monotonous series of actions followed when engaging in some activity.”
Some people use a book of printed prayers from which they recite prayers at specified times. Others just repeat what they have always said or heard others say. They often shoot at everything and hit nothing. Let me illustrate by sharing my experience in shooting a quail. When I was rabbit hunting with my Dad, both as a boy and later as a man, we would sometimes flush a covey of quail. He would almost always kill one and sometime two before they were out of range. I never killed a single bird.
Why? I aimed at all of them, not one of them. When we aim at everything in every prayer, we may hit nothing.
THE LORD’S PRAYER IS A MODEL OF PRIORITIES
1. God’s holiness and sovereignty come first: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.”
2. Our basic needs are recognized: “Give us our daily bread.”
3. Our sinfulness is acknowledged: “Forgive us our debts.”
4. The condition of forgiveness is accepted” “as we forgive our debtors.”
Although not specifically mentioned in the prayer, we must remember that man does not live by bread alone, Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:35-40).
WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO PRAY AS SHOULD, BUT THAT IS ALL THE MORE REASON TO PRAY
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Rom 8:26-30).
GOD IS FATHER ONLY TO THOSE WHO ARE JESUS’ BROTHER
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Some day we will join our Father and our elder Brother in heaven, and we will shout:
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
AMEN!
