Imagine with me for a moment that you’re one of Jesus’ disciples. You’ve been following him around for a little while now and you’ve seen him do some pretty incredible things…you’ve seen him heal crippled people, you’ve seen him cast out demons, you even saw him speak life into a dead guy. You’ve not only watched him walk on water, you’ve witnessed him command storm clouds to go away. You’ve watched him bring peace to chaos, and you have seen his love melt unlovable hearts. And on this particular day, you’re in a quiet place with Jesus, and you have the opportunity to ask him anything about anything. There are no limits, in this moment, to ask him to teach you anything. It’s just you and him. What are you asking him to teach you? “Lord, where should I invest my money? Jesus, teach me to be a better spouse or parent? Jesus, show me again what it looks like to love unlovable people?”
Now, this is not a make-believe situation – it actually occurred in the gospel of Luke and the disciples were with Jesus privately and asking him to teach them something. And of all the amazing things they could have asked Jesus to teach them, only one thing is recorded: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).
Turn with me this morning to Matthew 6 as we kickoff a brand new series called Red Letter Prayers where we’re going to spend some of the summer months looking more closely at the prayers of Jesus as they’re recorded in the Gospels. The disciples witnessed Jesus do some amazing things, but what stood out to them that they desired to replicate was the WAY Jesus prayed. It was not unusual for Rabbis to compose prayers for their disciples to recite. But the disciples, having witnessed Jesus’ prayer life up close and personal, knew that prayer was more than just the reciting of words…and so they asked Jesus to teach them HOW to pray.
There’s a strange little verse in Revelation 5:8 that describes a golden bowl that is full of the prayers of the saints. This indicates that God is listening to our prayers and that he’s storing them up. I’m not exactly sure WHY he’s storing them up, but I think it’s probably a good idea to fill that bowl up to the brim, Amen? But if I’m honest this morning, here’s the problem – I feel a little unqualified to stand up here and teach on prayer. In fact, chances are, you feel the same way because a recent Pew Research Study shows us that only 2% of respondents were “very satisfied” with their prayer life. That was the disciples…they weren’t satisfied either. And so their prayer is our prayer, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
And so the first prayer that we’re going to explore, is probably Jesus’ most familiar prayer – we call it the Lord’s Prayer. And so let’s read it starting in Matthew chapter 6 verse 5:
Matthew 6:5-13
And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 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. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “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. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
There have been thousands of definitions and clever quotes to describe prayer over the years. One of our favorites comes from one of our favorite authors, Paul Tripp: "Prayer is, in itself, a recognition that something exists in the world that is greater and more glorious than you. Prayer is meant to remind you that your little world, filled with your little plans, is not ultimate."
That smacked me right in the face when I read it this week. I’ve said this before, that I am a big fan of me, that left to myself, I think I’m a pretty big deal and that I have life all figured out. But do you know what happens when I think my plans are best and I start building my own little kingdom? My prayer time begins to fizzle, because I have it all figured out and I don’t really think I need much help. But WHEN I pray, prayer reminds me that God is much more glorious than I am…and that my little world, filled with my little plans, is not ultimate. And that’s exactly what Jesus reminds us when he gives us this model prayer.
This passage is part of what we call The Sermon on the Mount. It was Jesus’ inaugural sermon where he is preaching about what life in God’s Kingdom looks like. He addresses several topics of interest to the people of that day and decides right in the middle of his sermon to address the topic of prayer. And before we take a deeper dive in this very familiar prayer, I want you to look back at verse 5: "And WHEN you pray…"
Let’s focus on that word WHEN for just a moment. For the Jews there were set times for prayer each day. At these set times Jews would stop what they were doing to pray. They were disciplined. Some would pray discreetly and some would pray in a way that drew the attention of others. Some people prayed pious prayers with wrong motives. That was a real issue then…that people were praying just to be heard and for the attention. To be honest, contextually that’s probably not the biggest issue that we struggle with today. I’ve never had one of you storm the stage, grab the mic, and begin to pray aloud. I think the biggest issue that we struggle with today is lacking the discipline and the desire to pray. Our problem could probably be best described as prayerlessness.
Here’s the good news this morning – as God’s children, we are allowed to pray whenever we want. We don’t have to wait for set times to pray. And we have the freedom to prayer whatever prayer we want. In fact, we’ve got it wrong if all we ever do is recite this particular prayer…because Jesus didn’t give us this prayer so we could mindlessly say the words, but so that we could have a model, or a grid, through which we run our prayers. And so there are two specific things that we want to focus on this morning as we freely approach God’s throne of grace.
The first is this – when approaching the throne of grace, we should…
1. PRAY WITH AWE – vs 8-10
Look back at the end of verse 8: "…for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." What this should do is alleviate any pressure to approach your Father with matters big or small. God is omniscient which means he knows everything and so since this is the case, you can let it all out. You can’t keep any secrets from God so we might as well tell him everything…the good AND the bad…because he stands ready to pour grace over you. Now, as a quick side note, I’ve often heard the question asked, “If he already knows, then why should I even bother to pray?” A quick answer (just to keep you from getting hung up this question) is that we pray, even though God already knows, because he has invited us to do so. And for some reason, God in his sovereignty chooses to respond to our prayers. God doesn’t need the information we give him, but he encourages us to give him the information anyway. And while he longs to come to our aid, he often waits until we ask him specifically. But the bigger point here, is that God already knows your heart. He knows the pain and anxiety and the hurt and the questions that you carry, and he already knows the answer. And so this is the first stop in praying with awe – he knows EVERYTHING you need.
The second stop in praying with awe is the magnificent truth that God is our Father and he resides in heaven. Verse 9: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Now, if you’ve prayed the Lord’s Prayer a few times in your life, it may have become mundane to you. Sometimes sports teams recite it before a game as a way to unify the team, whether or not they are actual Christians. But for the Christ-follower, the beginning of this prayer shifts our focus from ourselves to the one true living God who created the Heavens and the Earth. WHEN we pray our minds should pause and give awe and attention to the God of the universe who is in complete control of every event in human history…who has supreme authority…who has never needed an inkling of counsel from anyone else…who is perfect and powerful in all his ways. THIS is the God we are praying to.
We are praying to the God who hung the stars in the sky and calls them by name. The God who separated the water from the land and created every creature that has ever walked on this planet. THIS is who we get to call Father. The one who rescued us and redeemed us. The who knows EVERY care, EVERY tear, and EVERY fear that we carry in our hearts. Church, THIS is our Father. He’s our perfectly benevolent, perfectly kind, perfectly loving, and perfectly redemptive Father.
Now I know some of your dads won the “Dad of the Decade” award. But for others, maybe your dad won the “Missing Man” award. But the relationship with your earthly father, good or bad, is barely a glimpse of who your Heavenly Father is. Yes, there’s an intimacy that comes with God as father. But he’s so much more. He’s the source of every good gift and HE is where we form our true identity. He is the Father of all fathers and he’s ready and willing to hear your prayers, heal your brokenness, and guide you to his throne…which Jesus reminds us in NOT on this earth, but rather in Heaven. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your NAME."
During our sermon prep this week, one of our pastors told the story of being in a serious conversation with one of his kids who, in the course of the conversation, called him “Bro.” And it was a rather humorous story of him recounting how he, in no uncertain terms, made it clear, that he was not “Bro,” but rather he was “Dad.” And he stated that the tone and direction of the conversation completely changed from that point forward.
It’s the same way with God, when we hallow HIS name. It reorients our prayers. It reminds us of WHO we are talking to. The Hebrew name of God used in the Bible was Yah-weh. And to be honest, scholars don’t completely agree on how this name was even pronounced, because the Jewish people had such reverence even for the NAME of God, that they removed the vowels and only pronounced the consonants. When the scribes would copy Scripture, they would throw away the quill they were using anytime the copied the word Yah-weh…because the word was so holy that the pen could never be used again in reverence. And so Jesus models for us what it means to begin our prayers with this type of honor and respect. And so it’s good to remind God that he is righteous, just, holy, and generous…not because we want anything in return (wrong motive), but out of a recognition that he is ALL of these things, and we are not.
And finally, as we pray with awe, look at verse 10: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." The last piece of awe that we see here…that when we live in awe of an all-knowing Father who is in heaven, and who’s very name in holy, then we can confidently express the words of verse 10 – "your kingdom come."
The events of this week on the news – continued war in Ukraine, the shootings in Buffalo, the continued battle of when life begins – all of these things serve to remind us that we live in a very broken world. A world filled with injustice, disorder, and despair. A world that desperately needs to be redeemed and a world that is often unaware that it’s only by God’s grace that this world has not already fallen completely apart. That’s THIS kingdom…it’s OUR kingdom…what humans have made.
But this Red Letter Prayer is a reminder that THIS mess is not God’s Kingdom. God’s Kingdom is full of order, and rest, and hope, and joy…all overflowing out of God’s very presence. Your kingdom come is a recognition that we do not belong to this world. In a sense, it’s a prayer of detachment. It’s a reminder that our citizenship is not here, but in heaven. And so we’re asking for the things of heaven to become visible, and that they would come to bear on our hearts and our world…that whatever God loves and whatever God values, would happen in our hearts and lives. "Your kingdom come. Your will be done."
I wonder if people would be so quick to mouth the words of this prayer if they really knew what they were saying…that in essence, we’re giving God permission to tear down our little kingdom and to establish his, beginning in our very lives. Because when you pray with awe to such a degree that you can say with conviction, “Your kingdom come, your will be done,” things ARE going to change. You might be asked to move to different place of service. You might be asked to totally change your career path so that you might be a more effective witness. You might be tasked with a higher level of leadership within the church or maybe convicted to totally change the way you lead your family.
And some of you might be thinking “Who in the world would ever pray THAT prayer?” Jesus! These were his words right before he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was pleading with God: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” Jesus did not want to endure the agony of the cross and he begged God for another way. But his cries ended in surrender, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:36).
Jesus didn’t teach us to pray a certain way and not live it out…as a hypocrite would do. He knew the pain and suffering that was to come. He knew the sacrifice it would take to pay for the sins of the world. He knew he would be humiliated. He knew he would be falsely accused. He knew his family would stand and cringe as he was crucified. And yet he gave life to the words, “Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done.”
Church, let’s commit today to pray in awe of God’s name and of his kingdom trusting our lives to his good will. Which takes us to the second part of the Lord’s Prayer where we see that we should…
2. PRAY DEPENDENTLY – vs 11-13
This is where the American dream and Biblical Christianity crash headfirst into each other. One says, “God helps those who help _____________” and the other says, “God, I can’t do it myself.” One celebrates being dependent on no one and the other says, “In HIM we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Now I’m not saying you can’t be a godly person and an American at the same time. But I AM saying that one of the things we value most deeply as citizens of this country stands in stark contrast to what Jesus is modeling in the Lord’s Prayer. And Jesus is modeling dependency on the Father.
I was recently trying to encourage the parents of two young children, both of whom are still in diapers. And their life is chaotic…because the kids depend on them for EVERYTHING. To change their diapers, to feed them, to bathe them, to dress them, and once a week to even manage to wrestle them into the car and to church on time. Sun up to sun down is controlled chaos where most of the time it’s not even controlled…just pure chaos. And if this describes your life, hang in there…there’s light at the end of the tunnel. And I remember ALL the huge milestones. First it’s no more diapers, then they can start feeding themselves, eventually they’ll start dressing themselves…and yes, sometimes it means taking them to church in the middle of summer wearing their winter boots and a bike helmet…but God bless ‘em, they dressed themselves, Amen? And eventually, your youngest will finally get their driver’s license and they will have achieved near-total independence. And it’s the greatest feeling when they can drive themselves to practice for the very first time.
But as a parent, you know that even that amount of independence is really just an illusion…especially when they get their first college tuition bill, Amen? And in the same way, any independence in our relationship with God is also an illusion. There is NO ONE that is independent of God and there is NO ONE that lives outside of the world in which he created. He’s the giver of manna in the wilderness. He’s the vine. He’s the author. He’s the creator – and we’re not…which puts us in a place of need.
The temptation for those with any amount of health or wealth or intelligence is to think that we got here on our own. And that’s exactly why Jesus gave us this Red Letter Prayer. So we can understand that we are much more needy than we realize. Look at verses 11-13: "Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Quickly, we see three things here that we’re all in desperate need of:
1. The need for daily physical and spiritual sustenance
2. The need for forgiveness
3. The need to be kept from temptation
And here’s what’s unique about this list – every single person shares the need for every single item on this list. Whether you realize it or not, you are completely dependent on your Father for these things. Let’s start with our daily bread – that refers to our physical AND spiritual nourishment. As we mentioned last week, the way we get spiritual nourishment is to be connected to the vine, to Jesus. And so we cry out each and every day, “God, apart from you I can do nothing.” To realize that we have to “abide” in him and that will be our only source of real spiritual nourishment. Spiritual nourishment, and the fruit it produces, comes from a life totally dependent on Jesus.
The same is true when it comes to our physical health. Just this week I visited a friend’s dad in the hospital dying from a brain tumor…where three weeks ago there wasn’t a single sign that anything was wrong. And so whether it’s the fact that we have good health or that we can put food on the table…we are totally dependent on God because all of this can be taken away in a moment’s notice. Just ask Job. We’ll never know all the reasons why Job was stricken as he was. I’ll never know why my friend’s dad fell so ill so quickly. And when hard times hit our lives, we usually don’t get all the answers as to why. What we do get is a renewed sense that we are desperately needy people in need of physical and spiritual sustenance. "Give us this day our daily bread."
And then Jesus reminds us to pray for forgiveness. And there’s a wretched part of me that hates how Jesus connects MY forgiveness to the forgiveness that I’M willing to extend…in fact, he circles back around at the end of his prayer and hits this one again, just in case he wasn’t clear the first time. "14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
Is that clear enough for you? I don’t think there’s much more we need to add to this in the way of commentary. When we pray, we must never lose sight of the depth of forgiveness we’ve received in Christ; for all the envy, the anger, the lack of love, the lack of prayer, the impure thoughts that made us enemies of Christ, we’ve been forgiven…and now we must stand ready to pray the next part of the prayer “as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
The final part of this Red Letter Prayer is so critical: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This isn’t suggesting that God sometimes tempts us and on THIS day, we’re asking that he not…not at all. God NEVER takes our hand and leads us really close to sin to see what we would do. That would be contrary to his holy nature. When we pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” we are actually asking God that when we are headed towards sin, that he would grab our hands and lead us away from evil. We’re acknowledging that we are weak and we’re asking him to protect us from those situations where we’re most likely to fall. What’s your besetting sin – what’s the temptation to which you are most vulnerable? God, today protect me from THAT.
And so here’s the model that Jesus gives us in his prayer: Feed us – Forgive Us – Protect Us. If you’re still awake, can you repeat that with me? Feed us – Forgive Us – Protect Us. "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen." As a quick little side note, that last sentence didn’t actually exist in the original copies of Jesus’ sermon…it appears that a scribe added them later to close out this prayer.
Church, when we pray to God the Father, we are actually praying THROUGH Jesus as our mediator. And so let me wrap up our time together in this Red Letter Prayer by looking to Hebrews 4 for encouragement: "15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Church, what qualifies Jesus to be the one we are totally dependent upon AND what qualifies Jesus to be the one we can pray to is this: He was without sin. He felt the same pain and hurt and heartache. He knew what it meant to be rejected and alone. He experienced the same temptations. And yet he was without sin…making him “The perfect lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” And so it is then with absolute confidence that we get to approach him and his throne today. And the best part of prayer for the believer is this – you will never be turned away from the throne of grace.
