THE LORD'S PRAYER (Matthew 6: 5 – 13)
Samir Mukha
One night a father heard his young daughter talking in her room. Her door had a small opening through which he could hear what she was saying. He saw her kneeling besides her bed in prayer. He wanted to know what the little child prayed for, so he stopped by to listen. He heard her reciting the alphabet; she was saying A B C D E…till Z. She kept repeating the alphabet over and over again. When she was done he went inside and asked her what she had been doing. She said I was praying daddy. He said, really? But why the alphabet? She said, I had started to pray but I was not sure of what to pray for so I decided to say all the letters of the alphabet and let god put them together however he decides best.
This girl was not alone in feeling this way, even some of Jesus’ disciples felt so. They were not sure of how they should pray. They saw Jesus praying many times, they saw the ease with which Jesus prayed with the father. Amidst his busy schedule they saw that he gave top priority to prayer. And I believe that this was the motivating factor for them to ask Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11: 1).
Let us look at the model Jesus gave to his disciples and to us in the area of prayer. The prayer in Matthew 6 is often called the Lord’s Prayer, but actually it could be called the disciple’s prayer, because it was meant for the disciples. I have divided this passage into 5 parts, with 5 P's. These are praise, priority, provision, penitence, protection.
1. Praise - Begin with praise.
Praise happens when we talk about or sing about who God is. It is verbalizing certain things that we know about his character. It’s speaking about the great things he has done in the world and in our lives. Jesus put it like this …
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name
Verse 9 begins with “our Father.” Jesus guides us to direct and address our prayers to God the father. By calling God the father we should not limit god to the gender of a male. Jesus teaches that we have a filial relationship with God; God sees us as if we were a daughter or a son. And we, on our part, can approach God in the familiar confident way a child approaches a loving parent.
Jesus described god as our father in heaven, not some uncaring or indifferent deity who was not interested in the lives of his followers. This was a very new concept in those days. "The writers of the Old Testament had a much different concept of their relationship to God than we do today. When the scribes who copied the Old Testament scriptures wrote the word for God, Yahweh, they would throw away their pen, never to use it again. They reasoned that once it had written the word, Yahweh, the pen was disqualified to write anything else."
By addressing god as our father we acknowledge our dependence on god as a body of people. Please notice that we don't say “my father”, but “our father.” Although each of us is dependent upon him, we realize that all our brothers and sisters are similarly dependent on him too. Our recognition that others are just as dependent upon the Lord can only lead to a greater respect for all human life, regardless of color, faith, or politics.
Hallowed means "holy," "set apart." It’s the recognition that the Creator is distinct from his creation. God is totally pure, far wiser than we are, and more powerful than the most powerful nuclear bomb. We begin in prayer by getting our mind right with regard to whose presence we’re entering into.
2. Priorities - Surrender to God’s priorities.
"… your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10 (NIV)
We will only see powerful prayer when we approach God with the right attitude. Here Jesus calls us to submit ourselves totally to God. In asking that His kingdom come we’re essentially giving up control of our lives and handing it over to God. In a kingdom, there are only two classes of people, the ruler and those who are ruled over. We must recognize our place within God’s kingdom surrender to his rule before he’ll answer our prayers in a powerful way.
3. Provision- Ask for God’s provision.
After we’ve focused on who God is and submitted to his rule in our lives we can then go on to ask for his provision. Jesus said to simply ask …
"Give us today our daily bread." Matthew 6:11 (NIV)
Obviously, this was intended to move us beyond a request for food. Here we simply ask God for our needs, not our wants. Notice what’s really being asked for here, "daily bread." And we’re to ask for today’s only, not tomorrow’s. God will meet our legitimate daily needs, but not necessarily the luxury things we ask for.
Indirectly, this single verse indicates of how often we should pray and bring our needs before God. We’re to seek him daily. People who seek him consistently each day are the one’s who experience his powerful answers to prayer. Those who are most dependent on God tend to be those he uses in significant ways.
Whatever your needs are, bring them to God on a daily basis. Even if you think they’re small, go ahead and ask. Our heavenly Father delights in giving us good gifts the same way you delight in giving your children what they need. Ask specifically. Ask confidently. Ask with faith. Just don’t give up.
4. Penitence - Examine your personal relationships
This is one of the toughest parts of the Lord’s Prayer.
"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Matthew 6:12 (NIV)
God wants us to reflect on our relationships with people because if they’re not right, we’re not right. If we harbor unforgiveness we’re not right with God. Don’t expect answers to prayer if we have not forgiven someone. Jesus was so serious about this point that at the end of his prayer blueprints, he elaborated on this verse.
This particular verse is sometimes wrongly understood. It is hard to square up with the verse from James 1: 13, “When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”
God never tempts us, and he never leads us to sin. However he may allow some trials in our lives. These are meant to strengthen our faith and draw us closer to him.
A better way to translate this verse then is
"And do not bring us into the time of trial, but deliver us from the evil one."
In other words, if I can avoid testing and still be close to you, please let it be, but if not help me to overcome with your power. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear)
We have seen the Lord's Prayer. God expects us to pray. Friends, prayer can change our life. Take these blueprints and build your own daily time with God. You’ll see that not only does God answer our requests, but he’s changing us in the process.
