Matthew 6:9 “pray in this way, Our Father“
Don’t know about you all…but I can’t imagine what it would have been like to
have walked and talked with Jesus as He made his way across Galilee…if we could have been there and watched as He touched the sick…amazed as He walked across the waves of a stormy sea… imagine what it would have been like to ask Him whatever question came to mind?
BUT…Scriptures do record that at least one of the apostles did make one request [Luke 11:1] “one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray…” Jesus then teaches the disciples what has been called the Lord’s Prayer.
Matthew’s account is a little more detailed…we talked last week about the different types of prayer…and the seriousness of prayer…and the issues regarding prayer.
God takes praying serious…it’s conversation between Him and us…and He’s not tolerant of any foolishness…praying that uses endless repetitions…empty phrases…meaningless words…praying with the desire to be admired by others making promises that you’re not intending to keep…or prayer that is thoughtless or offensive to God…that’s being on thin ice.
In Jewish life prayers were offered at least twice a day…often times three times a day [Acts 3:1] …devout Jewish men were expected to pray at 9 am…at noon… and at 3 pm…here’s the problem with that…not that praying three times a day is bad…prayer was a natural, regular, and necessary part of Jewish life…the problem is with us.
Any spiritual practice may start out with a great feeling and intensity…we’ve all been there…maybe…I’m getting up early every morning to read the Bible and pray…nothing wrong with good intentions…but they can quickly turn into a meaningless ritual…that’s what had happened with the practice of the Jews in the first century…it became something they just did…it was meaningless.
That’s why on more than one occasion God reminds His people that He wants their hearts, not their empty sacrifices…after asking the question “With what shall I come before the Lord?” Micah answers with this — “And what does the Lord require of you?”
To act justly…to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” [Micah 6:8] ….in other words God wants their hearts, not their meaningless ritual.
Because God does take praying serious…before Jesus tells the disciples how to pray, He cautions them on how NOT to pray…don’t use the many words like the pagans do…don’t do that…the Lord’s Prayer is set in contrast to the pagan prayers of [6:7-8] where Jesus lists some of the kind of praying done by pagans and says… “Do not be like them” [8].
Praying comes with a warning [vs 5-8] [5] you must not be like the hypocrites praying to be seen [7] or babbling like pagans…this is actually another way of Jesus saying, “You have heard it said…but I say unto you….” only now Jesus is using a different phrase to correct their practice…. “and when you pray”
Here’s the difficulty with prayer…prayer requires faith …WHY…because we’re praying to someone we can’t see and expecting an answer we can’t control… even among Christians… but especially to the unsaved…prayer runs contrary to the world in which we live…consequently…not only is prayer often neglected but is difficult to do.
Even as Christians…we often suspect if we do pray…they’ll be no answer…or perhaps it is not the answer we desire…so we leave prayers unoffered…turning a deaf ear to what the Spirit might have said to us if only we had been listening.
I think if we would all be honest with ourselves this morning…we’d admit that prayer…for the most part…is an undisciplined area of our spiritual life…possibly sporadic at best…erratic most of the time.
Prayer is talked about more than anything else and practiced less than anything else…yet…it remains one of the necessary disciplines we must include in our spiritual lives if we are going to continue to be conformed to the image of Christ.
When you look at the Lord’s Prayer it is unique among all the prayers of the Bible but it’s a bit confusing…even though it’s called the Lord’s prayer:
…it never mentions the Lord.
…it’s prayed in all churches, but it never mentions the church.
…it doesn’t mention: virgin birth…atoning death, or bodily resurrection of Christ.
…it never mentions the Holy Spirit.
…it’s prayed by all denominations…but never mentions a priest, bishop or pope.
…it’s prayed by Christians who split over doctrinal issues but it never mentions a single word about any doctrines.
…it’s prayed by Christians whose concern is heaven…but it never mentions heaven or hell.
Prologue, page 1, The Greatest Prayer, John Dominic Crossan
Something else that’s interesting is the Prayer contains no singular pronouns…all petitions are for…“ our…us…or we” …there is no “I” in the Lord’s Prayer…this is a safeguard against selfishness…a reminder of our responsibility to intercede for others…even above ourselves…even when praying alone as suggested in [vs.6] …going into the secret room…there is no place for individualism in the Kingdom.
This prayer…we call The Lord’s Prayer is also called the “Our Father” prayer by our Roman Catholic friends because of the way in which the prayer begins…and it’s also been referred to as “The Model Prayer” by some.
In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray, and so if we need a title for this prayer, we could call it The Disciples’ Prayer…it was a prayer Jesus taught to his disciples…here’s its importance.
If someone were to ask you to give them a summary of the Christian faith on the back of an envelope…probably the best response would be to write out the Lord’s Prayer’ A conversation with The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams.
It was a prayer that was never intended for universal use…Jesus never intended it to be for all men…just to His disciples…those who are the possessors of grace… who are truly converted…on the lips of an ungodly man it is entirely out of place.
God does not hear the prayer of an unbeliever…if you have never asked Jesus to be your Savior…then trying to pray to a God you don’t believe in or trust in… is ineffective…the only prayer God hears from an unbeliever is the prayer of salvation… in response to the genuine seeking or the faith by that person.
In other words, the “Disciple’s Prayer” is a “family prayer” and you must be a member of the family of God to be able to address Him as Father…He is Father only to those who are His children.
People have this mis-conception that God hears everybody…all I have to do is pray…that’s not true…God doesn’t hear everybody…if you are not a child of God then you are children of the Devil [John 8:44-45] the only prayer God will hear from that person is the prayer of repentance.
As Christians…God will not hear the prayers of Christians who deliberately and purposely engage in and remain in sin…that makes you a sinner… “we know that God does not hear sinners” [John 9:31] …because they are out of fellowship with God [John 9:31].
So if you are
born again (John 3:3) then He is your Father…pray to Him as Father.
Many theologians equate this prayer with the Ten Commandments…this prayer found in this section of Matthew many scholars believe was in the portion of the sermon dealing with the giving of the “law” for the Kingdom of God…much like Moses gave the Law for the nation of Israel.
Jesus uses the phrase repeatedly in the Sermon on the Mount — “You have heard it said…but I say unto you….” By making that statement Jesus was attempting to restore the Law given by Moses to its original intent.
Over the years the law had become a rigid set of “do’s and don’ts” that it was never intended to be…it was meant by God to be a “law of the heart” — a way to live that separated God’s people from all others.
Much like the Ten Commandments which can be divided between those dealing with our relationship with God…no other gods…no idols…misusing God’s name …and keeping the Sabbath…the first four commandments.
AND…the second six which deal with our relationship with each other…honoring parents…not murdering…not committing adultery…not stealing…not lying…and not coveting.
The Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples…just like the Ten Commandments… also deals with our relationship with God and each other…Jesus starts out talking to the disciples about prayer by saying “and when you pray” [Matthew 6:5,6,7] giving them suggestions on how prayer should be delivered…in [v 9] he shifts to a more demanding statement telling them how to pray.
Let’s take a look at what Jesus says to his disciples regarding praying…most translations begin with the words: “this is how (Οὕτως) you (ὑμεῖς) (should) pray (προσεύχεσθε) …the word ‘should’ is inserted in most translations…but the word ‘should’ in not in the original Greek text…adding the word ‘should’ implies that you should pray this specific prayer…implying using these exact words…but that is not the intent.
In [vs.5-7] Jesus says ‘when you pray’ suggestion how not to pray…and what to do when you pray…BUT…here Jesus is giving us a command…it’s in the imperative voice…it is a command from Jesus Himself…probably why a command calling for us to make prayer a habit … prayer is not to be a “pastime” but a lifestyle.
Jesus did not say when you pray… pray these exact words…this is implied in the erroneous addition of the word ‘should’ suggesting using this as the ‘model prayer’. …this prayer was never meant to be a ritualistic recital…but a guide for praying… that’s why a more suitable translation could be “pray in this way“ using the format suggested here…we are to use this prayer as a pattern.
The problem with reciting a prayer from memory is that this kind of prayer becomes “meaningless repetition” …something Jesus had just told His disciples just four verses earlier not to do.
The “Lord’s Prayer” was never intended to be used as a repetitious mundane guide for prayer…but as a model to what to pray for…so clearly Jesus is presenting a pattern for our prayers…not just the words to use.
The Prayer falls naturally into seven
clauses…the first clause:
“Our Father”
This statement clearly implies that we are something more than God’s creatures …it implies a relationship…that is why this prayer prayed by an unbeliever is meaningless…they have no relationship with God…they have NOT been adopted into his family….they have not been regenerated or born again… they have NOT been made heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.
By calling God ‘Our Father’ implies and involves the duty of obedience to God
having established the Fatherhood of God and our relationship to God as sons and daughters…that God and man are parent and child…Jesus goes on to enlarge upon the nature of God and to delineate the function of each in the grand scheme of things.
Jesus explains that it is the nature of God to be in heaven, and of man to be on earth, because God is the Cause, and man is the manifestation…in other words, God is the Infinite and Perfect Cause of all things…and God’s expression was manifested in making our physical bodies.
Here’s the importance in that…a little theological dissertation here…there is a misunderstanding about the relationship of God and man that is the cause of all our difficulties.
Trying to have a manifestation without a Cause is atheism…that’s the idea that “I just arrived…don’t know how I got here but…here I am” this is attempting to have a Cause without Creator…that leads people to suggest that I’m my own personal God…hence the importance of realizing that God is our creator and so we rightly call Him Father.
Going to God as our Father establishes THREE facts.
FIRST…no fear about our lives right now…God predestined a purpose for you individually…God loves you enough to give you a place in His plan…your being born at this particular time in history is NOT by chance…God has a specific plan for you…how do I know that…the Bible tells me so.
Acts 13:36 – David after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep…God arranged all the physical scenes of history before creation… which guarantees every scene in life works to God’s eternal purpose—your ability to hear God is directly proportional to you being in God’s will…some elect to seek that purpose for which God “predestined” them…others elect to openly reject it
SECONDLY…it means having no fear of the future…our salvation is secure.
God is the father of all our resources…all the resources of heaven and earth are available to us… to meet both our spiritual and our physical needs.
THIRDLY…it clearly defines that God and Jesus…although they are One, they are not one-and-the-same…Jesus establishes this point carefully when he says, “Our Father” …Jesus Himself addressed God as Father (some 60 times in the Gospels) …never referring to Him by any other name! Virtually all of Jesus’ prayers were addressed to God as Father (one exception in Mt 27:46)
In the Old Testament ’Father’ as a title for God was rarely used (only 14 times) …where “father” does occur with respect to God it is commonly by way of analogy, and not used to directly address Him (Deut 32:6; Ps 103:13; Isa 63:16; Mal 2:10) …even more rarely was it used in reference to an individual…only twice in the Old testament is Abraham referred to as ‘father’ (Isa. 51: 1 / Jos. 24;3).
BUT…in the first 18 verses of Matthew 6 Jesus calls God ‘Father’ 10 times… teaching us that as kingdom citizens we are to address God as Father…an idea that must have surprised most of His audience…we are not to pray to saints…or angels …or any other created thing…but to the everlasting Father…the Lord of heaven and earth.
I’m purposely stopping here because I want you to understand the seriousness of what I have said…because…if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior… have never trusted in God as your heavenly Father…there is really no sense in going any further in this prayer because if you have never done either one of those two things…it all stops right here. In order for us to pray the way that Jesus taught His disciples to pray…we need to understand the meaning behind the words…we need to acknowledge that God exists and He is the creator of heaven and earth…the supplier of all our needs… and Jesus is His Son, rather than simply repeating them in a parrot-like fashion.