Prayer Week 1: Habitual Submission

The School of Prayer: Jesus teaches us how to pray

The sermon on the mount is something that is worth your time and attention. Matthew 5-6 containg some of Jesus’ most important teachings, and in v. 6, we come to this moment where he begins to adress prayer.

It’s common human practice to believe that we can accomplish anything on our first try- but have you ever successfully done this?

Anything that we attempt in life takes growth and learning, but for some reason, we treat prayer differently. We expect that it will be this natural inclination that comes directly from our spirit and out of our mouth… but Jesus sees things differently.

Everything in his opening statement here tells me that there is a right way to pray and a wrong way to pray. And what is his greatest warning?

Prayer is not a spiritual display, it is the practice of relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Before he even gets to the Lord’s prayer, Jesus makes it clear that the wrong way to pray is to be seen by others Matthew 6:5

Matthew 6:5 ESV

“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.

He also says that it is not about word count Matthew 6:7

Matthew 6:7 ESV

“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.

So if it is not about being seen, and not about being heard, then what is it about?

I’ve worked with quite a few young couples on the road to marriage. One of the things that I can tell you is that this type of relationship requires intention. Our words likely shape our action. So if you are consistently practicing resentment (I wish my partner was more....)- then you are likely on the way to some struggle. On the other hand, if you practice gratitude (Im glad my partner is…), you be centred around seeing the good. In this example, and many others, healthy intimacy and connection is something to be intentional about.

Think about prayer in the same way. The way that we understand prayer will shape our connection with God. If you visualize that God is a cosmic vending machine solely designed to give you what you want when you want it- your payers will reflect that. If you believe that God’s priority is your comfort, then your prayer life will reflect that.

The problem is- our expectations of God do not shape the identity of God, so if we want to build intimacy and connection to Him, we need to understand how to approach him.

So Jesus, in Matthew 6 is not teaching you about a religious practice that exists for the sake of practice. He is teaching you about a practice that will help you live in connection with the Father.

Healthy Prayer Helps You Connect To The Father

So then Jesus moves in to this simple prayer. One that many of us know- let’s read it together:

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

So over the course of november, we are going to split this into three sections:

Submission

Provision

Protection

Each of these things are meant to build upon how we can relate to the good shepherd who leads, feeds, and protects us.

So today is all about submission.

Whether you want to believe it or not, God is in control.

When Jesus says “This is how you pray”, the first two components of this prayer speak to worship and submission.

Let’s begin with v. 9

Matthew 6:9 (ESV)

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

The key word in this is “Hallowed”. Being that this is part of our regular venacular, I think that it is worthy of our attention.

The word “Hallowed” comes from the greek “Hagiadzo” which means to be sanctified, holy or to reverence.

Now, when you are saying “hallowed be your name”, you are not asking God to be holy… I hate to break it to you, but we have no say in determining the identity of God. But instead, it is a simple, God-oriented petition that says:

may “the sacredness of God’s name be magnified in every area of life”

Author Grant Osborne goes on to say that there are two aspects at play:

That God will make his holiness manifest through the world.

That we will honour him in everything that we say and do.

Think about it this way- when we begin our prayer with “hallowed be your name.” we are acknowledging that God is the ultimate solution to humanity’s biggest detriment.. the problem of sin.

I’m always amazed at how much is behind even the most brief statement in scripture. I remember my fourth grade teacher had us recite this prayer every day in school and it meant nothing to most of us.

But when you think about alignment, there is alot of power in routinely acknowledging that God is the answer to the deepest needs of the world both collectively and each and every single person individually.

So coming to this place of worship and saying “may your name be holy in all the earth” or even as we sung this morning “Christ be magnified” is not just stopping for a moment to offer praise *which is important*, but it is saying “God, help me to live in light of who you are”

The apostle Paul helps us grapple with the true meaning of human worship in Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

So when we make the Lord’s prayer, this beautiful template of intimacy, our routine- we are regularly beginning by reminding ourselves that God is Holy and in control, while also asking for His holiness and glory to be seen over all the earth and through our lives.

Prayer is not a series of empty phrases, it is a constant alignement with humanity’s need for God’s holiness in the world.

We are invited and challenged through Jesus’ great prayer template to look beyond ourselves. That is the great call of Christianity- to “carry one’s cross” “love one’s neighbour” “lose one’s life”. All of these statements (and many more) point towards a system of living that constantly looks beyond the individual and looks towards the healing and renewal of all things.

Prayer is best served to be a practice that helps us become what God has asked us to become.

And this is built on in our second petition

Matthew 6:10 ESV

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Christianity always invites us to focus on two realities: The now and the not yet.

The expression “Kingdom Come” captures the essence of this reality.

We have already discussed that longing to see God’s holiness to be seen over all of the eath, and when Jesus began his earthly ministry he proclaimed “The Kingdom of Heaven is near”

But it is also about what has yet to come, but can come at any moment in time.

Jesus coached his followers to “be ready”.

What were they to be ready for?

Scripture makes it clear that Christ will return to ultimately free humanity from the curse of sin, while also judging the living and the dead. The return of Christ is our living hope as it ushers in the “new heaven and new earth”. It is the vision of life without the presence of sin.

This is the ultimate will of God

Look at how John sees it in the recording of his vision in Revelation 21

Revelation 21:1–2 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

I see a helpful word here is “fullness.” We want more of you God- and we are greatly anticipating that day where we stand before you in all of your glory- we see you in your fullness.

So coming back around to this idea of a prayer template, we have yet to come to the moment where we take any action ourselves- but we await Christ’s coming return and actively seek more of him for ourselves and all creation in the mean time.

Intimacy with God begins with submission

The topic of submission is a sensitive one when we can’t fully trust who is in authority. And if you consider human nature- it’s highly likely that your trust has been broken by another at some point in your life.

But when it comes to God, the issue isn’t questionable authority- it is how much we are willing to trust what we can’t fully see and can’t fully comprehend.

You see, I have a working theory, and I’m convinced that it aligns with scripture.

As human beings, we naturally gravitate towards ourselves. We prioritze our desires, our comfort, etc. I’ve even noticed this in prayer- how often do we start and end with our list of needs and wants?

But if that is our natural pull, then we need to develop a routine that realigns our priorities to better resemble the life that God has asked us to live.

It is good to come to God with our needs. We are actually going to talk about that next week. But in this template of prayer- order wins the day.

Before we ask, before we call for protection, even before we forgive, we put God and His will at the centre of our petition recognizing that He holds ultimate authority over all things and thus, His will and prioirties need to be the ultimate longing of our hearts.

But like I said, because this isn’t our natural pull, we need to practice this. You don’t always hear “anticipation”, “hope”, and “submission” as words often associated with practice. But practice