Lord Teach Us to Pray: Our Father (2)

The Lord’s Prayer

Luke 11:1–4 (NASB)

And it came about that while He was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”And He said to them, “When you pray, say:

‘Father, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

‘Give us each day our daily bread.‘And forgive us our sins,

For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation.’”

Matt 6:13“… but deliver us from evil...

Prayer is Misunderstood and Neglected

In the first message of this series I made the observation that one of the reasons I believe prayer is neglected is due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what prayer is.

That misunderstanding, is that prayer is not something we can learn to do, but more of an organic, natural exercise or practice. And though we may not say this explicitly, it’s been my observation that we Christians feel this way about prayer.

If that’s the case, then it will have an impact on our prayer-life. We’ll come back to this in a bit.

More Observations from Last Time

That it was the example of Jesus prayer life that inspired the request for prayer instruction. We can safely make this assumption because our text tells us that request came immediately after Jesus had finished praying. We also know from the gospel accounts that Jesus prayed often and prayed much. It’s also notable that, as revealed in numerous places in the New Testament, these first century Jews would have grown up witnessing the public prayers of their religious leaders. Yet, after witnessing the prayer life of their rabbi, Christ, they looked to him for instruction - not the Pharisees.

It is possible to learn to pray and Jesus wants us to learn how to pray. If this were not the case Jesus would have refused their request. Instead he does responds by giving them a ‘Prayer Lesson’. Jesus willingness to teach the disciples gives us the assurance that he is willing to teach us as well.

By praying according to this teaching we will be praying in the same way Jesus himself did. It stands to reason that since Jesus is God the Son and his life was perfect, that his teaching on prayer was perfect and that he himself would have prayed the same way that he taught his followers. In fact, in his recorded prayers in the Gospels, Jesus always begins his prayers by addressing God as his Father.

Jesus is not giving us a prayer to be solely memorized and repeated as a religious observance. We know this because many His prayers are recorded for us in the Gospels, and while he did follow the pattern, he didn’t pray the same prayer every time. In this instructional prayer we are given an example, a pattern for prayer.

Our Father, ...

Jesus begins the Lord’s Prayer with the two most important words in the prayer, “Our Father”. We talked about how incredibly revolutionary this teaching was.

New American Standard Bible Jesus Equality with God

18 For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

As you can see, the religious leaders of the day saw Jesus as a blasphemer for daring to call God his Father.

Yet, these two words “Our Father” are the cornerstone, the foundation of Christian prayer.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

We looked at the Parable of the Prodigal Son so we could see the Father through the eyes of Jesus.

I’d love to read it again this morning but in the interest of time, I recommend you read it yourself some time today.

We discussed how it should have been called the Parable of A Loving Father, because He is the central figure of the story, not the son.

In it Jesus reveals to us a God who was radically different from the one the Jews were teaching about.

This God the Father of Jesus was not a passive God whose love was just a general theological premise, or a principal of His nature. No, his love for us moves him to action. He doesn’t just repose in his lofty chamber waiting for us to grovel before him, but eagerly awaits our coming. He is a God who’s love for us is real and active. If we are to believe Jesus teaching, our Father longs to commune with us; to embrace us; to kiss us; to adorn us in his righteousness; to celebrate us; and he says to us, “Everything I have is yours.”

I asked the question, “Is this the God you pray to?” Because if it’s not, you will not pray the way Jesus did. His confidence to approach his Father and to receive from him was rooted in his intimate knowledge of him, and he gave us this revelation so we could have the same confidence. So we would have the same love of communion with him.

Because this understanding of our Father is so fundamental and critical to our prayer-lives, today I want to continue with this theme, but from the perspective of the Son.

Prayer is Misunderstood and Neglected

To go back to my initial premise, we will neglect the practice of prayer if we approach it as just a religious observance or a part of our “devotional” checklist. But, if through a right scriptural understanding we come to believe that God is our Father, and as we will see today, we are his children, prayer becomes something entirely different.

John 17: Jesus High Priestly Prayer

Today’s text comes from one of Jesus’ actual prayers. It’s his most famous prayer, commonly know as his ‘High Priestly Prayer’.

We’re going to read all of it, and hopefully from Christ’s own prayer, we’ll gain even deeper insight into his, and ultimately our relationship to God, our Father.

17 Jesus spoke these things; and raising His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, so that the Son may glorify You,

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2 just as You gave Him authority over all mankind, so that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.

3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

4 I glorified You on the earth by accomplishing the work which You have given Me to do.

5 And now You, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world existed.

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6 “I have revealed Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have followed Your word.

7 Now they have come to know that everything which You have given Me is from You;

8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours;

10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.

11 I am no longer going to be in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I am coming to You.

Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are.

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12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

15 I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

18 Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world.

19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

20 “I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word,

21 that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

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22 The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one;

23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

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25 “Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;

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26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

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Context

So, Jesus is praying this prayer just prior to his betrayal. He knows he is about to leave his disciples and much of his prayer is for and about them.

His love for them is on public display as he intercedes before his Father on their behalf.

He asks God to keep them; To give them joy; To sanctify them: To keep them safe from from evil; And for unity.

In verse 20 he makes it clear that he is not just praying for the 12 disciples in front of him, but all those who would be saved in the future as well.

20 “I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word,

This is vitally important. We need to understand that Jesus was praying for every Christian. You and I are included in this prayer!

Jesus also makes it clear that this prayer is not a general prayer for the world. He is praying for Christians.

9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours;

What I’m going to say next may shock you. Christians are special. In God’s eyes we’re not like anyone else. This Father-Child relationship we’re talking about only applies to body of Christ.

You may say, “that sounds like Christian exceptionalism”. My response to that is, “Yes, it is.”

Throughout his prayer Jesus makes this abundantly clear. He is referring to one very specific group of people. He identifies them in the following ways.

Verse-by-verse

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If we are to pray well, we need to know what kind of a Father God is, and that we are his particular people.

Not because of anything we are or have done, but because of Christ. It is almost to good to believe. But we need to. We need to believe it as the church and as individual Christians. In Christ, we are the children of God. We’re so used to hearing that, that it has lost its impact.

WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD! Whether we feel like it or not, we are joint heirs with Christ and God Almighty is our Father.

There’s a beautiful song that goes,

I'm not on an ego trip I'm nothing on my own I made mistakes I often slip Just common flesh and bones

But I'll prove someday just why I say I'm of a special kind For when he was on the cross I was on his mind.

The look of love was on his face Thrones were on his head The blood was on his scarlet robe Stained a crimson red

Though his eyes were on the crowd that day He looked ahead in time For when he was on the cross I was on his mind.

He knew me, yet he loved me He whose glory makes the heavens shine So unworthy of such mercy

Yet when he was on the cross I was on his mind. Yet when he was on the cross I was on his mind.