Pray Then Like This

Fasting is a good thing.

It’s a discipline that I believe should be a part of every believers life.

God instructed Israel to fast on the day of atonement. Fasting was done in times of national need and in times of seeking the Lord for repentance.

In Christ’s day, many of the Jewish leaders would fast twice a week, which means they would abstain from all food for a full day, from sundown to sundown the next day.

The problem was not in the fasting. The problem is in their boasting.

Because fasting is a discipline of self denial it can be quite aggravating and unpleasant to the flesh. And that’s the whole point. Jesus addresses the hypocrisy of those who had decided to fast in private, and yet, they did not keep in truly about the Lord. They aloud their faces to look gloomy, and their countenance was such that people would see them and say something, giving them opportunity to tell them that they are fasting.

Truly, they have recieved their reward.

When you fast, don’t do it TO BE SEEN, by others, but do it as a means of drawing nearer to the Father who sees you, and will reward you.

Similar to giving, this is not saying that if someone finds out that you’re fasting, or you’ve mentioned it to someone, then you’ve lost the reward and spiritual benefit of fasting. The question is, are you telling others that you’re fasting so that you can be seen as holy? Or is there a reason to share in that discipline with others so that corporately you might seek the face of God as a body?

Ask the Lord for discernment in this, and seek to glorify him in your fasting.

Overarching principle?

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

So now let’s back up and look at v9-14.

What we have here is a model for prayer.

You’ll notice the phrase, “pray then like this:”

Clearly we can see that Jesus was not intending that his exact words be turned into a mantra for the church.

Think model over mantra.

The context of Jesus offering this model for prayer is on the heels of telling the disciples how NOT to pray, and how to not be like the hypocrites.

Christ does not rebuke sin without offering a better way.

So the intention behind this is to provide us with what a God glorifying prayer would include. We should see theses as components, subject points, important pieces that a Christian can and should memorize so that when we pray, we can pray in a way that according to the heart of Jesus.

A few helpful observations:

1. It’s not a very long prayer over all.

Even expanding on these as outline points would not take any longer than a few minutes by yourself in a prayer closet.

This should cancel out any excuses someone might make about not having the time to pray.

2. There is a logical flow to the model that Jesus gives.

There’s a beginning, a middle and an end.

Now, if you’re in the ESV, there’s not much of an ending. If you were to look at KJV or NKJV you’d see a different ending. The NASB has the ending, but it’s in brackets.

What is it?

For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

The earliest manuscripts did not have this ending, but the later ones did, as sis a few of the extrabiblical literature that was discovered, like the Didache. This was a first century writing that contained many of the teachings of Christ such as baptism and communion, and it included the Lord’s model for prayer. That version contained the last line.

Some believe it was added later for the sake of public usage and worship, others aren’t convinced that Jesus didn’t originally say it. Is it unbiblical? Not in the least. Whether you choose to include this in the outline or not, the point is clear that this model for prayer is comprehensive.

There are 6 petitions in this prayer. A petition is a formal request presented to someone.

The first three are focused on God, and are about God.

The final three are still Godward, but they concern us, the people of God. The request is for needs that we all have, and feel and experience in this life as Christians.

So let’s work through this one line at a time, and what I’m going to ask each of you is to really open up your heart to what the Holy Spirit wants to say to you.

It’s been said “One way that you know that a work of art is a masterpiece is that you cannot exhaust it with observation.”

This is truly a masterpiece...

We begin with the address...

“Our Father in Heaven”

The direction of prayer matters. Who are we talking to?

Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father.

Begin there when you pray.

Dear Lord, Dear Father, Heavenly Father, Lord, God, God Almighty…these are all good…the point Jesus is making is that when we pray we must have a direction for our prayer, and it must be the Father, from whom all blessings flow.

You’ll notice two other important things in the introduction to the prayer that Jesus wants us to think about when we pray...

first, There are prayers that we will pray alone, but this model is clearly for corporate prayer.

So we enter into conversation with God the Father understanding that we are part of a family. Brothers and sisters together, sharing one Father who is in Heaven

That being the final component of that beginning address…that though God is everywhere, he is not in every place the same way.

Heaven is a place, a place of God’s presence and glory. Heaven is where God’s throne is…or as Isaiah 66:1 says…Heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool.

So we pray with transcendence and awe. We address God, and we lift our prayers to the Father who is above it all.

Psalm 103:19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

I’ll also just remind you that Heaven is a destination for the believer in Christ. We will go there one day, and will dwell with God in resurrected bodies, and so we look there by faith in prayer but with a promise of seeing it.

Our Father in Heaven is who we pray to, and he is in that perfect place of holiness and purity. He sees all, and there is not a thing we can ask that is too difficult for Him.

But before we go thinking that he’s just a genie waiting to grant our wishes, we come to the first of the 6 petitions.

Hallowed be your name.

This is essentially praying that the name of God be reverenced and kept holy.

Pray like this, brothers and sisters, and do so with genuine desire, and you will not be the same.

When our prayers are led with this thought first, that God’s holy name be reverenced in our lives, and in our homes, with our words, with our actions, this will affect us.

It’s the same word that gets translated to sanctified, which means set apart and consecrated.

May your name be set apart in my life like nothing else. Nothing else deserves that place of honor and reverence.

Holy is YOUR name.

So, in a way…this is a prayer of petition, and adoration.

What ares of your life should you pray this…Father, may your name be reverenced here.

And this fits the next 2 petitions, that we’ll look at as one.

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

What is God’s kingdom?

It’s the extent of His rule and reign. In one sense he rules all, and reigns everywhere… but in another sense we long for his perfect reign on this earth as it is in Heaven. In Matthew 3 John the Baptist preached “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”

And Jesus is chapter 4:17 preached the same.

This is Christ’s mission, and ours. So when we make this sort of petition, we are joining on the mission of Christ that His Kingdom be established here on this earth…and how does that happen?

By hearts becoming obedient to the King.

So we pray, your will be done.

The model image of this is heaven. In God’s very presence there is no rebellion, no disunity, no hatred, no slander or lying. There are no complaint…there is no sin against God or others.

Don’t you desire this?

What part of your heart is yet to obey? What part of your parenting, your marriage, your work ethic, your friendships...

When you get to heaven, will you be surprised by how completely His will is done there, or are you striving for it now?

Do you know what it means to pray, your will be done?

It means, Lord, whatever you want to do with me, do it. I’m getting out of the way.

There’s a verse in a famous hymn that goes like this

Take my will, and make it Thine; It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart; it is Thine own; It shall be Thy royal throne

So, with this model so far, we come to him first in adoration, seeking the Father and seeing Him rightly as holy, bowing our hearts in surrender and desiring His name be honored above all our earthly desire and will.

All of this is before Jesus ever mentioned a supply for our earthly need.

But of course, Jesus knows we have that also…so already resigned to glorify the Father, we as for daily provision of bread.

One commentator mentioned how this prayer goes from the heights of heaven, all the way down to a grain of wheat fro bread. The Father sees it all and cares.

The bread we ask for is not out of selfishness. Even in this request we see the word, us. Give us…what we need for today. We pray for our needs, and we remember to petition the Lord for others.

You may have bread for today, while someone else does not. This is not a guarantee of all the physical need you ask for. This is a reminder that in prayer, we seek The Giver and maker of all.

Not seeking tomorrow’s need before it’s time, but content to ask for the provision of today.

Bread is not extravagant, but basic... which should help us to pray humbly, and not for extravagant wealth.

We may be tempted to stay right there, focused only on the physical and carnal tings of our lives.

But in this model, Jesus teaches us to pray for the wellbeing of our souls. The prayer for forgiveness from God and toward others is connected to the request for daily bread.

Think about this...

We so often think only in terms of what we lack and what would make us more comfortable or more happy…some kind of provision, forgetting that if we do not walk in the grace of salvation and forgiveness then we are starving ourselves of something more important.

Matthew Henry put it like this...

Our daily bread does but feed us as lambs for the slaughter, if our sins be not pardoned.

This is the prayer of a Christian…not a religious man or woman earning favor from God.

There is no meritorious advantage to praying for your forgiveness or the forgiveness of others. Forgiveness from God is based on His grace and it is through faith in the the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

And what this prayer is teaching us to believe, IN PRAYER, is that the grace that has been extended to us, that frees us of our great sin debt against God, is a grace that should be presently flowing through us to others.

This is a beautiful fruit that is evident in the redeemed…a forgiving heart that does not hold a grudge, or harbor bitterness, or accuse continually, but is free in forgiveness. If you struggle with this, we have the key here…think on the debt you owed that was washed clean and forgotten.

Finally, we must continue on with life in holiness and victory. We understand that for each of us there is temptation.

As soon as we end our thinking on and meditating on the forgiveness of God, what happens? The enemies of our souls has thought up and an has laid out the next trip wire.

Notice the negative and the positive to this prayer.

Lead us not....but deliver us.

We should all be praying against temptations, because a biblical understanding of temptation knows the one who is behind our temptations, and that His desire is to destroy us by them.

As we pray against temptation, we also pray for deliverance from any evil that Satan might unleash in our path.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Recap