Praying the Lord's Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
So this morning we spent time on how the Psalms teach us to pray
How to pray where we are at—how we relate to God in many different circumstances
And a lot of that is what I call ‘reactive’ prayer
There is stuff in our lives and circumstances — the good the bad the ugly
And we have to learn how to bring it to God
But that is only half of the picture
If our prayer life is only reactive then we are missing out on partnership with God
It’s like a sports team that only plays defense
But if we want to truly live a life of prayer we need to also pray proactively
Both reactive and proactive
So the question for tonight is how to we pray proactively?
What does it look like?
How do we pray when we aren’t feeling like it or not emotionally charged?
I think we have to look at the life of Jesus
The disciples must have seen this sort of prayer in Jesus
He was constantly sneaking off to pray
And in Luke 11, one of these times of prayer prompted his disciples to ask him:
1 He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
This is the only thing we ever see the disciples explicitly asking Jesus to teach them
NOT:
Teach us to perform miracles
Teach us to cast out demons
Teach us to understand the scriptures
Teach us to preach with authority
Teach us to have compassion
But teach us to pray
And the Lord’s prayer is taught here in Luke — and also in Matthew 6 in the Sermon on the Mount
And the Lord’s prayer is the answer to this request — Teach us to pray
Ultimately, it is a gift — a gift from Jesus to his disciples
It is beautiful and powerful and has been used by followers of Jesus for literally thousands of years
It’s not a magical incantation that forces God to move
But it is a model for us to learn how to pray
EXPOUND: Riding bike — Training wheels
And we all know it:
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
your name be honored as holy.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Tonight we’ll work through the Lords prayer
Then I want to show you how we can use it to pray for all sorts of situations
As a daily refocus
For our needs
Interceding for others
Praying for the world
Asking for wisdom
Literally any prayer
But lets jump in!
The Lord’s prayer is made up of 6 petitions
3 pertaining to God
Orienting ourselves to him
3 pertaining to us
Asking for the things we need to live out God’s will
Addressing God
Addressing God
The first words of the Lord’s prayer can often be overlooked
Our Father in heaven,
your name be honored as holy.
This is super simple; but the Lord’s prayer starts with an address
We are acknowledging that we are speaking to someone
We aren’t just in our heads
Our attitude and thoughts of someone change the way we speak to them
How do we view God?
Genie
Angry and tired
Not concerned with us
“Unconditional love” that’s okay with our sin
And here Jesus teaches us:
Father
Expound
In Heaven
Expound
There is a tension: Our Father in Heaven
We see this through out Scripture
Our God is both powerful and personal
Moses (?)
So it starts with acknowledging who we are speaking to
God is powerful
God is compassionate
The next section is about:
Reorienting our Motives
Reorienting our Motives
It’s about getting our hearts ready
This is one of our biggest misconceptions about prayer: that it is a way of twisting God’s arm to do what we want him to do
Prayer will sometimes change our circumstances, but it should always change our heart.
Prayer is about catching on to what God is doing in the world, and joining in on it
So here are the three petitions:
Hallowed by your name = Your name be honored as holy
God is Holy
Define Holy
We live in a world where his name is not honored as holy
May your name be set apart and honored
Your kingdom come.
God’s kingdom is here
But we live in a world of conflicting kingdoms
Historically/Nationally
Spiritually/Personally
What does inviting God’s kingdom look like?
What did Jesus’s ministry look like?
Healing
Reconciliation
Forgiveness
Love
Justice
Mercy
Repentance
God receiving honor and glory
Your will be done.
God has gifted humans with free will
And we live in a world where this free will is abused and we face the consequences
This is a very personal prayer
We can only control our will, not the person sitting next to us
This is a general prayer for God’s will to be accomplished but it is also a prayer of surrender
May your will be done in me
May my will become your will
All three of these first petitions are meant to reorient our hearts and the hearts of others
God’s name, kingdom, and will are our priority
Not changing our circumstances
Often underneath many of our prayers is a selfish heart
We seek for our names to be honored
Our kingdoms to come
and our will to be done
But in the first half of this prayer… we surrender
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
These are the linking transition between the two halves
We are apart of bringing heaven to Earth
Honoring God’s name ON EARTH
Being apart of God’s coming kingdom ON EARTH
Accomplishing God’s will ON EARTH
Center of the sermon on the mount (?)
The next three petitions are all for our needs in order to accomplish this mission
God’s provision
God’s pardon
God’s protection
Praying for our Needs
Praying for our Needs
Provision — Daily Bread
11 Give us today our daily bread.
Bread
Discerning between NEED and WANTS
Praying for NEEDS and WANTS
God will always give us what we need
God will often give us what we want
God as Father (he knows what is best)
Bread = Provision
Physical
Spiritual
Emotional
Daily Bread
God will provide, but how does he provide?
We would like it all at once, but he does it day-by-day
Like the manna in Exodus
It cultivates gratitude and dependence (expound)
It also combats anxiety and worry
We know God will give us what we need for this day
Pardon — Forgiveness
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Not only do we have basic needs, but we live in a broken world
Broken relationships are evident
We all hurt people (whether we intend to or not)
We all are hurt by people
There is a deep and evident need for forgiveness...
Hurt people, hurt people… how can this cycle end?
Well God enters the story, breaks the cycle, and offers forgiveness so that we can offer it to others
And we enter a cycle of forgiveness and grace
Forgiven people, forgive people
Forgiveness isn’t always easy and we often forget how much we have been forgiven
This prayer reminds us of this great truth
This is apart of God’s kingdom coming—his will being done here as in heaven
Protection
13 And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Honestly, this one has been the most confusing to me for a long time
What does this mean? — Is God in the habit of leading us into temptation?
Clarity:
Into temptation
Does God tempt us to do evil?
No — James 1:13-14
Is being tempted by something sin?
No — Hebrews 4:15
This is what I want to say “being tempted is not a sin, but entering into temptation is acting out the temptation and sinning
“You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair”
Jesus in the garden “Pray that you might not fall into temptation”
So when we pray “Do not lead us into temptation” we mean:
God strengthen me to not fall into sin when temptations come
Again this isn’t just a reactive prayer—but proactively praying against temptation
Know your weaknesses — This is a prayer of humility
We acknowledge that the world isn’t a playground but a battleground — God we need your protection
‘But’ deliver us from the evil one
Battling sin and temptation is not easy
We all fail every day
This isn’t something we need to beat ourselves up over, but we need to bring our success and failures to Jesus
Our failures don’t surprise God
God knows our character — Testing reveals it to ourselves and others
So when we say
13 And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
I like to think of it as:
“Do not bring us into temptation (proactive and humble) BUT IF I DO ENTER INTO TEMPTATION, please deliver (or rescue) me from the evil one
RESCUE ME!
Have you ever been rescued? (Story of Chad)
When we fall into sin, often we find ourselves attacked from different angles — and we need rescue
The world
What you did is normal — everyone else is doing it
Leads to hardening our hearts
The devil
How could you sin like that? God must be so annoyed and upset with you!
The tempter becomes the accuser
This leads to us doubting God and his love for us
Our flesh
What I did was justified.
It brought pleasure and that’s good
That person wronged me so I am in the right for paying them back
OR I won’t fail again—I got this—I am strong enough to stop this next time
Either way — our hearts are hardened and we doubt God’s love
In all of these different voices it can be hard to not drown in shame and disappointment
That’s why Jesus teaches us to pray “deliver us from the evil one”
Again this is proactive
Jesus I know I’m prone to sin and make mistakes
When I do fail, please rescue me
Practical Applications
Practical Applications
Daily Rhythm
Intercession (OURs)
Individuals
Community
Battling Sin
Temptations
Repentance
Asking
Wisdom
Desires
Anxiety
“Prayer is like eating. There needs to be a good rhythm between big banquets and the everyday family supper. A family that tries to eat every meal as if it were a banquet soon finds that most of its members are looking for an excuse to be absent”
Not every prayer needs to be creative, high energy, and long
Relating to anyone has its ups and downs
What sustains relationships long-term are ritual routine, regular things that solidify the bond between two people
“Show up, show up regularly! The ups and downs of our hearts and minds are of secondary importance”
I can explain it to you
I cant understand it for you
This is a gift of Jesus
A mine full of precious gems
I’m inviting you to explore and see for yourself
Then we are going to spend some time praying—then discuss it in our groups
