Praying Like Jesus

Matthew 6:5–15 NIV

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today 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 the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

INTRODUCTION

A mother asked her child if he learned anything at Sunday school, and in response, he said he learned that God's name is Howard.

The mother was confused and asked how he figured that out.

The child replied, "Because in the prayer, we all said, 'Our Father who art in heaven, Howard be thy name.'"

Well we are going to break down the Lord’s Prayer today, as promised, and because that will take some time and I know we are all getting watery mouths form the food getting ready in the kitchen, I’m going to do a very quick review and then we will get right into it, and then we will tie up any loose ends next week. (P)

We are coming into lesson 3 of our series, Establishing a Relationship with God Through Prayer.

We started by talking about the importance of quiet, finding that silent space, removing all distractions, because it’s hard to have solid, meaningful time with God if our senses, our brains, and our hearts, are on anything and everything but God.

Last week, we talked about listening. It’s very easy to talk, not so easy to turn off our thinking to hear what other people, or especially God, might be trying to tell us. (P)

How can we get into a space where our focus is so intently on God that we literally think about nothing else, and we have no trouble hearing Him?

That’s a challenge for all of us, but it’s achieved by really working at these practices of being quiet and listening. (P)

In a publication called Luther’s Tabletalk, an anonymous author shares this insight we can gain from Martin Luther’s puppy, of all things.

When Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, 'Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise, he has no thought, wish, or hope."

That’s the space we really want to be in when we pray. (P)

Furthermore, we don’t need to bog ourselves down with all the stereotypical details of prayer and get all worried about whether or not we’re doing it right, which only adds to our decreased focus.

You know what I’m talking about:

You think you have to be in exactly the right posture with hands folded, eyes closed, heads bowed.

You think you have to say exactly the right thing.

If you don’t hear a booming voice speak to you, you think you didn’t pray right.

But prayer isn’t that complicated of a science. Sure, eyes closed helps with focus, a bowed head and praying on your knees help with humility and submission. But there are times you can pray when none of those things is necessary...or even recommended, like driving, for instance. (P)

So today, we’re going to talk about the things we say in prayer, which can also cause people some anxiety.

I don’t know what to say.

I don’t want to talk too much.

I don’t want to talk too little.

I don’t want to say the wrong thing and make God mad.

Legitimate concerns, but hopefully today you will be relieved to know that we don’t need to stress ourselves out over prayer.

Prayer is just a genuine dialogue with God. You’re just talking to Him! (P)

And this is where the Lord’s prayer can be a very helpful model, which is what we’ll look at today. And because of time, we will do a very brief To Be Continued next week with some other helpful hints and models before we talk about God’s answers. (P) {CLICK}

THE LORD’S PRAYER AS A MODEL

A few weeks ago, when we talked about verses 5-8 of this Matthew 6 text, where Jesus teaches about prayer, I drew some attention to verse 7, where Jesus calls us away from making our prayers showy and wordy, just to draw attention to ourselves.

Specifically, he criticized the use of what the New King James Version calls vain repetitions. That had us thinking about prayers that perhaps we repeat, maybe just because they sound good, or we’ve always prayed that way, and I dared make the comment that, for some people, The Lord’s prayer can and does fall into this category, including for your pastor.

Now, I tried to clarify then, and I want to emphasize that clarification again, that that was in no way a knock on the Lord’s Prayer, or a suggestion that we not say The Lord’s Prayer. It’s just a caution to be mindful of how much we are seeking to understand and mean the words we say when praying that prayer.

I also mentioned that we can use and view the Lord’s Prayer as a helpful guide to pray in a more refreshing way, when we understand what I believe was Jesus’ intent in teaching that prayer, which was to give us suggested categories of what to pray for.

Again, that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t say the Lord’s Prayer, but when we understand the categories He lays out for us, we can personalize each of those categories to what is going on in our lives:

What can I praise God for?

What can I thank Him for?

What could I use help with?

What do I need forgiven for - or -

Who do I need help to forgive?

So understanding those categories gives us, in essence, a prompt or a boost anytime we want to pray and are struggling with what to say. (P)

There are five categories, with a possible sixth one that I’ll mention at the end, the first one being: {CLICK}

1. Praise and Worship: We acknowledge the who, where, and power of our God.

The who and the where are easy enough - but I have a feeling we don’t give it near the attention and contemplation it deserves.

Our Father who art in Heaven...

Heaven, of course, describes the name of the main hub, if you will, of His Kingdom. We know it’s a perfect place where He dwells and the place the believer will reside with Him one day. But I call it a hub because we will see in a moment that that Kingdom, or the influence of that Kingdom, does not just stay up there alone. (P)

But that word Father, how powerful. (P)

Yes, He is the great God of the universe, creator of all things, who stands in perfect holiness. He deserves our reverence and respect and adoration, and He is certainly mighty and powerful - but, contrary to what we may fear, He’s not one who is looking to zap or destroy anyone who looks at Him funny or says a word out of place in a prayer.

He’s our loving Father who desires that relationship, honesty, and transparency with us. And that’s why we don’t need to get all worried about praying the wrong way. If we are genuine and sincere, I don’t think there is such a thing.

The only thing He gets upset with is when we push Him away or choose not to pray at all. (P)

And you hear those words of longing in Jeremiah 3:19: {CLICK}

Jeremiah 3:19 NIV

“I myself said, ‘How gladly would I treat you like my children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me.

And in acknowledging who He is, forget about what He’s done, though that’s significant, too, but just who He is merits the praise and worship due Him. (P)

That’s the next part of this first category: Hallowed be thy name. We think of the identity of God the Creator and God the Father, and we shall not forget the holiness, honor, or purity attached to that name. {CLICK}

Malachi 1:11 NIV

My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

And then, when we truly understand just how magnificent a God we are talking about, and then acknowledge all He’s done for us to boot, it should lead us to never-ending praise and worship, concluding that that must indeed be the most important part of our prayer. (P)

One commentator, Stuart K. Weber, says:

We must come before God with an attitude of reverence for God’s perfection (in contrast to our imperfection), his wisdom (in contrast to our foolishness), his power (in contrast to our impotence), and his love (in contrast to our selfishness).

When we understand the depths of statements like that, which help us understand the depth of the amazing majesty and holiness of God, that should be enough.

But then we realize there are several more categories of prayer.

Number 2: {CLICK}

2. Seeking/Submission: We acknowledge who calls the shots.

Indeed, one of the toughest components of prayer.

This section in verse 10 of Matthew 6 has three simple, but profound, parts.

Your Kingdom come.

We started talking a little about this. We said that when we think of God’s Kingdom, we think of Heaven, and that’s not incorrect. That’s certainly the hub of where He is and where he operates.

But as John the Baptist would imply in Matthew 3:2, the Kingdom of God, in reality, is wherever Christ dwells.

That’s why John said just moments before Jesus came onto the scene: {CLICK}

Matthew 3:2 NIV

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

{CLICK}

And now we know that, for the believer, Jesus dwells in our hearts, with the hope that we would take Him to the people around us who also need to get to know Jesus and become acquainted with His Kingdom.

The goal, then, is for this to become a global event - Jesus going around the world from person to person as each one makes a life-saving commitment to Him, because of the work of His followers. (P)

That’s why we built our vision and mission around this concept of spreading the gospel, reaching other people, and we talk so much about it. We can’t truly mean it when praying, your Kingdom come, if we aren’t willing to be the ones, as commanded, to take it to others. (P)

And because this plan of salvation, from which we all benefit, was such an undertaking with so many moving parts -

the coming of Christ,

the recruiting of His disciples,

His death and resurrection,

the birth of His church by those disciples,

and its need to continue through us -

...this can all be completed successfully only by His leading.

And we must, therefore, trust that through all of this, God knows exactly what He’s doing, hence the second part of this section:

2. Thy will be done. (P)

Yes, we all have ways we prefer things to be, which is why we pray for the things we want, which will be the next segment of the Lord’s Prayer we will get to momentarily.

As we’ve discussed many times, even Jesus had to submit to this trust in His Father. Of course He didn’t want to go through the agony He was about to endure. I mean, He did, in the sense that He loved us, and wanted us to be saved so we could dwell with Him, and that’s why He was willing to come down and ultimately go through it.

But who wouldn’t, knowing what Jesus was about to experience, wish for another way and have second thoughts about going through that torment?

That’s why we find these words in: {CLICK}

Matthew 26:42 NIV

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

Jesus prayed for God’s will because God’s will is the only one that achieves what is best for all His people, ultimately leading to our eternal paradise.

The two worlds are connected - God’s heavenly influence on His children who are on earth, and that’s why the third part of this segment is so important:

3. The desire is for God’s will to be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.

God’s Kingdom is already perfect, because His will was done when He made it that way. For us on Earth to experience that, His will and plan have to proceed as scheduled, even though it sometimes leads to earthly sorrow and difficulty as we navigate the sin and imperfection of this world. At the end of the day, God knows what none of us does, and therefore we must trust Him. (P)

That’s why it’s good to keep all of that in mind as we go to segment number three of the Lord’s Prayer: {CLICK}

3. Supplication: We acknowledge the source of our provision.

This is where we tell Him our wants and needs: Give us this day our daily bread. (P)

And by and large, as the words state, food is a large part of what we are asking for, but we can throw our other personal requests in here as well. Supplication refers to our supply, or gaining everything we need to get by in this life.

Need being the operative word...

God’s not a genie - you’ve heard me say that a couple of times in this series. That doesn’t mean He never gives us what we want, or never seeks to bless us with abundance, but that is not His promise. (P) {CLICK}

Philippians 4:19 NIV

And my God will meet all your needs (not all your wants) according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

He’s the one with the abundance, and all believers will take part in that someday. For now, some gain abundance through the good fortunes they have in life, some do not, but all gain what they need, especially if God is the one they seek for it. (P)

It doesn’t seem like that sometimes, I know, but if you are here today, you obviously have gotten what you needed to survive up to this point. Maybe you would have liked things to be different, or you would have liked more. I think we all go through that.

But I love the way Solomon words it in: {CLICK}

Proverbs 30:8 NIV

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.

Our daily ration - whatever we need for that day. (P)

And we saw that play out for the Israelites in the Wilderness, didn’t we? They wandered through that barren place for 4 decades, and Exodus 16 says that every morning they had the manna, the bread flakes they needed for that day. There it was on the ground; they didn’t have to do anything for it.

And if they doubted God would it again the next day, and they tried to get more than their ration to save for the next day, the Bible says by the next day it would be rotten with maggots.

But, they could walk outside and see the fresh manna out there, as it was every morning. (P)

It’s a hard lesson to learn - the difference between needs and wants, but God is faithful to provide what we need, and then at some point, at a time of His choosing, whether in this life or the life to come only, He will even provide a little extra.

But regardless, abundance is waiting, just hang in there and keep your eyes on and trust in Him. (P)

Fourth, the Lord offers an opportunity for atonement. We call it: {CLICK}

4. Confession/Repentance/Dual Forgiveness: We acknowledge our need to make things right.

Forgive us our debts… (P)

Now that’s a very general statement.

And it’s ok to pray that...but one proof that Jesus meant this to be more of a guide that we put our own words to than just a prayer we regurgitate every day, is a reminder of how John would like us to handle this.

Yes, we want to pray for forgiveness - but there are some important steps he wants to go through first - like confessing to God what we did wrong.

What do we need forgiveness for? (P)

Now, sure, we may not remember everything wrong thing we’ve done - but we can remember enough, and confession to God is a way of acknowledging that we know what we did was wrong, which then leads to repentance - changing our mind - and turning away from those sins.

John says in the first chapter of his first letter that when we do that, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (P)

So in our own prayer time, when we get to that segment of the model prayer, it’s better if we can elaborate on what we know we struggled with that day, ask for God’s help to walk away from that particular sin - name it - and then ask for and confidently receive His forgiveness. (P)

Notice, though, that Jesus doesn’t end it there - He has to throw in this little gem.

Forgive us our sin...as we forgive those who sin against us.

And if that’s not enough, you will notice in verses 14 and 15 that, when the prayer is over, He has to come back and to visit that part yet again! (P)

Later in Matthew, chapter 18, Jesus would tell a parable about why this is so important.

He talks about a certain man who owed the king a ton of money, and because he was so deep in debt, he almost lost everything, including his family. But after begging, the master forgave him - not...gave him more time to pay it off - but forgave him the debt - wiped the slate clean. He no longer had to worry about it, ever, and he lost nothing. What a gift! (P)

But then, on his way home, that same man who had his debt forgiven encountered another person who had owed him some money, insisted he pay, and began to mistreat him and had him thrown into prison. (P)

Now, anyone with half a heart and a quarter of a brain would see what was wrong with that, and get angry with the man for not extending the same kind of grace he had just received. Yet somehow that anger doesn’t carry over and deter many of us from doing the same thing when we find every justification possible for not forgiving someone, yet we dare ask Jesus to forgive us. (P)

People will then counter that rebuke with a non-existent rating system, claiming that what someone did to me was so much worse than what I have ever done to anyone...when it was our sin that led Jesus to the most torment any man ever faced. So, no, our sin is no less severe. (P)

And so when we pray for forgiveness, or we pray anything, with that stain of our own unforgiveness on our hearts, it does something to the genuineness and humility with which we come to God.

It doesn’t make forgiveness easy, for sure, but knowing it is a command from God, we must seek God’s help to forgive others, just as Jesus models in that prayer. (P)

There’s a fifth category of this prayer that takes this forgiveness concept a step further.

You could say that, if asking for forgiveness is the medicine for the disease of sin, then number 5 is the vaccine: {CLICK}

5. Protection: We acknowledge our need for His deliverance.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (P)

This part of the prayer is asking God to keep us protected from making those mistakes in the first place. (P)

Now He does help us, but there are two things we must clarify here.

First, God is not going to tempt us. He may allow us to be tested in certain circumstances we find ourselves in, but He is not going to be the one tempting us to do something we shouldn’t. {CLICK}

James 1:13–15 NIV

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; {CLICK} but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. {CLICK} Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

{CLICK}

And so God would say, and this is the second clarification: I will help you, but you have to do your part, too. Don’t put yourselves in places where you can be easily tempted.

Don’t go to a bar if you have an addiction to alcohol.

Don’t put your computer in an ultra-private place in your home if you struggle with websites on there you shouldn’t be on, and no one can keep you accountable.

If you’re a man, avoid situations where you are alone with women who aren’t your wife, and the same with women not being alone with men who aren’t your husband, if lust is an issue for you.

God will help you, but part of following Him is not veering from His path to one that will, in turn, put you on the road to these temptations.

And finally, a sixth part of the prayer that only shows up in some translations, but that we pretty much always include when we pray the Lord’s prayer, what we call the: {CLICK}

6. Doxology: We acknowledge who all this is about.

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

We don’t know why only some translations have it, but the fact that it is in at least some probably means that Jesus did say it, especially since it has its roots, as so many parts of Jesus’ ministry, in something King David once said in a prayer.

In fact, it seems that this was probably one of his last prayers, because it wasn’t long after this that the Bible says he passed away. {CLICK}

1 Chronicles 29:11–13 NIV

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. {CLICK} Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. {CLICK} Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

All of life is about Him; we aren’t here without Him, and everything we can do is because of Him. And it’s why no amount of busyness is a valid excuse for not making our prayer time with God a foundational part of our day. (P)

CONCLUSION

An anonymous author in an article of Today in the Word shares this powerful thought that we’ll close with:

Early African converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time, the paths to these places became well-worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, "Brother, the grass grows on your path."

Is yours a path that has some grass starting to grow and therefore needs some mowing?

Not with a tractor or weed whacker, of course, but simply by walking the path to your loving Father so often that it wears back down, as perhaps it once was, and you got away from it; or perhaps this concept of praying and knowing what to say had you so apprehensive you never even knew where to begin. (P)

Now you do.

There’s no magic formula, no special order of words. Just a quiet heart, a listening heart, and a sincere heart.

And when you come to prayer that way, you are not only in the right frame of mind to speak with God, but also to receive what He may want to reveal to you when He answers.

That will be next week, with some review first, and talking about, since we ran out of time today, some other fun and unique hints or techniques we can employ in our prayer time when we can’t think of how to pray or what to pray for.

But in the meantime, utilize what we talked about today. Maybe start by using one category per day - use today to praise God, tomorrow can be about seeking His will in some areas in your life you may be having trouble submitting, and so on. And then, on the last day of the week, put it all together.

The Lord’s Prayer is very versatile, but it’s also a guide. Just talk to God. Make time for that. Be intentional about it this week - for starters - and we’ll pick back up next week to wrap this lesson up.