The Model Prayer

Text: Matthew 6:5-13

Intro

We are in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. As Jesus is teaching about important subjects such as anger, oath, divorce and remarriage, murder, and many others, Jesus takes almost half a chapter to talk about prayer. It is evident that Jesus finds prayer important. This Summer on Wed. nights, we have been studying the prayers of Jesus. Tonight, we have what is probably the most well-known prayer of Jesus. It is recited in many different settings, put on home decor, and even included in some songs. However, while this prayer is well-known, I wonder how often we look deeply into this beautiful prayer.

2 very important principles of prayer

The wrong mindset (Matthew 6:5, 7)

Don’t make Prayer about how you appear

Jesus refers to a group of people who say one thing but practice another completely different (hypocrites). jesus calls us not to be like these people who go into public places and stand and pray. This is so they may be seen by men and appear righteous. They want to give the notion that they are incredibly righteous and people need to see how righteous they are. What a horrible way to pray! Prayer is not about how you look on the outside

In verse 7, Jesus refers to the Gentiles and how their prayers are full babbling or repetitious words. The Gentiles to this so that they “may be heard for their many words.” In addition to the fact that Jesus teaches our prayers need to be meaningful and genuine, he also instructs us not to be repetitious. How many times when we pray do we use the same phrases over and over again? I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray for such things, but let’s some consideration to whether or not the things we are saying are just filler words or actual, meaningful words

The right mindset (Matthew 6:6, 8)

After Jesus teaches the wrong mindset to prayer, He then focuses on what we should do instead. First, he shows us that when we pray, we are to “go into our rooms, shut the door, and pray to our father who is in secret.” Now, would it be wise of us to say that public prayer is forbidden by Jesus? No! Rather, what Jesus is teaching by this statement is that prayer should be reserved for settings in which there is no possibility for it to be noticed by others. One of the most common places for prayer is in the worship assembly. (Explain why worship assembly prayer is allowed. For us to have public prayer is absolutely ok). It is important that when we pray, we take this into account.

Jesus also teaches us that we must not be repetitious because God already knows what we need. This shows us that we must have a consistent prayer life. God wants a relationship with us! If we want to bring out needs and wants to Him, we ought to go through prayer. Prayer is about the one praying and the one being prayed to.

Now that we have looked at two mindsets of prayer and which one we ought to have, let’s consider Jesus’ outline for prayer. I recognize that this series is over the prayers of Jesus. However, I would make the case to you that this is not a prayer prayed by Jesus Himself. Rather, what he is doing is giving us an outline of how our prayers should look like.

Acknowledge God’s Reverence

You will notice when a prayer begins, it usually starts with phrases such as “dear heavenly father, father.” or something to that effect. This is not a habit or tradition. What is going on here is that Jesus is acknowledge the reverence we have for God and the authority He has over us. God the Lord, the one we are bringing our prayers to, deserves our respect and honor.

This also goes to show that when we pray, it should be in a way that is holy and serious. We must honor God as the holy and all-powerful master.

There is something else I want us to notice about this passage. How many times have you used the word “hallowed” outside of saying this prayer. Last I checked, not many if at all. A small study of the Greek will give you this root word (pronounce Greek word which means to “consecrate or sanctify.” Thus, when Jesus prayed this prayer, He prays that God’s name would be sanctified or set apart. This again shows us the holiness that surrounds the name of God. He is set apart from anything else we may think of or do. He is the mighty God.

Pray for God’s Will to Happen

After acknowledging God’s holiness, Jesus then prays that God’s kingdom would come and his will be done on Earth as is in Heaven. This teaches us that we are to pray that whatever God wants to do in our life, we would let Him do as much or as little as he sees fit.

Jesus also teaches us to pray for His kingdom to come. In this world today, there is a plethora of evil that is happening. Wouldn’t it be great for the Lord, who, we have already established has all authority and rules our life, to rule over all of us?

Bringing Heaven to Earth

Earth is never going to be perfect, but as God’s will is being done in Heaven, we as the church must look to bring that will to Earth. This entire section has to do with God’s kingdom. If we have joined the kingdom, it is important that we go and tell as many people as possible about the kingdom (ref. Matthew 3:2 ““Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” , Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” )

Pray for Simple blessings

After Jesus prays for God’s kingdom on the Earth, He then teaches us to pray for simple blessings. Notice that this is not something that is grand. Rather, he shows us that all we ask God for is the things that we need. Give us this day our “daily” bread or bread for tomorrow.

When we think about our prayer, it is good to pray for the Lord’s blessings. However, we must ensure not to get caught up in asking for too much.

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Pray for God’s forgiveness

Jesus then proceeds to teach that we ought to pray for forgiveness of sins.

Psalm 130:3 says “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” We sin all the time! It is so important that we ask God to forgive us of our sins.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

To be forgiven, we must forgive others

If you would give me some grace, I want to skip down to what Jesus says in verses 14 and 15. I believe this section of scripture

Pray for obedience

Should the last part of the model prayer be included?

There has been discussion in recent years (and by years, it’s probably fair to say decades) of whether or not this prayer ends with “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”

You might notice that there are versions of scripture that do not contain this phrase and others that do. Before I go any further, I should say that this is not an issue or a hill I am going to die on. The reason for this is that if you want to include this in your prayers, having a doxology, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing such (ref. 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.”) However, after discussing this with a brother in Christ, who I consider to be well researched in early church manuscripts and church history,

Our prayers should be meaningful and relevant