Luke 11:1-4 "The Model Prayer for the Disciples"

Let’s Pray!

Good Morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

I have an exciting announcement this morning! Meghan Sindelar has accepted the role to lead our Children’s Ministry.

Can we give Meghan a round of applause for stepping into this role?

Meghan's heart was stirred some time back, and more recently confirmed at Sunday morning prayer about a month ago.

She comes with a lot of experience, approved character and a calling from God and not man.

So exciting things to come in Children’s Ministry and thank you again Meghan for saying, ‘yes!’

Well, let’s open our Bibles to Luke. Luke 11:1-4 today.

We pick up looking at Jesus’ ministry while traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem for His second to last Jewish feast before the cross.

John 10:22-39 pictures Jesus at the winter Feast of Dedication (or Hanukkah) in December… and only Passover in April remained for Jesus before the cross.

From Luke 10:25 TO 11:13… Luke alone recorded three accounts that focus on the life of disciples.

“The Parable of the Good Samaritan”… a lesson on eternal life and disciple’s relations with neighbors.

“The Priorities of Mary and Martha”… our message last week… a lesson on the one thing needed.

And, “The Model Prayer for the Disciples”… our message title today… a lesson on prayer and relation to the Father.

We will take this teaching on prayer over two weeks…

First, in vv 1-4 with a model framework on how to pray… setting our minds above… and posturing our hearts… as we present our petitions.

Second, in vv 5-13, Jesus shares two parables about prayer… teaching the importance of persistence in prayer… and the good and trustworthy character of God who answers prayer.

So let’s take a look at our passage… and in reverence for God’s word, if you’re able, please stand as I read our passage.

Luke 11:1–4 “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.””

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Before we just into our exposition on these four verses… a little background on this prayer… and prayer in general.

Sometimes when I come to a passage that is so significant, I feel the need to do an introduction and this passage holds such weight.

For we are addressing one of the most important spiritual disciplines… prayer.

The Gk word for prayer in this passage is a general word for prayer, and means “pray, ask, beseech, beg, or plead.”

The most common Hebrew word for prayer is pālal which means “to pray or intercede”… and may have developed from the Heb. word meaning “to fall”… as in to fall prostrate before the Lord.

And The Bible records many different types of prayer… purposes for prayer… and postures of prayer.

Many prayers in the Bible display begin with adoration… progress to confession and thanksgiving… and then arrive at requests…

… putting God first and at the center of the prayer… before ever presenting our needs.

Jesus gives a similar model in this passage, though God does not want your prayer to be a formula…

… where you go through a check list in your mind… “Did I adore God… did I confess sins… did I give God thanks?” Check, check check

What God wants in prayer is an authentic expression from the heart.

I think one of the most powerful prayers we see in scripture is when Jesus told the Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector.

And the powerful prayer came not by the educated Pharisee, but from the shunned Tax Collector who humbly prayed, in Luke 18:13 “‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”

That was the honest and heartfelt prayer… of one broken before God.

So… when we read this Model Prayer in Luke 11… know that the heart behind prayer… is more important than the words of prayer.

Some famous prayers in the Bible, touch on types of… and elements in prayer:

The Lord’s Prayer here in Luke 11 includes Adoration, Submission, Petition, Confession, and Deliverance.

Daniel's Prayer in Daniel 9:3-19 includes Confession, Intercession and Supplication.

Hannah's Prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 includes Praise and Thanksgiving.

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication in 1 Kings 8 includes Worship, Intercession, and National repentance.

Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36-46 includes Lament, Surrender, and Petition.

These vary in focus, but all reflect an honest heart posture in prayer.

The prayer today is a very familiar prayer… most commonly titled “The Lord’s Prayer”… though Jesus is not praying in vv 2-4, but teaching ‘how to pray.’

Jesus would not have personally prayed this prayer… as it includes confession of sin, and asking for forgiveness… of which Jesus had no need… as He was sinless.

Thus the title “The Model Prayer”… is more fitting… as Jesus lays out a pattern of prayer for His disciples.

And Jesus taught this “Model Prayer” twice…

First, in Matt 6 during the “Sermon on the Mount” and here Luke 11…

Matthew’s version has been adopted as the more “liturgical” version recited in many High Churches.

Growing up Catholic… we said this prayer every Sunday… easily these were the first Bible verses I memorized.

But my impression, as a young child, was not so much that the congregation was actually praying… more that they were reciting the prayer… seemingly emotionless and thoughtless.

It felt very rote… as if the adults were merely parroting the prayer.

And this reminds me of Jesus’ instruction to His disciples of one element of what NOT to do in prayer… He instructed in Matthew 6:7 “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions [or meaningless repetitions] as the heathen [or Gentiles] do.”

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray… He differentiated authentic prayer FROM how heathens prayed… like how the false prophets of Baal prayed…

1 Kings 18:26 reads They “… called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered.”

Because no one was home… Baal was a false god.

Same thing in Acts 19… a riot at Ephesus broke out over Christianity… since sales of statues of the false god Diana declined.

The Ephesians grabbed two of Paul’s travel companions, rushed into the theater… and for about two hours they cried out, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

This was vain or empty repetition.

Jewish prayers were this way as well… they recited rote prayers 3x daily, morning, afternoon, and evening.

And in like fashion… that’s what the Lord’s Prayer has become… a vain repetition… a rote prayer without thought or heart attached… just empty liturgy.

I don’t believe that our Lord intended for this prayer to be recited word-for-word because… God cares more about heart posture than simply reciting.

And look… we have to be careful about this when we practice any spiritual discipline.

For God does not approve of religious behaviors IF our heart is in the wrong place.

And at Jesus’ future Judgment Seat in heaven, believers are rewarded for works done for His glory…

But will suffer loss for works done with the wrong motive.

Those works will be exposed and will be burned like wood, hay, and stubble.

Not that we’ll lose our salvation, but we will lose eternal rewards.

So often in scripture, Jesus taught about matters of the heart.

He condemned hypocrisy of looking good on the outside but inward having selfish motivations… Jesus called people like this ‘hypocrites.’

Gk hupokritēs meaning “an actor”… one who puts on a false display of virtue…

A word that traces back to Greek theater, where stage- actors wore masks… even changing masks between scenes.

They were pretenders… one might say “two-faced”… embodying a role representing a reality that was not truly theirs.

One time scribes and Pharisees questioned Jesus why His disciples transgressed the tradition of the elders.

And Jesus cited various ways the scribes and Pharisees transgressed the commandment of God… and said in Matthew 15:7–8 “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.”

Jesus called them out for praying to look good, but having hearts that were distant from God.

When Jesus taught this Model Prayer or Lord’s Prayer during the Sermon on the Mount… He told His disciples in Matthew 6:5–6 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

There’s nothing wrong with praying in a group of people or praying out loud… Jesus did this often.

Matthew 18:20 states, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

You should pray out loud and with people.

But if one prays to be heard by people… and not by God… that’s an issue.

And a private prayer closet removes that temptation.

About 8x in the Gospels Jesus was recorded praying in solitude… which is the point of a prayer closet…

His just happened to be alone on a mountain, a desert, or garden.

You can pray in solitude in your bedroom, your car… just find a place without distraction to ‘get alone with God.’

Because God likes sincere prayer, and as Jesus said “your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

The hypocrites… or Jewish religious leaders… found their reward or satisfaction in being noticed by people publicly.

“Oh how eloquent he is!”… “Oh what a powerful prayer that was!”

That was their reward.

They weren't really praying to God; they were performing for people.

Their pride was being fed… their ego was being stroked…

They weren’t truly tapping into the supernatural and communicating with God… their hearts were set upon a human audience for… the praise of men.

So… understand the importance of heart posture behind prayer… as we now look at the words and intent behind this prayer.

Jesus felt it important to first teach “how NOT to pray” in Matt 6:5-8… telling His disciples “… do not be like them.” (referring to hypocrites).

Which is a good reminder for us… to always check our hearts… as we enter into prayer.

So… with that… again we read in V1 “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

V1 begins with Jesus praying, at an unspecified location probably near Bethany around Mary and Martha’s home… about two miles outside Jerusalem.

There are some 20 occasions in the gospels where it’s recorded that Jesus prayed.

And Luke makes note of these moment more than any other Gospel writer. Up to 15x, Luke notes Jesus praying.

Which is not surprising because Luke thematically captured Jesus’ humanity… Jesus as the man.

And how important is it for mankind to depend on prayer… just as Jesus did… and Luke emphasized?

It’s very important… if Jesus depended upon prayer, how much more for us to be dependent upon prayer?

And sadly… we often forget about prayer… and the impact of prayer.

Prayer is something that we have no excuse not to do. You can get fired from your job for evangelizing… for speaking the name of Jesus…

But who would know it… if you mastered silent prayer… and prayed without ceasing… even in a hostile environment.

You could be like an intercessory prayer ninja.

We read in V1 Jesus finished praying… and I wonder, ‘how did the disciples know He was finished?’

I doubt He announced, “I’m done praying now!”

No… something must have changed about His posture… where He either stopped praying audibly… or broke out of the stillness of prayer…

But, Jesus never taught that a specific posture was the correct way to pray. Certainly it’s not part of the Lord’s prayer.

So prayer posture can look an number of ways… eyes closed or open… standing, sitting, or kneeling… hands folded or not.

Folded hands and closed eyes is only a Christian tradition… NOT a biblical prescription.

But that’s how… most of us pray.

That’s how I often pray… eyes closed to avoid the distractions of the world… and centering one’s mind on above.

Perhaps don’t do that while driving… just a thought.

But, as far as Jesus’ actual pray posture… scripture captures moments of Jesus’ various prayer postures…

Sometimes He prayed with His Eyes Lifted to Heaven, which was a very Jewish posture in prayer:

As in John 11:41 “Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”

Also in John 17:1.

At meals when He reclined… it’s assumed… reclining was His posture.

When I pair reclining and praying… the result is sleeping. Maybe you can relate?

When He was in crowds and prayed, it’s assumed He was standing.

And in one of the most real and raw moments of Jesus’ life… at the Garden of Gethsemane… Just prior to His arrest, passion, and the cross… Jesus was recorded praying both kneeling and prostrate/ face to the ground:

Luke 22:41 records, “He knelt down and prayed,”

Matthew 26:39 records, “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed…

And both were true… He fell to His knees and then fell to His face.

But again… a specific physical posture is never emphasized in Scripture… and always more important than our physical posture… is the posture of our heart.

Are we truly praying to God… or are we praying out of obligation? Or to be seen by others?

And here in this scene… the disciples… who had no doubt witnessed Jesus pray many times know that He was finished praying.

And they knew His prayer life… they knew He was dedicated to prayer… that He believed in prayer… that He modeled prayer… prayer was the fuel to the fire of His ministry… as there was power in connecting to the Father and to His will.

They saw prayer as the thing Jesus did before the thing that happened, and they want to pray like He does.

Thus in V1 “one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.”

As mentioned earlier… Jesus already taught this lesson on prayer about 1.5 years prior during the Sermon on the Mount…

But one noticeable difference between then and here in Luke 11… is that this teaching on prayer is prompted by the disciples asking, “Lord, teach us to pray...”

So, Jesus repeats the Lord’s Prayer again… almost word for word. And repetition is so necessary in our spiritual walk.

Notice… this disciple didn’t ask, “Lord, teach us WHAT to pray...”

They’re not asking for Jesus to ‘teach them a prayer’…

They grew up hearing many prayers being Jewish…

Synagogue prayers, temple prayers, prayers expressed in Psalms, blessings before meals, public prayers.

They didn’t need words to memorize…

They were watching Jesus and immediately after He finished praying… they wanted to learn how to connect to the Father in the distinct way they continually observed in Jesus.

I mean… don’t you want that… don’t you want to pray like Jesus did?

I do… Imagine ALWAYS praying with the right priorities… to not be shy in asking… and asking persistently… and praying in ABSOLUTE confidence of the Father’s goodness.

Lord… let this be our heart whenever we come boldly to the throne of grace…

I want that to be my prayer life always… but I know this is a area where I’m still growing… I know I get it wrong… with my heart attitude or my words.

And in some sense it would seem that the disciples were feeling this too… they recognized the disparity between their prayer life… and Jesus’.

So… humbly they come to Jesus and ask… “teach us to pray”…

The Greek uses the infinitive "to pray", which is not to say, "teach us a prayer."

The emphasis is on the activity… “Teach us HOW to pray.”

And as John the Baptist was a teacher or Rabbi to his students or disciples… and gave them instructions on prayer.

Jesus’ disciples desire instruction in the area of prayer… that would characterize His disciples.

Thus, this is sometimes called “The Disciples Prayer.”

What’s fascinating is that OF ALL the things they could have asked… they chose prayer.

Never is it recorded that the disciples ask Jesus… teach us to preach… or teach us to heal… or teach us to raise the dead…

They ask ‘teach us to pray!”

And so Jesus responds giving them NOT a script… but instruction with a model or a pattern… and next week we will see He shares with them two parables…

To emphasize persistence and dependence in prayer… addressing the attitude behind a disciples prayer.

And then addressing the character of God… to increase the disciple’s confidence in the Father’s goodness.

V2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Not “say”… like in a certain tone… or in Latin… or Old English… "O my Father which art in heaven, incline Thine ear unto my prayer."

Prayer is not about thunderous tones… or a long-winded eloquent speech…

Jesus shares a simple and brief prayer… just 59 words… which would take about 1 minute to pray.

It stands opposite to the prayers of heathens which Jesus described in, Matt 6:7 “For they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

It stood opposite of Jewish prayers. Guzik noted, “The Rabbis had sayings like: “Whoever is long in prayer is heard” and “Whenever the righteous make their prayer long, their prayer is heard.”

Spurgeon said, “Christians’ prayers are measured by weight, and not by length. Many of the most prevailing prayers have been as short as they were strong.”

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Ecclesiastes 5:2 declares, “Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.”

I mentioned earlier the false prophets of Baal that chanted from from morning until noon.

In comparison, Elijah prayed 1 Kings 18:36–37 “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

64 words… about a minute long prayer… and the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice.

Now… balance this with verses like… Luke 6:12 when Jesus prayed to select His Twelve Apostles which reads, “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”

Wow. All night in pray… that’s much longer than a 1 minute prayer.

Or Luke 18:1 “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,”

Or 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing,”

That’s a really long time.

There’s actually no contradiction or tension in these verses.

The distinction lies in quality versus quantity.

It’s perfectly acceptable to pray an extended pray that engages God… is rooted in genuine need and submission to His will…

Versus careless wordiness which is unnecessary noise.

So… check your heart posture in prayer…

Does your prayer life reflect a belief that God owes you an answer because you took the time to reach out?

Or because you eloquently wove a prayer together that rivaled the tongues of angels?

Are you confident in your performance?

Or does your prayer express the cry of a humble heart that desperately needs God’s intervention and absolutely depends on Him?

So Jesus lays out a simple guide… because no one would remember the “how to pray all night long guide...”

And the model that begins with 3 petitions vertically focused (His name, His kingdom, His will)…

And then shifts to 3 horizontal petitions (Our needs, our sins, our temptations).

Beginning in V2 with “Our Father in heaven,...”

The prayer begins “Our Father”… expressing relationship. You can’t pray this prayer without faith in Jesus Christ who paid the price for sin… and redeems us back into relationship with God.

But, through faith… one enters into relationship and into the family of God.

Unbelievers may throw up a prayer to ‘the big man upstairs,’ or to their ‘higher power,’ or to ‘God’ in general, but after accepting Christ and being reconciled to God, a tender relationship begins… intimacy forms, and we have the privilege to call God ‘Our Father.’

Some are a little fearful to approach the Father in prayer.

For Jews, it was foreign to call God “Father.”

There are relatively few places in the OT where God is referred to as Father, and in those instances Father comes by way of analogy.

In John 5:18, Jews sought to kill Jesus… because He said “God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”

But Jesus opens the door… instructing His disciples to pray to “Our Father.”

Don’t be afraid… He’s our loving heavenly Father… He’s not an abusive earthly father.

He’s Father God… He’s not the Godfather… you’re not gonna swim with the fishes if you approach Him in prayer.

Some have been taught that they need an intermediary between them and Father God.

Like a Priest or a saint.

But after Jesus died… Mark 15:38 reads, “Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”

Because Jesus is our High Priest… Hebrews 4:16 declares, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

And that’s for any believing Jew or Gentile… Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14 that Jesus “...has broken down the middle wall of separation,”

There’s no obstacle to come to the Father… and Jesus models here that our prayers should be addressed to “Our Father.”

Some people begin their prayers, “Dear Jesus”… and I think their heart is right… which is the main point.

But I prefer to begin my prayer saying, “Father” and end my prayer “in Jesus’ name.”

It’s what I see modeled in scripture… like here in this prayer.

Jesus began His prays consistently to the Father…

Matt 11:25 “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth...”

Jn 11:41, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”

John 12:28, “Father, glorify Your name.”

Jn 17:1 “Father, the hour has come...”

Matthew 26:39 “O My Father…”

From the cross there 7 statements and 3 are prayers…

Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Matt 27:46, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

And Luke 23:46, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ”

Notice… the second prayer from the cross was the only recorded prayed where Jesus did not address God as Father… but as His God. Why?

This was a direct quote from Ps 22:1… drawing the hearer’s mind to a messianic psalm that foretold the passion and cross…

And it was in this moment Jesus was taking on the full weight of sin and drinking the cup of God’s wrath on sin.

Sin separates us from God. Thus, in this moment, Jesus prayed to God the Judge, and not to His Father.

But before Jesus breathed His last breath once again He prayed to His Father… “Father, ‘into your hands I commit My spirit.’” Once again Jesus could call upon His Father, for the price of sin was paid and doorway to mankind’s redemption was open.

And Jesus’ second to last words were, “It is finished” meaning “paid in full.”

He conquered sin and brought man back into relationship with the Father… for all who believe in Him.

If you’re here today, and you’ve never trusted Jesus as your Savior… come see me at the back after service… I’d love to hear your heart and invite you to believe in Him today.

But, back to prayer… feel free to address God however you want, so long as it with reverence and authentic.

But, based on Jesus’ example, when I pray, I begin with “Father.”

And, I close prayer “In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Because 6x in John 14-16 (The Uppper Room Discourse), Jesus tells believers to ask "in My name,"

As in John 15:16 “… whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

And this prayer begins, not just to “Our Father”, but to “Our Father in heaven.”

This speaks about the Father’s sovereignty in heaven. He is God in heaven above.

He is over everything. He is all powerful.

This is who you are praying to… who you are crying out to… and this should give you confidence in your prayer.

His hand is not short… He is the God of the universe.

Our prayers should not be weak, but should be prayers of faith.

Find comfort in his sovereignty, and pray knowing He is God in heaven.

We’re not throwing a coin into a wishing well… hoping luck is on our side.

We’re not making a wish on a shooting star…

Or rubbing a lucky rabbit’s foot…

I hope you’re not doing that!

And we’re not crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

Prayer is superstition… It's not a shot in the dark.

Prayer is approaching the throne of the God who reigns in heaven.

So, before you ever ask anything in prayer… KNOW WHO you are praying to.

Isa 59:1 declares, “His hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.”

And the prayer continues in V2, “Hallowed be Your name.”

Jesus in not merely teaching for us to declare that God’s name is holy. He’s not making a statement about God’s nature.

This is important to grasp, but it reframes what’s mistakenly thought of as a declaration… to a request or petition.

It’s not, “Your name is holy.”

But, "May Your name be treated as holy." -or- "May Your name be honored, revered, and set apart."

In the Bible, a person's name, often represented the person himself… to speak about their character, reputation, authority, and nature.

Psalm 9:10 states, “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

So, Jesus taught His disciples to begin prayer by asking for God’s name to be holy… for Him to be honored, revered, glorified… IN our prayer.

It’s a hard prayer that yields my desire… and elevates His name’s recognition over my want.

Like, "Father, help me live in a way that honors You."

“Father, you know the circumstance… would you be glorified in it?”

Can we pray that even if God is glorified best in our discomfort?

Paul prayed three times for relief from infirmities… and God told Him, “No.”

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:8–10 “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

God used the infirmity to keep Paul humble… and Paul didn’t crawl into a hole…

He reoriented his thinking to taking pleasure in infirmities and all kinds of hard circumstances… recognizing the hard served a spiritual purpose…

In his personal weakness… Christ’s strength best operated… it was more visible.

People knew Paul didn’t have the strength in His suffering… and yet when He continued writing… and raising up churches… and sharing the Gospel when most people would shrink back…

God was recognized as the source of power…

Victory came not by Paul’s strength… or Paul’s resources… but by God.

It was all, as Paul wrote, “for Christ’s sake”… for His glory.

And this sets the tone for everything that follows in the Model Prayer.

Before asking God to meet our needs, Jesus teaches us to desire God's glory.

So often we have this order reversed… and dwell upon our need…

Sometimes our need is all we focus upon… and we just skip expressing a desire for God to be glorified in our prayer.

When God‘s glory… not our glory… is the foremost thing that we should be seeking in our lives and in our prayers

Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Jesus continues, “Your kingdom come.”

How many of us have prayed this prayer and didn’t even realize that it has a eschatological reality to it?

I could preach a whole sermon on “Your kingdom come” alone.

When we pray, we should desire for the prophetic timeline to advance…

For Jesus to return in His Second Coming… and usher in His kingdom.

The Bible foretells of a literal return of Jesus Christ… where He will reclaim earth… and imprison Satan.

There will 1000 literal years where He reigns visibly on earth… and us with Him (Matt 19:28).

There will perfect justice… the perfect government…

Imagine that? We look around and there are so many injustices on earth… so much corruption… and abuse.

Politicians aren’t going to fix the issues… what will is…

Thy kingdom come… it’s the end of all injustice.

Peace and Harmony will be restored on Earth similar to Eden… long life spans… no more war.

It will be wonderful… You can read about this in Rev 20… Isa 11… Zech 14:16-19… Ps 2… and many other passages.

At the end of the 1000 years… Eternity is ushered in… which is beautifully depicted and packed with promises in Rev 21-22.

Thy Kingdom come looks forward to this reality of Jesus Christ’s return. It should be in our prayers… and a desire of our hearts.

For in His kingdom coming… truly this is the answer to our prayers…

In eternity it is promised in Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.””

Just imagine that. How glorious. To be in the presence of God… no more time… no more pressure… no more sin… the hard of this life will be gone.

When Lazarus died, Jesus groaned in the spirit and was troubled seeing Lazarus’ sister Mary weep.

Because death was not part of God’s original design. Adam and Eve would have lived in Eden forever had they not disobeyed leading to the fall of mankind… and the reality we now know.

And look… it’s a wonderful thing to receive a healing. It was a wonderful thing for Mary and Martha when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

But Lazarus died again. My wife was healed from a 2.5’ long blood clot… I was delivered from alcoholism…

But our days are numbered.

Thy Kingdom Come… is the answer to our prayers.

Or Rapture… or the promise from Jesus, “Becasue I live, you will live also.”

Though we die physically, because of faith in Christ, we live eternally.

To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord.

But, I’d prefer… “Thy Kingdom come.”

Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

This is a statement of surrendering our will to His will and expresses our desire to see His will accomplished throughout the world… as it is in heaven.

Not just His will in the Kingdom coming, but His will in our lives…

And if we trust Him… we should be at peace to ask for His will to be accomplished in our lives.

It’s a recognition and willful submission to Him as Lord, meaning “master”… and trusting that He knows what’s best for us.

In Matthew 6:8 Jesus said, “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

If we trust Him, we should be content to pray “Your will be done.”

Jesus modeled this better than anyone… in the Garden, during His hour of trial, He prayed these exact words… Matthew 26:42 “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.””

What lie ahead for Jesus was terrible, but it was God’s will… to redeem mankind.

And in harmony with God’s will… Jesus add the petition for heavenly conditions to become earthly reality.

In heaven, angels and saints willingly offer praise and submit to His authority and our prayers should reflect a desire to see that scene on earth.

So Jesus models all these things being prayed first… before even raising a single personal petition.

And when we change the focus of our prayer… where we’re praying for his glory… for His kingdom… and His will…

… we recalibrate our heart… and adjust our focus.

V3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

So NOW… once God is reverenced… Jesus models we present our personal petitions to God...

First, in asking for those things we need for today. Needs not greeds.

In the first century, they didn’t have refrigeration, so people bought their food daily. And this looks to relying on God to be our daily provider… our daily sustainer.

In Exodus 16, Israel wandered in the wilderness were supplied manna daily… and they had to trust the God would supply the next day… and the next day…

They were told not to keep the manna for the next day. Though they did and it bred worms and stank.

They had to be totally dependent on God.

As should we… looking to Him and living in a continual state of dependence on Him.

He doesn’t say weekly bread… or monthly bread… or yearly bread…

He wants us to daily come to Him because He desires our fellowship… and intimacy that comes from a place of trusting Him… and looking to Him and NOT ourselves as our supply.

For we have that tendency… Proverbs 30:8–9 reads, “Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me; 9 Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.”

And even as we navigate the hard in life, maybe our daily bread prayer sounds like, “Lord, I know you may not answer this prayer today, but give me what I need in this day to get through this day.

That’s our daily bread.

V4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

For believers… forgiveness of sins is not in the sense of justification… we are already saved from the penalty of sin.

This petition is forgiveness of sin… to maintain fellowship with God.

1 John 1:6 declares, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

So John instructed for believers to confess our sins… and God would be faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Because if we won’t humble ourselves… we break fellowship… several passages like Isaiah 59:2 testify of this, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”

And our willingness to forgive others demonstrates our understanding of how much we have been forgiven by God.

Ephesians 4:32 instructs, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

How hypocritical is it for us NOT to forgive others?

In fact to not do so… fractures our relationship with God.

In Matthew 6:15 Jesus said, “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

In a passage where Peter addressed relationship dynamics… he warned how unresolved conflicts were a barrier to prayer… 1 Peter 3:7 reads, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”

Thus the importance to ask for forgiveness and to extend forgiveness… for God takes this matter seriously.

Lastly, we read, “And do not lead us into temptation”

There is a tendency for Christians to be overconfident and to be tempted to sin or to complacency.

There is a tendency to stop reading the Bible… and to drift from prayer… and from the Lord.

When this happens… one’s mind focuses on this life… and the world… perhaps leading to overt sinful behavior at worst…

Or spiritual complacency at best. Neither of which is good.

So Jesus instructs His disciples to prayer to avoid temptation… which could be rendered “trials”… one translation reads “a hard testing.”

Which in a positive light is a request to remain faithful to God.

Not all translations include “But deliver us from the evil one.”

But the idea is a cry from rescue from Satan… for He accuses believers day and night before God.

He put temptations in our path hoping we will fall.

He throws fiery darts… to stumble us… hoping we will fall.

And this is how this prayer ends… with a humble and healthy distrust of our human nature to resist temptation.

We must look to God for His strength… for Him to give us victory… and then we can even more give Him glory.

And in all things Jesus did… He did to the glory God…

And that’s what this prayer is about. It’s about giving glory to God in our situations or circumstances or provisions or trust or trials.

And in this God is glorified in our lives.

Let’s pray!

If you need prayer, we will have people to pray with you on the sides as we close in song.

“The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’”

God bless you as you enter the week ahead!