The Introduction to the Lord's Prayer

Luke 11:1–4 CSB

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.” He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say, Father, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.”

Matthew

Matthew 6:9–15 CSB

“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 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 do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.

PRAY:

P: The disciples had a PROBLEM with praying. We have a Problem with Praying.

R: Jesus RESPONDS with the Words of the Lord’s Prayer. Two different Versions, Matthew and Luke.

Matthew 7:7 CSB

“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Y - Yearn to pray

Our FATHER

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

As we have entered the season of Epiphany- the first “ordinary” season of the year, we return to our study of Luther’s Small Catechism as a part of the 500th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation.

During this season we will be looking at the Lord’s Prayer.

Attending church in Kentucky, there was an especially verbal and boisterous child being hurried out, slung under his irate father's arm. No one in the congregation so much as raised an eyebrow -- until the child captured everyone's attention by crying out in a charming Southern accent, "Ya'll pray for me now!" 

Prayer is talking to God. It should be the natural language of the baptized. It is going before our Father in heaven, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and making our requests known to Him.

Only those in Christ can truly pray and have their prayers answered. For without Christ, one is still in his sin. A sinner cannot come into the presence of a Holy God. But in Christ, we are made holy. Our prayers are heard and answered.

Our study today will use the acronym, “PRAY” as our outline.

First, the Disciples, like us, had a PROBLEM with praying, and so they ask Jesus to “teach us to pray.”

Jesus RESPONDS with the words of the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus tells us to boldly ASK the Father for anything.

The Holy Spirit causes us to Yearn to talk with our Father in heaven.

The Disciples had a Problem with Prayer

Prayer does not come naturally. Even though it is a precious gift of God, the disciples found it hard to pray. They often saw Jesus in prayer— deeply speaking to His Father, and they wanted to be able to do this as well.

Fast Forward to 2018, and we find that our prayer life stinks. We want to pray, we long to talk to our Father in heaven, but it just doesn’t happen, at least in the way that we desire it to happen.

Sure, we fire off little prayers here and there. Hopefully we pray each day when we wake up, before and after each meal, and when we go to bed at night. Some use Portals of Prayer or some other devotional material, which is a good start. But do we ever really sit down and have a heart to heart with our Father in heaven? Not usually.

Sometimes, it is hard to squeeze prayer in. Mornings can be hectic as you’re getting ready to leave the house. You get to work, and the busy-ness of the day sets in immediately. You get home, you’re exhausted. Then it is time to eat dinner, you’re tired, so you go to bed. And the next day the cycle begins again. And at the end of the day, if you’ve prayed for 5 minutes total, it’s a lot.

Martin Luther had something to say about prayer and a busy life: “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Now granted, Luther was a Monk, and monks devote their entire life to prayer. But there is something to what Luther says.

So, we find ourselves asking the same request of Jesus as did the disciples. Lord, teach us to pray!.

Jesus Responds with the Lord’s Prayer

Immediately after the disciples ask Jesus he teaches them. He gives them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” or sometimes the “Our Father”.

Actually, Jesus teaches this prayer twice. The first time is in the Sermon on the Mount in . And then there is our text today in Luke- a different setting, and the prayers are slightly different in what is included. The prayer that we use in Church is really a conflation of the two versions.

This prayer can be used as Jesus taught it, word for word. It can also be a model prayer for when we are praying our own prayers to the Lord.

Today, we are going to briefly take up the Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer and the First Petition:

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME.

Notice something here. The prayer does not begin with “Dear Father” or “My Father”, though certainly these things are true. But rather, “OUR” Father.

This emphasizes the community of the Church, the body of Christ. Unfortunately, in many modern congregations, the emphasis is always on “me” and “my personal relationship with Jesus.” Of course, both you and your faith are vital to the Lord. But the New Testament has a lot more to say about “Me” in “Christ” than it does about “Christ in Me.” Both are true. But we never want to hold to one of these truths by excluding the other. OUR is referring to “Us IN Christ” That is why we say “Our”.

And then we call God “FATHER” This is really important as well. Some of the modern translations have taken a step at “heavenly Parent”, but that is neither faithful to the Greek or to the meaning that “Father” conveys. In the Hebrew mindset, the Father is the active participant in creating life, the mother the passive recipient. By calling God “Father” it is calling Him the “creator of all things.” And, He is a tender Father who loves each one of us, and who hears and answers our prayers.

WHO ART IN HEAVEN- God is in heaven, with Jesus seated at His Right Hand. And while “heaven” hasn’t been totally occupied — yet— it will be on the Last Day when the Church, the “OUR” is received into glory forever and ever.

HALLOWED BE THY NAME. Hallowed means “holy”. In praying that God’s name is Holy. His Name is Holy because He is Holy. And sin cannot come into the presence of Holiness. But being baptized into Jesus life, death and resurrection, you have total access to God’s throne.

Ask, and it will be given unto you....

Not only has Jesus qualified you to pray, He encourages you to do so! He tells us

Matthew 7:7 CSB

“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

God is waiting to hear from you.

What can YOU do to help your prayer life become vibrant?

A few thoughts.

First, ask the Holy Spirit to help you in your prayer life. Remember, He is the one who “prays for us” even when we do not know how to pray or what to ask from God. Remember what we sing in Matins? “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will sing forth your praise?” There ya go.

Set aside a time that is the same each day for prayer. It doesn’t have to be long- 5 or 10 minutes to begin, and then you can expand on it. Pray to the Holy Spirit that He would give you the discipline that you need. Sometimes, praying with others helps with this.

Don’t be afraid to use written prayers. The Church has used written and memorized prayers from the beginning. Many of the prayers of the Early Church come directly out of the Temple Liturgy.

Some great devotional books include: The Treasury of Daily Prayer by CPH; For All the Saints by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Some of the online resources like “Let us Pray” are all great tools to assist you in your prayer life.

Keep a list of people, places and things for which you pray.

Pray expecting an answer. Prayer isn’t wishful thinking, but a powerful gift that God Himself created, gives voice to, and grants to us.

Prayer is a conversation with the Lord. You don’t need to be wordy or theologically correct. Speak your heart to the Lord.

Do it.

The Four categories of prayers can be remembered with the word ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.

Pray for your enemies. It’s hard to hate them when you’re praying for them.

Just do it!

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."

This is what Jesus invites you to today.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, Your words give us boldness and confidence to acknowledge You as our true Father and ourselves as Your true children. May Your Holy Spirit lead us to trust in Your fatherly goodness, call upon Your name in every need, and glorify You as the author and giver of every good and perfect gift; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.