Untitled Sermon (59)

23 Elements in the Lord’s Prayer

August 24, 2008 by Sage 1 Comment

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

MAJOR COMPONENTS IN THE MODEL PRAYER !!!!!!!

1…… OUR FATHER………… RELATIONSHIP

RELATIONSHIP: is the way in which two or more people, places or things are connected; or the state of being connected. The way in which two or more people or groups regard and behave toward each other.

Acknowledgement Of His Dwelling Place

God is known as our heavenly Father. Although, His presence is everywhere, but His dwelling place is in heaven. He is seated on His holy throne better known as the throne of grace (). His throne is the center of all authority, power, dominion, and blessings. That’s where He rules the entire universe.

Beloved, it’s such a magnificent privilege that we have as humans to be able to address the infinite and Almighty God in a father and son type of relationship. And when we go to God with our needs and reverently ask Him to answer them, He delights in hearing us as His children whom He loves so much.

Relationships (see also Friendship, Marriage)

Our relationship with God is made possible through Jesus Christ ()

Our relationships should not compromise our faith ()

We are unified with all believers in God’s family ()

Our relationship with Christ is deep and abiding ()

Our relationship with Christ makes us children of God ()[1]

ILLUSTRATION:

The Way to Spiritual Relationships

A natural birth ushers a person into natural, human relationships. To be ushered into spiritual relationships calls for a spiritual birth—a birth from above.

One and the Same

A strange phrase that has crept into our vocabulary in recent years is “born again Christian.” The phrase is redundant. It is like saying “dog dog.” The phrase suggests there is more than one kind of Christian. There is not! If you are born again, you are a Christian. If you are a Christian in the scriptural sense, you have been born again!

Beyond Explanation

A physician said to a pastor, “If you will explain to me the spiritual birth, I will become a Christian.” The pastor replied, “If you will explain the natural birth to me, then I will explain the spiritual birth to you.” Neither is possible. In both cases we can observe and cooperate with certain processes, but we cannot explain the why, apart from the power of God.[2]

2…… WHICH ART IN HEAVEN…RECOGNITION

RECOGNITION: is a noun describing the action or process or the fact of being recognize.

Reverence To His Holy Name

Within this prayer model, we express our deepest and sincerest respect for the name of God by revering His name as holy. There’s truly something of great significance about His name (; ). And it’s a sin to use His name in vain (). So we must be very careful concerning that issue.

Besides, nobody would ever be pleased if someone else was using their name in an improper and disrespectful manner so is a holy and righteous God.

ILLUSTRATION

1874 New Voices At Madison Square Garden

Gil Dodds is the minister’s boy who came out of Nebraska to step off the fastest mile ever run on an indoor track. Time 4.10.6. At the end of a race the crowd wondered when he picked up a microphone to acknowledge their applause and said: “I thank the Lord for guiding me through the race, and seeing fit to let me win. I thank Him always for His guiding presence.” The rafters of Madison Square Garden must have trembled; these were new words there. “I don’t win those races. God wins them. You see, God has given me all I have. I have one great lack. I didn’t have the one thing the coaches say a long-distance runner simply must have. I couldn’t sprint at the end of the mile. But God took care of that. In place of the sprint he gave me stamina.” And that is correct. Dodds sprints the whole distance. He sets a killing pace all the way.

—Christian Herald

1875 “What Hath God Wrought!”

In conversation with Professor S. F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, the Rev. George W. Hervey asked this question:

“Professor Morse, when you were making your experiments yonder in your room in the university, did you ever come to a stand, not knowing what to do next?”

“Oh, yes, more than once.”

“And at such times what did you do next?”

“I may answer you in confidence, sir,” said the professor, “but it is a matter of which the public knows nothing. I prayed for more light.”

“And the light generally came?”

“Yes, and may I tell you that when flattering honors come to me from America and Europe on account of the invention which bears my name, I never felt I deserved them. I had made a valuable application of electricity, not because I was superior to other men, but solely because God, who meant it for mankind, must reveal it to someone, and was pleased to reveal it to me.”

In view of these facts, it is not surprising that the inventor’s first message was, “What hath God wrought!”

—Moody Monthly[3]

3. HALLOWED BE THY NAME………ADORATION

ADORATION: Comes from the verb ADORE: to love and respect deeply; to worship a deity.

15th century: the act of adoring: the state of being adored

adore \ə-ˈdȯr\ verb transitive

adored; ador•ing [Middle English adouren, from Anglo-French aurer, adourer, from Latin adorare, from ad- + orare to speak, pray—more at oration] 14th century

1: to worship or honor as a deity or as divine

2: to regard with loving admiration and devotion 〈adored his wife〉

3: to be very fond of 〈adores pecan pie〉 synonym see revere—ador•er noun—ador•ing•ly adverb[4]

ADORATION, ad-o-rāʹshun: Though this word never occurs in EV, it represents aspects of worship which are very prominent in the Bible.

I. Etymology.—The word is derived from Lat adorare = (1) “to speak to,” (2) “to beseech,” “entreat,” (3) “to do homage,” “to worship”; from os (oris), mouth. Some have supposed that the root os points to the Rom practice of applying the hand to the mouth, i.e. kissing the hand to (a person or thing), as a token of homage.

II. Meaning.—Adoration is intense admiration culminating in reverence and worship, together with the outward acts and attitudes which accompany such reverence. It thus includes both the subjective sentiments, or feelings of the soul, in the presence of some superior object or person, and the appropriate physical expressions of such sentiments in outward acts of homage or of worship. In its widest sense it includes reverence to beings other than God, esp. to monarchs, who in oriental countries were regarded with feelings of awe. But it finds its highest expression in religion. Adoration is perhaps the highest type of worship, involving the reverent and rapt contemplation of the Divine perfections and prerogatives, the acknowledgment of them in words of praise, together with the visible symbols and postures that express the adoring attitude of the creature in the presence of his Creator. It is the expression of the soul’s mystical realization of God’s presence in His transcendent greatness, holiness and lovingkindness. As a form of prayer, adoration is to be distinguished from other forms, such as petition, thanksgiving, confession and intercession.

III. Outward Postures.—In the OT and NT, these are similar to those which prevailed in all oriental countries, as amply illustrated by the monuments of Egypt and Assyria, and by the customs still in use among the nations of the East. The chief attitudes referred to in the Bible are the following:

1. Prostration

Among the Orientals, esp. Persians, prostration (i.e. falling upon the knees, then gradually inclining the body, until the forehead touched the ground) was common as an expression of profound reverence and humility before a superior or a benefactor. It was practised in the worship of Yahweh (; ; , Jesus in Gethsemane; ), and of idols (; Dnl 3:5, 6), but was by no means confined to religious exercises. It was the formal method of supplicating or doing obeisance to a superior (e.g. ; ; ; ; ).

2. Kneeling

A substitute for prostration was kneeling, a common attitude in worship, frequently mentioned in OT and NT (e.g. ; ; ; ; , Christ in Gethsemane; ; ). The same attitude was sometimes adopted in paying homage to a fellow-creature, as in . “Sitting” as an attitude of prayer (only ║ ) was probably a form of kneeling, as in Mahometan worship.

3. Standing

This was the most usual posture in prayer, like that of modern Jews in public worship. Abraham “stood before Jeh” when he interceded for Sodom (). Cf . The Pharisee in the parable “stood and prayed” (), and the hypocrites are said to “pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets” ( AV).

4. The Hands

The above postures were accompanied by various attitudes of the hands, which were either lifted up toward heaven (; ), or outspread (; ; ), or both ().

5. Kiss of Adoration

The heathen practice of kissing hands to the heavenly bodies as a sign of adoration is referred to in , and of kissing the idol in ; . The kiss of homage is mentioned in , if the text there be correct. Kissing hands to the object of adoration was customary among the Romans (Pliny xxviii.5). The NT word for “worship” (proskunéō) lit. means to kiss the hand to (one). See also Attitudes.

IV. Objects of Adoration.—The only adequate object of adoration is the Supreme Being. He only who is the sum of all perfections can fully satisfy man’s instincts of reverence, and elicit the complete homage of his soul.

1. Fellow Creatures

Yet, as already suggested, the crude beginnings of religious adoration are to be found in the respect paid to created beings regarded as possessing superior claims and powers, esp. to kings and rulers. As instances we may mention the woman of Tekoa falling on her face to do obeisance to King David (), and the king’s servants bowing down to do reverence to Haman (). Cf ; ; ; .

2. Material Objects

On a higher plane, as involving some recognition of divinity, is the homage paid to august and mysterious objects in Nature, or to phenomena in the physical world which were supposed to have some divine significance. To give reverence to material objects themselves is condemned as idolatry throughout the OT. Such e.g. is the case with the worship of “the host of heaven” (the heavenly bodies) sometimes practised by the Hebrews (; , ). So Job protests that he never proved false to God by kissing hands to the sun and moon in token of adoration (). We have reference in the OT to acts of homage paid to an idol or an image, such as falling down before it (, , ; Dnl 3:7), or kissing it (; ). All such practices are condemned in uncompromising terms. But when material things produce a reverential attitude, not to themselves, but to the Deity whose presence they symbolize, then they are regarded as legitimate aids to devotion; e.g. fire as a manifestation of the Divine presence is described as causing the spectator to perform acts of reverence (e.g. , ; ; ). In these instances, it was Yahweh Himself that was worshipped, not the fire which revealed Him. The sacred writers are moved to religious adoration by the contemplation of the glories of Nature. To them, “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” (Cf esp. the “nature-Pss” 8, 19, 29, 104.)

3. Angels

On a still higher plane is the adoration practised in the presence of supernatural agents of the Divine will. When an angel of God appeared, men fell instinctively before him in reverence and awe (e.g. ; ; ; Jgs 13:20; , ). This was not to worship the creature instead of the Creator, for the angel was regarded, not as a distinct individual having an existence and character of his own, but as a theophany, a self-manifestation of God.

4. The Deity

The highest form of adoration is that which is directed immediately to God Himself, His kingly attributes and spiritual excellencies being so apprehended by the soul that it is filled with rapture and praise, and is moved to do Him reverence. A classical instance is the vision that initiated Isaiah into the prophetic office, when he was so possessed with the sovereignty and sublimity of God that he was filled with wonder and self-abasement (). In the OT, the literature of adoration reaches its high-water mark in the Pss (cf esp. the group ), where the ineffable majesty, power and holiness of God are set forth in lofty strains. In the NT, adoration of the Deity finds its most rapturous expression in Rev, where the vision of God calls forth a chorus of praise addressed to the thrice-holy God (4:8–11; 7:11, 12), with whom is associated the Redeemer-Lamb.

5. Jesus Christ

How far is Jesus regarded in the NT as an object of adoration, seeing that adoration is befitting only to God? During Our Lord’s lifetime He was often the object of worship (; ; ; ; ; ; , ; ; ). Some ambiguity, however, belongs to the Gr word proskuneín, for while it is the usual word for “worshipping” God (e.g. ), in some contexts it means no more than paying homage to a person of superior rank by kneeling or prostration, just as the unmerciful servant is said to have ‘fallen down and worshipped’ his master the king (), and as Jos speaks of the Jewish high priests as proskunoúmenoi (BJ, IV, v, 2). On the other hand, it certainly implies a consciousness, on the part of those who paid this respect to Jesus, and of Jesus Himself, of a very exceptional superiority in His person, for the same homage was refused by Peter, when offered to him by Cornelius, on the ground that he himself also was a man (), and even by the angel before whom John prostrated himself, on the ground that God alone was to be “worshipped” (, ). Yet Jesus never repudiated such tokens of respect. But whatever about the “days of His flesh,” there is no doubt that after the ascension Christ became to the church the object of adoration as Divine, and the homage paid to Him was indistinguishable in character from that paid to God. This is proved not only by isolated passages, but still more by the whole tone of the Acts and epp. in relation to Him. This adoration reaches its highest expression in , where the Redeemer-Lamb who shares the throne of God is the subject of an outburst of adoring praise on the part of the angelic hosts. In 4:8–11 the hymn of adoration is addressed to the Lord God Almighty, the Creator; here it is addressed to the Lamb on the ground of His redeeming work. In Rev the adoration of Him “who sitteth on the throne” and that of “the Lamb” flow together into one stream of ecstatic praise (cf 7:9–11).

D. Miall Edwards[5]

[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

[2] Hobbs, H. H. (1990). My favorite illustrations (p. 191). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

[3] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (pp. 480–481). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

\ \ə\ abut \ə\ kitten, F table \ər\ further \a\ ash \ā\ ace \ä\ mop, mar

\au̇\ out \ch\ chin \e\ bet \ē\ easy \g\ go \i\ hit \ī\ ice \j\ job

\ŋ\ sing \ō\ go \ȯ\ law \ȯi\ boy \th\ thin \ṯẖ\ the \ü\ loot \u̇\ foot

\y\ yet \zh\ vision, beige \ḵ, n, œ, ue, y\ see Guide to Pronunciation

\ \ə\ abut \ə\ kitten, F table \ər\ further \a\ ash \ā\ ace \ä\ mop, mar

\au̇\ out \ch\ chin \e\ bet \ē\ easy \g\ go \i\ hit \ī\ ice \j\ job

\ŋ\ sing \ō\ go \ȯ\ law \ȯi\ boy \th\ thin \ṯẖ\ the \ü\ loot \u̇\ foot

\y\ yet \zh\ vision, beige \ḵ, n, œ, ue, y\ see Guide to Pronunciation

[4] Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.

EV English Versions of the Bible

║ parallel

Jeh Jehovah (Yahweh)

AV Authorized Version (1611)

lit. literature, or literally

Jos Josephus

BJ Josephus, Jewish Wars

[5] Edwards, D. M. (1915). Adoration. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vol. 1–5, pp. 60–61). Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.