The Lord's Prayer

Nicolas

Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Matthew 6:5–15

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Openning

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Pray

Introduction

Today we will be studying , verses 5 through 14. It is most commonly known as the Lord’s prayer. There are many prayers in the Scriptures, spanning Old and New Testaments. There are many different types of prayers. From laments, to praises, to the controversial prayers of imprecation. We have recorded for us prayers by groups, individuals, men and women, and prayers of our Lord and Savior. However the Lord’s Prayer is unique because it is an example of prayer given by Jesus to his disciples about how they are to pray.

The prayer is given to us in the sermon on the mount and is prefaced with two positive and two negative observations about the way people pray. Let us investigate this before we enter the prayer.

The Lord’s prayer is unique because it is an example given by Jesus of how we ought to pray. The prayer is given to us in between -------

Jesus says not to pray like the hypocrites. Who is He speaking of? Well, the pharisees, scribes and other religious leaders since they would be the ones in the in the synagogues and in the markets praying out loud. And why would they be doing such a silly thing? Well Jesus says that their motivation was to been seen and regarded as holy and superior. And Jesus ends His comment with the fact that they were seen as their reward. That is all they get for their prayers. Their so called religiosity.

But then Jesus changes gears. He says this,

6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Now what naturally comes to mind for me in this statement is whether Jesus is denouncing all public prayer. Are our communal and public prayers wrong? Of course not. What Jesus is addressing here is improper motivation in prayer. We see often in Acts of Christians praying together. Jesus Himself gave public prayers. Prayer should be a humbling experience, not a bolstering one.

The short answer is no. What Jesus is addressing here is improper motivation in prayer. We see often in Acts of Christians praying together. Prayer should be a humbling experience, not a bolstering one.

Now let us move on to verse 7...

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

So Jesus doesn't leave anyone off the hook here. He just knocked the Jewish elite, now He is gunning for the Gentiles. And what does Jesus identify as the problem of the religious Gentiles? They pray senseless, meaningless, and empty words. They would often pray the same word or phrase repetitiously thinking that God would answer them for that. They think that if they sound good, intelligent, or dedicated enough, they will be answered by God. As if God will be impressed or convinced.

So what does Jesus say about this?

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Have genuine prayers because God already knows what you need and what you are going to ask. He does not need to be impressed or informed. God simply wants to hear His children call on Him.

A great example of this is what we say before we eat. *****

Body

So with all that in mind, let us begin with the first word of our Lord’s prayer, “our”.

“Our”-

“Our” is a possessive word. Our God is ours and we are His. God has not set the world in motion and stepped back to watch it all unwind. He cares for His creation. He calls Israel is “possession”, how much more does He possess those who have His Holy Spirit?---- Now in a large picture view, God is everyone god???

“Father”-

God the Father, the first person of the Trinity. This is one of the core doctrines that separates us form all other religions. We serve one holy and perfect Triune God. Other religions serve, no gods, one god, or many gods, but we worship the one God in Three.

We worship the Father. Islam worships a god, but they do not call him father. For in their mind, it is pompous to think anyone would be God’s children and dare call him father. But our Father invites us to be His children and cry out to Him, “Abba, Father”.

It is the Father who begot the Son, and sent the Holy Spirit. He has revealed Himself uniquely as Father. Though in the Old Testament, often in Isaiah and Psalms, God compares himself to a mother, He alone calls himself Father, not Mother.

The word “Father” not only idenifies His position but also his character. He naurtures, disiplines, ---, etc. His children.

The word “Father” identifies intimacy. We are to find comfort, fellowship, and love in the Father.

is an intamite word. God has reveilved Himself uniquely in the person of Father. God describes his love for Isreal in ---- like a mother----. But he speciacally descirbes himself as Father, not mother. Just as a natural father ought, our Father ------.

“in heaven”. -

Heaven is the dwelling place of God. The Father did not carry the cross. The Father is not inside of us. The Father did however, send is Son. The Father poured out his wrath against His Son. The Father adopts us His children.

The Father dwells in heaven. That is where He rules, declares, and reigns. Rawls Springs Baptist Church, or any other church for that matter, is the the house of God. Yes, God did dwell in the Tabernacle and the Temple, however this was temporary. In fact, in verse 24 tells us this...

24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

“hallowed be your name”-

Have you ever thought about what this means? Hallowed means to be “concreted, honored, or revered”. Now God’s name is not God. God is the nature of His being. For example, my name is not human, it is Nicolas David Losito. Human is the nature of my being. So if God is not God’s name isn’t “God”, then what is it?

Well, we don't exactly know. I mean, we have the word. It is transliterated as, YaHWeH. However we do not know exactly how it is pronounced since Jews revered the name of God so much that they would not even speak it. Rather they would say “the LORD” or “Elohim”. So naturally its pronunciation was lost.

Now this prayer isn't simply asking God not to let us use God’s name in vain, rather it is a recognition of the holiness of God. Even the spoken name of God should be treated with utmost respect and holiness. It is prayer that all come to know the fear of the Lord and worship Him for Who He is.

“10 Your kingdom come,”-

Now the kingdom of God is a mighty big subject. It is one of the key themes of Jesus in the Gospels. All of that however is another sermon for another day. I will say this about the kingdom of God, however. It is a kingdom that has come, is coming, and will come. In other words, the kingdom of God has come in the Man Christ Jesus, it is coming in every person receiving the gospel with glad ears, and it is coming with Jesus’ second advent. It is a kingdom we are citizens of and yet eagerly await entrance into. We pray for His return.

10 Your kingdom come,

“your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”-

This is not a prayer about hoping God’s will, will come to pass, as if it does not. But rather it is a humble submission to the will of God. There are times we, whether intentionally or unintentionally, pray against the will of God. So we are to recognize our narrow view, our corrupted desires, and weakened minds. Just as Isaiah records for us in chapter 55,

“8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

We do well to remember our minds are weak, our view is narrow, our time is short, and our desires are corrupted. Pray for God’s will.

“11 Give us this day our daily bread,”-

11 Give us this day our daily bread,-

This statement is easy to say but difficult to believe and live. What is our “daily bread”. It is the necessities of life. We ought to be satisfied, content, with only what we need. That is incredibly difficult in our world today. We are surrounded by so many pretty and desirable things. We are told we “need, deserve, and ought to have” this or that every part of our day. Our evil nature tells us we need something other than Christ to have any worth or value.

But we are told to pray, told to live, by what God has given us. Not by what He has given to someone else. We are to be content with our lot. Proverbs tells us ..

“Two things I asked of You, do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God” ().

your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Let us be content with our lot lest we forsake the Lord for stuff.

12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.-

That this phrase is saying is that we are to be content with only the necessities of life. Food in our bellies, clothes on our back, and a roof over our head. Of course there is more to life than those three things but the point is, be content with what you need.

12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.-

11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.-

It has been said that the Lord’s prayer is a prayer for only the lost since it contains this phrase. The argument goes something like this. “The Lord’s prayer has the individual asks for forgiveness. Since Christians are already of their sin, there is no need to ask for forgiveness. Therefore the Lord’s prayer is only a prayer for sinners.” Now I understand where this mentality comes from. It comes from a high view of the atonement and forgiveness found in Christ. However this high view is misplaced. For we know we are to daily ask for forgiveness. Not because we are not already forgiven. But our of love of our Lord and conviction of our soul by the Holy Spirit.

Let me give an example. If I were to sin against my wife, it does not mean I am no longer her husband. But it does mean that relationship is strained. It is similar with our relationship with God. We are already children of the promise, we can not lose that by sinning. But we do stress our relationship with our Father. That is why we recognize our sin and ask for forgiveness daily. And because of our forgiveness in Christ we are adamant to forgive others.

We are to have prayers of repentance. When was the last time you prayed in repentance? When was the last time your acknowledged your sin before God and begged Him for forgiveness? Your answer will reflect your relationship with Him.

----

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.-

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Now this is probably the most controversial statement made in the Lord’s prayer because it insinuates that God tempts people. We know in the first chapter of James that God does not tempt anyone.

Some solutions have been suggested. Such as translating the text as “leave us not in temptation”. While this suggestion does relive the tention, it at the same time creates another, problem. For the Greek does not read, “do not leave us in temptation” but rather as “lead us not into temptation”.

Others have purposed that offered that the word “temptation” does not mean “temptation”. While this answer has more footing, since idenitcal words can have different meanings, it still has some difficulty. For once again the Greek word and context of the passage only permit the natural definition of “temptation”.

So how do we reconcile this seeming contradiction.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

First we must recognize that it is true, that God tempts no one. And secondly, we must understand that God does lead people into temptation at times. Jesus was no doubt was lead into the wilderness, by the Holy Spirit, to be tempted (). If you think Jesus isn't a fair example, let us use King David in . God incited David to do the census while latter punishing him for that very action.

So two things we are to understand by this.

-God can lead people and lead people into temptation but at the same time does not tempt anyone not is guilty of sin.

-We are to pray that in those situations temptation does not over come us and that God delver us from it.

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Now we address the last verse, 14. The natural question from this text is whether our forgiveness is dependent on whether we forgive other. For instance, if I as a Christian fail to forgive another, do I forfeit my salvation? No. For that presumption is against other clear teachings of Holy Scripture.

For instance in...

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.-jude

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”- John 10

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.- Eph. 4

So if this text is not saying we can forfeit our salvation by not forgiving, then what is it conveying?

Well, we discussed it earlier. Those who are forgiven by God and understand the magnitude of that forgiveness will forgive others. That is the faith that works.

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.-

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.- Rom 8

Conclusion

So what are we to conclude from the Lord’s prayer? There countless things, not all of which I have covered in this sermon. But let me name a few...

The

Prayer is so integral to the Christian life that is something our Lord and Savior exemplified for is disciples and ultimately us.

The Christian life should be marked by prayer. Genuine, heartfelt, honest, prayer. How often we pray, what we pray about, and how we pray tells us a lot about what we truly believe.

Prayer comes in all shapes and sizes. There are prayers of praise. Prayers of lament. Prayers of doubt. Prayers of need. And on and on. But ultimately prayer has two levels. There is prayer that focuses on God and then there are prayers that focus on us. Both are needed and important.