Basic Series: Prayer

Head- What does it mean?

Matthew 6:9-13

Matthew 6:9–13 NASB95

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’

There is a correct way to pray

To pray that his kingdom may ‘come’ is to pray both that it may grow, as through the church’s witness people submit to Jesus, and that soon it will be consummated when Jesus returns in glory to take his power and reign.

The first three petitions in the Lord’s Prayer express our concern for God’s glory in relation to his name, rule and will

In the second half of the Lord’s Prayer the possessive adjective changes from ‘your’ to ‘our’, as we turn from God’s affairs to our own. Having expressed our burning concern for his glory, we now express our humble dependence on his grace. A

The first three petitions in the Lord’s Prayer express our concern for God’s glory in relation to his name, rule and will

In the second half of the Lord’s Prayer the possessive adjective changes from ‘your’ to ‘our’, as we turn from God’s affairs to our own. Having expressed our burning concern for his glory, we now express our humble dependence on his grace.

The petition that God will ‘give’ us our food ... is an expression of ultimate dependence on God who normally uses human means of production and distribution through which to fulfil his purposes. Moreover, it seems that Jesus wanted his followers to be conscious of a day-to-day dependence

Stott, J. R. W., & Stott, J. R. W. (1985). The message of the Sermon on the mount (): Christian counter-culture (p. 148). Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Stott, J. R. W., & Stott, J. R. W. (1985). The message of the Sermon on the mount (): Christian counter-culture (p. 146). Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Stott, J. R. W., & Stott, J. R. W. (1985). The message of the Sermon on the mount (): Christian counter-culture (p. 149). Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Stott, J. R. W., & Stott, J. R. W. (1985). The message of the Sermon on the mount (): Christian counter-culture (p. 146-149). Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Heart- Do I buy it?

How do we distort prayer?

We misuse it’s purpose (diverting prayer from the glory of God to the glory of self) and it’s nature (degrading it from a real and personal approach to God into a mere recitation of words)

What is the solution?

Thus Christian prayer is seen in contrast to its non-Christian alternatives. It is God-centred (concerned for God’s glory) in contrast to the self-centredness of the Pharisees (preoccupied with their own glory). And it is intelligent (expressive of thoughtful dependence) in contrast to the mechanical incantations of the heathen. Therefore when we come to God in prayer, we do not come hypocritically like play actors seeking the applause of men, nor mechanically like pagan babblers, whose mind is not in their mutterings, but thoughtfully, humbly and trustfully like little children to their father.

Stott, J. R. W., & Stott, J. R. W. (1985). The message of the Sermon on the mount (): Christian counter-culture (pp. 151–152). Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Hands- So What? How then should I live?

Walk with God

Keep Christ first

Keep sin out of your life