Matthew 6:9

Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer

We come to this section of the Sermon on the Mount commonly called the “Lord’s Prayer”. It might be more aptly called the “Disciples Prayer”. Jesus takes a few minutes here in this sermon to teach the disciples HOW to pray.

Remember in verse 5-8 Jesus is very clear about how NOT to pray. We are not to use prayer as a flaunting tool or as a public measure of our “spirituality”. In prayer, we communicate with our Father in Heaven who loves us and wants us to commune with Him in this most intimate form.

So, it just makes sense that Jesus would tell the disciples what NOT to do, and then follow up with the positive reinforcement of the correct way.

v. 9 “Pray, then, in this way”

It is important that we note that this introduction to how to pray doesn’t give us a ritual prayer that we should recite.

It is highly ironic though that we have so many places that recite the Lord’s Prayer mechanically as if it is something to be chanted to increase our spirituality.

So, here the prescription for prayer is a model. “in this way” is a phrase from the Greek word “houtos” which never means to do something specifically in the same way. It means in a general sense, follow this pattern.

We talked last week about the importance of prayer. I think too many Christians including myself have left prayer on the back burner and made other spiritual disciplines more of a priority.

You may get tired of us talking about prayer because we will go slowly through these verses, but I think it’s essential that we look at each verse and see the truth that comes out.

So, we’ve already said this is a model for prayer and not something that we should recite mindlessly. So if it is a model for prayer, a skeleton framework if you will, then it is important that we see how the prayer is shaped.

All prayer should be centered around God. And that is how this prayer starts. It starts with God as our Father.

Let’s look at verse 9

Matthew 6:9 NASB95

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

God as our Father

I will tell you it is an amazing thing that we have direct access to God our creator in prayer. It is beyond anything that we can put into words, and frankly we take it for granted all too often!

A few years ago someone paid $610,000 to have coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook. Is that ridiculous or what? There are lots of people that we have to make an appointment with to talk to, that you could never have their personal cell phone number. But we have the ear of the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE at any time we choose.

How can we have such access? Well, it’s all because of Jesus. Jesus being our High Priest means that we have direct access to the Father.

Hebrews 10:19–22 NASB95

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Ephesians 2:18–19 NASB95

for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

Ephesians 3:12 NASB95

in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

This is how we have access to God. It’s all because of the blood of Jesus. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, the way that they had access was through an intermediary that had access to God - but now we have direct access.

I emphasize this because it is something that we often overlook. We miss how big this is that we have access to God DIRECTLY!

Sometimes our praying looks like a long distance relationship doesn’t it? At first a long-distance relationship looks promising. You talk all the time to that other person on the phone and all is well… Then you talk a few times a week… Then only once a week… Then once a month… You get the idea.

We are a part of the family of God!

Romans 8:15 NASB95

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

What did your kids call you as they were learning to speak? I didn’t understand most of what my kids were saying early on, Jane had to translate for me because she was with them at home during the day and she spoke their language. Our kids learn Da Da and Ma Ma, well in Bible times in Aramaic these kids would say Abba and Emma. I can pick my kids out of a crowd when they say my name, I know their voices so well that I can tell in a group of kids if it is my child that is crying. God knows the voices and the cries of His children so much better than that. He knows what will come into our lives before we do, he knows that we will stumble, but he still wants to hear from us. So I don’t mean to be irreverent, but we can consider God our Daddy. A father, child relationship is one of the most important relationships that we have growing up. Not to negate the importance of the mother’s role at all, but it makes a difference to have a Godly father in the home, Amen??? I’m so thankful that I have a Godly father on this Earth that taught me how to act and how to say yes ma’am and no ma’am. How you are supposed to clean your plate when you are at a friends house for dinner. How you look somebody in the eye and respond when they talk to you. But most of all, I’m glad that my Earthly father had a relationship with God and was faithful in his home, his business, and church.

I run into people sometimes that say “how can I consider God to be a loving Father when my Father on this Earth was such a poor example of a human being?”

Tough question. Hard to deal with someone who has a negative connotation of their Earthly father who was an alcoholic or was abusive to them.

If you are a child of God, you have a heavenly father that cares for you perfectly. Psalms 27:10 says "For my father and mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in." We know that we can always look to God, our loving Father to take care of our needs.

We are a child of the King! We are heirs to the throne!

So, if God is a perfect Father - and He is… Then that means that He loves us perfectly.

But if God is a perfect, loving Father - then that also means that He must discipline us when we are disobedient.

All of these things we are discussing are part of God being our Father.

Hebrews 12:5–7 NASB95

and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

Having God as our Father means that He will discipline us perfectly when we disobey Him.

If my kids are disobedient to me, and I just ignore their behavior or I just “let it go” am I doing them a favor or an injustice?

Father “who is in Heaven”

The last part of this verse refers to the resources we call on in prayer. We can call the God who spoke everything into existence our Father. It helps me sometimes If I put things in perspective and this helps me imagine a little bit about how powerful and magnificent our God is that we call Father.

Let’s go to science class awhile. And I was horrible at Science, so here we go. Let’s use an example of the planets and distance to show how BIG God is. It is 2,892 miles from the Southernmost tip of California to the Northernmost tip of Maine. Pretty good drive right? I’m sure everybody knows this, but it is 4.67 billion miles from Earth to Pluto. And once we’ve reached Pluto, we have just reached the front porch. How amazing is it that we can call God our Father. Scientists tell us that proportionately - our solar system is the size of a quarter in relation to the Milky Way galaxy that is the size of the North American continent. The Milky Way galaxy is said to be 100,000 light years from one edge to the other. So a light year is comprised of 5.88 trillion miles. So you do the math. What is 5.88 trillion times 100,000. That’s how many miles it is across the Milky Way. I know. My mind cannot comprehend this. The God who spoke these things into existence allows us to call Him Father. We can be assured that when we pray, we pray to God who is much much bigger and much more powerful than we can begin to comprehend.

A little boy was working in his sandbox and he had some big rocks in there and he was making some mountains for his monster trucks to climb, and he was trying to move one of the rocks and he was straining and struggling and heaving everything he had into it and he couldn’t move it. The boys father saw him struggling and asked him “Son, are you using all your available strength to move that rock?” The boy looked at him like well yeah I’m doing all I can. And the father said “son, you aren’t using all the strength you have because you haven’t asked me for help yet”.