A Model Prayer

PRAY

If God knows our needs even before we ask, why then does he tell us to pray? There are two basic, interconnected reasons. 1. Bc he wants the relational communion with us, and 2. Bc he knows we need it. He knows we need the focused dependence on him and we need the ongoing communion with him!

In our passage in Luke, we see these emphases as Jesus teaches about prayer to his disciples. This week we’ll cover just the pattern for prayer and next week the parable and exhortations for prayer that follow. What Jesus gives them first is a Prayer Pattern, an Example prayer, a Model prayer… which teaches us the fundamental attitudes of dependent prayer. And it is a corporate prayer (all the pronouns are plural).

Luke 11:1–4 ESV

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

The first thing we should notice is that all of this comes up because Jesus makes a practice of praying, staying in close communication with and dependence on the Father: “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place.” And here again Luke isn’t concerned with the exact timing and location of this, but rather what happens in the context of Jesus teaching his disciples how they should relate to others, to Christ himself, and to God in terms of relational dependence. Truly loving God is most readily evidence by loving others (the less taught in the parable of the Samaritan proving to be the good neighbor). The right priority of the disciple is to listen and learn from Jesus to know God (10:22) and to therefore to be like Jesus—to love, and live, and lead like him. The lesson with Mary and Martha is that sitting at Jesus’ feet in this way therefore takes precedence over serving. Listening to Jesus’ teaching, listening to the word, comes first.

Then here again we have a connection to that relational theme as, based on the fact that Jesus makes a practice of praying, a disciple requests that Jesus teach them how they ought to pray. And so he will, as requested, give them an example prayer. - Apparently John the Baptist, similar to what teachers would sometimes do, had given his disciples instruction on prayer, probably one that they could quote together that reflected a right way to approach God.

But I don’t want to move on without noting the significance of this: Even more forceful and meaningful than giving them a model prayer is the fact that Jesus frequently and fervently modeled prayer. He gave them an example praying often (maintaining close communion with the Father) and of fervent prayer when the stakes were high (a clear indication of dependence and desire for guidance). - Because of his example by action, it is as though now Jesus can say, “I’ll give you an example prayer that models the fundamental attitudes that are present when I pray. And you can use this as a model then of how to pray in community with one another before God.”

Did you catch that last thing that I tied in there about this pattern prayer? The model prayer that Jesus gives them is a community prayer. …which unfortunately is probably the most easily (and frequently) overlooked/ignored feature of the prayer. - Although it has stuck with us, “the Lord’s Prayer” is a misnomer… it is “the Disciples’ Prayer.” (Grammar geeks notice the appropriate punctuation.)

The Disciples’ Prayer

In v. two Jesus answers the request with “When you pray, say:” - Jesus isn’t glued to rote recitation, but he isn’t against it either. I would say we can tell both of those things by considering the comparison model that he taught in the Sermon on the Mount. (Look there in Matthew chapter 6.)

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

Pray then like this: “Our Father 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Here we have three God-directed declarations or petitions before the three same requests concerning the community’s human needs, and there are various other minor wording differences between the two… which you can spy out for yourself.

The two prayers are quite evidently from two different times and almost certainly from two different sources. It points to the fact that Jesus said something extremely similar, down to some exact wording, but not entirely identical. He really is giving them a succinct and memorable way to pray, that they could even quote, but the precise wording of it does not have magical force. And we can see that in their own time and with the recording of it, that the disciples didn’t interpret it that way either. There’s therefore nothing wrong with quoting it verbatim, nor is it wrong focus on the attitudes and thrust of it using different wording.

Let’s look more closely at the model prayer itself, to glean the important spiritual attitudes present this simple and effective prayer. - And if this is the Disciples’ Prayer, than it can also be a model for Christian Prayer, keeping in mind or course our historical position with regards to the saving work of Christ at the cross.

Address to God as Father

Praying to God as Father connotes both an intimacy in personal relationship with him as well as a sincere respect for his place of authority over us. - There is personal intimacy and love, yet with a submissive reverence for his authoritative rule.

The Greek word here Pater would have also been Abba in Aramaic, and it was indeed the term Jews used for their earthly fathers, whether as children or as adults. - There is great encouragement to us, especially in terms of prayer, that we can approach God as Father.

Taking the call: I don’t want the sales pitch for something our church doesn’t need, but if my family calls, there is almost no circumstance in which I won’t take that call, or call right back. I can picture it now, that when my daughters are grown, I will always take there call, to be available to them.

Personal familiarity does not need to engender disrespect, however. In that sense then I certainly think that, with the implications in our own language, “Father” is a much better way to refer to the first person of the Godhead and to address him in prayer, rather than something like “Daddy.”

Can you imagine us singing (with both appropriate intimacy and reverence), “You’re a good, good Daddy, it’s who you are...” OR “Daddy in heaven how we love you, we lift your name in all the earth, may your kingdom be established in our praises, as your people declare your mighty worth.” Again… beginning that address with “Daddy”? Daddy doesn’t have to be disrespectful, but it hardly seems respectful enough with God.

We should probably pick up on this from the very first line of the prayer following the address: hallowed be your name… that God’s name should be honored and revered in his rightful place as God over all. - And other examples like, 10:21, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth.”

So the two words/ideas then, which you might commit to memory for addressing God as Father in prayer are

intimacy & reverence

or closeness & respect.

What we have then in this brief prayer are 2 declarations and 3 petitions. Although they could also be understood as requests, I lean towards understanding the first two as statements (as expressions that are as much praises of his worth and purposes as they are petitions). The latter three are requests for provision, pardon, and protection (for basic material needs, for forgiveness [for the sake of ongoing fellowship], and for spiritual protection that we may be pure/holy).

Declaration/Petition 1 - Holy Be Your Name

What does it mean that we want God’s name to be Holy? What is the attitude and focus in prayer? This opens a prayer recognizing the one we are addressing, focusing our attention on who he is and what his will/purposes are.

Again, the concept is that God be held in highest honor and set apart as unique above all others. The reference to his name doesn’t simply mean his title, or even merely how we and others speak of him (although that matters), but to his whole person (his character and worth) and thus his reputation.

“The picture is of the creator God, enthroned and manifesting his rule. His glory is made evident to all.” (Bock, 1052) So the prayer of the disciples is to be that God in his greatness will manifest himself.

By proclaiming God’s holiness, we are acknowledging his “otherness/uniqueness” and our submission to his authority. By asking that his holiness be known, we are praying that we will not defame his name but live in such a way that his greatness is manifest in his people.

Here is an amplified example of the opening that I have written (how our thinking might be if we prayed this prayer together):

Father in heaven, we are reminded now to express your worth. We praise you for the holiness of your character and the righteousness of your activity and decrees. May you manifest your greatness to all mankind by generating such high esteem in the hearts of your people that we will live our lives for the glory of your reputation.

Declaration/Petition 2 - Your Kingdom Come

In their experience and training with Jesus, our Lord’s disciples have gone out, at his instruction, to be messengers who proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near (first with the twelve in Galilee, then with the 70 (or 72) ahead of him into Samaria, Judea, and Perea. They have rightly begun to understand, HOW has God’s kingdom come near… to them, here on earth? …In the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus.

As we then declare and pray for God’s kingdom come, we understand that his spiritual kingdom has in fact come in a very real way through the Lord Jesus Christ, and it grows as there are hearts transformed in recognition and submission to Jesus as Lord.

So we acknowledge God’s Kingdom present on earth in the Church, the community of Jesus made his through faith alone and who are sealed with the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. And as the Church, we pray for the expansion of that spiritual kingdom (for more to come to a saving knowledge of and commitment to Jesus) as well as for the future completion of God’s righteous rule… when God will have redeemed every one of his own, and faithless unbelief and rejection will be fully and finally judged, and God will right all wrongs in this broken world in the re-creation of a new heavens and a new earth.

So the kingdom is the reign of Christ in the hearts and lives of believers, and the Kingdom is also a future consummation, the coming perfect fullness of that kingdom realized externally in the way that it is already realized internally in the hearts of his people.

Our prayer continues…

We thank you that our Lord Jesus inaugurated your kingdom in a new way on earth by offering us forgiveness and access to your presence. We pray that you will rule over all else in our hearts, and for your continued work to spread your spiritual kingdom through the visible Church. And we pray Father toward the coming completion of your will on earth and the fulfillment of your eternal kingdom, when judgment and redemption will be made final.

Petition 3 - Daily Provision

Daily bread, or bread for tomorrow, or bread that we need… however we translate it… is figurative language for asking God’s provision for our basic material needs, and not asking for a yearly supply, but a daily supply. It teaches us the notion of constant dependence on God, the way the Israelites depended on God for daily provision of manna in the wilderness.

I’m reminded here of the Christian practice of praying at meal times. It can easily become for us rote and trite, but as we realize our dependence on God and not ourselves, we are genuinely thankful for each day’s ongoing provision of shelter and food and clothing. We recognize that God may, comparatively, choose to bless us with much comfort or with just enough comfort. Even the secular world has come to see that happiness and contentment is not contingent on how much stuff we have, but on things like purpose and relationships.

Finally, praying this corporately serves to remind God’s people that we may be the answer to our own prayers for one another.

We pray for the provision of our daily needs—food, shelter, and clothing. Help us not to focus on more than we need, and make us generous to help those among us who find themselves in need.

Petition 4 - Forgive Our Sins

Although every person needs initial forgiveness through faith in what Jesus accomplished on our behalf, this is a reference to ongoing need in terms of our present relationship with God. Now that we have a child-parent relationship with God, we break fellowship with a holy God when we sin. In order to live in his presence, seeking his blessing and guidance, we must as acknowledge our sin and ask forgiveness… which he readily grants (1. Because of what Jesus did, and 2. Bc of our relationship to him as his child.)

We don’t get kicked out of the family for being a poor reflection of the heart and focus of that family, but our sin certainly breaks fellowship with that family. So we confess our sin to God in order to restore the relationship… also increasing ongoing effectiveness.

Recognition - The Forgiven Must Be Forgiving

A forgiven person is to be a forgiving person.

Sin and debt are used interchangeably here. This isn’t about forgiving other kinds of debt but specifically concerns forgiving wrongs committed against us (pictured here as of someone owing a debt… not that they can repay, but one we choose to forgive… when sinned against).

In our petition for forgiveness, we aim to be and do what we’re asking God to be and do—to be forgiving, to forgive. If it weren’t for the clear teaching of Christ and his apostles to the contrary, I suppose we might think this some kind of reference to meriting his forgiveness by being forgiving. But the plain teaching of scripture is that forgiveness is unmerited; it’s an act of grace on the part of the forgiver. (at least not merited by the one asking for it… Christ’s merit is the basis for our forgiveness from a holy God)

Again, the point here is the recognition, even in corporate reflection back to God, our awareness that forgiven people are to be forgiving people.

Father, we seek forgiveness anew for sins committed (like our pride, our idolatry, our greed, and our lust). And we pray for restored fellowship with you, thanking you always that Jesus paid the debt of our sin once and for all. We pray also for the empowering of your Spirit in us to live consistently as people of faith who forgive those who sin against us.

Petition 5 - Spiritual Protection

The third and final petition, after prayer for daily provision, and for pardon from sin, is for spiritual protection. The word can be translated as trial or temptation, and probably can and should be taken both ways.

We know, of course, even as James explains, that in his holiness God does not actually tempt anyone and does not actually want us to sin:

James 1:13–14 ESV

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

So we should understand this as knowing God’s sovereign control over the situations we face, and as a prayer for God’s strength in us that we might not be given over to the power of sin.

Because we are not yet free from our propensity to sin, and even realizing (as in the last petition) our daily need for forgiveness, we are sometimes weary of our own sin.

Illustration from Chuck Colson devotional… reminding us to be encouraged that God is working, that he is changing us.

Here is our final prayer example for today:

Lord, we pray, that by the work of your Spirit in us, you will bring us through the situations we face, that to us are a trial and cause us temptation. Sustain us that we might not sin. Make us more pure, better reflections of your character and your grace to us.

In all these things, may you receive all the credit, all the glory, that is rightly due to you, our Holy God. Amen.

[Application/Conclusion]

What Do We Learn?

(What are we to conclude, and how might we apply that?) - This prayer is likely short and simple as to be easily committed to memory, such that it could be quoted as a group. But the fact that Jesus has more than one slightly different version of it probably means that the words themselves are not what is sacred, but the attitude of our hearts reflected in this pattern, this model he gives for prayer.

And I believe the reason for this example for corporate prayer being simple and unadorned is understood by the context of it’s teaching in Matthew. Community prayer is not for the purpose of putting on aires but is to be sincere and mutually edifying. - Getting too flamboyant and longwinded defeats the purpose, especially depending on the setting. - So this also isn’t too suggest that all our prayers, especially those we pray in private, shouldn’t be longer, more specific, and more intimate (admitting details and feelings, etc. with our souls bared before God).

How might we apply this further?

Perhaps we need to have more frequent communal prayers sometimes when we gather. - In our circles we tend to move away from liturgy because we fear that liturgy can tend to stifle sincerity. I would say it’s even more likely that our motivation is less that than it is that we intentionally distance ourselves from the movements of historical churches and practices that have elevated tradition with doctrine. (We eschew “High Church” movements that tend toward man-made tradition, toward what we perceive could be hollow religious formula and recitation and not toward relationship with God according to the teaching of His word.) - So there’s a right caution there. But not all recitation together need be mindless religiosity (nor should we assume such is the case with some of our Christian brethren who tend to utilize some forms of liturgy more than we do).

…Stating it aloud together (of course could be hollow, but might also have the force of driving it home and communal accountability)

…And committing things to memory makes it readily return to our minds, sometimes right when it is needed.

Although we need not be slavishly beholden to it by any means, what an excellent pattern this is for all our prayers! - There is a clear focus on God’s character and his purposes (for which we praise him and thank him, and also the ends to which we pray), and then there is clear and adorned dependence on God in prayer for provision, there is recognition and request for forgiveness to maintain fellowship with a perfect Triune God, and there is a desperate dependence on God for help to go through trial and temptation and emerge pure, a better reflection of the God who has made us his own.

PRAY: Father, we thank for the pattern Jesus gave us in teaching us to pray. May you use it in our lives to teach us dependence upon you for our physical and spiritual needs. Above all, God, glorify yourself in our hearts and keep pressing forward the advance of your kingdom through the obedient praise and proclamation of you people. Amen.

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