The Lords Prayer

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Who hasn’t found it difficult to find the time to pray on a regular basis? There is always time to pray when the chips are down, but on a regular basis? That can be more difficult. Well, never fear! Now you can outsource your prayer life. For $3.50 per month at InformationAgePrayer.com you can have the Lord’s Prayer recited for you daily. Catholics can purchase a “Complete Rosary Package” for nearly $50.We have the opportunity to converse with the sovereign Lord of the universe and we outsource it to a computer? I would say something is lacking in our faith.

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

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.

Note: If the praying of the Pharisees was hypocritical and that of pagans mechanical, then the praying of Christians must be real - sincere and authentic as opposed to hypocritical, thoughtful and mechanical.

Jesus intends that our minds and hearts would be fully involved in what we are saying in prayer.

We do not mindlessly pray by heaping up empty words of repetition before God. We do not pray for our own glorification we must pray with a humble heart fully focused and committed to God and His glory.

Note: It is possible for us to fall into empty phrases in prayer and lapse into religious jargon while the mind wonders and is detached from the prayer. To sum up what Jesus is saying, He forbids his people from any kind of prayer when the mind is not engaged in the process.

The so called “Lords Prayer” was a model of what genuine Christian prayer is like. Notice that Jesus starts of with “When you pray,” the implied here is that all Christians are actively daily involved in prayer.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 1. The Pagan Way of Prayer

Let Calvin answer your question: ‘Believers do not pray with the view of informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to do his duty, or of urging him as though he were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray in order that they may arouse themselves to seek him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on his promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into his bosom; in a word, that they may declare that from him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 1. The Pagan Way of Prayer

Luther put it more succinctly still: ‘By our praying … we are instructing ourselves more than we are him.’2.

The Lords Prayer begins with...

“Our Father”

I think it is appropriate and necessary before we ever come before the throne of God in prayer that we recognize who He is. Remembering who it is to whom we are praying. Only then can we truly come to the God in heaven with appropriate humility, devotion, and confidence.

“hallowed be your name”

When we talked about adoring or hallowing the name of God we referenced that it is expressing more than just a reverent speech. “Hallowed” means to make holy or ‘treat as holy reverence’. The name represents God himself as revealed to men. The expression is both a desire to see God honored as God in the world today, and a future eschatological longing for the day when all will acknowledge God as Lord. “One day at the name of Jesus everyone will bow in worship.”

What is Prayer?

Prayer is intentionally conveying a message to God.

Note: It is frustrating is it not? How unclear language can be if we are not careful. Why do we say intentionally conveying a message of God? Why not just say that prayer is talking to God? So, Romans 8:26 says,

Romans 8:26 ESV

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

So, this means that there are groanings for our hearts that the Spirit inspires that are sometimes wordless. So, prayer is usually talking to God, but there are times when you cannot talk and can still pray, that is, convey a message to God.

So, why don’t we just say that prayer is communicating with God? Well, because that sounds like i’m talking to him and he is talking to me. But that is not what prayer is. God talking to me is never called prayer in the Bible. When God communicates something to us, we call it revelation or illumination. It is not prayer. And we get into a big, unbiblical mess when we use the word prayer for what God speaks to us.

Why don’t we just say that prayer is conveying a message to God? Well, because people convey messages to God all day long, but we would not call it prayer. People are conveying messages like, God is not important to me. Or, God is irrelevant to this situation. Or God does not exist. But, because the messages are intentionally sent to God. They are clear, and we can sometimes discern them. God always discerns them.

So I chose the words: Prayer is intentionally conveying a message to God.

I heard a teaching not long ago about the moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what his name is.  God was gracious enough to answer, and the name he gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.

Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an “a” and an “e” in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels. But scholars have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds, aspirated consonants that in the Hebrew alphabet would be transliterated like this:

Yod, rhymes with “rode”, which we transliterate “Y” He, rhymes with “say”, which we transliterate “H” Vav, like “lava”, which we transliterate “V” or “W” He rhymes with “say”, which we transliterate “H”

A wonderful question rises to excite the imagination: what if the name of God is the sound of breathing?

Big Idea: The way of prayer is breathing in and out the breath of God.

The Christian Way of Prayer

The model prayer that Jesus gives us to follow teaches 3 indispensible truths about breathing in and out the prayers of God.

1. The way of prayer shows a dependence on God and His goodness.

When a brain tumor took away Dorothy Holm’s ability to speak, she picked up index cards and began filling them with what appeared to be random sequences of letters. When Dorothy passed away in 1996, her 11-year-old granddaughter Janna kept the cards, thinking they might be some kind of coded message. As a teenager, she thought the letters might be song lyrics or a secret message to the grandchildren, but eventually she gave up when she could not figure out the meaning.

In January 2014, she posted a picture of one of the cards to the Internet site Metafilter.com and had an answer within 15 minutes. Someone using the site recognized the letters OFWAIHHBTN as the first letters of the words in the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.”

*We depend on God’s kingdom and royal rule.

How do we depend on God’s Kingdom?

3 Things that the Kingdom represents

The rule of Jesus Christ here on earth.

The blessing and advantages that flow from living under Christ’s rule.

The subjects of this kingdom which is the Church.

So, when we pray that God’s kingdom Come, we are praying two primary things.

We are praying that God’s kingdom will grow as through the church and it’s people as they submit to Jesus rule and reign in their lives.

We are praying that soon it will come to a completion when Jesus Christ returns to take his power and reign.

Already, Note Yet

When we pray the kingdom we get a true picture of the gospel as Jesus unfolds the teachings of the kingdom is that it is both present and it is still future. This is what Jesus meant when he indicated that the mystery of the kingdom is here-presence without completion.

So, we should regularly be praying everyday that God would rend the heavens and come down completing his kingdom purpose and plan.

Trading a throne for the Cross

Remember the picture of the kingdom that Christ came to give was one of the ultimate sacrifice. His own life. So, when we pray “thy kingdom come,” we are also praying the God refocuses us not on the treasures or pleasures of this life but on the heavenly kingdom and it’s treasures.

*We depend on the Good and perfect will of God.

Our Father’s will is certainly done, for the Lord does whatever he wills among the inhabitants of the earth.

We should always pray according to the acceptable and perfect will of God.

1 John 5:14–15 ESV

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

So, What is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God?

Two Wills of God:

1)God’s Will of Sovereignty (will of decree).

Matthew 26:39, “My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” What does the will of God refer to in this verse? It is referring to the fixed sovereign will of God. So the “will of god” was that Jesus die. This was his plan, his decree. There was not changing it, and Jesus bowed and said, “here’s my request, but you do what is best to do.” Don’t miss this very crucial point here that it includes the sins of man. Harod, Pilate, the soldiers, the Jewish leaders, they all sinned in fulfilling God’s will that his Son be crucified. So don’t miss this that God wills to come to pass some things that he hates.

1 Peter 3:17, Peter writes, “It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” So, it may be God’s will that Christians suffer for doing good. But persecution of Christians who do not deserve it is sin.

2) God’s Will of Command.

His will is what He commands us to do. This is the will of God that we can disobey and fail to do. The will of decree we do whether we believe in it or not. The will of command we can fail to do. For example, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me,’Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21). Not all who do the will of the father. “Not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven. why? Because not all will do the will of God. God’s will of command are all of those things in scripture that we are directly commanded to do.

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Paul is referring to God’s will of command here, simply because most of God’s sovereign will is hidden from mankind. When we pray according to God’s will we are praying according to those things that are still hidden from our human minds. We are also praying as God reveals things to us through His word and prayer that we will become obedient to follow his will of command.

Spiritual transformation as mentioned in Romans 12:2 is knowing and discerning the will of God that has already been revealed to you and then putting those things into action.

The will of God is always completely tied to the kingdom of God. Therefore, we must ask what is God’s kingdom will for us here on earth. The second part of praying God’s will is “here on earth as it is in heaven.” Our Father who is in heaven who is infinite in knowledge, love and power.

So, his name is already holy and He is already King, so already his will is being done ‘in heaven’.

“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” It was so once. Perfect obedience to Gods will upon this earth will return to the good old times which ended at the gate of Eden. There was a day when no gulf was dug between earth and heaven; there was scarce a boundary line, for the God of heaven walked in paradise with Adam. All things on earth were then pure, and true, and happy. It was the garden of the Lord.

The serpent Satan has now defiled everything. The good, pleasing, and perfect will of God was subverted when mankind tried to reorient God’s kingdom purpose to meet his own willful pride. So, when we are praying “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we are praying for God’s kingdom to be reestablished here on earth just as in the day’s of the garden of Eden where God’s dwelling was with mankind.

Note: What Jesus wants us to pray here on earth is that life on earth may come to model or approximate more clearly life in heaven.

The prayer embraces the whole outworking of God’s purpose, but its focus is not on either present or future, but on God himself, whose glory must be the disciples’ first and deepest concern, before they consider their own needs. As Paul reminds us of in Philippians 2 we are to consider others more significant than ourselves not seeking our own desires and purposes but how am I considering the deepest heart concerns and needs of others before my own.

If we are truly praying this then we will be painfully aware that the deepest heart need of the world is for Jesus.

So, there are 2 things that we should daily be praying if we are to know and do the will of God here on earth.

1) Glorify His Holy name in all of the earth.

Glorifying: to make glorious by bestowing honor, praise, or admiration; to elevate to a celestial glory.

How do we glorify God in all the earth?

*We glorify Faith in His promises.

When we are God’s name in all the earth we are glorifying the promise and covenant keeping God. In essence we are saying “Amen” over and over again, “let it be.”

*We glorify God in our worship.

We can glorify God in many ways but Scripture affirms that nothing we do delights God more than calling on his name with sincere hearts declaring that all glory and praise belong to him alone. Even though all of life is worship, the kind of prayer that Jesus modeled for us was meant to set aside all other tasks and set our minds and hearts fully on him alone.

*We glorify God in all we do.

Soli Deo gloria is about God and how he glorifies himself, but one magnificent way God glorifies himself is through glorifying us and enabling us to glorify him. Soli Deo gloria shows what we truly believe about God. Do we believe that all glory goes to God alone.

2) Proclaiming His Kingdom in all the earth.

Note: When we pray for God’s will present and future to be established in the whole earth, we are praying with a sense of urgency that God will consummate or fulfill His kingdom purpose and promise of His final rule over all his creation.

*We depend on the Daily Bread of His provision

Note: notice that now the person changes from ‘your name,’ ‘your kingdom,’ ‘your will,’ to ‘our daily bread’, ‘our debts.’

It is interesting to note that the first request that Jesus mentions in His prayer is for literally bread, bread for the body. The most basic food for the body.

It seemed to some of the early Church fathers improper, especially in relation to grandness of the first three request relating to God’s glory, that we should abruptly move to such mundane physical concerns. Therefore they allegorized the petition as merely spiritual. Cyprian Augustine thought that the reference was either to ‘the invisible bread of the Word of God’ or the Lord’s Supper. Some even supposed the use of daily with bread to mean the Holy Communion.

However, I believe reformers such ans Luther and Calvin got it right to see that ‘bread’ was a symbol for ‘everything necessary for the preservation of life, like food, a healthy body, good weather, house, children, good government and peace, and probably we should add that by’bread’ Jesus meant the necessities rather than the luxuries of life.

The petition that God will ‘give’ us our food does not do away with the fact that people are to work and earn their own living. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

It is the picture of our ultimate dependence on God who normally uses human means of production and distribution through which to fulfill the purposes. Jesus wanted His followers to be conscious of a day-to-day dependence on God.

Note: If we look a little further in Chapter 6 Jesus tells his followers not to be anxious about what they are going to eat, drink, or wear. Jesus indicates that the Gentiles chase after such things and besides the Father knows that you need such tings. But “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and all of thee things will be added to you.

Jesus concludes the first part of the prayer with the very thing that leads our attention back to the Kingdom of God. This prayer is one for the immediate, however, earlier we found out that prayer for the kingdom had an immediate and future relationship.

Praying for our daily bread does two things for our spiritual growth.

1) It keeps us grounded on where our daily needs are met. (at the throne of God)

2) It reminds us who governs our daily lives.

James 4:13–14 ESV

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

2. The Way of Prayer shows the Indispensable necessity of Forgiveness

John Scott

“Forgiveness is as indispensable to the life and health of the soul as food is for the body.”

“Forgive us our sins,” Forgiveness is related sin because it deserves to be punished.

Note: We have also forgiven our debtors, this now relates to our forgiveness of other people. Forgiveness of others does not earn us the right to be forgiven.

*Forgiven people forgive.

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

What does this mean? This is saying that God forgives only the penitent and one of the chief evidences that someone is truly penitent is whether or not they have a forgiving spirit.

Penitent: feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentant.

There are no unforgiven people in the kingdom of God.

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”

This does not mean that we are lost if the old unforgiving spirit raises its head just once. It means: No one who holds onto a grudge against someone else dare approach God in search of mercy. God treats each of us according to our heart of repentance.

If we believe that it is good and right to harbor ill will towards someone and resentment for wrongs done against us, then God will recognize that our plea for forgiveness is sheer hypocrisy - for we will be asking him to do for us what we are unwilling to do for someone else.

*Forgiven people have hearts that are satisfied with God’s mercy

Note: All forgiveness flows from the mercy seat of God. It flows freely from the heart that is satisfied in the mercy of god and rejoicing in the cancellation of our sin.

Remember the parable that Jesus told of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. A wealthy king freely forgives the servant who owes him an exorbitant amount. Ten Thousand talents - to the hearers this would have sounded like a couple of billion dollars to us today. Forgiven, the servant walks through the palace gates, runs into a man who owes him a comparatively meager amount. Grabbing the man by the throat, he is ready to resort to physical violence, and over the pleas of the man for mercy, the “forgiven” servant throws him into debtor’s prison. The king was furious when he hears of this man’s gross inconsistency. We all should be, and we should know that this parable judges us if we harbor an unforgiving spirit.

Note: Jesus is not saying that we are forgiven based on merits we get from forgiving others. Nor is He saying that it is possible that people can lose their salvation once they have been truly forgiven. What Jesus is saying is that receiving forgiveness and mercy from God should compel us towards forgiveness.

What is Forgiveness? and What isn’t it?

If we do not experience it and offer it to others we will perish. (The prayer of Forgiveness)

(Thomas Watson, Body of Divinity, p.581)

1). Forgiveness is resisting revenge (Rom. 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, say’s the Lord).

2). Do not return evil for evil (1 Thessalonians 5:15 “See that no one repays another with evil for evil.”)

3). Wish well to them (Luke 6:28 “Bless those who curse you.”)

4). Grieve over their calamities (Proverbs 24:17 “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles.”)

5). Pray for them (Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”)

6). Seek reconciliation with them (Romans 12:18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”)

300 Illustrations for Preachers (Granting Forgiveness after Rwandan Genocide)

For 100 days in 1994, Rwanda was a killing field. Saveri Nemeye was one of the aggressors. With a machete he brutally killed Rosaria Bankundiye’s husband and their four children. Released from prison in 2004, Saveri went to Rosaria and begged for forgiveness. Rosaria considered his request and then granted it. “How can I refuse to forgive when I’m a forgiven sinner, too?” she asks. Other Christians in Rwanda “describe praying extensively before choosing to grant forgiveness, and speak of the example of Jesus forgiving his killers as he hung on the cross: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know now what they do.’ 

”Even though we know it is the right thing to do, and even though we know God commands us to forgive, we understand that this kind of radical forgiveness is a miracle from God who promised to forgive us as we forgive others.

3. The Way of Prayer Shows our inability to fight evil alone

Note: We must never overestimate our own spiritual power against the power and forces of darkness.

God does not entice or tempt us to sin. We are reminded of this in James 1:13-15 “God cannot be tempted with evil and He himself does not tempt us to sin.”

Temptation here could refer to a test of sorts.

Jesus was tested in the desert.

Adam and Eve fell under the test of temptation in the garden.

Job was tested when God allowed Satan to afflict him and his family.

Daniel and his friends were tested during the exile in Babylon.

Temptation and Trial are good for us.

We know that God uses temptation and trial for our good: ‘Count it all joy, my brethren, when we meet various trials’ or ‘various temptations. If they are beneficial for our spiritual growth why should we not pray to be led into them?

The probable answer is that we may have the power to overcome the temptation when it comes not that we try to avoid it all together.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Everyone has found themselves in situation where spiritually they do not feel strong enough to handle the temptation. What Jesus is telling us to do in this situation is to pray to be delivered from the evil one. This all goes back to our daily complete dependence of God in all situations.

PRAYER IS LIKE A LADDER (petitions go from the top downward)

Our Father (the child away from home, position of man and God.)

Hallowed by your name (the worshiper adoring the Holy God, this shows our submission to His authority)

Thy Kingdom Come (the subject comes lower than the worshipper, for worship is an elevated engagement)

Thy will be done (the servant, now we see ourselves a step lower from the subject)

Daily Bread (the beggar, we now have the position of a beggar for bread)

Forgive (the sinner, forgive is lower than “give.” This is a word of unworthiness, we weep and cry for mercy)

Deliver from evil (now you have the bottom of the ladder. you have a sinner, afraid of yet a greater sin in the future)

*Deliverance from Evil is a prayer of watchfulness

Note: We now see the enemy approaching our lines of our defense. What do we do now? The question now must be asked, are we ready. Have we prayed the prayer of watchfulness for God to deliver us from the coming onslaught of the the evil ones advancement.

What does it mean to be watchful?

According to Charles Spurgeon:

1) Never toast your own strength.

2) Never desire trial.

3) Never go into temptation

The person who prays “lead us not into temptation,” and then goes into the lions den is a liar before God. What a hypocrite a man must be who utters such a prayer.

4) Never lead others into temptation. (Matthew 18:6; “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”)

Watchfulness Requires Light Of Illumination

Walking through the jungles of Okinawa at night makes it extremely difficult to see things that are right in front of your face. We were moving down into a canyon like area where even the light from the night sky was hidden. I was bringing up the rear of the platoon when I turned around to find to find the beady little eyes of a giant banana spider stretched between two trees. The fear that struck my heart at that point was one of shock that I had not been watching my surroundings close enough to see the danger coming.

APPLICATION

To meet our special assault mission the Lord makes our heart watchful. The new-born believer, rejoicing in the perfect pardon he has just received. However the dread the strikes his rejoicing heart cries out to God, “Lead us not into temptation.” It is the fear of losing the joy of pardoned win which now cries out to the good Lord. O God we see the enemy approaching our camp give us eyes to see his advance and rally the troops to defend our location with you.

It is much the same way that we would set trip flares for anyone who might try to cross our lines, the minute the flare goes off it illuminates the threat.

Note: This is the natural prayer of holy horror at the very thought of falling again into sin.

We Do Not Fight Alone In the book Healing the Masculine Soul, Gordon Dalbey says that when Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Helper, he uses a Greek word, paraclete, that was an ancient warrior's term. "Greek soldiers went into battle in pairs," says Dalbey, "so when the enemy attacked, they could draw together back-to-back, covering each other's blind side. One's battle partner was the paraclete." Our Lord does not send us to fight the good fight alone. The Holy Spirit is our battle partner who covers our blind side and fights for our well being.

So, When you are praying to be delivered from evil, you are praying the power of the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, our battle partner who covers our blind side during the fight.

Billy Sunday, evangelist of 1900s.

"Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot. I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. And I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth, and when I'm old, fistless, footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition."

So The way of prayer teaches us: OUR DEPENDENCE ON GOD; THE INDISPENSABLE NECESSITY OF FORGIVENESS; AND OUR INABILITY TO FIGHT ALONE.

CLOSING

The Healing Power of Proper Breathing

Dane Ortlund, “Deeper”

Breathing is not an activity that anyone is feeling confident about right now. We spend our days covering our mouths and noses with masks, struggling to inhale and exhale. COVID-19 has turned us into a planet of breath-obsessed people. But as hard as it might be to fathom now, there is a silver lining here: Breathing is a missing pillar of health, and our attention to it is long overdue.

Most of us misunderstand breathing. We see it as passive, something that we just do. Breathe, live; stop breathing, die. But breathing is not that simple and binary. How we breathe matters, too.

Inside the breath you just took, there are more molecules of air than there are grains of sand on all the world’s beaches. We each inhale and exhale some 30 pounds of these molecules every day—far more than we eat or drink. The way that we take in that air and expel it is as important as what we eat, how much we exercise, and the genes we’ve inherited. Neurologists and pulmonologists at Stanford, Harvard, and other institutions found that breathing habits were directly related to physical and mental health. Breathing properly can allow us to live longer and healthier lives. Breathing poorly, by contrast, can exacerbate and sometimes cause a laundry list of chronic diseases: asthma, anxiety, hypertension, and more. You wouldn't try to go through life holding your breath. So don't go through life without Bible reading and praying. Let your soul breathe. Oxygenate with the Bible; and breathe out the CO2 of prayer as you speak back to God your wonder, worry, and waiting. Keep the back and forth communion with him all day long.

Note: Remember that Paul’s told the stoic philosophers in Athens that “in Him we live, and move, and breath, and finding our being. Let us never forget that God have us the breath of life, and He can take it away. All throughout scripture we are given the picture of the ruah, or breath of God, and pneuma in the New Testament.

So, each time we are engaged in the act of praying we reminded that the very breath in our lungs comes from God. Let your soul breath, start praying today.