Commands of Christ-20d

March 30, 2022 A Christian's Prayer

Rodney "Gipsy" Smith became a follower of Jesus at age 16, and a year later began preaching after William Booth invited him to become an evangelist with The Salvation Army.

Although this British evangelist had no formal education, he proclaimed the gospel for 70 years. He made dozens of trips across the Atlantic to preach in the United States, and two presidents invited him to the White House.

Someone once asked Smith the secret of his ministry. He said, "Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle."

Like Smith, we need the habit of connection found in the place of prayer. And here's the good news: Jesus provided a great template to guide our prayers when He said, "This, then, is how you should pray" (Matthew 6:9).

Read Matthew 6:7-15

Matthew 6:7–15 (NASB95)

7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ 14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Let’s recite the Lord’s Prayer together:

Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB) "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.]'

As we look at verses 7 & 8 I like what the POSB Commentary says:

The Three Great Rules for Prayer (Part II), 6:7-8

(6:7-8) Introduction: among the religious there is often a tendency toward long prayers, particularly in public. Too often people measure prayer by its fluency and length, thinking that length means devotion.

"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few" (Eccles. 5:2).

Christ puts the matter very simply, yet strongly: "When ye pray," follow three great rules.

1. Rule 1: do not use empty repetition (v.7).

2. Rule 2: do not speak much (v.7).

How do we handle the many, many needs?

Lesson writer: It seems that Jesus is not condemning perseverance in prayer but rather verbosity, especially in those who speak without thinking.

3. Rule 3: trust God (v.8).

Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - Matthew I.

Influence Magazine:

1. Worship. Jesus began with, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (verse 9). Rather than starting with a list of needs, Jesus challenged us to acknowledge and worship our Heavenly Father. This approach begins from a place of relationship rather than a place of requests.

2. God's will. Next, Jesus said, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (verse 10). We live in a fallen world, but Jesus makes it clear God can still accomplish His will on earth. As leaders, it's our job to pray and welcome God's will in whatever place He has entrusted to us to lead.

3. Provision. Jesus said, "Give us today our daily bread" (verse 11). When we seek God to meet our daily needs, we exhibit an ongoing reliance on Him. The moment we become self-reliant, we abandon the provision made available through prayer.

4. Forgiveness. Next, Jesus says, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (verse 12). Extending forgiveness keeps our hearts soft toward God and the people we lead. Sometimes leaders have to give extra time to this part of prayer because of the hardships and disappointments experienced in leadership.

5. Temptation. Finally, Jesus instructed us to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (verse 13). A regular habit of prayer gives us the spiritual strength to overcome the temptations and win the battles often associated with leadership.

5. What two natural divisions do you observe in the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)?

Question 5. In the first part of this question you are simply looking for what verses are covered in each half of the Lord's Prayer: Matthew 6:9-10 and Matthew 6:11-13.

What is the focus of each?

Then, in the second part of the question, look for the main subject of each half. If the group needs help, tell them to notice that 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.

The well-known phrase "for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever" is not found in the earliest manuscripts.

First: focused on God:

Worship of Him

Because He is our Father

His majesty and power

Prayer that His holiness will be recognized by all

His Kingdom

His will

On earth as in heaven

Second: focused on our needs

Daily bread only

Why is forgiveness so important?

Deliverance from temptation

Third:

A recognition of Who God is: His Kingdom, power and glory

He can answer our prayers because of these things

8. God is already King. In what sense are his kingdom and perfect will still future (Matthew 6:10)?

Question 8. The kingdom of God is his royal rule. Again, as he is already holy so he is already King, reigning in absolute sovereignty over both nature and history.

Yet when Jesus came he announced a new and special break-in of the kingly rule of God, with all the blessings of salvation and the demands of submission which the divine rule implies.

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.

For what are we praying?

John 18:36 (NASB95) Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

Mark 16:15–18 (NASB95) And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. 17 “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Matthew 25:31–40 (NASB95) “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

Revelation 21:1–8 (NASB95) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

9. In our self-centered culture we are often preoccupied with our own little name, empire and will rather than God's. How can we combat this tendency?

Question 9. You might ask the group to think of situations in which we could demonstrate greater concern for God's name than our name, God's kingdom than our "kingdom" and God's will than our will.

10. Some early commentators allegorized the word bread (Matthew 6:11), assuming that Jesus could not be referring to something as mundane as our physical needs. Why is it perfectly appropriate to pray for actual "daily bread"?

Question 10. Early church fathers like Tertullian, Cyprian and Augustine thought the reference was either to "the invisible bread of the Word of God" (Augustine) or to the Lord's Supper.

Jerome, in the Vulgate, translated the Greek word for "daily" by the monstrous adjective "supersubstantial"; he also meant the Holy Communion.

A more ordinary, down-to-earth interpretation seems most likely—just as the Lord daily provided manna for the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16:4).

11. How is our heavenly Father's forgiveness related to our forgiving others (Matthew 6:12, 14-15)?

Question 11. Jesus certainly does not mean that our forgiveness of others earns us the right to be forgiven.

Rather he means that God forgives only the penitent and that one of the chief evidences of true penitence is a forgiving spirit.

Once our eyes have been opened to see the enormity of our offense against God, the injuries which others have done to us appear by comparison extremely trifling.

If, on the other hand, we have an exaggerated view of the offenses of others, it proves that we have minimized our own.

Matthew 18:21–35 (NASB95) Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

12. If God cannot tempt us and trials are beneficial (James 1:2, 13), then what is the meaning of Matthew 6:13?

Question 12. It is probable that the prayer is more that we may overcome temptation, than that we may avoid it.

Perhaps we could paraphrase the whole request as, "Do not allow us so to be led into temptation that overwhelms us, but rescue us from the evil one."

So behind these words that Jesus gave us to pray are the implications that the devil is too strong for us, that we are too weak to stand up to him, but that our heavenly Father will deliver us if we call on him.

1 Corinthians 10:12–14 (NASB95) Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

Hebrews 2:18 (NASB95) For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

Hebrews 4:15 (NASB95) For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

13. In what ways do your prayers need to more closely resemble this model prayer?

LifeGuide Topical Bible Studies - Sermon on the Mount.