Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13)

Matthew 6:9–13 KJV 1900

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Introduction

This is not a liturgical formula.

It is a model of what types of things we should pray for.

Addressing the Lord.

Our Father.

Speaks to the nearness of God.

In heaven.

Speaks to the distance of God.

Three requests that are made about God.

The requests that we make to God all have to do with His position as king.

Thy name be hallowed.

The mention of His name is synonymous to Himself.

All that He is and has manifested to us.

He is to be upheld as holy.

When we think about this in regards to our prayer life our prayer for His name to be hallowed should have two parts.

We pray that He would hallowed in our hearts.

We pray that He would hallowed in the hearts of others.

He is the King, our King and we should desire to see His name (Him) lifted up.

Thy kingdom come.

God’s kingdom has always been firmly established.

When Jesus came to earth it began the process of establishing it on the earth.

Jesus’ disciples should desire and look forward to the day when His kingdom will be

This is what we pray for.

We pray that His spiritual kingdom would increase.

We pray that His physical kingdom would come as well.

Thy will be done.

We made mention of this in our last message, but prayer is not the overcoming of God’s reluctance.

It is the opening up of ourselves to His will.

God’s will will be done.

He never fails, He always wins.

By praying with this in mind, we express our acceptance of His will.

Four requests that are made for ourselves.

I believe the requests we make for ourselves all center around the fall of man.

Give us our bread.

We should pray for our daily provisions.

Luke says that we ask God for our bread “day by day.”

This expresses a daily reliance upon God for the provision of our temporal needs.

When we were in the garden we didn’t have to worry about our daily physical needs.

God took care of them.

We should still trust in God to take care of us.

Forgive us our debts.

All of us are indebted to God.

Part of our approach before our King should be a desire for mercy and clean standing.

This is permanently found in salvation through Jesus Christ.

Positionally we are justified.

Experientially, though, we still find ourselves sinning.

God’s relationship to our sin is different than it was before we were disciples.

Now, instead of our sins being the actions of an enemy rebel, they are the actions of a son or daughter against their Father.

We do not continually come to God for renewal of salvation.

We do come to Him for reconciliation when our sinful actions have driven a wedge in our spiritual family.

God desires peace within His family.

When we offend Him, He wants us to make it right.

He expects us to maintain peace within our relationships with our brothers and sisters as well.

We have a responsibility to forgive those that have offended us as well.

It’s a part of of being in God’s family.

Before the fall, there was no debt to come between us and God, or other humans.

We enjoyed perfect harmony.

We should pray for that again.

Lead us not into temptation.

The Bible teaches us that God tempteth no man.

So, what is this is even talking about?

Why would Jesus tell us to pray for this if this isn’t even an option?

Jesus is telling us that we should pray that God would lead us in a path that would help us avoid temptation.

We know our weaknesses, and so do our Father.

We don’t know what the future holds, but our Father does.

Jesus tells us that we should pray to Him that He would lead or guide our paths away from things that may be a temptation to us.

This request is needed because we are fallen.

We need God to guide us away from temptation.

Lead us in a path that will protect us.

Deliver us from evil.

I’ve said this before, but when we read about evil in the Bible, it doesn’t always mean sin.

Evil most often means bad things that happen.

Bad things exist in the world because of sin’s presence.

Sickness, disasters, and death all came about because of the fall.

There is nothing wrong with asking God to deliver us from these things.

Jesus tells us that we can pray for it.

The truth of the matter is that Jesus will deliver all of His disciples from evil one day.

His kingdom will come, He will set all things right.

We will be freed from the effects of the curse.

These things are sure and so we move to the conclusion of our prayers.

Conclusion

Ascription of authority.

He is the ruler of the Kingdom of the Universe.

All things are under His rule.

Ascription of power.

He is an all-powerful ruler.

There is nothing that He cannot do.

Ascription of glory.

He will be glorified forever.

He will win.

Application

So how does this passage affect the way we pray?

First, we need to remember who we are praying too.

He is both near to us and higher than us.

He is Father and ruler of Heaven.

He will win.

He will reign.

He will be glorified.

Second, we should communicate our acceptance of His position in our prayers.

We should hallow His name.

It is precious, as it represents all that He is.

Do not take it in vain.

We should ask for His kingdom to come.

We should seek His will to be done.

Third, we should seek His help in living/navigating a fallen world.

Daily provision.

Clearance of debts.

Led on a path that avoids temptation.

Deliverance from the evil of the curse that surrounds us.

We can have faith and confidence if we keep a right mindset about God and His answers.