The Lord's Prayer

Good morning and welcome to another week of church here at the bridge. This morning we are going to be looking at the Lord’s prayer. The passage of scripture that we don’t think of when it comes to the Lord’s prayer. That is the thing most of us when we hear things like the Lord’s prayer when we grew up in the church or have been around the church we think of tradtion.

Tradition

The Lord’s prayer is steeped in tradition. For some we can share the lords prayer with ease. Yet, it isn’t the one we are going to be looking at this morning. No many of us wills say this one.

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.

Tradition

Yes I even when back to the good old KJV to properly deliver our understanding of tradition. It is passages like this one that spark those reminders. This isn’t the only one passage that does that for many people. It is always funny for me to think about the attachments that we have to certain passages of scripture or other things int he church or in our own lives that we can’t change the tradition.

When i was in college i was taking my preaching class and I decided for one of my sermons that i wanted to do the 23rd Psalm. I decided that i wanted to present it in a different way and approach it with more modern textual versions.

I delivered the sermon and one of the most amazing things that happened after that sermon was the amount of critiques i received because of the way that i read the 23rd psalm. It was amazing to see people hang on to there past views of a passage. Like the Lord’s supper they expected.

Psalm 23:1–2 KJV 1900

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.

They got

Psalm 23:1–2 The Message

1 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. 2 You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.

Traditions

That is the funny thing about traditions we like to hang on to them. We want them to stay the same. This morning though we are looking at a different passage when it comes to the Lord’s Prayer. We are going to look at Luke’s version which is a much simpler version of the Lord’s prayer.

Luke 11:1–4 NIV

1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

The Simple Lord’s Prayer

Three lines. that is all Luke writes for Jesus’ instruction on prayer. This was how Luke wanted to focus on this moment of teaching from Jesus. He removed the liturgical and flowing aspects of Matthews sharing of the Lord’s prayer and essentially boiled it down to three lines. However, ...

Don’t let Simple Fool you

Sometimes the most effective tool is the simplest tool. I was thinking about this for awhile this week and i kept coming to the same image.

Rube Goldberg machine

I kept thinking about these kinds of machines. In particular i kept going back to two movies that utilize them to try and show off how smart the scientiest main character is in the movie. Back to the Future and Honey I shrunk the kids both utilize these types of machines to show off their scientiest intelligence. From finding a way to feed the dog to simply making some eggs and toast. They go through these elaborate machines to make breakfast for them. Then i got thinking about it. Does it really make it easier. The machines were often messy and imperfect and to be honest if you wanted to eat your eggs with constant egg shells in them i would question your intelligence. At the end of the day one of the best ways to break an egg open for breakfast is a simple tap on the counter.

Simple tools to teach us and accomplish a simple task. Simple can be better and even more powerful at times.

Let’s look than at this prayer and break down what Luke is sharing with us.

Luke makes 3 Assertions

God is Father

God is Holy

His Kingdom has not yet fully come.

God is Father. Luke reminds us in the opening line that we have an intimacy with God that we are allowed to address him as father. We can come close to him and that this isn’t just a formal saying or prayer but is a reminder that there is a relationships founded in our prayers.

God is Holy. “Hallowed by your name” is a call to be reminded that God is to be revered and respected. We must always remember that when we engage with Him that we are still speaking to the creator of all things. It is also a blessing to realize in that we have the intimacy we have in calling him Father.

His Kingdom has not fully come yet and we long for it. One of the biggest challenges that comes with this one particular is that it is the recognition that we no longer want what we pursue but we want what God wants for us. We long for his return and his Kingdom to restore his creation to as he intended it. He is King and we want his rule be a part of our lives. This is an act of submission to him as our Lord.

These are great reminders of our relationship that we share with God. It reminds us that we can have the intimate relationship with the Creator of everything and we want him to rule over our heart and to see him return and his Kingdom to be over all.

It is at this point that Luke transitions to some petitions

3 Petitions

Our Daily Bread

Forgive us as we forgive

Help us when we are tested.

Luke reminds us to seek God in our daily needs. The image of daily bread is a valuable one and it is one that honestly we could do a whole sermon series around because the imagery of bread pops up through out the Bible. It is a reminder to lean on him though to provide for us each day. The best story that comes to mind is…Manna

Exodus 16:4 NIV

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

Exodus 16:15–17 NIV

15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ ” 17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little.

3 Petitions

Like the Israelites at the time we have to remember that we have to lean on God for our daily needs. In many ways Jesus takes the idea of daily bread and expands on it to remind us that this daily actions is how we are to live. To live each day reliant on God to provide. Or to.

Luke 9:23 NIV

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Our daily bread is our reliance on God and it is essential.

3 Petitions

We are called to be reminded that we have been forgiven. That God in his holiness elected to forgive us of our sins. It is by his grace that we are able to move forward in confidence. In similar fashion we are called to be forgiving others. and we are to be reminded of that and ask God to help us with that. Forgiveness must be a part of our lives and that requires the help and grace of God.

The last petitions reads as to not lead us into temtptation. However, when we think of temptation it is important to be reminded that this isn’t God leading us into temtpation but it is the reality that this world will tempt us to walk away from him. It is argued that this could be translated as

“Pray that you will not be required to withstand the testing of your faith”

The reality is that we will at times go through the struggle of testing our faith and that we don’t wish that because those are always challenging times. Yet, it is also a reminder that he is the provider and that when it happens we need to look to him for the strength to pass the test.

The Lord’s Prayer

Luke presents us with this simple version of the prayer. In all honesty I love it. I know that the traditional version of it in Matthew is the favorite or the known one of many but the simplistic focus on exactly what we need is so powerful to me. In fact it has been a reminder of how quickly i can pray when i need it in my life. Think about it. 3 lines to be reminded of all the theological and relational things i need to know about God.

Luke 11:2–4 NIV

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

No formal language no drawn out liturgy just simple prayer that draws me to him. That helps me to see that it is in his love i long to be. That it is in his hands i want to be. It is in his grace that i love to be. He provides in the good and the bad. He helps me and forgives me. There is no other place i would rather be than in this prayer. Focused on Him. With that.

Let’s Pray.