Whenever You Pray…
How To Pray: 6:5-15 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. “For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.
The Lord’s Prayer is probably the most quoted prayer of all time. Many churches recite it every Sunday and most people have at least heard it once. I also believe that the Lord’s prayer is quoted so often and known so well that we may have lost the deep meaning in the prayer and the extraordinary basis for the prayer. Why did Jesus construct His prayer in this way? We will be going through this model prayer line by line, but first, I want to take a look at the introduction to the prayer itself.
Jesus begins this portion of His sermon by saying, don’t be like the hypocrites. I really should say, Jesus continues the sermon by addressing the heart versus outside issues. According to the dictionary, a hypocrite is a person who claims a moral character that their behavior doesn’t match up to. In other words, their outsides look great, but the inside is rotten. Prayers were very important and prescribed in biblical times. There were those who would stand in public and say long and grandiose prayers so they could be heard and seen as pious, much like the money going into the treasury boxes. Jesus once again goes straight to the heart of the matter. He says, don’t be like that. Instead, go to your private room and shut the door. Don’t babble on using grand words and flowery speeches. God knows our needs and, more importantly, He knows our heart. Prayer is a conversation with God and God alone. It isn’t meant to be something to show people how spiritual we are. So Jesus shows us how we need to pray. He tells us what His priorities are in His prayer. He shows us the very heart of God.
As I began to research the Lord’s prayer, I discovered some pretty fascinating things. First, one must understand the prayer in it’s context. This is a very Jewish prayer and it parallels many Jewish prayers of the day. The people listening to this sermon would have understand the parallels. With this in mind, we come to the second point: Jesus wasn’t the only Rabbi to teach His disciples a prayer. In fact, it was customary for Rabbi’s to have followers and teach them a prayer. Before following Jesus, Andrew and Peter followed John the Baptist. Perhaps this is why they asked Jesus to teach them a prayer. Luke 11:1 says, He was praying in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” Third, a Rabbi’s prayer gives insight into what was significant to them. If you want to know the heart of Jesus, listen to His prayer. In this prayer, Jesus paints us a picture as to what is important to God. For this study, I will use the New International Version (NIV). I wanted to go line by line and really understand the things that are important to Jesus.
Our Father in heaven – The Our Father prayers come from the ancient Jewish prayers known as the Amidah or the Standing prayers. The Amidah are 19 petitions and blessings and includes three requests to Our Father. Keeping in mind that prayers written by Rabbi’s reflected what was important and significant, starting the prayer off this way, Jesus is proclaiming that God is the One to look to for all things. Our Father in heaven is the one who will provide, protect, direct etc. This is the foundation on which the rest of the prayer is built.
Hallowed be your name – This portion of the prayer comes from another ancient prayer known as Kaddish, which means sanctification. When you say Hallowed by your name you are literally saying, may Your Name be magnified and sanctified. The first thing to understand is the name of God is sacred and holy. Exodus 20:7 says, “do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name. The Hebrew name for God is Yahveh (many English speakers would say Yahweh but there actually isn’t a “w” sound in Hebrew). Yahveh is a unique Hebrew word in that it is made up of a 4 letter root – Yod He Vov He or YHVH. All other Hebrew words are made up of 3 letter roots. The Jewish religious community takes this commandment so seriously, they do not utter the name of God for fear they will somehow misuse it. Instead they will use the word Adonai (Lord) or HaShem (literally – The Name). BTW, if you see the word LORD in all caps, you know that this is the translation for God’s name. As Jesus continues His prayer, he is literally saying, I lift the name of God up high. I magnify and sanctify His holy name. May God be magnified and sanctified throughout all the earth. Holy is His name.
Just in these two lines we have established that God is the One we should look to for all things. His name is holy and should be magnified. Also, if we call Him Father, we carry His name as His children. This means we are the hands, feet, and voice of God in this world. Already, I have to look at my life and see how I represent The Name of God in my actions or speech. Am I a good representative, or am I misusing His name?
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven – Here, we go back to the 14th and 15th passages of the Amidah. These are the Bonnah Yerusalem – asking for the restoration of the city of David; and the Birkat David – asking God to bring the Messiah. Jesus knew His followers believed the kingdom of God was the restoration of Israel to its former glory upon the arrival of the Messiah. I believe He references these two passages to continue to reteach His followers about the true kingdom of God. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus teaches about what the kingdom of heaven is like… a mustard seed, seed scattered on the ground, yeast, a king preparing a banquet, treasure hidden in a field, a merchant looking for fine pearls, a net that catches fish, an owner who brings out his treasures just to name a few. Jesus makes it very clear that God’s desire is for His kingdom and His will to be done on earth. So often, I think we become so future focused that we forget the kingdom of God is right here wherever Jesus’ followers are. When the people of God lift up the hallowed name of Our Father in heaven, we are able to see His kingdom now. His will working now. The mustard seed that starts small, but grows as we grow in Him. The seed we scatter as we are His hands, feet and voice. The yeast that works its way through the dough. The treasure – we give up ourselves so we attain the treasure in God alone. May His kingdom come, may His will be done NOW as it is in heaven. In today’s current situation, we need this more than ever.
Give us today our daily bread – Adonai Jireh – The Lord the Provider. Jesus reminds us that God will provide for our needs. He says, if God provides for the birds of the air and the flowers in the field, He most certainly will provide for us. (Matthew 6:25-34) We are also reminded of the manna from heaven God provided for the people of Israel in the wilderness. Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:51), and just like the ram that was provided for Abraham as a sacrifice instead of Issac, Jesus is the Lamb of God, the sacrifice God provided for us.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors – Ok, now for the tough part of the prayer – asking God to forgive us as we forgive others – OUCH!! The 6th petition of the Amidah reads, “Forgive us Our Father for we have sinned, and pardon us Our King for we have transgressed; for You pardon and forgive. Blessed are You, Lord, Who is merciful and forgives abundantly.” But Jesus takes it right to the heart. When you ask for forgiveness, God wants our hearts to be right. His desire is for us not to harbor unforgiveness in our hearts. Psalm 24:3-4 answers the question “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart…” Matthew 6:15 says it even more bluntly, “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Double OUCH. Remember the parable of the man who was forgiven a great debt and then went and refused to forgive a very small debt. He was picked up and put into prison until the debt could be paid. What’s in my heart? Is it unforgiveness? If so, I better put down that offering, go and reconcile with my brother or sister, and then come back to God.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one – I think I lose count how many times in the Psalms the Psalmist is pleading with God to rescue him from evil. “Rescue me, Lord, from evil men. Keep me safe from violent men who plan evil in their hearts. They stir up wars all day long. (Psalm 140:1-2) “Lord, I call on You; hurry to help me. Listen to my voice when I call on You. May my prayer be set before You as incense, the raising of my hands as the evening offering. Lord, set up a guard for my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips. Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing or perform wicked acts with men who commit sin. (Psalm 141:1-4) The evil one is in the world and temptation is always going to be something we struggle with. Jesus’ prayer was for us to know who will deliver us from evil and who will empower us to stand firm against the temptations we face.
As I look again at the Lord’s prayer, I am struck by the things Jesus saw as priorities. Our Father in heaven is the One we are to look to. His name is above all names and is holy. God desire is for the kingdom of heaven to come as we, his children, reflect His glory – we are to be lights in the world. We are His hands, feet and voice. May we honor His holy name in all we say and do. God is our provider. We do not need to be anxious for anything. God’s mercy is everlasting and He desires that we have the same mercy for others. God will forgive us as we forgive those around us. He is the One we can look to when temptation wants to overtake us, when the evil in the world becomes overwhelming. He will empower us. He is the firm foundation we can stand on.
I think we need this prayer more than ever today. The things that are happening in the world right now seem to overshadow that fact that God is in control. There seem to be a plethora of opinions on what we can do to make things right. And there seems to be very little listening and very little praying. And that is what this is all about. Prayer. So I will end this lesson with a prayer.
Lord, teach me to pray. Instead of speaking, let me listen to Your voice. You are the holy and righteous One. It is Your kingdom and Your will that I need to seek. May You empower me to be Your hands, feet and voice in this world. God, You will provide for me, even in times of trouble. Help me not to be anxious for anything. Lord, You are compassionate and merciful. May I show the same mercy to those around me. Help me to understand the pain people are experiencing right now. Oh God, keep me from temptation. It is tempting to judge. Tempting to speak before I listen. Tempting to pick sides. Tempting to rely on men instead of You. Deliver me from the evil one. He is wreaking havoc in the world today. He is dividing me against my brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends. He is a liar and deceiver. He loves the chaos that is being created right now. But You, Oh Lord are my deliverer. You are the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. Our Father in heaven, I praise Your holy Name. Amen.
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