|
Let's first look at the principles of
prayer in Mt 6:5-15...
Mt 6:5: How are we not to pray? What
is your motive for praying in the presence of others? In Spanish one might
ask "Que es su purposa?" What is your purpose? Why are you doing what you
are doing?
Like hypocrites - actors - who stand
and pray in synagogues and street corners
To be seen by men
Who are the hypocrites (the actors
hiding behind masks so that one can't see who they really are within, in
their heart) in the
context of the time of Jesus' message and how does this relate to Mt 5:20?
The hypocrites were the scribes and the
Pharisees
Jesus explains how their practice of
righteousness was to be surpassed
Note: Jesus was not saying that
if one gives, prays or fasts in a way that surpassed the scribes and
Pharisees, that they would gain heaven. His point is that those who
possess that surpassing righteousness by faith are the ones who will put it
into practice in those ways He is advocating. An unsaved person could not
practice the righteousness Jesus is describing.
Mt 6:5: What's the reward for
hypocritical praying?
That men see you...that is the full
reward
The praise of men instead of the smile
of the Father
Luke 18:11 is the perfect
example
"The Pharisee stood and was praying
thus to himself (note who he is praying to!), 'God, I thank Thee
that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even
like this tax-gatherer.
Mt 6:6: Where should we pray? Who do we
pray to? What result?
Go into inner room, shut door, pray to
your Father Who is in secret
Your Father will repay you - If our
real motive is to get through to God, He will hear and answer.
Note: Jesus is not prohibiting
public prayer which He Himself exercised. His point is not where but
why...what is your motive in your public praying? Is it so men will hear
you or God?
Mt 6:7: How should we
not pray?
Do not use meaningless repetition -
stock words, empty phrases
No ritualistic praying
Mindless repetition (not from the
heart) - this principle could apply to some modern worship songs which are
in the form of a prayer and which repeat a chorus over and over and over
God is not impressed by our
multiplication of words but desires sincere expressions from the heart.
Who prays that way and why?
Gentiles (pagans or heathens) - the
unsaved pray this way
Pagans pray this way because they think
their deity will hear them if they pile up words!
Mt 6:8 Why don't we need to make
meaningless repetition? Does this mean we cannot repeat prayer requests?
Your Father knows what you need before
you ask Him
Jesus is not forbidding repetition of
requests, but of repetition of words repeated thoughtlessly or as if they
were a formula for successful prayer. What Jesus condemns is the spirit of
distrust and fear of idol worshiping pagans which causes them to babble on
and on to be certain their so called gods are sufficiently appeased or
completely informed.
Why pray if your Father knows what
you need?
We acknowledge our need.
We express our trust, humility and
dependence on our Father for everything
In this way we communicate with Him
(communion).
We don't come like a battering ram to break down the door of God's treasure
house
We come as children who are greatly
loved by their Father and Who desires to give them perfect gifts (not
their greeds but their needs)
In a profoundly mysterious way, God
also does things in answer to prayer that He would not have done otherwise
(see James 4:2).
Matthew 6:9-14
"The Lord's Prayer"
Mt 6:9-14: Let's look at Jesus'
instructions to counter the meaningless prayers like pagans...
Note: The Lord Jesus gave many
other commands to pray (Matthew 7:7-11; 9:38; 17:20; 18:19,20; 21:21,22;
26:41; Luke 18:1,7; John 14:13,14; 15:7,16; 16:23,24) and all of these
give further instruction on the vital subject of how believers should
pray. This would make a worthwhile devotional study. Below are some other
resources...
Lord Teach Me To Pray...in 28 Days
by Kay Arthur
Lord Teach Us to Pray:
online devotional based on Kay
Arthur's book
A Prayer for Fullness by
Wayne Barber (exposition of
Ephesians 3:14-21)
Power Through Prayer
by
E. M. Bounds
Torrey's
Topic on "Prayer"
over 150 Scriptures (read each text in its context to maximize proper
interpretation and fruitful application). As a suggestion you might
consider going through these Scriptures devotionally each morning and keep
a diary of observations on the text. Then as you pray these Scriptures
back to your Father Who is in heaven, you could keep a record of His
faithfulness in answering.
How do you know this was not actually
the "Lord's Prayer", a prayer He prayed?
Mt 6:12 answers that question. Jesus
had no need for forgiveness of debts, for He had none!
What does the phrase "in this way"
imply?
That this prayer was never meant to be
a ritualistic, rote prayer for regular recital but rather a guide for
praying "in this way" or "after this manner". The problem
with prayer by rote memory is that this kind of prayer becomes "meaningless
repetition."
Jesus told the people listening to His
teaching to "pray in this way," in the context of just having stated not
to use meaningless repetition. So clearly Jesus is presenting a
pattern for our prayers, not the only words to use in prayer. The "Lord's
Prayer" was never intended to be used as a repetitious petition, but as
the guide to how His followers should pray.
So often it has unfortunately been
turned into a ritualistic recital that we mouth but do not genuinely pray
from our heart. Such dead formalism is the very practice Jesus is
warning them to beware of practicing! That is not to say that one could or
should never pray this prayer...the question one must always address when
praying this prayer is...
"Am I praying it truly from my heart
and not in a rote manner as if I were reciting a memory verse?"
Certainly, from the heart, this is a
valid, effective prayer. As discussed below it is even more effectively
used as a guideline for praying.
Where do we see intercession (prayer
for others) in this prayer guide?
Use of the plural pronouns "Our
Father"... "give us our daily bread", etc
Note: This is not a "I, me, my,
mine" type of prayer in any way!
How many petitions does Jesus give?
What is significant about the order?
Six petitions
First 3 directed to God
Last 3 toward human needs (Mt 6:11-13)
Note the brevity of this prayer.
Prayers can be longer but the point is that they do not have to be long to
be effective and pleasing to our Father.
What are Jesus' general guidelines
for prayer? As an aside are these just suggestions or are they commanded?
In Mt 6:9 "pray" is which is a command
from our Lord that we make this model for prayer be the habit of our
(prayer) life.
1) Mt 6:9 Pray to the Father, in
heaven, with focus on His Name - hallowed, holy, set apart. Begin with
praise and worship of the Father. In context we praise Him because He is
perfect (Mt 5:48),
our perfect Father (and many of us have had earthly fathers far removed
from "perfection" and are in need of a wonderful perfect Father. We praise
Him because He sees what is done in secret, that he even rewards
our righteous giving, praying and fasting, that He knows what we need
even before we ask, and that He forgives us as we forgive others.
2) Mt 6:10 Pray for the Father's kingdom - we pray for
advancement of God's cause (in one sense this prayer is for the return of
our Lord and His millennial kingdom on earth when He reigns in
righteousness)
3) Mt 6:10 Pray for the
Father's will to be done - we willingly submit to and desire to see
performed God’s will which is good, and acceptable and perfect
(notes
Romans 12:2).
4) Mt 6:11 Pray for our daily
needs (physical but also spiritual food) - note God's interests are given
priority (first 3 petitions are toward God)
5) Mt 6:12 Ask for
forgiveness of our debts (spiritual debts, sin creating a debt to God for
violation of His Law, the "wages of sin are death", the parallel passage
in Luke 11:4 uses "sins"), in the context of a willingness to forgive
others their debts against us.
6) Mt 6:13 Pray we will
not be led into temptation (cf Luke 22:40) or testing but will be
delivered from evil (to be kept from sin) or the evil one (Satan) - God
Himself will not tempt anyone to evil but He does allow us to be tested
and tried. This petition expresses a healthy distrust of our own ability
to resist temptations or to stand up under trial and acknowledges complete
dependence on the Lord for preservation.
Mt 6:13 Praise for God's
kingdom, power and glory
Mt 6:14-15: What is the "heart" of
the prayer that Jesus emphasizes by providing further explanation?
Forgiveness - if we do forgive others,
our Father will forgive us, but He will not forgive us if we refuse to
forgive others.
Note: Forgiveness with the
Father depends on forgiveness among the members of the family of God. This
is the forgiveness that affects fellowship within the family of God, not
the forgiveness that leads to salvation. Refusal to forgive and be
reconciled to other humans is sin which bars us from God's forgiveness.
Prayer is agreement with God and must be in agreement with His character.
To refuse to forgive is to violate God's claim that vengeance is His alone
(Ro 12:19).
Luke 11:1-4: How does this parallel
prayer help one understand the purpose of the prayer in Mt 6:9-13?
Jesus did not repeat the exact wording and the obvious conclusion is that
neither prayer was ever intended by Jesus to be repetitively prayed using
exactly the words in Mt 6:9-13. This emphasizes that it is a model
prayer or pattern of prayer.
Hendriksen nicely summarizes the
structure of this model prayer noting that...
The comprehensive or universe-embracing
nature of these petitions appears from the fact that they bear reference
not only to God’s glory, etc. (first three petitions), but also to our
needs (last three); not only to our physical needs (fourth petition), but
also to our spiritual (fifth and sixth); not only to our present need
(fourth petition), but also to our need with reference to the past
(fifth), and even to our future need (sixth). Finally, in this prayer the
worshiper carries to the throne of grace the burdens that are not only his
own but also his brothers’ (“our,” “us”). All of this is included in the
six brief requests. This is indeed the perfect pattern for our prayers!
(Hendriksen,
W., & Kistemaker, S. J. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel
According to Matthew Grand Rapids: Baker Book House)
In Luke 11:4 Jesus says "sins"
which helps understand "debts" in Mt 6:12.
Luke 11:1-4:
1 And it came about that while He was
praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples
said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his
disciples."
2 And He said to them, "When you pray,
say: 'Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
3 'Give us each day our daily bread.
4 'And forgive us our sins, For we
ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not
into temptation.'"
Note:
Many scholars believe that the Lord's Prayer was given to the disciples as
a list of index sentences. In the days of our Lord, the rabbis would give
the people a collection of brief sentences, each of which suggested a
subject for prayer. These index sentences or subjects for prayer would
then be used to lead the disciples into topics that needed to be covered
in prayer. Assuming this to be the case in Matthew 6, let's look at the
Lord's Prayer and see what topics it covers.
Let's look at parallel
Scriptures for each petition in Jesus' "Model For Prayer"
1) "Our Father, Who is in heaven, hallowed be
Thy name"
John 1:12-13:
How does this passage relate to the
Lord's prayer? Who is entitled to pray this prayer?
Only believers can call God "Father"
because we are His children having received Jesus as Savior and
believed in His Name (Jesus means "Jehovah saves")
John 1:12-13:
11 He came to His own, and those who
were His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God.
Note:
One often hears someone begin a prayer
with "Dear Jesus..." Although that is certainly not heretical, in
fairness and in a desire to pray as Jesus teaches, it should be emphasized
that
Scripture never instructs believers to pray to the Lord Jesus
Christ or to the Holy Spirit. The Bible is our only guidebook for
Scripturally sound praying and supersedes the experience or traditional
practices of men, whether pastors or laymen. What we do observe is
that the entire Godhead is integrally involved in the prayers of the
saints. The Holy Spirit leads and initiates our prayers. The Father is the
One to Whom all of our prayers are directed or addressed. And finally, all
of our prayers ascend to the Father's throne only through the Great High
Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ a truth which explains why we always
end our prayer with a phrase like "in the Name of Jesus".
Romans 8:14-17: How do you know if you are in the family of God and can
call God "Father"?
We are led by the Spirit
We don't have a spirit of slavery which
causes us to fear God
The Spirit bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God
Suffering for the sake of His Name is
one of the marks of a genuine believer
Romans 8:14-17:
14 For all who are being led by the
Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again,
but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out,
"Abba! Father!"
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children
of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with
Him.
Psalm 100:4: How should we enter into
God's presence?
Here thanksgiving is added to
praise as the way to come into His presence in prayer.
Blessing His Name
Psalm 100:4: Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name.
Exodus 33:18-19: What was Moses'
greatest desire and should likewise be ours?
To see God's glory manifest
Exodus 33:18-19
18 Then Moses said, "I pray Thee, show
me Thy glory!"
19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and
will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show
compassion."
Proverbs 18:10: Why does the prayer begin with focus on God's Name?
Remember that a Name stands for everything a person is and was how God
revealed Himself in the OT (See study on the Names of God
Name of the LORD is a Strong Tower: Summary)
His Name is like a strong tower
His Names describe His attributes which
hold us safely when we are in need
Proverbs 18:10:
The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
The righteous runs into it and is safe.
Beloved, do you begin your prayers
by focusing on the Father, by exalting His Name and by praising and
thanking Him? If you do or do not, how might this affect the remainder of
your prayer time?
2) "Your kingdom come"
Matthew 5:3
What did we learn about the Kingdom of
heaven?
The kingdom is already the present
possession of the poor in heart. Thus in that sense, the Kingdom has
already come. And yet as we see below we are still to be seeking His
Kingdom even though we have already entered at the time of salvation ("the
poor in spirit').
1 Corinthians 6:9-11: Who is in the
Kingdom? Who would even desire His kingdom to come or to be advanced?
Citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven -
those with a righteousness that surpasses the scribes and Pharisees
because the unrighteous will not inherit God's Kingdom
Some are deceived thinking they belong
to the kingdom but they do not
All members of the Kingdom are former
sinners who have been declared righteous (Justified), they have been
washed (with the "water of the Word") and sanctified (set apart at the
time of their reception of Jesus as Lord and Savior, made holy or set
apart from the world and unto God for His kingdom work, one aspect of
which is prayer for His Kingdom to come)
1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
9 Or do you not know that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived;
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals,
10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and in the Spirit of our God.
Acts 26:18: How did sinners gain entry
into the Kingdom of Heaven?
The Gospel ("washing with the water of
the Word") was spoken to them
God's Spirit supernaturally opened
their spiritually blind eyes
They were given a new heart and desire
to turn from darkness to light
From the dominion (power he rightfully
had been given over unsaved sinners) to God (Father)
God granted those who turned
forgiveness of sins and an inheritance (Kingdom)
They were sanctified (set apart) the
moment they placed their faith in Jesus Christ
Acts 26:18:
(Jesus sending Paul to preach the gospel to the Gentiles) to open their
eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of
Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an
inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me (Jesus).'
Matthew 6:33: What do children of the
heavenly Father, those who now belong to the Kingdom of Heaven do, one
part of which includes prayer? What is the priority?
Seeking first (priority) His Kingdom
and His righteousness.
In this model prayer we see the focus
begins with the Father and then moves to His Kingdom. We are continually
to give His eternal Kingdom priority over anything and everything on this
earth which is passing away.
Matthew 6:33:
"But seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
3)
"Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
1 John 5:14-15: Why is it important to
know the will of God when we pray?
So that we might pray according to His
will, for in this way we know He hears us and that we have the requests we
have asked from Him.
Knowing God's will is a key to answered
prayer. Note that to pray according to God’s will is to pray in accord
with what He would want, not what we would desire or insist that He do for
us. We must take time to discern the will of God which is good and
acceptable and perfect (Ro 12:2), which is found most accurately in the
Word of God. The Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance God's Word and
thus will help us discern His Will.
But you still may be asking "I ask in
His will and did not get the answer I asked for." J Vernon McGee
explains what "praying in His will" means...
If we are in fellowship with Him, if we
are not regarding sin in our lives, and if there are no other hindrances
to prayer in our lives, we are not going to pray selfishly. When we
are walking in fellowship with Him, when we are following Him, we can have
the confidence that He will hear what we ask and answer our prayer. We are
not to come to Him with mistrust or in a begging attitude, but we are to
come with boldness to ask that God’s will be done.
(McGee,
J V: Thru
the Bible Commentary: Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
(Bolding added)
1 John 5:14-15:
14 And this is the confidence (means in
essence freedom to speak or boldness of speech) which we
have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears
us.
15 And if we know (present
tense) that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we
have the requests which we have asked from Him. (We may not see the answer
to a prayer immediately, but we have inner confidence that God has
answered)
John 9:31: What will hinder our prayers
for His will to be done?
Doing God's will (obedience) is crucial
for effective prayer.
John 9:31:
"We know that God does not hear
sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him.
Luke 22:42: Who is our example of
praying for the will of the Father to be done? When we don't know God's
will in a given circumstance, what should we pray?
Jesus is clearly our example.
We should always pray that God's will
be done, not ours.
Luke 22:42:
saying, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My
will, but Thine be done."
4) "Give us this day our daily bread."
What is the shift in emphasis? For who?
From God to our needs
For self and others ("us") which
indicates it is intercessory
What do we learn about our praying
from the following?
Lu 11:5-10 - Persistence
Mt 21:22 - Faith
Jn 15:7 - Abide in Jesus, knowing and
being obedient to His Word
Jn 15:16 - Ask in Jesus' Name
Ja 4:1-3 - Ask with unselfish, God
honoring motives
Luke 11:5-10
5 And He said to them, "Suppose one of
you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him,
'Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing
to set before him';
7 and from inside he shall answer and say, 'Do not bother me; the door has
already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and
give you anything.'
8 "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything
because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up
and give him as much as he needs.
9 "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.
10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him
who knocks, it shall be opened.
Matthew 21:22
"And all things you ask in prayer,
believing, you shall receive."
John 15:7
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide
in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.
John 15:16;
| 
