JESUS TEACHES US TO PRAY
Greetings in the name of Jesus our Lord:
Matthew 6:9-14 is where we find the Lord's prayer. It has always been used as the example that Jesus used to teach us how to pray. I want to take a rather in depth look at what Jesus told us in that prayer so that we might have a much better understanding of His intent behind its content.
We recognize that God is majestic and Holy, but in the way Jesus addresses God the Father here He is also very personal and loving. The very first line of this model prayer is to make a statement of praise and honor to God's Holy name. We do that by being careful to use it respectfully. If you look around us you can see attempts being made to lessen the respect for God's name by the ways we tend to address Him in this world. If we use God's name lightly we are not remembering God's Holiness.
The phrase "Your Kingdom come your will be done" refers to God's Spiritual reign over all of His creation; which includes us. This is not dealing with the Israelite's kingdom or their desire to reign over the Roman empire; it is actually referring to the setting up of a new covenant between God and mankind...this time for true salvation. That reign is present in the hearts of believers in Christ as the Soon and messenger from God. When we pray "Thy will be done we are not resigning ourselves to some kind of fate, but we are praying that God's perfect will and purpose will be accomplished in us within both this life and the next.
When we pray " Give us this day our daily bread" we are saying that we understand that God is our very source of life and our provider for all that we need in this life. God does not lead us into temptation as this world does. and then pull the rug out from under our feet at the last second; God can be trusted to do what He tells us that He will do; but in that agreement we have with God for all that we need we must realize that He expects us to hold up our own end of that bargain. While God will not let one jot or title go untouched by His hand that He has told us He will do, He will also make sure that we follow the fine print in that contract as well. It is that agreement and contract between us and God that we have not focused upon. From the very beginning of our relationship with Jesus and our forgiveness from God of that original sin by mankind we are beginning a new covenant contract with God for our future. We promise to be loyal to the Father through Christ Jesus and God provides all that we need in life to continue to serve and love Him. We should not even think that we can provide for ourselves in this world when we think of how quickly and easily we can loose everything we have in life. It is only through the protection and the grace of God that we can continue to live in safety. God does not lead us into temptation, but He will allow us to be tested by those temptations from this world. The Father will always also give us a way to escape those temptations; and believe me sometimes both the temptations and the way of escape are so subtle that we are sometimes unaware they even exist. How much we love and are loyal to God in our heart can be seen by the Father. In verse 14 we often miss the startling warning that Jesus gives us about forgiveness. If we refuse to forgive others God will also refuse to forgive us...why? because if we refuse to forgive others we are denying our common grounds as sinners who are in need of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not a direct result of forgiving others, but it is tied into how well we understand the need of God's forgiveness to us. While this prayer is a model for our approach to God it is not meant to become a replacement for our own prayers. Reciting a memorized prayer may make you think that you have shown God the right kind of respect and honor; but all you are really doing is spitting back words you have memorized like we did in school. It is good to have the knowledge of what was said by Jesus, but it is even more important to have the relationship that we need with Christ through His Spirit within us. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
We recognize that God is majestic and Holy, but in the way Jesus addresses God the Father here He is also very personal and loving. The very first line of this model prayer is to make a statement of praise and honor to God's Holy name. We do that by being careful to use it respectfully. If you look around us you can see attempts being made to lessen the respect for God's name by the ways we tend to address Him in this world. If we use God's name lightly we are not remembering God's Holiness.
The phrase "Your Kingdom come your will be done" refers to God's Spiritual reign over all of His creation; which includes us. This is not dealing with the Israelite's kingdom or their desire to reign over the Roman empire; it is actually referring to the setting up of a new covenant between God and mankind...this time for true salvation. That reign is present in the hearts of believers in Christ as the Soon and messenger from God. When we pray "Thy will be done we are not resigning ourselves to some kind of fate, but we are praying that God's perfect will and purpose will be accomplished in us within both this life and the next.
When we pray " Give us this day our daily bread" we are saying that we understand that God is our very source of life and our provider for all that we need in this life. God does not lead us into temptation as this world does. and then pull the rug out from under our feet at the last second; God can be trusted to do what He tells us that He will do; but in that agreement we have with God for all that we need we must realize that He expects us to hold up our own end of that bargain. While God will not let one jot or title go untouched by His hand that He has told us He will do, He will also make sure that we follow the fine print in that contract as well. It is that agreement and contract between us and God that we have not focused upon. From the very beginning of our relationship with Jesus and our forgiveness from God of that original sin by mankind we are beginning a new covenant contract with God for our future. We promise to be loyal to the Father through Christ Jesus and God provides all that we need in life to continue to serve and love Him. We should not even think that we can provide for ourselves in this world when we think of how quickly and easily we can loose everything we have in life. It is only through the protection and the grace of God that we can continue to live in safety. God does not lead us into temptation, but He will allow us to be tested by those temptations from this world. The Father will always also give us a way to escape those temptations; and believe me sometimes both the temptations and the way of escape are so subtle that we are sometimes unaware they even exist. How much we love and are loyal to God in our heart can be seen by the Father. In verse 14 we often miss the startling warning that Jesus gives us about forgiveness. If we refuse to forgive others God will also refuse to forgive us...why? because if we refuse to forgive others we are denying our common grounds as sinners who are in need of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not a direct result of forgiving others, but it is tied into how well we understand the need of God's forgiveness to us. While this prayer is a model for our approach to God it is not meant to become a replacement for our own prayers. Reciting a memorized prayer may make you think that you have shown God the right kind of respect and honor; but all you are really doing is spitting back words you have memorized like we did in school. It is good to have the knowledge of what was said by Jesus, but it is even more important to have the relationship that we need with Christ through His Spirit within us. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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