9-1-19 Sermon Notes
“The Lord’s Prayer – Part 1” Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4
Last week we concluded the series “The Real Deal.” This week, we will be looking at the background of The Lord’s Prayer.
Introduction
The Lord’s Prayer is unique in all the prayers of the Bible, and unique in all of the instructions of Jesus to his disciples. John Dominic Crossan, in his book The Greatest Prayer, describes The Lord’s Prayer this way:
“The Lord’s Prayer is Christianity’s greatest prayer. It is also Christianity’s strangest prayer. It is prayed by all Christians, but it never mentions Christ. It is prayed in all churches, but it never mentions church. It is prayed on all Sundays, but it never mentions Sunday. It is called the “Lord’s Prayer,” but it never mentions “Lord.”
“It is prayed by fundamentalist Christians, but it never mentions the inspired inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth, the miracles, the atoning death, or bodily resurrection of Christ. It is prayed by evangelical Christians, but it never mentions the evangelism, or gospel. It is prayed by Pentecostal Christians, but it never mentions ecstasy or the Holy Spirit.”
“It is prayed by Congregational, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Roman Catholic Christians, but it never mentions congregation, priest, bishop or pope. It is prayed by Christians who split from one another over this or that doctrine, but it never mentions a single one of those doctrines. It is prayed by Christians who focus on Christ’s substitutionary sacrificial atonement for human sin, but it never mentions Christ, substitution, sacrifice, atonement, or sin.”
“It is prayed by Christians who focus on the next life in heaven or in hell, but it never mentions the next life, heaven, or hell. It is prayed by Christians who emphasize what it never mentions and also by Christians who ignore what it does [mention].” – Prologue, page 1, The Greatest Prayer, John Dominic Crossan
This prayer that we call The Lord’s Prayer is also called the “Our Father” because of the way in which the prayer begins. It has also been called The Model Prayer by some. But in reality, none of those titles suit this prayer. In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray, and so if we need a more accurate title for this prayer, we might call it “The Disciples’ Prayer.”
Let us begin by looking at the background of the Jewish prayer life before the arrival of Jesus. In ancient Israel, Yahweh (God) remained unapproachable. No one dare utter His personal name. Indeed, when reading Scripture aloud, the Israelite’s preferred – and still do – to substitute various alternatives rather than possibly offend Him with mispronunciation. After all, to take His name in vain would violate the third commandment, and who’s to know if that includes offending God by uttering His name with an incorrect inflection. The God of Israel, the Lord, the Holy one, remained transcendent. Only those He invited closer could draw near to Him. For example, the Lord called Moses to the top of Mount Sinai so He could speak to him (Exodus 19:20), and the High Priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). But no one in Israel would have expected or dared speak of a “personal relationship with God” Such familiarity was unimaginable.
Second, we need to remind ourselves that Jesus expected his disciples would pray. In Jewish life, prayers were offered at least twice a day, and often three times a day. The Book of Acts records Peter and John going to the Temple “at the time of prayer — at three in the afternoon.” (Acts 3:1).
Devout Jewish men particularly were expected to pray at 9 am, at noon, and at 3 pm, also. You might recall the Old Testament story of Daniel who defied the king’s law and continued to pray three times a day in “his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem.” (Daniel 6:10) Prayer was a natural, regular, and necessary part of Jewish life.
But the problem with any spiritual practice is that what starts out with great feeling and intensity, with deep meaning and good intentions, can often become a perfunctory ritual. That was what had happened with the practice of the Jews in the first century.
Now, let’s take a look at the verses that ‘upset the apple cart.’ The Lord’s Prayer – some refer to it as the “The Father’s Prayer” is found in Matthew and Luke. So let’s read the verses in chapter 6 of Matthew and then the verses in chapter 11 of Luke.
Matthew 6:5-15
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
And now the verses from Luke 11
1 “One day Jesus 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.’”
Message
Before Jesus told the disciples how to pray, he cautioned them on how not to pray. 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.”
The First Problem with Prayer: Praying for Our Own Reward
Jesus had to teach the disciples to pray because prayer has fallen into a meaningless ritual that has lost both its purpose and its power.
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites…” Of course, nobody wants to be like the hypocrites. But who were they? The hypocrites were probably those who would have been considered “righteous men” in Jesus’ day. They were men who prayed three times a day, and who did so wherever they were.
But, apparently, to show off their own piety, many of these so-called righteous men would position themselves at street corners, or in the most visible parts of the Temple when the time for prayer came.
A quick note here: Jewish men of the first century prayed while standing, with their arms outstretched, palms up, and their faces either bowed or lifted to heaven. We know the posture because Jesus tells the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who go up to the Temple to pray. They are both standing when they pray, but the tax collector — an outcast and sinner — would not even lift up his head to heaven, according to Luke 18:9-14
Jesus addresses the first problem of prayer, and that is praying for our own reward. Now Jesus isn’t condemning the corporate prayer of God’s people gathered together. Rather, Jesus said those that stand alone praying loudly on the street corners, or in prominent places in the synagogue or Temple, have their reward. Everybody saw them praying, but their audience wasn’t God, it was those within viewing distance from them.
But, the flipside of praying alone to be seen and heard Jesus said was to go into our room, shut the door, and pray. They are two sides of the same coin. Private prayer is part of the “when you pray” assumption that Jesus makes. And, in some ways we have thrown out the baby with the bathwater, for in our recognition that we shouldn’t pray conspicuously, we have often neglected to pray privately. It isn’t enough not to pray to be seen, private personal prayer is the disciple’s appropriate entry alone into the presence of God.
The Second Problem with Prayer: Meaningless Talk
The second problem with prayer, especially when we are expected to pray a lot, is that it can quickly become meaningless. In the first century, Jews were expected to pray several prayers. The first was the Shema, “Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, The Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” That’s only part of it, however. This prayer, when prayed in full, was taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41. It was the bedrock of Jewish prayer life.
In addition to praying the full Shema at each of the three prayer times each day, there were 18 other prayers, called the Shemoneh ‘esreh, which were also to be recited three times a day.
You can imagine what happened. Some prayed those prayers faithfully and with great meaning each time they were prayed but some, possibly many, raced through them.
Concluding Remarks and Application
What does the preceding background information have to do with us today?
First, it helps us understand the significant change in the Old Testament prayer life and the New Testament prayer life.
Second, it sets the stage for the upcoming messages of this four-week series on what each part of the “Lord’s Prayer” means and the impact on our prayer life.