9-15-19 Sermon Notes
“The Lord’s Prayer – Part 2” Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4
Two weeks ago, we looked at the background of The Lord’s Prayer. This week, we will spend our time looking at the adoration portion of the Lord’s Prayer.
Introduction
Do we know how to pray as we should? Prayer is a spiritual discipline. It can be strenuous and frustrating, mentally and physically demanding. The disciples may have been struggling with the art of prayer. They didn’t ask Jesus how to preach or teach, but they recognized how they needed help with prayer.
Luke mentions that Jesus was “praying in a certain place” (11:1), when the disciples approached Him concerning prayer. It may be that our Lord’s example of prayer brought into contrast their lack of an effective prayer-life. Seeing the deficiency of their prayers, they asked for help. Although the need to pray is natural for believers, human weakness calls for Jesus to teach us to pray.
When we pray, we receive the gift of God Himself-Prayer is communion with God. He wants us to know Him. Prayer is to impress us with God more than it is to impress God with us or our needs.
For many people, the Lord’s Prayer is simply a prayer to recite. But as we discover this prayer, we can find this model prayer to be a life-changing experience. There is no magic in prayer, and mechanical recitation is empty and meaningless. As we discovered a couple of weeks ago, Jesus discourages us to “not keep babbling like pagans who think they will be heard because of their repetitive prayers” (Matthew 6:7). But as we truly pray this prayer-with understanding-we may find it changes our lives. All the petitions in this prayer are in the imperative mode in the original Greek, which indicates there is an intensity to prayer.
Some people think of prayer as a parachute-they’re glad it’s there, but they hope they never have to use it. In prayer we rely on God; prayer is our steering wheel, not our spare tire!
We sometimes also struggle with how God answers our prayers. C.S. Lewis once confessed that he was grateful God hadn’t given him everything he wanted: “I don’t know where I’d be if I’d gotten all I asked for!” Prayer may not change our situation, but it changes us. If our request is wrong, God says “No.” If our timing is wrong, God says “Slow”. If we are wrong, God says “Grow”, and if our request is right, our timing is right, and we are right, God (usually) says “Go!” In John’s first letter he cautions that our prayers need to be “according to God’s will” (1 John 5:14)
There’s no “spiritual frosting” in the Lord’s Prayer. It avoids pompous, high-sounding phrases, sticking to simple, meaningful concepts. We begin with God’s glory, and then we bring up our needs. It’s been said, “When God is first, prayer makes sense.” The Lord’s Prayer is God-centered, not me-centered.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t discuss the posture of prayer- in the Bible, people prayed kneeling, sitting, standing and lying face down. He doesn’t dictate the place of prayer. He does not discuss the manner of prayer. Prayer isn’t getting a serious look on our faces or adopting a certain tone of voice. Nor does Jesus specify the time of prayer. is fitting any time, under any circumstance. Paul instructs us to “pray without ceasing”.
Read Matthew 6:9-15
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.’”
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
Jesus introduced this prayer, not by saying “pray this”, but “pray like this”. The Lord’s Prayer is a blueprint for prayer- a flexible model, not a rigid formula.
Notice that this model for all prayer begins with God. It starts with reverential worship. So often we rush into prayer with our list of things-we begin with what we want. We need to take some time to give God the adoration and praise He deserves.
By specifying, “…who art in heaven”, we express the supremacy of our Father, surrounded by the angelic host. This places our prayer in the context of worship and adoration; it also identifies our true home. We become so used to and preoccupied with the concerns of our human existence that we sometimes fail to realize that we are temporary residents of this planet. When we pray, we’re calling home! We don’t know much about heaven, but we know our Father is preparing us for this place. Heaven may seem like a far-away place right now, yet God is both there and with us. Who is closest to God? Anyone who prays; prayer is as close as we can get; it’s the next best thing to being there!
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we show solidarity with our fellow Christians. The opening word, “our”, shows that we have a connection not only to God but to others. This prayer unites all Christians, expressing a profound unity within the fellowship of all believers, regardless of denomination. It makes us realize that in prayer we are not alone.
The word “Father” says much about our relationship to God. As mentioned in the previous message, prior to Jesus’ coming, most people wouldn’t presume to address God as their “Father”; Jesus changed all that. Jesus startled people by repeatedly calling God His Father. The only time He didn’t was upon the cross when he prayed Psalm 22-“My God, why have You forsaken me?” In the Old Testament, God is spoken of as our Father, but there are no examples of anyone praying to God using this word. To address God as Father seemed too familiar. It is through the work of Christ that we are privileged to call God our Father.
As God’s children, we know we don’t need to address God as our “Boss”. Neither is He our dictator or a harsh judge. “Father” is a family word. It is a specific title. We do not raise our prayers to some vague “higher power” or spiritual force of our own imaginations. Our trust is not in “fate” or “nature”. Also, we talk directly to God- not to saints or angels. God as our “Father” implies a close, intimate relationship of trust. Paul describes our position as members of God’s family in his letter to the Galatians:
“You are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ…because you have become His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts and now you can call God, ’Abba, Father’ (Galatians 3:26 and Galatians 4:6).”
In Romans, Paul explains that we’ve been “adopted” into God’s family, and we’ve received “the Spirit of sonship”, allowing us to “share His treasures” (Romans 8:14-17). Jesus is our adoption agent.
John exclaims in his first letter, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).
Just because God is our Father does not mean that we are free to be overly casual with Him. Just as we’re expected to honor and respect our earthly parents, we’re to approach God with reverence. Paul says we can call God ’Abba, Father’. The point is, we should feel comfortable in God’s presence, but that doesn’t warrant being nonchalant. Some people refer to God as “the Man upstairs”. We need to be reminded that God is our Friend but He’s not our “good buddy.”
The word “hallowed” means “holy.” To “hallow” also means to sanctify, to be sound, fit or whole, to make special, to be perfect, free from defilement, uncontaminated. It means to have a different quality of being, to be extraordinary, set apart. God is separate from us in that He is undefiled. The opposite of hallow is to profane or disgrace God’s Name. This petition could be translated: “May Your Name be held Holy.” In other words, “May You be revered and respected because of Who You are. May Your character and reputation be honored and kept untarnished. May nothing debase Your person.” Our primary concern and our deepest passion should be that God would cause His Name to be revered.
Next – To hallow God’s Name is to recognize, regard, respect, reverence, profess and proclaim God as holy. We don’t add to God’s holiness in prayer-we treat Him as holy. Although we have free access to God, when we take advantage of His open-door policy we speak to Him with reverence. “Hallowed be Thy Name” balances out “Our Father”. In these two phrases we see both our close, intimate relationship to God, and the reverential honor we owe Him.
Jewish worshipers regarded the Name of God as utterly sacred-so much so that when scribes copied Scripture they would use a new quill to write the Holy Name. It was considered irreverent to speak God’s name aloud. There are many names for God in the Bible. Religious leaders took two names-Adonai, which means “the Lord God”, and Yahweh, the Name “I AM” God gave to Moses-they took the vowels of the first, the consonants of the second, and came up with Jehovah, a made-up word, one they felt they could speak without offending the holiness of God.
When Moses appeared before the burning bush, he heard the voice of God and removed his sandals, to signify that he was of the earth. This was an act of humility before a holy God. When Isaiah beheld a vision of the majesty of God, he cried out in fear, realizing that he was unworthy to appear before the Lord. At that moment he understood who God was and who Isaiah was.
This affirmation, “Hallowed be Thy Name”, reflects the many prayers of king David, who declared the majesty and holiness of God before he made any requests. We see in most Biblical prayers worship prior to petition. The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is the indispensable foundation for all the rest.
One reason to pray this prayer is that we live in a fallen world which defiles and degrades the holy Name of God. We pray “Hallowed be Thy Name” in protest against those who revile the Name of God. We are praying that God will be regarded as holy in an unholy world. We are also distinguishing our worship as Truth. To worship an idol involves calling something holy that is not holy. In this sense, the Lord’s Prayer becomes an affirmation of faith.
Concluding Remarks and Application
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we show solidarity with our fellow Christians. The Lord’s Prayer breaks down all social, ethnic, economic and denominational distinctions.
What are we doing to “hallow” God’s Name? Do our prayers and our lives bring praise to God? When we converse, do we have holy conversations? Are we reaching towards praise in all we do? We offer God our praise by hallowing His Name and responding to His holiness. God wants us to be holy, as He is holy. He wants us to be saints-set apart from all that is profane. As a church, He wants us to present ourselves to the world as a community of faith, hope, and love.