Reinhard
5 The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount gives us important teaching on how to pray. We can pray the Lord’s Prayer word for word or pray in its pattern.
The Preface to the Lord's Prayer
The prayer is prefaced by teaching how not to pray. We don’t pray to show off. We pray simply believing God’s promises. We speak God’s promises out loud in prayer! We realize that God does not want vain repetition. Even though God knows what we need before we ask, God has made prayer the way we ask and receive from God.
Matt 6:5-8 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
God hears when we pray. In Psalm 139, it says that God knows what we are going to say before we say the words. Still, we have to pray and then God answers. We don’t want to have the view that if we repeat a prayer long enough or get enough people to pray the same prayer that God will then be convinced. It just takes one person right with God to get a prayer answered.
We read in James 5 about Elijah, who was a human just like us.
James 5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
There is power in agreement. We can operate God’s wonderful promise of getting someone to agree with us in prayer.
Matt 18:19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
We want to agree with God’s Word. We want to agree with and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We want to agree with fellow believers in prayer. At the same time, we want to be aware that it only takes one believing prayer for God to answer.
Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
The Lord's Prayer
Matt 6:9-13 In this manner, therefore, 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 this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.*
We start the Lord's prayer by speaking to our Heavenly Father.
Our Father in heaven,
We have been given the privilege of calling the Creator of the Universe, the Almighty God, as our Heavenly Father. He cares for us and loves us.
Ps 68:5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.
We see how much God loves us by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to make the way for use to have eternal life.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
As Christians, we have the right to call on our Heavenly Father. He cares for us!
Matt 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
We are thankful that as God is our Heavenly Father and hears every word that we speak and pray. God cares greatly for us. The Bible says that He even knows how many hairs we have on our head.
Matt 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Hallowed be thy name.
We hallow, that is, keep the Name of God holy! We remember that we have been given the right to use the Name of Jesus!
The beginning of Psalm 113 fits in here with hallowing the Name of the Lord:
Ps 113:1-3 Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord!
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord's name is to be praised.
Your kingdom come.
We pray for God's kingdom to reign in our lives and then emanate, that is, spread out, from our lives.
Next in the Lord’s prayer, we pray for God’s will to be done in earth as it is being done in heaven. Specifically, we pray for God’s will to be done in our lives.
Matt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
We can know God’s will as shown in His written Word.. We can study God's provision made for us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. A way was made for men to be saved who will receive Jesus Christ as Savior!
1 Tim 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
As we pray further through the Lord’s prayer we come to the request for our daily bread. We trust God to provide our needs according to His riches in heaven. While for some, a loaf of bread would suffice. Others, who have greater obligations, can trust God to richly provide.
Matt 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
As Christians, we can pray, asking God to supply our daily needs. When we pray, 'give us this day our daily bread', we are praying for that income or provision to supply our needs.
I have seen time after time how God would supply my 'daily bread'.
A while back, I worked for a company, that supplied building products, we were dependent on contract projects to come in. Sometimes, I didn’t know what the next project would be as one project would be near its end. I would declare God’s promise that He would ‘give us this day our daily bread.’ God has always been faithful to supply my needs. Of course, I would do my part and show up for work!
Matt 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
In the Lord’s prayer and after it, is the importance of forgiving others. We have to forgive, to receive God’s forgiveness in our lives.
We have to remember how great a debt we have been forgiven of. Our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus! In comparison, it is a small matter to forgive others.
While much can be said on the topic of forgiveness, we present two great examples of forgiveness in the Bible.
When Jesus was on the cross, he forgave the people who crucified Him.
Luke 23:34a Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
When Stephen was being stoned, he forgave the people who were doing the stoning.
Acts 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
As Christians, we have the opportunity to love people ever day. We can be merciful to others. We can forgive people just as God has forgiven us.
An important benefit to remember as we forgive, is that as Christians, we are led by the Holy Spirit. God can protect us so that we don't go along a path where there is trouble. We thank God for leading us beside the still water and into green pastures. We thank God for leading us away from turmoil and bad situations.
Matt 6:13a And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
We ask for God’s help to keep us away from temptation and evil. We know that God gives us the victory over the enemy and its snares. We don’t wait passively for them to come. We stay strong in advance of them.
Matt 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
We thank God for keeping us from falling into sin. We speak God’s promise over our lives.
Jude 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Matt 6:13b For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
As we end our prayer time in the model of the Lord’s prayer, we magnify how great God is. We remember that God is all powerful. We remember to give God the glory for His many mercies toward us and others.
At the end of book of Jude, we see the recognition of how great God is.
Jude 1:25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
We realize that our Heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe cares for us greatly!
To God belongs all the glory!
Ps 3:3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
Ps 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
Ps 24:9-10 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.