Matthew 6:9-13 NIV “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’"
This passage which we commonly refer to as The Lord's Prayer, was sent to me this morning as I was beginning my time with God. It is what Jesus shared with his disciples when they asked him how they should pray. Traditionally, Jewish prayers are recitations of ancient scriptures, but they'd noticed that Jesus' prayers were different! And they wanted to see how he suggested they should pray. A quite radical thing for them to search outside of the practices considered religiously ordained by the spiritual leaders of the day! But it was not unknown for Jews to pray from the depths of their souls in their history! The Psalms are full of cries to God from the heart! So they knew how to do it!! Perhaps they were looking for guidance for more formalised prayer. Or perhaps, recognising Jesus as the Son of God himself, and wanting to have the rich spiritual connection he showed them, they sought his ideas to use. And so we received this beautiful prayer.
Now while it is poignant to speak the words of this prayer as given to us, Jesus did not mean it just to be another rote prayer. It was designed to give us an idea of what elements to include, so that our prayers didn't end up just being a list of requests, but brought us into a place of recognition of God and his role in our lives.
"Our Father" -
Jesus was saying God is not just an austere god! He is our father! Just as he was his!! A warm, protective, guiding, personally interested and connected father, who welcomes our approach and is concerned for our welfare! God had rarely been presented to them that way in their scriptures! It was intimate. And quite possibly very different from the way any of them had seen him!
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."
In ancient Jewish times, a name represented more than just a tag - it was a description of your character! God's name was to be held in great respect and honour, as it represented the perfection and beauty of the one who was above all the earth! And it is helpful to explore and identify the elements of his character and recognise the beauty of them, in order to come to a place of adoration of him.
"Your kingdom come."
The reason Jesus was on the earth! - the prayer above all others! The big story above all individual ones! And the reason God sometimes says no! This kingdom, Jesus said, is "not of this world"! It was a kingdom of self-sacrificing love that Jesus was about to demonstrate in its most mind-blowing form! And without this kingdom, there was no hope for the heartbreak of mankind!
"Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
All creation outside of earth still operates within this self-sacrificing love! Only mankind had rebelled! - and was wearing the terrible consequences of putting self first. This line represented understanding that God's way was best - even when the cost was high! Knowing that the eventual outcome of God's kingdom returned, was more important than the immediate relief that we often seek. Understanding that while we might pray for God to save us from the pain of now, his need to provide as many as he can with the gift of that kingdom, might mean that the yes to our prayer might have to come later. Recognising that God is wise beyond our wisdom, good beyond our knowledge of goodness, and love beyond anything known, and can be trusted in his answers to our prayers, whatever they may be!
"Give us this daily our daily bread."
An acknowledgement that God is our provider! He gives us the good things we receive each day. And the needs for the day are all we need to look for! Wanting more is not a wholesome way to spend our lives! It just leads to discontentment and a constant yearning for what we don't have! God is generous with his gifts. And we need to be grateful for them - even those as basic to our lives as bread was to the Jewish homes of the day.
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
Again - what Jesus was here for. We have all "fallen short". We all hurt others. We all break God's heart with our selfishness and prideful manners. We are all under the curse of death that comes with it! Jesus was here to break that curse! But as with the story of the prayers of the Pharisee (self-righteous holy man) and the Tax Collector (ashamed sinner) in Luke 18, God cannot help the pride filled! But the humble he can reach with his kingdom. And unless we are aware of the enormousness of this gift, so that it affects our mercy towards others who hurt us, again, we remain unforgiven, as in the story of the one who had great debt (Matthew 18). In a very compact form, Jesus was showing them in what spirit they needed to come to receive the soul freedom they were hungry for.
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
This one's a bit trickier for me as I don't see God wanting to 'lead' is into temptation, but away from it! And maybe that's it! Maybe he's saying 'God lead us away from temptation'! He's definitely pointing out though, that we are lead - one way or another. And that we need him to escape from 'the evil one'! We are not wise enough or strong enough to accomplish this without him! We do not have what it takes to be free without God!!! We need him to live the life of his kingdom!
In other places, the prayer goes on to include mention of God's kingdom, rightfully his! That will last for ever in all the beauty God intended! A beautiful prayer, full of teaching and hope! Full of meaning about how to intimately connect with our God. And one to help build our prayer life on.
Comments