The Lord's Prayer (Pt. 1)

[Jesus said] “Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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 evil.” (Matthew 6:9-13 ESV).

 

It is so important to recognize both what Jesus says and doesn’t say at the beginning of this example of how we ought to pray. The Model Prayer begins with an idea that seems easy enough to understand. Jesus wants to establish God as our heavenly Father, and we as his children. Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He does not instruct us to use the possession singular pronoun of “my” in addressing God. There is subtle, but clear reason behind this. The prayer is not about what we want and demand as if God is somehow at our disposal to give us what we desire. Prayer is not the tossing of a coin into a wishing well so that we might have our desires fulfilled.

 

It is an acknowledgement that God’s ways are certainly not naturally our ways. Our sin nature is self-centered rather than God-centered. Jesus wants us to being our conversations with God acknowledging that He alone is God and it is only by grace that we have become His children. Of course, it is also an acknowledgement that there is great privilege in being the child of the only King of all creation. The Fatherhood of God is more than mere words can describe adequately. Being “Father” carries with it both love and provision, and authority and direction.

 

I have often said that we have mistaken the position we hold in our relationship with God. Often we are told by mistaken preachers and teachers that we “have to” do something to gain His attention and approval. That’s simply not the teaching of the Bible. The truth is that we “get to” do the things of grace and service. When we begin our prayers with this assertion, we are now coming to our Abba-Father with requests and petitions for ourselves and others. And, isn’t that our experience in our personal lives. I can never remember a time when I felt the freedom to demand of my earthly father anything. I knew both the positional and relational order of who we were. He was dad, I was son. This is certainly what God intended with the fourth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12 ESV). His response is always our good. This is true because He is Father.