Morning Message Text: Luke 11: 1-4
Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer
1 One day Jesus was 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. ’ ”
Morning Message:
“When you pray.” That statement makes the assumption that you do pray. For the purposes of this message, I am going to assume that everyone here prays, at least a little. Today’s lectionary text is much longer than what I just read to you. There are nine more verses that could have been included in today’s reading. I chose not to include those verses because they move us away from the original point of the disciple’s question. Luke 11 verses 5 through 13 give us all the reasons why we should pray and be persistent in our prayers, but that was not the request. What did the disciple ask Jesus? Teach us to pray. Now before we get into the prayer that Jesus taught, let me make this very important point: God hears all prayers from his children. If you belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ, God hears every word that you utter in his direction. You don’t have to be perfect or use elegant words. God hears the cries of his children no matter whether you use words or thoughts, through tears of sorrow and shouts of joy. God is always ready to listen to you.
The Lord’s prayer is said to be the perfect prayer, and it can be the perfect prayer for every Christian if you use it and intend it the right way. We recite it every Sunday at the conclusion of our prayer time, but I wonder if we truly mean what we say. Jesus gave it to us as a model of how we should pray, not as a magic statement to be mindlessly repeated. This prayer can be very useful to us if we take each sentence seriously and truly hear what Jesus is teaching. Jesus taught his disciples to pray in his name. In the encounter of David with Goliath, David said, as he approached the giant, “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied”. The holiness (sanctity) of God’s name was a priority in Israel. Hallowing (keeping holy) His name was a way for the world to know that Yahweh was the “Holy One in Israel”. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, his first instruction was to hallow (keep holy) God’s name. It begins the prayer he taught them so as to say, “Let everything you pray for, everything you desire, result in the elevation and sanctity of God’s name in the earth. We can begin any prayer with “hallowed be your name,” a way to remind ourselves of not only who God is, but also that what we pray for should honor his name. Think for a moment, how much thought do you give to the holiness of God and his name?
Jesus taught his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come. The disciples wanted God’s kingdom to come right away. They wanted Jesus to destroy the Romans and establish an earthly kingdom, but it was not Jesus’ intent to set up a physical kingdom at that time. So, what did Jesus mean, then, in the Lord’s prayer when he said to pray that God’s kingdom would come? Jesus was telling them and us, that by asking for God’s kingdom to come we are acknowledging God’s right to rule within us, or in our midst. When we pray, we should pray, “Your kingdom come,” and ask God to rule in our lives until he returns to rule the world. This is a type of surrender to God’s will. Before we can pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we must be willing to pray: My kingdom go.
Give us each day our daily bread. I won’t spend much time on this, but it is a very important part of the prayer, and we need to learn to ask God for things according to his will. God’s will is to meet our needs and provide for our lives, but not in the way that most of us would like. God understands our human nature better than we ever could. He knows that we will live much more faithful lives when we must depend on him every day for our needs. We would much rather fill our barns and then relax for the rest of our lives, but God knows that is not what we need to live by faith.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone who sins against us. Our ability to forgive others is proportional to our understanding of how God has forgiven us. The forgiveness that Jesus spoke of is that which maintains fellowship with God. If we want to live in intimate fellowship with God, we must forgive others as he has forgiven us. Forgiving others and being forgiven by God go hand in hand. The degree to which I am willing to forgive others is a clear indication of the extent to which I have personally experienced God my Father’s forgiveness for me.
And lead us not into temptation. In James 1: 13-15 we are told that God cannot be tempted, nor does He tempt anyone. So, the prayer must be read as a prayer to be spared from the circumstances of trials, tests, and temptations that might lead us to sin. It is not included here, but I make it a part of my daily prayers, deliver me from evil. God allows us to go through tests and trials for the purpose of our spiritual growth, but I pray each day that as I am tested, God will give me the strength to avoid evil. When we do find ourselves tempted, God always provides a way of escape. Finding that way is at the heart of our prayer. He who avoids the temptation avoids the sin. This prayer has everything that you need to live a victorious life for Jesus, but it is not a magical potion, you must apply it to your life.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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