God's Constitution, Pt 21: Prayer (b)
Matthew 6:5-15 5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Psalm 33:12-19 12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. 13From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; 14from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— 15he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. 16No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. 17A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. 18But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Today we continue our thoughts about praying, specifically looking at the first part of the Lord’s Prayer, verses 9-10.
These days 65% of Americans call themselves believers, but only 24% attend church at least once per week. That means a large part of the American population denies that God exists or acts that way in spite of words to the contrary. Often churches, especially large ones, will put on ‘shows’ of thunderous music coupled with effervescent speakers to draw in those absent children of God. It is essentially a party. But the verse from Psalms speaks of a very different believer: One who is in awe of the power and majesty of God. The first part of the Lord’s Prayer speaks to that connection between man and God.
First though, a general comment: Jesus says this prayer is how one should pray, not what one should pray. The essence is that we should honor God before we make our requests.
There are some significant words in this prayer:
Our Father It is significant that Jesus includes the disciples (and us) in this prayer. Not only does ‘our’ imply that this verse is intended as a corporate prayer by a community, but that Jesus is welcoming us to some degree into the divinely intimate relationship he has with God the Father. One of the hallmarks of Jesus’ ministry was his relationship with His Father. It is remarkable that we are being invited into that relationship isn’t it? By so praying, Jesus is emphasizing the intimate relationship between father and son but is nonetheless also stressing that God is still all-powerful, maker of all that is seen and unseen, and that an overly casual relationship is not called for.
Hallowed Name The very first thing we should remember in our prayers is that God is fully holy, and fully righteous. We struggle with the most mundane things, often barely surviving, yet God seeks after us encouraging intimacy with Him. In the ancient Middle East, then as now, one’s reputation was actually the only thing of value that one owned. We should worship our God first, praising and exalting Him to every person we meet. It seems sometimes that believers are embarrassed by their faith; they sort of keep it in the back of a drawer to be brought out when one wanted to talk to God. We should be a ‘city on a hill’ with our faith so that others are drawn to him. That means every part of our life should reflect Him even to the point of asking others how we can pray for them or offering counsel during a struggle. That is why I’ve listed the Hebrews verse: let us be careful to be reverential and deliberate in our prayerful approach to our Father.
Kingdom…Heaven Have any of us really thought about what it means for God’s will to be done here on earth? Are we really willing to release our own little ‘kingdoms’ in exchange for His? Are we willing to let Him manifest Himself in our lives in a truly life-changing way? These are the things implied by this portion of the Lord’s Prayer. God wants us to come to Him of our own free choice; we are not robots. So, when we pray that His will be done, we are giving Him permission to shape our lives to further His kingdom in the way He wants it to go. This means we have to let loose of the reins. Now, I have friends who won’t make any changes unless God specifically says to. That’s not what I am speaking of here. We all have God given skills and abilities, and it is in God’s will to use them. And there are certain things which are obviously appropriate. It is always right to be honorable, righteous, and holy. It is always right to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. And there are obviously wrong things. It is the gray areas which cause trouble. This is where it is helpful to let God guide. If you are uncertain about doing something, ask God for guidance. If it is obviously evil you wouldn’t do it anyway. If it is good then you have the option of personal choice. If it is not in line with God’s plan for your life it won’t go easily: That’s probably God saying no.
Most people think of prayer as asking God for stuff. Certainly, there is a component of that, but Jesus is saying that prayer is much more than that: Prayer is communication. And it is communication of a certain sort: It is praising Him, blessing Him, and worshipping Him because who He is. Then, having gotten our heart right with Him we can present our needs. He already knows what they are.