“THE MODEL PRAYER FOR CHRISTIANS”
MATTHEW 6:9-11
Pray, then this way: Our Father who is 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.[1]
INTRODUCTION
The superintendent of a
large factory wanted to talk with the company’s manager about an urgent
business matter. He went to the manager’s office. The secretary said, “The
manager is in conference now, and cannot be disturbed.” “But how can he be in
conference when there is no one in the office with him?” asked the
superintendent. “I must see him now on a matter of great importance.” “You may
come back in fifteen minutes if you wish,” said the secretary, “or you may
leave your message with me. At present, he is not to be disturbed.” The irate
superintendent pushed by the secretary and quickly opened the door to the
manager’s private office. After a quick glance within, he quickly and quietly
closed the door. Said he apologetically to the secretary, “Why, he is on his
knees! He is praying!” “Yes, he is in
conference, as I told you,”
answered the secretary.
I.
IN
PRAYER RECOGNIZE GOD’S
SOVEREINGTY AND MAJESTY
V. 9
If the praying of
Pharisees was hypocritical and that of pagans mechanical, then the praying of
Christians must be real—sincere as opposed to hypocritical, thoughtful as
opposed to mechanical. Jesus intends our minds and hearts to be involved in
what we are saying. Then prayer is seen in its true light—not as a meaningless
repetition of words or as a means to
your own glorification, but as a true communion with our heavenly
Father.
Any of you who went to
school in Africa learned how to recite and say this prayer by rote. We were
taught that it is called the
Lord’s Prayer. Actually this is
not the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is found in John 17. This prayer
should be rightly called The Model
Prayer or The Disciples’ Prayer. In verse 9, Jesus did not say, “This is what you should pray.” Rather, He said, “Pray, then, in this way,” or “This
is how you should pray.” The how implies a model or a pattern. Moreover, in
light of what Jesus teaches in verses 7-8, it is highly ironic that this prayer
has come to be repeated mechanically in many Christian traditions, accompanied
by the notion that frequent repetition develops spirituality.
The prayer begins with “Our Father,” which carries an idea of a family or a community context. In other
words, if God is not your Father through His Son Jesus Christ you cannot pray
this prayer. Your personal relationship to God is never merely a private
subjective relationship. Rather, it is a relationship maintained and sustained
within the community of faith. That is why I believe that you cannot worship
God all by yourself in your house. You can watch Christian Television but that
does not mean that you are worshiping with them, unless you are bedridden. I
believe that when Jesus taught the disciples that they were to pray to God as “Our Father” it came to them as a shock. This teaching was revolutionary to the disciples
because in the Old Testament the Jews did not think of God as an intimate
Father. You can also recall that one of the trump up charges the religious
leaders leveled against Jesus was that “He called God His Father and made Himself equal with God. There is no evidence or record of anyone
before Jesus using the term “Father” to address God. Therefore, in this prayer
Jesus gave the disciples and Christians today a new revelation about the Lord
God of Israel. God was no longer far off. He can be approached as an intimate
Father. The Greek word pater, “Father” translates the Aramaic Abba (cf. Mark 14:36). Father is the equivalent of the English term “Daddy.”
So when we pray and say, “Our Father” we should realize that God is accessible
as the most loving human parent. The first personal plural pronoun “our”
emphasizes community, and “Father” stresses intimate relationship. This is why
I always have a problem with Christians who go to others as their prayer
agents. I don’t believe that any Christian has more access to the Father than
the rest of us. The problem with prayerlessness and the popularity of the
so-called “pray for me” churches among Africans are that of ignorance of the
teachings of the Bible on prayer. Jesus is saying that if you have truly been saved
you have an unhindered access to your “Father in heaven.” God is your Father.
He is near you, over you, around you, and inside you. So He can and is ready to
hear your prayer. When you pray out loud
God hears because He is there, even while He is in heaven. When you pray
inwardly, He hears because He understands your thoughts (Ps. 139:2). The word Father also indicates that God is personal as much as He is I am that I am. Not only is God personal, He is also a loving caring Father. God is
not a cruel person who terrifies us with hideous cruelty, nor the kind of
father we sometimes read or hear about—autocrat, playboy, drunkard, drug
addict, and abusive. God fulfills the ideal of fatherhood in His loving care
for His children. Not only is God personal and loving; He is also powerful. He
is not only good but great as well. The phrase in heaven denotes not so
much His dwelling place (where He lives) but His authority and power as the
Creator and Ruler of all things. Thus God combines fatherly love with heavenly
power, and what His love directs His power is able to perform. Therefore, your
prayer should be like a child jumping into his father’s lap and saying, “I love
you dad.” The first line of this model prayer is a statement of praise and a
commitment to hallow, honor, or reverence God’s holy name. There
are three petitions in the first line of the prayer, which express our concern
for God’s glory in relation to His name, rule, and will.
The name of God is
already holy, in that it is separate from and exalted over every other name.
But we pray that it may be hallowed. The word hallowed derives from the
Greek hagios, which means holy, set apart, separate. So
when Jesus says that we are to pray Hallowed
be Your name, He is saying that we
are to honor God with our lips and our lives. We are to honor God in our speech
and actions. We are to reverence God in our minds and hearts. We are to treat
God with all the respect that is due His name. A person’s name defines his/her
character. God’s name defines His character. He is holy and therefore if we
were to reflect His character we must live holy lives. I don’t know about you
but when I was growing up I was told to honor my family’s name in everything I
do. So in a nutshell worship is giving God the worthship that is due Him.
Let me settle the
misconception that modern Christians, especially those in the Western world
have about God. The fact that God is personal and intimate to us does not mean
that He is your buddy. Yes, He is our Father, but He is also sovereign and
majestic. Therefore, we are to approach His throne room with reverential fear.
How do you honor God’s name in your life? Are you committed to holiness of
life? We are commanded to worship God, but many do not do it. Some are
ignorant, although their inner hearts know God. Some are rebellious because of
sin. Some are too busy because of the cares of this world. Some have forgotten
because other things crowd out Jesus. The Lord is waiting on the phone but you
must pick up the receiver to talk to Him. Let me tell you a simple but profound
truth: “Praise is a two-way street. Your needs are met when you glorify the
Father.” When you go to God with your worship, He comes to help you with your
problems. God reaches down to touch you as you reach up to touch Him. If you
truly praise God in your prayer many of your problems would vanish.
II.
IN
PRAYER ANTICIPATE GOD’S RULERSHIP
ON EARTH V. 10
The kingdom of God is
His royal rule. Again, as God is already holy so is He already a King. In fact
He is the King of kings reigning in absolute sovereignty over both nature and
history. Yet when Jesus came He announced a new and special break-in of the
kingly rule of God, with all the blessings of salvation and the demands of
submission, which the divine rule implies. To pray that God’s kingdom may come
is to pray both that it may grow as believers witness people submit to Jesus,
and anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ in glory to take His power and
reign. The Kingdom of God is both a present and future realities. You cannot
pray “Your Kingdom come” and sit down and fold your arms and wait
for what God will do. When you pray this prayer it means you must discern,
desire, and follow God to where His kingdom is at work. Therefore, as a
Christian or a disciple of Jesus Christ, everywhere you go has kingdom
implications. And if it is your heart’s desire to see His kingdom come, you
will be ready to share the hope of the gospel with anyone you meet anywhere you
are. A selfish person cannot pray this prayer. A lazy person cannot pray this
prayer; an indifferent person cannot pray this prayer. So as you and I wake up
every morning we are to pray that the Father’s Kingdom come and discern opportunity
to share the good news with others. The reason why many Christians are dying of
fear, anxiety, depression, and disappointment is that they do not seek the
kingdom of God. When you seek the Kingdom of God you can quit worrying about
yours. If you will focus on His thoughts and desires, your Father will make sure that you get enough sleep, that a skipped meal won’t
kill you, that you and your family will have all the time together you need.
You are not only to
pray, “Your kingdom come” but also you are to pray, “Your will be done.” The will of God is good, acceptable, and perfect (Rom. 12:2), for it is the will of our Father in heaven, who is infinite in knowledge, love, and
power. It is therefore, folly to resist it, and wisdom to discern, desire, and
do it. As our Father’s name is already holy and He is already King, so already
His will is being done in heaven. What Jesus teaches us to pray is that life on
earth may come to approximate more nearly to life in heaven. It is quite easy
to repeat the words of the Model
Prayer like a parrot (or even a
pagan babbler). To pray them with sincerity, however, have revolutionary
implications, for it expresses the priorities of a genuine Christian. Today
many Christians are concerned about their names, liking to see it engraved in
gold on notepapers, hitting headlines in the press, and defending it when it is
attacked. Many are concerned about building their own little empires through
deception, influence, and manipulation of others to boost their egos. Some
always want their own way and getting upset when it is frustrated. But in the
Christian counter-culture our top priority concern is not our name, little
kingdoms, and will but God’s. Whether you can pray these petitions with
integrity is a searching test of the reality and depth of your Christian
profession.
The first half of the Model Prayer deals with God’s agenda, and that is how Jesus expects us to pray.
This teaching of Jesus can be likened to the Ten Commandments. In the Ten
Commandments the first part deals with God’s agenda, and the second deals with
our personal relationship with others. Therefore, true prayer should and must
not begin with your personal needs; it must begin with praise, worship, and the
agenda of God. Have you seen the commercial on TV where a father returns home,
packs his car and as he walks home holding two boxes, his children come running
to him, he puts down the packages and opens his arms to embrace the children,
the children reach out and take the packages and run back to the house. That is
the way some Christians treat God when they pray. They are not interested in
fellowshipping and worshiping God in their prayer. All they need is for God to
supply their needs. Jesus says that is not the right way to pray. Therefore,
having praised and worshiped God the Father, then we can petition Him for our
own needs.
III.
IN
PRAYER EXPECT GOD’S PROVISIONS
FOR YOUR LIFE V. 11
The petition that God will give us our daily bread does not mean that you have to sit down or
sleep and expect God to rain manner from heaven. The last time that I checked
God had stopped raining manner from heaven. This prayer does not deny that most
people have to earn their own living, that farmers have to plough, sow, and
reap to provide basic food or that we are commanded to feed the hungry
ourselves (Mt. 25:35). Instead, this petition is an expression of ultimate
dependence on God who normally uses human means of production and distribution
through which to fulfill His purposes. Moreover, Jesus wants His disciples to
be conscious of a day-to-day dependence on God.
When we pray, “Give us our daily bread,” we are asking for more than bread, although the petition includes our daily food. Bread is a metaphor for all our physical needs. Bread stands for more than
food. It stands for the results we get from eating food. It stands for all the
physical things we need in life. Bread
is a symbolic word for money,
time, job, and material things. Bread stands for the roof over our heads, clothes
on our backs, a shelter over our body, shoes on our feet, and food on our
table. It stands for a car to give us basic transportation, or subway money to
get us to work. Bread stands for fuel oil in the winter, for
air-conditioning in the summer, for physical healing so we can work, for a
raise so we can properly support our families. Bread stands for every
physical need in our lives. Realistically most Americans are not hungry. They
don’t pray, “Give me a meal or I
will go hungry.” America is a land
of abundance. We have many restaurants, fast-food outlets and grocery stores.
If anything, most Americans pray, “Lord,
help me to lose weight.”
The truth of the matter
is that God did not create self-sufficient people. He created people that need
air to breathe and food to give them energy. God created us to have needs so we
can depend on Him. Remember that the supply of our needs is on daily basis;
that means one day at a time.
*If
the messages from this blog have been a blessing to you and you want to
give to support this ministry, you can write your check to:
KENADARKWA LLC
Kennedy A. Adarkwa, PhD
6402 Redding Court
Arlington, TX 76001
KENADARKWA LLC
Kennedy A. Adarkwa, PhD
6402 Redding Court
Arlington, TX 76001
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