The Model Prayer

The Model Prayer

Sermon on the Mount Series: Matt 6:5-15

            We are continuing in our journey through the Sermon on the Mount, asking the question, “Can anyone live out the requirements Jesus laid out in today’s society?” The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ longest continual teaching recorded in scripture, and is found in Matthew chapters 5-7. Matthew was a Jew writing to Jews with the goal of presenting Jesus as the Messiah. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, as the King of kings, is laying out the rules of His kingdom—not only for life in Heaven, but for life on earth. In particular Jesus was calling out the Pharisees, who were a group of people that were very religious and very legalistic. He was saying, “You think you’re all that, but you ain’t.” In chapter 5, Jesus said “Your view of theology isn’t right.” Later in chapter 6 He says, “Your view of the material world isn’t right.” And right now in He is saying, “Your religious practices aren’t right.” In particular Jesus focuses on three religious practices: giving; fasting; and praying. Last time we discussed how we are to give in such a way that our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing.

            Of these three prayer is the most important. Prayer is communion with God. Paul said to pray without stopping. That’s a long prayer. How many of you would run out of things to say after a few minutes. Some of us would run out faster than others. I’ve seen people talk on the phone without ceasing. Every time I drive now I watch the other drivers and see who is talking on their phones. Women are always on the phone. I’m convinced that some people think their cars won’t run if they aren’t talking on their phones—like the batteries are somehow connected and feeding off of each other. I had two friends in Atlanta who both had really long commutes at the same time. They would talk with each other on the way, but as soon as it hit 6:59 they’d hang up, because that’s when the free minutes were over. They were communing with each other—building each other up in a godly way before heading off into their secular jobs.

            I’m probably like most of you. I’m going to run out of things to say really quick. But Paul says to pray without ceasing. He must have meant something else. When I first met Rebekah, she’s all I thought about. I thought about her night and day. She was the first thing I thought about in the morning and the last thing I thought about at night. I even dreamed about her. I couldn’t wait to get home from work so I could call her, because she wouldn’t call me. That’s what she said, “I don’t call guys.” Hmmm. And then one day my phone rang, and it was her. My heart skipped several beats because it showed me that she also was thinking about me. But guess what? I still remember the first time God spoke back to me in prayer. My heart skipped several beats then, too. For the same reason—He thought enough of me to talk to me.

            Maybe that is what Paul meant when he said to pray without ceasing. Get your mind focused on one thing—God, and concentrate on Him and His attributes all day long. That’s why memorizing Bible passages has been so effective for me, it forces me to focus on God and His word all day and not on whether the Indians will have a bullpen this year, or what a politician said the day before. Focus on God. Concentrate on Him. Tell Him how your day is going and the things that are concerning you. Even if He knows what you are going to say, He still would like to hear it. Don’t be like the old married man—his wife said, “You don’t say I love you anymore.” He replied, “I told you I loved you on our wedding day. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”

            Giving, fasting, and praying. Of those three, prayer is the most important because it is constant communion with God. We can’t give like we are supposed to if we aren’t praying. And fasting is totally useless without prayer. The whole idea of fasting is to gather your focus on God and pray for specific concerns in your life. Fasting without prayer is like taking a shower with a raincoat on. Of those three, giving, fasting, and praying, praying is the only one where Jesus gives us instructions on how to pray. In giving: “Don’t do this, don’t do that.” In fasting: “Don’t do this, don’t do that.” In praying: “Don’t do this, don’t do that, instead do this.”

            Let’s read today’s passage: “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
      may your name be kept holy.
   May your Kingdom come soon.
   May your will be done on earth,
      as it is in heaven.
   Give us today the food we need,
   and forgive us our sins,
      as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
   And don’t let us yield to temptation,
      but rescue us from the evil one.

 If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

            The prayer Jesus taught is sometimes referred to as The Lord’s Prayer, or even The Disciples’ Prayer because in the Gospel of Luke it was the disciples who asked to be taught how to pray. Many of you probably have it memorized. I had to memorize it growing up as a Methodist because we said it every service. And then I had to memorize it in German when I was in seminary. The problem is that for many of us, it is just that—a memorized prayer, something Jesus had warned about in verse 7, “do not use vain repetitions….” It is just something we say that no longer has meaning behind it.

            The Lord’s Prayer was never meant to be something we memorize and utter every once in a while. It was meant to be a model. It was meant to be a basic outline, to help you commune with God in a more fruitful manner. It is a skeleton that we are to flesh out into a real conversation with a real God. Imagine if you had a boyfriend or a girlfriend who would speak to you only once a week (if you were lucky) and only said the same memorized 60 word paragraph week after week. “Hey Becky, who lives on

Stewart St

. Amazing is your smile. I liked it when we went out and got some food, and or watched a movie. Please forgive me if I said or did anything wrong. I think you are neat.” How many of you would be excited about that conversation? Jesus, in a display of divinity was able to boil down every perfect prayer, and every aspect of a perfect prayer into a 60+ word model.

            Let’s break it down. “Our Father in Heaven” We have a Father/ son or a Father/ daughter relationship with God. That right there is awesome. Some of you might be thinking, “Big deal. My dad’s a jack-wagon.” Yeah, but everything that is wrong with your earthly father is more than made up for by your heavenly Father who is perfect in every way. “may your name be kept holy.” We have a deity/ worshiper relationship with God and there needs to be a level of reverence that is maintained. “May Your kingdom come soon.” We have a sovereign/ subject relationship with God. He is our king and we should desire that His kingdom be established soon. “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We have a master/ servant relationship with God. He is like our boss, and we are his employees. We do His bidding. Our response should be “Yes, Lord” before we even hear His request. “Give us today the food we need,” We have a benefactor/ beneficiary relationship with God. He supplies us with everything we need to survive. He wants us to depend on Him for everything. The apostle Paul said in Philippians, “I have learned to be content in all circumstances.” Don’t worry about tomorrow. God will give you enough to get through today. “And forgive us our sins,” We have a savior/ sinner relationship. Only God can cleanse us from our sin. “As we have forgiven those who sin against us” We have a teacher/ apprentice relationship. God wants us to do to others what He has done for us, to us, and in us. In case you missed His point, He says it again in verses 14 and 15, “If you don’t forgive others, God will not forgive you. “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” Another common translation is “Lead us not into temptation….” We have a guide/ follower relationship. Just like if we all were taking a guided tour of an active volcano, we would be sure to follow the path of our tour guide.      

            But this is only a model. Once you understand the parts of the prayer you have to fill in the particular details of your life into the conversation. That’s how you make it a living prayer instead of a memorized passage. You can’t have a growing relationship without meaningful dialogue. You can’t have meaningful dialogue if you never say anything, or when you do it is something some else wrote for you.