Mathew 6:7-1
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be iyour name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us nthis day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
We have talked a lot about prayer over the past few weeks, but have yet to really talk about what prayer is. I grew up thinking praying was this hidden language, and eloquent speech, or magic spell to get whatever you wanted. I could not be more far from the truth on all accounts. We often get so caught up thinking our prayers need to be beautiful poetry, filled with large and religious terminology. These impressions of what prayer is are often built out of a misconception from not knowing about prayer, and from the examples we often see from misguided church leaders and entertainment.
Jesus understood the importance of prayer, and I would imagine he saw many examples of prayer being taught and exhibited incorrectly while he walked upon the Earth. He felt that the understanding of prayer and how to pray (even though this was a common practice in Jewish society) was so important he took the time to show us how to pray. This passage in Matthew is one of the most famous and most quoted passages. Even those of us who did not grow up in church can probably quote this passage. The Lords Prayer is said at eulogies, weddings, and in movies; but do we truly understand what this prayer is and what Jesus is trying to teach us through its example.
In verse 7-8 Jesus begins warning against making our prayers wordy. God already knows what we need, he does not care that our prayers sound like a flowing piece of poetry crafted by a master. God just wants us to talk with him. God is our Heavenly Father, and like all great fathers, he wants to have conversations with his children and wants to help them.
Prayer is a conversation. It should be no different than a conversation between you and your closes friend. God already knows your needs, and he will provide for them, but he still wants to hear from you, he wants you to seek him. Jeremiah 29: 11 -12 “11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.” Often times I find that my prayers are just little snippets through my day. Sitting in line at the grocery store feeling the stress of my finances as I get ready to pay for the large grocery bill required to feed my children. I just tell God, I tell him I’m stressed, I tell him I’m unhappy with how expensive groceries are getting, I ask him for help to afford them, and I thank him for allowing me to be able to afford them. Prayer can be as simple as this.
Let’s now move into the example Jesus lays out for us. We will take it verse by verse walking through each element of prayer: Worship, Submission, Needs, Forgiveness, and Future. These are the elements I see, and what help me understand prayer better. Im sure others have more elegant terminology for it, but I’m a simple guy and these are what I see.
Worship. Prayer is first and foremost a tool of worship and thankfulness to God. Jesus begins his prayer as you would imagine a knight addressing a king in his throne room. Every time we go to prayer, we need to remember who we are praying too. Our God is the King of Kings, he is the almighty, creator of all things and higher than any being to have existed. Let us remember this when we go to prayer honoring our God with the reverence and respect he deserves. Part of this worship is found through our thankfulness. Philippians 4:6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us to come to God in prayer with thanksgiving. David often in his prayers began with thanksgivings to show his worship and reverence to our God. Psalms 136. Being thankful also helps change our mindset. Its much harder to be bitter, needy, hurting and miserable when your heart is truly thankful. Beginning your prayer with worship and thankfulness helps us frame our thoughts and mindset, preparing our hearts for the rest of the worship we will render through our prayer.
Submission. Verse 10 is about submission. We begin prayer acknowledging Gods authority, and then we follow up with humility and submission to his will. We were created on this Earth to worship God. We do not live for a purpose within ourselves, but instead live for a purpose of serving our King. God is the ruler over both the Earth and Heaven. Before we are Christians we live in rebellion against his will. After we believe in Jesus, accept his forgiveness and live in faith of his healing power to save us; we are changed from lives living in rebellion to lives committed to live by Gods will. This does not always mean that Gods will is what we dream our lives should be. Growing up I had dreams, aspirations, wishes, prayers, and now I am thankfully none of those things ever came to pass. I say that because the life God has given me is vastly larger than anything I had ever imagined. God tells Jeremiah 1:5 that God had a plan for him before he was even born. God likewise has plans for all of us, and we must submit to his plans. When we submit ourselves to God and his plan, he works within us, and allows our lives to go places we could never have imagined. Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Needs. Now there is theological debate about what verse 11 is talking about. One train of thought believes Jesus is talking about our physical needs, such as the food we need to survive on a daily basis. The second train of thought is that he is referring to the spiritual substance we require. I personally belief he is speaking of both but lean more towards the topic of our spiritual needs. Matthew 6: 25 - 33 “25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you..” Also check out Luke 12:24. God is fully aware of our physical needs and will provide them if we ask for them or not. This does not mean we should not put our physical needs down at his feet, thanking him and asking him for their continuing. I just belief Jesus in this particular passage is more focused on our starving souls instead of our hungry bellies. Jesus is our spiritual feast, he is the beginning and end to our spiritual nutriment. John 6: 35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” For most christians I would argue that finding food on a daily basis is not a struggle but finding the time to seek God out and grow in his spiritual garden is where we all struggle. The need that most of us face on a daily basis is not food in our bellies but the wisdom, discipline and time to seek God on a daily bases.
Forgiveness. Next is probably the hardest part for any honest person, and that is forgiveness. It has taken me at least 10 years personally to only begin understanding the forgiveness God has given me through Jesus, and also begin to grasp what it means to forgive others. It is difficult to forget the wrongs someone has done to you. It is difficult to carry on in love with a person who has wronged you, and I am not saying that a person should remain in a unhealthy relationship with a friend, spouse, parent colleague ect.. But, what I am saying, and more importantly what Jesus is saying is that we should seek Gods forgiveness while asking him to give us the strength to forgive those who have wronged us. It is impossible to truly grow in Christ and follow him full heartedly. If you carry hatred and unforgivenss in your heart towards others you will never be able to fully follow God. The day I finally discovered forgiveness for myself and forgave others who had wronged me for years, was the day I truly felt freedom. It was like invisible chains being released from me. I was able to drop so many burdens that I didn’t even know I was carrying, so many hurts that others used as chains to hold me down. The key to these chains, the keys to my freedom was the forgiveness God gave me and in turn I gave to those who had wronged me. They no longer held a position over me and I was able to seek God without fear or condemnation from my past. If I could pray for you all and ask for just one thing that you could all discover, it would be forgiveness. We are commanded to love one another John 13:34, without exception, but can we truly love with unforgiveness in our hearts? God does not even want us to come before him until we are willing and able to not only accept his forgiveness but forgive those who have wronged us Matthew 5:23-24. Jesus ends this instruction with verses 14-15 informing us that when we forgive others God will forgive us.
Future. The last element of prayer is the future. Here we seek Gods favor to guid our footing, keeping our path straight and clear of evil. Our greatest battle on earth is sin. We were unable to save ourselves from sin, and likewise we are unable to keep from falling back into sin unaided. We pray for Gods protection to keep us from sin. We are called to be holy creatures separated from sin, using our lives as instruments of righteousness. Romans 6:12-14 “12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ipresent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” God gives us the strength we need to overcome sin, but it is up to us to seek God out asking him to help us in this endeavor. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” God gives us the tools we need to fight against sin, when we go to him in prayer on a daily basis, we are daily building up our defenses against sin. Galatians 5:16-17 “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 12 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
At the end of the day I want you all to remember that God wants us to communicate with him daily. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Pray without ceasing, every small moment you have, waiting in line, driving your car, day dreaming when you should be working, just remember to be praying. You have an infinite God who wants to hear from you. It doesn’t have to be a fancy conversation. Give God the praise he deserves, submit to his will for your life, seek his provision for your needs, take his forgiveness and forgive others, and let him guide your future.
Below are some reflection questions. I encourage you to answer them honestly and write them down in a journal for your own reflection later down the road.
Do you seek God in prayer everyday?
What disciplines will you add in your life to get you to the point of praying without ceasing?
Have your accepted Gods forgiveness, and allowed yourself to forgive those who have hurt you in the past?
Do you have a group of peers you can get with and share your prayers, pray with and pray for?
Do you study Gods Word daily seeking his spiritual growth?
Thank you for doing us for this weeks devotion on the elements of prayer. If you need prayer let us know, we will be constantly prating for you. Do you need help understanding any of the concepts we talked about? Reach out to us. Leave a comment on the blog or submit a request on our ministry page to talk with someone from our ministry team. We are a family and will always be here to help support you, just let us know what we can do.
God Bless!
Kyle Statham
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