PONDERING... Praying as a Saved Sinner (Matthew 6:12-15)

Teach Us To Pray: A Brief Series Dissecting the Lord’s Prayer

Praying as a Saved Sinner

GIST: Despite who we are, the One we pray to is listening with love and strength. (Reverse of opening in order…but same content )

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:12-15

12 and forgive us our debts, (NOTE: Debts or Sins) as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[some manuscripts add For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen] 

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 come to the end of our study of the Lord's Prayer, and I have more verses left than I have covered in the previous three sermons. Therefore, this will be more of a survey addressing of some very important truths. Thankfully, Brother Driggs is teaching through James on Sunday evenings and has covered (and will continue to be covering) temptation and forgiveness at more length for the regular Providential crew. For those of you who just read these things on "the blog" because you found yourself with little better to do :), please feel free to message me, and I will be more than happy to address anything I leave unclear.

1. We need forgiveness

12a and forgive us our debts...

• There is so much I feel should be said here. Alistair Begg points out that this portion of the prayer moves from asking for our basic physical needs (daily bread) to our basic spiritual need (forgiveness). And that's the key. We've spoken about this at length and often in the past, so I won't stretch this out too long. Yet, I don't want to ignore it either. This is foundational to the Gospel (the good news). God is holy and loving. We are not. He has a standard of perfection; He is that standard. We do not live up to this. As I've pointed out before, sometimes people recoil at this notion and argue that God cannot judge us for not living up to His standard that we may or may not even agree with in the first place. Setting aside the fallacy of assuming our own views of morality could somehow surpass God's, let's just look at your standards...that which you consider to be right and wrong. Do you live up to those? Think of all the things that drive you crazy in other people. Think of all the beliefs you have about how people should and should not behave. If someone where recording your life and said they'd only judge you based on how you live up to your own expectations, how would you do? Terrible. We all would. We don't live up to our own standards, and we definitely fall short of God's. The punishment for breaking the eternal law? Eternal punishment. Hell. As a result, we need His forgiveness, which He provided through Jesus Christ.

2. We need to forgive

12b... as we also have forgiven our debtors... 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 need to remember: This is a prayer for Christians...Forgiveness should be a major part of our character. It is a mark of the change Christ makes in us. This reminds me of Jesus' parable in Matthew 18:23-35.

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

• The expectation for the forgiven is that they will forgive. I few months back I preached a sermon entitle "The Greatly Loved Love Greatly". The idea here is the same. If we are saved, we'll live like it. Examine your heart. Are you forgiving? Here's the deal. We have been forgiven of sin which earned us Hell. What could anyone possibly do to you that could outweigh that? AND, if you feel that what you are somehow justified in your unforgiveness, then you have not understood the nature of your own condition, or the price paid for your salvation. If you are saved, you will live like it. If you're not living like it, again, examine your heart. Spend time in serious prayer. Jesus knew this would not be easy--forgiveness never is. It's costly. That's why it hurts so much. To forgive is to give without repayment. Jesus knows this more than we ever could. He died and endured Hell to pay for our forgiveness. If you have not known this forgiveness personally, ask Him for it. Be saved. It is your greatest need.
• As a quick aside, I want to address a possible objection. This is not spiritual blackmail. Jesus is not saying, 'If you don't forgive, I won't forgive...so you better keep doing what I tell you or else'. He's not a mobster. Yes, He won't forgive if you don't, but not because He's blackmailing you into any particular behavior, but because you haven't really been saved. Look at the last few words in His parable. "... if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Just going through the motions of forgiving is not what He's looking for. He's looking for heart changes.

3. We need direction away from sin

 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Brother Driggs just addressed temptation a few weeks ago, so I won't spend too much time here. However, we need to see this.

• We will be tempted. Just because we are saved does not mean our sin nature will be removed this side of heaven. We look forward to that day. But for now, Jesus calls us to take up our cross daily and follow Him, and to put on the armor of God, and to resist the devil by clinging to Him. It is a battle. Why? Not simply because the devil is a prowling lion seeking whom He may devour, but because we are sinners. Let's look really briefly at the passage Brother Driggs addressed a few weeks ago in James 1.
• 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
• Where does temptation come from? Within. We are tempted when we are lured and enticed by our own desires. Could the devil use these against us. Yes. But even if he doesn't, we will find ourselves tempted because the source of sin is in our nature.
• SO, this prayer is asking God to lead us away from the path that we would naturally take. Temptation is tempting because we want it. It's like the example I've used a million times. I offer you a free dinner--you're tempted. I offer you a chance to do my laundry--you're not. The offer is equally free, but only one is desirable. So to be led not into temptation and to be delivered from evil, or the evil one, is, at is core, asking God to, again, change Your heart. How do we resist sin and Satan? -->James 4: 7-8 "7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." It's not by our strength, but by clinging to Him, drawing near to Him, being made like Him.

4. We need to end well

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen

• The prayer ends like it begins, remembering to whom we speak. Again, we could spend much time here, but I will be brief. When we pray, we approach the Holy and Loving and Almighty creator of the universe. His perfect kingdom, His ultimate power, and His incomparable character reign FOREVER. And so we have confidence as we approach our Heavenly Father. Knowing that despite who we are, the One we pray to is listening with love and strength.

PONDERING... Praying for Carbs (Matthew 6:11)

Teach Us To Pray: A Brief Series Dissecting the Lord’s Prayer

Praying for Carbs

GIST: We need to have the right attitude, which produces the right requests everyday for everyone.
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:11

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

Moving forward with our discussion of the Lord's Prayer, we come to the first request which seems, for lack of a better word, earthly. Up until this point, our focus has been entirely on God the Father--remembering who He is, seeking to honor His name, submitting to His control. Now we move toward asking for our needs. There is actually a lot we can learn simply from that ordering of things. Too often in prayer we tend to camp out solely in the "give me what I need" section. Yet, in Jesus' model prayer this isn't the case. Before we can really ask for what we need, we have to be looking at the world the right way--through God-centered, God-seeking, God-honoring lenses. 

Now to break this sections down, I actually want to take the English phrase and look at it in reverse order--Bread, Daily, Our--in an attempt to help us understand this point: When we pray for our needs, we need to have the right attitude, which produces the right requests everyday for everyone.

Bread

Let's start by establishing that to ask for bread is to ask for our most basic, physical needs. Bread is good, but not excessive. Jesus didn't tell us to pray 'Give us this day our daily t-bone steak'. Most of us are familiar with this concept. We've been raised on it. Needs and wants are two different things. The problem is we're still terrible at distinguishing the two. They tend to get a little cloudy, especially in areas like America where most of our truly basic needs are met almost as a given.


To help understand this better, I actually want to look at a few separate passages of Scripture. I know for some of you who might be reading this (which could be entirely a figment of my imagination), it might appear daunting to see such long passages of scripture. In fact, you might not have even made it to this line because you clicked off the second you saw a sequence of quotes. However, interpreting Scripture by Scripture is essential, so skip my words, but read His. 

1. We need to have the right attitudeJames 4:2c-3 "...You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."

James points out two reasons why we don't get stuff.

• 1. We are not praying for it at all. Now that's something to let sink in. How often do you pray for the things you really need. Like, salvation for your kids. Opportunities to share the Gospel with your colleagues. Wisdom in financial endeavors...etc. You have not because you ask not... We can't afford not to be asking for these things! Do we doubt He can provide them?
• 2. We are asking for the wrong reason, or the wrong stuff. Now just to clarify this is not about "forgetting to say the magic word" or "using the right order". Likewise, this doesn't mean that God won't blow your mind with how He chooses to bless you. Asking wrongly is all about having the wrong attitude. Again, we cannot pray selfishly and expect those prayers to be answered. Praying for legitimate needs is not selfish, but using God as a magic Genie...is. And there is a difference. Are we coming to our Father seeking His will and trusting in His provision, or our we just telling Him all the stuff we want for our own gain.

Proverbs 30:8b-9 "...give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."

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." (Emphasis added)

• These verses really go together, and tie back with what we were talking about in the opening request. We submit to God, in part, because we trust Him. He is our Father. We also submit to His will because...
• We really don't know what we need. I really love Proverbs 30:8-9. We get this great example of where we often mess this thing up. In these verses, we are instructed not to ask for either poverty or wealth. Why? Because you don't know what you can handle. If you're rich, will you rely on and worship your riches instead of God? If you're poor, will you fall into despair and curse God for your circumstances, or turn to a life of crime in distrust? We don't know. Maybe you can be super rich and use that to honor God. Maybe you can rejoice in the midst of extreme hardship. Again, you don't know.
  
• BUT, God does. God knows what He needs you to do, and will equip you to do it. I love, love, love Matthew 6:25-33, and quote it often...because I need reminded of these truths. We can worry all we want, but it accomplishing nothing. My grandma actually use to have a picture hanging up in her kitchen (one of many, many things hanging on her walls) which read: Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but doesn't every get you anywhere. So true. And Jesus tells us not to worry, but to seek Him (Just like in the opening lines in the Lord's Prayer). Why? Because He knows what we need. Trusting God for provision is not some form of stoicism in which all desire is inherently evil and, therefore, should be thrown off, and all needs are ultimately selfish. God knows what we need and died so we could have life, eternally, as He, the ultimate designer, intended.

2. Which will produce the right requestsWe need the right attitude so we can start asking the right questions. Submission to God's sovereignty reveals our needs in the right light.

Daily

3. Every dayFurthermore, this bread is daily bread. That might seem trivial, but there are some important truths to remember here. For now, let's just consider this one:

• 1. This isn't an every once in a while prayer ... because we are fully dependent upon God for our daily needs...daily.
• Remember the "manna" during the wilderness? God fed His people by sending them a mysterious substance from heaven. We don't know what it was exactly, and neither did they, but clearly it was exactly what they needed...though not always what they wanted. And they were given specific instructions concerning it. Except on the day before the Sabbath, they could only collect enough for the current day. Anything left over was to be tossed out, or it would be rotting and disgusting by morning. About this, Moses writes in Deuteronomy 8:3 "3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Like the Israelites, our existence hinges on God's moment-by-moment provision. It's easy to forget this in modern America. Don't.
• Just a side note, because I'm sure this question is being asked by someone, this does not mean work and savings are sins. I had a friend once who needed a job, but she wouldn't apply for any because she thought that would be stepping outside of God's will for provision. Employment is good, we see the disciples working throughout the New Testament. Worshiping work is bad. Again, it's all about attitude. Do you work for the Lord, or for yourself? Do you trust Him, or not? What if you lost your job? Examine your heart to see where you're at. I know I need to, every day. Jesus knew we'd all need to...every day. That's why this is here.
• Supplemental reading for further study: James 4 "13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." Note that it is the boasting that is evil, not the making of God-honoring plans. Again...right attitude...right life. It all ties back to God transforming us. We are truly new creations.

Our

4. For EveryoneIn the interest of time, I will keep this last point brief. However, it is by no means less important. Again, all of the pronouns are plural. Yes, this implies we should be praying this together, but, as I've mentioned before, I also believe it means we should be praying it for each other. Two points:

• Pray for the world. This is something we could and should talk about at further length, but look at the prayers in the Bible. Pay attention to how people pray for one another. It goes far beyond the reactionary intercession we have all mastered--and I could myself amongst that number. We pray for health...when people are sick. We pray for jobs...when they are lost. We pray for happy marriages...when there is conflict. We pray for world peace...when we're not complaining about its absence. We pray for poverty... or do we? Do I? Let's just make this one simple. This is a prayer for Christians. Jesus is love. Our prayers should reflect that.
• Pray to be used to help the world. I know these past few lessons have been fairly bad about having two points which essentially look the same, but sometimes I have to do this so I don't miss out on an important distinction. When we pray for our needs and the needs of the world, there should be an overlap. Pray that as God meets your needs, He also equips you to meet the needs of those around you (however near or far that may be). James 2 "15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?"

So, in closing, though this line is short, there really is a lot packed into it. We need to have the right attitude, which produces the right requests everyday for everyone. Do you?


Let's pray.

PONDERING... Desiring God’s Will (Matthew 6:10)

Desiring God’s Will 

GIST: We need His kingdom because it is best. 

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:10

10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

As it is in Heaven: A Little Context Continuing our discussion of the Lord's Prayer, we come to the second sentence. Like in the first, Jesus is making sure our hearts are in the right place from the beginning of the prayer. First, we remember who God is to us as believers, our Holy and Loving Father, because of the price Jesus paid...and no merit of our own. This second sentence continues with remembering the truth about both God and our position in Him.

It is important to note that these phrases are both connected to the same condition: Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We are asking that His kingdom come like it is in Heaven, and that His will be done like it is in Heaven. This might go without saying, but both are perfect in Heaven. God's kingdom is not of this world, but in Heaven it is fully revealed and untainted by sin. Likewise, in this context, His will is done...period. So simply put, we are asking that life here on earth be like Heaven. So, let's break down some take away from these two requests. 

 
Thy Kingdom Come (as it is in Heaven)
1. The world, including us, needs His Kingdom It might be fitting that this conversation happens to coincide with a presidential election...but we'd see the applications either way. Sadly, our world isn't in a good place. Why? Not because of republicans or democrats, or even radical terrorist. The world is in the shape it's in because it has rejected God's kingdom. Trying to "do life" on our own, or our way is sin. Though it's definitely not popular to say this in our highly individual-centered, American culture, which has a knee-jerk reaction to any word with a "king" root, it's true. Pride is the root of sin, and pride rejects any rule, but our own. The results... well, look at what Paul says in Romans 1:28-31 "28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." We pray for his kingdom to come because we need it. Only in His kingdom do true justice and mercy reign.

2. We need to want His control Now, I understand that this probably looks about like the first point, but there is a subtle difference. Knowing that we need something and wanting that something are not the same thing. I know I probably need to get up every morning and exercise. However, most mornings, probably 9.9/10, my knowing and my wanting are at odds...and my pillow proves himself highly persuasive. Being reminded of our need, we need to ask God to mold our hearts to desire Him.

3.…For Everyone And again, like in our prayer for holiness, we desire this for the entire world. We want those around us not only to realize they need His kingdom--Paul tells us they get that "32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die"--but that they want it. This only happens through salvation--which we should be praying for.


Thy Will Be Done (As it is in Heaven) This second request is very much like the first. His will is done when His kingdom comes. However, for us, I think there are at least two really important take aways here, as well.

1. We should be willing to submit Jesus illustrates this for us in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prays, 'not my will, but Yours be done'. We see the same attitude reflect in many of the psalms of prayer, or prayers of men like Moses. Frequently these requests start with a complaint (How long will..., or My enemies surround me...,), but quickly move to, but I know _____ truth about You God, and because of this, I know Your will is best, and I trust in this and love You for it. So often by the end of the prayer, it almost seems like a different person is praying... and that's the point. We submit not because we have no other choice, but because even if we could entertain all the choices in the world, they would all be rubbish compared to His will. 

2. Because we have every reason to trust Why? Word two. He's our Father! I was studying this verse when we were in Gatlinburg a few weeks back, and it really hit home. We went to this attraction called "The Tomb" where, essentially, you were trapped...in a tomb :D...and your group had to solve certain problems to try and escape. We knew a little about this before we went in and had warned the kids that it might seem a little "scary", but it would all be in fun. We expected some fear, but honestly, not from Jedidiah. When we got there he was his normal talkative, curious self. In fact, he was trying to break into the Tomb early! However, when the lights went out, he was standing in front of me...and he bolted, or he would have had I not been there to catch him. He was ready to leave. In fact, that's exactly what he said, "I think I want to go now." We tried to assure him everything was just pretend, but it didn't seem to matter, and I am now at least happy to report if in a similar situation for real, he will do everything within his power to escape. Pretty quickly, I just picked him up and had him look at me, a feat not easy for my energetic five-year old to maintain under normal circumstances, let alone a moment of panic, but he did it. Looking at him, I asked him one question: "Do you trust me?"

He said, "yes". 

"Would I do anything to hurt you?" 

"No" 

From that point on, he went forward, and ended up having a great time. Now, he didn't immediately. He was still scared and had no idea why I was letting him stay in a room with a mummy who was threatening to kill us. BUT, he trusted me. It was humbling really, and really shed some serious light on this request in the Lord's Prayer. We need His kingdom, we should want His control, and submit to His will because we trust Him...because He's our Daddy. It doesn't have to make sense, and often it won't. That's not the prayer. The prayer is "help me remember to trust you, even when I want to run as far away from where You've taken me as possible." 

Let's pray.

NOTE: Again, to avoid any semblance of plagiarism, I want to acknowledge Tim Keller as an invaluable resource in understanding these points.

PONDERING... Praying To Our Holy Father (Matthew 6:9)

Teach Us To Pray: A Brief Series Dissecting the Lord’s Prayer

Praying To Our Holy Father

GIST: The first portion of the Lord's Prayer is all about remembering who we are and to whom we pray.

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:7-13 ESV (Focusing on 9)

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 your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this 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. [some manuscripts add For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen]    

A Little Background:

     When Brother Driggs asked me to preach these next two weeks, I started praying about what to preach on. I bounced around a lot of ideas, but I really believe I should always preach and teach what God is teaching me. Undoubtedly, this year God has been speaking to me most about prayer. As such, the youth and I have been studying prayer for the past few months in Sunday School (and I have been indebted to a book by Tim Keller which dives into the Biblical teaching on the subject).  

     For the sake of time, I don't want to belabor this point too much, but we see in Scripture how very essential prayer is. All other evidence aside, Jesus did it constantly. His disciples specifically asked Him to teach them to do it (Luke 11), and in response to that request Jesus taught us to do it. Pair this with the many verses like those in Luke 11:9 where Jesus promises not only to hear, but also to answer prayers prayed in His name and according to His will, and it is impossible to ignore the importance of this privilege. We are called by God to come and speak with Him. Coupled with the reading of Scripture, it is how we come to know God. Yet, we tend to miss out on this blessing by limiting our prayers to occasional request for help or nominal blessings over food. 

     That being said, for the next four services, I want to look at the Lord's Prayer--the most concise and direct teaching of Jesus on prayer. Now, this is one of the most quoted passages of Scripture in the world, especially in Catholic circles. Unfortunately, we have this tendency to ignore or discredit the familiar. Like John 3:16, people tend to repeat the Lord's Prayer without really thinking about what it says, or to avoid it altogether in search of "less common" passages. I have been equally guilty of this. So, as we study this, don't let familiarity destroy the gift from Jesus--His lesson on how to pray. 

     This is something we are intended to pray, not just repeat. So to be able to do this, we need to understand what each line is saying. So, in the interest of time and application, we're going to take one statement at a time, and my hope is that we can walk away from these lessons with a practical understanding that can immediately impact our prayer lives. I know it has been changing mine.

Our Father in Heaven:

The first portion could be called "The Address". It reminds us both of who we're talking to and the position from which we're doing the talking. I think we can glean a few points of applications from just these first four words.

1. We are not Han Solo
   • First, something I missed until recent study is actually the first word here: Our (and all the following plural pronouns). God is my Father, but not mine alone. When we come to God in prayer, we come before Him intimately..."for God so loved the world". This point is really staggering actually. Every believer addresses God as Father, and receives that kind of love. I am a dad. I love all three of my kids equally. However, it's hard to show love to all of them at the same time. Despite our best efforts, parenting is a constant juggling act...because I'm limited. He's not. There is no "I'll be there in a second" with Him.
   • Likewise , and this is definitely a bigger topic for another day, but it is this very relationship that connects us to all the believers in the world. That person that bugs you in church--yeah, Jesus died for him, too...and you're family.
   • Lastly, this reminds us of the importance of corporate prayer--praying together. Again, this is something to talk about another time, but it is important to remember how important it is to pray together.
2. We pray in the name of Jesus...to our Father
   • This is an important reminder. When we call God Father, we are expressing a our privileged position. Which, of course reminds us that those who are praying this prayer are, indeed, Christians, because non-believers are not the children of God. In fact, this issue is one that puts Christianity at odds with nearly all other religions. Muslims, for example, pray to Allah as holy and powerful, but to call him Father is serious blasphemy. Yet, we know that, though we deserve Hell, when we're saved we can come before God as His beloved children. But why? How? Because Jesus paid our price. He took our place. He endured our punishment, so we could be adopted as children. So when we call God Father, we are praying "in Jesus' name" because it is only through Jesus that we can call God Father.
   • Likewise, when we call God Father we are reminded of why we can trust Him. I'm going to talk about this at more length in the next section, but it is important to establish this here. We are not just speaking with some "powerful force". We are speaking to the God who created us, died for us, and loves us as His children.
3. Yet, we are praying to our Father...in Heaven
   • Nonetheless, God is Holy, and we must never forget that. That's foundational to the Gospel. God is both Holy and loving...that's why He cannot ignore sin, but provided a way of escape from in through Jesus' death. Every time we pray, we need to remember this.

Hallowed be Your Name

This second portion confuses people because it employees a word we don't really use anymore: hallowed... Unless, of course, it's October. It means holy, or set apart, or righteous. Unfortunately, in this case, knowing the meaning, does not really clarify the statement. Holy be Your name. Wait, isn't it already? Can we do anything to make Him more or less holy? No. But this is a request, right? It is something we are to be asking of God. So what does this mean? I think there are two applications here.

1. In Our Lives
   • Martin Luther said this request meant, “Keep us from dishonoring Your name.” Let that sink in. When I first read that, it really hit me. God is Holy. We don't impact that by our actions. He's not a fairy that loses His power when too many people stop believing in Him. However, we are called Christians: followers of Christ. We are His representation. Our actions are to reflect Him to the world. In fact, Jesus told us to in Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."  But what about the opposite. What if it isn't light that's shining from us? If we claim to be representing Christ, but don't live like Him will the world just assume we're missing out, or that He's not all we claim? To ask that God's name be Holy in our lives is to ask that we not mar His character, that we would be pure and holy as He is.
   • Of course, this should be our desire in all things in life. Again, another topic for another day, perhaps, but we would do well to ask ourselves if honoring God was our primary motive for coming to church this Sunday.
2. In Our World
   • Again, though, we're not in this alone, nor should we want to be. The other side to this request is asking that the world honor God for who He is. However, that will only ever happen if the world comes to know Him as savior.

So right here in the first sentence of the Lord's prayer we are reminded of the Gospel. We come before God as part of His church, but also as His child who He loved so much He endured Hell for you. Faced with that reminder, we immediately fall at His feet and ask to be like Him, not to spoil this gift; and are moved to pray for those around us who are missing out on it entirely.

It's about remembering who you are and to whom you pray. Try to start your prayers this week like this.