I have learned quite a lot about prayer this past week. My faith has been put to the test, and I have been driven to my knees. So many things are out of my control, but God can and does answer prayer. All I have to do is agree with him in my heart. Does He know what is best for me? Yes, He does. Is that always what I pray for, the things that are best for me? I may think so, but often it is not.
"God, please give me a million bucks so I can contribute it all to worthwhile ministries." First, God knows my heart, and if I had a million dollars in the bank, I would spend most of it on myself, not give it to charity. Second, if I won the lottery or a big inheritance without having to work for it, the money would not have cost me anything, and it would seem cheap--I would probably stop working and live like the Prodigal Son before he found himself feeding pigs in a foreign land.
So, keeping this example in mind, I see in Matthew 6:8 that "God knows what you need before you ask Him." If this is the case, why pray at all? We are commanded to pray, because it teaches us to rely on God for our needs. We are commanded to pray, because if God always gave us what we need without our asking, we would stay like children in the faith, and never mature--as is the case when we feed and clothe our children before they realize what we are doing for them, but as they mature they realize where the good gifts come from, and what they cost, and ultimately the joy and sacrifice of providing it for someone else. We are commanded to pray, because God desires fellowship with us, and He wants us to grow and mature.
So how are we to pray? Jesus gave us an example in Matthew 6:9-13:
Our Father
This salutation is more than noting to whom the prayer is directed. It is acknowledging that God is the Patriarch, the source of all things good. It is acknowledging that we have been adopted as sons (Romans 8:23), thus giving us the legal right to call God our Father (Acts 13:32-33). Think about that: we now have a familial relationship with the Creator of the Universe. We have assumed the family name. Isaiah 56:5 says, to them will I give...a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off." One of the old hymns we used to sing in church was "There's a new name written down in Glory, and it's mine." This goes deeper than our belief in Christ and our identification with other followers who call themselves Christians. This is God Himself calling us--you and me--His children, and giving us all of the rights and privileges associated with His matchless name, through a family bond that cannot be broken.
Who is in Heaven
This designation does more than differentiate between God and our biological parentage. It is identifying the family homestead, where one day our inheritance will be divided up to us. Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession." Colossians 1:12 says, "Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." People, do you realize this when you begin your prayers? This is the source of all praise; even if our prayers are uttered out of the depths of depression, the very acknowledgement of the One to whom we are praying is an encouragement and a joyful acknowledgement of who we are, and Whose we are.
Hallowed (kept holy) be Your Name
This declaration is not only acknowledging the holiness of God. It is also an admonition to keep ourselves holy. We, who bear His name, would not dare to drag the name of God through the mud. Yet when we willfully sin, that is what we do. 1 Peter 1:15-16 says, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy'." Romans 11:16 (b) says, "if the root is holy, so are the branches." By prayer, you are conversing with God. You have no power to make God any more holy than he already is. God is good. But by acknowledging the goodness of God, and identifying ourselves with Him, we are allowing His holiness to wash over us and to wipe away any unholy thing. This is the power of prayer.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
This exhortation is making the relationship you have with God personal in your own life. In heaven, God reigns; He sits on a throne, and has angels attending Him. When He says "go", they go, and when He says "come" they come. By contrast, this world appears to be ruled by unholy men, by demonic forces, and by natural phenomenon out of anybody's control. Asking God to make His will evident to us gives our lives meaning and direction. Asking that our world will be more like heaven means we are ceding control of our lives and circumstances to Him. Jonah disobeyed God, but when he repented, he asked to be thrown into the sea. He almost drowned, but his prayer from the belly of the great fish was one of thanksgiving, for deliverance from the sea. He was swallowed up inside the digestive tract of a sea monster, but Jonah was grateful for deliverance from death, knowing that if it was God's will for him to preach to Ninevah, then he would be delivered to Ninevah by the hand of God. "We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor], all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose." (Romans 8:28, Amplified Bible).
Give us this day our daily bread
This supplication assumes that God knows our needs. Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." It also presupposes that God is able to meet our needs. After Jesus presented his disciples with the model prayer we are studying today, he expounded upon this very thing later in the same discourse. Matthew 6:25-34 says, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body; what you will wear. Is not life more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?....So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'....But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Philippians 4:7 (Amplified Bible) says, "And God's peace [be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding, shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
This confession and request for grace assumes that we have wronged God. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Even Paul, the greatest missionary of the New Testament, said in Romans 7:15-19 says, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing." Like Paul, we must daily confess our sins and ask God's forgiveness, then have the faith that God will be faithful to His word, even when we are unfaithful. The second part of this verse is especially poignant in the Amplified Bible: "And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven (left, remitted and let go of the debts, and given up resentment against) our debtors." (Matthew 6:12). If we expect God to completely forgive our sins, and take them as far away as the East is from the West, then we must also not harbor grudges or resentments that would cripple our ministry to others.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
This admonition, spoken after our confession and request for forgiveness, goes back to the part about holiness. If we are to keep the name of God holy, then we might need to change who we hang out with, or where; we might need to stop watching certain movies or television shows; we might even have to stop listening to the news. It is absolutely ludicrous for us to pray for deliverance from evil when we are constantly walking in the path of temptation. But if we are leading godly lives, we may need help to avoid stumbling blocks; for nothing wrecks a good reputation like a fall from grace. It is hard for worldly men to hear our godly testimony if they see our evil actions; they cannot hear our words because our works speak so loudly. James 2:17 says that faith without works is dead. We want our faith to be living and active, just as the God in whom we place our faith is living and active in our lives.
So you see, prayer is more for the benefit of us than for God. Please pray for me and for other believers in your sphere of influence; pray for yourself, that you will be holy. Together we will help to bring about the will of God on this earth, or at least our little part of it.
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