Jesus’ Model Prayer
●After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
●Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, (trespasses) as we forgive our debtors (those who trepass against us).
●And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. ●For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:9-15)
THIS IS OUR NEXT PRAYER PASSAGE, PART OF THE VERSES WE NEED for morning praying. It is not possible for me to make appropriate comment on this. So, I present the text of Jesus’ presentation of a model prayer from which we can make up our own prayers. I’m including a few comments to illustrate how the words can be studied and prayed to our Father. I must confess that I use this prayer often, just as it is written. Pray it slowly. We do not water ski through the words of the prayer, but slowly, deliberately, with thorough meditation.
CONSIDER THE WORDS: "OUR FATHER." Pause here and think about whom you are addressing. Not the creator of the universe, but “Our Father.” What a leap from the Creator to our Father. When we recited this prayer every morning in the 1st and 2nd grades in the public school at Alpine, TN, we went through it quickly and routinely. But that defective way of reciting the prayer did its work in us. We memorized it thoroughly….for life! And now, my 1st and 2nd grade experience enables me to slow it down and take it apart, phrase by phrase and word for word, and to pray with greater meaning.
“Our” is the first word of the prayer, indicating that it is a term of community. It’s not: “my Father.” It’s “our Father. It is relationship with all the other people who call Him “Our Father.” If we call Him, “Our Father,” we are at once embracing all the others who call Him: “Our Father.” This is assuming that they are calling Him “Our Father” in truth. We have no choice in the matter. Paul reminds us: For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1Corinthians 12:13)
The Psalmist writes: I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. (Psalm 119:63)
THE QUESTION IS OFTEN VOICED ABOUT WHOM WE SHOULD ADDRESS when we pray: Father, Son, or Holy Spirit? Well, we can pray to either of them. There is no jealousy among the Godhead Trinity. But, Jesus instructs us here to pray: “Our Father.”
I MUST PAUSE HERE AND CONTINUE WITH THIS ON MONDAY, LORD WILLING. You can see how we are going to work our way through the Model Prayer Jesus gave us to help us in our praying.
Read Through the Bible in a Year
AUGUST 10, 2018 – FRIDAY
A.M. Psalms 88-89 P.M. Romans 10
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
A Good Verse to Memorize:
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. (Mark 1:35)
(Write verse on scrap of paper and put in your pocket to memorize.)
Song for Today:
Let the Rocks Cry Out (2:48) (Adult Choir: Calv.Mem.Church)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RB339rbvNU
You may need to adjust your volume.