How To Disciple
[9] ...‘Our Father who is 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 do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Jesus calls his followers to live by a higher standard of right relationships with God and with other people.
At the CENTER, of the CENTER, of the CENTER of the entire Sermon on the Mount is the Lord's Prayer
And it's here because
Jesus wants this prayer to have a CENTRAL place in the lives of His followers.
"Our Father Who Is in the Skies"
"OUR Father", not "MY Father."
"Father" a really intimate way to address God and was Jesus' favorite name for God, which portrays God as the source of life and provider for his children. Jesus wants us to remember that we belong to a worldwide family, appealing to God together as our "Father".
Jesus balances that intimate term with a more cosmic description, "in the skies."
"the skies" is a metaphor expressing that just as the skies are high above us, so God is above and beyond every category in our imagination. Yet he's also close like a good father.
He follows with 3 REQUESTS.
"the skies" is a metaphor expressing that just as the skies are high above us, so God is above and beyond every category in our imagination. Yet he's also close like a good father.
He follows with 3 REQUESTS.
1st Request: "May YOUR name be recognized as holy."
Holiness is the unique one-of-a-kind status God has as the creator of all things. And in the story of the Bible, God attaches his holy name and reputation to the people of ancient Israel, by partnering with them to bring blessing to the nations. But Israel breaks that partnership, and that led them to be conquered by other nations. And God's holy reputation was discredited among the nations. Israel's prophet said that one day God would act to restore the holiness of his reputation.
Jesus is inviting his followers to pray for that to happen.
How this is to happen is what the prayer turns to next.
2nd Request:"May YOUR Kingdom Come"
3rd Request: "May YOUR Will be Done
On EARTH as it is in HEAVEN"
God's heavenly kingdom is a holy realm where GOD'S WILL is always done. So Jesus wants us to ask for that realm to come down here, so his heavenly will is done on the land. The word "will" could also be translated as "desire."
Jesus' prayer is meant to align our desires with God's desire to bring Heaven to Earth.
These 3 Requests ask God act in our world to renew creation.
And the SECOND HALF of the prayer shifts the focus to asking God for help, so we can be a part of that renewal.
And the SECOND HALF of the prayer shifts the focus to asking God for help, so we can be a part of that renewal.
4th Request: "Our Daily Bread"
Most humans are full of worry and fear about our survival, and so we hoard resources.
But Jesus invites us to trust God to meet our needs one day at a time.
But Jesus invites us to trust God to meet our needs one day at a time.
This kind of prayer cultivates a habit of daily gratefulness to see every meal and every moment as a gift. Jesus is recalling the story of Israel wandering in the wilderness when God sent bread from heaven, but just enough for one day at a time so that Israel had to stay in a posture of gratefulness and trust.
5th Request: "Forgive Us Our Debts"
"Debt" is a metaphor for when you wrong someone and then owe them to make it right.
It's a relational debt. Notice the symmetry in His prayer. He asks God to forgive our debts just as we forgive those who owe us.
It's a relational debt. Notice the symmetry in His prayer. He asks God to forgive our debts just as we forgive those who owe us.
Our ability to receive God's forgiveness is bound up with our ability to give out forgiveness.
Jesus is creating a culture where the forgiven
become agents of forgiveness to others.
6th Request: "Don’t Lead Us Into the Test"
The Greek word translated as "temptation" is "PEIRASMOS", which means a TEST that is designed to reveal the truth. In the Bible, God's tests have a positive purpose, to reveal someone's character and invite them into a relationship of trust.
7th Request: "Deliver us from Evil"
Why ask God to spare us from tests?
Jesus is being really honest here. Tests can be difficult or painful, and often there's a little voice nudging us to take the easy way out, because the right choice is just too costly. Jesus says that's the voice of the evil one. So when tests come, and we hear that voice, we should ask for deliverance.
These Seven Requests in TOTAL are a
COMMON NUMBER FOR
COMPLETENESS
IN THE BIBLE
This prayer of Jesus shapes us into people who long for God's heavenly kingdom
and desire for His Kingdom to come about here on the Earth.
And we can participate as we learn to trust God, forgive others,
and remain faithful to God's promise to bring Heaven down to Earth.
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