Matthew 6:7-13
“Teach Us to Pray”
I. Prayer
starts with desire.
A. Luke 11:1, “When Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John
taught his followers to pray.”
1. This is the only time in the Gospels
the disciples asked Jesus to teach them anything.
2. If you study Jesus’ prayer life you
will be amazed. Many of us to not think about how
dependent Jesus was on prayer.
B. Apparently at least one of his disciples,
most likely John, asks Jesus specifically to teach them how to pray.
1. We must want to learn to pray.
2. We must be willing to have Jesus
teach us.
I I. Prayer
distinguishes the believer.
A. “When
you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think
that by saying many words they’ll be
heard.” [7]
1. The idea of a flood of empty words
is translated “do not keep on babbling
like pagans” in
the NIV. The King James Version says “use
not vain repetitions.”
2. This goes back to the pagan practice
which believes that saying prayers over and over will win
the favor of the gods.
B. “Don’t
be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask.” [8]
1. Jesus expects his followers to be
different.
2. Christian prayer is different. It is
based on relationship to God and his knowledge and
power.
a. The concept of God as “Father” is a
major change in how we view God.
b. God as “Father” is a very intimate
relationship that is unknown in other religions.
I I I. Prayer
develops deeper relationship with God.
A. “Pray
like this: Our Father who is in heaven, uphold the holiness of your name.”
[9]
1. Some people understand this as worship.
2. Holiness is a main concept about
God. We are constantly told by God that he is holy and because
of that we are to be holy.
B. Jesus continues, “Bringing in your kingdom so that your will
is done on earth as it is done in heaven.” [10]
1. The reason Jesus taught us to pray
that God’s will be done on earth like it is done in heaven
is because God’s will is not always done on earth.
2. The reality is humans have the
ability to resist God’s will. The effect of this rebellion
means that God’s will is not necessarily done on earth.
I V. Prayer
establishes dependency on God.
A. “Give
us the bread we need for today. Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you, just as we also forgive those who wronged us. And
don’t lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” [11-13]
1. Jesus taught us to pray for our physical
needs.
2. Jesus taught us to pray for our
forgiveness.
3. Jesus taught us to pray for
spiritual protection.
B. There are several realities that we
have to understand in this section.
1. We are dependent on God for our
daily food. In a land of plenty this may be hard for us to
understand but it is a reality for much of the world.
2. When our theology tries to teach us
that we are “sinless,” this idea can be difficult for us
to understand.
“If we claim, “we
don’t have any sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us
from everything we’ve done wrong. If we claim,” we have never sinned,” we make
him a liar and his word is not in us.” [1 John 1:8-10]
*****In other words what the Bible is telling us is that no
one can claim to be without individual acts of sin. We can however confess
those sins. When we do confess them God is both faithful to us and his justice
because Jesus has died on the cross to save us from our sins.*****
3. The reality is there is a personal
“evil one” that is aggressively seeking to destroy us.
Only God can effectively protect us.
a. It is important for us to understand
that God does not lead us into temptation.
b. One idea here is that the word quote
temptation unquote is not an accurate
translation. The Greek term is quote “peirasmos” can mean “test of
character.”
1.) This may be a plea to avoid
unpleasant testing. This is different than
Judaism of its day that prayed for testing.
2.) This may also be a plea to avoid the
final end times. The term temptation
is connected to the last judgment.
3.) Since Jesus did not speak Greek, the
Aramaic word most likely used
here would have meant “cause us not to enter.” In other words, God is
protecting us.
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So we begin with desire to pray by learning from Jesus.
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We are distinguished
from those who do not know God the way we pray.
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We
develop closer relationship with our Heavenly Father.
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And we learn dependence for things that we might not give much thought to such
as food, forgiveness, and fighting spiritual forces of darkness.