9 Sunday after Pentecost 07/29/07 Text: Luke 11:1-13 Title: Lord's Prayer
9 Sunday after Pentecost
07/29/07
Text: Luke 11:1-13
Title: “Lord’s Prayer”
This morning I want to speak to you about prayer. Next to Jesus dying for us prayer is the greatest gift God has given those whom he has adopted as his sons and daughters. Prayer is not only how we communicate with God, but it helps our faith to grow.
Luke’s Lord’s Prayer is shorter than Matthew’s Lord’s Prayer, but is essentially the same prayer. As you might have noticed, the last part of the prayer, that part we say every Sunday is not in the original text. The early Christian church added “for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever” and it has been for the most part, part of the Lord’s Prayer ever since.
The Lord’s Prayer is not really Jesus’ prayer, but is our prayer. Jesus as we see in the text gives his followers a prayer, a perfect prayer that they can pray daily. It is a wonderful prayer, covering every aspect of our lives as we admit our complete dependency on God.
It is good to know a little history before we get into the actual prayer itself. It was a shocking prayer for its time. The Jews would never pray in this fashion, for it would not only be disrespectful to be that familiar with God, but in saying God’s name you might misuse it and then there would be trouble in one’s life.
The Greeks, Romans, and others would not get that personal with any of their gods for fear that he or she might come down and create mischief. It was just best to what you could to make whatever god or goddess happy and then stay out of their way.
For Jesus to tell his disciples that they were to say “Father” at the beginning of a prayer to God turned the known world’s idea of prayer upside down.
Before we get into the Lord’s Prayer, take a look at the first verse which I think is an odd request. The disciples are asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Now being good Jews they knew how to pray, for the Jewish faith required certain prayers that had to be said daily.
That part of the verse, “as John taught his disciples” gives us a clue as to why the asked Jesus to teach them a prayer. You see it was the custom of the religious teachers of the time to teach their students a prayer that would identify them as belonging to a particular teacher. That is probably why the disciples in verse one asked Jesus to teach them to pray. They were in desperate need of being publicly identified with Jesus.
I do not know if you have ever noticed, but there are no singular I or me forms in the Lord’s Prayer. I think you will see why as go through our reading this morning.
Anyway, back to the text. The first prayer, I am going to call the petitions prayers, for that is really what they are, is “Father, hallowed be your name”. When we pray this prayer we are saying that we know God’s name is holy. We do not make it holy. It is holy because it is God’s name. What we are praying here is that it is kept holy among us. In other words that prayer states we want our lives to show his holiness.
The second prayer, “Your kingdom come” does not mean that God’s kingdom has not come or that we need to pray that it comes, for it God will see that it comes. It means that the coming of God’s kingdom is to be in us. It does that in two ways. First that it comes in our time through the Word and faith. Secondly that it comes in eternity.
It is really nothing more than to say, “Dear Father, we ask you first to give us your Word, so that the gospel may be properly preached throughout the world and then that we may receive it in faith and that it may work and dwell in us, so that your kingdom may prevail among us through the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, thus destroying the devil’s kingdom.
The next prayer is “Give us each day our daily bread.” God gives us our daily bread which is more than just bread, but all those things that are needed, notice I said needed, for this life. God wants to show us how much he loves us, so he blesses us through all he has created. He wants us to keep first and foremost in our minds and hearts that we get all we have through his kindness.
Of course we think that we have earned our daily bread and we have, but only because he has given us the ability to earn it. He has given us the government we live under, even if we don’t think it is very good, so that we might have peace and thus be abundantly blessed with all we have.
We must never forget that at anytime he can and has withdrawn his hand of favor against those who purposely take advantage of others. To not pray for our daily bread would be, as Luther once wrote, the same as having the most rich and powerful ruler commanding a poor beggar to ask for whatever he might desire being prepared to give lavish, royal gifts, and having the beggar ask only for a bowl of broth.
To not take advantage of the generous undeserved offer of the ruler would be to make a mockery of his command to take what he wanted and make him unworthy of any more gifts of mercy.
It is the same with us. We do great dishonor to God when after he offers and promises us so many blessings we turn them down or lack the confidence that we will receive them. Why would he continue to bless those who act so? If we do not receive good things from God it is our fault not his.
The next prayer is one that really troubles a lot of people, including myself, that is until Wednesday night when I read one more time the prayer in Luke, the account we are studying today. In Matthew’s account in chapter six verse 12 it says “forgive our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” from which our present form of the Lord’s Prayer is taken.
Listen to me one more time. What do you hear when I say, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”? What did you think when I said that? What do you think every time you say those words in the Lord’s Prayer?
I would bet you are thinking one of two things. “I am doing pretty good at forgiving others, so I am in good shape with God” or “I am in trouble with God
Now listen to the words Saint Luke wrote, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” Did you notice the difference? When we pray this prayer we are telling God that is what we are doing and why shouldn’t we? We are followers of Christ.
Now we know that many times we still fall short of always forgiving others, but in our being sorry and repentant of our lack of forgiveness we have put our hearts right with God. That does not mean that when we are sorry and repentant that somehow moves God to forgive us. It means that our hearts and minds are now open to the wonderful forgiveness God has given us.
That is why we should daily pray this prayer, so that we are daily reminded of our sinfulness, our lack of being forgiving. It is in this prayer that we daily find comfort, for we know that God does not wish to punish us as we deserve, but to forgive us.
I am going to step off here and say something that might shock some of you, but here goes, for it is the truth. God cannot condemn you once you are his. It is impossible for him to do so, for it would say that Jesus’ death was not enough. The punishment has been dealt out and taken. We can now stand in from of him with a joyful and cheerful heart. We can pray this particular prayer because we know we are forgiven.
That leads to the Fifth prayer, “lead us not into temptation.” In our world there are three kinds of temptations. There are the temptations of the flesh, the world and the devil.
We live in the flesh and so I do not have to list all the temptations we are tempted with, every day of our lives.
Then there are the temptations of the world. They come at us from all sides both in word and deed. They are those things that drive us to anger and impatience, hatred and envy, violence and injustice, arrogance and pride, along with our fondness for luxury, honor, fame, and power, for there is no one that is willing to be the least for long. Everyone wants to sit on top and be seen by all. Oh you might think that is not true, but in thinking so you have just put yourself above God’s law.
Then there is the devil. He lies, deceives, and stretches God’s Word. He is the one who tries his darnest to drive us into despair.
As long as we remain alive we need to pray this prayer. Not so that God will not lead us into temptation, because he cannot. But that, as it really says, “Do not let me fall into temptation” or you might say, “Give me the power to resist temptation.”
If we do not pray this prayer with wholehearted faith that he will do what he has promised you will fall. To attempt to resist temptation on your own will only make matters worse. Oh you might think that you have won by your own strength, but that is exactly what the devil wants you to think, for he knows that in your pride, you have already fallen. It is only a matter of time and the devil is patient.
There you have all you need to pray every day. Five prayers all wrapped up in one prayer, which by the way only takes 23 seconds to pray. Can you spare 23 seconds out of your day with God?. Amen
07/29/07
Text: Luke 11:1-13
Title: “Lord’s Prayer”
This morning I want to speak to you about prayer. Next to Jesus dying for us prayer is the greatest gift God has given those whom he has adopted as his sons and daughters. Prayer is not only how we communicate with God, but it helps our faith to grow.
Luke’s Lord’s Prayer is shorter than Matthew’s Lord’s Prayer, but is essentially the same prayer. As you might have noticed, the last part of the prayer, that part we say every Sunday is not in the original text. The early Christian church added “for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever” and it has been for the most part, part of the Lord’s Prayer ever since.
The Lord’s Prayer is not really Jesus’ prayer, but is our prayer. Jesus as we see in the text gives his followers a prayer, a perfect prayer that they can pray daily. It is a wonderful prayer, covering every aspect of our lives as we admit our complete dependency on God.
It is good to know a little history before we get into the actual prayer itself. It was a shocking prayer for its time. The Jews would never pray in this fashion, for it would not only be disrespectful to be that familiar with God, but in saying God’s name you might misuse it and then there would be trouble in one’s life.
The Greeks, Romans, and others would not get that personal with any of their gods for fear that he or she might come down and create mischief. It was just best to what you could to make whatever god or goddess happy and then stay out of their way.
For Jesus to tell his disciples that they were to say “Father” at the beginning of a prayer to God turned the known world’s idea of prayer upside down.
Before we get into the Lord’s Prayer, take a look at the first verse which I think is an odd request. The disciples are asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Now being good Jews they knew how to pray, for the Jewish faith required certain prayers that had to be said daily.
That part of the verse, “as John taught his disciples” gives us a clue as to why the asked Jesus to teach them a prayer. You see it was the custom of the religious teachers of the time to teach their students a prayer that would identify them as belonging to a particular teacher. That is probably why the disciples in verse one asked Jesus to teach them to pray. They were in desperate need of being publicly identified with Jesus.
I do not know if you have ever noticed, but there are no singular I or me forms in the Lord’s Prayer. I think you will see why as go through our reading this morning.
Anyway, back to the text. The first prayer, I am going to call the petitions prayers, for that is really what they are, is “Father, hallowed be your name”. When we pray this prayer we are saying that we know God’s name is holy. We do not make it holy. It is holy because it is God’s name. What we are praying here is that it is kept holy among us. In other words that prayer states we want our lives to show his holiness.
The second prayer, “Your kingdom come” does not mean that God’s kingdom has not come or that we need to pray that it comes, for it God will see that it comes. It means that the coming of God’s kingdom is to be in us. It does that in two ways. First that it comes in our time through the Word and faith. Secondly that it comes in eternity.
It is really nothing more than to say, “Dear Father, we ask you first to give us your Word, so that the gospel may be properly preached throughout the world and then that we may receive it in faith and that it may work and dwell in us, so that your kingdom may prevail among us through the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, thus destroying the devil’s kingdom.
The next prayer is “Give us each day our daily bread.” God gives us our daily bread which is more than just bread, but all those things that are needed, notice I said needed, for this life. God wants to show us how much he loves us, so he blesses us through all he has created. He wants us to keep first and foremost in our minds and hearts that we get all we have through his kindness.
Of course we think that we have earned our daily bread and we have, but only because he has given us the ability to earn it. He has given us the government we live under, even if we don’t think it is very good, so that we might have peace and thus be abundantly blessed with all we have.
We must never forget that at anytime he can and has withdrawn his hand of favor against those who purposely take advantage of others. To not pray for our daily bread would be, as Luther once wrote, the same as having the most rich and powerful ruler commanding a poor beggar to ask for whatever he might desire being prepared to give lavish, royal gifts, and having the beggar ask only for a bowl of broth.
To not take advantage of the generous undeserved offer of the ruler would be to make a mockery of his command to take what he wanted and make him unworthy of any more gifts of mercy.
It is the same with us. We do great dishonor to God when after he offers and promises us so many blessings we turn them down or lack the confidence that we will receive them. Why would he continue to bless those who act so? If we do not receive good things from God it is our fault not his.
The next prayer is one that really troubles a lot of people, including myself, that is until Wednesday night when I read one more time the prayer in Luke, the account we are studying today. In Matthew’s account in chapter six verse 12 it says “forgive our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” from which our present form of the Lord’s Prayer is taken.
Listen to me one more time. What do you hear when I say, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”? What did you think when I said that? What do you think every time you say those words in the Lord’s Prayer?
I would bet you are thinking one of two things. “I am doing pretty good at forgiving others, so I am in good shape with God” or “I am in trouble with God
Now listen to the words Saint Luke wrote, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” Did you notice the difference? When we pray this prayer we are telling God that is what we are doing and why shouldn’t we? We are followers of Christ.
Now we know that many times we still fall short of always forgiving others, but in our being sorry and repentant of our lack of forgiveness we have put our hearts right with God. That does not mean that when we are sorry and repentant that somehow moves God to forgive us. It means that our hearts and minds are now open to the wonderful forgiveness God has given us.
That is why we should daily pray this prayer, so that we are daily reminded of our sinfulness, our lack of being forgiving. It is in this prayer that we daily find comfort, for we know that God does not wish to punish us as we deserve, but to forgive us.
I am going to step off here and say something that might shock some of you, but here goes, for it is the truth. God cannot condemn you once you are his. It is impossible for him to do so, for it would say that Jesus’ death was not enough. The punishment has been dealt out and taken. We can now stand in from of him with a joyful and cheerful heart. We can pray this particular prayer because we know we are forgiven.
That leads to the Fifth prayer, “lead us not into temptation.” In our world there are three kinds of temptations. There are the temptations of the flesh, the world and the devil.
We live in the flesh and so I do not have to list all the temptations we are tempted with, every day of our lives.
Then there are the temptations of the world. They come at us from all sides both in word and deed. They are those things that drive us to anger and impatience, hatred and envy, violence and injustice, arrogance and pride, along with our fondness for luxury, honor, fame, and power, for there is no one that is willing to be the least for long. Everyone wants to sit on top and be seen by all. Oh you might think that is not true, but in thinking so you have just put yourself above God’s law.
Then there is the devil. He lies, deceives, and stretches God’s Word. He is the one who tries his darnest to drive us into despair.
As long as we remain alive we need to pray this prayer. Not so that God will not lead us into temptation, because he cannot. But that, as it really says, “Do not let me fall into temptation” or you might say, “Give me the power to resist temptation.”
If we do not pray this prayer with wholehearted faith that he will do what he has promised you will fall. To attempt to resist temptation on your own will only make matters worse. Oh you might think that you have won by your own strength, but that is exactly what the devil wants you to think, for he knows that in your pride, you have already fallen. It is only a matter of time and the devil is patient.
There you have all you need to pray every day. Five prayers all wrapped up in one prayer, which by the way only takes 23 seconds to pray. Can you spare 23 seconds out of your day with God?. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 11:47 AM
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