Model



Luke 11:1-13
1Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread, 4and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

It was the practice of any rabbi’s disciples to ask their teacher how to pray. As such, Jesus’ Disciples dutifully ask Him this question, especially since He provides such a compelling role model of daily and constant prayer. Jesus answers their question with the most often quoted passage of Scripture that we today call “The Lord’s Prayer.” For me, the first and most striking thing is that the passage is so short. (Matthew adds a final phrase, “but deliver us from the evil one”.) But, as is always true with Jesus’ Words this prayer is packed with depth and meaning.

First, Jesus encourages us to address God as our Father. Some have said that this word is actually used for “Daddy” but that might be a stretch. “Father” is the perfect word for God because in a perfect world, fathers provide everything that we need, including protection and daily provision for no reason other than that they love us. Sadly, multiple billions of people don’t really know the love of a good father because their earthly father was such a terrible example or role model. But that cannot take away from what the word truly means.

Luke places this instruction in an interesting place because just before this passage we find the story of Mary and Martha where Mary’s understanding of her neediness before God is made clear and encouraged in all of us. Since the death of Jesus on the cross for our sins has restored our relationship with God, we are now free to call upon Him as our Father. Just as Jesus taught Mary and Martha, God had to go first with His salvation work in order for us to respond. Now, because of Jesus, the pathway of prayer is truly open.

After addressing God as Father, we are taught to honor His name, which is always appropriate. If you can’t think of anything to say while you’re praying, resort to praise (or remain silent - also a good option). Acknowledging God as marvelous and holy serves to praise Him but more importantly it reminds us of who He is and of the proper relationship between us. Seeking God’s will is added by Matthew at this point and is also a worthy petition.

“Give us each day our daily bread” is a far broader concept than may appear on the surface.

It contains the enigmatic ἐπιούσιος, leading to four main possibilities for the kind of bread requested: “bread essential for existence”; “bread for today”; “bread for the following day”; or “bread for the more distant future.” Luther saw “daily bread” as encompassing all of God’s gifts—spiritual and eschatological, as well as physical and temporal.
Just, A. A., Jr. (1997). Luke 9:51–24:53 (p. 465). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

And of course, Jesus describes Himself as our Living Bread. The concepts here are huge and entire books have been written on this topic alone.

John 6:51
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The forgiveness of sins is the essential sustenance of spiritual life, and the need for forgiveness is constant and ongoing, hence Jesus’ provision of the Supper as the regular Meal that provides forgiveness. “The forgiveness of sins” leads to “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” Disciples who pray the Lord’s Prayer may have to wait until the resurrection to experience physical healing, but the promise of that release is as sure as the forgiveness of their sins in Christ.

There’s a reason this prayer has been prayed billions of times since Jesus first uttered these words. It is the perfect prayer and encompasses all of our needs. In the next few verses Jesus gives feet to this prayer in practical ways and we will examine that tomorrow.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more