As stated in the last lesson in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:9 begins what is commonly called The Lord’s Prayer (verses 9 through 16). This is often recited word for word in King James English as a multi-purpose ritual prayer. So, to begin with, let me explain why it was never meant to be a religious ritual recited for any reason or circumstance. The first phrase in verse 9 in the KJV reads “After this manner therefore pray ye:” Here, “manner” is houtos and means, thus, in this way, and often rendered “after this manner” as above (though “in this way” is more clear in my thinking).
The other key word in this phrase is “pray” from proseuchomai, a word we looked at in the last lesson that is obviously used to describe a two-way conversation. The difference here is the grammatical code, this is a present imperative, meaning it indicates a command to do something in the future that involves continuous, repeated action (implying we should pray often). This leads us to my contemporary, contextual, expanded translation of the first part of verse 9 taking into consideration what we are about to see as we examine the rest of Jesus’ comments on prayer. “So, when you talk to God, this is how you should talk to Him and what you should talk about.”
The rest of the verse begins Jesus’ instructions on how to pray, not what to pray. “Talk to your Father in Heaven like you would talk to your earthly father, with affection and respect. Only acknowledge that He deserves an honor and respect greater than any man.” Here, the word "Father" is used to illustrate a relationship between a father and his children, with all the responsibilities and emotions that are common with this relationship. Jesus is careful to illustrate this bond in several passages we’ll see as we go through the red letters. We need to realize that we have the extreme privilege of talking to the Eternal God of the Universe who has made Himself even more accessible and more interested in us than any earthly father ever could! And our contemplation of that reality should reinforce our desire to honor and reverence Him!
“Then affirm to Him again and again that you want His Kingdom revealed in your life. And tell Him that you only want what He wants, so His will can be seen here on the earth just like it is in His Heavenly domain.” (Verse 10) We must remember. This is a model prayer. Jesus’ intent is that we include these things in our conversation when we talk to God. That doesn’t mean He wants it to become a thoughtless, meaningless ritual. It means there are certain things that are important and we should continually make the application of these things a reality (remember that present imperative “pray” indicating repeated, continuous action, literally, “pray often”, then here, the verb “be done” is an aorist imperative, a command to repeat over and over in the future).
Simply stated, the Kingdom of God is the rule of God in the hearts of men. What He’s really saying is that every time we talk to God, we need to remind ourselves of the necessity of yielding to His rule in our lives. We are, in effect, submitting to His authority all over again. And human nature being what it is, believe me, if we don’t do it over and over again, we don’t really do it at all!
Then I believe Jesus illustrates a principle I’ve talked about many times before that is so important. When looking at the true, scriptural principles involved with both worship and prayer, the purpose of both is to give us the opportunity to be alone with Him, drop the pretense, get honest, acknowledge His authority, affirm our submission and obedience to His will and be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus.
The individual, personal aspect of talking to God is so important, because it allows this principle to work. If there’s one thing that stands out in Jesus’ life, it was His commitment to the will of His Father and the absolute fact that commitment was a result of His extended, continuous and oft-repeated times alone with the Father in prayer!
“Ask Him to give you just what you need for today.” (Verse 11) This simple, little verse confirms the intent of the Father in His desire to be a Father to His children. It also destroys the doctrine of a good portion of Christian TV programs. The prosperity message just evaporated into thin air. I used to make a hobby of listening to preachers promote themselves, their lavish lifestyles and their phony ministries by teaching various aspects of the prosperity message. This message is based on bits and pieces of scripture either taken out of context, or totally misrepresented. Often the message is, ”The Lord has given me an anointing, so if you want to be prosperous, send me your money.” The logic of that message has always escaped me. I’ve never heard anyone teach the prosperity message using the words of Jesus taken from the Sermon on the Mount or anywhere else for that matter.
The Father’s desire for His children is for them to experience an ongoing relationship of trust and dependence on Him. Jesus first statement at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount was “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:3) Or when translated literally, “Those who are completely dependent on God and desperate for Him will be fully satisfied, because they will enjoy the kingdom of God in its fullness.” He wants to be a Father to His children in every sense of the word.
What was God’s intention when He led Israel out of Egypt into a desert where there was neither food nor water? Was He not taking them out of the world to a place where they would have to learn to trust Him and depend on Him continually for the things they needed? And didn’t He already know what they needed (remember verse 8 “He knows what you need, even before you ask”). Here Jesus is simply repeating a principle for emphasis, this is important!
And why would God desire such a thing? Because there is no better illustration of our total spiritual dependence on God, than what we experience when we place our physical existence in His capable hands. If you’re going to really trust God for your eternal salvation, there’s nothing that will give you more confidence in Him and His ability to do what He has promised than experiencing His daily provision. Those who cling to the prosperity message do so because they’ve replaced dependence on God with dependence on the ability of their flesh to tap into either wrong doctrine or the world’s system. The popular prosperity message is just another counterfeit doctrine used by religious men who deceive others and justify it by attaching God’s name to it. Did you ever consider the fact that when Moses led Israel out of Egypt, they carried with them the riches of the Egyptian people? While in Egypt, they were nothing more than poor slaves doomed to a life of forced labor. But when they left, the Egyptians were so desparate for them to leave due to the plagues, they went out with personal wealth beyond their comprehension (Exodus 12:35-36).
Was that the prosperity message kicking in? Of course not! When they arrived in the desert, the money was useless, the jewels worthless and the fine clothing quickly became unimportant. There was no place to buy anything, no one to buy the jewels (not that it would matter) and the finest clothing soon meant nothing to them. They still had to learn to trust God, which, in fact, they refused to do. So, God allowed them to die in the desert and waited for a new generation that would trust Him.
The application isn’t rocket science here. If you insist on trusting in your flesh, in your own abilities and your hope for worldly wealth, that’s your prerogative. Just know that God may let you die in the desert because you never learned to trust Him. You may die with money, but you may die without Him. Jesus is going to comment on this problem soon (“Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth” in 6:19). OK, I just realized (again) I’ve gone to preaching. Just remember verse 11, “Ask Him to give you just what you need for today.”
“And ask Him to forgive your faults and the offenses they’ve caused in others. Then tell Him you understand that His forgiveness is determined by your own willingness to forgive those who have offended you.” (Verse 12) Some clarification is needed here since most translations say something misleading like “Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.” Here, “debts” is opheilema, literally, that which is owed, used as a metaphor to describe a fault in need of God’s forgiveness. Then “debtors” is opheiletes, to owe, again a metaphor used to describe an offender that needs to be forgiven by the one offended.
Since this is a model prayer, we need to understand Jesus’ intent. Every time we talk to God in prayer we need to ask Him to forgive us of any faults or mistakes since the last time we talked to Him. This brings into clear focus the need for prayer to be repeated and continuous, otherwise we’ll either ignore our faults as being insignificant or conveniently forget them. Then we need to renew this understanding so we won’t forget it, because it’s very important: we need to acknowledge to Him that we understand that His forgiveness of our faults is conditioned on our own willingness to forgive the faults of others that may have affected us in some way.
Forgiveness is not an option for the child of God, it’s a requirement. (For a more complete presentation on what Jesus says about forgiveness, read "The Greatest Commandment” on the website.) Jesus makes it perfectly clear that in order to receive the forgiveness of the Father we must be willing to seek the forgiveness of those we have wronged, and we must be willing to forgive those who have wronged us. I’ll have more to say about this when we get to verses 14 and 15.
“And finally, ask Him to save you from yourself and from all the evil that surrounds you in the world.” (Verse 13) There are two things here that should be mentioned. The first is that Jesus is telling us to remind ourselves every time we talk to the Father that there is evil, both in us, and all around us. We don’t have to remind God of that fact, He’s keenly aware of it, I’m sure. But we need to always be aware of it and be on our guard and careful to not get drawn into it. Jesus wants us to be on our guard all the time.
The second thing is that He tells us to ask the Father to protect us from the evil in the world. There’s a great passage in 1 Peter 5:6-11 that tells us how to deal with “evil” (poneros, evil in either a moral or spiritual sense that has its origin in Satan). When you follow it down, the instruction goes something like this. Humble yourself. Submit to God. Give yourself over to His care and keeping. Be on your guard against evil, because the devil is continually looking for those who get careless. Stand firm in the face of evil. Be willing to suffer when God appoints it. Be confident that your suffering is temporary and is being used by God to make you what He wants you to be. And know that He has the authority and rule over evil always and forever.
Even Jesus suffered from the evil of both men and devils. He submitted Himself to it because He knew it was the will of the Father. Look at Luke 22:3-6; 47-53, and John 19:10,11, and you’ll see what I mean. Peter tells us plainly that we shouldn’t be confused about the fact that we will have to endure suffering. It’s part of the deal. If we’re willing to share Christ’s suffering, then we’re qualified to share in His glory (I Peter 4:12,13).
“And remember if you’re willing to forgive others, then your Heavenly Father will forgive you. But, if you’re not willing to forgive others, neither will your Heavenly Father be willing to forgive you.” (Verses 14 and 15) Back up in verse 12, Jesus tells us to remind ourselves every time we talk to the Father that our forgiveness is based on our own willingness to forgive others. Evidently, when He said that, it raised some eyebrows in the crowd. So, when He finished talking about prayer, He must have felt it necessary to go back and explain the concept a little further. So, verses 14 and 15 are short and to the point, but what He says is absolutely clear.
However, for those who tend to gloss over what God says, let me put it another way. If you’re holding on to unforgiveness, resentment, or bitterness towards those who have hurt you, or if you know you’ve hurt others and they’re resentful of you, then you’ve put yourself outside the mercy and grace of God. You see it doesn’t matter what you choose to believe. It doesn’t even matter if you’re ignorant of what God says (even though you can’t really claim ignorance at this point, you’ve just read what God’s word says). The fact is, if you refuse to forgive or if you refuse to seek the forgiveness of others the Father cannot forgive you. And if the Father can’t forgive you, where are you?