Matt. 6: 9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’ NKJV
As we enter into a relationship with Jesus one of the keys to enhancing that relationship, the most important key; is prayer. Probably the most well known prayer is found in Matt. chapter 6 where Jesus is teaching people the manner of praying. It is interesting to me that nestled just after establishing that God is the Father and he is Holy, is a little something about how we should look at His will in our lives.
Jesus knew that we would be tempted to launch out on our own and focus on our priorities in life that is why this whole prayer is drawing our focus on getting our priorities correct; understanding the relationship and our role in it. Consider this look at each line of the prayer:
Our Father in Heaven- We are children of the Heavenly Father.
Hallowed be Your Name- Our God is Holy and to be highly respected by us.
Your kingdom come- we long for the second coming of Jesus and Heaven. It is His Kingdom that we long to live in and needs to be on our mind daily.
Your will be done- His NOT ours in this life is to be our focus.
On earth as it is in Heaven- Where is His will to be done? Here. How? As it is in Heaven. How is it done in Heaven? He is the entire focus and priority. All efforts and energy surround His every breath.
Give us this day our daily bread- We must depend upon Him for everything in our lives. We should not think we are to live this life alone trying to provide for ourselves. It is about our focus, He supplies our needs, not us.
And forgive our debts- Admitting that we stand in need of forgiveness on a daily basis. We have fallen and stand in the need of God's redemptive forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.
As we forgive our debtors- Would you want God to forgive you the way you forgive those that hurt you? That is IF you forgive them. God has made it very plain that if we expect forgiveness we should be willing to give forgiveness as well. Check out verse 14 for proof of this! P.S.- He will help you do this!!
And do not lead us into temptation- Showing we recognize that temptation is out there and we need Him to keep us from that. The only real power against temptation is the in-working power of the Holy Spirit that we have the access to through a growing, healthy relationship with Jesus.
But deliver us from the evil one- We cannot stand against satan. Our only hope is deliverance through our relationship with God.
For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen- Closing the prayer with a session of high praise and worship while at the same time reminding us who’s the one true God in the world. Again, it's about Him, not me.
Granted this is a very quick cursory look at The Lord's Prayer and much more could be said about each line. As a matter of fact I have done individual sermons on each line, as there is so much more that God would have us to know about it all. But, for now, this is a great start! Our relationship is to be about Him and His will working through us in this world every day! It is really awesome to be a part of His will in action!
Remember: God's Got This!!
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