The Lord's Prayer (Part 2)

VI. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

A. “Give us”

1. Here we begin the process of personal petition.

2. We are incapable of producing certain things void of God’s provision.

3. This petition reveals our limitations while it expands on the concept of God as all sufficient provider, building on the Father/child relationship.

4. Jesus will reference God’s willingness and ability to provide us with our “daily” needs. (Luke 10:38-42; 15:11-32; Mt.6:26-34; 7:24-25; 10:29-31)

B. “our daily bread” - day by day provision

1. “Daily” - a term of great significance

a) In a culture in which workers were hired only one day at a time (Mt.20:1-5).

b) In a culture where bread could not be preserved.

c) ln connection with God’s daily provision descending upon His children as manna.

2. “Bread” - literal and figurative

a) Literal - bread, as a basic food, would be sufficient for daily nutrition.

b) Figurative (Jn.6:33-40

(1) Bread of life - The Bread of Life is the spiritual food needed by man. Without the bread of life man cannot live spiritually. Just as physically man needs to eat in order to live, the bread of life gives nourishment for the soul.

(2) Living bread - in connection with above the bread of life signifies Jesus as the sent gift of blessing from God. (i.e. God’s provision for our destitute eternal condition.)

C. The basic thought is an expression of trust in God.

Praying in the Will of God (Part 2)

The Lord’s Prayer... “thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The primary biblical categories of prayer... and there are 2, each with numerous sub-categories.

1. Petition Prayer
2. Praise Prayer
   
   • Praise prayer is all about who God is and what God has done, is doing, and will do.
   • The first Petition Prayer can be broken down into two primary sub-categories that should help us with our discussion tonight.
     
     1. Prayer within the known will of God (this is God’s decretive will)
     2. Prayer outside of the known will of God (this can be both God’s decretive will and His permissive will) - Any interest in discussing this further next week?

• The first sub-category, prayer within the known will of God, has to do with our knowledge of who God is and what God’s desires are for His children are they are spelled out for us in the scriptures.
• And I think it deserves repeating that the safest way that we can know we are praying in the will of God is to pray God’s Word.
• The second sub-category, prayer outside of the known will of God.
• And this is where we concluded our study last week.

So, when we don’t know what God’s will is for a specific situation what are some guidelines that we should follow that will help us to pray in a wise and God honoring way?

Guidelines for prayer outside of the known will of God:

1. Our prayer should be filtered through the Word of God, because the will of God is found in God’s word. (Psalm 119:9-16)
2. We must make sure that we are in right relationship.
   
   • A right relationship with God - this has to do with our unrighteousness in coming before the throne of our righteous King. To have a right relationship with God we must have no sin. To have no sin we must confess the reality that we are innately imperfect, broken human beings who consciously and unconsciously stumble into sinful things. All prayer should begin with confession and “hitpallel” a honest judgment of who we are in comparison to who God is. (1 John 1:8-9)
   • A right relationship with the brethren, the people of God. (Matthew 5:23-24)
3. We must pray with right motives. (James 4:3) - So, check your motives before you pray.
4. We must pray in Jesus’ name. (John 14:13, 15:16)
5. We must pray things that seek first the Kingdom of God.
   
   • Praying for the eternal rather than the temporal. (Matthew 6:31-34)
   • When we study the prayers of the apostles or the prayers of Jesus, we notice they have nothing to do with temporal things; rather, they have everything to do with spiritual matters. (Ephesians 1:15-19; 3:14-21)
   • When we analyze the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, we notice there is only one little request for temporal things: "Give us this day our daily bread."
   • Every other request is about spiritual issues.

Conclusion:
Tonight, as we close, something that we can do that might really help us understand how to pray when we don’t know the will of God in a specific situation is to ask ourselves a few of the following questions:

1. “What do I want?” That is, “What is my will?”
2. “Why do I want this?”
3. “Am I seeking God’s kingdom 1st and then trusting that all of the side things God is already taking care of?”
4. “Am I willing to do and/or accept God’s will regardless of my own?”

If the answer to the final question is yes it is often at this place of petition where we will discover God’s will.
Listen, choosing God's will over our own is so hard when we want something passionately. It is agonizing to act as if it doesn't matter to us. It does matter. Our emotions try to convince us there is no possible way we can give in.
However, we can submit to God's will instead of our own solely because God is absolutely trustworthy. We have faith that his love is pure.
If the answer is no, it is best to ask for the intercessory prayer of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:26)
In conclusion I must add that prayer is not about phrasing everything perfectly, or using the correct formula in the exact right way.
Prayer is about communicating with God from our hearts, in an honest, loving relationship.
Sometimes we get too concerned about technique and forget that God knows our hearts and understands our human imperfections.


Side Notes for personal reference:

• Paul’s prayer for knowing God’s will - Colossians 1:9-12
• Excellent resource for biblical examples on how to pray in different situations (i.e. Despair, Broken-hearted, Illness, Thankful) - http://christianity.about.com/od/prayersverses/a/howtopray.htm
• Resource #2 - http://www.anchoryourlife.com/prayer/scrip_pray.htm
• Most prayers recorded in Scripture were answered yes. But I find it interesting that even Paul's prayer about the thorn, which God answered differently than Paul desired, gives us encouragement to be bold and direct with our requests.
• In praying for personal healing we should remember how we approach a doctor or medical professional for help. We never qualify a request for a doctor's help with "if you wish." We wouldn't say, "Please help me find a cure for this back pain if you're willing to do so." Rather, we'd explain our need plainly to the doctor and respectfully ask for the best help he or she is able to provide. How much more freedom should we feel to bring requests for healing boldly to the Great Physician!
• We should take heart also in the fact that Jesus gave at least as much attention during his earthly ministry to healing physical and emotional wounds people experienced as he did to teaching doctrinal truth. He demonstrated vividly that it is God's nature to bring comfort--and often healing--to those who who are ill. We shouldn't feel squeamish about asking God to bring healing when it's needed, to others or ourselves.

Praying in the Will of God

What does the Bible say?

• 1 John 5:14-15
• Matthew 21:21-22

This is where people get confused in reference to prayer.
The Bible teaches us to pray specifically and without doubting when we know God's will.
What these verses don't say is that God only hears our prayers when we pray specifically, knowing his will.
However, they do reveal that God won't answer prayer that is contrary to his will.
So now we need to break down the primary biblical categories of prayer... and there are 2, each with numerous sub-categories.

1. Petition Prayer
2. Praise Prayer

We’ll begin with the latter first because it is the simplest to wrap our minds around.

- Praise prayer is all about who God is and what God has done, is doing, and will do.
- The first Petition Prayer can be broken down into two primary sub-categories that should help us with our discussion tonight.

1. Prayer within the known will of God
2. Prayer outside of the known will of God

- The first sub-category, prayer within the known will of God, has to do with our knowledge of who God is and what God’s desires are for His children.

Where can we find these things? Scripture.
In fact, the safest way that we can know that we are praying in God’s will is to pray God’s Word.
In many instances, God's will is clearly revealed to us. The more we know Scripture, the more we can be sure of God's will when we pray.
However, the fact remains, we are human, imperfect, and weak. We won't always know God's will. His infinite thoughts, ways, plans and purposes can't always be understood by our finite, limited minds... and some things are not clearly spelled out for us in God’s Word.
It is, however, my opinion that a diligent search of God’s Word and an intimate knowledge of God Himself will clearly guide an individual, in any situation, who desires to truly and earnestly pray in God’s will.

- Which brings us to the 2nd sub-category, prayer outside of the known will of God.

There are a number of these prayers in scripture: Job petitions God for an explanation, David petitions God for deliverance and for healing, Solomon petitions God for understanding, Habakkuk petitions God for His help, and the list could continue.
So I think that the real question that we all have to answer is how are we to pray when we do not know what God’s will is in a specific situation.
This could become a very long study... if we were to break each situation that we might face down into categories (prayer for healing, prayer for financial situations, prayer for relationships, and so on) this study could go on for hours or be spread over the span of the rest of this year and well on into the next.
And in each case, if an individual would like guidance in any specific area on how to pray it would be my pleasure to offer guidance and a partner in study and searching to aid you in a pursuit of knowing God’s will.

The Lord's Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer

(Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4)

I. “Our Father in heaven,”

A. “Our Father” - shows the personal relationship which we have with God.

1. Crying out to God as our Father claims our connection to God as His children.
2. This claim goes hand in hand with the text of the previous verse, vs.8, “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
3. Jesus here uses this term in a unique way, given His direct Sonship to the Father and the sonship which had yet to be received through Him, a sonship which we now all possess.

B. “in heaven” - suggest a reverence that we are to give to Him.

1. While it is true that we walk before God as we enter into prayer we do so in a position of lowliness.
2. This references His position in comparison to our own reminding us both of God’s immanence and God’s transcendence. (see note on vs.10, V.)

II. “Hallowed be Your name.”

A. “Hallowed” - Sanctified.

1. The holy nature of God’s name should not be uttered lightly but reverently.

B. “Your” - notice that the first three petitions are with respect to God.

1. God is to be put first in all prayer and petition.
2. Only after God is rightfully praised and worshiped are we to move on to self petition.

C. “name” - the holy name of God.

1. Names held great significance to the identity of the individual in biblical times.
2. The name of God was revealed in Exodus 3:13-15 by God and was expressed in correlation with His character.
3. To refer to God’s name as ‘hallowed’ directs each following petition. As those who are given the vocation of God reflection it is our responsibility to live in a way that reflects His holiness.

III. “Your kingdom come.”

A. “Your” - both phrases, “Your kingdom,” and “Your will,” highlight the ultimate control over God’s creation.

1. Both of these petitions are not simply requests but ultimate certainties. God’s Kingdom will come and His will shall be accomplished.
2. While the ultimate result will be the realization of the kingdom and the completed will of God we ask for and long for them because of the ultimate glory that it will bring to God.

B. “kingdom come”

1. God’s kingdom has already been introduced through the coming of Jesus Christ (cf.Mt.12:28).
2. Those who believe in Jesus as the Christ have already been brought into the kingdom from the dominion of the darkness (cf.Col.1:13)
3. The kingdom is not yet complete and is being constantly prepared for us by the Son. (cf. Jn.14:3)
4. We pray for the imminent arrival of the kingdom as an expression of our hearts desire (cf. Acts 1:4-8)

IV. “Your will be done”

A. “will” - the desire of God.

B. “be done” - All honorable prayer, first, willingly submits to God’s purpose, plans and glory.

1. This petition to God is intensely personal and all inclusive. It asks for personal submission as well as the obedience of all to the model set by Christ.
2. Again, the ultimate realization of the completed will of the Father will be realized at the coming of God’s kingdom.

V. “On earth as it is in heaven.”

A. This phrase depicts the omnipresence of God.

1. Although God presence resides on His rightful throne in heaven (vs.9), He is not removed from residing in and with us here on earth.
2. In this petition lies the realization of God’s omnipotence, His power over all things earthly and heavenly.