This prayer is often called the “Lord’s Prayer.”
It is more appropriately called the “Disciple’s Prayer.”
I. Relationship With God 6:7-9a
A. Mechanical, Unfamiliar Prayer Is Inappropriate
1. A mechanical, unfamiliar relationship is not what God wants with anyone
2. God is …
a. Interested. The Bible declares that God loves this world. (John 3:16)
b. Within hearing range. He is present everywhere all the time. Omnipresent.
c. All knowing. Omniscient.
i. How wonderful to know that God knows what we need.
ii. See Ephesians 3:20
d. Willing to answer. We don’t have to “wear Him down” with many words.
i. “Mindless repetition” takes away our attention from conversing with God.
ii. Jesus isn’t speaking against persistence in prayer. Turn to Matthew 7:7-11
B. God The Father Desires To Be Known As “Father”
1. Intimate-“our Father, my Father”.
a. The Jews feared God too much to ever consider Him “Father”.
b. Jesus said not to pray like the heathen, who exemplified the opposite mindset.
2. Reverential-“in heaven”
i. He is God over all creation, and His throne is in Heaven. He is supreme.
ii. We are to have a close relationship with Him without losing reverence.
iii. He is both “daddy” and “King”.
3. Most importantly: a personal relationship with the father comes through the Son.
i. Jesus is not teaching “universal access” by anyone for any reason.
ii. Keep in mind that the “Sermon On The Mount” is for His disciples/followers.
iii. They are the ones who will commit their lives to Jesus Christ, and be born again.
iv. Jesus spoke of the standard needed to be in God’s Kingdom. See Matthew 5:20.
v. Jesus told Nicodemus the only way a person could be a part of God’s kingdom.
John 3:3 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
vi. John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
vii. No one can rightly pray this prayer unless they come to the Father through faith in and commitment to the Son: Jesus Christ.
II. Concern For God’s Glory & Will 6:9, 10, 13c
A. Concern For His Name 6:9
1. Hallowed- most holy, separated, not common. Same root as word used for saints
2. The child of God will not want the Father’s name misused, misrepresented, treated profanely
3. The child of God will desire that the name of God be revered, hallowed, respected, loved, worshipped
4. God’s name speaks of who and what He is. It is to be treated with honor and love
a. If someone harmfully uses a loved one’s name, you will object to that
b. That is the heart of a child of God regarding the Father’s name
B. Concern For His Kingdom 6:10a, 13c
1. Speaks of the kingly nature of God
2. Speaks of the future rule of God over all the Earth
3. Speaks of the child of God’s desire to be ruled by God, not ruled by self
4. Speaks of the realization of God’s eternal kingdom and dominion
C. Concern For His Will 6:10b, c
1. The child of God wants God’s perfect will for his own life and for all people
2. The Christian understands that people are free moral agents, but he/she prays for people to willingly surrender to God’s will
3. The Christian also recognizes God’s sovereign will, to do as He pleases, often with the Christian not understanding God’s purposes
4. The Christian recognizes the obedience of the angelic beings to God
III. Personal Needs 6:11, 13
A. Daily Provision 6:11
1. Most Americans have full pantries and full refrigerators.
2. We need to remember our daily dependence upon God, not on our savings.
3. Don’t take for granted His blessings upon you to be able to provide for yourself.
4. Daily bread– Focus upon what you need; beware of materialism. Turn- Mark 4:18, 19
a. American Christians often pay more attention to “the American Dream” than they do to God’s word and God’s purposes.
b. Many Christians are experts on that which is temporal, and only vaguely familiar with that which is eternal.
c. Beware of materialism, of the love of money, and of self-sustenance.
d. Materialism is the loving of things. See 1 Tim. 6:6-10, 17-19
B. Spiritual Assistance 6:13
1. Temptation- a trial or test
a. Whereby one may be enticed to sin. Satan seeks to tempt us and disapprove us.
b. God will use a test to prove the validity of our faith.
2. God has promised to keep us from any testing that is too great. See 1 Cor. 10:13.
3. God doesn’t tempt us to do evil. See James 1:13-15
4. Enduring test change us for better and bring glory to God. Turn to Psalm 40:1-3
5. A Christian asks God for His assistance to avoid evil, revealing a desire for holiness
IV. Personal Responsibility 6:12, 14, 15
A. Accepting Personal Responsibility
1. Admitting that you have sinned
a. Forgive- to send away that which is owed
b. We recognize our sins against God, and that we owe Him
2. Acknowledging God’s command that we forgive others
B. Jesus’ Teaching About Forgiveness & Unforgiveness
1. More is needed than an acknowledgement that we need God’s forgiveness
2. We must forgive those who have offended us; otherwise, we are not forgiven
V. Summary
A. Remember Matthew 6:6
1. God will reward us openly, if we pray according to this prayer.
2. It must be the sincere desire of our hearts.
3. This prayer doesn’t “get us things”.
4. It aligns our will and desire with God’s will and desire.
5. God will always answer prayers that are according to His will.
B. What Would Keep Prayers From Being Answered?
1. We maintain a distant relationship with God
a. We aren’t sure about calling Him “Father”.
b. We aren’t sure that He knows what is going on.
2. We have no reverence for God in our hearts.
a. We are not concerned about His holiness.
b. We have little desire for our own holiness.
c. We are not concerned for His glory, His kingdom, His will being done.
d. We are more concerned for our glory, our kingdom, and our will being done.
3. We focus very little upon our daily needs.
a. We assume that we can take care of ourselves.
b. Perhaps we have been duped into thinking our welfare is all up to us.
c. We pray for wants, for excessive possessions, for things we don’t need.
d. Our hearts are caught up with owning things, not loving God and being content.
4. We don’t pray and prepare ourselves for spiritual warfare.
a. We carelessly allow ourselves to be tempted.
b. We are not in the word, in prayer, or standing in faith.
c. We have little desire for holiness. Compare this to (Turn to) Matthew 5:3-10
5. We gloss over our own sins and sinful tendencies.
a. We minimize our sins against God and people.
b. We don’t even think about asking God for forgiveness
c. There is little brokenness over our sinful condition.
6. We refuse to forgive others.
a. We don’t even realize how much we have been forgiven of.
b. We are more intent upon proving that we are right, and on winning arguments.
c. We stand afar off from God, having our own unforgiveness as a sin against us.
C. Repentance Is Desperately Needed
1. Live the Christian life in truth. This is the answer.
2. Perhaps some are not even born again yet. Repent from your sins, accept Christ.
3. Unless one’s heart is right with God, this prayer is a vain repetition.
4. If our hearts are right with God, God promises to answer our prayers openly.