Lord, Teach Us To Pray

LORD TEACH US TO PRAY

Jesus had been praying, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). His response was an abbreviated form of what is often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.”

The fact that Jesus did not repeat it word for word—or Luke did not report it word for word—is evidence that the prayer was not a liturgical prayer, that is a prayer to be repeated word for word a prescribed times during worship services. I’ll read from the longer version as recorded in the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 6:9-12:

“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 this day our daily bread,

12 and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

The Lord’s prayer is a model, not a template. A template is used to make exact replicates. The Lord’s Prayer is never replicated in any of the recorded prayers of the Bible. Instead, it is a model that stressed at least four things: reverential fear of God, a zeal for advancement of the kingdom, a spirit of loving sonship, and a recognition of his tender care.

THE LORD’S PRAYER IS A MODEL OF INTIMACY WITH REVERENCE

Jews would not pronounce God’s personal name for fear of profaning it. Consequently, we are not really sure what it was. The reason is that not only did they refuse to pronounce it, but they also refused to spell it. Consequently, we have only the consonants Y H W H. The KJV says “Jehovah.” Some say, “Yahweh.”

In contrast to this artificial piety, Jesus invites us to intimacy with God, something some condemn. One preacher who often pontificated against modern translations, insisted that the KJV was the “authorized” version. It is true that the version was the one authorized by King James, but it is no more God’s version than any other legitimate translation.

Based on his contention that the KJV is “the authorized version,” he often said with great emphasis: “Peter did not say to Jesus, “You are the Christ”; he said, “Thou art the Christ.” He simply ignored the fact that Jesus said to Peter, “thou art Peter.” If “thou” showed reverence to Christ, what did it show to Peter when Christ used it?

Jesus tells us to address God as “our Father.” Paul goes even further: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Rom 8:1-17).

“Abba” was the sound that infants and toddlers made when talking to their fathers. It is like our “Dada.” We should have the same spirit of trust and confidence in our heavenly Father as does a child for a loving, earthly father.

Let me share a personal story of our youngest daughter who, when I foolishly moved the family in the middle of the school year when she was in the first grade. She was having problems adjusting. She would try to leave the school to walk home. It was tempting to her because our house was only a block away. There was a godly “mother of Israel” named Ilene who attended church with us. She was also a teacher, but in a different grade. However, when the tears were running down our little one’s checks and she was sobbing uncontrollably, Ilene would try to comfort her. One day, Dana sobbed, “If I could just see my Daddy’s face.” She had not yet learned that Daddy could not fix every problem in her life. It is the child like faith in a Father who can fix every problem in our lives, whose face we should long to see. And someday we will: “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever” (Rev 22:3-5).

While we should possess a childlike faith in our Father, we must always reverence God in prayer, for Jesus said, that we are to say, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt 6:9).