2008.06.08 Prayer: How should we pray? (Part 2)
Scripture: Matthew 6: 9-13
During the course of any given week, we engage in different kinds of communication—written, oral, and non-verbal. We made adjustments depending on what the mode may be—for example, if I want you to stop, in written form, it would be “STOP!!” In oral form, it would be “Stop!” In non-verbal form, it would be (hand held out).
When communicating, we also make adjustments depending on several other factors: is it one-sided or interactive; is it for one person or for many; is it for a child or an adult.
When approaching prayer, I believe that many of us simply take one of our standard ways of communicating and apply it to God. The problem here is that God is not just anyone. God is GOD. That fact alone should cause us to pause and ask, how does one properly communicate with the God of the Universe? Is there a special formula?
Jesus answers this question in our text from Matthew, Chapter 6. Last week we looked at how Jesus emphasized that when we are praying—and it was a WHEN we pray, not IF we pray—when we are praying, we are addressing God and no other, and we should say what we need to say (no babbling necessary).
Because he was the brilliant teacher that he was, Jesus then moves from the negatives (the “don’t do this” stuff) to the positive. In Verse 9: “This, then, is how you should pray.” And he proceeds to teach the disciples and the crowd what we call the Lord’s Prayer. We’re going to look at the first half of this prayer today and then take some time at the end to actually pray.
From Matthew, Chapter 6:
6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
" `Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
6:10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
6:11 Give us today our daily bread.
6:12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
6:13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
Those of you who are familiar with this prayer will notice that the last line is missing from the Matthew text. Traditionally, we end this prayer with “For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.” That last line comes from a doxology—an expression of praise to God. That doxology can be found in the Old Testament, in First Chronicles 29:11-13.
As the church developed through history, some of the oldest Greek texts of the Bible were lost. Somewhere during the period before the Greek texts were rediscovered, the common English form of the Lord’s Prayer began to include the doxology. Although that last line is not part of Jesus’ original teaching, we in the church continue to include it because it does not alter the meaning of the prayer and it is an appropriate ending.
Back to the text:
Jesus said, “This then, is how you should pray,” and he starts with “our Father in heaven.” It was common in Jesus’ day for both Jews and Greeks to address God as “Father.” The common synagogue invocation was “our Father, our King.” Jesus also addresses God as Father but he does it in a slightly different manner.
First of all, he addresses God as “Father” in Aramaic, which was the common language of the people. In fact, the entire Lord’s Prayer was taught by Jesus in Aramaic. Hebrew was what was used in official synagogue liturgy.
This situation is similar to how, prior to the 1960’s, the Catholic church used only Latin in its liturgies. Imagine—if you were a Catholic before the mid-1960’s, you would go to church and the entire service would be in Latin! How boring is that?
However, after the 2nd Vatican Council concluded in 1965, the Catholic church began to allow the use of the vernacular (or native language) in worship services. The reason for this change was to encourage the people in the pews to actively participate in the worship service. For if they could understand what was being said, they were more likely to be engaged in what was going on.
In that same sense, Jesus taught this prayer in the language of the people. It is meant to be an accessible prayer, something that anyone can engage with.
And because the prayer was in Aramaic, Jesus used his characteristic address to God, which was “Abba.” You may have heard before that “Abba” is similar to “daddy,” a child’s term of endearment, like Papa or Appa. Abba was also used by adult children in addressing their fathers.
Stop and consider this a moment. Imagine calling someone “Daddy” versus “Father.” Both words have the same meaning technically, but the subjective meaning is very different.
Either way, Jesus’ use of Abba communicates the intimate personal connection of Jesus to God. Jesus did not use the word “Father” as a general term for the deity, as did the Greeks and Jews. Rather, he used the word Abba because Abba, for Jesus, means the one who loves, forgives and knows how to give good gifts to his children.
Abba Father. Our Father in heaven.
This opening address is followed by three “Your” petitions:
--hallowed be YOUR name
--YOUR kingdom come
--YOUR will be done
As is fitting, when we pray to God, it is not about us, but about God. So we start there, expressing our honor of him.
I’ve never met a famous person—famous in the sense of an entertainment star—what I would do if I did? On TV, people gush when they meet a big star. They talk about whatever movie, show or music that the star was involved with and how much they “loved it!!” They first honor that person for his or her accomplishments. If we can spontaneously do that with folks whose greatest talent is pretending to be someone that they are not, then how much more so should we approach the God who loves us unconditionally?
So we start by focusing on God first, no ourselves, and we give honor to God, which leads us to the first YOUR petition:
Hallowed be your name.
In the Biblical world, a name is not just a label; it represented the reality and presence of that person. So when we say hallowed, or holy, be your name, we are praying that God be honored as who he is, God, the Holy One.
Notice then, that although the prayer is addressed to the Abba Father, we balance that intimacy and that direct access with respect for who God is.
There are children—my youngest being among them—who understand the intimacy of a relationship with a parent but not necessarily the respect. They are comfortable with the parent, they know they are safe and they enjoy being there. However, what they don’t understand is respect. My youngest likes to push me in the mouth and pull my clothes when I am holding him. I was once in a private meeting with our school principal. __ played with his crayons for about 5 minutes before he decided to climb up on my chair and literally crawl all over me, including my head. I was mortified, but the principal was gracious enough to take it all in stride.
__ behaves like this b/c he is close with me but has thus far not learned proper respect. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus shows us that God is our Abba Father—God is close, God is available, God is safe—and at the same time, we pray “hallowed be your name.” Because although God loves us and knows us personally, at the same time God is holy and should be honored as such. It is intimacy with respect.
Your kingdom come
Although the times of castles, knights and kings and queens has long passed, the Church, through the Bible, retains Kingdom language. For a person who was not raised in the church, this vocabulary can sound archaic—Kingdom, King. However, the concept of a king is still easily understood. But what about “kingdom”? I’ve always imagined “your kingdom come” to be something like a grand castle or even a city descending on the clouds from up above. This image was reinforced by the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven,” which is found 32 times in the Gospel of Matthew.
As I did some study, though, I found that the Biblical concept of the kingdom is not a physical place. “Kingdom” is what can be called a verbal noun. A good example of a verbal noun is the word “love” in the phrase “love of God.” Love in that context means God’s acting in love for others. “May the love of God be with you.”
In the same way, “kingdom” means God’s active rule or reign. God’s kingdom is not an abstraction in and of itself but is God’s act—the power of God functioning as a King.
Your kingdom come—may God’s power, God’s rule be in effect. When we pray, “your kingdom come,” we are asking that God may reign here; that God’s power is what is preeminent.
And lastly, Your will be done
This phrase is how the Kingdom is to come—it is by God’s will being done. Just as God’s will is done in heaven, may it be done here where we are.
It is a simple phrase to say—just four words—“your will be done,” but its implications are huge. When we pray this, we are declaring that what we want is for God’s will to be done. That is over and above what we may “will,” or what we wish to do.
The last part of this first half of the Lord’s Prayer is the phrase “on earth as it is in heaven.” In heaven, God’s name is hallowed, or acknowledged as holy. In heaven, God does reign as King. In heaven, God’s will is done.
So as we pray the first part of this prayer, we are asking that what is there in heaven may be done here where we are. And because it was Jesus, the Son of God, who taught us this prayer, we already have caught a glimpse of what heaven looks like when it is here.
It is called the “already not yet” principle: Jesus has come. Through his life, crucifixion and resurrection, we have already seen God’s name be hallowed, God’s kingdom reigning over the earth and God’s will being done. At the same time, this world has not yet been perfected, or in other words, made whole. That will happen at the final coming. “Already..not yet.”
So we pray this prayer with confidence, knowing that what we ask is possible—because it has happened already—and yet still asking b/c there is so much left to be done, including in our own hearts and minds.
So now we’re going to take some time to pray. If you are more comfortable praying with a partner, then find one. But whether you pray with someone or alone, consider meditating upon this first half of the Lord’s Prayer—Our Abba Father in heaven, holy be your name, may you reign as King here and may your will be done here as it is in heaven.
LET US PRAY.
Pastor SKA
During the course of any given week, we engage in different kinds of communication—written, oral, and non-verbal. We made adjustments depending on what the mode may be—for example, if I want you to stop, in written form, it would be “STOP!!” In oral form, it would be “Stop!” In non-verbal form, it would be (hand held out).
When communicating, we also make adjustments depending on several other factors: is it one-sided or interactive; is it for one person or for many; is it for a child or an adult.
When approaching prayer, I believe that many of us simply take one of our standard ways of communicating and apply it to God. The problem here is that God is not just anyone. God is GOD. That fact alone should cause us to pause and ask, how does one properly communicate with the God of the Universe? Is there a special formula?
Jesus answers this question in our text from Matthew, Chapter 6. Last week we looked at how Jesus emphasized that when we are praying—and it was a WHEN we pray, not IF we pray—when we are praying, we are addressing God and no other, and we should say what we need to say (no babbling necessary).
Because he was the brilliant teacher that he was, Jesus then moves from the negatives (the “don’t do this” stuff) to the positive. In Verse 9: “This, then, is how you should pray.” And he proceeds to teach the disciples and the crowd what we call the Lord’s Prayer. We’re going to look at the first half of this prayer today and then take some time at the end to actually pray.
From Matthew, Chapter 6:
6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
" `Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
6:10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
6:11 Give us today our daily bread.
6:12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
6:13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'
Those of you who are familiar with this prayer will notice that the last line is missing from the Matthew text. Traditionally, we end this prayer with “For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.” That last line comes from a doxology—an expression of praise to God. That doxology can be found in the Old Testament, in First Chronicles 29:11-13.
As the church developed through history, some of the oldest Greek texts of the Bible were lost. Somewhere during the period before the Greek texts were rediscovered, the common English form of the Lord’s Prayer began to include the doxology. Although that last line is not part of Jesus’ original teaching, we in the church continue to include it because it does not alter the meaning of the prayer and it is an appropriate ending.
Back to the text:
Jesus said, “This then, is how you should pray,” and he starts with “our Father in heaven.” It was common in Jesus’ day for both Jews and Greeks to address God as “Father.” The common synagogue invocation was “our Father, our King.” Jesus also addresses God as Father but he does it in a slightly different manner.
First of all, he addresses God as “Father” in Aramaic, which was the common language of the people. In fact, the entire Lord’s Prayer was taught by Jesus in Aramaic. Hebrew was what was used in official synagogue liturgy.
This situation is similar to how, prior to the 1960’s, the Catholic church used only Latin in its liturgies. Imagine—if you were a Catholic before the mid-1960’s, you would go to church and the entire service would be in Latin! How boring is that?
However, after the 2nd Vatican Council concluded in 1965, the Catholic church began to allow the use of the vernacular (or native language) in worship services. The reason for this change was to encourage the people in the pews to actively participate in the worship service. For if they could understand what was being said, they were more likely to be engaged in what was going on.
In that same sense, Jesus taught this prayer in the language of the people. It is meant to be an accessible prayer, something that anyone can engage with.
And because the prayer was in Aramaic, Jesus used his characteristic address to God, which was “Abba.” You may have heard before that “Abba” is similar to “daddy,” a child’s term of endearment, like Papa or Appa. Abba was also used by adult children in addressing their fathers.
Stop and consider this a moment. Imagine calling someone “Daddy” versus “Father.” Both words have the same meaning technically, but the subjective meaning is very different.
Either way, Jesus’ use of Abba communicates the intimate personal connection of Jesus to God. Jesus did not use the word “Father” as a general term for the deity, as did the Greeks and Jews. Rather, he used the word Abba because Abba, for Jesus, means the one who loves, forgives and knows how to give good gifts to his children.
Abba Father. Our Father in heaven.
This opening address is followed by three “Your” petitions:
--hallowed be YOUR name
--YOUR kingdom come
--YOUR will be done
As is fitting, when we pray to God, it is not about us, but about God. So we start there, expressing our honor of him.
I’ve never met a famous person—famous in the sense of an entertainment star—what I would do if I did? On TV, people gush when they meet a big star. They talk about whatever movie, show or music that the star was involved with and how much they “loved it!!” They first honor that person for his or her accomplishments. If we can spontaneously do that with folks whose greatest talent is pretending to be someone that they are not, then how much more so should we approach the God who loves us unconditionally?
So we start by focusing on God first, no ourselves, and we give honor to God, which leads us to the first YOUR petition:
Hallowed be your name.
In the Biblical world, a name is not just a label; it represented the reality and presence of that person. So when we say hallowed, or holy, be your name, we are praying that God be honored as who he is, God, the Holy One.
Notice then, that although the prayer is addressed to the Abba Father, we balance that intimacy and that direct access with respect for who God is.
There are children—my youngest being among them—who understand the intimacy of a relationship with a parent but not necessarily the respect. They are comfortable with the parent, they know they are safe and they enjoy being there. However, what they don’t understand is respect. My youngest likes to push me in the mouth and pull my clothes when I am holding him. I was once in a private meeting with our school principal. __ played with his crayons for about 5 minutes before he decided to climb up on my chair and literally crawl all over me, including my head. I was mortified, but the principal was gracious enough to take it all in stride.
__ behaves like this b/c he is close with me but has thus far not learned proper respect. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus shows us that God is our Abba Father—God is close, God is available, God is safe—and at the same time, we pray “hallowed be your name.” Because although God loves us and knows us personally, at the same time God is holy and should be honored as such. It is intimacy with respect.
Your kingdom come
Although the times of castles, knights and kings and queens has long passed, the Church, through the Bible, retains Kingdom language. For a person who was not raised in the church, this vocabulary can sound archaic—Kingdom, King. However, the concept of a king is still easily understood. But what about “kingdom”? I’ve always imagined “your kingdom come” to be something like a grand castle or even a city descending on the clouds from up above. This image was reinforced by the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven,” which is found 32 times in the Gospel of Matthew.
As I did some study, though, I found that the Biblical concept of the kingdom is not a physical place. “Kingdom” is what can be called a verbal noun. A good example of a verbal noun is the word “love” in the phrase “love of God.” Love in that context means God’s acting in love for others. “May the love of God be with you.”
In the same way, “kingdom” means God’s active rule or reign. God’s kingdom is not an abstraction in and of itself but is God’s act—the power of God functioning as a King.
Your kingdom come—may God’s power, God’s rule be in effect. When we pray, “your kingdom come,” we are asking that God may reign here; that God’s power is what is preeminent.
And lastly, Your will be done
This phrase is how the Kingdom is to come—it is by God’s will being done. Just as God’s will is done in heaven, may it be done here where we are.
It is a simple phrase to say—just four words—“your will be done,” but its implications are huge. When we pray this, we are declaring that what we want is for God’s will to be done. That is over and above what we may “will,” or what we wish to do.
The last part of this first half of the Lord’s Prayer is the phrase “on earth as it is in heaven.” In heaven, God’s name is hallowed, or acknowledged as holy. In heaven, God does reign as King. In heaven, God’s will is done.
So as we pray the first part of this prayer, we are asking that what is there in heaven may be done here where we are. And because it was Jesus, the Son of God, who taught us this prayer, we already have caught a glimpse of what heaven looks like when it is here.
It is called the “already not yet” principle: Jesus has come. Through his life, crucifixion and resurrection, we have already seen God’s name be hallowed, God’s kingdom reigning over the earth and God’s will being done. At the same time, this world has not yet been perfected, or in other words, made whole. That will happen at the final coming. “Already..not yet.”
So we pray this prayer with confidence, knowing that what we ask is possible—because it has happened already—and yet still asking b/c there is so much left to be done, including in our own hearts and minds.
So now we’re going to take some time to pray. If you are more comfortable praying with a partner, then find one. But whether you pray with someone or alone, consider meditating upon this first half of the Lord’s Prayer—Our Abba Father in heaven, holy be your name, may you reign as King here and may your will be done here as it is in heaven.
LET US PRAY.
Pastor SKA
Labels: Lord's prayer
posted by New Hope Presbyterian Church @ 9:52 PM
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