2008.06.15 Prayer: How should we pray? (Part 3)

Scripture: Matthew 6: 11-13

Last week, as we looked at the first half of the Lord’s prayer, I began by mentioning how we communicate in different ways for different purposes. And I raised the question of how does one properly communicate with the God Almighty? What we started to see last week, and what will become more evident today, is that prayer to God is confession. Not confession in the sense of admitting wrongdoing, but confession in the sense of saying what it is that you believe—to confess is to affirm something or to claim something.

For example, if we ask God to give us peace, we are also stating that we believe that God is able to give that peace.
This may seem to be a simple observation, but consider that we do not often confess in our daily lives, particularly when they may be things that go against the grain. If you do not support the legal decision to allow gays and lesbians to marry (which starts tomorrow), how often have your voiced that opinion in the workplace or some other group where it is the minority opinion? The same goes for other controversial issues, like abortion and capital punishment. It can also apply to the simple act of expressing your faith.

Here in the Bay Area, where there is probably more hostility than the majority of our country toward Christians and the Christian church, how often do you find yourself stating what it is that you believe, or “confessing”? I would venture to guess not very often, but there could be exceptions.

In that perspective, the Lord’s Prayer, which is a confession of what we believe, is a radical thing. The longer that you are in the church, the more that the Lord’s Prayer may become part of the furniture—available, comfortable and not given much notice or thought. When we recite it, we often recite it from memory, going through the phrases like it is a routine.

However, if we can stop and consider that prayer is confession—that prayer is stating what it is that we believe, then when we look at the Lord’s prayer, we can see that it is a powerful affirmation of God’s presence and power.

How, then, should we pray? Jesus gives us this prayer as model.

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.'

Our Father in heaven:
You are Abba/Daddy/Papa: one who knows us and loves us, one with whom we are safe.

Hallowed be your name.
As one scholar described it, “The [Lord’s] prayer is intimate and direct, but not chummy. It preserves the awesome holiness of God.” You are holy.

Your kingdom come.
What we want is for you, God, to reign here.

Your will be done.
We ask that it is your will, and not ours that takes precedence. And may it be done here as it is in heaven.

These are things that we asking God and at same time, they are bold theological statements, about what it is that we believe and what we want.

Today we look at the second half of the prayer and its three “We” petitions:
Give US this day our daily bread
Forgive US our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors
And lead US not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one

Again, as we look at these we will find that they ask God for something and simultaneously are declaring a truth about God that we claiming and even committing to living out.

Give us this day our daily bread.

The common understanding of daily bread here is our physical needs—the things that we require to function each day. There was a quote that I put into the newsletter this week about the movement to live a more simple life. The focus of the main article was a man who is working to reduce his personal possessions to 100 things. This doesn’t even include the basics of water, food, shelter. He’s just trying to pare down to 100 possessions, and he is finding that it is a really difficult task.
When we pray, “give us this day our daily bread,” what do you consider your daily bread to be? What are the essentials that you are asking God to provide for your day? Jesus lived and worked among the poor. When he taught this prayer, the poor understood what it meant to ask for daily bread. What is it that you are asking for when you pray this line?

Part of the challenge when we pray this part of the prayer is to reflect on what it is that we are truly asking for. The other part of the challenge is to recognize that when we utter these words, we are confessing that we believe that it is God, and not our own efforts that will provide whatever it is that our daily bread may be. Again—it is not our efforts, our work, our time, our energy, but it is God, through his grace, who provides.

Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors

Consistent with the rest of the Bible, an assumption that Jesus makes here is that every person who comes before God is guilty and needs forgiveness. This simple assumption is anathema to many today, who believe that they are innately good and only screw up from time to time. Here, Jesus teaches that all of us are to pray for forgiveness from the holy one. We do not pray this presuming forgiveness, but we do pray it with confidence—just like when you need to apologize to a trusted friend. With genuine repentance, you do not presume that your friend will forgive you, but you do apologize with confidence, trusting in the strength of your bond together. So we pray “forgive us our debts,” followed by “as we also have forgiven others.”

In claiming that God is the one who forgives us, we recognize that it would be tremendously hypocritical to then turn around and not forgive others. There are multiple places in the Bible where it is made clear that the extent to which we forgive others is the extent to which we will be forgiven. I find this sobering—it means that I should forgive generously and freely because that is what I want and need for myself.

Lastly, And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one

We have confessed that it is God upon whom we depend for our daily bread, and it is God who is able to forgive. In this last petition, we are acknowledging that it is God who is more powerful than the evil one, and it is by God’s power, through God’s help, that we will be able to turn away from temptation and be delivered from the evil one.

So from these three WE petitions, we declare that it is God who is the source of our daily bread. It is God to whom we have to ask forgiveness and from whom we may receive that forgiveness. It is also God who can help us overcome temptation. Again, just like the first half of the prayer, we are making some strong assertions about the character of God as well as our position before God.

Additionally, the WE petitions—the phrases where we are asking for something—give us some important questions to think about. What are we asking for when we ask for daily bread? What are the debts for which we are asking forgiveness? To what extent have I forgiven those who have done wrong toward me? What are the temptations for which I am asking for help?

There is a LOT in this prayer that gives challenge. As in the prior weeks, I’m going to close this time by giving us the opportunity to pray. I want to ask you to take a moment first to consider the 3 WE petitions—is there something there that you can pray about with God? Daily bread, forgiveness for yourself or toward others or temptations?

We’ll close this time by saying the Lord’s Prayer together.

Pastor SKA