The Lord’s Prayer
On Sunday, as CDC continued its series on the Sermon of the Mount, we had the privilege of our own Senior Pastor Micky speak on the Lord’s Prayer.
Starting of his message, Pastor Micky first taught us three important reasons why all Christians must pray:-
(i) Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath – Without prayer, there is no life, no meaning in our Christian existence. In his pride, the wicked does not seek God, in all his thoughts, there is no room for God. Psalm 10:4
(ii) Prayer releases the power of God – “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
(iii) Prayer is communion with God – Prayer is the way we communicate with God, and have a meaningful relationship with Him. My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my flesh and my heart cry out for the living God. Psalm 84:2
At the same time, our Lord teaches us in Matthew 6 how not to pray:-
5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
Firstly, we must not pray for the benefit of man. In church, we are so careful to pray “correct” prayers that sound flowery and nice because we are afraid of what others might think of us. However, God wants us to pray in complete honesty, to tell Him what is in our hearts. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.
7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words
Secondly, the length or form of our prayers are not so important. Meaningless repetitions and blind chanting don’t impress God for sure. He looks at the heart of our prayer. We must pray with all our hearts and all our minds and all our strength. So often we pray formality prayers e.g. Thank you God for my food, Amen. When we thank God we must mean it in our hearts.
Now, Pastor Micky took us through every step of the majestic Lord’s Prayer.
Our – First of all, throughout the prayer, it is said in plural. As Christians, no one is alone, but we are united together in the body of Christ. When we pray, we pray not only for ourselves but also for all our brothers and sisters in Christ!
Father – At that time, the Jews seldom referred to God as Father, probably feeling it was too personal or disrespectful to do so. However, God wants us to know Him as our loving Father. Few may approach the President of the United States
Who art in Heaven – We must always remember that God is in Heaven, and that too, is our final destination. As we mention Heaven, we remember the glory, the power, the great dominion of God, whose ways are higher than our ways, and thoughts than our thoughts.
Hallowed be thy name – As rightly said in the first chapter of the Purpose Driven Life, it all starts with God. We are created for Him, and only in Him do we have any purpose at all. Hence, we must always start by glorifying His great name.
Thy Kingdom come – As we pray this, we are reminded of God’s great commission to us to extend His kingdom by spreading the good news to all creation. Whenever we bring truth, healing and do good on the earth, we extend God’s kingdom here.
Thy Will be done – We are reminded here that it is not “my will” that is important but God’s will! Jesus said “He who seeks to save his life will lose it but he who loses his life for My sake will find it!” God’s will may not be easy to follow, but it certainly is the best and most important way in the end!
On earth as it is in heaven – On earth, God’s will is not always followed. It is not His will for us to continue to live in sin. Yet, because of love, He gave us choice, the choice to reject Him or accept Him. With this power of choice that we have, let us choose life and righteousness, for that is our destiny in God’s plan.
Give us this day our daily bread – We realize here that all that we have, our food, job, home, salary and everything we own actually comes from God. In humility, we must always depend on God to provide us all we need. From another viewpoint, daily bread also refers to the Word of God, and we can also pray at the same time for God to make His Word rich and meaningful in our lives. The man who meditates on the Word of God is like a tree planted by streams of water!
And forgive us our sins – As long as we remain on earth, we cannot be perfect. We continue to sin, due to our fallen human nature. However, we must continue to come back to God, repent and ask for forgiveness, seeking for God’s grace and perfection to change us little by little, day by day.
As we forgive those who sin against us – One of the preconditions of being forgiven is to forgive others. Pastor Micky gave a very good illustration of unforgiveness likened to a clenched fist. With a clenched fist, we cannot give, but neither can we receive. With an open hand, we can give, and also receive.
Lead us not into temptation – “God does not tempt anyone, but each one is tempted when by his own evil desire he is dragged away and enticed” James wrote. However, if we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, He will lead us around temptation and away from it. It is written that God will not let us be tempted more than we can bear but will provide a way for us to stand up under it. Paul writes “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desire of the sinful nature.” As long as we are Spirit-led, we will walk the path of righteousness.
But deliver us from evil – God is our great protector. God is our refuge and our strength and ever present help in time of trouble! As long as God’s presence is with us, we need not fear any evil. Beautifully written in Psalm 23, David wrote “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for you are with me!”
God bless,
Jason
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