Jesus Model Prayer
Notes
Transcript
Jesus Model Prayer
Jesus Model Prayer
Jesus and the Kingdom of God in the Gospels
The arrival of the kingdom, discourse about who will (or will not) enter the kingdom, and descriptions of the kingdom are prominent in the Gospels. The kingdom of God is a major feature in the ministry of Jesus. Both his words and deeds convey different aspects of the kingdom theme. Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom reiterate many of the same ideas present in earlier Jewish thought. However, what is unique to Jesus’ teaching is the claim that the kingdom (in some sense) had actually arrived.1
.Our Praying ()
Our Praying ()
Jesus gave four instructions to guide us in our praying.
We must pray in secret before we pray in public (v. 6). It is not wrong to pray in public in the assembly (), or even when blessing food () or seeking God’s help (; ). But it is wrong to pray in public if we are not in the habit of praying in private. Observers may think that we are practicing prayer when we are not, and this is hypocrisy. The word translated closet means “a private chamber.” It could refer to the store-chamber in a house. Our Lord prayed privately (); so did Elisha () and Daniel ().
We must pray sincerely (vv. 7–8). The fact that a request is repeated does not make it a “vain repetition”; for both Jesus and Paul repeated their petitions (; ). A request becomes a “vain repetition” if it is only a babbling of words without a sincere heart desire to seek and do God’s will. The mere reciting of memorized prayers can be vain repetition. The Gentiles had such prayers in their pagan ceremonies (see ).
My friend Dr. Robert A. Cook has often said, “All of us have one routine prayer in our system; and once we get rid of it, then we can really start to pray!” I have noticed this, not only in my own praying, but often when I have conducted prayer meetings. With some people, praying is like putting the needle on a phonograph record and then forgetting about it. But God does not answer insincere prayers.
We must pray in God’s will (vv. 9–13). This prayer is known familiarly as “The Lord’s Prayer,” but “The Disciples’ Prayer” would be a more accurate title. Jesus did not give this prayer to us to be memorized and recited a given number of times. In fact, He gave this prayer to keep us from using vain repetitions. Jesus did not say, “Pray in these words.” He said, “Pray after this manner”; that is, “Use this prayer as a pattern, not as a substitute.”
The purpose of prayer is to glorify God’s name, and to ask for help to accomplish His will on earth. This prayer begins with God’s interests, not ours: God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. Robert Law has said, “Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done in earth.” We have no right to ask God for anything that will dishonor His name, delay His kingdom, or disturb His will on earth.
It is worth noting that there are no singular pronouns in this prayer; they are all plural. It begins with “OUR Father.” When we pray, we must remember that we are part of God’s worldwide family of believers. We have no right to ask for ourselves anything that would harm another member of the family. If we are praying in the will of God, the answer will be a blessing to all of God’s people in one way or another.
If we put God’s concerns first, then we can bring our own needs. God is concerned about our needs and knows them even before we mention them (). If this is the case, then why pray? Because prayer is the God-appointed way to have these needs met (see ). Prayer prepares us for the proper use of the answer. If we know our need, and if we voice it to God, trusting Him for His provision, then we will make better use of the answer than if God forced it on us without our asking.
It is right to pray for daily physical needs, for forgiveness, and for guidance and protection from evil. “Lead us not into temptation” does not mean that God tempts His children (). In this petition we are asking God to guide us so that we will not get out of His will and get involved in a situation of temptation (), or even in a situation of tempting God so that He must miraculously rescue us ().
We must pray, having a forgiving spirit toward others (vv. 14–15). In this “appendix” to the prayer, Jesus expanded the last phrase of , “as we forgive our debtors.” He later repeated this lesson to His disciples (). He was not teaching that believers earned God’s forgiveness by forgiving others; for this would be contrary to God’s free grace and mercy. However, if we have truly experienced God’s forgiveness, then we will have a readiness to forgive others (; ). Our Lord illustrated this principle in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant ().
We have seen that true praying is a “family affair” (“Our Father”). If the members of the family are not getting along with one another, how can they claim to have a right relationship with the Father? The emphasis in is that we show our love for God by loving our brothers. When we forgive each other, we are not earning the right to prayer; for the privilege of prayer is a part of our sonship (). Forgiveness belongs to the matter of fellowship: If I am not in fellowship with God, I cannot pray effectively. But fellowship with my brother helps to determine my fellowship with God; hence, forgiveness is important to prayer.
Since prayer involves glorifying God’s name, hastening the coming of God’s kingdom (), and helping to accomplish God’s will on earth, the one praying must not have sin in his heart. If God answered the prayers of a believer who had an unforgiving spirit, He would dishonor His own name. How could God work through such a person to get His will done on earth? If God gave him his requests, He would be encouraging sin! The important thing about prayer is not simply getting an answer, but being the kind of person whom God can trust with an answer.
Sanctification
Wiersbe, W. W. (199 I. Sanctification
1. General Survey
BEFORE presenting the biblical teachings as to sanctification we note its general meaning and its place in the system of life forces which constitute the Christian religion. The aim of God in establishing his kingdom among men is to produce holy men and women, both as individuals in their relations to him and as members of a holy society. In the accomplishment of this aim, two things are necessary: first, the establishment of a new relation between God and men, and secondly, the production of a new character corresponding to the new relation. The word “sanctification,” as employed in the New Testament, expresses both the new relation to God and the new character which corresponds. Sanctification means then the state of one who is set apart to the service of God, who belongs to God. It also means the inner transformation of one thus set apart, the actual realization of holy character.16). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 25–26). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Our Praying ()
Jesus gave four instructions to guide us in our praying.
We must pray in secret before we pray in public (v. 6). It is not wrong to pray in public in the assembly (), or even when blessing food () or seeking God’s help (; ). But it is wrong to pray in public if we are not in the habit of praying in private. Observers may think that we are practicing prayer when we are not, and this is hypocrisy. The word translated closet means “a private chamber.” It could refer to the store-chamber in a house. Our Lord prayed privately (); so did Elisha ()and Daniel ()
10 When Daniel learnt that the order had been signed, he went home. In an upstairs room of his house there were windows that faced towards Jerusalem. There, just as he had always done, he knelt down at the open windows and prayed to God three times a day.
11 When Daniel’s enemies observed him praying to God,
12 all of them went together to the king to accuse Daniel. They said, “Your Majesty, you signed an order that for the next thirty days anyone who requested anything from any god or from any human being except you, would be thrown into a pit filled with lions.” The king replied, “Yes, a strict order, a law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.”
13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, does not respect Your Majesty or obey the order you issued. He prays regularly three times a day.”
14 When the king heard this, he was upset and did his best to find some way to rescue Daniel. He kept trying until sunset.
15 Then Daniel’s enemies came back to the king and said to him, “Your Majesty knows that according to the laws of the Medes and Persians no order which the king issues can be changed.”
16 So the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and he was thrown into the pit filled with lions. He said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve so loyally, rescue you.”
17 A stone was put over the mouth of the pit, and the king placed his own royal seal and the seal of his noblemen on the stone, so that no one could rescue Daniel.
18 Then the king returned to the palace and spent a sleepless night, without food or any form of entertainment.
19 At dawn the king got up and hurried to the pit.
20 When he got there, he called out anxiously, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was the God you serve so loyally able to save you from the lions?”
21 Daniel answered, “May Your Majesty live for ever!
22 God sent his angel to shut the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. He did this because he knew that I was innocent and because I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”
23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders for Daniel to be pulled up out of the pit. So they pulled him up and saw that he had not been hurt at all, for he trusted God.
24 Then the king gave orders to arrest all the men who had accused Daniel, and they were thrown, together with their wives and their children, into the pit filled with lions. Before they even reached the bottom of the pit, the lions pounced on them and broke all their bones.
25 Then King Darius wrote to the people of all nations, races, and languages on earth: “Greetings!
26 I command that throughout my empire everyone should fear and respect Daniel’s God. “He is a living God, and he will rule for ever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his power will never come to an end.
27 He saves and rescues; he performs wonders and miracles in heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from being killed by the lions.”
28 Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
32 When Elisha arrived, he went alone into the room and saw the boy lying dead on the bed.
33 He closed the door and prayed to the Lord.
34 Then he lay down on the boy, placing his mouth, eyes, and hands on the boy’s mouth, eyes, and hands. As he lay stretched out over the boy, the boy’s body started to get warm.
35 Elisha got up, walked about the room, and then went back and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times, and then opened his eyes.
36 Elisha called Gehazi and told him to call the boy’s mother. When she came in, he said to her, “Here’s your son.”
37 She fell at Elisha’s feet, with her face touching the ground; then she took her son and left.
38 Once, when there was a famine throughout the land, Elisha returned to Gilgal. While he was teaching a group of prophets, he told his servant to put a big pot on the fire and make some stew for them.
39 One of them went out in the fields to get some herbs. He found a wild vine, and picked as many gourds as he could carry. He brought them back and sliced them up into the stew, not knowing what they were.
40 The stew was poured out for the men to eat, but as soon as they tasted it they exclaimed to Elisha, “It’s poisoned!”—and wouldn’t eat it.
41 Elisha asked for some meal, threw it into the pot, and said, “Pour out some more stew for them.” And then there was nothing wrong with it.
42 Another time, a man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing Elisha twenty loaves of bread made from the first barley harvested that year, and some freshly-cut ears of corn. Elisha told his servant to feed the group of prophets with this,
43 but he answered, “Do you think this is enough for a hundred men?” Elisha replied, “Give it to them to eat, because the Lord says that they will eat and still have some left over.”
44 So the servant set the food before them, and, as the Lord had said, they all ate and there was still some left over.
41 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, “I thank you, Father, that you listen to me.
42 I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me.”
35 After saying this, Paul took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, broke it, and began to eat.
11 Jesus took the bread, gave thanks to God, and distributed it to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, and they all had as much as they wanted.
1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people;
2 for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence towards God and with proper conduct.
3 This is good and it pleases God our Saviour,
4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth.
5 For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and human beings together, the man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave himself to redeem everyone. That was the proof at the right time that God wants everyone to be saved,
7 and that is why I was sent as an apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, to proclaim the message of faith and truth. I am not lying; I am telling the truth!
8 In every church service I want the men to pray, men who are dedicated to God and can lift up their hands in prayer without anger or argument.
9 I also want the women to be modest and sensible about their clothes and to dress properly; not with fancy hair styles or with gold ornaments or pearls or expensive dresses,
10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who claim to be religious.
11 Women should learn in silence and all humility.
12 I do not allow them to teach or to have authority over men; they must keep quiet.
13 For Adam was created first, and then Eve.
14 And it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God’s law.
15 But a woman will be saved through having children, if she perseveres in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.
We must pray sincerely (vv. 7–8). The fact that a request is repeated does not make it a “vain repetition”; for both Jesus and Paul repeated their petitions (; ). A request becomes a “vain repetition” if it is only a babbling of words without a sincere heart desire to seek and do God’s will. The mere reciting of memorized prayers can be vain repetition. The Gentiles had such prayers in their pagan ceremonies (see ).
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Grief and anguish came over him,
38 and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 He went a little farther on, threw himself face downwards on the ground, and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want.”
40 Then he returned to the three disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Peter, “How is it that you three were not able to keep watch with me even for one hour?
41 Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 Once more Jesus went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup of suffering cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”
43 He returned once more and found the disciples asleep; they could not keep their eyes open.
44 Again Jesus left them, went away, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look! The hour has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the power of sinners.
46 Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”
My friend Dr. Robert A. Cook has often said, “All of us have one routine prayer in our system; and once we get rid of it, then we can really start to pray!” I have noticed this, not only in my own praying, but often when I have conducted prayer meetings. With some people, praying is like putting the needle on a phonograph record and then forgetting about it. But God does not answer insincere prayers.
We must pray in God’s will (vv. 9–13). This prayer is known familiarly as “The Lord’s Prayer,” but “The Disciples’ Prayer” would be a more accurate title. Jesus did not give this prayer to us to be memorized and recited a given number of times. In fact, He gave this prayer to keep us from using vain repetitions. Jesus did not say, “Pray in these words.” He said, “Pray after this manner”; that is, “Use this prayer as a pattern, not as a substitute.”
The purpose of prayer is to glorify God’s name, and to ask for help to accomplish His will on earth. This prayer begins with God’s interests, not ours: God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. Robert Law has said, “Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done in earth.” We have no right to ask God for anything that will dishonor His name, delay His kingdom, or disturb His will on earth.
It is worth noting that there are no singular pronouns in this prayer; they are all plural. It begins with “OUR Father.” When we pray, we must remember that we are part of God’s worldwide family of believers. We have no right to ask for ourselves anything that would harm another member of the family. If we are praying in the will of God, the answer will be a blessing to all of God’s people in one way or another.
If we put God’s concerns first, then we can bring our own needs. God is concerned about our needs and knows them even before we mention them (). If this is the case, then why pray? Because prayer is the God-appointed way to have these needs met (see ). Prayer prepares us for the proper use of the answer. If we know our need, and if we voice it to God, trusting Him for His provision, then we will make better use of the answer than if God forced it on us without our asking.
It is right to pray for daily physical needs, for forgiveness, and for guidance and protection from evil. “Lead us not into temptation” does not mean that God tempts His children (). In this petition we are asking God to guide us so that we will not get out of His will and get involved in a situation of temptation (), or even in a situation of tempting God so that He must miraculously rescue us ().
13 If people are tempted by such trials, they must not say, “This temptation comes from God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14 But people are tempted when they are drawn away and trapped by their own evil desires.
15 Then their evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Do not be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters!
17 Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning.
18 We know that none of God’s children keep on sinning, for the Son of God keeps them safe, and the Evil One cannot harm them.
We must pray, having a forgiving spirit toward others (vv. 14–15). In this “appendix” to the prayer, Jesus expanded the last phrase of , “as we forgive our debtors.” He later repeated this lesson to His disciples (). He was not teaching that believers earned God’s forgiveness by forgiving others; for this would be contrary to God’s free grace and mercy. However, if we have truly experienced God’s forgiveness, then we will have a readiness to forgive others (; ). Our Lord illustrated this principle in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant ().
We have seen that true praying is a “family affair” (“Our Father”). If the members of the family are not getting along with one another, how can they claim to have a right relationship with the Father? The emphasis in is that we show our love for God by loving our brothers. When we forgive each other, we are not earning the right to prayer; for the privilege of prayer is a part of our sonship (). Forgiveness belongs to the matter of fellowship: If I am not in fellowship with God, I cannot pray effectively. But fellowship with my brother helps to determine my fellowship with God; hence, forgiveness is important to prayer.
15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!”
16 God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children.
Since prayer involves glorifying God’s name, hastening the coming of God’s kingdom (), and helping to accomplish God’s will on earth, the one praying must not have sin in his heart. If God answered the prayers of a believer who had an unforgiving spirit, He would dishonor His own name. How could God work through such a person to get His will done on earth? If God gave him his requests, He would be encouraging sin! The important thing about prayer is not simply getting an answer, but being the kind of person whom God can trust with an answer.1
12 as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon—the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.
1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 25–26). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.