Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today 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.
Matthew 6: 9-13 (NIV)
For many of us, myself included, this is a very familiar prayer. The Lord's Prayer is the model of prayer which the Lord Jesus taught His disciples on how to pray.
More Than Mere Words
I remember days in the past when I used to recite this daily in school, not fully appreciating the prayer and what it means. At that time, I just know it as something which I needed to say every morning, mouthing literally empty words and not knowing what it means to pray the Lord's prayer.
In fact, the Lord Jesus warned about the heart condition when praying; that it should not be "for display" of one's holiness or one which has lots of babbling of words. In Matthew 6:8 it tells us that our Father knows what we need before we even ask Him. So, Jesus teaches us the Lord's Prayer and as we discussed about it yesterday, I have come to realise how amazing it is that a short prayer like this can cover quite a bit. In 52 words, it covers our desire to praise God, to pray for God's kingdom, for God's will, for our daily needs, a reminder for us to forgive as we have been forgiven by God, to pray for God to guide us in our walk with Him and to help us in our daily struggles with sin and the enemy.
The Lord's Prayer sets the background for Dr Joseph D' Souza's sharing last week and I would say it was a refreshing perspective for me. For a long time, even after having appreciated the Lord's Prayer, I have thought of it mainly as a prayer for myself but the sermon has challenged me and helped me see how it is also for God's children too:
- "Hallowed be your name" (v 9) -
Application for Self - Do we desire to hallow God's name, glorifying it? Is God just a genie who brings you out of the pits and who continues to grant your wishes or is there something more to it? How are we hallowing His name? Do we sometimes even profane His name through the things we do, just like how some shared about believers being a bad testimony? How do we deal with that when we see it?
Application for our relationship with others - Hallow His name as we help others with their difficulties, help them to know God, draw near to Him and even praise Him. But how will others praise God when they do not even know Him? Dr Joseph D' Souza mentioned that many, like the Dalits (the untouchables), do not know that they are made in the image of God and that He loves them. As someone have put it nicely, you might be the only way in which people can see Jesus. What are you doing about this? Are you helping others to know God, to have His power work in their lives and praise Him?
Matthew 5: 14-16 (NIV)
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. - "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven" (v10) -
Application for our relationship with others - in this part of the prayer, there is not only a desire to see God's kingdom be established and His will be done, it also provides us an opportunity to respond to His work. Dr. D'Souza aptly highlighted about how even in the most advanced and greatest kingdom on earth, there will still be hurting, lonely people. Perhaps, as KK has shared, we will never get to fully fathom the full extent of the greatness of God's kingdom now but we may each have a part of the kingdom to show others. What is your picture of God's kingdom that you can show others? Are you showing it? Do you trust that God can work through you in having His will be done here? Do you have faith that you can play an instrumental role in having God's will be done here on earth as in heaven?
See the parable of the cracked pot. - "Give us today our daily bread" (v 11) -
Application for self - For many of us, this might be what constitutes as a major part of our prayer and yet for others, it might be a struggle as they continue to wonder if they can trust in the Lord to provide for their needs. Just as we are reminded in a later part of Matthew 6 (after the Lord's prayer), in Matthew 6: 25-34, we are assured that God knows what we need and He provides. Nerve-wrecking as it may be for some but the fact is that God provides even though it may not be in the way we expect it. But on the other extreme, I am also reminder that our God is not a genie or like one of pagan gods where our only prayers are just about blessings.
Application for our relationship with others - But importantly, as Joshua has shared, upon reflecting why we have been given so much while others lack, what does it tell you? As Gary Haugen said it aptly in Global Leadership Summit 2008 (something which made me think and which is stuck with me as I walk with the Lord): Why have we been given so much amidst suffering of others? So we can be a channel of blessing from God to others. - "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgiven our debtors" (v 12)
Application for self & relationship with others - I was doing quiet time this week and I have come to realise how we are called to love one another. Ideally, this is good, because we have been reminded in scriptures by Jesus, to love God and our neighbours; the greatest commandment of all (Matthew 22: 36-40). But, I do know sometimes we have people who fail us and it becomes difficult to dispense forgiveness. But yet we are reminded by Christ not to let the sun go down while we are still angry. In my life experiences so far, I have learnt that the person who lose out is usually myself; in my anger and unforgiveness, I live a life of defeat and of bitterness. At the end of the day, it robs us of joy and it also divides us.
See articles on dealing with unforgiveness and anger. - "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (v13) -
Application for self - We are reminded how we are not to play around with sin and to ask for God to be around us to help us resist the enemy and his schemes in our lives, whose aim is to derail us from God's love... We need God's power in helping us to deal with this daily.
Application for relationship with others - Dr. Joseph D'Souza points to the need for social justice and how it is not enough to just treat the wounded but also to stop the perpetrator in continuing to do harm, but through righteous ways. We saw how Jesus had been held back in His dealings with the Pharisees and religious leaders whose hearts were hardened and who misguided His people from following God. He rebuked them on several occasions. In the same way that we may be the only way in which others can see Jesus, how can we help others who are oppressed by evil and do so in righteous ways?
The Christian Faith
After having gone through the Lord's Prayer, I continue to do my quiet time through the week. God made me reflect on what the Christian faith is really all about. Though I am not trained theologically, the arbitrary conclusion I got as I read His word is that the faith is about reconciliation with God, both for ourselves and for other people.
It is, as Jesus has put it, about loving God and our neighbours as ourselves.
God has saved us from the pits but then it does not stop there. God loves His children as well and He does not want "anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentence" (2 Peter 3:9). You are valuable to Him but so are His other children.
The apostle John wrote in 1 John 4: 9-12, which spoke to me this week:
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. "
The command is clear: love God and your neighbour, God's fellow children.
And James clearly states that your love without action or faith without deed, is dead. See article on "Faith without Deeds vs Love and Action"
We can learn from Jesus as He came to show us the way to proclaim our faith, not merely through words but also through action just as He went around and made a difference by healing, speaking the truth, forgiving people of their sins and giving them hope and peace.
How will you respond to this?
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