To View the Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7D8S3mRv6ZE
SHOW NOTES
Welcome to a new week of the Hope Rescue Podcast. Today we are continuing our short series on prayer by breaking down the Lord’s prayer. If you didn’t yet, make sure you check out last week’s episode where we started the series talking about some common misconceptions about prayer. With that said, let’s get into this week’s discussion.
To preface the conversation, Tim explains what the Lord’s prayer is and why we are referencing it. The Lord’s prayer was given during Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, which was a collection of Jesus’s teachings on how to live a life that is dedicated to and pleasing to God. Jesus teaches how to live free from hypocrisy, which we will discuss in depth today. In Matthew 6:5, Jesus says, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” The purpose of the Lord’s prayer is to provide a structure for how we should pray.
The Lord’s prayer can be found in Matthew 6 and it goes like this:
“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Many believe we are to recite this prayer word for word, but that was not the original intention. It doesn’t hurt anything to recite the Lord’s Prayer, but it was given as an example of how we should structure our prayers. Let’s break it down to understand each point we should hit when we pray.
Our Father, Who art in heaven? Hallowed be Thy Name
Adoration. The very first part of prayer should include adoration for the Lord. Before anything else, worship God for who he is. Kimberly quotes Psalm 46:10 which says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The word hallowed means sacred or holy. The name of our Father is sacred. Yahweh. Elohim. The living God. Tim says, “When we come to God in prayer, we should start with addressing who He is and His authority over everything.” We have to start our prayers by acknowledging who we are speaking to.
Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
Submission. The kingdom of God was the original plan in creation but because of sin, we took on our own kingdoms. Like we said before, when we start our prayers we should start with adoration for who God is but then we should move into submission. Submit to the kingdom of God. Along with submitting to the kingdom of God, we need to submit to the will of God. Prayer should include giving up power and handing it over to God. Start with adoration, then submission, then we continue with the next category:
Give us this day our daily bread
Make your request. Pray for today's provision. This not only gives the glory to God for what we are given in a day but also helps us recognize that today is enough. It can be tempting to ask for provisions for today, tomorrow, and years to come, but by simply asking for the daily provisions will help us acknowledge that even just today is enough. This part of the prayer also encourages us to come to Him daily, instead of praying once, dusting off our knees, and talking to God again when it’s convenient. Every day we should come to God and go through these steps of prayer. Matthew 6:34 says “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us
Forgiveness. This part of the prayer process not only asks for forgiveness for personal failures but also asks for help to be forgiving towards others. Humbly asking the Lord for forgiveness and the ability to forgive others frees our hearts from bitterness and regret.
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.
Purity. There is a difference between temptation and being tested. Sometimes the Lord will test us to provide an opportunity to strengthen us, but that is not the same as temptation. A testing is proving you to grow you, while a temptation is seeking to destroy you. Asking the Lord to “leas us not into temptation” is essentially asking Him to clear a path for us.
Many will end this prayer by saying, “for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever” but if you look in your bible (we use the ESV usually) that portion is not actually written. It is not wrong to say but it actually was added in the traditions of the Church. It was added later, after the original text. But it helps us to wrap up our prayers and end by praising God.
Kimberly closes the podcast by encouraging the listeners to teach and explain this process to those around you. Whether it’s your children, your small group, your spouse, knowing the purpose of the Lord’s prayer will help us understand how to come to God in prayer. Thank you for joining us and we will see you guys next week as we wrap up our short series on prayer!
QUOTES
“When we come to God in prayer, we should start with addressing who He is and His authority over everything.” -Tim
“Humbly asking the Lord for forgiveness and the ability to forgive others frees our hearts from bitterness and regret.” -Tim
“If we daily walk in forgiveness, we are choosing to live in freedom instead of captivity.” -Kimberly
REFERENCED SCRIPTURE
Matthew 6:5 Jesus says, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
Matthew 6:6-13 “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
