The Sermon On The Mount Series: The Lord's Prayer

The Sermon On The Mount Series: The Lord's Prayer

Read: Matthew 6:5-15

This post has been divided into the following parts,
    1. The right kind of prayer [Matthew 6:5-6]
    2. The right way to pray, The Lord's Prayer [Matthew 6:7-15]

1. The Right Kind Of Prayer [Matthew 6:5-6]:-

In the previous post, we read about fasting and how it is supposed to be between you and God. The same applies to prayer, which is also supposed to be between you and God. In general, I said that the relationship between you and God is supposed to be a secret.

In the verse, Jesus mentions two kinds of prayer, the wrong kind and the right kind.

In the wrong kind of prayer, Jesus mentions the prayer done by hypocrites, referring to the . They love to pray to stand in the synagogues and in the corners of streets so that they can be seen by men. Here we can see that they are praying to God, self-praise.

But Jesus instructs us to pray behind closed doors, in secret to God. Cause it is the conversation between you and God. And God loves a humble and open prayer. Later we read, if you pray secretly, you will be rewarded openly.

The secret prayer is an exception to prayer groups and praying with fellow believers as it says in James 5:16[a], "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed". Where again, you are praying, as a conversation with God and not for self-praise. As the body of Christ, The Church is unified in Christ to praise Him and share His Gospel.

2. The right way to pray, The Lord's Prayer [Matthew 6:7-15]:-

Jesus gives us The Lord's prayer, which we can look up to as the model prayer, a template.

And again, prayer is not something that is to be memorised or chanted or recited. IT IS A CONVERSATION between an individual or a group of individuals with God. [Matthew 6:7-8]

So let us look into model prayer step by step,

(i) Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,- Firstly we address our prayer to God, it could be anyway, Abba Father, El Shaddi, Jesus, the Holy one or anything, it totally up to you. Then praising and giving honour to Him, for He is the only one worthy of all glory, honour and praise.

(ii) your kingdom comes, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.- Next, we are supposed to show an act of surrendering, all the plans of the future, our problems, our situations, etc. For He is the one who has planned up our life even before everything we know came into existence, and over that, the plans that He has for us are for the best of us all. [Jeremiah 29:11]

(iii) Give us our daily bread,- Placing in front of Him all our needs and requests. For as His word says, Ask and you shall receive [Matthew 7:7], only if it is good for you as God does not want to harm you.

(iv) and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors- Then asking for forgiveness, as we are all human beings and we are not perfect no matter how hard we try, we are sinners. But Jesus, by sacrificing himself, gave us the chance to be forgiven and be united with the Father in heaven. Also, the second part says that we ALSO have forgiven our debtors. We must forgive the people who have done harm to us and hold absolutely no grudge against anyone.

(v) And lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from the evil one- We are in the world, full of unrighteous people, sins, temptation, suffering and pain. And in such a world, only God is the one who guides and protect us. The adversary may try to harm you, but we will be safe with the protection of the Father. So, hold on to His hand and even though you are going through the darkest phase of life, He has let no harm come near you.

And so people, Humble yourself and pray to Him by placing all your requests in front of His throne and as it says in Psalm 37:17, The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

This is it for this post, hope you all will have a blessed day and times ahead in His presence, for the time is near, we are to be prepared. All praise be to God Alone! God Bless!