Matthew 6:7-15 - The "We" Petitions

Okay, the second part of the model prayer is commonly referred to as the ‘we’ petitions. They are never called the ‘I’ petitions, which is what my prayer life has historically looked like. Each of the petitions reflect two things: a corporate sense of identity and total dependence on God. These both serve to make prayer more God-centered, and less me-centered.

I don’t want to be found saying that it is improper to express a need to God using the first-person singular, ‘I’ or ‘me’. Certainly we find that very thing in Jesus’ prayers elsewhere. But because of the pronouns used here and the short nature of the prayer as a whole, I think the idea being communicated is not so much a formula for prayer, but the proper attitude and posture of prayer. It is about God, not me – submission to Him and dependence on Him. Again, this reflects what Jesus has said about prayer in vv. 7-8: don’t think that many words will make the difference – God already knows what you need. We don’t pray to inform Him. If this is the case, what else can Jesus be communicating but that prayer is a simple expression of submission to and dependence on God in every area of life?

Let’s look at the first ‘you’ petition in v.11, “Give us today our daily bread.” There is a wide range of interpretations of this verse. I think the most straightforward is the one to be desired. Lord, provide for our physical needs today. This is just a very simple expression of dependence on God for all of the things necessary for our survival and it follows the attitude and posture of the ‘You’ petitions. The simplicity and brevity of the request are a continuation of the reverence and submission seen in the first half of the prayer. Even though it asks for something we need, it is still God-centered.

This simple request takes away the need to make our case before God. I find myself often giving God as many reasons as I can come up with for Him to give me that for which I’m praying. Instead, when I pray, “Lord, please provide what I need today,” I am actually saying two things: 1) Lord I’m completely dependent upon you, and 2) Lord, You decide what it is that I need today. Do you see how such an attitude would serve to dissipate anxiety? This sort of prayer trusts the Lord’s answer.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be specific in what we pray for. Again, I think the point is our attitude.

The next petition in v.12, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” I will discuss more thoroughly with vv.14-15 in the next post. I’ll just point out here that we see a continued dependence on God, this time for the forgiveness of sin.

The last petition is in v. 13, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” [The Greek text makes ‘evil one’ a more accurate translation than ‘evil.’] This verse holds huge theological significance. As the preceding verses have expressed dependence on God and His sovereignty, so this verse recognizes God’s sovereignty over temptation and the devil. Many people don’t like the idea that God controls evil. Most people, probably. But if we look back at chapter 4 at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, we see clearly that God is in control. 4:1 reads, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” The Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness for the purpose of being tempted. In other words, the Spirit led Jesus into temptation. I am not saying the Spirit tempted Him. The devil did. James 1:13 makes it clear that God tempts no one. But God does lead us into temptation. Matthew 4:1 clearly states this and Matthew 6:13 supports this idea. Why would Jesus teach the disciples to ask God not to do something that it was not in God’s nature to do?

We know from accounts all over the Bible that God indirectly controls evil. One of the most notable examples is in the book of Job. Why was Job afflicted? Was it because Satan wanted Him to be? No. Ultimately, it was because God allowed him to be. Lamentations 3:38 reads, “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?” God is sovereign over all things, good and evil.

I don’t want to get into a theological debate, but it is important to note that the model prayer teaches us to recognize that God is sovereign over temptation and the devil’s activities and that it is appropriate to ask God to shield us from those things. The proper attitude expressed by the prayer also indicates a submission to God’s will in this area and all others – “Your will be done,” in v.10.

So in all the ‘we’ petitions we continue to see a God-centered view of prayer just like in the ‘You’ petitions. Let’s not forget that this model prayer communicates first and foremost a posture of submission, dependence, and reverence for God, rather than a formula for effective prayer. The attitude from which we pray will be the fountain from which the actual words spring.

Before ending this post, there is a related issue in evangelicalism that I’d like to address. It is called contemplative prayer, or centering prayer. In a nut shell, this is a kind of “prayer” in which you empty your mind either through total stillness and silence or by repeating a single word over and over. The goal is to commune with God and perhaps hear Him speaking to you.

It is being promoted by many in the emerging church and purpose-driven community. I would encourage you to look it up online. There is a plethora of material from both proponents and opponents. Given the explanation from those who promote it, spend some time thinking about whether or not it is Scriptural. Does Scripture teach us to empty our minds? You might take a look at Psalm 119 as you ponder this – does the Psalmist speak of emptying his mind or filling it? With what does he desire to fill it? Does the passage we’ve just studied encourage us to be silent and listen?

Many who promote contemplative prayer cite Psalm 46:10, sometimes translated as, “Be still and know that I am God.” This is a grievous proof-text wrenched out of context. A more accurate translation is, “Cease striving, and know that I am God.” You might take a look at the context and see what you think. But without this verse, the contemplative prayer crowd is up a creek without a paddle when it comes to Scriptural justification.

I believe that Scripture is how God speaks to man. Prayer is how man speaks to God. Contemplative prayer seeks to create an alternative revelation of God outside of the Word. It should be noted that the people promoting this are the same people who do not uphold the inerrancy of Scripture.

For next time, think about the connection between prayer and forgiveness, our being forgiving and being forgiven.

Matthew 6:7-15 - The "You" Petitions

Okay, let’s look at the first petition in the prayer, v.9, “Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” First, this is to be a model prayer, not something to be recited all the time. The Greek word houtos means ‘like this’ or ‘in this manner.’ So, Jesus is giving us an example, not something to memorize and recite.

Second, the reference to God as ‘Father’ is important. In the book of Matthew, whenever Jesus is addressing those outside His group of disciples, He refers to God as ‘God’. Whenever He is talking to the disciples, though, He refers to God as ‘Father’ and frequently, ‘Your Father.’ We see this quite a few times in the Sermon of the Mount. Another thing to note is the importance placed on the identity of one’s father in the Jewish culture. A person’s identity was tied up in who the father was. If your father was a fisherman, you would be a fisherman. If your father was a tax collector, you would be a tax collector. And famously, if your father was a carpenter, you would be a carpenter. So, here Jesus is pointing out the close relationship between the one praying and the One to Whom he is praying, and the idea that our identity is tied up in our Heavenly Father.

At the same time, He adds, “who is in heaven.” The idea is that God is near, ‘Our Father’, and at the same time far above us, ‘who is in heaven.’ Theologians refer to these to ideas as God’s immanence and transcendence, respectively. I think this shows again, as I mentioned in my last post, that we are able to come to God in prayer boldly since God is our Father, but we must also approach Him in reverence, knowing that He is far above us.

Third, what does ‘hallowed be Your name’ mean? A better translation would be, ‘let Your name be reverenced.’ The Greek word translated ‘hallowed’ could be defined as ‘treated as holy.’ So, here again we have the idea of reverence for God, deference to His holiness, assuming the proper posture of prayer. Another way that the translation ‘hallowed be your name’ fails is that it doesn’t bring across the fact that this is a petition to God asking Him to do something. “Father, let Your name be treated as holy. Make the world to reverence Your name. Take the honor due You.”

It is instructive that this is the first petition made in the prayer. I think this is significant. Our number one objective in everything, including our prayers, should be that God be glorified. Our number one desire should be that the name of God be reverenced and treated as holy in the world. Can you see how this prepares our heart and attitude to come before the Lord? When we come to Him saying, “First and foremost, God, be glorified,” every other concern that we bring to Him is put its proper perspective, that is, is takes its rightful place as secondary. When what we truly want most is for God to be reverenced, glorified, and honored, our hearts are prepared to accept and embrace whatever way God may respond to the rest of our prayer. Jesus is communicating the proper reverence and submission that should be present in our hearts and words during prayer.

Moving on to v.10, we see the second petition, “Let your kingdom come.” This touches on one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ preaching in the book of Matthew, the kingdom of God. It most likely denotes God’s kingly rule and the exercise of His power and authority. This petition then is that God’s rule might be manifested on the earth. It is completely forward looking, not focused on the here and now. It expresses a longing for God Himself above all other things. In my own life, my prayers are almost universally intent on the present or near future. Rarely have I prayed longing for the coming of the last days when God’s dominion will be completely manifested.

The focus on God continues with the third petition, “Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This one is closely tied to the second. It longs for lasting change on the earth, God’s moral will fully realized on earth as in heaven. It shows a complete submission to the Lord. Jesus prays this phrase verbatim in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matt 26:42.

These first three petitions are sometimes referred to as “You” petitions because they are all focused on God. Let Your name be reverenced, Your kingdom come, Your will be done. This model prayer is God-centered and it demonstrates for us the proper perspective of prayer. While we may come to the Lord with our own requests, our bottom-line concern in every prayer should be God’s reputation, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. “Not my will, but Thine.” There is no naming and claiming here. That idea is so grossly foreign to this prayer and it should be rejected.

What a dramatic impact there would be, not only on our prayer lives but also on our attitude and perspective in all things, if every time we came to the Lord in prayer we first aligned our motives and our desires with the Lord’s and sought the accomplishment of His will above all things.

We’ll see next time how even the next three petitions, sometimes called the “We” petitions, are also completely God-centered. Drink deep.

Matthew 6:7-15 - Babbling Prayer

This passage of Scripture will be a challenge to many of us. I know for me personally it really opened my eyes to what prayer is really all about. Prayer is my lining myself up with the purposes of God and acknowledging my utter dependence on Him for everything in my life. If you were to look at a transcript of my prayer life over the last ten years you would probably get the impression that prayer is primarily concerned with informing God about our needs and that this is best done by saying the same thing over and over, attempting to wear God down and get Him to do what we want. Matthew 6:7-15 shows us that this is precisely the opposite of what prayer should be.

First, let’s talk about how this passage fits into the context. In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses acts of piety, including alms-giving, prayer, and fasting, warning the disciples against doing these practices in order to be noticed by men. 6:1 is the key verse for this section, which ends in 6:18. This key verse reads, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” Within this section, the passage at hand functions as an excursus, or parenthetical section, between the teachings on prayer and fasting. In vs. 5-6, Jesus has already commented on praying out of a desire to be seen as pious. Now he turns to the act of praying itself.

Verses 7-8 address the issue of thoughtless prayer. In v.7, Jesus warns us not to use meaningless repetition. It literally means, ‘do not babble.’ He compares this kind of prayer to the prayers of the Gentiles, who think that the more they say, the better chance they will be answered.

You may have noticed in your own life a tendency to do this. Sometimes I am guilty of saying the same thing in as many different ways as possible. The next day I say the same basic prayers just varying the vocabulary used. Then there are times when I pray and find my mind wandering and thinking about a dozen other things rather than about what I am saying to the Lord.

In v.8, Jesus exposes the false conception of prayer that leads to meaningless repetition. “So do not be like them [the Gentiles]; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” We assume that we are telling God things He doesn’t know. But He does know what we need and it is therefore unnecessary for us to say the same thing over and over. We also, whether in theory or not – certainly in practice – assume that the bulk of prayer is our asking God to do things for us. Jesus will show in the following verses that this is not the case. Of course, God wants to hear our requests, but when that is the mainstay of our prayer lives, we are missing the point.

I think there are a couple of things we should take from these two verses. First, our requests should be to the point without saying the same thing over and over. God knows what is going on. Sure we should pray consistently and with persistence, but I don’t think we should spend a lot of time helping God to see all the reasons why it would behoove Him to come down on our side on this or that issue. As we’ll see in the model prayer, prayer is a mixture of request and submission, with submission being the higher priority.

So what does this mean for the model that Jesus sets for us as we see Him in the Gospels spending entire nights in prayer? Again, we assume based on our false conception of prayer that Jesus spent that whole time asking for things. We see in Jesus’ prayers not only requests for Himself, but supplication on the behalf of others, and the submission of Himself to the Father’s will.

Second, prayer should be characterized by reverence for God. When we approach the throne, we should feel the weight of that act. We are talking to Almighty God, the sovereign, omniscient Creator. An awareness of His infinite holiness should preclude any mindless, mechanical speech. It is irreverence that allows us to utter babbling prayers. If I had the opportunity to speak with the President, my head would undoubtedly be in the game. How much more should my thoughts be intent on the Lord when I approach Him in prayer.

Much of our reverence for God has been lost in the last several decades as we have become more concerned with pleasing men than pleasing the Lord. I lay the blame at the feet of pastors who have assumed a ‘do what works’ mentality in reference to ministry methodology. The attempt to look and act cool to the world has resulted in such a casual atmosphere in our churches that God is treated like He’s our kid brother or drinking buddy. A pastor who does not model reverence for the Lord from the pulpit by being careful with the Word, sets the tone for the church, which results in a congregation that is able to enter prayer feeling like they are talking to their next door neighbor.

Of course, God is our Father. He is not a God who is far away, but a God who has come near. That does not mean, however, that He has changed from the Holy God we see in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. Due to the sacrifice of the Son, we have the privilege of approaching the throne of grace with boldness, but we must do so with reverence. It is that reverence that puts us in a posture to do what Jesus shows us in His model prayer – align ourselves with His sovereign will and acknowledge our complete dependence on Him. When we approach Him with reverence, it is natural to say, “Your will be done” and “We need you, Lord.”

I have found it to be good for my spirit to pray on my knees. There is nothing super spiritual about it, but it helps me to remember who I am talking to and what a privilege it is to do so. It puts me in a reverent frame of mind and spirit.

Next time, we’ll look at the first half of the model prayer. Drink deep.