Matthew 6:1-15

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***Week 3 Memory Verse***

 

In this manner, therefore, pray:

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 forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

 

 

Read Matthew 6:1-15!

 

Matthew begins chapter 6 with an instruction given by Jesus on how to pray and the motives behind the prayer. By showing us how we to pray, He has also given us a way to enter into relationship to the Father through Him, Jesus.

If you do good deeds to get a pat on the back by your peers then that is your reward, leaving you no reward with the Father.

But by doing what is right in “secret” and humble ourselves before the Lord will not go unnoticed by the father because He sees all things and brings all things to light.

We should not pray in vain repetition but God wants us to pray from our heart. We should never think we are educating him on things that are happening down here. He already knows. But he wants to have a personal, one on one relationship with us.

You don’t have you use words that you have to look up to find its definition. It’s not how elaborate or how extensive your vocabulary is in a prayer. God talk to you in a way you can understand. It’s not a theatrical play for all to see. To pray is going into your secret place, your prayer closet, a place you can get alone with God.

We are to go into our inner room, and pray to our Father who is in secret, and our Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. This is how we build a relationship with the Father.

Jesus then gives us an outline on how to pray.

Our Father

1.       The person – we are to pray specifically to Him. To identify Him you and you to Him.  We come into his presence as a child of his, and not on the basis of our condition that day, but as the position we are in to Him. The word “our” would indicate that I’m not an only child, but an heir with Jesus Christ and His church. Father is a vertical line directly to Him, but adding “our” is a horizontal line and encompasses the church and creates a cross, a crucified life.

Who is in Heaven

2.       The position – You are locating his sovereign judicial authority. Heaven is His throne and the earth is his footstool. It means that He reigns. He is omniscient, He is omnipresent, and He is omnipotent. There is no one or thing higher than He is. Everything is up under his authority and nothing is beyond His authority. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

Hallowed be Your name

3.       Praise – His name is so holy that devout Jews would not even say His name in fear of taking it in vain. How holy is just His name alone. A man’s name is embodied by his character. Just His name alone shows me that He is my provider, my banner, my healer, my refuge, and my fortress. The name of the Lord is a strong tower where the righteous run into it and they are safe. Start looking at who God is to you, and speaking it so your own ears can hear it. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. So praise his name to access the presence of God.

Your kingdom come

4.       The power – To want His power to come, His authority, His auspicious reign. To pray for divine godly leadership to come down. It is our hedge of protection against of principalities that trespass into our life. It’s the way you want to pray when you want God’s presence to soar into your situation. Pray with a strategy, a war posture, and not out of frustrations and whining.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

5.       Purpose - To humble ourselves before the Lord and be obedient and submissive to his will. To be still and know His word is absolute truth. That the plans he has for you, since he created you, is better than any plan you’ve made.

 Give us this day our daily bread

6.       The provision – For whatever is released in heaven to be released on earth. He is the supplier of all of our needs.

The word “give” implies that we know He already has what we need or want. “This day”

And forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors

7.       Prerequisites – In proportion to how we forgive, God will forgive us. If we give conditional forgiveness, we cannot expect God to give us Unconditional forgiveness. Conditional forgiveness is when you refuse to give forgiveness because the other party hasn’t met your “conditions”. For example, refusing to forgive because no apology has been given to you. Forgiveness does not mean reconciliation nor does it mean that you are endorsing what happened. Setting conditions to forgiveness means you’ve put the ball in the other party’s court. But unconditional forgiveness means you have placed the ball in God’s hands and you trust Him to take care of the situation instead of handling it yourself. Don’t hold on to unforgiveness like it’s a life boat.  It’s like piling wet sand bags on your back filled with resentment, bitterness, and hate. It is a prideful sin. Let it go, and forgive!

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

8.       Penitence – A penitent heart. A deep sadness of knowing we’ve done something wrong. We are asking Him not to let us walk into something we cannot handle, and if He sees us walking into something we cannot handle to deliver us from it. If we are being tempted there is a way of an escape so that we are able to bear it.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, amen.

9.       Credit - But let everything be according to His will. He holds all the power and deserves the credit. We have received His help, leadership, protection, bread, and forgiveness, our cup runs over.

 

TIME OF REFLECTION:

       Start a relationship today with the Father through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Get away by yourself and talk to Him. He knows who we are better than we do ourselves, but He also wants us to know Him. Read your bible as often as you can. Ask for understanding of His word and it shall be revealed to you by Him.  

 

  

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ASHLEY WHISNEANT is the wife of 8 years to Josh, and a home schooling mom of 3 children. She and her husband are serving as Associate Pastors of Trinity Church since February 2014 and have an evangelical ministry called Intense Ministries since 2010.

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