Introduction

• I am nervous to teach on this prayer:
  • Because prayer is incredibly personal.
  • Because this prayer is holy ground.
• But our Father is calling us—and Jesus knows the way.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:7–15, ESV)

• This is a compact prayer—it can be sincerely uttered in one-minute, or expanded upon for hours.
  • Many words (7): Jesus showed us that long, ongoing, or repeated prayer can be appropriate.
    • He prayed for entire nights (Luke 6:12), commended the persistent widow as an example for prayer (Luke 18:1-8), and repeated His own requests in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:44).
    • Key: intelligence vs. empty phrases (v. 7; babblings).
• This is a community prayer—”our” and “us” language prevails throughout, so that even though we go to our prayer closet alone, we are conscious of others while in prayer.
• This is a central prayer—found at the center of the Sermon on the Mount, the unique brand of life found here is only possible with this prayer.
• This is a template prayer—Jesus said, “Pray then like this,” indicating that this prayer serves as a structure for our prayer lives (9).
• This is an inverted prayer—we start with Him and His desires before moving onto our needs.
  • Example: not a shopping list approach.
  • We will break it up by contemplating the two halves of the prayer—His desires and our needs.

This is prayer to “our Father in heaven.”

• Our Father: The first phrase helps us recall our access and relationship.
  • Though the Old Testament did depict Yahweh as their Father, it was rare to address Him this way in first-century Judaism.
• In heaven: The second phrase helps us continue to revere Him.
  • He is the sovereign, transcendent God over all the skies and the entire cosmos.
  • He is God of all the skies.
    • The sky over the Monterey Peninsula, but also the sky over Iran and Israel. But every sky. When scientists peer through their telescopes at the vast, ever-expanding cosmos, we must know our Father reigns over every last corner of it.

Our Father knows what we need before we ask.

• So we don’t have to use mindless repetition or a mountain of words to be heard, like people do with false gods.
  • Examples: prophets of Ba’al (1 Kings 18:26), Ephesians for Diana (Acts 19:34).
  • Example: Intelligence briefing vs. Intelligent conversation (Bruner)
• Why doesn’t he just give us our needs then?
  • A1: So often, he does. (Example: toddler)
  • A2: Because prayer cultivates relationship, expresses dependence, and conforms our desires to His.

1. Pray for His Honor, Rule, and Will (6:9-10)

a. Honor—”Hallowed be your name”

A request that the Father’s true identity—His actual character, not some distorted depiction of Him—would be recognized, honored, and given weight by everyone in His church and in His world.

• Name: Reputation, character, true identity.
• Hallow: give weight.

This is a good place for worship.

• God’s Nature:
  • Incommunicable: The “omnis” (omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience)
  • Communicable: good, holy, love, merciful, just, etc.
• God’s Titles: Adonai (Lord), Elohim (majesty, Creator), El Shaddai (God of Power), El Roi (God who sees), Yahweh Rapha (The Lord who heals), Yahweh Jireh (The Lord will provide), etc.
• God’s Imagery: Shepherd, Husband, King, Judge, Rock, Potter, etc.

b. Rule—”Your kingdom come”

A request that the Father’s rule would advance in us, in human history, and in fullness in the future.

• Kingdom: God’s rule.
• The request:
  • Your kingdom come in my heart.
  • Your kingdom come impact our world.
  • Your kingdom come and consume all things in a new earth.

This is a good place to pray for kingdom expansion.

• Churches, pastors, missions/missionaries
• Justice and mercy ministries
• Politicians, schools, society

c. Will—”Your will be done”

A request that the Father’s commands and purposes—especially as they appear in the Sermon on the Mount—would be carried out with the same delight  and wholeness that marks heaven itself.

This is a good place to pray for sanctification.

• Fruit of the Spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23, ESV)
• Complete: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23, ESV)

2. Pray for His Provision, Forgiveness, and Leadership (6:11-15)

a. Provision—”Give us this day our daily bread”

A request for the Father to provide everything necessary for life today—a daily, conscious dependence upon Him.

• Those of us who have thousands of days of daily bread set aside must remember those for whom this is a genuine prayer.
• This is an echo of Israel’s manna experience.

This is a good place to pray for dependence.

• Finances
• Faith vs. Worry
• Generosity

b. Forgiveness—”And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors”

A request for the ongoing experience of the Father’s restorative grace and mercy for our failures, all while we extend that same forgiveness to others.

This is a good place to pray for cleansing/commitment.

• Confession
• Cleansing: Earnestly ask for His cleansing work in your life.
• Commitment:
  • Aaronic Priesthood—ears, eyes, mouth, heart, hands, feet

Note: Jesus’ postscript on forgiveness reinforces this prayer.

• 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
• Forgiveness, like all of God’s gifts, brings a responsibility.
• A forgiven community is a forgiving community.
• An unforgiving community is not walking in the forgiveness the Father gives.
• Distinguish three types of forgiveness:
  • Judicial forgiveness: God’s canceling of debt.
    • Example: God’s pardon of David after his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:13).
  • Psychological forgiveness: internal release of bitterness.
    • Example: Joseph’s release of bitterness toward his brothers over time and through testing (Genesis 50:15–21).
  • Relational forgiveness: restoration of trust and relationship.
    • Example: the restoration of Peter by Jesus (John 21:15–19)—both parties involved, repentance evident, trust reestablished.
  • God himself cancels debt, heals the heart, and rebuilds the relationship—but often on different timelines.

c. Leadership—”And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

A request for the Father to lead our lives, especially as we confront various temptations and evils that are designed to destroy us, rescuing us when we are overtaken.

• This sermon calls for extraordinary strength—but this request acknowledges our extraordinary weakness.

This is a good place to pray for the future.

• Including today
• Joshua 5:13-15—I want the Lord to go before me.

Question: Where is the doxology in my translation?

• Most major translations—including mine—do not include the classic doxology, “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (14). Why?
• It is absent from our oldest and best Greek manuscripts.
• It seems to have been added in the second century church for liturgical use (public recitation: it made for a much smoother ending).
• It seems modeled on David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-13, so it is perfectly biblical.
• But Jesus did not mind ending prayer (or a sermon—see the end of the Sermon on the Mount) with some darkness.

Concluding Applications

Summary: (1) Pray for His honor, rule, and will. (2) Then pray for his provision, forgiveness, and leadership.

1. Find (and use) a prayer closet
2. Quietly pray over this template
3. Flesh the template out on paper
4. Begin (your day, and your prayer) with Him
5. Watch what happens

Study Questions

Head

1. Jesus contrasts two wrong approaches to prayer—the hypocrite’s prayer (6:5–6) and the pagan’s prayer (6:7–8)—before giving his model. What is wrong with each approach, and how does “Our Father in heaven” address both errors at once?
2. The Lord’s Prayer is structured in two halves: God’s desires first, then our needs. Walk through each of the six petitions. What does the ordering itself teach us about the priorities Jesus wants to shape our prayer lives?

Heart

1. When you pray, does it feel like you are stepping onto holy ground with a Father who knows you? What tends to get in the way of that sense of intimacy and reverence?
2. The three types of forgiveness—judicial, psychological, and relational—often operate on different timelines. Which of the three do you find most difficult, and why? Is there someone in your life toward whom you are carrying unforgiveness that is quietly hindering your own experience of the Father’s grace?

Hands

1. Use this prayer as a template—praying through each petition and expanding it with your own specific concerns, confessions, and requests. Take ten minutes this week to pray through the Lord’s Prayer slowly, petition by petition, in writing. What did you notice about your prayer life when you slowed down and used the structure Jesus gave?
2. The sermon closed with a challenge to find and use a prayer closet—a consistent, private place of meeting with the Father. Do you have one? If not, what is one concrete step you can take this week to establish a regular, unhurried place and time for prayer?