As It Is In Heaven

As It Is In Heaven
February 1, 2012 4:30 AM -0600
Manuscript
Outline
Notes
Bibliography
Could it be that we don't see powerful, amazing answers to prayer because we skip right to "Give us this day"? Discover four powerful keys for truly effective prayer.
Thesis: Prayer which is truly effective in deepening our faith must center not on ourselves but on God’s person, praise, kingdom, and will.
Objective: Challenge believers to prioritize God and God’s plans over their own stuff in prayer.
  1. Intro
    1. Prayer is powerful. How many would agree?
    2. Of course we do, but how many of us actually take time to really pray on a regular basis?
    3. So many don’t know how to pray
    4. So many think they know how to pray
    5. What will it take to be truly and greatly effective in prayer?
    6. Matthew 6:9-10
      1. Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
    7. This is not a prescription, but a principle.
    8. Astounding in its simplicity.
    9. Arranged very intentionally, specifically according to priority in prayer.
    10. We lean very heavily toward the “daily bread,” “forgive us our trespasses,” and “lead us not into temptation” bits, but we miss the things that Jesus thought were far more important than any of that.
  2. We must address properly (9).
    1. We must pray in community (“Our;” Prayer must be done in private, but it’s equally important to pray in community with others. We must balance Matthew 6:6 (“Go into your private room, shut your door, and pray”) and Matthew 18:20 (“Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”).).
    2. We must pray to our Dad. (“Our Father;” Our idea of God as Father is tainted by the world’s extremes. We have fathers who are little more than sperm donors, so we embrace the idea that God set the universe in motion and stepped out of the picture (i.e., theism). We have fathers who abuse, belittle, abandon, etc., so we have people who are afraid of and estranged from God. We have fathers who cater to their spoiled brats’ every whim, so we have people who treat God like a magic genie with unlimited wishes. ILLUSTRATION: “Please, Daddy...” But the reality of this title, “Our Father,” is that God would have us relate to Him as the perfect Father who loves us deeply, knows us intimately, and provides for us completely but still balances all of that with what we need and demands a tremendous amount of respect. God doesn’t want us to fear and/or loathe Him, but neither would He spoil us. In short, He wants to be the perfect Dad who expects responsibility from us, provides what we can’t for ourselves, and commands a tremendous amount of respect.).
    3. We must pray to our heavenly Father (“Our Father in heaven;” It is essential that we remember that, despite the intimate relationship God would have with us as our Father, He is nonetheless transcendent (i.e., bigger, more knowledgeable, more powerful, more holy than we are). Thus, we must always address Him with reverence.).
  3. We must hallow God’s name (9).
    1. God is already holy (“Your name be honored as holy;” This first petition is not at all about making God’s name holy. His name - He - is already holy, regardless of what we pray or do.).
    2. We must praise God’s name (“Your name be honored as holy;” It’s fitting that the first thing from our mouths when we pray should be a note of praise. We must praise God for who He is (i.e., holiness is an integral attribute of His character) and what He does (i.e., all of His actions are holy).).
    3. We must sanctify God’s name (“Your name be honored as holy;” Our prayer should be coupled inseparably with the recognition that God is holy and we, therefore, as His people, must be holy as well. Proverbs 15:29: “The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.” James 5:16: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.”).
  4. We must seek God’s kingdom (10).
    1. God’s kingdom is come (“Your kingdom come;” The second petition is not at all about asking for God’s kingdom to become real. It’s already real. And it is coming - indeed, it’s already here - regardless of whether we like it or not. Rather, this is all about us wanting it to come.).
    2. We must surrender to God’s kingdom (“Your kingdom come;” The request here has two aspects. The first is really that God’s authority would be established increasingly in our lives. That is, we must invite Him to take over more and more of us, giving Him more power so that we increasingly “reflect His love, obey His laws, honor Him, do good for all people, and proclaim the good news of the kingdom” (ESV Study Bible).).
    3. We must build God’s kingdom (“Your kingdom come;” The second aspect of this request is that we would be successful in our proclamation of the good news of the kingdom. That is, that we would be effective in evangelism and ministry.).
  5. We must pursue God’s will (10).
    1. We must seek God’s will (“Your will be done;” If we’re going to pursue God’s will, then we need to know what it is. This means that we’re not concerned with what we want, but rather what He wants. And this demands spending time in Bible study, listening prayer, and fellowship. We will find God’s will to be love, witnessing/evangelism, and bigger than we can accomplish on our own.).
    2. We must want God’s will (“Your will be done;” It’s not enough to know God’s will. We need to want it more than anything, particularly our own will.)
    3. We must do God’s will (“Your will be done;” It’s not enough to want God’s will. We need to work to realize it.).
  6. Conclusion
    1. What dominates your prayers?
    2. Could it be that your prayers are not being answered because you’re not praying with the right priorities?
    3. Could it be that your answered prayers would be a whole lot greater if you started praying with the right priorities?
    4. Challenge: Make prayer a time when you align yourself with God’s will rather than ask God to align Himself with yours.
Ryrie
  • (1-18) “Christ discusses three pharisaic practices of piety: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.”
  • (9) “The Lord’s Prayer is a model for our prayers. It begins with adoration of God (v 9), acknowledges subjection to His will (v 10), asks petitions of Him (vv 11-13a), and ends with an ascription of praise (v 13b, though this may have been added later).”

ESV Study Bible
  • (1-18) “Jesus gives examples of how a person’s faith can be expressed in a hypocritical way, when giving to the needy (vv. 2–4), praying (vv. 5–15), and fasting (vv. 16–18).”
  • (9-13) “Jesus gives his disciples an example to follow when praying. The prayer has a beginning invocation and six petitions that give proper priorities. The first three petitions focus on the preeminence of God while the final three focus on personal needs in a community context.”
  • (9) “Father (Gk. patēr, “father”) would have been “Abba” in Aramaic, the everyday language spoken by Jesus (cf. Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). It was the word used by Jewish children for their earthly fathers.”
  • (9) “Since the term in both Aramaic and Greek was also used by adults to address their fathers, the claim that “Abba” meant “Daddy” is misleading and runs the risk of irreverence. Nevertheless, the idea of praying to God as “Our Father” conveys the authority, warmth, and intimacy of a loving father’s care, while in heaven reminds believers of God’s sovereign rule over all things.”
  • (9) “The theme of “heavenly Father” is found throughout the OT (Deut. 14:1; 32:6; Ps. 103:13; Jer. 3:4; 31:9; Hos. 11:1).”
  • (9) “Jesus’ disciples are invited into the intimacy of God the Son with his Father.”
  • (9) “The concern of this first petition (see note on Matt. 6:9–13) is that God’s name would be hallowed—that God would be treated with the highest honor and set apart as holy.”
  • (10) “Christians are called to pray and work for the continual advance of God’s kingdom on earth (the second petition; see note on vv. 9–13). The presence of God’s kingdom in this age refers to the reign of Christ in the hearts and lives of believers, and to the reigning presence of Christ in his body, the church—so that they increasingly reflect his love, obey his laws, honor him, do good for all people, and proclaim the good news of the kingdom.”
  • (10) “The third petition speaks of God’s will. This means God’s “revealed will” (see note on Eph. 5:17), which involves conduct that is pleasing to him as revealed in Scripture.”
  • (10) “Just as God’s will is perfectly experienced in heaven, Jesus prays that it will be experienced on earth.”
  • (10) “The will of God will be expressed in its fullness only when God’s kingdom comes in its final form, when Christ returns in power and great glory (see Matt. 24:30; cf. Rom. 8:18–25; Rev. 20:1–10), but it will increasingly be seen in this age as well (Matt. 13:31–33).”

HCSB Study Bible
  • (9) “By commanding His disciples to pray like this rather than simply "pray this," Jesus demonstrated that this prayer was offered as a model rather than a mantra to be recited.”
  • (9) “The first person plural pronoun Our implies that Jesus intended this prayer to be a model for corporate prayer, i.e., a prayer for when disciples gather as a group.”
  • (9) The first person plural also “confirms that Mt 6:5 was not intended to prohibit disciples from praying together publicly in the synagogue or other gatherings but instead prohibited prayers that were motivated by religious showmanship.”
  • (9) “Your name be honored as holy suggests that Jesus expected His disciples to live righteous lives that honor rather than profane God's name (5:16; Lv 22:31-32). This is an important precondition for successful prayer.”
  • (10) “In light of parallels with contemporary Jewish prayers and Jesus' teaching that the kingdom of God is a present reality but also awaits a fuller future consummation, the petition Your kingdom come has a present and a future focus.”
  • (10) “The petition asks that disciples submit more fully to God's will as subjects of His reign through Jesus.”
  • (10) “We should daily pray for the future consummation of God's rule in which He will reign fully and completely over the world.”

Henry
  • “Because we know not what to pray for as we ought, he here helps our infirmities, by putting words into our mouths”
  • “So many were the corruptions that had crept into this duty of prayer among the Jews, that Christ saw it needful to give a new directory for prayer, to show his disciples what must ordinarily be the matter and method of their prayer, which he gives in words that may very well be used as a form; as the summary or contents of the several particulars of our prayers.”
  • “Not that we are tied up to the use of this form only, or of this always, as if this were necessary to the consecrating of our other prayers; we are here bid to pray after this manner, with these words, or to this effect.”
  • “ Before we come to our business, there must be a solemn address to him with whom our business lies; Our Father.”
  • Henry points out the plural “our,” noting that it implies prayers should be offered not just alone but also with groups of people.
  • God “is a common Father to all mankind by creation, Mal. ii. 10; Acts xvii. 28. He is in a special manner a Father to the saints, by adoption and regeneration (Eph. i. 5; Gal. iv. 6); and an unspeakable privilege it is. Thus we must eye him in prayer, keep up good thoughts of him, such as are encouraging and not affrighting; nothing more pleasing to God, nor pleasant to ourselves, than to call God Father.”
  • “If he be our Father, he will pity us under our weaknesses and infirmities (Ps. ciii. 13), will spare us (Mal. iii. 17), will make the best of our performances, though very defective, will deny us nothing that is good for us, Luke xi. 11-13.”
  • “He is a Father, and therefore we may come to him with boldness, but a Father in heaven, and therefore we must come with reverence, Eccl. v. 2.”
  • The word rendered “holy” (HCSB) in vs 9 “is the same word that in other places is translated sanctified.”
  • “We must begin our prayers with praising God, and it is very fit he should be first served, and that we should give glory to God, before we expect to receive mercy and grace from him. Let him have praise of his perfections, and then let us have the benefit of them.”
  • “We fix our end, and it is the right end to be aimed at, and ought to be our chief and ultimate end in all our petitions, that God may be glorified; all our other requests must be in subordination to this, and in pursuance of it.”
  • “We desire and pray that the name of God, that is, God himself, in all that whereby he has made himself known, may be sanctified and glorified both by us and others, and especially by himself.”
  • “ God will sanctify his own name, whether we desire it or not.”
  • “When our Saviour prayed, Father glorify thy name, it was immediately answered, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
  • “What God has promised we must pray for; for promises are given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer; and when the accomplishment of a promise is near and at the door, when the kingdom of heaven is at hand, we should then pray for it the more earnestly.”
  • “Dr. Whitby, ex Vitringa. "Let thy kingdom come, let the gospel be preached to all and embraced by all; let all be brought to subscribe to the record God has given in his word concerning his Son, and to embrace him as their Saviour and Sovereign. Let the bounds of the gospel-church be enlarged, the kingdom of the world be made Christ's kingdom, and all men become subjects to it, and live as becomes their character."”
  • “We pray that God's kingdom being come, we and others may be brought into obedience to all the laws and ordinances of it.”
  • “We make Christ but a titular Prince, if we call him King, and do not do his will: having prayed that he may rule us, we pray that we may in every thing be ruled by him.”
  • “thy will be done” is essentially praying, "Lord, do what thou pleasest with me and mine; 1 Sam. iii. 18. I refer myself to thee, and am well satisfied that all thy counsel concerning me should be performed."
  • “We pray that earth may be made more like heaven by the observance of God's will (this earth, which, through the prevalency of Satan's will, has become so near akin to hell), and that saints may be made more like the holy angels in their devotion and obedience.”
Glo
  • NIV Study Bible
    • (9) The term “Our Father” is “never used by Jesus to refer to his and the disciples’ Father together.”
    • (9) “hallowed” “God is already holy, so the prayer is not that God be made holy but that he be regarded as holy. By his saving and judging acts in history he shows Himself holy. This petition is that He so achieve His saving purposes in the world that His holiness is displayed before the eyes of the world’s people and acknowledged by them - which will happen only as his kingdom comes.
    • (9-13) “Commonly known as ‘the Lord’s Prayer,’ it is really The Disciples’ Prayer,’ since it was meant as a model for them. The prayer nestles at the literary center of the Sermon on the Mount, and the surrounding texts in the Sermon echo the prayer’s concerns. It contains 6 petitions, three relating more directly to God (vv 9-10) and three to us (vv 11-13). The order of these petitions is significant and intentional. A similar prayer in Lk 11:2-4 occurs in a different historical setting.”
    • (10) “your kingdom come” is “not in the sense of to ‘come’ into existence - after all, it is already here - but to ‘come’ more and more completely until its full and final consummation.”
    • (10) “Your will be done” “logically follows ‘your kingdom come.’”
    • (10) “on earth as it is in heaven” is “probably to be read with each of the three preceding petitions.”

Other

  • Ryrie, Charles C. Ryrie Study Bible Expanded Edition. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.
  • The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.
  • The HCSB Study Bible. http://www.mystudybible.com
  • Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc.i.html
  • Glo Bible. http://www.globible.com
Loading...
Loading...
©2014 Debra Heights Wesleyan Church
4025 Lower Beaver Rd
Des Moines, IA
(515) 279-5212