Prayer

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

This a prayer we are all well acquainted with. I say 'all' but in truth, I don't know if you are. Those of us who are familiar with this prayer most likely can recite it by heart and we use it in our prayers all the time. Did Jesus want us to do that? Use the prayer all the time? Did Jesus want us to pray vain repetitions? We know He didn't like vain repetitions. In fact right before he gave us this manner of praying he told us this-

Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

So, why do we think if we pray this prayer that Jesus gave us, over and over and over, every day, once day, ten times a day, fifty times, that it's something that Jesus would approve of? You say because you aren't using VAIN repetitions. What exactly are vain repetitions? Stay with me here, take time and read the following…

Let's look at a dictionary to get an idea.

Vain

1. Empty; worthless; having no substance, value or importance.

2. Fruitless; ineffectual.

3. Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; elated with a high opinion of one's own accomplishments, or with things more showy than valuable; conceited.

4. Empty; unreal; as a vain chimers.

5. Showy; ostentatious.

6. Light; inconstant; worthless.

7. Empty; unsatisfying.

8. False; deceitful; not genuine; spurious.

9. Not effectual; having no efficacy

So there you have it in part. Now, what do you suppose Jesus meant when He told us not to use vain repetitions?

A possible answer is that when a prayer becomes something we say by rote it becomes a vain repetition. When the words we speak hold no real meaning to us, they are in vain. Just because a person knows the words by heart and can recite them upon being asked, does not mean those words hold a single ounce of importance to them. In our day to day talking we can we can babble word after word but those words can mean nothing at all. What makes our words worthy?

Let's think about it. Do we ever find ourselves telling someone… 'I need you to REALLY listen to me'? We say that because we know our listeners don't always fully listen to us and we want our words to be heard and understood. When Jesus gave us the words to say in this manner of praying, He wanted us to comprehend what we were saying. Not only that, He wanted us to say those words directly to His Father, who is Our Father. He wants the relationship to be a familiar one, a comfortable one, a real one, a relationship filled with the knowledge that we have a compassionate listener, One who really want to hear us, One who truly listens to our every word attentively. He does this when we speak in truth, from our hearts.

If the words we are saying to God have no real importance to us, why should they have any importance to God?

Do we think that Jesus gave us a magic prayer that no matter what, when those words comes out of our mouths God is instantly pleased? We've done no favors to anyone if we've taught them to recite a prayer that is in vain, holding no weight and meaning nothing beyond being sounds in the air, or in our head. Jesus didn't give us that prayer so that we could pray like those he told us spoke in vain repetitions.

You protest, thinking that God will always think those words Jesus spoke are something special, and if you just repeat them, maybe even over and over, it's fine.

People won't like to hear what I have to say about that, especially those who repeat the prayer the Lord gave us all the time. They might even think I'm crazy, and just don't understand. They could be right. You know what? I repeat those words myself, a lot, and guess what? When I do, I TRY (notice the capital letters there)I TRY to stop and contemplate the meaning of what I'm praying as I do. It's so easy to just say those words without thinking all that much about them. We speak them, doing our due diligence and get on with things. Recite the prayer and throw in a couple extra words for those we believe need, want, or have asked for prayers, and we've done good. Really? Do you think that's how God looks at it?

Teach us to pray. These words were said by those who had been praying all their lives. They knew what prayer was. They wanted something more. They didn't want a prayer they'd heard for many years and had been taught to pray from their youth on up. Why weren't those prayers sufficient to them? Why did they need Jesus to teach them to pray? It's important that we ask ourselves these questions.

Two times Jesus taught this prayer - once to His disciples after He'd finished a private prayer, and another time to a crowd of people.

Luk 11:1  And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Luk 11:2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

Luk 11:3  Give us day by day our daily bread.

Luk 11:4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Are the two prayers exact? I'll compare them for you…

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, AS IN HEAVEN SO IN EARTH.

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done IN EARTH AS IT IS IT IS IN HEAVEN

Differences. Am I being petty? No. Are the meanings the same, basically, yes. Let's continue.

And forgive us our SINS; FOR WE ALSO FORGIVE EVERY ONE THAT IS INDEBTED TO US. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

And forgive us our DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER AMEN.

Interesting isn't it? We understand forgive us our 'trespasses' as we forgive those who 'trespass' against us- yet trespass(es) is not in the Bible in these two verses. Forgive us our SINS is there. We are told to forgive trespasses elsewhere in other verses, but not in this prayer. Even more interesting is - forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and forgive us our sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.

We ask God the Father to forgive us our sins, LIKE WE also forgive EVERY ONE that is indebted to us. We forgive everyone who owes us anything. No matter the debt we forgive because we want the Father to forgive us in the same way- whatever we've done against Him, we want that forgiven, so whatever ANYONE has done against us must be forgiven by us. The two are intertwined. We cannot ask God to forgive us if we aren't willing to forgive others to the farthest depths we are able to forgive.

The small detail in differences between the two times Jesus gave the prayer should tell us at the least that the exact wording wasn't as important as the meaning of what Jesus was telling us to pray.

He gave us the structure of praying, not a new prayer that would become a vain repetition in years to come. He gave us the things that we should have in our prayers that we pray. Recognize our heavenly Father is holy. Recognize we are living in the reality of waiting and wanting His kingdom. Recognize that no matter what, above and beyond our own will we want our Father's will to be done right here and now. We have to recognize that He supplies our daily need- salvation! Who is the bread of life? Jesus! Seeking forgiveness daily for our transgressions, recognizing there will never be a day we don't need to seek this. Knowing as stated already, we have to forgive to be forgiven. Realizing that we are supposed to recognize that there are temptations specifically waiting for us and that we don't want to be put before those temptations, we want deliverance from evil. When we pray to be delivered, we are comprehending that evil surrounds us in this world and threatens to consume us, real evil, that which would deceive us and steals us from God. These are realities, Jesus didn't teach us these words so we could be flippant about them.

Jesus also told us to pray for one another. Throughout the New Testament we read about praying for others, but where is the outline for that prayer? I'll leave that for your contemplation.

There is however, something else I want to point out.

GIVE us …

FORGIVE us ….

LEAD us…

DELIVER us…

These are the petitions we make when we recite the prayer Jesus gave to us.

If we could give ourselves our daily bread, if we could forgive ourselves for our sins, if we could lead ourselves not into temptation, if we could deliver ourselves from evil… why are we saying otherwise in this prayer?

We are asking the Father to do for us what we CAN'T do on our own! We can't! It's senseless for us to believe we can! It's horrific for us to believe we have our own power to do these things. Any boasting to the effect that we've been able to do those things for ourselves is a lie.

The prayer isn't… Father… when I can't find my own daily needs, step in. It's not, when I can't forgive myself, help me out. When I fail at not going into temptation, take over and lead me elsewhere. And, when I can't deliver myself from evil, hey, can you do it?

Our reliance upon the Father first and foremost for these things is a must!

So, where does that leave us when we walk right into temptation, and evil over takes us? Does that mean the Father isn't doing His part, because hey, we prayed this prayer, we prayed those words?

What it means is we may pray those words, speak those petitions but we are not in full surrender to God at the time we are sinning. Hence, it's a DAILY prayer, something we seek on a daily (every single day) basis. We keep praying, we keep despising our failures, we are never content with them, never excusing them! We don't jump into temptation happily, and commit evil joyously and then ask for forgiveness day after day. We hate the temptations that lures us! We hate the evil that we do even as we do it! Contradictory? No! Case in point- how many people addicted to anything, hate their addiction even as they give into it? So many. We should never stop hating our sins, never. And no, I'm not advocating a liar's hate either. Those who mouth the words I hate this, but secretly love it. If there is a secret love for any sin in our lives, we need to ask God to help us hate that sin, hate that it has power over us, hate that we are loving something evil- and we can't fall into the trap of calling evil good, and good evil, either. We are in a real battle, a real war and Satan uses any and all sin, any and all evil to lure us and trap us, wound us, and even kill our love for God. We must recognize every sin, every evil for the thing that it really is…something that has the power to separate us from God. No sin is trivial, no evil is a minor nuisance. All sin, all evil is very powerful.

Give us, forgive us, lead us, deliver us… for Thine is the …power.

Father, You have the power to give me my daily sustenance, physical as well as spiritual. You have the power to forgive me all my debts, my sins, all of them. You have the power to lead me not into temptation in all ways. You have the power to deliver me from every evil that exists. You have the power Father! Holy is Your name! All glory and honor unto You forever and ever!

Words have meanings, the words of the prayer that Jesus spoke have deep significant meaning. They were taught to those living when He ministered upon Earth, and were written down for us to know, to learn, to say. These precious words in teaching us the manner of praying, in teaching us what is to be said, do so but not for vain repetition. These words are beyond wonderful. Recognizing GOD as truly our GOD, as truly our LORD, as truly our SAVIOR, is something we must NEVER forget when we pray Jesus' prayer. Recognizing the royalty of our Father should leave us in awe. Recognizing the Father role our GOD has taken should ever remind us that we are mere children.

I'll stop here, having written these words from my heart and from the limited comprehension I've been given. All glory and honor to God! My God, My Father, Your will be done. Amen.