Seeds for 06/09/2023 - Matthew 6:9-13, part 5
Scripture: 9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
‘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 today 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 the evil one.’”
Observation:
The first half of the prayer Jesus taught is about God—who He is and what He wants. The second half is about our requests for ourselves. Jesus simplifies our list and gives us a way to think about what we really need. Getting a handle on needs and wants is important for humans. We are apt to misunderstand ourselves and confuse these categories.
Jesus teaches us to pray for physical needs, relational needs, and moral/spiritual needs.
With our physical needs, He keeps us grounded in the present. When God provided manna to the Israelites, He gave them enough for each day and forbade gathering more, except in preparation for the Sabbath. And then, only enough. Enough is essential. We are obsessed with more. Enough is about perspective and contentment. If we have more than we need, we tend to readjust our measuring stick. Faithful stewardship of abundance results from understanding enough deep in our bones. Praying for our daily bread provides a checkpoint for contentment and perspective.
Forgiveness is the lifeblood of relationships. We are going to make mistakes. We need to apologize and be forgiven. Worse than that, we’re going to hurt one another on purpose. We will need to repent and receive forgiveness. I wonder if this is why Jesus included the reciprocity of forgiveness in the prayer. Praying for forgiveness from God, while including our own responsibility to forgive, can form us in the give-and-take of mercy that we all stand in need of.
Temptation is about what sort of story we think we’re in and who knows best. Is the devil the best guide to reality? Or is the best guide “Our Father in heaven”? Praying for help here is an acknowledgement that “the heart is deceitful above all things” and we need to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Admitting to this and asking for help is the only wise response if we recognize this dynamic.
In the petitions Jesus gives us for ourselves, we find guidance for what and how to pray. We also find petitions that can mold our thoughts and our hearts toward Christlikeness. If this is what we truly desire, let us make the prayer Jesus taught part of our regular praying—in community and in private.
Application:
How can using the Lord’s Prayer shape your perspective on your true wants and needs?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, teach me what my physical, relational, and moral/spiritual needs are, even as I pray for your provision. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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