By: Curtis Baker
Last week we began to look at the first three parts of Jesus’ model prayer in his Sermon on the Mount. This prayer is being offered in contrast to the mistaken ways of prayer that we often stumble into, including praying to gain public attention, or trying to use certain verbal tricks to make God do something we want him to do. In contrast to that, Jesus teaches us a simple way of prayer that is both humble and profound. Last week Jesus told us to address God as our “Father who is in heaven.” We pray that his name would be “hallowed” or “honored” among all people, and that his will would be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” This part of the prayer addresses our relationship to God and his divine purposes. In the next three elements of this model prayer, Jesus teaches us how to pray in regard to our personal needs.
First, Jesus asks us to pray for our “daily bread.” This is certainly a reference to food, which is one of our primary needs, but it goes without saying that Jesus intends here anything that is a part of our daily need for living. Food is included here; water is included as well; certainly a safe place to shelter ourselves and our family is included. What Jesus is driving at here is anything that we need for our daily existence. The key thing to pay attention to here is that God will provide “today” what is needed for “today.” As humans all too aware of our fragile position, we are very tempted to worry about tomorrow at the expense of today. This is why, unlike children, or even animals, adults are prone to store things away in the hope of securing themselves for the future. Of course, there is certainly nothing wrong with making reasonable plans and provisions in the future, but the mistake comes when we think that by those very things, we have secured our future. Jesus teaches us that our lives are only secured in God, and God provides today what is needed. When tomorrow comes, he will provide what is needed then as well. When this grows to full maturity in a person, its effect is to relieve the anxiety that so many of us are burdened with about the future.
The second thing Jesus asks us to pray for in regard to ourselves, is that “God would forgive us, as we also forgive those who sin against us.” That last part is important enough not to over look. Dallas Willard, in his book “The Divine Conspiracy,” points us to the fact that it is psychologically impossible to know God’s pity for us, and not have pity on those who sin against us. To not know God’s pity is to not have a realistic sense of who we truly are. When we reflect deeply on our own sinfulness, and God’s acceptance of us in spite of that, it moves us to live compassionately in regard to others. Only our pride stops us from both receiving forgiveness and giving it. This is serious enough that Jesus asks us to pray to our Father to help us with this.
Finally, Jesus then teaches us to pray that God would not “lead us into temptation.” The word “temptation” here likely gives the wrong impression. This would seem to imply that we are asking God to not lead us into something that might tempt us to sin. That is certainly a noble prayer, but also one that goes without saying. God will not, and indeed, cannot lead us into temptation to sin. That goes against his character. A better understanding of this passage is for God not to lead us into “trials,” which is an alternate way of translating that word. Here Jesus teaches us to pray that God will spare us from bad things happening to us. We live in a world where we know that sometimes bad things will happen to us, but we should know that is not God’s desire for us. He desires our good, not our harm. It is true that sometimes God allows bad things to happen to us, but his promise is always that nothing will happen to us that he cannot turn for the benefit of our good. We should not wish for these trials, however. Jesus teaches us that we should ask to be spared of them. It is a frank acknowledgement that we are made of dust, and that if too much mounts on us, we cannot stand. We must have God’s help. This is how Jesus teaches us to pray.
(Don’t forget to join me for A Message from the Heart radio program Sunday evening at 8:00pm on KJAK 92.7FM, or streaming live at www.kjak.com)
Curtis Baker (curtisbaker@hotmail.com)
Write to: P.O. Box 157, Slaton, TX 79364
