Theme for week: Prayer Teaches Us About God
November 8, 2021 Monday)
The Model Prayer given to us by Jesus (Matthew 6:8-11 KJV): “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.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, for ever.”
The Model Prayer teaches us lessons about God: We are relatives of God (He is our Father). We are reverent before God (His name is holy). We are relevant to God’s will (Thy will be done). We are recipients of God’s gifts (Give us..bread). We are redeemed by God’s love (Forgive us our debts).
One of his disciples made a request of Jesus one day, “Teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.” Jesus replied with an example of prayer, known widely today as “The Lord’s Prayer,” but more correctely called, “The Model Prayer.” The prayer began by addressing God as “Father.” When Jesus taught us to pray that way, He no doubt had in mind His own Father, with whom He conversed in prayer quite often. His “Heavenly Father” was the ideal father in every way possible. After all, He is God, who by definition is perfect.
Jesus instructed us to begin our prayers by addressing God as “Father,” which was a new way of thinking about God. Any study of cultures throughout the world reveal that the gods are many and includes gods of different kinds. Even Yahweh, also known as Jehovah, was not primarily thought of as a father. He had decreed in one of the Ten Commandents that His followers must not take His Name in vain, and to make sure they did not break that commandment, the people would not allow themselves to say His Name. Whenever His name appears in Scripture, the reader says “The Almighty” rather the name of God. This makes sure the name is not used in an empty, frivolous way by not using it at all. What could be the motivation for such a practice? Fear, plain and simple. Fear.
Jesus came along to say to those who feared God, “Pray to the one you should think of as “Father.” no doubt thinking of His own Heavenly Father as the supreme example of fatherhood. And so we continue to this day to pray to “Our Father who art in Heaven,’ because we recognize in Him the ideal example of what fatherhood should be. Today we follow Jesus’ instructions and pray to “Our Father,” who does all things well.
Congregational singing, Metropolitan Tabernacle, London:
OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, HEAR THE PRAYER WE OFFER NOW
Author: James Montgomery
1825
1 Our heav’nly Father, hear,
the prayer we offer now;
thy name he hallowed far and near,
to thee all nations bow.
2 Thy kingdom come; thy will
on earth be done in love,
as saints and seraphim fulfil
thy perfect law above.
3 Our daily bread supply,
while by thy word we live;
the guilt of our iniquity
forgive as we forgive.
4 From dark temptation’s power,
from Satan’s wiles, descend;
deliver in the evil hour
and guide us to the end.
5 Thine, then, forever be
glory and power divine;
the sceptre, throne, and majesty
of heav’n and earth are thine.