The Lord’s Prayer and the importance of Prayer
Sun, 29th Jan 2017
WBC
Matthew 6 v 9-15
Summary:
What does the Lord’s Prayer mean to you and me? This is how Jesus taught his disciples to pray but what does the Lord’s Prayer mean today?
Matthew 6:9 “Our Father in Heaven” – The God we serve is personal. He is alive in our hearts and we are close to him. “Abba Father” – God in Heaven who created the earth.
“Hallowed be thy name” – hallowed means literally “praise”. We want to praise the Father, we want to share and fellowship one with another in worship. How often do we worship the father in praise and prayer? Do we worship daily? We worship on a Sunday when we come to church but how often do we praise and worship God on a Monday morning?
“Your kingdom come” - Matthew 6:33 states “Seek ye first the kingdom of God”. We need to give the day to God in prayer every day and he will provide. If we don’t, the day is a mess and Matthew 6:25 -34 reminds us that we need to deal with today’s issues today and tomorrow will take care of itself.
“Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” – God’s will is that you “love your neighbour as yourself” {Matt 22:31} and Matthew 28 tells us to “Go into the world and preach to every person and every creature”. How easy is it for God’s will to be done on a daily basis?
“Give us this day our daily bread” – A prayer of thankfulness for not only material and physical provision and also for spiritual food (God’s word, the bible). How often do you pray, read the bible and spend time in the presence of God and express thankfulness for the spiritual food he has provided?
“Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” – 1 John 1:9 tells us that Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all sin and “purify us form all unrighteousness”. God not only forgives but he also forgets. How easy is it for us to forgive others and forget as Jesus does? It is a natural human reaction to hold a grudge when someone has done something wrong. We have to forgive and give it to the Lord because when someone wrongs us and we hold on to that grudge, it is us and not the other person who suffers – they are often unaware of how they have upset or affected us. Unless we can forgive others, we cannot be close to God.
Matt 6:33
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God” – We need to keep busy in the Lord as he will return and we don’t when that day may come.
As in the song “Amazing Grace” – When we’ve been there 10,000 years… we’ve no less days to sing his praise than when we first begun”. God’s forgives and forgets on a daily basis. It is important to keep praising God for his grace and forgiveness of our sins on a daily basis.
In today’s world, the Lord’s Prayer means to us:
1. Worship and praise
2. Commitment - daily
3. God’s Will – for us to love and share the gospel with others
4. Participation – You are a part of it all!
Further Reading:
Matthew
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Sun, 21st Oct 2018
