Matthew 6:5-13
Matthew 6:9-13
This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heave, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
By: Aaron Sprock
Regional Minister of ABC Nebraska
Matthew 6:5-13
(5) “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
(6) “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
(7) And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
(8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
(9) This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heave, 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.”
Reflection on the Lord’s Prayer
I am in the midst of raising three teenage girls. As a result one of the phrases I hear quite a bit is “Dad, I know.” When I’m encouraging them to pick up their room or when I’m trying to give them advice on life, it is often the same response. “Dad I know”. Other than being annoyed with their dad I believe this response comes from a place of independence. I don’t need someone else telling me what to do. I can figure it out on my own. If we are honest with
ourselves it’s not just teenagers that have this attitude, we believe we have it all figured out,
why would we need to seek wisdom from anyone else even God.
As we approach this well-known passage on Prayer, it reminds us of the fact that we are daily dependent on God for so many different things whether it be food or forgiveness or direction. We are called to daily seek God and rely on him for the wisdom that only he can provide.
This Prayer starts with a reminder of why we need to seek wisdom from God in the first place. He is the one that is hallowed. He is the one that is in heaven, in a place that knows all and sees all things. We on the other hand are very limited in our knowledge. This fact should help us to humbly realize our need for wisdom on a day today basis. This is especially true for those of us that find ourselves in a position of leadership over God‘s people. Too often when we think that people are coming to us for some sort of special wisdom. But in all reality, the only thing that we can do is to point them to the wisdom that has been revealed by God.
We are also reminded of the fact that there is great wisdom in knowing that we are a part of
God‘s kingdom, and that He has called us to live in such a way to bring up about a community that reflects the kingdom of God to the world around us. The kingdom of God reminds us that we are far from independent, but can only bring about the kingdom when we come together as the gathered body of Christ.
Finally, we are reminded just how dependent we really are on God. God is the one that
provides the sustenance that we need on a daily basis. God is the one that gives us the ability
to forgive others because we are reminded of the fact that we have been forgiven on a daily
basis. We also need to be reminded of the fact that we should seek the wisdom of God on a
daily basis. The blessing that we see in this is that when we ask, and we seek, and we knock to receive this wisdom, we know that God has a great desire to provide it for us.
Written By: Rev. Aaron Sprock
Chadron, Nebraska
Regional Minister of ABC Nebraska