The passage we are about to explore is found in The Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7. This sermon of Christ contains some of His best-known teachings. John Stott offers this description, “It is the nearest thing to a manifesto that Jesus ever uttered, for it is His own description of what He wanted His followers to be and do.” The sermon describes what life looks like when Jesus is recognized and received as Savior and Lord. It is the most complete description in the New Testament of genuine Christian culture.
Within the sermon, in Matthew 6:7-15, Jesus explains how we are to talk to God. We discover in Matthew 6:7-8 that we are to pray thoughtfully, not mechanically. Jesus does not forbid all repetition but verbosity (degrading prayer from an honest and personal approach to God into a mere recitation of words). Jesus forbids prayer that is all lips and no mind or heart.
Jesus then goes on to explain how we are to pray thoughtfully. He offers a model of prayer. In Matthew 6:9, Jesus says, “Pray like this.” He proceeds to lay out a pattern of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus is not telling us that we need to recite what has become known as The Lord’s Prayer or The Disciples Prayer since He is sharing this prayer with the disciples. However, He is not forbidding us from reciting it. When we are thoughtfully reciting The Lord’s Prayer, it can be quite meaningful.
What does the model Jesus shared with us teach us about praying rightly and thoughtfully? First, we pray rightly and thoughtfully when we approach God as His people. In verse 9, Jesus tells us to address “Our Father in heaven.” What does this teach us about how we are to approach God in prayer? We learn that we are to come to God as His children with childlike trust and with reverence and respect. We are to approach God with the confidence that we are His children, and He is our personal, loving, and all-powerful Father.
Secondly, we pray rightly and thoughtfully when God’s concerns are given priority. We read in verses 9 and 10 that we pray “hallowed be God’s name,” that “His kingdom come,” and “His will be done.” As believers, our top priority is a concern for God’s kingdom and will. We pray for God’s concerns when we pray that God’s rule will overcome the world and for obedience to God’s commands and leading here on earth.
Thirdly, we pray rightly and thoughtfully when we lift up our own needs as well as the needs of others. What needs are we to lift up to God? We are to lift up physical needs asking God to provide (daily bread) what you and others need to sustain life. Keep in mind Jesus meant the necessities rather than the luxuries of life. Next, we pray for forgiveness for the sins we have committed. Note that our sin is likened to debt because it deserves to be punished and, in fact, was, in that Christ paid our penalty on the cross. Jesus assumes that if you have been forgiven, you will forgive others. This does not mean we earn forgiveness by forgiving others. Rather, God forgives the penitent, and a genuine sign of the penitent is a forgiving spirit. Lastly, we pray for deliverance from temptation and Satan’s power. Remember, God never tempts us (Jam 1:13). We ask Him to help us avoid situations where sin becomes hard to resist (Psa 23:3). We all need God’s power to overcome Satan (we can’t make it on our own). The believer who has experienced forgiveness from past sin desires to be delivered from its tyranny in the future.
It is apparent in The Lord’s Prayer that Jesus wants us to be conscious of our day-to-day dependence on God. Some ancient manuscripts (though not the best) end with the doxology, attributing the kingdom and the power and the glory to God to who it belongs. The doxology affirms that God alone rules over creation, has the power to answer our prayers, and is worthy of all the praise and honor. These things will always be true of our God.
Then, Jesus reaffirms, in Matthew 6:14-15, that forgiveness is required of us who follow Jesus. God forgives freely, taking on Himself the loss for our debts (sins). Therefore, it ought not surprise us that He expects those He forgives to demonstrate gratitude for their forgiveness by forgiving others.
Jesus teaches us that the believers’ prayer is God-centered (focused on God’s glory) rather than self-centeredness (preoccupied with one’s own glory). He also instructs us that the believers’ prayer is intelligent (engaging the heart and mind) rather than mechanical (speaking without thinking). When we pray, we are to approach God as His people. We are to pray for God’s concerns as our top priority. We are to pray for our own needs as well as the needs of others. We are to do so affirming to God that His is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. When we allow the Bible to present us with an accurate image of God, trusting in His character and practice His presence, our prayers will be thoughtful and right, like true children of God. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!