Pastor. S. Asap Singh
Lord’s Prayer is found in two passages Matthew 6:9-13
and Luke 11:1-13
This
prayer is not for mere repetition but has rich meaning in its shift based on
relationship towards God and human practices that are different from the Old
Testament.
This
prayer is not just another prayer to the Old Testament practices. Jews practiced
praying three times a day (morning 9 am – third hour; noon 12 pm – sixth hour
and evening 3 pm – 9th hour). We see this practices from David (Ps
55:17; 92:2; 5:3) and Daniel (Dan 6:10) and in the New Testament (Act 2:15;
3:1; 10:9). There was prayer in the synagogue in the absence of the Temple of
the Lord.
Disciples
understood the value of this prayer which is different from the Jewish prayers
so that the disciples asked Jesus “Lord, Teach us to pray.” This prayer Jesus
prayed made great impact in the lives of others by means of miracles and
wonders.
I
observed three unique elements in the “Lord’s Prayer” and examine how it has
been reflected in our lives as we had seen the above as theme for a year
(2017).
1.
“OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN” (Mat 6:9)
God is in Heaven – A Transcendent
God, as for as the Jewish belief, the name of the LORD is most sacred (YHWH) –
people never pronounce the name neither writes it in an unworthy manner. The
Lord is transcendent God that human beings can never match His holiness neither
utter His name. The scribes who copied the scriptures do not use the name YHWH
for God rather they used as “Elohim” to refer God – Even to write that they
have to wash their pens that they are using, and then they will be washing
again to write the other words of the scripture. Everybody who pronounces that
name in blasphemy shall be put to death.
Jews
regarded that name so high that they fail to realize that the Lord is their
father. There are expressions about God as Shepherd, Almighty, Creator, Holy
…etc. Even though God calls His people as his children but nobody in the Old
Testament called God as their Father. The concept of God’s imminence was found
in some passages like Deut 4:7 and Ps 145:18 – God is near to the broken
hearted and God’s people are privileged to have God closer to them.
Jesus
identified that transcendent God as “Our
Father” who is accessible (Imminent
– close to you). The prayer Jesus taught gets higher importance because the
prayer addressed to God as “OUR FATHER” (in Greek Abba) – He is not only a
father to Jesus but also everyone of us. That puts us as believers equally
importance before God. We should treat everyone as brothers and sisters in
Christ (John 1:14). We can approach God anytime for any of our needs.
Challenge: Think of
those who feel lonely, rejected, isolated and in need of Father’s Love – What
are you going to do for them?
Question: Since God as
our Father what are the advantages you have?
2.
“YOUR KINGDOM COME” (Mat 6:10)
There
was no idea of “Kingdom of God” found in the Old Testament. Kingdom is
something a domain under the ruling of a King. God portrayed as the King of the
universe – He is the sovereign ruler of the earth – the establishment of the
Kingdom concept found in the New Testament.
When
an evil king/ruler rules the nation the nation get ruined, poverty increase,
bribe, scandal, crime and all evil things happen because the ruler is evil. On
the contrary God’s Kingdom is of God is filled with positive impact on the
people. (Romans 14: 18) “For the kingdom
of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and
joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus
came not to establish a Church but to establish His Kingdom (God’s Kingdom) we
see lot of verses in the gospels where Jesus says to establish His kingdom…
Matthew 10:7-8, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come
near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who
have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”
Luke 4:43, “But
he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God
to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.””
Luke 10:9, “Heal
the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to
you.’”
John 18:36, “Jesus
said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my
servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my
kingdom is from another place.””
The disciples misunderstood the teaching of Jesus as
Kingdom of God as an earthly Kingdom, we find it in
Acts 1: 3, 6 “After
his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs
that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke
about the kingdom of God.”
v. 6, “Then
they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to
restore the kingdom to Israel?””
Jesus responded about the spiritual nature of the
Kingdom of God – God rules the heart of the people. The hindrances to His rule
to be removed from the hearts to prepare the way. Jesus healed the sick, raised
the dead, cleansed the lepers and drove demons (Mat 10:8) because the Kingdom
of God is perfect which do not have sick, death, diseases, demons…etc. Jesus
gave the foretaste of the Kingdom of God. In God’s kingdom material possessions
cannot help (Mat 10:9).
The Kingdom of God is HUGE than the CHURCH aspect.
Church gives spiritual importance where as the kingdom of God gives holistic
growth of a person under the leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ. It must be
started from our hearts – examine what are the things in my life that are NOT
under God’s reign? Our prayer should be “Let Your Kingdom Come”
Challenge: Is
your aim to establish your Kingdom / your church OR the Kingdom of God –
Because God’s Kingdom is huge in size?
Question: Since
God’s Kingdom is huge – What practice should I do/change to bring the Kingdom
of God in my society?
3.
“FORGIVE OUR SINS – AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN
AGAINST US” (Mat 6:12)
We
all wanted to be forgiven by God for all our short comings (KJV says forgive
our debts – not only the financial
debts but referring all short comings) but not ready to forgive the mistakes of
others??
Forgiveness
of man to man is hard thing to find in the Old Testament – God in his nature
forgives the mistakes of the people – or covering the sins of the people. It
was not the specific command given in the Old Testament to forgive others but
we see the revenge approach (Eye for eye
– Tooth for tooth – Ex. 21:24).
Forgiveness
is lacking everywhere – that leads to suicide and revenge. God calls us for
forgiveness, when you forgive others you will be forgiven as well. We see the
parable of Jesus in Matt 18:21-35 about forgiveness of God must lead to
forgiveness of mankind. The preceding verses after the Lord’s Prayer say, “If you don’t forgive of other’s mistakes
you will not be forgiven as well” (Mat 6:14-15)
Challenge: Am I able to
forgive others of their sins/mistakes? What are the stumbling blocks in my life
that prevent me to forgive others? As you say “Lord teach me to pray” did you
also pray “Lord help me to forgive others?” (Eph 4:32; Col 3:13)
Question: What are the
qualifications required for forgiving others in general?
Three
Questions for Discussions (Group Discussion)
- God as our Father what are the advantages you have?
- God’s Kingdom is huge – What practice should I do/change to bring the Kingdom of God in my society?
- What are the qualifications required for forgiving others in general?
