THE MODEL PRAYER

 Many say, “I have no idea how to pray.” Jesus knew that, so he provided a model prayer for us to pray, so, not knowing how to pray is no excuse! So, Jesus taught how we are to pray. It is called, “The Lord’s Prayer” and it is how the Lord, Jesus, would pray, and how you should pray.

Prayer is nothing more than communicating with God but turning to Jesus to deliver on the prayer, not to forget that Jesus is God manifested. He is telling the prayer what would please Him.

Prayer changes things. “Pray” is a simple word but opens doors to God. Jesus said, “After this manner therefore pray ye” (Mat 6:9). You are to pray… proseuchomai in the Greek; pros, “forward facing… toward God,” euchomai; “to speak out” (Precept Admin 2016).

Prayer is not only speaking to God, usually audibly, but facing God. “Facing” implies Jesus because He is the face of God that was revealed to the Israelites with the birth of Jesus. We are therefore, to pray to Jesus as the mediator to the Father, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5).

Technically speaking, prayer is to be directed toward Jesus – the Person of God. Most pray to “Father God.” Although Jesus is God, our prayers are to be directed toward His Face, “Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim 2:6).

Therein, prayer is directed at Jesus because He was the ransom paid to God for our sins.

Jesus said, “’I AM’ the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” ((John 14:6). The Israelites came to God through Yahweh — the Father, and they made the sacrifices when they prayed. Now, Jesus has made the ultimate sacrifice (Himself) once and for all (Heb 10:10).  He is God; the Great I AM (Yahweh) in the flesh of a man. Finally, the Hebrews had the Image that they always sought to pray toward. Thusly, we too are to pray toward the Image of God, Jesus.

Where is Jesus now? Where do we look? Certainly, beyond ourselves. Jesus is not in us but with us as the “Comforter.” We must not look in the mirror or even the mind’s eye, but if anywhere, toward the Cross. The Cross is the symbol of the now invisible Image of Jesus and exists only in thought.

What happened on the Cross that we should face it? Redemption. It is not the wood that we are to look toward but the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To forget the purpose of the Cross is to take the LORD GOD’s Name — “Jesus” — in vain, or without a purpose. Jesus fulfilled that Command, and we are to take that Commandment seriously.

In summary, prayer is to be directed, not toward the Invisible God, but the Image of Him, Jesus. He is the Way to the Father and Him alone. 

Jesus said, “after this manner” we are to pray. In the fashion that He was about to present. It need not be prayers to Him in those exact words, but in thought. Now look at how we should pray: 

1.       Pray without obstructions to the prayer, pray alone and without fanfare. (verse 5). Even if someone leads in prayer, you are to do the praying yourself, not just listen to the prayer, but pray it!

2.       Pray within a closet (tameion), a secret chamber so as not to be seen but clearly see Jesus. Prayer should be directed toward Jesus. A secret chamber need not be a room with walls, but while praying all other things should be blocked out.  Walls certainly would block out distractions, but in public, closing the eyes is the prayerful thing to do because then you cannot see others, and if they are reverent as well, they cannot see you.

3.       Prayer should not be standing (verse 5). Perhaps it should be prostrate — stretched out with the face downward.  
  Kneeling is the prone position to face God… kneeling with the face downward.          
  Why on the knees? The servant of Abraham in seeking a bride for Isaac, said this, “And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham” (Gen 24:48). His head was bowed, perhaps his eyes were closed because that is how saints saw Jesus (examples: Bartimaeus and Paul), and he blessed the LORD GOD. “Blessed” in the Hebrew is “barak” and means “to take a knee” (Strong 1890). Therein seems to the position that one praying should take, and it certainly is not standing!

4.       Pray to make your point (verse 7). Then Jesus provides the points to make.

5.       Pray your own thoughts not what others are saying or to sound good (verse 8). God “hears” your mind; speech is for others to hear. Praying out loud is chaotic. Prayer, except for the one leading, anyhow, should be quietly spoken, if at all, to yourself.

6.       Pray in this manner: “Our Father which art in heaven.” Note that Jesus is the mediator, but that was after He made the sacrifice. He was telling the disciples how to pray at that moment while He was on Earth and not in Heaven. Jesus is now with the Father in heaven, as One God.   
  We are not told to pray to the Holy Ghost that remains with us, but to the Person, Jesus, who sits on the Throne of God as the Father and Son in One Person.

7.       “Hallowed be thy Name” (verse 9). Just what is the Name of God? God just IS, “I AM THAT I AM” (JHWH). The hallowed name is what God is called — “Jesus” (Mat 1:25). The “Father” is Jesus, and the hallowed Name is not Jehovah but “Jesus.” “Father God” is not His Name but who God IS.       
  “Hallowed be” is how Jesus is to be respected. The Greek is hagiazo — considered holy and worthy of praise and reverence.  Simply put, the Name “Jesus” is magnified above all names.

8.       “Thy kingdom come” (verse 10). This is important to Christians because Jesus is already there.              
  You may have missed it but the prophets, to the birth of Jesus, to his death and resurrection is about the Kingdom of God coming to Jesus. As heir to God, Jesus is all about inheriting the Kingdom of God, and when that time came, thereafter, Christians are fellowheirs along with Him (Ephes 3:6).       
  Christians pray that the Kingdom of Jesus come so that their own kingdom will be realized; they pray for the time they will inherit God’s Estate in Paradise, not in this realm but another in the hereafter. They pray for their share, not that they inherit it by law but by grace. Graceful Jesus is called upon to share His entire estate with His “brothers” and “sisters” in Christ, meaning those who have been engendered from above (“born again;” John 3:7) by God.         
  That Jesus is the “Son of God” does not mean that God sired Him as any parent would, but that Jesus has the genetics, or “Genesis,” of God.    
  Jesus made the promise of the coming Kingdom: “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Thy Kingdom come is the final preparations for the coming “estate” that we are to pray for!

9.       Next comes, “Thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” This is important; not “my will” but “Thy Will” be done. Mankind’s problem is our will. We are to ask God through Jesus to overcome our will and exchange it for the Will of God.                  
  You must first know about the faculty of the will; it is using reason and understanding to determine actions.          
  That God is Truth, therefore, the expectation is that the person’s mind considers truth, understands it and why, and acts accordingly.    
  Sin is doing your own will rather than truth. Truth is not what a person believes but ultimate reality. The absolute truth is that there is a God, and to be a Christian, you must understand that. But it is not finished. A Christian would act accordingly. A hypocrite is one who knows the truth and acts against God by sinning.         
  Grace abounds because of those who are willing to act, according to God, but fail to because of the weakness of the flesh; hence Paul wrote, "The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mat 26:41).        
  The Spirit is in the image of God, but because of original sin, further sin is genetic from the Wicked One (Satan). As such, every person is born with the genetics of Satan, or as David called it, “shapen in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5).               
  Iniquity is “depravity,” and is the serpentine nature of Satan. It is the dark “shadow” in which our first ancestors were engendered back in the Garden. Mankind was genetically predisposed to follow their own will “as gods” (Gen 3:25).      
  As such, since God is gracious; each person has a faculty called the will, and the sovereign God allows everyone to exercise their will. They are responsible for their own actions because their mind is free to reason on its own. Because the flesh is weak, the will complies. It acts much like water, flowing the way of the least restriction.                                                
  God does not restrict our actions. His precepts are good thoughts for safe going. Mankind only sees them as hindrances, just like exploratory children who may go toward shiny things.    That freedom to follow our own course is called “free will” because we can follow the courses that our mind suggests. The problem is that everyone is genetically inclined, since the first sin, to go there own way rather than the safest Way!
  You are indeed “born this way” but only you choose the way. That is free will. If you choose normality, so be it, but if you choose depravity, so be it. Sinners are even allowed to choose the depravity that has the strongest hold on their weak flesh, and usually they are sins of the flesh wherein they even sin against themselves (1 Cor 6:18).

10.   “Done in earth as it is in heaven” is the next prayer point. Think not so much as heaven and earth as places in different realms, each with their own environment, economy, and government; think how is it in “heaven.” That depends on how you are judged.   From Luke 16, we find two places in heaven: Hell and Paradise. Each person is to be judged to where they go in heaven, and that is fair for the here and now in this realm. 

       In heaven, each person will be judged. But judgment is not based on their actions but their willingness to be like Christ. God knows that everyone fails because of the weakness of the flesh in their animal, even beastly, flesh. So, rather than judge the actions, Jesus will judge what each person endeavors to do. It condenses down to this one metric: “Do, you love me, ______?”                        

       Rather than thinking of emotional love, it is “agape” in the Greek. It is whether you have goodwill for Jesus or not.           
  Goodwill is not works but thoughts; it is what you think of God.         
  God wisely judges on what we are thinking, not what we have done. Do you consider His list of Wills (The Commandments) as obligations or privileges to serve? They are the same list, but you will be judged on what you think of them. Hence, all the Commandments hang on the concept of love; “If ye love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Hence, your good, but still faulty, will is what saves.   
  Think of yourselves as wild animals. As your master even feeds you, the “beast” within still calls you to bite the one that loves you.   It is your will that confines the beast from the genome of the Wicked One that God sees. That you bite your master is just an action. He looks at the intent — the human will that scripture calls the “heart.” You want to be domesticated but wildness is the nature of the beast in all mankind.         
  If the expectation is to be blessed in heaven with Paradise, then your prayer is for blessings to begin here. Earth, for Christians, is performing as if they are already in Paradise, if not acting that way, at least thinking that way.      
  Conversely, if you expect Hell, then here you can expect to be a hellion. Of course, a Christian would not pray to be a hellion, but recognize that if people are not Christians here, they are hellions here, and will be hellions in heaven and sent to Hell where they belong. That is justice in heaven, and we should pray for the same justice here. No wonder, here is Hell for so many, but it is just a little bit of Hell that we sense to know what is coming!

11.   We are to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (verse 11). Note what we are to pray for as an indication of what we should not pray to have. “Bread” is not just bread; it is “artos” — food of any kind. We are to pray that God nourish us, but Jesus is the ”Bread Of Live” (John 6:35). Is it referring to food substance or to the Holy Ghost of Jesus? God will take care of us, and He will continue to do so, by giving us continually the “Bread of Life.”          
  We misunderstand. Bakers bake bread, but God supplies everything else. God will supply things that we need to live here, but we take that for granted; we miss the point. We are to pray for Jesus to supply His “Leaven,” the Holy Ghost, routinely without amiss! Need we pray for that? If we are Christians, He will, but perhaps a better prayer is that we should “eat” the Bread in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:19).

12.              

           Next, Christians are to pray, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (verse 12). Literally, the Greek is “debts” but metaphorically, it is “offences” (Strong 1890). As sinners, we all offend God and certainly other people. Sin is an offense against God.     
  How did Adam offend God (the male “Adam”)? He knew the rule and broke it anyway because he thought God had lied. (Eve seemed not to have died).              
  How did Eve offend God? By creating another being (Gen 4:1)… “I have gotten a man from the Lord,” she said. She was egotistical, and that offends God. Whereas the male broke the Law of God, the female broke genesis of God. She, not God, became the Creator and the LORD became secondary.       
  Note that Jesus expected the Christians to have mercy when He said, “as we forgive our debtors.” It us useless to seek mercy from God if Christians are not merciful themselves; Christians must forgive those who offend them. That is not a contingency but a natural gracious response.               
  I think of an elderly lady at church. She had made a driving error. That was her offense against, not the law per se, but the safety of others.                        
  One of the others responded with an obscene gesture. The lady expected the other driver to be graceful to her and to forgive her offense against him, but he responded with anger — an offence against her. Her natural response as a Christian was not to reciprocate but she asked God to forgive her for making that poor man sin.                
  The angry man’s temperament was anger. Her nature was gracious. She forgave him his offense by pleading his case to God. It was her that had offended the man firstly, so she was in error. She could not reconcile with him, but she did reconcile with God, admitting that even she, as a Christian, had made an offense against another person.              
  You might say, “But her offence was accidental.” There are three different types of sins: accidental, natural, and willful. Her offense was accidental, but she still offended. His was natural; he sinned because of original depravity. He judged her by condemnation (the gesture) while ignoring own his beastly nature.  
  She knew the Law of God. If she had responded with condemnation, then that sin would have been a willful offense.              
  Even the nature of non-believers offends God. Some pagans are humble, contrite, and loving. Those should be the characteristics of Christians, but they miss the mark set by God, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God… (Rom 3:23). How did they come short? They have not been justified — rendered righteous — by sacrifice of Jesus.            
  Justification is not “just as you had never sinned at all” as some say, but the “fatness” of the flesh is rendered into pure “lard” so to speak. It is made pure, and if it was never of the flesh, then it could not have been changed.                
  Never forget that we are sinners safe by grace, meaning that we still sin; accidentally, by nature, or willfully; but God knows the weakness of the flesh and works with us about our offenses.

13.               And continue praying to Jesus, “Lead us not into temptation.” God never tempts but allows Satan to tempt (Job 1:8).      
  God asked Satan to consider his “servant Job.” God allowed Job to be tested for the degree of his service to Him. Leading us not into temptation is asking God to provide safety from the Evil One.    
  Satan knew that God had done that with Job, to wit: “Hast not thou made an hedge about him?” (Job 1:10). The “hedge” was a spiritual fence of some type.                
  For Adam, it was a coat of skins and for Christians the Holy Ghost of Jesus. The implication is that God kept Job safe by being with him. Would Job stay “entwined” with God, as the Hebrew word literally means? That was allowing temptation, but God did not lead him there, Satan came to Job.               
  We pray that God  limits the tests to something bearable, “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor 10:13).    
  Pray that God allows you to handle all that you can bear and that would be how? To deliver you from the testing by holding Satan and his demons a safe distance away.   
  Please God, steer me away from trespassing, would be an equal prayer. For instance, both Adam and Eve trespassed. God had forbidden them to avoid eating the fruit of His Tree; you know, the one that belonged to Him. The first sin was trespassing; it was God’s Will that they stay away from temptation.

14.               Then Jesus added to the prayer, “but deliver us from evil.” He knows that the nature of mankind is to trespass. Admit it, if you see a “NO TRESPASSING” sign, you think that There must be something valuable there, and many are tempted to trespass.              
  Knowing that so many of us will trespass, and to enter unto temptation, we are to ask God to “deliver us from evil.” Evil lurks whenever people trespass. When Adam entered the area of the forbidden tree, he trespassed. God had not said, Don’t go there, but “do not eat of it.” 
  Trespassing was on Adam’s back, but “God had his back,” as they say. He delivered Adam from the Evil One. He put a “hedge” around the entire Garden to keep the evil ones out (Gen 3:24) and two more “hedges” about Adam and Eve with the coats of skins (Gen 3:21).              
  God delivered Adam and Eve from evil time after time as we learn from the Books of Adam and Eve and Their Conflicts with Satan.

 

15.   Jesus wrapped up that saying, with “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Thine is God’s. The Kingdom is His, and encroaching into what is God’s is trespassing. Adam trespassed knowingly; it was his will against the Will of God. He did what he wanted to do without regard to God’s sovereignty.

  On the other hand, Eve had not been told the Law. Adam sinned because he had not taught the woman, at least correctly, the Law of God. Eve sinned unwittingly but she still sinned, so Adam was abetting her trespassing.

  Next, consider “glory.” It belongs to God, according to Jesus. Glory is perfection and perfection along with its splendor belongs to God. To be like God is seeking His Glory, and that is not to be had until God’s time when mankind will be glorified. Implied in that prayer is the understanding that mankind cannot glorify himself, but that “power” belongs to God alone.         

  In effect, that prayer is for God to keep Christians meek and to have a realistic perception of themselves… I am not God, I cannot glorify myself but He can do that for me!  It is a power to limit the person’s self esteem to actuality; that we are inglorious, powerless, and servants; and that alone. We are totally dependent on God in all things. “Amen” means “so be it,” or “that is the way it is.”

16.   Now you know what trespassing means. Eve did not. She demonstrated her innocence (and ignorance of the law) by adding to “neither touch it,” referring to the forbidden tree.
  Trespassing is missing the mark of God; that warning sign not to enter unto temptation. The forbidden tree could have as easily been called “The Tree of the Knowledge of Righteousness and Sin” and the middle of the Garden, “trespassing.” Missing the mark commences with going where you should not go!             
  Then Jesus added to pray, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (verses 14 & 15).         
  In other words, I forgive you for coming into my private space and God will forgive me for coming into His Space, and that would be “as God” — the “Space” in His Kingdom is where He Exists. Sin is trespassing into the Estate of God. Legal entry is doing the Will of God, hence the Bible is “The Last Will and Testament of God” for His heirs. Trespassers are not heirs to God.
  In like manner, as an heir to God, you are to forgive those who trespass into your space by offending you. That is the hard part. God is would never offend, but we offend Him anyway, but the hardest part of goodwill is to not take offense to those who offend you. If we do, then reconciliation is required.

17.   That is the end of the LORD’S Prayer, but the nature in which it is prayed follow. Those requirements can be summed up by you having the nature of Christ: meekness, cleanliness, between you and God alone, prayer on truly significant things, and what is the Will of God (verses 16-23).               
  Prayer, therefore, must be done in contrition and reverence; and between you and God with Jesus in between — to be entwined with Jesus as heirs of the Father.

 

Praying is easy but preparation for prayer is necessary. Prayer is honored by the Father to those who follow Jesus and Him alone. For the pagans that have not repented, the prayer of repentance must first be prayed. Although David was a man after God’s own heart, he prayed the “Sinner’s Prayer” (Psalm 51). Before you pray the LORD’s PRAYER, pray first your prayer.