Pentecost Week 19 - The Lord’s Prayer Pt. 1

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Scripture Reading

*Explain the context: “This week, we will read Jesus’ introduction to the Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 6:7-9b

"'And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven…"'"

Big Idea (For Parents)

We pray not as those trying to earn God’s fatherly favor but as those resting in his adoption of us into his family in Christ.

Family Reflection

(Read aloud or summarize)

Pentecost season highlights kingdom growth through the long and steady, slow but sure work of the Spirit. We’ve seen how the Spirit applies our salvation not in freedom from law keeping, but in freedom for law keeping. We’ve spent the last ten weeks growing in our understanding of God’s life-giving Law summarized in the 10 Commandments. We’ll now begin to study Jesus’ model prayer in which we ask God to do everything necessary to bring the world into glad obedience to that same Law with all the blessings that brings.

In today’s text, Jesus begins to the teach the well-known “Lord’s Prayer.” It is both a model structure of prayer, and a specific prayer which we do well to pray. The plural pronouns and verbs throughout show us that Jesus intends it as something we pray with others in the Church and not only alone.

Jesus begins by teaching that we should not pray as those who are trying to earn something from God. Long prayers with big words do not impress God when those words are “empty” because the one praying does not humbly admit he cannot earn anything from God and even God’s rewards to him are all, ultimately, free gifts to undeserving people. But with the proper attitude of trust, humility, dependence, and gratitude, there is no problem with long prayers, big words, or even prayers which repeat the same phrases many times (see Psalm 136). There is also no problem with praying the same, pre-written prayers regularly. In fact, God gave us the Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer for just such purposes. Whether they are pre-written or spontaneous, our prayers should simply not be prayed in an “empty” way.

In contrast to “empty” prayers seeking to earn God’s favor, Jesus teaches us to pray to our Father in heaven who already knows what we need. Interestingly, Jesus does not say that we already know what we need, but that God does. Jesus then teaches us to pray for what God knows we need. We need not include all the requests of the Lord’s Prayer in all of our prayers, but we would be foolish to never pray for the things that God himself, who alone knows all things, has told us we need.

Importantly, Jesus teaches this prayer to his disciples (Matthew 5:1-2). It is they, then, who are to confidently address God as Father. They know God is their Father because they are disciples of, or “in,” his Son Jesus Christ. They are adopted into his covenant family, they are part of his household, they are to be baptized into his family name, and they can therefore trust that he is happy and eager to give them that which works to their greatest good. As those God has made disciples, they have every reason to trust his good intentions for them. As those God has adopted, they have every reason to trust he delights to meet their needs—even when they themselves misunderstand them. As those he calls by his own name, they have every reason to trust his promises are for them, and to respond to them in the obedience of faith.

Discussion Questions

(Choose 1-2. Adjust for age.)

1- Why do you think Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer as something that God's people would pray together instead of only alone?

2- Have you ever felt like you needed to be good first in order to earn something from God? How does Jesus teaching here push back against that idea?

3- How does it make you feel to think that God knows what you truly need before you even ask, and even when you don’t understand what you need? If God already knows, why does Jesus teach us to ask anyway?

Practice—Praying “Our Father” Together

The Lord’s Prayer is, in the first instance, a corporate prayer to be prayed by God’s people together. To close this devotional time, pray the Lord’s Prayer together as a family. If any don’t have it memorized and they are too young to read along, practice it with them line by line a few times and then pray it all together once as best as you can. Continue to pray it together a few times during the week to keep instilling Jesus’ model prayer into all members of the family. In all this, remember that far more important than any earthly family is God’s invitation and intention that we all be included in his family in Christ.