Pentecost Week 23 - The Lord’s Prayer Pt. 5
Scripture Reading
*Explain the context: “This week, we will read the last request of Jesus’ model prayer, the Lord’s Prayer.”
Matthew 6:13
Big Idea (For Parents)
God makes us to be fed, forgiven and faithful in order to increasingly heavenize earth through us.
Family Reflection
(Read aloud or summarize)
The final, two-part manward request of the Lord’s Prayer is for God to keep us from temptation and faithful when the evil one, Satan, nevertheless tempts us to sin. In Matthew, shortly before teaching the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus himself was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1). Though Jesus experienced hardships during the temptations (see Matthew 4:2), God the Father ultimately delivered Jesus by keeping Jesus faithful to God and his Word. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to first ask God to graciously keep us from temptation altogether. Second, we ask that, even when temptation is necessary for God’s plan for us, God empower our faithfulness in the midst of it. Thus, the evil from which we ask deliverance is first and foremost our own sin, and secondarily it is the painful attacks of the evil one intended to prompt the same.
Having now studied all the requests of the Lord's Prayer, we can reflect again on its structure. The first half of the Lord’s Prayer contains the three Godward requests insisting that the realities of God’s name, kingdom and will be displayed on earth as in heaven. In short, they are requests that earth be “heavenized.” The second half of the Lord’s Prayer contains the three manward requests that God’s people be fed, forgiven and faithful. We see, then, that the manward requests are God’s means to accomplish the Godward requests. In other words, we ask that God keep us fed, forgiven and faithful so that, through us, he would increasingly heavenize earth. God means to change the world, and we are his means to do it. To that end, we pray.
Discussion Questions
(Choose 1-2. Adjust for age.)
1- Satan is the evil one who tempts us, and yet Satan, like all creation, is fully under our good God’s control. How does that impact your feelings about times of temptation?
2- When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he spoke directly to Satan, quoting Bible verses and ultimately commanding him, “Be gone, Satan” (Matthew 4:1-11). In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to speak to God the Father (not Satan) about temptation since God is ultimately in control. How would you harmonize Jesus’ example in the wilderness with his teaching in the Lord’s Prayer?
3- Think about some specific recent times in which God worked for you to be fed, forgiven and faithful. Now, think about how one or more of those things positions you to be God’s means to heavenize the earth this week in however big or small a way.
Practice—Stopping the Temptation Dominoes
*Parents: If you have a set of dominoes, you can use them as an object lesson along with the following guide. If you do not have them, you can nevertheless use this guide to teach the concept.
Satan commonly succeeds in tempting us to sin by harming us with the sin of others. In that way, their falling to temptation becomes a trigger for our falling to temptation. It’s like dominoes, with one person falling after another. For example, if a brother is tempted to be impatient while waiting for a turn with a toy being used by his sister, he may fall by sinfully snatching it away. His sin may, in turn, trigger the sister to sinfully hit the brother in anger. The brother’s fall triggered the sister’s fall. [Parents: Demonstrate here with dominoes if you have them.]
However, the opposite can be true. Our faithfulness against temptation can remove would-be temptations and help keep others faithful too. In our above example, if the brother had patiently waited, he would have kept his sister from the temptation to angrily hit him.
As a family, think of common situations in which one family member’s falling to temptation triggers another family member’s temptation to sin. Once you have identified a couple, prayerfully consider how God could (1) remove the temptation altogether, and (2) deliver you from sinning even when the temptation is present.
Close in prayer asking for God to lead you not into temptation but deliver you from evil in those specific circumstances in the coming week and in any others.
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