I’ll never forget that particular class in high school. It was an RE class, and we were in one of the mobiles that had sprouted up over half of the all-weather pitch. Normally, we had books and files and Bibles out on the desk, but on this particular day, we only needed one sheet of paper and a pen of our choice. And our task was simple: write out the Lord’s prayer.
I wonder how we’d get on if we tried it right now? You see, you know it, you’ve known it probably since childhood, but in the moment when you’re put on the spot, could you remember it? The RE teacher wanted to see if we knew the Lord’s prayer, word for word, off by heart, and written down on the page in front of us.
You’ll be glad to hear that we’re not going to try that exercise now. We’ll say it together later in the service, but it’s easier when you’re saying it out loud, and all together. So easy, in fact, that it can be rattled off fairly quickly, from our longterm memory to our lips without even registering what we’re actually saying or praying.
Tonight, though, we’ll take it a bit slower when we say it later, and even slower now, as we think about it together. Here, in Matthew’s gospel, we find a version of the Lord’s prayer. But as you’ll notice, the Lord’s prayer didn’t just drop from the sky, written down for us to use. No, it comes with a context, within a chapter and section of Matthew’s gospel. So for us to get to grips with the Lord’s prayer, we need to get to grips with the Lord of the prayer.
In Matthew 6, we’re right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, a lengthy section of teaching, as Jesus spells out what it looks like to be a member of his kingdom. And last week, we started this mini section, which deals particularly with practical Christianity - our ‘acts of righteousness’ (1). Last week we looked at how we give to the needy and how we fast - and we saw that we’re not to do these things in order to be seen by other people and to be honoured by them. But rather, we’re to be secret agents, giving and fasting in secret, because our Father sees what is done in secret and will reward us.
And straight away as we turn to verse 5, we can see the same principle in work as we think about how we pray. Listen to what Jesus says: ‘And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.’ (5)
Now, in a little while, I will be standing here, praying and leading us in prayer. And next Sunday morning, if the Lord spares me, I will be standing at the junction of Main Street and Maynooth Road praying and leading the village in prayer at the war memorial. Should I not be doing these things? Am I acting in disobedience to Jesus by praying in these ways?
I could be, but I don’t think so. You see, it’s not so much the location that’s the issue, as the heart with which it is done. The motive of the hypocrite (the person playing a role, saying one thing and doing something else) is to be seen. The hypocrite here wants to be seen by everybody to be praying, so that people think - look at just how spiritual they are!
While there may be a danger that I want to be seen and thought well of - in our services here or at the war memorial, I’m there to facilitate worship and prayer; directing attention to God, rather than Gary. As we saw last week, to give or pray or fast in order to be honoured by people means that the honour of people is all we’ll ever receive - the fleeting, faint praise that won’t count for anything.
And for all of us, there’s always a temptation to be praised by people for something we’ve done; and the desire to be seen to be giving or praying or fasting. So what’s the answer? It’s to embrace the secret, hidden life of prayer:
‘But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’ (6)
As we pray to God who is our Father, with all that nearness and intimacy, we’re not to parade it before anybody else. We’re to go in, out of the way, where we won’t be disturbed, or seen, and talk to our Father. He sees the secret places, and will reward us - with nearness, and intimacy, and will hear and answer our prayers.
Now again, Jesus isn’t saying that we should never pray in the presence of anybody else ever. Otherwise, our prayer time later in the service would be a quiet affair, and we would have to cut short our Growth Groups and All Together meetings so that we don’t pray in the hearing of anybody else. No, Jesus isn’t saying that at all. But when we do pray with others, are we praying so that they’ll think well of us; praying so that we’ll look good? Or praying so that our Father hears and answers our prayers?
To that end, Jesus gives us some further instruction on praying in verse 7: ‘And when you pray, do not keep babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.’ So the hypocrites, they prayed to be seen. And the pagans, they prayed to be heard - by babbling on, using ten words when two would do, in vain repetition as some versions put it.
Jesus says we don’t need to pray like that. It’s not that we need to use a certain number of words for God to hear us. Instead, we’re to come to our Father. He sees what is done in secret, and he knows what we need before we ask.
Rather than babbling on, Jesus gives us a prayer to pray (and to base our prayers on). In just 52 words in this version, he teaches us to pray for God’s glory, and our needs - in that order.
First on the agenda is God’s glory. We recognise who it is we are praying to, and the great privilege it is to call God our Father. The God of all the universe, who by his power sustains all things, is our Father. He is tuned in to our cry. He delights to hear our prayer.
But before we ask of anything for ourselves, we centre ourselves on God’s priorities, and God’s honour and glory. We do that as we pray: ‘hallowed be your name.’ It’s not, as one wee fella thought one time, that God’s name was Harold; no, but his name is to be hallowed, made holy. On Thursday it was Hallowe’en, which comes from All Hallow’s Eve - the night before All Hallow’s Day, or All Saints’ Day. The Saints are God’s holy people. And so for God’s name to be hallowed is for it to be regarded as holy, and honoured. and glorified.
And we do that as we align ourselves with him, as we seek for things on earth to be the way they already are in heaven: ‘your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ (10) As we pray the Lord’s prayer, we desire what God desires - his kingdom to come, and his will to be done on earth. Every time we pray this prayer, there’s a challenge - is this what we really want? Is this how we’re living? Are we aligned with God’s priorities and God’s will?
Having first concentrated on God’s priorities, we then seek our needs. Not our wants, but our needs - those things we need the most. And you can summarise them in three words: provision, pardon, and protection.
Provision: ‘Give us today our daily bread.’ (11) We recognise that everything we need to survive comes from God. He is the giver of our daily bread. And so we look to him for this urgent need.
Pardon: ‘Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.’ (12) We’re used to saying the word trespasses here, but in Scotland they use the word debts and debts. I remember when visiting Lynsey, I would always get a gentle reminder when we came to the Lord’s prayer in her church not to loudly say the wrong word!
Whether we use the word trespasses or debts, we are acknowledging to God our Father that we have failed him, that we are his debtors, that we have stepped over a line, over a boundary, in what we have done, or in what we have failed to do. And we need his forgiveness, his pardon.
But the Lord’s prayer goes further than that. Jesus teaches us to not just seek forgiveness from God, but to offer the same forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Indeed, as he continues teaching after the prayer, in verse 14, he says that the two are connected, or even dependent. That our forgiveness of others will be reflected in God forgiving us; and our unwillingness to forgive will lead to our own sins being unforgiven.
In other parts of the gospels, we hear further teaching on this from Jesus, such as the parable of the unmerciful servant, who, when forgiven a huge debt he owes turns around and is unwilling to forgive a very small debt that he’s owed by another servant.
Forgiveness is never easy. Hurts can be painful. But when we reflect on the great debt that we owe to God, which has been forgiven, that same mercy and grace should flow through us to others.
Provision, pardon, and finally, protection: ‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ (13). We pray for protection from temptation, and from the devil, the enemy of our souls, who roams about seeking to devour us. When we pray in this way, we acknowledge that we need God’s help, that we can’t do it by ourselves.
Jesus expects us to pray. And he helps us to know what to do as well as what not to do. We’re not to be like the hypocrites, who like to be seen; and we’re not to be like the pagans who like to be heard babbling away. But rather we’re to pray in secret, to our Father who sees in secret; and we’re to pray with simple words to our Father who knows what we need before we ask.
As we align ourselves with his priorities - his name, his kingdom, his will - then we can seek his provision, pardon, and protection.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 3rd November 2019.
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