PART 3
“This, then, is how you should pray:”
The first words in Matthew 6:9 should not be taken lightly; and it’s better than any preface I could give as we now make it to the real substance of this text.
So far, we’ve looked at everything Jesus tells us prayer is not — but after all that He says and implies about how prayer had been abused, His model for how we are to pray might seem awfully simple. It’s short and direct, but more powerful than any words I could string together or ramble off. Do not neglect the gravity of what is happening here: This is Jesus, God in the flesh, instructing His creation how to call upon and communicate with Him. It is more humbling than a warrior king leaning to hear a toddler’s broken speech. Do you realize that this is God teaching us how to pray from the perspective of the recipient of prayer? Nobody else has that ability.
Look at how short the model prayer is; by our system of chapters and verses, it’s under ten verses. If any man was asked to demonstrate a model for prayer, how much exponentially longer would it be? Yet this is God. He didn’t only come up with the idea of prayer - He invented existence. And His model of prayer isn’t even a dozen verses long.
Look at how short the model prayer is; by our system of chapters and verses, it’s under ten verses. If any man was asked to demonstrate a model for prayer, how much exponentially longer would it be? Yet this is God. He didn’t only come up with the idea of prayer - He invented existence. And His model of prayer isn’t even a dozen verses long.
“Our Father in Heaven…”
Jesus begins His prayer by addressing it to the Father. And while it may seem obvious why this is important to prayer, there are many religions in which people believe their prayers are heard because they have prayed to some entity other than God. Do some research about the idea of “shaliach” in certain sects of Judaism or the Catholic practice of praying through Mary. While it’s beyond the scope of this post to go into detail about these things, you need to understand that there are many counterfeits to the truth about God and what He tells us in Scripture.
It’s crucial to see that Jesus is setting a record straight here: prayer is directed to God and nobody else, despite what other teachings insist.
It’s crucial to see that Jesus is setting a record straight here: prayer is directed to God and nobody else, despite what other teachings insist.
And how much more this must say about God and His desire for intimacy with those who are in Him. Think of anyone you know who has a position of power: a dean, an employer, a judge, a minister, you name it. Even if you are close to them, how much time do you think they could give of their day to speak with you? And how much easier is it to just shoot a quick text or email? Or leave a message with an assistant? And yet the most powerful One of all has commanded us to speak to Him directly. We need no prior-given authority or permission to approach God — He has instructed us to simply pray to Him and Him alone.
“…hallowed be your name.”
Jesus seems to be speaking straight into our twenty-first century culture - a time when God, even when acknowledged, seems to be made so little of. The Greek word translated as “hallowed” means “to make holy” or “to sanctify/set apart as special”. Accordingly, the word that we see as “name” means so much more; it refers to God’s identity and character and not just a word to refer to Him. Jesus isn’t simply complimenting God for the name “Yahweh”, but saying “let Your identity be made much of and seen as holy”. He’s asking God to make Himself famous.
That may seem weird. After all, God’s already God. God needs no one to grant Him permission to be made famous. But when God becomes famous in a person’s own heart, that person wants to make God famous in the hearts of others. I’m sure there are oceans of meaning that I’m missing here. But there’s certainly no less than this: Jesus wants our prayer to be that God would be glorified.
But what does glory really look like? The word “glory” can seem so meaningless when we say it and hear it said so often without being reminded of what it means. I believe it was only about two years ago that I really started realizing what glory is. And I realized it by having my eyes opened to some of the things I didn’t realize I was glorifying - which is, to use the best word, idolatry.
As I’ve said before — this may seem off-topic, but hear me out:
As a young guy who grew up with all kinds of computers and electronic gadgets, I know what it’s like to yearn for that next toy. I can remember being a kid, scrubbing boats and mowing lawns for a few dollars at a time so I could save up for whatever handheld game system had recently come out. I remember when my dad brought home a computer with Windows 98 on it and I was blown away by how the Start menu had been updated with animation. I remember camping out in our back yard with my step brother so we could play the original Pokémon Gameboy games all night. I became a tech-savvy adult who always keeps up with the latest and greatest devices and updates. It’s not simply that I liked technology, but I had let technology shape how I thought and acted without ever really deciding to place it so high in my priorities. I’ve always marveled at the newest amazing feats of technology. When they come out with something new and cutting-edge, I’ve always been there to say “that is so cool.” The best summary would be to say that I’ve always been left impressed.
That kind of impression is exactly (part of) what glory is. And the glory I’ve given to technology for so long without realizing it is about the same ratio to the glory of God as an atomic quark is to the universe - and even that analogy breaks down. There’s nothing wrong with being impressed by impressive things. But how much more are you and I impressed by things that seem to small and insignificant when compared to all that God is?
That may seem weird. After all, God’s already God. God needs no one to grant Him permission to be made famous. But when God becomes famous in a person’s own heart, that person wants to make God famous in the hearts of others. I’m sure there are oceans of meaning that I’m missing here. But there’s certainly no less than this: Jesus wants our prayer to be that God would be glorified.
But what does glory really look like? The word “glory” can seem so meaningless when we say it and hear it said so often without being reminded of what it means. I believe it was only about two years ago that I really started realizing what glory is. And I realized it by having my eyes opened to some of the things I didn’t realize I was glorifying - which is, to use the best word, idolatry.
As I’ve said before — this may seem off-topic, but hear me out:
As a young guy who grew up with all kinds of computers and electronic gadgets, I know what it’s like to yearn for that next toy. I can remember being a kid, scrubbing boats and mowing lawns for a few dollars at a time so I could save up for whatever handheld game system had recently come out. I remember when my dad brought home a computer with Windows 98 on it and I was blown away by how the Start menu had been updated with animation. I remember camping out in our back yard with my step brother so we could play the original Pokémon Gameboy games all night. I became a tech-savvy adult who always keeps up with the latest and greatest devices and updates. It’s not simply that I liked technology, but I had let technology shape how I thought and acted without ever really deciding to place it so high in my priorities. I’ve always marveled at the newest amazing feats of technology. When they come out with something new and cutting-edge, I’ve always been there to say “that is so cool.” The best summary would be to say that I’ve always been left impressed.
That kind of impression is exactly (part of) what glory is. And the glory I’ve given to technology for so long without realizing it is about the same ratio to the glory of God as an atomic quark is to the universe - and even that analogy breaks down. There’s nothing wrong with being impressed by impressive things. But how much more are you and I impressed by things that seem to small and insignificant when compared to all that God is?
A few days ago, the Daily Post was a talk from Louie Giglio from Chris Tomlin’s How Great is Our God tour. While I don’t agree with every Louie has ever said, I love his effort to magnify God. When the slideshow of star sizes rolls through from earth to the largest stars that we know of, each object in the presentation seems to blow the previous one out of the water. There’s a point at which your brain turns off, stops trying to understand how big something is, and simply says “yup, that’s awfully big.” The year prior to that message, he delivered a similar self-titled sermon on the Indescribable tour that was equally inspiring. This idea from Psalm 19:1 says that “[t]he heavens declare the glory of God” and “the skies display his craftsmanship.”
When you start to see that God is bigger than anyone’s scope to see, the words in Revelation that say He “was, and is, and is to come” take on new meaning. See that the Scripture does not say that He “became, currently is, and, by our best guesses, will likely continue to be”. Those words seem not to imply that He is simply more than we are, arrived before we did, and will outlast us, but that He is infinite. And the only way we can have any kind of life that is eternal is by the One who is eternal.
To pray for God’s name to be lifted high is the fruit of a healthy concept of God. I know of a pastor who says “the most important thing about you is your concept of God”. If your concept of God is so small that you do not see the necessity of praying for people to see his fame and glory in such a way that they would be impressed by it and imprinted by it, then how can you expect that god to have carried out a task as eternal as your salvation? A small god could not have done with Jesus did on the cross - taking the punishment and wrath due every person who would ever place their trust in Him to do so.
And remember what Jesus has already told the disciples at this point - that God wants you to make this prayer in private. The infinite God wants intimacy with you. Is that not comforting and awe-striking at the same time? Can you see why having a “fear” of God is talked about so often? I’ve heard it compared with a healthy fear of a father’s rebuke - but it’s certainly more than that. You don’t simply choose to fear God; rather, you understand what Scripture says about God, see that it is true, and realize how fearful the infinity of God is. Surely part of the reason the Bible says that He will be worshipped forever is because the worship will never be finished and never reach a stopping point - just as his glory will never end.
No comments:
Post a Comment