The Lord's Prayer

Title: The Lord’s Prayer 1
Date: 02 June 2024
Preacher: Dr Tan Hock Seng

I will preach the first sermon of the Lord’s Prayer series today.
As Jesus had taught this prayer
when He was preaching on the mountain,
I shall explain the prayer in the context of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount
I pray that your prayer life would be enriched by
the understanding of the Lord’s Prayer,
and that you would enjoy Presence God with you
in your communion time.

Introduction

The Occasion of Jesus’ Teaching
Earlier in His teaching Jesus admonished His disciples,

“unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law,
you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” [5:20, NIV]

The righteousness of many Pharisees and Scribes were superficial.
They acted piously to attract attention and gain praises from people.

That’s why, Jesus warned the disciples:

"Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people.
Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven” [Matt 6:1]

Besides prayer [Slide #5], those Pharisees and Scribes also paraded their righteousness in their giving and fasting.

A. The Pious Acts that are Abused for Showing-off:

1. Giving [6:2-4]
2. Praying [[6:5-6]
3. Fasting [8:16-18]

B. The Acts per se are Not the Problem, but the Underlying Motive is.
The acts of giving, praying, and fasting are not the problems, but their underlying motives are.

The wrong motives:
6:2b so that people will praise them [in giving]
6:5b so that people can see them [in praying]
6:16b so that people will see them fasting [when fasting]

Jesus criticized the Pharisees and Scribes’ motives
in giving, praying, and fasting to gain attention.

I. Jesus’ Teaching about Doing Right.
Jesus taught three things concerning doing right.

A. Do right before God, and not in the eyes of men

1. Jesus exhorts the disciples to give with the awareness that God is watching
6:3 But when you do your giving,
do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing,

We will have a Problem:
If everyone in church were to give a large
sum of money, not wanting to be named,
then the church would’ve a large sum of
unaccountable income. So, when making a
donation, you may give your name to the
church for the accounting purpose, yet
stating that you want to remain anonymous
in the bulletin’s announcement.

2. Then Jesus exhorts the disciples to pray for God to listen, not the other people’s ears.

6:6 whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.

It is not wrong to tell other people that you are
praying for them.
They might be encouraged to know.
Sometimes, too many prayers-in-secret may lead
people to think that nobody cares for them; or
no one is praying for them.

3. And then Jesus exhorts the disciples to fast with the awareness that God is attentive to people’s hearts

6:17-18 When you fast,put oil on your head
and wash your face, so that it will not be
obvious to others
when you are fasting, but only to your Father
who is in secret.

B. If you want attention, then that’s all you shall get

Secondly, Jesus repeatedly warned the disciples that
should they give, pray, and fast to get attention,
then attention shall be all the reward that they will get.
Take note that the phrase “reward in full” is repeated three times.

6:2c Giving to draw praise:
I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

6:5c Praying to catch attention:
I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

6:16c Fasting to be noticed:
I tell you the truth, they have their reward in full.

C. The Father who sees in Secret will reward you
Jesus teaches the disciples that God can see clearly their giving, praying and fasting, done in secret.

6:4 that your gift may be in secret.
And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
6:6 pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
6:18 fasting, … to your Father who is in secret.
And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Jesus assures us that the Heavenly Father is fully aware of the good we do in secret, and He will surely reward us.

D. What if I have mixed motives?

Sometimes, our motive for doing something
good and right can be mixed.
We may have good motive, as well as bad ones.

If we are aware of having mixed motives,
do we stop doing what is right?
No, we may ask God to purify us of the wrong motives.
We may pray,

“Please cleanse me; purify me of my selfish reason.”

We may pray Psalm 139:23
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Now, let’s give attention to
II. Jesus’ Teaching about Proper Praying

A. Firstly, Never Use Prayer to Draw Attentions
We’ve seen this in Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees and the Scribes [vv. 5-6]

B. Don’t Treat Prayer as Some Form of Ritual
In verses 7-8 ,
Jesus admonishes against treating prayer as rituals

7 "And when you are praying,
do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do,
for they suppose that they will be heard for repeating the words..

Here are some of common rituals we can see today

Superstitious ritual: Chanting magical words to make things happen.
Legalistic ritual: Praying because you have to pray.
Wayang Pietism: Outwardly religious, like the religious leaders cited in Jesus’ admonishment.
The pietistic acts aim to draw attention.

Jesus tells the disciples that God already knew
what they need even before they ask.

8 "Therefore do not be like them;
for your Father knows what you need,
before you ask Him.

King David also testifies in Psalm 139:4,
Even before a word is on my tongue
You know all about it already, O LORD.

C. Why Pray, if God Already Knew?

Then, this leads to an interesting question,
If God already knew what we need,
why do we still need to pray?
Is God unaware? Does He need reminder?

John Calvin gave us six reasons in his work,
the Institutes of Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter XX.
I will summarize Calvin’s three-page reasons:
The first reason is
1. Prayer assures us that God responds to our asking.

Praying keeps us from becoming idle and lazy
in approaching God.
If we often receive without having to ask,
we would grow to take God for granted.

The second reason
2. Prayer reminds us that all blessings come from God

Praying makes us grateful for God’s blessings.
We will value more the things we received through prayers.

3. Prayer leads us to witness God’s Providence.
In this world God’s intervention is very real.
God intervenes to care and to provide for us,
especially when feel our faith is weak in our praying.

In summary,
John Calvin was saying that
the Lord instructed us to pray,
for our own sake, not His.
In prayer, we can interact with the Living God.

Now, let’s learn about,
III. Jesus’ Teaching about Approaching God in Prayer
One…
A. Jesus Taught the Disciples to Pray in Common Dialect

As Jesus spoke Aramaic, a Jewish dialect, in His ministry,
many Bible scholars believed that
Jesus had taught the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic.
The Aramaic Prayer was later translated to Greek in the Gospel.
This bit of information is encouraging to us
because it means that we don’t have to use Hebrew to pray.
Hebrew is a sacred language to the Jews;
They would use Hebrew to pray and read the Scripture in their worship,
Similarly, the Arabs would use Arabic, as sacred language to pray and read the Q’oran in their worship.

By teaching the prayer in Aramaic,
Jesus was casting aside the Jewish tradition
of approaching with a sacred language.
This tells us that God does not require us
to use any sacred language to pray or to worship.
We can pray in any language or dialect that we speak.

B. Jesus invites, the disciples to address God as “Father”

Q:How do we address the LORD God Almighty?

Jesus told His disciples, just call him, “Abba,” – Father
Calling God “Abba” is a casual and also a radical.
1. What the Romans Addressed Their Gods .
The Romans had to use long salutation to address their gods
They must be careful to use all the correct titles,
lest the god become offended.

As Caesar was treated as a god, the people had to address Caesar with a long salutation.

Eusebius, a 4th century historian recorded the long salutation that Galerius Caesar demanded:

The emperor Caesar, Galerius, Valerius, Maximanus, Invictus, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Germanicus Maximus, Egypticus Maximus, Phoebicus Maximus, Sarmenticus Maximus [five times], Persecus Maximus [twice], Carpicus Maximus [six times], Armenicus Maximus, Medicus [1]

Our King is greater; He deserves a longer salutation,
However, God is not egoistic as many human are.
Jesus tells us, “Just call Him, ‘Father’ .”

2. What the Jewish People Addressed God
The Jewish people would address God as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” They also called God “King of the Universe” when they gave thanks for their food.

3. But Christians may address the same God “Abba”
In the Prayer, Jesus invites us
to call the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

“Abba” – Father.

“Abba” is an endearing term.
This term affirms a personable and intimate relationship between God and us.
Many years ago, many would equate Abba with “daddy.”
But with the rise of many sugar daddies these days,
“Daddy” has become derogatory.

Reaction: Some people might feel ,
“I’m not worthy to call God, ‘Father’ ”
Other people can, but I don’t deserve it.

In his Gospel, the Apostle John tells all believers
that Jesus has given all believers the right to be children of God.
As God’s children, we have the right to call God, “Father”.

NET John 1:12
But to all who have received Him [Jesus]
– those who believe in his name–
He has given the right to become God's children

So, whenever we call God, “Father,” we should be thankful to Jesus for sharing God’s Fatherhood with us.
Because of Jesus’ invitation, God is now “Our Father”

C. The Father Who Arts in Heaven

Our Father Who art in Heaven …

There are three interpretive questions that will help us understand the first line of the Prayer better:

Who is this Father?
Where is this Father?
What is this Father like?

1. The first question Who is this Father?
[Pause] He is the Father in Heaven
Heaven connotes that the Father is Majestic
God is majestic in the Beauty of His Creation – the Earth
God is majestic in His Glory in Heaven
God is majestic in His Holiness

So, when we pray “Our Father in Heaven”
Let’s be mindful that
we are approaching the majestic Presence of God.

Q: How then should be approach to this majestic God?

Hey man! You lousy God,
Are you sleeping or what?
Why aren’t you listening to our prayers?

That’s totally insolent – no respect for God at all.

When Isaiah encountered the Holy & Majestic God
He was speechless.
When he heard the angels praising the LORD continually,
“Holy, Holy, Holy!
Isaiah was a holy prophet
but in God’s holy presence he felt like an unclean Gentile
“Woe is me, I’m a man of unclean lips”
Isaiah perceived that lips was unclean
to join in the angel’s praises

“Our Father who art in Heaven” –
is a line that tunes reminds us that
we have now come before the same Holy and Majestic LORD that Isaiah stood before.
Such an awareness should cause us to remain still.

2. Where is this Father?
Pause He is in Heaven
Heaven denotes a Transcendent Realm
The realm that is far, far away, and way up high.

Many VVIPs are also “transcendent”
They are not approachable to us;
some are approachable but not available.
We have to wait months for an appointment.
and when the scheduled date arrives,
the meeting session is very quick and short.

Jesus has blessed us with an encouraging truth
about the Father who is in Heaven:
One disciple asked Jesus, “How is it that
you are revealing Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Jesus answered,
“Because you love me and you obey my teaching”
“So, my Father loves you,
and my Father and I will come to you…”

Jesus’ reply contains a promise for all believers
John 14:23
"If anyone loves me, he will obey my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him
and We will be with him, living together

We can experience the Father’s Presence,
wherever we are, although He is in Heaven
In your living room, the Father is there with you.
In your office, or your classroom, the Father is with you.
When you walking home, the Father walks with you.
The Father is always with us
and that’s because the Holy Spirit connects us
with the Father who is in Heaven.

The Apostle Paul teaches us that
God is with us because our body is His temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple
and that God's Spirit lives in you? [cf. Rom 8:9; 11]

Then Paul teaches us that
the Holy Spirit assures us that we are God’s children

Romans 8:15b-16
“ … You have received the Spirit of sonship;
and by Him we cry, "Abba, Father."
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit
that we are God's children.

Therefore, when we called God, “Father”
we are intimately bonded with God
in a Father-child relationship.

God is always approachable, and personable to us.
When we come before “Our Father,”
He would not say, “What do you want?”
“I’m very busy, so don’t dilly dally.”

Instead, He would say,
“I have not heard from you for a while”;
“Are you very busy?”
“Take your time to talk to me”;
“I’m in no hurry”

The third interpretive question …
3. What is this Father like?
Our Father is the Creator-God

Psalm 104:10-25 illustrates vividly what our Creator-God is like.

A. The Creator Continually Sustains His Creation
10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.

13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.

16 The trees of the LORD are well watered,

Then the Psalm tells us that
B. God Provides Suitable Habitats for all Creatures as Homes
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the pine trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys.

C. He Marks the Time and Seasons by the Sun and the Moon
19 The moon marks off the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then man goes out to his work,
to his labor until evening.

D. He Fills the Seas, Land and Skies with Wondrous Creatures
24 How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom You made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea,
vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.

John M. Rutter, a British musician ,
Composed a song, “Look at the World.”
The song lyrics rephrases and summarizes
the creative work of God described in Psalm 104:10-25.

A. He Continually Sustains the Creation [vv. 10-16]
B. He Provides Suitable Habitats for all Creatures as Homes [vv.17-18]
C. He Marks the Time and Seasons by the Sun and the Moon [vv. 19-23]
D. He Fills the Seas, Land and Skies with Wondrous Creatures [vv. 24-25]

A cameraman, Ineke Beumer, produced a video
that illustrates God’s Creation with inspiring shots.

We shall watch this video after the sermon’s conclusion [4 mins 30 secs]

Conclusion:

1.Jesus exhorts us to give, to pray, and to fast
with the awareness that God is watching.

2. Never Use Prayer to Draw Attentions to Yourself

3. Don’t Treat Prayer as some form of Rituals

4. Prayer is a “Father-Child” Communion with God

A. Jesus allows us to pray in any language or dialect
B. Our Father in Heaven is Transcendent
in His Creation and Glory.
C. The Holy Spirit connects us to our Father in Heaven.
D. Jesus invites us to call the Creator-God Abba, “F

[1] Eusebius The History of the Church 17.5, trans. G. A. Williamson (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1965), pp. 353–54.

Bilingual service video link: https://youtu.be/2d_TR3gtUjo?si=VItnWvj9sAJNJss3