(Senior Elder at Father's Heart Ministries and function as
an Apostle and Prophet to the Body of Christ globally)
Major flaws in the Jewish prayer perspective
Matt.6:5
They are praying to be seen by men. = selfish. They make a public display in vain babblings, like pagan people.
Matt.6:8
They had this unimaginable pride to think that they can inform God of things, so our Lord comes in Matt.6:9 to reaffirm what right prayer is.
Matt.6:9-13
Here Jesus reiterates what the true ingredients of prayer were, from a Jewish tradition.
The “Lord’s prayer” is not to be recited or memorised!
Reasons:
- This prayer is recorded twice in Scripture: once in Matt.6 and once in Lk.11 and it differs in both places.
- It is substantially the same but the words are different. If the Lord is giving us a prayer to be memorised and recited, He would not have given us different words, the two times He gave it.
- In Lk.11 the disciples say: “Teach us to pray” The Lord was not giving them a prayer, He was teaching them to pray.
- There is no occasion further in Scripture where this prayer is repeated by anybody! It is not a prayer to be made a ritual. It is a model for every prayer you ever will pray!
- This prayer is a skeleton on which you are to put “meat and bones and flesh.”
- What Jesus is giving here is a prayer outline! The basic elements of true prayer are given! You have to develop this into its meaningful expression in every situation!
Some Approaches to This Prayer
When you look into a diamond, you see different facets of one diamond as light is shone upon it at different angles:
This is the skeleton on which you can hang every prayer that you will ever pray!
This is the divine pattern for all praying!
If you will memorise this prayer or get it into your head and just work your way through it its outline, no matter what you are praying about, you will have confidence that you are praying the way Jesus taught you to pray!
Examples:
(a) It unfolds the relationships we have with God
It says: “Our Father” – We have a “Father – son relationship” with God.
This is an expression of intimacy and worship.
It says: “Hallowed be Thy Name” – We have a “deity – worshipper relationship” with God.
This is an expression of reverence and worship.
It says: “Thy Kingdom Come” – We have a “Sovereign – subject relationship” with God.
This is an expression of willing subjection to sovereign authority.
It says: Thy will be done” – We have a “Master – servant relationship” with God.
This is an expression of trust and faith - A commitment of self and surrender.
It says: “Give us our daily bread” – We have a “Benefactor – beneficiary relationship” with God.
This is an expression that gives God the right and position of source, provider and supplier.
It says: “Forgive us our debts” – We have a “Saviour – sinner relationship” with God.
This an expression within which we plead for release from self inflicted bondage, or a release from my prison of mental and emotional trauma.
It says: “Lead us not into temptation” – We have a “Guide – pilgrim relationship” with God.
This is an expression of humility and yielded ness to His divine directives.
Note (J.Macather)
These are not just statements we make in a casual way, but we declare it with emotion, with force, with inward conviction, with brevity, with passion, and longing.
God is Father; Deity; Sovereign; Master; Benefactor; Saviour and Guide!
We realise that in these relationships we stand in a secondary position. A position that reflects our utter dependence upon His ability to impart life and sustain our frail human existence!
Affirmation of His authority; His character and Sovereignty precedes our requests; our petitions; our requests to satisfy our needs.
Thank you for visiting my Blog, please be on the look out for Kingdom Prayer - Part 4 click here for Part 1
Mark KhanLife Coach / Inter-Networker
Position Yourself To Max Life
Father's Heart Ministries mission can be summarized as follows:
Equalizing the Church, Advancing the Kingdom, impacting the Nations.
Shaun Blignaut
is Senior Elder and function as an Apostle and Prophet to the Body of Christ.
Father's Heart Ministries
is an Apostolic Reforming Congregation, based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
"Our desire is to teach, train, challenge, warn and activate the Church to reconnect the Centrality of Christ and His Kingdom."
is Senior Elder and function as an Apostle and Prophet to the Body of Christ.
Father's Heart Ministries
is an Apostolic Reforming Congregation, based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
"Our desire is to teach, train, challenge, warn and activate the Church to reconnect the Centrality of Christ and His Kingdom."
