Our Father, Not My Father: Praying the Model Prayer Line by Line

Sermon outline

Jesus gave us a model for prayer: come boldly to God as your Father, put His name, kingdom and will first, trust Him with your daily needs, and forgive as you have been forgiven.

1. Do not babble like the pagans

   Jesus warns against praying to be seen and against babbling, which he defines as talking rapidly and continuously in a foolish, incomprehensible way without a goal. He links the word to the tower of Babel. We are praying to an all-knowing, intelligent God, so we should pray intelligently with a clear focus.

   “So you pray intelligently with a focus in mind.”

   • Matthew 6:5-8
   • Genesis 11:1-9

2. Our Father in heaven

   As a child of God you have a privileged relationship with your heavenly Father and direct access to Him in Jesus' name, with no priest needed. Once you have repented, your sins are forgiven as far as the east is from the west, so do not come with condemnation. Jesus said 'our' Father, not 'my' Father, so this is a prayer of community, and although we live in the third dimension we have access to the fourth dimension, which means supernatural help.

   Illustration: When you tell God you don't feel worthy to pray, He puts up a board that says 'Don't go fishing': don't go fishing in the past He has already forgiven.

   “You, as a child of God, have a privileged relationship with your heavenly Father.”

   • Matthew 6:9
   • Psalm 103:12
   • Romans 12:2
   • Romans 8:15
   • John 16:7
   • John 4:24

3. Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done

   The right kind of prayer has a passion for God's glory and His agenda, so His name, kingdom and will must be top priority. Seek the kingdom first and things will chase you down and overtake you. The charismatic church needs a culture of putting God first, and God wants us to obey His will with a clean, trusting heart rather than with resentment, as Jesus did in Gethsemane. Behind the people who fight you at work is the enemy, and you have power to bind and loose.

   Illustration: A teenager who obeys a parent but with resentment written all over their face: God does not want us to do His will like that.

   “Don't run after things. Run after God.”

   • Matthew 6:9-10
   • Matthew 6:33
   • Luke 22:42-44
   • Ephesians 6:12
   • Matthew 18:18

4. Give us this day our daily bread

   Some early theologians thought the prayer was too majestic to mean ordinary needs, but Jesus meant daily bread, because workers were paid day by day and a few days of illness could bring catastrophe. The Lord is vitally interested in your work and your everyday needs. 'Lead us not into temptation' means 'don't let us yield to temptation'.

   “So what I am saying is that the Lord is interested vitally in your daily bread.”

   • Matthew 6:11-13

5. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors

   Many assume 'debts' means money, but Jesus meant sin. God holds a handful of IOUs against us, and we hold IOUs against others: we must let ours go if we want Him to let His go. Relationships are the most important thing in life, and many marriages break because neither side will humble themselves and say 'I'm sorry'.

   Illustration: People who run from one marriage or relationship to the next jump from the frying pan into the fire, because they meet the same problem again.

   “I'm sorry takes a lot less energy than having a bun fight.”

   • Matthew 6:12