The Lord's Prayer - Forgive Us Our Debts (Apr 5, 2020)

Matthew 6:9-15

Introduction: This Lent we are looking at each part of the Lord’s Prayer. As a model for prayer and a summary of the entire Christian life – the Lord’s Prayer offers us a place to turn in an anxious and overwhelming time. At first, we might not think forgiveness is relevant to our current crisis but when we consider the impact of stress, anxiety, and fear on our relationship with God and others, we will quickly realize this part of the prayer is just as relevant and vital as all the others.

Four Things We Need to Know for Healthy Relationships – Especially in our time of COVID-19

1. We Sin
Since Jesus gave us this prayer to pray as a regular pattern, he is clearly assuming we will need it often. In order to have a healthy relationship with God, we need to know we will sin. Though we grow and mature by God’s grace, we will never outgrow the need for this prayer. In fact, the more we grow and mature as Christians, the more we will know how much we need this prayer. By choosing the word “debts” to describe our sin, Jesus is emphasizing that there is a real cost when we fail to give God the obedience and glory we owe Him. Just like financial debt doesn’t just disappear, relational debt doesn’t just go away - something must be done about it. The current crisis we are in both exposes and intensifies this reality. Our sins and God-substitutes are exposed. Our temptations are more intense. We will stumble and fall. We will sin. Something must be done about this to restore our communion with God. Thankfully, something has been done – which is why Jesus gave us this prayer.

2. God Forgives
If you find yourself struggling and sinning more in this time, hear this: Jesus did not give us this prayer to weigh us down or to beat ourselves up or spur us to earn our place back in good standing with God. The whole POINT of this prayer is not our sins but God’s forgiveness. God invites us and longs for us to experience the freedom and liberation of forgiveness – regularly, every time we need it. Like all the other parts of the Lord’s Prayer, this is a prayer that God says “Yes” to when offered in faith. Asking for forgiveness is deeply humbling because what we are asking for is for our debt to be wiped clean without any payment or contribution on our end. That’s what forgiveness is! This is humbling but also incredibly freeing. When God forgives sin, he removes our sin so far from us it is no longer and will never be a part of us. When God forgives sin, he “remembers it no more”; he never calls it to mind and will never bring it up again. That’s what forgiveness is! When we know God forgives our sin, we are humbled (and thus able to forgive others) and confident (and thus able to let go of our failures, guilt and shame).

3. Others Will Sin Against Us
In telling us to pray, “as we forgive our debtors”, Jesus is assuming something here too. Others will sin against us. It will happen regularly. Jesus is saying, “Expect it. Don’t be surprised when it happens.” Just knowing it will happen doesn’t make it any easier or more bearable when it does happen. There is a cost when we are wronged and hurt. There is real relational debt, and something must be done about it or our relationships will be strained and will break under the weight of this debt. In this trying time, I think it is fair to assume that we are all racking up relational debt in our relationships. Careless and harsh words have been spoken. Inconsiderate actions have been carried out. People we are close to have been aloof and withdrawn. Some have not gotten back to our texts and calls. There has been insensitivity, overworking, ignoring, escaping and many more failures to love.

What we cannot do is make others pay for their failures, bear the cost ourselves in bitterness and unforgiveness or settle for shallow forgiveness. We must forgive as we have been forgiven.

4. We Must Forgive
This is the only part of the Lord’s Prayer that comes with an “explanation” and a “footnote” – and both are SO challenging. Jesus clearly teaches that his followers must forgive others when they are wronged. But is forgiving others a condition for us being forgiven by God? It sounds that way, but that’s not what Jesus is saying. Forgiving others is a sign that we know we have been forgiven in Christ. Jesus doesn’t say pray, “Forgive us because we forgive others”, He says as we forgive others. In Jesus’ amazing wisdom, He is tying these two things together in such a way that we are always driven back to our own debt/forgiveness and always pushed out to forgive others in a continual “cycle of forgiveness”. The two are inseparable. Here are a few ways for us to think about this inseparability:

• If you pray for forgiveness while withholding forgiveness, you reveal that you don’t know what you are asking God for. So, you cancel the prayer

• If you harbor ill feelings against others, if you pay them back or write them off, then in this prayer you are really asking that God not forgive your sins

• Whenever you really pray this prayer you forfeit the right to seek payback, hold a grudge or refuse forgiveness

If this still feels unresolved, we should understand that Jesus meant to for us to feel this tension. But here’s one more thought that may help - like all the “conditional” warnings in the Bible, the conditions should be taken at face value but they can only be met by those who know they have been forgiven and loved in Christ unconditionally.

Whatever the future holds for us all, our recovery and rebuilding will require much forgiveness. We will need forgiveness and we will need to forgive. May we learn to pray this prayer now so as to show the world the humbling and liberating truth, that “Jesus paid it all, all to him we owe.”

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the message most impacted you or left you with questions? Which of the four things do you feel like you most need to remember/know at this time? Why?

2. Does it bother you or comfort you that Jesus clearly expected us to sin – no matter how much we grow and mature? In what ways has this crisis and all its challenges exposed or intensified your struggle with sin? How have you handled this (emotionally and practically)?

3. What does it mean to ask for forgiveness? Get as clear a definition as you can. What does it mean for God to forgive? Using the Bible, come up with as clear a definition as you can. What would it look like to know, really know, we are forgiven like this no matter what?

4. How is possible for God to forgive like this? What happened to the real debt we owe? What does it mean that God already says, “Yes” to this prayer because of the work of Christ? Then why do we need to pray it again and again?

5. How do you tend to handle it when others sin against you? How have you been handling it during this crisis?

6. CS Lewis said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you”. Read Matthew 18:21-25 and answer this question – How does understanding our forgiveness make it impossible for us not to forgive others?

7. Is Jesus making our being forgiven by God conditional on our forgiving others? How would you answer this?

8. Why will forgiveness be so important for us to make it through this crisis and for us to recover and rebuild when it is passed?

PRAY | Spend time yourself or with a group slowly praying “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. It’s important you pray this prayer honestly by yourself or alongside others with whom you feel safe. God wants us to know we are forgiven not just in general but for the specific sins we commit. It can be very healing for us to do this alone but can also be very healing for us to be reminded of our forgiveness (full, complete and finished) by another brother or sister.

Ask God to search your heart for any areas of unforgiveness. True and real forgiveness of others is impossible in our own strength. Ask for wisdom and grace to take any steps toward forgiving others.

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The Lord's Prayer - Your Will Be Done (Mar 29, 2020)

Matthew 6:5-13

Introduction: This Lent we are looking at each part of the Lord’s Prayer as we practice using it as a pattern for our prayers. As a model for prayer and a summary of the entire Christian life – the Lord’s Prayer offers us a place to turn in an anxious and overwhelming time. This is the part of the prayer that, the more we really understand it, the more we find it is the hardest part of the prayer to pray. But, at the same time, it is the part of the prayer that, the more we understand it and pray it, the more heaven is brought into our lives of uncertainty, fear and loss. It’s a prayer we must learn to pray in our time of pandemic.

1. Why We Must Pray This Prayer

In order to see why we must pray this prayer; we need to know that there are two main ways that the Bible speaks about the will of God – 1) His will of decree and 2) His will of command. Both are described in Deuteronomy 29:29 – “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God (ie. His sovereign will of decree); but the revealed things (ie. His will of command) belong to us and our children forever so that we may follow all the words of this law.” Jesus gave us this part of the prayer to teach us to how to respond to both aspects of His will by praying, “Your will be done.”.

In response to God’s sovereign will – In the Bible, God’s will often refers to God’s plan for and control over all things. In Romans 9:19, the apostle Paul asks a rhetorical question, “Who can resist His will?” He is saying God’s will shall be done. God is in control. Our choice is either to try to control our lives (ie. resist His will) or to let go of control (ie. surrender to His will). In light of this, some scholars suggest that this part of the prayer should be translated, “May your will happen”. This is not giving God “permission” or resigning to impersonal fate. This is a prayer of personal trust. Though we don’t (and can’t) fully understand God’s will, we must learn to pray, “Even when I don’t understand, I trust you are in control and your will is loving and good”.

Here’s why we must learn to pray this – so much of our prayer is really us saying to God, “God, MY will be done… God, do what I want; carry out my plans.” Praying this in any time – but especially in times of crisis – is a recipe for frustration, disappointment, anger and anxiety. This kind of prayer is asking for God to make us god of our own lives; to put ourselves in control of our lives instead of Him. We must learn to pray this prayer because God alone is God. The reality is (and we are all learning this in a new way now) no matter how hard we try, we cannot control our lives. But we can open our hands to our Father in heaven and trust Him. This is the only way to find heaven’s peace in the chaos of the earth. 

In response to God’s revealed will – Praying “your will be done” in response to God’s revealed will (or will of command) is less mysterious and more straightforward - but even harder for us.  Praying, “Your will be done” is saying yes to everything God says yes to and no to everything God says no to - no exceptions. But a lot of our prayers are really bargaining with God. We think,” If I do this part of His will, maybe He will do this part of my will?” This is the motivation underneath all religious praying – prayer and obedience are used to try to bend God to do our will, but a Christian prays, “Bend all my will to all of yours!”

In this part of the prayer, Jesus brings to the surface something that is hard for us to hear and accept – we are all locked in a battle of wills with God. It’s heaven vs earth; it’s our will vs God’s.  This is not a battle we want to win. As CS Lewis wrote, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done."’ This is why we must learn to pray this prayer.

This can all sound so controlling and stifling to modern people. But here’s what we need to see - it is the most loving thing for God to do to teach us to bend to His will. The most loving thing for God to do is whatever it takes to make us into the kind of person who in the end, in our heart of hearts, can say to God – “Your will be done.”.

The more we do the will of God from the heart, the more we experience the peace, joy and life of heaven on earth, even in hard times. We are at a time when our will is being accomplished less and less. Praying, “My will be done” in this time of pandemic and upheaval is a recipe for anger, irritation, anxiety and resentment. To find joy and peace we must learn to be less and less conformed to this age and more and more transformed by the renewal of our minds in order to discern and do the good, pleasing and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2)..

2. Why This Prayer Must Be Prayed for Us

When we really understand this prayer, we see that Jesus is teaching us to hand over everything to God – our plans for our life, our right to choose our own path, our will to do what we want. That’s everything! To pray this takes total and complete trust even when we don’t understand what’s happening and the reason we are being asked to do something or told not to. Who can do that? Who can pray this?

This is a prayer we must pray but it is a prayer we can only really pray if we know that it was a prayer that was prayed for us. There is only one time Jesus prayed an exact phrase of this prayer he taught us. It’s this one – “Your will be done”. He prayed those exact words. In Matthew 26, when Jesus was praying in preparation for His suffering, he prayed, “My Father if it is possible let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will… My Father if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

When we ask, “Is God’s will good? Can I trust Him with everything?” Jesus praying on his face “your will be done” is the answer we have been given.

• God’s will was that the worst day in human history, the greatest act of defiance against His will, the day of suffering for Him would become the best day in human history, the greatest display of His loving will, day of salvation for us. The cross shows us God’s will (His plan) is to turn the tables on all evil, sin, grief and suffering. His will is heaven on earth no matter what the cost.

There is a great cost to really praying this prayer – giving over control of all our lives and setting aside all our will –but the cost for us is nothing compared to what it cost Jesus to pray this prayer for us. When Jesus prayed this prayer, He chose to carry all our sickness, the entire curse of our sin, the power of death itself. It cost Him everything.

Why did he pray it? So that we could. So that we would (willingly!). The will of God was to open a way for us to know the peace, the joy, the life of heaven no matter what we are facing. The way is open to all who come in Jesus’ name and pray, “Your will be done.”

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the message most impacted you or left you with questions? In your own words define the two ways the Bible speaks about the will of God. Which of the two is harder for you to respond to by praying, “Your will be done”? 

2. In what ways are your prayers you actually saying to God, “Will you carry out my plans (ie. my will)?” Why is this recipe for disaster in these times? Why is it so important that we learn to surrender control of our lives to God in a time of crisis?

3. Do you bargain with God in prayer (“If I do this part of your will, will you do this part of mine?”) Do you see ways God is teaching you to bend your will to His during this challenging time? Where are you struggling most to say to God, “Bend all my will to yours?”

4. Why do we need to know that this prayer was prayed for us before we really pray it with full understanding and full hearts? What changes when we look to the cross for answers for our doubts about God’s will?

PRAY | Spend time yourself or with a group slowly praying “Your Will Be Done”. Recommended - Open your hands and get on your knees. Confess areas you are seeking to control or areas of disobedience. Confess your doubts. Fix your heart on Jesus praying this for you – and let that convince your heart that God’s will for you is good, pleasing and perfect.

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The Lord's Prayer - Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread (Mar 22, 2020)

Matthew 6:5-13

Introduction: Moments of crisis can reveal our priorities. Our lives, church, neighborhoods, and world are facing circumstances that are showing us what really matters. God’s Word – and more particularly the Lord’s Prayer – offers incredibly relevant resources for facing questions of justice, sustenance, rescue, and evil.

1. What Do We Need?

The Lord’s Prayer teaches – and the global pandemic confirms – that we are needy creatures. At this moment, any notion that you are autonomous, independent, self-sustaining and in control seems either foolish or incredibly naïve. Everything about you is fragile. So don’t waste your pandemic. Reckon with and reflect on the reality that you are a weak, needy creature. Now is a moment when we all can consider whether we have engaged in the sin of too much confidence. The prayer for daily bread disabuses us of the lie that we are masters of our fate.

So, what do we need? Everything that makes life possible. Historically, the Protestant Reformers saw in this fourth petition the sum of everything we need for life. One writer said that by “daily bread” is meant all things the withholding of which gives pain to human nature. German pastor and theologian Martin Luther (who was well-acquainted with global plagues) says “daily bread” means: “food, drink, clothes, shoes, houses, farms, fields, lands, money, property, a good marriage, good children, honest and faithful public servants, a just government, favorable weather, health, honors, good friends, loyal neighbors.” Jesus invites us to bring all these needs to God in prayer. The encouragement from the Lord’s Prayer is that God not only made you with a stomach but also commands you to ask Him to fill it.

But the “daily bread” of this prayer while affirming our physical needs, also points beyond itself to something deeper. 20th century theologian Karl Barth said that the reference to “bread” in the prayer “contains a meaning far more simple, natural, and material, and at the same time far more profound and sublime, than we suppose.” What does he mean? Remember Jesus’ audience: Jews. People whose ancestors escaped slavery in Egypt and who were led by God in the desert for decades. In the accounts of their wilderness wanderings, we have indication that God provided them with special bread from heaven called “manna.” In Exodus 16 we learn that this manna was quite literally Israel’s “daily bread.” And the manna served a dual purpose. First, the manna put food in Israel’s belly. But in Deuteronomy 8 Moses told the people that “God humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” The daily bread of the exodus fed God’s people physically in order to awaken in them a spiritual hunger. It taught them (and us) that our lives (stomach and soul) depend on Someone Else. 

2. What Does God Give?

To meditate well on the Lord’s Prayer, we need to see the interrelatedness of all its parts. Each phrase and stanza connects with what comes before and after. That means that when you pray for daily bread, you are praying to a Father. Good parents join their happiness to the happiness of their children (in healthy and beneficial ways). That’s why Jesus says in Matthew 7, “which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (Matt 7:9-11)! God is a Father who wants joy for us, is powerful to provide it, and generously gives in His sovereign wisdom.

But how can you trust this Father will give you what’s best? You must see Jesus.

The Lord’s Prayer is first and foremost a glimpse into Jesus’ character and mission. In Matthew 4, Jesus was hungry and in the desert (just like Israel in the exodus). He is tested to turn stones into bread, tempted to be self-reliant, independent from His Father, but Jesus refused. He waited for His Father, depending on Him in childlike trust. And this Jesus also knows what it’s like to pray to God for life, but receive death. You might say Jesus was the Son who asked for bread, but received a stone. Jesus was God in the flesh who hungered so you could be filled; His body broken and crumbled to make you whole. Our lives entirely depend on the good gift of Someone outside of us. The good news of Christianity is that your enoughness, satisfaction, righteousness have all already been met and given by Jesus.

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Where do you sense your needs most acutely right now? Is it primarily physical, or spiritual, or both?

3. For ancient Israel, daily bread meant seeing through their physical hunger to a deep spiritual hunger that all humanity shares. In what ways have you experienced a spiritual hunger in this season?

4. The Lord’s Prayer is primarily about Jesus. Explain.

5. This prayer invites us to pray for “our” daily bread, not “my” daily bread. What are some applications of this to your life and in our present crisis?

6. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6). As you ponder Jesus and all His goodness, how does that give you hope?

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The Lord's Prayer - Your Kingdom Come (Mar 15, 2020)

Matthew 6:5-13

Introduction: This Lent we are looking at each part of the Lord’s Prayer as we practice using it as a pattern for our prayers. As a model for prayer and a summary of the entire Christian life – the Lord’s Prayer offers us a place to turn in an anxious and overwhelming time. “Your Kingdom Come” is the part of the prayer that most directly speaks to times when crisis hits and our lives (our “kingdoms”) are upended. Such is the time we live in now with COVID-19 bringing unprecedented changes to our lives. Praying these three words can give us new perspective and hope no matter what is happening around us and inside us. Let’s see how:

1. What Does It Mean?

The Bible speaks of the kingdom of God in two senses. In the first sense, God’s kingdom is his sovereign rule over all things that happen. As King, God never loses his ultimate control over the universe. We can take great comfort in this when things happen that don’t conform to God’s good design and ultimate intention for the world. When everything seems to be going haywire and is out of control - God is still on the throne. He never loses control. Things like disease and virus do not shake Him and cannot unseat his reign. When things are mysterious and confusing to us, we can rest in this - God overrules all sin, evil, suffering. He turns the tables on these things to accomplish His greater purposes. In this sense, no matter what is happening, we can rest in the truth that God is still the King who rules over all things.

But this is not the primary sense in which is Jesus is using the word “kingdom” here. He’s telling us to ask for a kingdom to come - implying that we are asking for a kingdom that is not yet fully present. In this sense of the kingdom, sin and suffering are not just overruled by God – sin, evil and suffering are overcome by God. This is the central idea and theme in Jesus’ life and ministry. Jesus life, teaching and miracles could be summarized like this – “I have come to re-establish God’s rule in human lives, relationships and in all creation. This is what it looks like!” He proclaimed the coming of the kingdom in his teaching. He “previewed” the kingdom in his miracles (see Matt. 4:23, 9:35-36).

This can bring us great comfort in times like these. There is a kingdom, a realm, outside of all the pain, death, sickness, sin and selfishness we experience in our kingdoms here. For all who turn over their lives to Jesus, this kingdom comes now, in part, and one day will come fully and forever. 

2. How We Are to Pray It

Just as there are two senses of the kingdom in the bible, there are two tenses of the kingdom Jesus told us to pray to come – it is an already and not yet kingdom. The kingdom has come with Jesus’ first coming into the world and will fully come in his second coming. Here’s how this informs our prayers:

The kingdom has not yet come, so we lament in prayer. When Jesus told us to pray, “Your kingdom come”, he gave us more than permission to lament, he commanded us to pray prayers of lament. Jesus often said, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand”. In this prayer, Jesus is saying, “Lament for the kingdom of God has not yet come fully”. He is telling us we can pray with full honesty about all the ways we experience the reality that God’s kingdom has not yet come. Lament is expressing our sorrow to God. It is how God meets us with comfort, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted” (Matt. 5:4).

Praying “Your kingdom come” is saying to God, “Living in this broken world of suffering and sickness is hard! It’s painful, scary and confusing.” Lament is crying out like the Psalmists, “How long!?”, “Why do you stand far off!?” The Bible assures us, God puts all our “tears in a bottle” (Psalm 56:8). He hears our laments and through them pulls us closer to his own Spirit who groans for the full redemption of all things (Romans 8:26).

The kingdom will come, so we long with hope in prayer. Praying “your kingdom come” is longing with hope for the kingdom to come. It’s asking God to bring as much (or all!) of his coming kingdom into our present. This is how we find hope in prayer. Hope in the Bible is not simply to wish for something to happen.  Biblical hope is living in the present according to a certain future reality. We don't know the specifics of what the future holds in the short term BUT we do know one day this prayer will be fully answered. God’s kingdom will come. What are we hoping and asking for God to do now?

“In prayer, the believer beseeches the God of the future with the desire that the marks of God’s rule (forgiveness, sustenance, deliverance, and the Spirit’s fullness) may be present in the current situation, which is filled with want, need and insufficiency. Petitionary prayer, in other words, requests the coming of the future into the present.” (Stanley Grenz)

Right now, we all feel the want, need and insufficiency of our own bodies, our economies, our government, our health care system (while we thank God for all their heroic efforts!), our technology and our own wisdom. Jesus tells us to ask for the mercy, healing, wisdom and peace of God’s future rule to come into the present. He says, “Do not fear little flock; your father delights to give you the kingdom! (Luke 12:32)”.  We can pray with hope - this is a prayer God delights to answer - in his own timing and wisdom.

The kingdom is coming so we lay down our lives in prayer. This may be the hardest part of this prayer. The words “kingdom come” give hope but the word “your” requires humility. It means laying down everything. This is so hard in a time of crisis like we are facing. It means laying down our timing and trusting in God’s. He is the king. It means laying down our demands and trusting in his provision, laying down our own judgment and letting Him be king.

We do this knowing what kind of king He is. This is most clearly seen in Christ at the cross. It’s the only time he took up a crown, the only time he accepted the title of “King” as it was written in the sign over his head. He is the king who laid down his life for us. The king who took the worst for us so we could know the best is yet to come for us. He is a king of sacrificial love, a servant who gave his life to heal the world.

The kingdom will come because the king came to die for us. This enables us to lay down our lives in prayer – pledging ourselves to his service. Knowing the kingdom of God comes in ways we would not expect - through suffering, the washing of feet, the cross, we ask to be ready to lay down our lives for others (1 John 3:16-19) so they might find the peace and the healing of the kingdom to come. 

REFLECT OR DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. In your own words define what we are asking for when we pray, “Your Kingdom Come”. What kinds of prayers does this part of the Lord’s Prayer encourage us to pray during this unprecedented challenge with COVID-19?

3. How can knowing what the kingdom of God is bring us comfort in this time of uncertainty and fear?

4. What does it meant to lament in prayer? Why do most avoid it? How can it help us in times of crisis?

5. How does this prayer give us hope in all our prayers of petition (ie requests) to God? What kinds of things should be asking for now? How does knowing God will one day answer this prayer give you hope?

6. How are you having a hard time laying down your life in trust and service to God as King in this difficult time?

PRAY | Spend time yourself or with a group slowly praying “Your Kingdom Come”.

• Lament – Cry out to God with honesty telling him your experience and struggles in this time

• Long – Ask God with hope and boldness for anything that will be true of his coming future kingdom

• Lay Down – Ask God to help you lay down your life to him trusting in his reign and for others that they might know Him as King

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The Lord's Prayer - Hallowed Be Your Name (Mar 8, 2020)

Matthew 6:5-13

Introduction: This Lent we are learning or re-learning the Lord’s Prayer together as we look at each part of the prayer and practice using it as a pattern for our prayers. “Hallowed be your name” is the first petition in the prayer and the most powerful, disruptive and explosive of them all.  To release the power of this prayer into our lives, we need to know three things about it:

1. What We Are Asking For

The petition is made up of two parts. Each of these need to be defined so that we understand what we are really asking for when we pray, “Hallowed be your name.”

1) Your Name – In the Bible, God’s name is more than the specific titles and words we use to describe him. God’s name stands for his total person and character. God’s Name is God as he really is; God as He has revealed himself to be. 2) Hallowed Be – Hallow is an old English way of saying “regard as holy”. To hallow someone does not mean to make them holy, set apart or special, it means to recognize, treat, acknowledge and honor them as holy. So “hallowed be your name” is asking that we and others recognize, honor and treat God as He is. In other words, we are asking that we and others would step further into reality. The most solid reality in all the universe is a Holy God. Whenever the curtain of heaven is pulled back for us in the bible - what we find is all the hosts of heaven crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isaiah 6:3, Rev. 4:8). In this petition, we are asking that we and the whole world might enter into this reality – that we might more fully praise, adore and worship God for who He is.

2. When We Are to Ask for It

There is a clear order to the whole Lord’s Prayer: The order is God first, then us. We pray “Your” before we pray “our”. We begin with God’s name, kingdom and will before we ask Him for anything. This is a key lesson from the Lord’s Prayer. But there is also an order to our God-ward prayers. Even before we ask that God’s purposes and will be accomplished, we pray for Him to be praised, adored, worshipped for who He is.

Jesus is teaching that this order should more and more characterize our prayers as we grow. This order is the path to and a sign of spiritual maturity. Why? Because without praise (or with little praise) our relationship with God will always become more about us and less about him. Hallowed be your name is praising God for God - for his name; not for what we can get from him, but for who He is. Until we can praise God like this, he won’t be real to us and we won’t be changed because we are just coming to God for what can get from him – not for him.

3. What Happens When God Answers It 

When God answers this prayer two things happen - 1) we really know and recognize in our hearts (not just our minds) God as He really is which leads to us 2) seeing ourselves as we really are. This is where it gets powerful, dangerous. In the bible, whenever someone encounters the holiness of God’s name, they are overcome with fear. Why? The holy reality of God reveals the reality of our sin. But God never leaves them on their faces in fear. He always draws near and says, “Do not be afraid”. He hides Moses in the rock and proclaims his name to him, he takes away the guilt of Isaiah’s sin; he touches John and reminds him of what Jesus has done for him. (Isaiah 6:1-7, Exodus 33:17-23, Rev. 1:17-20).

What do we learn from these examples? When God answers this prayer we really see the name of Jesus for what it is (or better, who He is). “There is no other name given under heaven by which we are saved (Acts 4:12)” Whenever God answers this prayer in a person’s life, Jesus becomes more real, beautiful, wonderful and precious to that person. Covered in the atoning work of Jesus, the holiness of God goes from a reality to avoid to a beauty to behold. This is the power for real change. What we most hallow and worship in our lives is what most shapes us and drives us. The more holy God is to us, the more holy we will be. When God answers this prayer in a person’s life, they cannot be the same.

DISCUSS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. In your own words define what we are asking for when we pray, “Hallowed be your name”. How much of your own prayers are spent asking for this or doing this?

3. The Bible teaches that God’s name is the most important and valuable thing to God (see Ezekiel 36:22-23). At first this sounds strange. Why is it not conceited but loving and right for God to value his own name? For help discuss the excerpt from the sermon below:

   1. “If God is God, then there is nothing more serious or harmful than misrepresenting Him, slandering, insulting his name. If God is God, there is nothing more important to our own lives, their meaning/destiny/purpose, than knowing Him as he really is. If we get God wrong, then we get everything wrong.”

4. Simone Weil said what we are asking for in this prayer is “for something that exists eternally, with full and complete reality, so that we can neither increase or diminish it, even by an infinitesimal fraction”. How might thinking about God and his holiness as the most solid reality there is motivate us to pray this prayer more often and more urgently?

5. Why is it important that we learn to praise God first before asking anything from Him? Why is this hard? What might this look like?

6. It was said in the sermon, “Hallowed be your name is the prayer we need God to answer to change our sinful patterns, habits and addictions. Asking for change without praise and adoration will never change us. Why? Because what we most hallow/worship is what we obey/desire. ” Do you agree or disagree with this? Have you seen this play out in your life?

PRAY | Spend time yourself or with a group slowly praying “Hallowed be your name”.

• Begin by asking God to make himself more real to you. Pray the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”.

• Don’t ask God for anything except that you might more honor, know, treat and recognize him for who he is.

• Praise God using short simple phrases and descriptions of the character of God from Scripture. It may be helpful to use a few familiar Psalms or other passages as a way to meditatively fill and focus your mind.

• Make room for silence.

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