The Lord’s Prayer #1 “Sweet Our of Prayer”
The following is the first in a series of investigations into what the model prayer given by Jesus actually tells us about “this way” to pray.
Matt 6:9 NASU
"Pray, then, in this way…
The “Sweet Our of Prayer”
Jesus’s teachings were layered one onto another to paint the complete picture of the nature of His Father and the way we can be reconciled to Him. One of the themes that permeates His message is the concept of “one another”. The exact phrase was used by Jesus in His recorded sayings in the gospel 14 times. It is underwritten in His declaration of the second most important commandment.
Mark 12:31 NASU
31 The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
The Jesus concept of “One another”
What is the first word in the prayer in our English translation? “Our”. Hold that thought for a moment.
John 13:34-35 NASU
34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 " By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
You and I are the “one” to whom this is addressed. Each “one” must find “another” to love or we cannot carry out this commandment of Jesus. This is the nail in the coffin of the idea that “Just me and Jesus” are all that matters. Some people give that as a reason that they don’t need to be involved in a church. If it is just you and Jesus, the first thing He would tell you is to go out and find “another” ….another person to practice your love on. That is the trademark of a disciple of Jesus.
If this emphasis on “others” seems a little unnatural, then it is it is really driven home by
Phil 2:3-4 NASU
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard “one ……another” as more important than yourselves;
Each “one” of us is to regard “another” as more important than we are. The whole idea of what Jesus was doing on earth and the example of what we were to follow was that He sacrificially giving His life for “others”, regarding the lives of others as more important than Himself. That is translated into practical action on our part in the next verse.
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
We all know these things, but there is a practical aspect to this that many don’t realize.
Jesus has saturated the Lord’s prayer with the “one another” concept.
That is where the “Sweet Our of Prayer” comes in.
Jesus has said at the beginning that we are to approach the Father as a group, a team, or a family. “Our” is plural, it is you plus all the others who have the privilege of calling God “Father”. Looking out for other’s interests is reinforced by the very first word in the model prayer, “Our”. This is the prayer from which we should model all of our prayers, and nowhere in the prayer is there a place for me, my, mine or I and it is not an oversight.
There is only…
Our Father
Give us… our daily bread
Forgive us…our debts
As we forgive…our debtors
Lead us…
Deliver us….
Christianity is without a doubt a team sport.
So how does this affect our prayers?
Basically, Jesus has told us, “Don’t show up for prayer with only a list of your own needs”. In everything you ask… look out for the interests of others, many of whom have the very same needs as you.
Consider this…
1 Peter 5:9 NASU
9 …. Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
When we are struggling with some issue, we can be sure that we are not the first to have this problem, and we are not the only one going through it right now. By most estimates there are aver 2 billion believers in the world. Imagine how many there are with your same problem.
Try this in your prayers.
Ask the Father to take care of other's issues while He takes care of yours. After all He’s OUR Father. For everything that you need yourself, ask God to do it for “us”. Include all your brothers and sisters who have the same problem in your prayer. That is what Jesus was telling us in the model prayer as the way to approach our Father, not just looking out for our own interests, but also for the interests of others.
I tried that last night at our Real Life Church prayer meeting. I went to the meeting with prayer for my allergies on my prayer list. In keeping with the instructions of Jesus, I contemplated how many other fellow believers out there must be experiencing allergy problems, some surely a lot more severe than my sniffles and stuffy head.
We are told that Jesus, our High Priest, is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities”.(Heb 4:15KJV). I found it much easier to be touched with the feeling of those who were suffering allergies, when I was actually feeling it myself. I was actually standing in intercession for all of “us” who were dealing with allergies. It made sense, and I could feel the weight to a degree as though I was “bearing one another’s burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ.” (Gal 6:2)
As I prayed in “this way”, it wasn’t long before I could branch out to those who had needs that I was not experiencing myself and still be touched with their feelings.
Summary
In giving us the Lord’s Prayer model, Jesus completely obliterates the mistake of coming to God selfishly with only our own needs. We are given a practical way to look out for the interests of others. We are not allowed to address the Father except with our brothers and sisters also in mind at every turn in the prayer. Try it yourself, first including others with whom you can identify that have the same need you have. Then branch out to others, whatever their need. You will experience what it feels like to “fulfill the law of Christ”.
Footnote: My allergy symptoms are almost completely gone today.