Our Father-- Matthew 6:9

Foundations for Prayer
Jesus, in giving us the Lord’s prayer, isn’t just telling us what words to pray, but he is telling us the way God wants us to pray. Some call the Lord's Prayer the "summa evangelia"-- the summary of the gospel.  Because in the Lord's Prayer in the heart of Jesus' teaching.

Right at the beginning, Jesus makes a radical statement—that we are to begin our prayers with “our Father.” But what does this mean, what is he implying? There are two basic questions that need to be answered in understanding what Jesus means in teaching us to address God as “our Father”: What does “father” mean, and who are God’s children?

Which Father?In the first century, when Jesus taught the Lord’s prayer, there were many people called “father.” Of course, there was one’s male parent, but also his grandparent or anyone else who was an ancestor. Also, the ruler of one’s nation or one’s ultimate authority was called “father”. What did Jesus mean?

First of all, of course, Jesus stated clearly that we are not praying to any earthly father, but to our Father in heaven. This is the Most High God, the king of the universe. (Matthew 23:9) But when we are praying to God as Father, what does that mean, apart from praying to Him as Lord or as God?

Concern—A father is concerned about his children, and so wants to meet their needs. He isn’t distant or have apathy, but he is always there, always ready to help if the need arises. This is different from a distant Lord or an uncaring God. Luke 11:11-13

Protection—A father cares about his children and so he protects them from harm. If anyone is attacking his children, he is always there to deliver them from that attack.

Provision—A father wants his children to have everything they need, so he provides them with food, clothing, warmth—everything they need. Luke 12:22-30

Teaching—A father not only is concerned about his children’s physical needs, but also their social and moral ones. He wants to make sure they know the right way to live and will provide them with what they need to live that life. Ephesians 6:4

Leadership—A father guides his children, sometimes with wisdom and sometimes with commands.
Discipline—A father allows his children to go through hardship at times, not to punish them, but to help them live the life that he wants them to live. Hebrews 12:5-7

Care—But ultimately, even if he disciplines or is training them and the situation the father places his children in seems difficult, he is constantly displaying his care to them, giving them his great love and compassion toward them. I Peter 5:7

Thus, when we call God “Father”, we are not praying to a distant god or an uncaring Lord—God is with us and in tune with what situations we are in and what we really need and is ready to give that to us (Matthew 6:8, 31-33)

Which Children?Everyone wants to recognize themselves as God’s children. And, in a sense, every human on earth is a child of God. We have all been created by God, and God provides food for all of us. God loves us all and has given us all his Son to die for us. However, does this really mean anything to us, really? After all, God loves every human, even Adolf Hitler and the man who spits on the ground at every mention of God’s name. Are we really equal children of God with these?

Jesus distinguishes those whom God loves generally from those whom God desires to grant great blessings upon. The kingdom of God and all the blessings that come with it are not for everyone, but only for some whom Jesus called “sons of God.” Who are these children, who will receive all that God has to give them?

Relationship with God—These children are those who seek God to have a relationship with Him. They do not just passively accept God’s blessings, but thank God, praise Him and act out of their love for God. Mark 10:28-30

Dependence—These children are openly dependent on God and will sometimes refuse the easy way in order to have a better relationship with God. When they refuse the easy way, they are dependent on God for his provision—taking the chance that if God does not provide, they are in trouble. Luke 18:1-8

Trust—These children trust God for his provision, asking him for what they need and relying on him to provide it to them. They know that God rewards those who love him and wait on his reward in His time. Matthew 6:31-33; Hebrews 11:6

Obedience—These children listen to God and do what he says because they know their Father cares for them and will not command them to do something that is harmful to them. Matthew 7:21; 12:50

Likeness—These children not only do what God says, but they even act like God in some ways. They love everyone as God does and they refuse to have anything to do with evil as God does. John 8:39-44; Matthew 5:9

Thus the children that cry “our Father” are not just the run of the mill children of God—they are God’s chosen, God’s people and kingdom in Jesus.

OUR FatherOne last thing needs to be pointed out. When Jesus told us to call God “Father”, he told us to recognize that the Father is not just “mine”—as if a relationship with God is just between two people. Rather, Jesus told us to pray “OUR Father”—we are a part of a community of children, not just an only child trying to figure out our relationship with our parent on a solitary basis. We are not independent individuals—we are a part of a community. This means that we need to act like it. We need to be with people who are our Father’s children, pray with them and depend on them, even as we are all dependent on our Father.

Hallowed Name-- Matthew 6:10

What does “hallowed” mean?
Millions of people have prayed the Lord’s prayer, but not really understood what it meant. One of the most confused phrase is the text translated in almost all English Bibles: “Hallowed by thy name.” The difficulty with this translation is that many people are confused. The worst is the word “hallowed”. Is it talking about praise, or honor? Not exactly. It comes from the English word “holy”, and it means “to make pure, to separate out”. So the phrase actually means, “Father, please make your name holy” or “Sanctify your name.”

Isn’t God’s name already holy?
God himself is holy. He is the Most High above all powers and gods and no one can compare with Him. He cannot sin and is pure in all he does. God’s angelic servants are constantly repeating “Holy, holy holy” of God to speak of his unending holiness. But in this prayer we are not speaking of God himself, who cannot ever be unholy. Rather, we are talking about his reputation.

If we tear down someone’s “name” we are not talking about the word by which they are called. Rather, we are speaking of their reputation, or the honor with which they are held by others. So if someone’s name is dirtied, we mean that people are talking trash about that person, that his reputation is dishonored. This is what Jesus is talking about here. He is borrowing a phrase from Ezekiel 36, where God said that his people had made his name “unholy”, or, torn down his reputation, because of their sin.

So, to paraphrase our prayer, we would better be saying, “God, give your reputation honor again.” This is very similar to another prayer Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify your name.” (John 12:28). Again, it is a request for God’s reputation to be world-wide and positive.

How did God’s name become unholy?
“Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name.'” Ezekiel 36:17-20

In Ezekiel 36 and in Jesus’ teaching it is clear that God’s reputation was dishonored because of the actions of his own people. The actions of God’s people were in opposition to God’s commands. And so they became hypocrites. When God’s people are sinful and hateful, then those who are looking from the outside think that there must be something wrong with God. And when God has to punish his people, then others think that God wasn’t strong enough to save them from His own punishment.

When some who claim to be God’s people do things that destroy God’s reputation, they are actually breaking the third command of ten—“Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7). Those who do not have the lifestyle of God’s people—that of a holy people (Leviticus 11:44; I Peter 1:15-16)—, but they take the name of God, they are using God’s name in a way that destroys God’s holiness. And God will not accept a people that tears down his holy reputation.

So God’s reputation is torn down because those who don’t know about God look at the inadequacies of those who claim to be God’s people and so decide that God is less than he really is. We see this today when we hear statements like “The church is full of hypocrites” and “Christianity is evil, look at all the violence it caused,” and “God can’t even take care of his own, why should I trust Him?”

What are we specifically praying for?
We want this situation to reverse. Rather than having God’s reputation be torn down, we want God to be honored by all peoples, whether they worship him or not. We are praying that everyone on the whole earth would honor God for who He is—the holy, merciful, all powerful, loving God of Jesus Christ. This will be done by the gospel being spread throughout the earth (Matthew 24:14).

But it also relates to God’s people, just as the dishonoring of God’s reputation related to his people. First of all, we are asking that God’s people who are acting as hypocrites would be judged. There will be a separating between the obedient and the hypocrite in God’s people—God is giving us the opportunity to do it ourselves, or else He will come and do it for us (Matthew 13:37-43; I Corinthians 5:12-13). Secondly, we are praying that God would give his people the ability to live for Him through his Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Third, we are asking that God would forgive His people their sins and give them a second chance to be pure and holy (Ezekiel 36:25). And lastly, we are asking that God would restore good fortune to his purged, purified, forgiven people.

In the end, in praying “Hallowed be your name” we are asking for Jesus’ ministry to be completed among his people. Jesus himself separated the hypocrite from the pure in heart. Jesus himself gave his people the Holy Spirit to purify and empower his people. Jesus himself forgave the sins of the lost. And Jesus himself healed the sick and desolate who were once rejected and punished because of their sin. Jesus was in the business of sanctifying God’s name.

However, Jesus’ people seem to have forgotten Jesus’ task, despite praying the prayer daily. They are no longer concerned with making God’s name holy among the peoples. They welcome the hypocrites and turn away repentant sinners. They ignore the Spirit’s power to be holy and loving, preferring to see the Spirit as a super-power pill, or to just avoid Him altogether. They want to restore people’s fortunes through the world, rather than the power of God. They are ignoring that God’s reputation is being torn down, and they are avoiding the self judgment that they are the ones causing the destruction of God’s name to happen.

When we pray “Hallowed by thy name”, let us be asking God to act like God’s people—holy and righteous.

Kingdom Come-- Matthew 6:10

In the Lord’s Prayer, the second request is to ask for God’s kingdom to come. We may think we know what it means, but on closer examination it requires more effort—what is a kingdom? Does God really have one? If so, where is it? And how can a kingdom move? If it can’t move, how can it “come”? Let’s explore some of these questions:

Doesn’t God rule everywhere?Jesus commands us to ask God for God’s kingdom to come. Fundamentally, this is asking God to rule. But for those of you already familiar with the Bible, you probably know that it says that God already rules over all the earth—over the whole universe! This is true. (Psalm 97:9) But does God actually get to do all he wants to do with the earth? No. That’s because he handed the rule of the earth off to someone else—humanity.

Right from the beginning of creation God promised humanity the rule of the earth (Psalm 8). But humanity hasn’t done with the earth what God wanted—they made the rules themselves instead of listening to God. So we chose our own rulers—and we chose Death and Satan (Genesis 3; Hebrews 2:14). And so God’s rule was thwarted on earth, and the whole planet is ruled by rebels to God. Which would be okay, I guess, if they had humanity’s and the earth’s best interest at heart. But they don’t.

What is God’s kingdom?
So that’s our situation. We are on a planet stuck with bad rulers. And these bad rulers created the mess that we live in everyday (Romans 5:14). So what else is new, you might say. Well, the new thing is that God hasn’t given up on us. He is interested in changing this situation. God will get rid of the lousy rulers and put his perfect ruler in charge who is interested in helping everyone, not just himself—Jesus Christ (Daniel 2:44; Revelation 5:9-12). God will deal with all the bad people and the mess that we live in and just get rid of it (Psalm 37:11-12). God will give benefits to the humble who trust in Him in the midst of this perpetual crisis (Matthew 5:3-10). And He will make everything new—turn it all upside down and inside out (Isaiah 65:17-24). God is going to establish a new reality out of this chaotic, evil jungle. And that change, that utopia is called the Kingdom of God.

That’s right. So when we are praying for Kingdom Come, we are praying for this mess humanity has created to be re-made new—something good in God’s imagining. But we need to recognize that Jesus is telling us to pray for this. He isn’t telling us to create democracies to make this kingdom come. He isn’t telling us to enact tough love to make the kingdom come. He isn’t telling us to build a lot of churches to make the kingdom come. He is telling us to pray. Why? Because the kingdom won’t come by our effort, but only when God is ready for it to happen. God’s kingdom is God’s work, and our main participation in that work is through prayer. (Psalm 146:3-10)

God’s kingdom—TodaySo if we were looking for God’s kingdom, how would we recognize it? Does God have an embassy that we can visit or a website? Well, yes and no. First of all, we recognize God’s kingdom because it looks like what Jesus talked about. Jesus said that God’s kingdom would be helping the poor (Luke 12:33). That it would be forgiving people who don’t deserve it simply because they repent (Luke 17:3-4). That it would be filled with people who live according to God’s righteous standard (Matthew 12:50). That it would be characterized by healings and words directly from God (Mark 16:16-17). That it would be loving and merciful (John 13:34-35). It is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).

“Hey,” some people say, “that sounds like the church.” Well, I would offer a corrective to that. It sounds like how the church is supposed to be, but it is in only a few places. That is why we are asking for God’s kingdom to come. It isn’t here yet. It has started, and it’s growing but it is still pretty small compared to the amount of people who claim to be a part of God’s kingdom.

So how can we participate in God’s kingdom? Two ways—first of all, we willingly submit to Jesus, the leader of God’s kingdom. If we commit ourselves to Him, then he will help us to be a part of the solution, not the problem (Acts 2:35). Secondly, we need to receive the Spirit of God from Jesus (John 14:26). The Spirit is the only one who can help us live out the ideal. Thus, when we pray “Your kingdom come” we are really praying, “God put your Spirit in my life so I am a part of that kingdom now.”

God’s kingdom—Coming
As great as this community of God’s Spirit is, it is still not complete. God’s kingdom will not be completed until God is completely in charge of the whole earth. Sure, ruling over a bunch of outcasts is great, but it’s not what God really is looking for. He wants all that is owed to him—the whole thing.

And God has that in his plans. His plan is to have every single human being—both living and dead—recognize that Jesus’ is the only true ruler over the earth under the Father (Philippians 2:10-11). And this can only take place with a cataclysmic event—the destruction of the current world order. God will set aside all the rulers of the world and establish his own ruler (Revelation 19:1-16). Then the dead will have to be raised, and every human being will bow to Jesus as the Lord over the earth (Matthew 25:31-32). Then Jesus will choose those who were most merciful and humble and righteous before God and will establish them as rulers with him (I Peter 5:6).

This great event hasn’t happened yet, but every time we pray “Your kingdom come” we are asking for God to make it happen. So if you like the governments and system of the world the way they are, you need to stop praying the Lord’s prayer. Heck, you need to stop following Jesus, if that’s the case, because he’s looking to take over. But if you forsake Jesus, you won’t be ready when the change does come. So be ready by following Jesus. (Matthew 24:42-25:13)

What is God waiting for?
So why hasn’t this event happened yet? Well, God is waiting for a few thing to happen: First, he needs to allow the governments of the world to become corrupt enough that they are ready to be brushed aside. When they all oppress God’s people, then they will be ready (Revelation 6:10-11). Second, he needs to have his people purified from sin and dependent on Him for obedience so they will be ready to rule. And third, he is waiting on those whom he loves and has chosen to repent so his people will be complete with them (II Peter 3:3-9). Yes, God has waited two thousand years—but if he had come twenty years ago, would you have been ready for him?

The real question is: are you ready now? To pray “your kingdom come” is to claim readiness for God. For God to come into your life and change it to His liking. For God to come into the world and change it forever. Are you ready for that? If you are, then we can pray the Lord’s prayer together.

Kingdom Come is God’s Spirit ruling in our lives.

Kingdom Come is God’s Son ruling over the earth.

Are we ready?

Your Will Be Done-- Matthew 6:10

What is God’s Will?
God’s will is not just what happens. It is not God’s will for someone to die in their sin. It is not God’s will for anyone to act in evil (Ezekiel 18:32; Psalm 5:4). What God wills is what he takes pleasure in, what he delights in, what he desires. Unfortunately, there is much on the earth that is not according to God’s will. People are acting in evil and terrible things are done and experienced every day. This is not God’s will.
Whatever God desires, then he will decree. God is a king and he declares and commands his desires to be done. When God communicates his desire, then it is known to all the universe. Ultimately, what God decrees is God’s will.

How can anyone know God’s will?
But for us humans on earth, there are many wills expressed. Everyone makes their own desires known, and some make commands out of these desires. Others take their desires and say, “This is what God wills.” How are we to know? It seems so confusing.

God has made his will known to people on earth in five main ways:

Creation
Through God’s creation He has made Himself known—his power, his majesty and his ownership of the earth. Through this creation, we all know that we are to worship God and honor Him as creator (Romans 1; Psalm 19)

Messengers
God has appointed certain people to be messengers of His will. They are people who have heard directly from God his will and then communicates it to whomever God wishes. These messengers can be spiritual—angels—or human—prophets. (Hebrews 1:1)

God’s Spirit
God has sent His spirit to speak to the hearts of men to communicate his will. Sometimes the spirit speaks to people’s hearts, sometimes people can hear words, sometimes a vision or a dream. God will communicate to rulers how he wants them to rule, to the unrepentant of His judgment and to his people about what He wants them to do. Sometimes God’s Spirit speaks to us through other people who can hear God’s Spirit clearly. (John 14:26)

God’s word
God has had some of his messengers take his most important messages and write them down. These words were written so that everyone who desires to be a part of God’s people can clearly understand God’s will. In God’s word God’s will is clearly seen. (Psalm 19, 119; II Timothy 3:16)

Jesus
Jesus is God’s living Word. We not only have words from Jesus to clarify God’s will, but we also have his life to illustrate God’s will. Through Jesus—the only perfect Son of God— we can see and hear God’s will perfectly with perfect clarity. All the other four ways can only be understood through Jesus. (Hebrews 1:2; II John 1:3)

If we want to know what God’s will is, all we must do is ask God to reveal His will and then seek out these five sources of God’s will. But we must remember that whatever God’s will is, it must be in agreement with Jesus.

How should we respond to God’s will?
There are many good ways to respond to God’s will. We can read many of them in Psalm 119. We can hear or read God’s will and that is good, but we don’t always understand it. We can understand God’s will, but we don’t always desire it. We can desire God’s will, but we don’t always have it clarified. We can clarify God’s will, but we don’t always honor it. We can honor God’s will, but we don’t always speak it.

All of these things are good to do with God’s will. But none of them get us God’s salvation. God’s salvation is his true will for our lives. It is God’s blessing, God’s peace, God’s delighting in us, God’s security, God’s love in us. And we can spend all day with God’s will, teaching it and reading it and loving it all day long—but we will never gain what God wants us to have, we will never truly achieve God’s will until we do it.

The ultimate result of God’s will is to have it done. If we do God’s will we have all of God’s good gifts to us (Deuteronomy 29). If we do God’s will we have life (Deuteronomy 30). If we do God’s will, we are the family of Jesus (Matthew 12:50). If we do God’s will we will enter into God’s kingdom (Matthew 7). God’s will is the key to the best there is in life.

How is God’s will done in heaven?Heaven is God’s home, God’s headquarters. It is the center of the spirit world. All of God’s messengers and workers go to heaven to get their orders. And when they receive their orders, the orders are done, immediately. Even Satan listens to God’s commands and will and does just what He says. And if God tells Satan not to do something, he doesn’t do it (Job 1).

There is no one in heaven who says, “But I don’t wanna!” There is no one in heaven who says, “I think I’d rather do something else.” There is no one in heaven who puts their hands over their ears and screams until the command stops. There is no one in heaven who ignores what God says.

What does it mean for God’s will to be done on earth?
Of course, this isn’t the case on earth. Humans are in open rebellion against God. People devise evil in opposition to God’s will every minute. Even the ones who claim to obey God often ignore what God said or avoid a certain command of Jesus. The people of God aren’t often interested in hearing what God has to say about their lives or churches or homes.

When we pray “May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” we are praying the opposite of that. We are praying, first of all, that we ourselves desire God’s will and will do whatever He wills. We are praying that God’s people would listen to Jesus and obey him, whatever the cost. We are praying that the whole world would change to be like heaven—obedient to all of God’s commands.

But we aren’t just praying that. We are also praying for God’s power to come down on earth so that we CAN obey His will. We are so caught up in rebellion and disobedience that often we don’t even know when we are being rebellious. We need His Spirit to come and show us the truth. We need His power to work in us, to transform our minds so that we can know and do God’s will. And the prayer we pray isn’t just a resolution to do God’s will or to change the world so it will do God’s will. Rather, it is a request for God to enable all of us to do what we cannot seem to do now—to do what pleases Him.

“I delight to do your desire, O Lord”—Psalm 40:8

Give Us Daily Bread-- Matthew 6:11

God is the provider of all food
To pray the Lord’s prayer may, at times, seem pointless. After all, why should we pray for God to give us our bread today? What does God have to do with it? Food comes from the farm, is processed in factories, arrives in the store and we buy it. God seems far removed from the process. But without God we would have no food. God is the heart of all the food we eat. All food comes from the earth, and is allowed to grow through water. And God provides the earth, he provides the water (Ps 24:1). If God took away the water or the land, we would have no food to eat. So it makes sense to be grateful to God. Everyone depends on God for their food—that’s the way it is. (Ps 145:15)

God promises food to the obedient
But God is not just a distant provider of food, he also is concerned about some people’s food. Those people who have made an agreement with God to follow Him and to live according to His ways, God specifically makes sure that they have food. He has made many promises that those who are faithful to their agreement to Him, He will provide their food. They need not worry about it—ever. (Lev. 26:3-6 ; Ps. 37:25; Isaiah 33:15-16) God’s people will never lack food, He is always providing for them.

Hunger is the opposite of salvationBut, of course, not everyone has food. Many people go hungry. In fact, approximately one fifth of the people in the world today are starving to death—some slowly, some quickly (that’s much more than a billion). And another fifth of the world do not have the ability to get enough food to meet their nutritional needs. That isn’t choice on their part, they just can’t get it. And yet this is in a world in which the wealthy, industrialized nations need to pay farmers not to overproduce their land and so drive the prices down. In other words, farmers in the West must grow less, while those in the South are in greater and greater need.
Of course, this is terrible. The Bible has much to say about hunger, and it places the source of hunger—whether someone is starving, or just doesn’t have enough food—to one of four causes:

a. Famine—a widespread hunger due to bad crops. This is pretty common, especially in Genesis (Genesis 41, etc), and it is just a fact of life. But, at the same time, it seems that God provides other regions of the world with abundance so a famine might not be too severe.

b. Man’s oppression—withholding what one needs from the needy. Hunger occurs simply because of people’s stinginess. Some people have abundance, while others have need, but if the ones who have abundance refuse to share, then there is hunger. God always provides enough food in the world, but not everyone decides to share as God commands. (Proverbs 13:23)

c. Laziness—not wanting to work for food. Some people are hungry in the midst of abundance because they refuse to work. If a farmer doesn’t plant, no matter how much land they have, they will never have crops. Even so, everyone who wants to eat will have to do some kind of work. This doesn’t necessarily mean a “job” per se, but some kind of work. (Proverbs 12:11;20:13; 28:19)

d. God’s judgment—Some people who have made a covenant with God will go hungry. But this is only because they have ignored God’s covenant and been disobedient to God. (Lev. 26:26; Isaiah 3:1) This might be with individuals, or a whole nation—if a people have an agreement with God through Jesus or someone else and they disobey God—by worshipping a false god, by ignoring the poor in their midst, by being impure—then God may give them a judgment of hunger.

Food is God’s blessingHunger, then, is just the opposite of God’s salvation. It is almost the worst thing that can happen to a person—the very thing that sustains life, you cannot have. But God’s salvation is tied to food again and again—

· God blesses a nation that follows Him with abundant crops;

· When there is abundant food for everyone, it means that the needy are provided for by the people who are generous and loving.

· When there is abundant food, it means that our sins are forgiven by God, for He is providing us with the food we need.

A Prayer for the Contented Poor
Again, then, why should we ask God for our basic food? It seems like a self-sufficient system. But it isn’t that easy.

The Lord’s prayer is a prayer for the poor—those who aren’t sure where their bread is coming from on a worldly level. How many people, when their refrigerator is full of food and they have a pantry stocked with food and they have plenty of money in the bank—would they honestly pray “give us this day our bread”? They already know where their food is coming from! They know that they have food this day and the next and the next. They don’t have to be concerned for food, so why would they sincerely pray that prayer? They wouldn’t. So this prayer is not for those who know where their next meal comes from. It is for those who aren’t sure, on a worldly level. It is for the poor.

And this prayer isn’t for the greedy. After all, most of us, when we pray, we want our needs all taken care of—“Lord help me to not be poor anymore!” “Father, give me permanent housing!” “Father, give me a pantry full of food and money in the bank.” But that’s not what this prayer is about. It is praying only for the food one needs this day—not tomorrow or next month. It is recognizing that when God gives food, he gives it to people one day at a time—just like the Israelites in the wilderness. If they collected more than a day’s worth—knowing that the next day they would get more—the food would spoil and get worm in it. God was training them to trust in Him every day to provide the food they needed that day. This isn’t normal for an agricultural society—they usually think of food in a year-by-year basis. But Jesus was training his disciples to focus on trusting God for their food every day.

So the Lord’s prayer isn’t for the greedy, nor for those that have more than they need. It is for the poor who are contented to trust in God daily.

A New Standard of Living
But this isn’t how we are trained to think in our society. Our ideal is to have the big, permanent house, with the big, full pantry, and the huge yard and entertainment center and complete medical insurance and more and more. It is the American dream to have everything you need at your disposal all the time. But this isn’t Jesus’ ideal, it’s not the Christian dream. The Christian dream is to have God constantly providing for your every need every day. It may not mean having huge storage and a lot of possessions—but it does mean living without worry about basic needs, because we have experienced God’s provision on a daily basis. Even as Paul said, “With food and covering we shall be content.” (I Timothy 6:8)Any more than that is greed.

Does this mean that God is opposed to us having lots of stuff? Not necessarily. God often provides some people with lots of stuff and a huge house and a huge pantry full of food. But he provides it to people so they can provide to others. He gives excess so those who have excess can share with those who have less. The American way of life is having more than we need so our needs are all provided for. The Christian way of life is trusting in God for our needs, and being generous to those who do not have enough when we have more than we need.

Never Be Hungry AgainSo how, according to Jesus, can we never be hungry again? Simple:

Pray to God for food—(Matthew 7:9-11) God promises to provide food for us, but we need to ask Him. God will provide if we ask. Thus, we need to learn to ask. This is why Jesus commanded us to pray for our daily bread—that way we are daily asking God for our food.

Seek God’s kingdom and righteousness— (Matthew 6:25-33) If we are focused on righteousness, then God will provide our food—that has always been his promise. If we will do what is right in the Lord, be faithful to him in all of our ways, he will never allow us to go hungry. All we need to do is to trust in Him.

Provide for others out of our excess—(Proverbs 11:25; Luke 12:33) If we are generous with what God has given us, especially to those who are poor and needy, then God will provide us even more. We will not be limited to just our daily bread, but God will provide us with much more to share with others. Our pantries will be full—but it will be for the many whom we provide for on a daily basis.

Forgiving Debts-- Matthew 6:12

What is forgiveness?Forgiveness is, in it’s root, an economic term. If I owed someone some money, and then failed to pay it, I have defaulted on my loan, I have messed up my credit. The person whom I still owe money to will speak of nothing to me except my debt, and so I don’t want to talk to them at all. Our relationship is ended. But if I am “forgiven”, then my debt is wiped away. I no longer need to worry about paying off that debt, because the one whom I owed has wiped it away, erased it from the accounting book.

When we forgive someone else, often we think of it as “no hard feelings.” In other words, we are willing to set aside our anger, and not hold a grudge against them. We will not harm them, nor sue them, nor do anything to attack them in any way. And that is a difficult pill for many to swallow. But it is our Christian duty, so we will forgive.

The question is: will we accept? Many of us aren’t sure we want to do that. For if we accept the person, treating them as if nothing had happened, then they will think that their wrong against us was “nothing”. If we fully accept them, with no punishment involved, completely loving them as before their wrong against us, then we are opening ourselves up for a fall. “If you fool me once, shame on you; if you fool me twice, shame on me.” After all, we need to protect ourselves, right?

Well, in the Bible, forgiveness isn’t just a matter of our feelings. It is, first of all, wiping away the debt. For those who wronged us, the wrong is no longer there. It is as if it didn’t exist. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t need to be careful with people in their areas of weakness, but we don’t allow their weakness interfere with our relationship. Forgiveness is mostly a matter of relationship. To forgive is not just to say, “I’m not angry about that anymore.” It is saying, “We are still in relationship.” I will still treat you as part of my family. To not forgive, in the Bible, is separating oneself from the one who offended you. Lack of forgiveness means we still remember the wrong done to us, and it hangs between us every time we interact with the person who wronged us. Forgiveness means that the relationship may continue without that wrong tainting every part of our relationship.

Why do we need forgiveness from God?
The fact is, we owe God a huge debt. Not economically, for God freely gave us all the food, clothing and basic needs we had. We owe God nothing for that. But for creating us and loving us and giving us a planet to rule, for that we owe him big time. It is similar to what we owe our parents for making us. Even if we don’t like them, we owe them something for without them we wouldn’t exist. Well, what God asks of us is our respect and obedience. He just wants us to listen to Him when he tells us to do things, because, after all, it’s for our own good anyway.

But we defaulted on our debt. We have disobeyed God again and again. In fact, we can almost say that a good portion of our lives are characterized by us owing God more and more and more. Almost every day we owe God such a huge debt of obedience, that we can never catch up. And frankly, we never will. The debt is too huge already.

So what did that do to our relationship with God? Well, though God loves us and wants to be with us, He can’t live with people who constantly disobey him. It’s kind of like living with someone who is constantly grating on your nerves, always doing the very thing you hate. You just can’t stand to live with that person. Life is like a torture. And God, the king of the universe, will not accept that. So we will not live in relationship with Him. Not until the debt is settled. Not until we deal with our disobedience.

Is God willing to give us forgiveness?
But God loves us. He really does. We may think, “Why doesn’t God just forget about our sin and leave it behind, if he loved us so much?” Well, it’s because we keep bringing it up. We are constantly disobeying God. But God loves us so much that he is willing to go to any length to restore our relationship. He is willing to do anything, short of giving up on us and our obedience. And frankly, God gave us a great opportunity. He gave us the possibility of forgiveness. It costs us a lot—I must admit— and yet we can gain so much. So how can this debt be wiped away?

Death of JesusFirst of all, God sent his Son, Jesus to die for us. Jesus death created a new nation called “the Kingdom of God” which anyone is allowed to enter. Those in the Kingdom of God can speak with God and have a free and open relationship with Him. They can pray to God and have their prayers heard and answered. They can receive wonderful blessings of God like His Holy Spirit and daily provision and healing. And they can understand what God says to them. To enter this kingdom, all one has to do is to commit to Jesus as their king. This means Jesus is in charge of our lives, and tells us what to do. And then we can have full access to God. If we commit ourselves to Jesus, then our debt of disobedience is fully forgiven.

Confession of Sin
However, we still have a problem. We still disobey God. Sometimes quite a bit. Does this make Jesus’ death null and void? No, because in Jesus we are told how to deal with the sins we do. We confess and repent of our sins. Yes, we will sin and disobey God. But if we admit our sin and then turn from anything that might cause us to sin, then we are forgiven. If we do this, Jesus gives us the strength to not return to our sin, if we would depend on him. That takes care of the sins we do daily.

Forgiving others
Well, then, our sinful life is erased, and our daily sins are repented of—everything is okay, right? Well, there still is one more thing, according to Jesus. You see, God hasn’t only forgiven us, but He has forgiven a number of others. We are all a part of Jesus’ kingdom together. But what happens if those who are forgiven by God don’t forgive each other? Well, suppose there were three people stuck in an elevator. Two of them hate each other’s guts, but they both like the other. Even though they have a relationship with one person, the anger and hatred of the other will make their life a living hell.

Even so, the kingdom of God doesn’t work unless we are willing to forgive each other even as God forgave us. If we agree that God has a relationship with someone—that He has forgiven their sins, and they are right before Him—then we need to have a relationship with them as well. Jesus is very clear about this—if we reject the one whom God accepts, then we will be rejected by God. If we are looking for God’s forgiveness, we will need to forgive others when they do us wrong.

Do we forgive literal “debts”?
There is still one more issue. We remember that forgiveness isn’t only relational, but economic. Does that mean that we need to forgive the literal, monetary “debts” as well? In Luke 6, Jesus said this: “Do good and lend, expecting nothing in return.” In other words, if someone owes you money—cold, hard cash—and they can’t pay it back, forgive it. Wipe it away. Just forget about it. Forgiveness of others isn’t just about sins, nor just about hurt feelings—although it includes all that. It also includes financial debts.

Into Temptation, From Evil-- Matthew 6:13

If “hallowed be thy name” is the most misunderstood line in the Lord’s prayer, the two lines “Lead us not into temptation” and “Deliver us from evil” certainly come a close second. For one thing, the two lines mean almost the same thing. Secondly, it probably has little to do with the daily temptations we face. In summary, they mean, “God keep us from being oppressed.” This may seem confusing, but perhaps we can explain it a bit:

What is evil?When we say something is evil, we mean that it is lacking morality. If we say a person is evil we mean that they are not as moral as most people. But when Scripture speaks about “evil”, it is more specific than just morality. If a person is in an “evil circumstance” it means that they are in dire straits, a very difficult situation that destroys them physically, emotionally or spiritually. When Scripture speaks of someone—like Satan—as being an “evil one” it does not mean that Satan is lacking in morality. It means that he puts people in difficult—seemingly impossible—circumstances. This is like Job, the righteous man of the Old Testament. Satan killed his children, destroyed his wealth, destroyed his property and gave him a plague on his body. This is what the Bible calls “evil”—terrible, devastating circumstances. When we are praying for God to deliver us from “evil” or “the evil one”, we are asking God to get us out of terrible circumstances—oppression, sickness, persecution, not having enough for our needs, sorrow, death, etc.

How is this “tempting”?
But evil circumstances aren’t just uncomfortable, they have a spiritual componant to them. Most everyone has been through such a terrible trial that it has led them to doubt God’s existence, or His goodness. This happened to Job as well—his difficulties were so hard that he questioned God’s justice. Some trials are so hard that they cause us to doubt our faith. The Greek word that is translated “temptation” would probably be better translated, “a difficulty so bad that it makes us question our faith.” Difficulties in our lives can lead us to do things we know are disobedient to God. Trials can cause us to turn away from God—sometimes in practice, sometimes in our belief. Suffering can make it so that we no longer trust God. When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we are asking God not to put us in these kinds of circumstances.

Does God lead us to this kind of evil?
The fact is, God, at times, DOES lead us to difficulties to test us. God tested Abraham’s love of Him. God tested Israel in the wilderness with hunger and thirst. The Father tested Jesus by sending him to Satan. And God allowed Jesus to suffer through the ultimate test: willingness to die on the cross for us. Frankly, Jesus begged and pleaded for God to take him out of that circumstance. But God put him into it anyway.
This does not mean that God tempts us to DO evil. Yes, God places us in difficult, even terrible circumstances, sometimes. But what we do in those circumstances is our own choice. We can choose to obey God, even if it hurts us. We can choose to trust God, even if we see no way out of a terrible situation. We can love God, even though He allowed people to hurt us. We can have our hope in God, even though God gave permission to Satan to take away our health. If we sin, if we do evil to others, if we give in to our dark impulses, we were not tempted by God, but tempted by our evil desires.

What if we don’t deserve it?
There are some people that God punishes because they have sinned before God, disobeying Him, and He is training them, or others, not to do that. But God allows everyone to have circumstances like that, sometimes. Some more than others. For some, this is punishment. But people who are right before God are also put into trials that test their faith, like Abraham, Job and Jesus. Why does God do this? Because God wants to see and display his people’s true character.

How do we know who we really are? Not by what we say—we deceive ourselves too readily. Not even by what we normally do—society can form us and make us what we are not. Who we truly are is seen when we are in difficult circumstances. When we are sick, when we are persecuted, when we are hated, when we are publicly humiliated, when we are physically torn apart—those are the times we show what we are really made of, what our real character is. What God is testing is how far He is in us. If He is firmly planted in us, then when we are going through difficulties, He will show through. But if our Christianity is just a farce, just a façade, then our true nature will show itself—our complaining, our anger, our hatred, our lust, our greed and all the other things that come with human nature. So God sometimes leads us into evil circumstances to test our faith.

How can we not be led to this trial?
Sometimes it is just our time to be brought into testing. This is the case with Jesus, who escaped many deaths and difficulties, until it was his time to be tried, and then, no matter what his pleading, he wouldn’t go into trial. But at the time of Jesus’ trial, he was telling the disciples what to do to not enter into the trial. It wasn’t their time, it was his, and so they didn’t have to suffer with him yet. How could they have avoided this? Jesus told them, “Keep watching and praying that you do not enter into temptation.” (Mark 14:38). If it isn’t our time to enter our test, then we need to do two things—First of all, we need to be alert to the circumstances as they are coming our way. The disciples were sleeping, they weren’t paying attention. Peter said later “Be alert for Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8). Secondly, we need to pray that God wouldn’t allow us to be tested when it isn’t our time. We need to recognize our weaknesses, and we need to beg God that He not test us when we aren’t ready for it. This is what Jesus commanded his disciples to do—both on the night of his test, and in the Lord’s prayer.

How are we delivered?Sometimes, however, we weren’t alert. Sometimes we didn’t pray. Or sometimes it is our time to be tested. But that doesn’t mean there is no hope. God always grants us hope—and that hope is deliverance. When we find ourselves in the circumstances that we cannot handle, we can ask God to deliver us out of them. God gave Abraham and Job a way out of these trials. Jesus’ way out was through resurrection. But everyone can have an opportunity to escape the difficulties they are in—through healing, through justice, through freedom, through mercy by a follower of God. But, again, we need to ask. This is what Jesus told us to do. Ask God for deliverance from evil. And then trust Him to do what is right.

In this way, the Lord’s prayer guides us to know what to do when we are in the worst times in our lives. It tells us to trust God, to plead with Him for help, to ask Him not to put us in these terrible circumstances in the first place. Ultimately, we are placing our hands at God’s disposal, trusting that He will pull us through, eventually.