The Prayer of Jesus (Part 4)
On Earth As It Is In HeavenAllow me to make one quick point before we move on. As we pray we must be ever mindful that the phrase "in heaven" is inextricably woven together with each of the first three petitions of the prayer of Jesus. We begin by praying that the name of our Father in heaven be hallowed. We continue by praying, "Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." And we conclude with the words "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
This is of course, is not by accident. Rather it is a daily reminder that we are to live with heaven in mind. As we launch into the last three petitions of the prayer of Jesus, in which the Master teaches us how to bring our requests to God, we should never lose sight of our priorities. R.C. Sproul, in his inimitable style, makes the point, "We do not come rushing into God's presence arrogantly, assaulting Him with our petty requests, forgetting whom we are addressing. We are to make certain that we have properly exalted the God of creation. Only after God has been rightly honored, adored, and exalted, do the subsequent petitions of God's people assume their proper place
The prayer of Jesus is divided into essentially two parts. The first is focused on God's glory. Thus, we pray, "hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done." The second is focused on our needs. From this point on we will pray for ourselves-our provisions, our pardon, and our protection. It is the third petition that brings the Lord's Prayer down to earth, making the transition from our Father up in heaven to His children down on earth." In the words of the great church father Tertullian:
How gracefully has the Divine Wisdom arranged the order of the prayer; so that after things heavenly- that is, after the "Name" of God, the "Will" of God, and the "Kingdom" of God- it should give earthly necessities also room for a petition!
Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
Remember the scene from Luke 11 that was described in chapter one? Jesus has just returned from one of His private prayer sessions, His face awash with the glory of His Father's presence. The disciples immediately encircle Him. One of them, perhaps Peter, verbalizes the words, but they were all thinking the same thing. "Lord, he says in a voice mixed with urgency and anticipation, "whatever it is you experience when you disappear for those long stretches and pray, we really want to know about it."
Jesus smiles. The time has come for Him to unveil the principles of prayer to His disciples. As usual, He begins with a story (see. Lk. 11:5-11). Pointing to Peter, He says, "imagine going to your neighbor's house at midnight and asking him if you can borrow three loaves of bread." A smile breaks out on Thomas's face. He can't help but chuckle at the irony of the Bread of Life telling a story about borrowing bread. "Your neighbor is fast asleep," Jesus continues, "so you pound on the door frantically and shout, 'Wake up! I need your help! A friend of mine just shown up on my doorstep, and my cupboard is bare!"
Jesus cups His hands around His mouth for effect. "Don't bother me!' the neighbor yells back. I've locked up the house and my kids are in bed. I just can't help you tonight.''' Peter wasn't very good at keeping a poker face. His thoughts might has well have been three-inch neon letters flashing across his forehead. "Yeah, right," Peter murmurs to himself, "this guy can't help? Or won't!" James and John locked eyes knowingly. If Peter knocked on my door in the middle of the night, they each were thinking, I wouldn't get up either!
"I tell you the truth," Jesus explains, "Peter had just kept banging on the door, his neighbor would have given him bread. Not so much because he was a good neighbor, but because of Peter's persistence."
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If the grumpy neighbor offers you aid as a result of your persistence- if only to keep you from continuing to bother him- how much more will your heavenly Father, who is righteous and loving, come to your aid when you ask."
Some of His disciples were beginning to catch the meaning of the parable. Peter couldn't help himself. "I get it!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the canyon. "You're contrasting my grumpy neighbor with God." James, John and the rest of the disciples now caught the full force of the meaning as well. Jesus was not comparing Peter's neighbor to God. He was contrasting the neighbor's grumpiness and resistance with God's goodness and readiness to help.
Jesus had just offered His disciples what as known as a lesser-to-greater argument for trusting God in prayer. If the lesser individual, the grumpy neighbor, was in the end willing to help a hungry man, even for a less than noble reason, how much more will our gracious heavenly Father respond when we humbly come before Him and ask for our daily bread?
Jesus did not want to leave His disciples wondering whether or not they have properly perceived the point of His parable. So He continues, "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
Jesus intensified the force of His story by moving from a relationship between neighbors to a relationship between a father and his child. And the message is beginning to resonate with His disciples. They have been conditioned to think that God was unapproachable; so if they did ask him for anything, they had better make it snappy. Jesus, however, tells them that God cares for them as a father cares for his own children. When we ask for such essentials as our daily bread, our heavenly Father will not turn His relationship with us into an illusion by giving us something harmful, such as a scorpion or a snake. Jesus puts the exclamation point on the parable by drawing the attention of His disciples to the greatest gift of all-the gift of the precious Holy Spirit. In other words, Jesus was promising that we can trust God to feed more than our bodies. But He will also feed our souls. When God gives us the Holy Spirit, He is giving...everything!
As the Holy Spirit is an all-encompassion gift, so too we are reminded that petitioning our heavenly Father to "give us today our daily bread" encompasses far more than food. As the great 6th century Martin Chemnize once put it, "The word 'bread' in this petition encompasses all things belonging to and necessary for the sustenance of this body and life." Chemitz goes on to underscore the fact that biblically the word "bread" in the context of the prayer of Jesus, can be rightly understood in a larger sense as "all those things that are required for the necessary, peaceable, and honest ordering of this life. This applies to the nation, the family, the productivity of the ground, profitable weather, and so on." Note carefully the word "necessary." God promises to provide "the necessities, but not always the niceties." And we should want it no other way.
With Agur, we should pray, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God" (Pro. 30:8-9).
Thanks Ummka, for your kind words!
I am so grateful each day of my life for this wonderful blessing to know God our Father in Heaven hears and answers our prayers. It never ceases to amaze me how I as an insignificant being in part of this vast universe can be heard by our Father. How much He loves us and wishes for each of us to come to `Unto Him` that he may bless our life`s and the life`s of others. How blessed we are to know that we are children of God with a divine heritage.
You do some beautiful blogs and always with such love and sensitivity of all whilst standing by your great faith. Thank you! You are a true disciple of Christ. I have such great respect and admiration for you.
Very good blog with a very good explanation! We serve an awesome God who takes the time to hear each and every prayer that we lift up to Him! Praise God!
Praise God, for His truth that sets us free!
Thanks for stopping by, Callie.
God bless!