Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Lord's Prayer Part I - Talking to the Father about the Father, Part 42 of 50

TEXT: "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10).

IDEA: We pray that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven because God’s will is not being done on earth now.

PURPOSE: To help listeners pray the Lord’s Prayer with understanding.

What kinds of questions do you have to think about when you study the Bible?

Are all questions of the same importance?

I. When you read in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” what questions do you have?

Does this request relate to the previous request, “Thy kingdom come”?

Is it a separate request or are the two related?

Luke 11:2 doesn’t have this request. What could you make of that?

Most commentators would see these words as probably an elaboration of “thy kingdom come” rather than as a separate request.

Does it make any difference in how you understand the prayer?

This is a request for the external “reign of God” over the world, and not his reign over hearts who would serve Him.

Jesus prayed these words in the Garden of Gethsemane. What do you think was the mood of His request? Was it with a resigned sigh and a clenched fist?

II. What does this request imply about how God’s will is being done now?

Would we pray this if God’s will were actually being done among us now?

Do you think that in the world of business, politics, and entertainment people carry out God’s will?

In our own hearts, do we want to carry out God’s will? Do we always pray this prayer with integrity?

Don’t we demand our own will as if our whole happiness depended on having our own will done?

Do we fail to do God’s will only because we are too weak to carry it out (Kant) or is it because we do not want to do otherwise?