“How to pray the Lord’s prayer” Part 4

Thames Valley teaching series: more theology
Cannot really separate first phrase from second phrase of this verse
But, we are going to do that today just to emphasise a couple of things
Reminder – your kingdom come – came, is here, will come

MESSAGE trans: “as above, so below.”
Luther translates: “grant us grace to bear willingly all sorts of sickness, poverty, disgrace, suffering, and adversity and to recognise that in this your divine will is crucifying our will.”
Perhaps he was thinking of Gethsemane
Jesus went to Gethsemane and prayed to align his will with God so that gods will could be done on this earth for his glory and our salvation.

A disciple’s hope is that God’s kingdom will is part of this present age as well as the future one.
We want God’s rule in our lives now, spreading, and moving towards ultimate fulfilment.

Two responsibilities flow from praying this prayer:
1. Committing ourselves to learn all we can about the father’s will
2. Living what we learn by God’s grace.

Questions to ask ourselves:
Do I want to know the Father’s will?
Am I willing to align mine with his?
Am I alert to opportunities to enact his will here on earth

“This is, in fact, a prayer for the kingdom of God to become fully present: not for God’s people to be snatched away from earth to heaven, but for the glory and beauty of heaven to be turned into earthly reality as well. When that is done, God’s name — his character, his reputation, his very presence — will be held in high honour everywhere. The first half of the prayer is thus all about God. Prayer that doesn’t start there is always in danger of concentrating on ourselves, and very soon it stops being prayer altogether and collapses into the random thoughts, fears and longings of our own minds.” Wright, N. T. Matthew for Everyone Part 1 Chapters 1–15. 1. Accordance electronic edition, version 2.2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011.

Tim Keller writes: “adoration and Thanksgiving – God-centredness, – comes first, because it heals the heart of its self-centredness, which curves us in on ourselves and distorts all our vision. Now that the prayer is nearly half over, and our vision is re-framed and clarified by the greatness of God, we can turn to our own needs and those of the world.” Keller, Prayer, 114
First half of prayer all about God – good model for our times of quiet.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org.

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“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: “An elephant’s swimming pool”, a devotional look at the Gospel of John