”How you should pray”, Class 4 - ”Forgive us..lead us..deliver us”

"This, then, is how you should pray" 

 

Class 4: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:12–13 NIV11)

 

Introduction 

 

• “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8 NIV11)
• Note: This is how you should pray, not, this is what you should say.
• Looking back to beatitudes - “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Matthew 5:7 NIV11)

1. Forgive us our debts

• Jewish teaching regarded sins as “debts” before God; the same Aramaic word could be used for both.  
• What are we praying for, when we pray asking for forgiveness?
• Personal honesty: “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8–10 NAS95)
  • An act of faithful surrender
  • “To confess your sins to God is not to tell him anything he doesn’t already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the bridge.” (Frederick Buechner)
• Corporate nature - our collective sins as Christendom? Local church? Not tackling injustices around us?
  • “Thus says the LORD, “For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke its punishment, because they sell the righteous for money and the needy for a pair of sandals.” (Amos 2:6 NAS95)

2. As we also have forgiven our debtors

• "The point lies not in the time-sequence, but, as vv. 14–15 will explain, in the insincerity of a prayer for forgiveness from an unforgiving disciple."
• “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14–15 NIV11)
• Some translations indicate that we have forgiven our debtors, but the Greek could mean something more like “as we herewith commit to forgiving our debtors”.
• It would be insincere to ask for forgiveness while at the same time holding on to bitterness towards someone else
• We need to desire other people to be forgiven as much as we hope for it ourselves
• We are not victims, we are healers - of ourselves and other people 
• Jesus, as ever, is our example: “Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”” (Luke 23:34 NAS95)
• Don’t forget that there is more than enough grace
• “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20–21 NAS95)
• More grace than sin
• God delights to forgive
• A comfort to you and me
• And an inspiration to motivate our forgiveness of others

3. Lead us not into temptation

• “Keep us safe from ourselves” (Matthew 6:13 MESSAGE)
• Lead us not 
  • God does not tempt:
    • "When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;" James 1:13
• A way of emphasising the opposite. 
  • Not so much lead us not into temptation, but, lead us away from temptation “into righteousness, into situations where, far from being tempted, we will be protected and therefore kept righteous.
• Temptation
  • "Parallels with ancient Jewish prayers, and possibly the Aramaic wording behind this verse, suggest that the first line means: “Let us not sin when we are tested”—rather than “Let us not be tested” (cf. Matt 4:1; 26:41 in context; cf. Ps 141:3-4)."
  • peirasmos is better ‘testing’. 
  • “Let us not be brought into temptation [i.e., by the devil].” 
  • If the word “temptation” can be taken to mean “trial or temptation that results in fall”, makes even more sense
  • “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Mark 14:38 NAS

 

But….

4. Deliver us from the evil one

“Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil!” (Matthew 6:13 MESSAGE)

• Deliver us 
  • Perhaps stress is on vulnerability of a disciple. We are dependent on God for help because we are weak. 
  • Just as we need to depend on God for physical needs (Mat 6:11), we need to remember to be actively dependent on him for spiritual victory and moral triumph. 
  • ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3 NIV11)
• The evil one
  • Or, from evil. 
  • Don’t forget that you are in enemy controlled territory
  • "Enemy-occupied territory, that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” (C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity)
  • “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV11)
  • “Satan may be a vanquished foe whose demise is inevitable, but the aggression of his death-throes remains terrifying. ‘He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short’ (Rev. 12:12).” Pete Greig, "How to pray"
  • “So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper.” (James 4:7 MESSAGE)

Summary:

• Doxology
  • "The prayer is likely to have been originally given and used with the form of a concluding doxology (an essential element in most Jewish prayers) left free, probably as a congregational response. The form we now know (modelled on 1 Chr. 29:11–12?) gradually became standardised as a part of the prayer itself, probably during the second century.”
    • “Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honour come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11–12 NIV11)

 

Conclusion

• Questions for discussion:
  • What stands out to you from this verse?
  • How might your prayer life grow because of what this verse teaches you about God, yourself and prayer?
• Suggestion: Pray these verses every day for a week 

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

 

God bless, Malcolm