Real Righteousness - Praying

Matthew 6: 5-15

The Debt of Sin

Debts it seems are looked at as sin, and the idea here seems to be that our or sin is looked upon as creating a debt between people and God. The idea is that debt is something that needs to be cleared, redeemed, to be forgiven. That is an interesting idea, I think sometimes people don’t pray because they’re conscious of their sin and in their hearts, they feel guilty about standing before God and asking for something when they know they are in his debt. There’s a sense in which that’s true but on the other hand God’s made a provision for that debt. The Apostle John in his first short letter says, 

“If we confess our sins he’s thankful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. (1 John 1: 9)

So, part of your prayer life should be about you coming before the Lord and saying, alright, I admit it, I messed up, please forgive my debt of sin. And that what Jesus does in fact tell us to do. Look at verse 12 

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Matthew 6: 12)

There are two conditions for receiving this kind of forgiveness, one is confession and the other is, did you forgive everybody else. Confession is important because in order to confess we simply need to get to a point where we recognize an aspect of our behavior is not what God would have wanted or expected from us. In a sense confession is just agreeing with God and calling sin, sin. 

However, the forsaking of our debt of sin leaves a problem in some people’s mind. Does that raise some problems in your mind? Would if it be a problem if it came to your clearing other people’s debt of money, due to you. The might it do also do so when it comes the spiritual debt of sin. Some translations say forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and deliver us from evil. Some translations say, “evil”, and some say, “the evil one”. It could be translated either way, because it about been protected from the attempt of the evil one to lead us astray as well as being protected from all moral evil in its entirety. 

Do Not Be Led into sin.

This does not mean that God leads us into temptation, no. But this this is a difficult phrase and frankly a lot of people have grappled with it over the years. But most Bible experts see is as a literary device where you can say something positive by negative understatement.

One helpful way I heard it explained to me was a man said he overheard a couple of older ladies talking in a restaurant and one was describing the young man that her daughter was going to marry.

He he’d completed medical school; she said and was now starting at prestigious job. He had come from a good family, and she would be marrying not only a lovely young man but also she would be marrying into, wealth and prestige the other woman listening to all this said. Not too bad a guy then. Not too bad, almost sounds like a negative statement but what she meant was her daughter had made a good catch. That’s the kind of thing that’s probably going on here in that something is being stated in an understatement, a negative phrase that’s meant to be taken as a positive.

The point is Lord is going to protect us. That’s the idea here so don’t get hung up on the word “lead”, This part of the prayer just recognizes our weakness that if we are in the wrong situation we might be tempted to sin. We are praying not be caught in those circumstances, we are praying not to get there in the first place. The main point is that some people think that prayer is going to deliver them from temptation and then they don’t pray the prayer until the moment of temptation appears. This is not suggesting you don’t pray then, at that moment but that is not as powerful as if you prayed beforehand. If you pray in this way beforehand, then you’d be much more likely to watch and pray so before you are even faced with the temptation. So before you begin the day the Lord says pray that you are kept from evil. Keep me from evil from temptation and from coming to temptation. That’s the spirit of this prayer.

Three Petitions About God and Three Petitions About Us,

Alright so there are three things you can pray for yourself according to Jesus. For your provision, for your pardon, and for your protection, I want you to know there are three things that we pray for ourselves we’re to pray for provisions, [Our Daily Bread}, and that’s in the present. We are to pray for our pardon [Our forgiveness], and that’s things that happened in the past, and we’re to pray for our protection, that we are not led into [temptation], and that’s the future. So, this pattern of these prayer covers the whole of our life, the past, the present and the future. It covers the physical and the spiritual, it asks for are daily needs to be met, and for our forgiveness for what we have done wrong, and it asks for help to overcome temptation so we don’t do things wrong in the future. It covers everything in a person’s life you can pray for and all the areas of your life that you should pray for.

A Scriptural Addendum

Having said that there’s a couple of other things we need to say Matthew chapter 6 verse 13 because in some versions of the Bible it has an addendum which says.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.  (Matthew 6: 13b)

Now that’s the New King James translation, and as you may know that phrase is left out of many modern translations. That is because that phrase is not in one or two manuscripts that some scholars deemed to be superior to others. But the vast majority of regional manuscripts that have come down through the centuries, it was there. But many still believe these words are not part of the text and it should end there, meaning it or it ends with the words, “evil one”.  Others can’t imagine Jesus ending a prayer like that. The dispute fall into three camps. For some it is did Jesus say it? For others it is did Matthew add it and a third view is that it was added later. I grew up believing that that is how this prayer ends. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Irish Comedian, Dara Obrien, well known in the UK talks in his autobiography how when he marries his wife Susan (a surgeon) a woman from an educated Northern Irish protestant. The church was family they closed the wedding by the whole congregation saying the Lord’s prayer together. (Improv Story)

Anyway, in my estimation it should be included because what Jesus is teaching here in praying this way is because we want to bring glory to Gods name, to hallow be His name. We prayer your Kingdom come and that your power is available to us. The power to be forgiven and to be delivered from temptation. So, where do you get the power to do that, well it from Him, it’s His power. What we are praying for is His power to be given to overcome temptation and by ending the prayer with that amazing statement, it demonstrates that the power available for us is God power, Gods power to do these things.

Again, Jesus is telling us the correct attitude that we should have when we approach the Lord God in prayer. Which is why Jesus concludes this section by saying.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6: 14-15)

Does that mean that if you have an unforgiven spirit and hold onto wrong perpetrated against you that you’re not going to be forgiven? Is that what it says? Does that mean we are not forgiven, does that mean that you still go to hell if you don’t forgive the sins of others. Over the years many theologians have grapple with this and here’s how they explain it. They say that there’s a difference between what they call judicial forgiveness and paternal forgiveness. Judicial forgiveness is when I trust Jesus Christ, I become a child of God and all my sins are forgiven.  All your sins are forgiven then you are a member of Gods family, but can you sin again after you’re a member of Gods family. Of course, we do, we will still mess up, and need to receive ongoing forgiveness for those occasions you miss the mark in the future. But that was the whole point of about the good news of Jesus.  Yes, we still need to be forgiven and that’s why there’s first John tells us

“If we confess our sins he’s faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1: 9)

So, it’s possible to be a member of the family and have an unforgiving spirit but Jesus says if you do that you don’t expect God to answer your prayers when it comes to receiving all the blessing you might have experienced in this life. 

It’s nothing to do with you receiving judicial forgiveness that was give as a gift. This is about understanding that your whole prayer life needs to be prayed with the right attitude, and that begins with, “Our father” and it ends with “our father” because that says I’ve got a relationship with God as my father because of faith in Jesus Christ. Now I’m in fellowship with God the father and because of that I by nature must have forgiven everybody else in the family. So it’s about having the right attitude.

In summary, this passage, first said, that there’s a wrong way to pray. The wrong way to pray was to be like the hypocrites who do it with wrong motivation in order to be the to be seen by other people.

Then it tells us the right way to pray and the right way to pray is to give God first place and pray for his person, his program and his purpose. Then we are to pray for ourselves, our provisions for your pardon and for our protection. And if you do that it could change your life.

I’ve got one more thing to say I’m going to read a letter to, you but before I do that I’m just going to say when Jesus said all this, he made an assumption, do you know what the assumption was? His assumption was that you would be praying. Maybe I’m making a huge assumption by saying well this is the way to pray assuming you're praying already.

A letter from you friend about prayer

So let me end by reading your I have seen it attributed to an American radio journalist called Paul Harvey from many years ago, but I can’t confirm that.  I found it on Pinterest board, and I adapted it somewhat for the age we live in. Anyway, I think this letter says it all very well, better than I could have said it.

When you got up this morning, I watched you and hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just a few words asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life.  However, I noticed you were too busy trying to decide what to wear, you just ran around the house getting ready.  I hoped there would be a few minutes for you to stop and say hello but you were too busy. At one point you had to wait 15 minutes for the bus but instead you browsed online on your phone for an item that you needed. At work there were time when you did nothing except sit in the chair and gazed out the window. Then I saw you spring from your feet and I thought you wanted to talk to me but instead you picked up you phone and called a friend to get the latest gossip.

I watched patiently all day you do all you your activities, I guess you were too busy to say anything to me. I noticed it before lunch you looked around maybe you felt embarrassed to talk to me that’s why you didn’t bow your head, you still didn’t talk to me even briefly before you ate. But you didn’t that’s OK there’s was still more time left and I hoped you’ll be talking to me later but  when you got home it seemed to got lots of things to do. After you did them you sat down and I thought I’m ready to listen to you now, but you turned on the TV. I know you don’t even like some of the things you watch but you still spend a lot of time each day in front of it not really thinking about anything. Just passing the time, not even stopping to talk to me when the adverts came on.

I waited patiently again as you watched the TV and ate your meal but again you didn’t talk to me, Bedtime I thought you might speak to me now, but I guess you felt too tired you just went straight to sleep, you didn’t even thank my that you family were all Ok today. You flopped into bed and fell asleep in no time. But that’s OK because you may not realize but I’m always there for you, watching over you and protecting you from harm. 

I’m patient I’m more patient than you’ll ever know I even want to teach you how to be patient with others as well. I love you so much that I wait every day for a prayer a thought a signal that you are thankful to have me in your life. But you know it’s hard to have a one sided conversation.

Well it’s another day and well you're getting up once again once again I’ll wait with nothing but love for you hoping that today you will give me some time. Have a blessed day your father and friend God.

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray. Jesus replied, This, then, is how you should pray: