The Daily Devotional Podcast

Abide in Action - 1 | Matthew 6: 5-15

• Waypoint Church

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0:00 | 6:06

This reflection introduces the practice of structured prayer by encouraging believers to intentionally return their hearts to the Father throughout the day. Looking at the Lord’s Prayer in its Jewish context, it presents prayer not as an occasional response to need but as a daily rhythm that continually reorients our hearts toward God’s presence and His kingdom.

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“May the Lord bless you and keep you — and may His presence guide you this week.”


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Today I'm reading Matthew six, verses five through fifteen. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they'll ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father who sees everything will reward you. When you pray, don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need before you even ask him. Pray like this. Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive our sins, as we've forgiven those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. I know, I know, I can hear you listening to this and asking, The Lord's prayer again, Dominic? Really? You must have been listening to Tim Mackey again. And to you I say yes and amen. It seems every time I think I have a firm grasp on what used to be just that prayer I knew, I find something entirely new about it. Almost like God's word is alive. Pretty cool, huh? So this time let me start by reading you this, and tell me if it sounds familiar. May God's great name be exalted and hollowed in the world which He created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and in your days, and in the lifetime of the house of Israel speedily and soon. Amen. This is the Kadish, a Jewish prayer that preexisted Jesus and was being said in synagogues daily, three times daily in fact, morning, afternoon, and evening. Now please don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying the Lord's prayer is plagiarized or anything crazy like that, but what I am saying is there's maybe more to this than we thought. Remember, when Jesus is speaking to his disciples, he's speaking to young men who all went through the same learning of the Torah and spent countless hours in and around the synagogues where the Kaddish is being said. It would have been familiar to them too. And as far as familiarity goes, we have this prayer pretty well memorized as a culture. Even many people not of the faith can probably recite at least a little of it due to its use in popular culture. And in just the time I've spent talking about it, we've looked at some of the wording to see that perhaps there's more than just an outline for prayer. We've looked at so much of the depth of this. I think largely due to the influences of time and our culture, we've not lost a familiarity with the words, but perhaps the rhythm that they gave us. Jesus says, When you pray, pray like this. And for a long time I, and largely we have taken that to mean when you decide to pray or whenever you need to pray. But I think the connection to the Kaddish is actually really direct. What if that when was referring to the very same morning, afternoon, and evening prayer? We've gotten so far away from the structure that our faith began in, and in some ways that might even be a good thing. I think though that something is lost when you get too far away from the actual practices of faith. So to wrap this up, I'm going to give a challenge. We have spent a lot of time talking about abide and what that means. This week I want to look and see if we can't look at a few practices that we can do to help deepen our roots and help us truly lean in and abide. Practice one being prayer. I'm sure we all pray, this is not the challenge. The challenge I'm posing is this. Pray the Lord's prayer morning, afternoon, and evening. Not as a dead ritual, not as a show. Really sit with it and let it shape your thoughts and perspective. It's not going to require a large time commitment, but it will help to start and end your day with your focus on the Father's heart. And imagine what it could do at midday. There's no telling where you might be, what you might be doing, or who you might be with when it's time to recenter your heart. Maybe that one person who always seems to know exactly how to get on your nerves is at it again, and you return to forgive us as we forgive. Or maybe you find yourself in a time of temptation, that one that's always been a challenge for you, and you call to mind, deliver us from evil. Jesus did not give this prayer lightly.

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So whether you join us in adding a structured prayer time or not, may his words pull you closer and teach you to abide. Before I close in prayer, here's a question to wrestle with.

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Teach me not only to pray, but to cultivate a rhythm of returning my heart to you. May the words Jesus gave his disciples become more than familiar. May they become the posture of my life as I learn to abide in you.