Pray Like This
The Lord's Prayer
Our Deliverance
June 19, 2022 • Walter Henegar • Matthew 6:9–13
The root of all temptation is distrust in the goodness of God. All kinds of circumstances, then, can be tempting – not just obvious enticements to engage in illicit behavior. Tempting circumstances include any form of evil, or the Evil One, which can overwhelm us and lead to cynicism, resignation or despair. For this reason Jesus encourages us to ask our Father to spare us from the worst of both. Because Jesus himself was not delivered from temptation, yet resisted it anyway, all who trust him are spared the full force of it.
Our Daily Bread
June 5, 2022 • Walter Henegar • Matthew 6:9–13
"Give us this day our daily bread" is the most straightforward petition in the Lord's prayer, yet it has multiple layers of meaning. The surface meaning reminds us of our daily physical dependence on the Lord. The social meaning challenges us to help feed other people. The spiritual meaning reveals that our deepest need is for communion with the Triune God, given to us by Jesus. The eschatological meaning reminds us that a greater feast awaits, so that every meal is an act of hope.
Your Kingdom
May 29, 2022 • Walter Henegar • Matthew 6:9–13
Asking God for his kingdom to come and his will to be done is one of the most comforting and most dangerous prayers a Christian can pray. It's comforting because it validates our experience and invites us to lament; because Jesus prayed it for us in Gethsemane and secured our adoption in his family; and because Jesus has guaranteed that the fulness of the kingdom will come when he returns. At the same time, praying it is dangerous because it asks us to submit our kingdoms to his, to be active participants in how he answers our prayers, and to obey him even when it hurts.
Your Name
May 22, 2022 • Matthew 6:9–13
To "hallow" God's name means to honor him as holy, both with our lips and with our lives. Dozens of verbs could flesh out this definition: glorify, bless, adore, exalt, revere, esteem, praise, fear, worship, etc. The more we recognize how singularly holy God is, the more amazed we are that we are able to come near him in Christ. We can't make ourselves feel God's holiness, but we can cultivate the conditions that grow it. God grows bigger in our hearts when we pay more attention to smaller things, including: being careful with how we use his name(s), devoting ourselves to public and private worship, and being careful with how we treat people who are made in his image.
Our Father in Heaven
May 15, 2022 • Matthew 6:5–13
The Lord's Prayer doesn't just teach us to pray. It summarizes the entire Christian life, starting with the terms of our relationship with God. Only Jesus has earned the right to call God Father. By inviting us to call him our Father, too, Jesus preaches the Good News: That all who trust in his death and resurrection can be adopted into God's family. This means he is not only willing to hear our prayers, but eager to hear them! At the same time, he is no mere human father, but our Father in heaven, ruling over the universe with all power and glory at his disposal. Holding both qualities together – his nearness and his otherness – ensures that we are praying to the real God, not performing for others or trying to manipulate him into blessing us.