Corona Chronicles - The Lord's Prayer

Welcome back to Corona Chronicles. This is the last in a short series in the lord's prayer that we've been looking at throughout the month of November. And we did this. We took a break from Mark's gospel that we've been going through. Just because we were in another little lockdown and thought it would be really valuable to spend some time looking at how Jesus teaches us to pray.

And I think you'll agree if you've been watching them. It's been really fruitful, really encouraging. And today, we're just going to talk about a few of the things that hit us, some encouragement that we've got from from spending time. Anything that stood stood out to us. So yeah.

Do you wanna kick us off this on? Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think the the big thing for me was was verse 9.

You know, this then is how you should pray. Our father in heaven. Mhmm. Hello, be your name. And although, whenever you're in a in prayer meeting or bible study, you know, when we pray, we say father instinctively.

Yeah. And that that is that that is a right thing to do, isn't it? We can become a bit familiar with that title but actually, when we consider what it is we're saying there, that we can know as our heavenly father. It's just an amazing thing because it speaks of intimacy, and kindness, and adoption, but also authority -- Yeah. -- you know, and holiness and power.

And so much of the nature of God is tied up in that covenant word, father. You know, we can know him as that because of Christ. And that seems to be 1 of the hallmarks of genuine Christian prayer. Mhmm. Because in our first couple of sessions, we were comparing this prayer of Jesus with how the religious leaders pray.

Right. And 1 of the things they do is they go onto the street corners so that they can be seen by everyone. Yeah. And they ramble on and on and on and on and they babble like Pagans do. Mhmm.

And that's really because they don't know God's father. If they knew God as father, they wouldn't worry so much about what everyone else thought -- Sure. -- because they're not praying to other people that -- Yeah. -- they've got a heavenly dad they can talk to. Yeah.

And if they knew God as father, they wouldn't babble on and on as if they have to swayed or convince him of their needs. Yeah. You know, they would know that he knows them and just be able to pray simple or authentic prayers full of integrity and wouldn't worry about going on and on. So I think knowing God's father is not just the the kind of crowning gem of our salvation. It does really affect the way we live out the Christian life in we pray.

And I found that a really big challenge -- Mhmm. -- that if I fall into these religious traps, which I often do, then somewhere down the line. That's because I'm not knowing God's father or remembering God's father. Yeah. So that was helpful.

Yeah. And that's extraordinary thing, isn't it? I remember Pete pulling pulling this idea out as well, and then it struck me as it's it's hour, hour, hour, isn't it? Yes. Our father in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread -- Yeah. -- forgive us our debts as we forgive it. And lead us not into temptation. So It's all corporate. Yeah.

Which is it gives an amazing sense, you know, people will say, have you got a personal relationship with Jesus? Or some people say, you know, I've got with God, but I don't really go to church. And this prayer really says that's not right. At all. No.

Actually, when, you know, if when you pray, if you're not praying for your brothers and sisters as well, then you're you're not praying how Jesus wants you to pray in a sense. How he's taught us to pray. And yeah. So it encourages us to Yeah. When we wake up in the morning, I suppose we were just talking in the last session about when we wake we don't know.

We're in a a war zone. Yeah. And we say father protect me from temptation today, but we should also be praying for our brothers and sisters. Yeah. My brothers and protect them today.

Absolutely. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's really really helpful.

And that's again, that's because because this prayer is quite well known, to Christians, but also in in the wider culture to an extent. You know, our father in heaven hallowed be your name. You know, we can just sort of skip over those you know, and and forget that corporate nature of it. So that's really really good. 1 of the things that struck me is this this hallowed be your name talking about the honor and the glory of God's name.

And just the way in which disciples can honor the name of God. And we might perhaps instinctively think of performing great feats, you know, for God. Yeah. You know, traveling around the world and reaching unrich tribes and doing incredible acts of evangelism or some some, you know, record worthy feat for him. And those things, you know, we we must do, you know, we must do.

Mhmm. But actually, 1 of the ways that we can bring honor to God is just is just daily dependence on him. Right. You know, asking for our daily bread. Knowing that we need his help to forgive the people in our lives, recognizing that we could be tempted to evil and that we need help -- Mhmm.

-- no matter what we do with our days. Yep. And so it it's not to be seen as this kind of religious pursuit -- Right. -- that is dislocated from everyday life. Yeah.

The way we bring honor to God is this recognition of our need and our dependence upon him in the very ordinary lives that most of us Yep. Live. Yeah. And that's really dignifying to your life, isn't it? Yeah.

Because you sort of wake up at most days of normal this same. Yes. There was a woman in in the church I grew up in who said, you can peel the potato to the glory of God. Yeah. And what a great you know?

And that's just like your small, simple life. Yeah. If you're living in this way, you know, you're you're depending on God for your daily bread, you're forgiving your brothers and sisters, and you're walking, you're following being led the good shepherd himself. That is what glorifies God. And that's also what his kingdom looks like, isn't it?

You know, your kingdom come. We pray that. What does that look well, it looks like people who are peeling potatoes and giving thanks to him for the potato who are forgiving brothers and sisters. Yeah. You need a kingdom perspective to do it to do Don't you?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. So it connects to every aspect of our lives.

And and this interesting at the end, you've got this really strong word about forgiveness which we touched on in 1 of our sessions. 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. And I mean, that is a sobering word, isn't it? And it's just interesting the way Jesus puts a lot of weight on that and at the end of this particular section of teaching.

And shows how important it is that disciples grasp the forgiveness that is offered by Christ on the cross. Because if we do, then we are gonna be the sort of people that extend mercy and forgiveness to others. Definitely. But if we're claiming to be followers of Jesus, and yet knowingly deliberately harboring hatred and vengeful thoughts in our hearts. It shows that we haven't understood really the grace of the gospel.

And so, this this prayer for forgiveness in verse 12, as we have forgiven our debtors it assumes that we are living this forgiven by God, forgiving others life all the time. If we don't do that, you know, we're in the trap of the evil 1. Yes. Sure. That's 1 of his traps, isn't it?

To make us think we can be Christian -- Yeah. -- without forgiving other brothers and sisters, you know. So that's a big 1. Yeah. And I guess, ultimately, if if your heart if you struggle with forgiving people, then this prayer changes you, doesn't it?

Because as you pray it, as you sit down, self discipline, go, you know what? I don't want I want my world to be on it. I don't want God's world to be on it today. But I'm going to I'm going to be self disciplined here and I'm going to pray this prayer, then I I would imagine over time that the spirit's help. He's gonna mold your heart into being a person to having a heart that desires these things more and more.

Mhmm. I think that's right. And so I think 1 of the things that we would wanna encourage people to do at the end of this week is to really take this prayer and sit down with it and to to think over these requests and to to bounce them back to the Lord in prayer because hopefully, as people have seen in this series, there is there is loads we can say about this and loads more that we could say about this. Mhmm. And so I think 1 way of really helping us as we see out whatever is left of this lockdown would be daily to take 1 of these and almost like a mind map, you know, our father in heaven.

You know, what does it mean arrow up that way arrow up that way arrow that way? How does it affect church, you know, family battles? You know, and just to I think that would be such a fruitful thing to do, wouldn't it? Absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.