20 Days With the Lord’s Prayer Day 0: An Introduction

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I imagine that most Christians know the Lord‘s Prayer, or at least have some knowledge of what is contained in it.

The Lord‘s Prayer is found in the Gospel of Matthew as well as the Gospel of Luke. For our purposes, we will use the Lord‘s Prayer as found in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew, it is part of the Sermon on the Mount and comes just after Jesus’ instruction as to what the prayer of true believers should be like.

As seen in our opening scripture, the Lord contrasted the way His followers should pray, with how the hypocrites prayed.

The Lord noted that the hypocrites (the religious leaders) approached prayer as an expression of their own righteousness, or as Jesus put it, “that they may be seen by men.”

We see an example of this in Jesus’ Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

“”Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭18‬:‭10-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Although the main point of this parable is not concerning the issue of praying to be seen by men, it certainly is illustrated in how the Pharisee prayed.

Now, although we may pray corporately and openly, the purpose is not to be seen (and admired) by others, but to be heard by God.

The Lord also noted that those who follow after other gods (the heathen) view praying in a superstitious way, as if there are certain words with “magic”power, or that the volume of words, will give them a better chance of getting through to their gods.

Consider the prayer of Elijah in “the battle of the gods” on Mount Carmel.

The prophets of Baal and Asherah made quite a display trying to get their gods to accept the sacrifice with fire.

“So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.”

‭‭I Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭26‬-‭29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Of course, the gods of the false prophets did not answer by fire. However, when it came to Elijah’s turn, he repaired the altar and prayed a very simple prayer. And sure enough, Elijah’s sacrifice was answered by fire, the fire of the Almighty God.

“And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!””

‭‭I Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭36‬-‭39‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The power of prayer is that it is communication with our God, our Father, our King, our Savior.

Lord willing, over the next 20 Days (not including Sundays), we will take a very close look at “The Lord’s Prayer,” the template for prayer that our Lord gave to His disciples. Please join with us as we consider together what we can learn from this wonderful model for prayer given by our Lord.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!