03-24-24 The Lord's Prayer

Disciples Ignited is starting a Bible study on the Lord's Prayer. They read the prayer from Matthew 6 and Luke 11. They discuss the difference between praying the prayer literally and in principle. They also talk about the danger of repetitive and ritualistic prayers. They emphasize the importance of praying from the heart and having a genuine relationship with God. They highlight the communal aspect of prayer and the invitation for believers to pray together. Okay, this is Disciples Ignited joining together once again for Bible study, and today we're going to be studying the Lord's Prayer, which is going to start in the book on page 93. All right, so if you have your book, turn to page 93. If not, you can turn to, well, even with the book, we're going to turn to Matthew. So the Lord's Prayer starts at Matthew 6, verses 9 through 13, or we could say maybe 14, because there's some words that are in different translations, and I'm sure we'll go over that. All right, so the Lord's Prayer. Why don't we start out by reading the Lord's Prayer in the two different passages that we're going to be dealing with today. So let's look up Matthew chapter 6. Carol, why don't you read us starting with, I believe it's verse 7. Do you want me to pray in the Lord's Prayer? Okay, verse 9. Well, really start at, why don't you start at 5, and then we'll read on down to 13. Okay. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will 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 for repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need, even before you 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 us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And don't let us shield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. And then some manuscripts add, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Alright, now tell us what translation you are reading up. This is the NLT. NLT. Alright, now we're also going to read in Luke. So let's turn to Luke 11. And start with verse 1 going down to 4. Jerry, why don't you read that? Luke 11, verses 1 through 4. One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. He said to them, when you pray, say, Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us this each day, our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. Right, Pastor Jack Capert, I'm reading from the book, the name is Jesus, a study of Matthew, Mark, and Luke by Jack Capert. He was the editor. Pastor Jack Capert says it's the most prayed prayer in the world. Do you know, I remember when I was a student in elementary school many years ago, but we would pray this every day. And did they do that up east? Yeah, we did every day. We did maybe in the beginning, like in first grade, but then it stopped, you know, and like about third grade. I think all the way through, we would pray the Lord's Prayer every day. Pastor Jack Capert says it's the most prayed prayer in the world, the Lord's Prayer, we call it. Some challenged that designation, saying, it's the disciples' prayer. He gave it to them, told them to pray it. But I like what Capert says, he says, but he is the one who taught it. He is the one who breathed its depth of insight. I love that. So, Jesus, I like calling it the Lord's Prayer because this is the prayer he told them to pray, and it's really a prayer that we see as he's giving to them as an example of that which he prays. The prayer, with slight variations, is recorded in Matthew 6, as well as Luke 11, which we both just read. In Matthew, it is part of the Sermon on the Mount dealing with the disciples' motives and religious responsibilities, which is found in Matthew 6, 1-18. In Luke, where it's found in Luke 11, verses 1-4, it's presented in answer to the request, Lord, teach us to pray. Take care, I want you to go. In Luke, Jesus introduces the prayer by saying, when you pray, say. In Matthew, he introduces it by saying, in this manner, pray. This implies that Jesus intended it to be prayed both literally, in Luke, and in principle, in Matthew. And it tells us to go to Matthew 6 and read. Right, so what does he mean by in principle and in literally? I personally think a lot of people memorize the Lord's Prayer and then they pray it just as it is in Scripture. Is that wrong? No, absolutely not. But then you can also take what the subject matter is at each point that Jesus gives in the prayer and you can expand on it. Right, so what he's talking about literally is meaning memorize it and pray that. But in principle, it means that you take that Scripture, the prayer, and then you break it up in dealing with all the different subject matter, not using necessarily the words that Jesus said, but you use the principle. Like a template, a template for prayer. Right, right. So you can springboard off of that. All right, so Gary, it says to read Matthew 6, 7 through 15. Can you do that for me, please? I'm going to read Matthew 6. 7 through 15. Yes, 7. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father, your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. This, then, is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Amen. So basically, the Lord's saying that He doesn't want to just hear a lot of repetition. Or, you know, some people, that's all they do when they pray. It's just strictly rote prayers by memory, you know, and, or they think if they say them enough time, I'm going to say, how many Hail Marys? Have I heard Catholics say that? I'm going to say 10 Hail Marys, or, you know, well, that's not going to help. But when they go through, when they go through confession, you know, in order to wipe out their sin, they'll say, okay, say 10 Hail Marys, or say the Lord's Prayer 10 times, whatever. What is that turning God's Word into, though? A ritual. It's turning into a ritual, but it's also turning into a magic wand. Oh, that's true. Yeah. You know, which is all, really, it's making God's Word into thinking, I can control God. Right. You know, if I just say this 10 times, that that's going to prove my worth, and it's going to wipe out my sin. I'm going to try to impress God with how many times I can say something over and over again. And he even puts that in here. It says, maybe even magical phrases. And then he says, what is Jesus's warning? Let's see, verse 7. And when you pray, you're not babbling. Okay, they think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. So, you know, and that's what people do in witchcraft. You know, they do their incantations, they have their books. And then we even have people that have like books of prayer, you know, and I think that if you really know the Lord, there's nothing wrong with having a book of prayer. And you could use those prayers to maybe get you going in the right direction. But you can't use that in place of really praying on a one-on-one relationship with the Lord. I've been to some Jewish times, what do they call it, when they sit Shiva, right, when somebody's passed away. And the rabbi comes in and basically they just repeat things out of a book. They have their special book, just like the Catholics do, the prayer books, or they have a book. Yeah, and the whole thing is just repeat this, repeat this, repeat this. But there's no life in that. It can be at times. Because I mean, I like to sit down and read people's prayer declarations and things like that. And but you have to have life in it. You know, it's got to come from the heart. And I always use it as a springboard. I'm not going to use it just to repeat over and over and over again. You know, the same things. It's got to come from the heart. You know, first thing I want us to realize in this is we get into the nitty gritty of the Lord's Prayer. This is an invitation to mankind to come into a relationship with God. And of it is not only just you and him, but notice throughout the Lord's Prayer, this is put in plural. Our Father. What does it tell us? That this is something that the Lord wants us to get together and do what? Together. Pray. Pray. Pray. We are to join together as a community of believers. And we are to pray together in relationship with the Lord. Right. You know, it's our Father. Our Father. This brings something to mind. They were already used to seeing the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the religious leaders of their day, their rabbis, pray, wrote prayers, memorize prayers just over and over. That's not what Jesus modeled or else they wouldn't have said, Lord, teach us how to pray like you pray. Yeah. He wasn't like those religious leaders that just got out and prayed a bunch of stuff that's written in a book. I remember once we went to a prayer meeting here in Miami. It was a big prayer meeting. I mean, I think there was probably about a thousand people there and they wanted to include a lot of different cultures and groups, you know, the ministers from the churches here in Miami. And I remember some of the ministers wrote down their prayers and just read them out. And to me, they were dead. I mean, I didn't feel any life in them. Do you remember that? And I remember thinking, wow, how do you pray? Like you say, you know, I would take the book, I take the books that you've given me, and I've been praying, you know, many times in that book. So, OK, well, let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. Look at what I'm saying. OK, so we're going to talk about that today and we're going to take the Lord's prayer and we're going to begin to section it off. One, two, three, four, five, the different things that it's dealing with. And we're going to show you how you can use that as a template to help you pray. All right, so strictly from the Lord's prayer, strictly from the Lord's prayer. So that's so you can take the Lord's prayer and you can pray it verbatim. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Or you can add to that just that this is the subject matter that the Lord wants you to pray about. And then you can combine other scriptures and include those other scriptures. And we'll show you how to do that. And I think that will be a great help to you. All right. Now, before we go on then in that, let's look at the word wealth in the book. And it wants us to talk about vain repetitions that Carol was just mentioning to us. So vain repetitions comes from the Greek word betelugu, which has the idea of babbling by repeating needless syllables uttered mechanically without thought. Now, who does this as a religious practice? Monks, Hindus, Hindus. Yeah. When they when they are when they go to their guru, their Maharishi or whoever, their spiritual leader, their spiritual leader will come to them and whisper a little syllable, a word or whatever. But it's usually just one word or even a syllable or a sound and whisper it in their ear. And that's what they're supposed to repeat over and over and over and over for hours, however, to bring them to a mindset where it's endless nothingness. They're supposed to use this word to empty their mind so that they're emptied. That would be Hinduism, Buddhism, meditation, parts of yoga are all in that kind of vein. The Lord never calls us to empty our minds. However, our minds are supposed to become the mind of Christ, but he's never asking you to get rid of your thinking, to get rid of your mind. That's what the devil wants you to do so that he can just come in and take over. But the Lord wants your mind to be transformed. How? Through his word. So don't think that you have to get rid of your thinking abilities. No, you allow your thinking abilities to be purified through the word of God so that you're now thinking the very mind of Christ, but you're still thinking. Right. So he wants us to fill our minds with worship to him and with the word of God. The Lord doesn't tell us to become, because I've had people ask me, well, don't you practice meditation? And I say, well, I do. And I read the word of God and I allow the Lord to speak to me. Or I may sing praises to the Lord and let him minister to me. That's what meditation is, according to the Bible, which the Lord's the one who made it. So he certainly knows how it works. Yeah, I do want to empty my mind of anxiety, of fear, of worry. My mind will whirl. And how do I settle my mind and get it? I need it filled up with the word of God. I need it filled up with worship. That's why we start our services. What do we do? We worship, we pray, but we always study God's word too. We want to be filled with worship and praise and his word. That will bring the peace in your mind because you get your mind focused on Jesus. When you look up at him, this world isn't going to seem so terrible anymore or like it's got a hold on you anymore. So that's the difference here. And then, of course, those people that he was dealing with, the Jewish leaders at the time, they were just very religious. And it was just a lot of repetition, but it didn't mean anything. But I did want to bring this out, this prayer guide I gave you. That might be what you're talking about. And it tells you what to pray for, the nation of Israel, and then decree. All based on the word of God. But now, right now, I'm leading some ladies in this prayer guide. And I said the first time each of us leave, we're going to stick with the prayer guide. But next time, what I'm going to do is I'm going to ask them, You pray and ask the Lord to show you the scriptures about the nation of Israel that we need to pray. We'll stick with the prayer request, but we're going to go through the scriptures ourselves because I don't want them just to read this. We want it to be fresh. We want it to be relational with the Lord. And this is just a guide. That's why they call it a guide. It keeps you on track. But there are times when I do pray it just the way that it is, but I pray it from my heart. And the Lord starts speaking to me. So what we're saying is that the Hindus, when they empty their mind, it lets the devil in. Yeah. Yeah. The devil doesn't want you to think. Right. He only wants you to... That's very interesting. He wants to fill your mind with corrupt whatever. That's why there's a scripture, Ephesians chapter 4, 26 through 28, I think. Let me look it up. Ephesians 4. Let's see. Ephesians 4, 26. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. To put on a new mind. So let's look at this. Okay. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. To be made new in the attitude of your minds. And this word attitude is really the spirit of your minds. So the Lord never calls us to get rid of our minds. In fact, you'll find that when you were born again, you were given a new heart. A new spirit. That's what made you reborn. You were given a new spirit. But what did the Lord do with your mind? Did he take that away? No. You keep the old mind. But through a process of reading his word, through worship prayers, as you were talking about, you start renewing your mind. It's like you go into cleansing your mind of all the corrupt things that you have put into it. So the Lord just doesn't wipe that out. But through a process, you start cleaning it out. Okay. It says also to look at Mark 12, 38 through 40. You want to read that, Jerry? Where'd you at? I'm on the book. Here, 94. Jesus then began to speak to them. Mark 12, 38. 38 through 40. This is Jesus' warning. As he taught, Jesus said, watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. And have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. That's what you were saying about Shiva. Yeah, they're just reading out of the book, but you don't really feel the life of the Lord in it. You don't even know what they're saying. I do, because they don't do it all in Hebrew. They also do it in English, but you know what was interesting? The last one I went to was a few years ago. I was looking, because they don't tell you in the prayer book, the Jewish prayer book, whether it's from the word of God or if a rabbi put it in there, you know what I mean? But I knew because of my knowledge of the Bible. That one's from the Psalms, yep. Nope, they put that prayer together. This one's from this part of the scriptures. And so my friend Mark, that was Jewish and he was there, and he said, so Carol, I noticed you were really getting into the prayer book. And the rabbi was saying, he said, are you going to become Jewish? I said, no, actually, Mark, I was trying to figure out which of these prayers we were saying came straight from the Bible and which ones were not. And he changed the subject and didn't want to talk to me about it anymore. All right, I like that in the book it says, R.T. France wrote, prayer in the non-Jewish world was often characterized particularly by formal invocation and magical incantations. Otherwise, they were repeating things as if they were magic words in which the correct repetition counted rather than the worshipper's attitude or intention. So otherwise, they're saying, it doesn't matter what your heart is like, it just matters that you speak these words. And people into the occultic practices are like that. Witches, what they call themselves goddesses now, and voodoo priests and Santeria. It's all about them saying everything just perfect. Aren't you glad we don't have to do that? We can just come to the Lord and give our hearts to Him and just pour our hearts out to Him. What's really grabbing me, though, is the Lord never calls us to empty our minds. But even in meditation, even in prayer, you can meditate. But meditation is when you begin to really focus in on one thought that the Lord is giving you and you mull over that. You think about that. You just go over and over and over. You'll speak it. You can sing it. You'll pray it. But that's meditation. But what is that doing? That's not emptying your mind. Filling it with the Lord. But it's filling your mind with the very thoughts of Christ. Now, why does the disciple not have to pray empty phrases? That's in verse 8. Why don't you read that out, Jerry? Matthew 7, 8. Matthew 7, 8. Matthew 7, 8. Okay, man, I've got to get back to Matthew. Back to Matthew. Hello. Are you good? Man, I've got to get back. Someday. Back to Matthew. Come on. Okay. Matthew 7, 8. Matthew 7, 8, right? Yeah. Okay, 7, 8. For everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks, finds. And to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Is that Matthew 7? Matthew 7. Verse 8. Are you sure we're in 7 or are we in 6? No, no, I'm sorry. That was my mistake. 6. Okay. My mistake. Matthew 6? 8. So, go slow with me. Matthew. No, that was my mistake. 6, 8. 6, 8. That was my mistake. 6, 8. Sorry. 6, 8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. How precious is that? Okay, so what does that tell us, Carol? That He's a loving Father. We don't have to beg Him or go by a formula or repeat things over and over and over and over again. That He does know what our needs are. But that automatically takes us back. What is the Lord's purpose in prayer? Is it so that we can convince Him to do what we want? Yeah, that's what a lot of people think. Right, we do. But what is the Lord's purpose in prayer? Relationship. His relationship. He says, listen, before you start praying, realize this. I know what you need before you even ask. Yeah. So, it's all about spending time with Him. He wants to have relationship. And that automatically should tell us that He's not going to be impressed by endless repetition. You know, that's all the occultic practices. That's what it's based on. People try to get what they want out of the devil. Some of them don't think it's the devil. They think it's spirits or, you know, whatever they want to call it. They even have a God. Also, they have control. Yeah, yeah. They have control. They think that they're in control. Right. Okay, so why does a disciple not have to pray empty phrases? Well, because the Lord already knows. He knows what you need. He knows what we need. Now, Carol, what's the next question? For prayer to be effective, what must we understand about God? I guess that would be 6-9? Yeah, 6-9. Go ahead, somebody. This, then, is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. So we have to understand that God is our loving Father. Father. Yeah. Okay. All right, now, New Testament prayer is based on understanding the nature of the Father and our relationship to Him. Father, which is the Greek word pater, is equivalent to the Aramaic word aba, an affectionate and intimate term children use to address their earthly fathers. It emphasizes our intimate relationship with God. In heaven, it emphasizes His transcendence, that He's above all. As Father, God is concerned for the needs of His children. As the one in heaven, He is all-powerful. You know, I was at the grocery store, and a Jewish father and his son were shopping on Friday before the Sabbath, and he called his father, Abba, Abba, Abba. It was so sweet to hear that. I always thought that was an Israeli word. It's probably an Arabic word, too. As it says, Aramaic. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, Jerry wants you to take over what the book has to say, the prayer proper. Proper prayer, verse 9. 9 through 13. That's the prayer as it's given in Matthew 6. Okay. 9 through 13. 9. This is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth. Your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Okay. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And forgive our debts. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. That's 9 through 13. Okay, so. Seven petitions. Yeah, so he's saying that there's really seven petitions that are listed in this prayer as it is given in Matthew chapter 6. Right. They concern, first of all, we're talking as a unit, as a community, as believers, because the whole thing is in plural. Our Father. So we are, this is assuming that you are together. Now even if you are physically not together, just know this, when you're praying, there are millions of other people that are praying together, or praying to the Father at the same time that you're praying. So you're always part of the community of people praying. So it's never ever just you and Jesus. It's always the body. It's always the body with Jesus. Wouldn't that sound like there's only one God, you know, our Father, our Father. There's one. Yes. There's only one true God. Yeah. One true God. But like you say, everybody, you know, you have millions of people reciting that, our Father in heaven. Yes. But remember, there's many people praying, but they're praying to all different gods, Bahama, Buddha, whatever, whatever. They're not included in this. We're talking to the true God, our Father, who is revealed in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. But we'll get into that. All right. So they are the seven different parts of this prayer concerning His glory and His purposes. I like how they divide this. They say that the first three petitions deal specifically with God Himself, His glory, and His purpose. The last four petitions concern mankind. Right. Our needs. You know, our needs and emphasize the disciples' present needs. All right. Let's go to the first one. Verse nine. Carol, read that out. Okay. Just verse nine. Okay. Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Okay. In the NIV. Why don't you read that in the NIV, Jerry? Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. All right. This word. James 2. Okay. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Okay. This word, hallowed, you'll find it in the book, is a Greek word. It's a petition for God to reveal Himself and His purposes. This word, hallowed, is actually a word connotating worship. It is uplifting the Lord and who He is. He is hallowed. He is holy. He is to be revered. He is to be worshiped. Your name in history, especially among those before whom it has been profaned. Oh, Carol, could you look up Ezekiel 36.23? This is a really good one. Okay. Ezekiel. And I'll read this. Inherent in the petition, this first petition, is an expression of committed worship. The petitioner making himself available to the Father through righteous living and availability to service. This is what the Lord says of Himself in Ezekiel 36.23. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations. The name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. So, this first part, you were asking, okay, am I supposed to pray this prayer, just read it out, pray it out, memorize it, or can I use this as a template to kind of give me a road map? Well, let's look at this now as a road map, as a template, okay? And this first part is starting out with what? With praise. Alright, so think of this. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed. This word hallowed is a term of worship, it's a term of praise, it's lifting the Lord up, it's recognizing who the Lord is and giving Him praise. So how should we start out our times of prayer with the Lord? Always with worship and praise, Thanksgiving. Why? Well, I mean, if I don't, you know, I'm guilty of the same thing, that at times I go to prayer and I start asking for things right away, because then that just means it's centered on me. Okay. It's selfish. Selfish one. Where instead I should really be focusing on the Lord first and foremost, always. Because what is prayer really all about from the Lord's perspective? It's relationship. It's all about relationship. It's not about giving. It's not about give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. It's not about getting our needs met because Jesus says, the Father knows what you need. So it's really about you building a relationship with God. Right. Okay? And so there's no better way of doing that than coming to him with an attitude of worship. Right. Getting your eyes off of you, getting your eyes off your need, and getting your eyes on the Lord. Now, does that mean that the Lord is just fooling himself and he just is all about wanting to pray? The Lord doesn't need our praise. I think though it's not any different than when we're a parent with a child. We want our child to come to us and love us first rather than just give me, give me, give me. He wants relationship. But there's another thing that this does in starting our time in prayer with praise. And it's this. It gets our minds off of our need. That's true. And it gets it on the one who alone can meet that need. And as we begin to worship him, what happens, Jerry, when you begin to worship the Lord? What happens? What happens to you? Personally? Yeah, what happens to your mind processes? I feel very, you know, I feel, I don't know how to say it. Euphoric? Yeah, euphoric, good word. Euphoric, okay. Cheryl, that's good. It increases my faith because otherwise I'm looking at the problem rather than focusing on the Lord and remembering that he is God and that he can do anything and he answers. And this is where we look at this as no longer just a root memory thing, but it is a starting point. Okay, so hallowed. Well, that means I'm going to praise the Lord, I'm going to worship him. Well, does that mean that I just say praise, praise, praise, praise, praise, praise, praise, praise? No, he doesn't want you to just babble. Remember, the Lord never called you to get rid of your mind. So you begin to think of all these different things that you have read in the Word that lift the name of the Lord up. Lord, you are holy. Lord, you are powerful. Lord, you are mighty. Lord, you are concerned. Jesus already said that you already know my needs. And so we begin to worship him. What does that do? That begins, as Cheryl just said, it begins to increase our faith. And as our faith is increased, then when we start getting to the point that we're going to start bringing our petition, we're ready. Ask the Lord for anything because we already know who he is and that he's able to do what we're going to ask him to do. All right, so that's why, that's another reason that we need to start out with praise. He's worthy of it. It starts, it's the way to build a relationship. Who am I praying to when you say the Lord Jesus? Actually, I think that Jesus tells us to direct our prayers to the Father. But in his name. But in his name. But there are times that people will direct their prayers directly to Jesus. The only thing that I have never seen in Scripture is people praying to the Holy Spirit. I'm willing to be corrected by that. I believe, though, in one of the prayers in the book of Acts, that they do direct it to the Lord, but then they say, come Holy Spirit. Okay, all right, I'm open for that. But I don't think there's anywhere in the Scripture where people immediately address their prayers to the Holy Spirit. You just don't see that. But we do see people directing their prayers and their worship directly to Jesus. Especially in revelation to the Lamb. But let's look at it this way. They are all one. To speak to one is really to speak to all. Because they are never separated. They are all one. They are completely unified. Okay, so petition one. So we start out with praise. So Jerry, you might want to write that down. Praise. That's the first thing you want to do when you pray. Relationship. Is praise. Number one thing always. Praise the Lord. Amen. Then, the second phase of prayer is, Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I was trying to think of all like acronyms, like starting everything with P or whatever, but I can't think of one for this one. But this really has to do with purpose. Okay, that's a P. That's good. Oh, okay. Purpose. God's purpose. You're presenting to God those things that concern Him. Your kingdom come soon, as Mike said. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Alright, so you bring to the Lord His purpose. His kingdom. Now this is interesting. Why does the Lord separate these things? Does not one mean the other? I believe so. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. Are those one and the same thing? I don't believe so. Do you know that God's kingdom can come, and His will still not be done? Your will. Oh! Explain that. Did Jesus come and dwell among man? Yes. But was His will being done? No. Not all the time. No. And so we're understanding that we need His kingdom to come in our midst, but we also see our need to submit to His kingdom. Well, that would be like when revival comes, some people say yes to the Lord, and some people even in the midst of such a powerful move of God, and they'll even acknowledge it, they still walk away and won't receive the Lord. Right. So we're hitting it from both sides. Lord, we not only want You to be present, but Lord, we also want, Lord, a heart to submit and say yes. You know, we want Your will to be done. So Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Now, this is so interesting that Jesus compares this to how God rules His kingdom in heaven. What is He saying in this? What is His kingdom like in heaven? It's powerful. It's peaceful. It's loving. His kingdom is present. And His will is done. In heaven. In heaven. Right. Now, does that mean, not to open up a rabbit's hole here, but does that mean that there's never been any problems in heaven? No, there was when the enemy Lucifer rebelled, right? But God's will, was God's will done? I imagine He certainly won the battle. Yeah, He won the battle. And He will win the war ultimately with them. So we're saying that for God's kingdom to be present doesn't mean that there's not going to be battles. But we are praying, we are agreeing together with the Lord. Now, that's another thing. We're praying God's purpose here. So whose purpose is this? This is His will. Yeah, His will. So who are we agreeing with here? With God. What is this whole teaching about the prayer of agreement? Jesus says, let's look at that. In the word of God about agreement. Let me see. Okay. Carol, why don't you read Matthew 18 verse 19. Okay. I also tell you this. If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. Okay, so the Lord is telling us if we can, as a body of believers, if we can agree on something, the Father is going to hear it and answer it. How much, if we have that such power in prayer that we can agree on something that God's going to answer, how much more will God answer if we're in agreement with Him? You know, that puts a lot of responsibility on us to make sure we're praying His will. We need to hear from Him. I think too often, especially in the big picture, you know, when you get together in a church and we're praying about, like we pray today, we pray for Israel, we pray for Haiti, you know, are we really praying God's will? Have we really heard? You know, we need to make sure it lines up with Scripture and it lines up with what His will is. I think that it would be a good point to read would be 1 John, if we pray according to His will. Thanks, John. Yeah, pray according to His will. 1 John 5.16. If you, let's see. No. Let's see. He hears us if we pray. Pray. He hears us. Hears us. 1 John, okay, 1 John 5.14. This is confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of Him. Okay, so if we're in agreement together, we need to be sure that we're praying God's will. But in the Lord's Prayer, the second petition, we're talking about God's purpose. So who are we agreeing with? It's not that we're just trying to agree with one another. Who are we in agreement with? We're in agreement with God. So are we praying His will? Absolutely. And so we're in agreement with God, and that gives us the assurance that our prayers are going to be answered. So for me to pray, Lord, I want Your kingdom to come, is God not, is He ever not going to answer that prayer? No. He is going to answer that prayer because I'm praying His will and I'm in agreement with Him. And for me to ask for His will to be done, is God going to agree with that? Yes. Okay, so praise is the first petition. What's the second petition? Purpose. Purpose. God's purpose. His kingdom to come, His will to be done. Alright, now let's look at the third. Well, let's see if the book has anything to say about that. The kingdom is taught and demonstrated by Jesus, brings God's sovereign rulership in Jesus into our lives and situations. Now it is also a petition that ultimately comes in consummation. This specifies how God will hallow His name. Okay, third petition, verse 10. Carol, read that out. Give us today. No, I'm sorry. No, I'm wrong. Okay. No, no, no, I was wrong. Is it verse 10 again? That's what we just did. Oh, you know what? He's saying... He's dividing it. He's dividing it, so I'll agree with him. But I'm just putting those together. Two and three I'm putting together as God's purpose. Okay. His kingdom to come and His will to be done. So the purpose and the will are two different things. Or kingdom come and will be done. Are two different things, but I'm putting them together for simplicity's sake into God's purpose. Okay, well let me read what it says about that, why he put them as separate. This is somewhat synonymous with petition two, which is perhaps why it's missing in Luke's account in Luke 11 too. Its distinction from the previous petition lies in its implied request of the petitioner to live the kingdom ethics necessary to advance kingdom purposes. Hagner notes that there is a sense in which the first three petitions of the prayer are also a prayer that the disciples be faithful to their calling, that they will do their part in obedience, not to bring the kingdom, but to manifest its prophetic presence through Jesus and the Spirit. Okay, so we have praise and purpose. So those are the first three, because purpose is his kingdom coming, his will be done. And he's linking that with the our call and purpose to be a part of his kingdom. Right. Okay, so number four is verse 11. Why don't you read 611, Jerry. Give us today a daily bread. Verse 11. Yeah. All right, so what is that talking about? What is the Lord doing? Our needs. Provision. Yeah, provision. As Paul said, and my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. So whether they be physical needs, spiritual needs, emotional needs, whatever needs you have, God has met them all in Christ Jesus. So we start our prayer with praise. The next thing we pray about is God's purpose. And then we go into asking God's provision. I'll share with you, because I always use the Lord's Prayer as a template in my own prayer life. And when I get to this portion, give us today our daily bread, I immediately think of how God gave the Israelites the manna in the wilderness. Yeah. He gave them, he provided their daily bread, but primarily, well, this was not only a physical thing that was miraculous, it gave them all the nutrition that they needed, that kept them, they didn't get sick in the wilderness. They had all this nutrition from this manna that was given to them. But what did this manna point to as an object lesson? It pointed to Jesus. When Jesus came, he immediately started teaching them, I am the bread of life. And he started teaching them about the manna that was given to them in the wilderness. So when I pray, give us today our daily bread, I'm saying, Lord, I need more Jesus. I need a revelation of Jesus. Lord, when I read your word today, I want Jesus just to pop up out of the pages to me. I want to see Jesus as I've never seen him before. And so we're not only asking the Lord for our physical needs to be met, but we're asking the Lord for more of Jesus. Give us today our daily bread. I guess I can pray that way because my needs are met, my physical needs are met at this point in my life. But there may come a time that we're all praying for our daily bread, that we need daily bread, and the Lord will supply that. But always, always, always, what should be on our mind is we need more of Jesus. Paul, even at the tail end of his life, he said, I want to know Christ. I want to know him. The power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering. So even after walking with the Lord for so many decades, he still is hungry for more of Jesus. And so that's really the third thing of our prayers, praying for provision, but we should really be looking for more than just physical provision, but for the spiritual provision that the Lord will give. But also recognizing that the Lord will give physical provision. Okay, the significance of this petition is contested amongst scholars, primarily because the Greek word translated daily, epoushon, if I'm saying that right, is obscure. Most are in agreement, however, that it is a petition for God to supply the day-to-day necessities of life with the realization that the provision is itself a blessing from heaven. Pastor Hayford comments that the most important thing about this is not the discovery that we can ask for God's help in the mundane matters of our personal lives. The most important thing is that we are told to ask back-to-back with prayer that the Almighty's will be worked on earth. We should not overlook the simplest matters of life. But this is interesting too, though, but you're supposed to pray for daily provision. That shows that the Lord wants us to keep coming back praying, which I think is what he's implying here. But also, not that we just come back, but that we trust him completely and totally for everything, really. Come back daily for that provision. So, again, building that relationship. Right. That's why, I guess, at this point in my life, I have focused in more on the spiritual need because that which I received from Jesus yesterday, I need something today. I need his grace today. I need a fresh revelation of Jesus today. And so, that is something that, in fact, the manna that was given in the wilderness, there's so much to be learned from this. But if they kept that manna overnight, what happened to it? It got spoiled. It got rotten. And so, you can't live on yesterday's experience. You can't live on... You cannot live on just reading the Word of God on Sundays and think that that's going to keep you all week long. You need a fresh revelation of Jesus every day. Give us this day our daily bread. So, we start out with praise. We go into purpose, God's purpose. Then we go into provision, asking the Lord for our daily bread, which, to me, is give me more of Jesus. Provide more of Jesus to me. But it's okay to bring all the... Yes, personal needs, too. Everything, everything. But I love to combine that with Philippians 4.16, and my God will meet all your needs, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. So, all your needs, physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, all your needs, He will provide. Alright. Verse 12. Carol, why don't you read verse 12 out. Okay. And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Okay, what does the book have to say about that? It starts out in Petition 5. Jerry, if you can look at your book. Petition 5. Verse 12. That's Greek. Greek is Ophelium. It's from the Aramaic... Aramaic concept of sin. I'm trying to develop it. It's from the Aramaic concept of sin. As a debt owed to God. As a debt... Oh, it refers to our failures and shortcomings before Him. Luke 6.11.4. Jesus explains the matter of forgiving our debtors in verses 14 and 15. It's from Luke 11.1. Luke 11.4. Well, actually, Matthew 6.14 and 15. Matthew. Okay. Oh, really? You see, Luke sins in 11.4. That's supposed to be Matthew? I think that is... For 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 Heavenly Father will not forgive your sins. Well, let's look up Luke. Okay. Well, Luke is just telling us this is how it is in Luke. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us, and lead us not into temptation. So, I think that that actually was supposed to be a reference of Matthew 6.14 and 15. Really? Because the Lord's Prayer in Luke is Luke chapter... I thought they were going with debts in Matthew and it's sins in Luke. Where's the Lord's Prayer in Luke? Luke 11? Yes. Okay. He's saying that it says sins in Luke, but it says debts in Matthew. So, 14 and 15 in chapter 11 have nothing to do with... No, no, that is referring back to Matthew again. So, it's Matthew. So, when he says, Jesus explains the matter of forgiving our debtors in verses 14 and 15, that's Matthew 6.14 and 15. Right. Right. Okay, so we've read that. So, 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. Okay. It's the debt. Debt. Okay. Owe to God. Owe to Him. So, we have praise, purpose, provision, and then we're forgiveness. Yeah, this one should be something we sit on for a while, don't you think? Yeah. I think it's very interesting that one gospel writer deals with this and calls it debts. Matthew does. Luke calls it sins. Right. How can you compare those two? Well, sins is just something you've done wrong, and debt is something you owe. That's how I look at it. So, forgiveness of our debts. It's a debt owed to God is what they're saying the Greek word means in Matthew. Right. They're saying a debt is a sin. The concept of sin is a debt. Owe to God. Owe to God. So, it's sort of... Well, I think that we could see how this plays into... Shortcomings before God. Restitution. Sometimes we think that to be forgiven, wash away any need to restore that which was taken away. But if we're paying back a debt, then that means that we have to restore that which was... If you sin to get somebody, but you can... You're talking about restitution? Yeah, restitution. If you need to have restitution, then that may play a part in it also. Right. But Jesus did pay our debt. Yeah. Okay. So, talk about the difference then how these things are synonymous. Debt and sin. Right. That's what it is. Synonymous. Well, some sins we do are not against other people. In this particular place, he's saying help us to forgive others, and we'll forgive others, and hopefully they'll forgive us, and will you forgive us? It's more than just God. And it's more than debt owed and restitution. I mean, sin can be just against God. Sin can be against other people. A debt we owe to God or a debt we owe to people. And then you get into the restitution. But the heart of forgiveness is what we need to have towards others. Right. I think that one of the most important things, though, about this is, to me, not so much that one uses debt, one uses sin, but is the fact that if we don't forgive, we won't be forgiven. Yeah. That's so serious to me. Because I meet so many people that think they know the Lord or they want to know the Lord, but they're unwilling to get right with people that they have bad relationships with or that they're no relationship with anymore because nobody will have anything to do with them. That concerns me. Well, it concerns me about me. I just had my spiritual birthday this past week. I was 53 years old in the Lord on the 20th. And I thought, Lord, I don't want to come before you when I am called to be with you in eternity. I don't want you to say, David, you didn't forgive so-and-so. Because I know according to the Word, you will not forgive me unless I forgive. And so, Lord, I truly want to have the grace to just let things go, to forgive, even if they don't want to be forgiven, even if they're not asking me for forgiveness, even whatever. Lord, give me the grace to truly forgive people. Because if I don't forgive them, then that means that I am not really understanding. I'm not really understanding how I have sinned against you, how I have grieved you. That which they've done against me is nothing compared to what I have done against you. Did we go through this a while back? We probably did. Forgive what you don't forget? We did. Didn't we? But, you know, I read a book or read an article of somebody about forgiveness, and they don't believe that that's a possibility. Of forgetting? Yeah, you have to forget, they said, because if not, you're going to keep remembering. And when you remember it, you're going to stir up all that unforgiveness again. And they made the point of Jesus, the Lord, in the Bible, says that he's going to throw our sins in the sea of forgetfulness. And as far as the East and the West, he's removed sin from us. So he said, if the Lord isn't going to bring up any of your sins and remember them, how can you? Then what is that going to require? That's going to require God's intervention. Because we can't forget. They're going to continue to haunt us. But I do believe that there is such a grace that God can give us. You know, I can look at it this way, at least as far as my experience in the Lord right now. There was a relationship that had brought in so much hurt, and it was just compounded every time I gave another opportunity in this relationship to be what I knew the Lord wanted it to be. I kept on getting hurt, getting trampled on, getting chewed up, spat out. So, you know what I'm talking about. That every time the mention of this person's name, it would just cause me to go, you know, just an angst of anger in me. And so I thought, Lord, this is not right. I need to forgive them. And so I really made it a matter of prayer to forgive them. But this hurdle of forgetting, you know, just was something I could not get over. And so finally I noticed that it's no longer there. I can pray for them, ask God's blessing upon them, there's no more angst, but they're not a part of my life anymore. And so I haven't forgotten the pain that they caused me, but the pain of the pain is totally removed. The angst of remembering the pain that they caused me is no longer there. And so I remember them, thinking of all the good things, and as few as they were, I remember the good things, and I can pray God's blessing upon them with no angst, no unforgiveness whatsoever. And so I feel totally free. So I have forgiven them. But as far as do I remember that they were up on my side for years? No, I remember that, but it's no longer an issue in my life. I truly have forgiven them. But that was just the grace of God. But that's what you need in those kind of situations. It doesn't mean you put yourself in a bad position to let people trample on you or anything like that. It just means you don't hold any animosity against them. You're fine. You can look at them the way the Lord looks at them. That's really how He wants you to look at them, look at them that way. Because the Lord keeps dealing with me about somebody that the Lord says, just pray for their salvation, just pray for their salvation. I've made mistakes with people where I didn't extend the kind of love that I should have extended. But the Lord is trying to change that more all the time. That's part of the Christian walk. The Lord never stops dealing with you and trying to change and transform you and make it more like what pleases Him. Now let me ask you a question. What normally do we start our prayers with? I guess most people would start with petitions. But let's say we're talking about people that are really walking with Jesus, that love the Lord, that want to please Him. What do they normally start their prayers with? I would say with me. No, with me, Lord please forgive me. Lord please forgive me. I am so aware of falling short of God's glory that I almost run the risk of starting every prayer with Lord please forgive me. Look at this. In the Lord's prayer, that is on the very bottom of the totem pole. Well, next to the bottom. Praise, purpose, provision, then forgiveness. The Lord is really building relationship. And then He says, okay, now we need to talk about forgiveness here. Because He convicts. He also convicts us of not forgiving others. But that's in there, but that is not... I find it interesting that that's not the first thing that the Lord deals with. Carol, what are your thoughts on that? Well, I think that we should always start with praise, worship, thanksgiving, something like that. But there are times though when you have done something wrong and the Holy Spirit is dealing with you to get that right first before you can go to all the other positions. I think just in our general prayers, if we know we're living for the Lord, there's nothing that we have to stop and repent of immediately, then yeah, you probably would think about doing that further down. But it's interesting, He links it with you getting forgiveness, with you forgiving others. But there are times when the Holy Spirit is going to come on you and say, uh-uh, you need to get that right right now and clear it out of the way or else the Lord isn't going to receive your worship. He's not going to listen to your petitions. Well, that's interesting. That means if we follow along with that, which I'm not in disagreement, but that means that this is a template that does not necessarily, it's not set in stone that I've got to follow with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. That I can, when needed and led by the Spirit, I can mix it up a bit. I think it's always good to start with praise. Yeah, true. And the Lord will. And then if needed, say, Lord, there's some things I need to get. Put the forgiveness right. Yeah, I need to get this straightened out so that I can pray. All right, but as a normal method of praying, if you're walking with the Lord, you're walking with Him in the light and you do need to pray for forgiveness. Now, this is interesting also for this. There's a teaching today that if you have been born again that you don't need to ask for forgiveness anymore because that's all taken care of. Jesus says that He included this in a prayer for everybody to pray every time they pray is forgiveness. That's a great point, yeah. Now, Jesus didn't have to ask for forgiveness, but what did He have to ask for? His Father's help and grace throughout the day. Give me grace to forgive everybody. That's true. Lord, I'm going to be dealing with people that hate me, that are fighting against Your will, that are going to do everything they can against me. Lord, give me grace to forgive them and to keep on loving. And it's interesting because it says, give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those. So, it's making an and. It's daily and. So, I would put that daily. Give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins and help us to forgive others who sin against us. That's a daily need. Do you know what? It's a daily need. I've got to share this. It's so interesting. You forgave Susie and John yesterday. And you were free. You were free. You had no animosity. But today is another day. So, you've got to forgive them every day. Well, sometimes. Now, this person I was talking about before. I truly am. I'm free. This is a battle that I had in prayer for years in dealing with this. Every time I thought that I was forgiving them, it would pop up again. And I'd have to deal with this all over again. And I thought, Lord, this is like an onion. You know. Where's the death of forgiveness? When's it really going to take hold in my life? But I kept on praying. And I truly feel free. There's somebody else that I'm praying about now. And I pray, Lord, give me grace to forgive them. And I think that I'm free. But I'm still praying every day. Because I know that there's still depth of forgiveness that the Lord's not satisfied with how it's taking place in my heart. And so, I keep on praying. And so, this is interesting. This is today. Lord, give me grace to forgive. Even the same people that I forgave yesterday. Give me grace. And all the people that I don't even know. I'm going to need grace to forgive. Give me grace today. That's a good point. Today. This is today. On daily bread. Alright. And then, the very last part is... Now, this to me is probably the most difficult verse in the Lord's Prayer to understand. But I'll share with you my thoughts on it. And I'll let y'all share yours. Jerry, why don't you read Matthew 6, verse 13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. From the evil one. What does this mean to you, Carol? Well, I think it's asking for the Lord's help and strength that I will not yield to any kind of temptation. Or evil. Some translations say evil. Don't let us yield to temptation or to evil. Now, this Greek word that is translated... How does the New Living Translation translate that? Lead us not into... Temptation. It is the word temptation. The NIV says lead us not into temptation. This Greek word actually can be translated one of two ways. Lead us not into temptation or lead us not into testing. Yeah. This one says that it can be and keep us from testing. Right. Being tested. All right. Now... Which is interesting because those could mean two totally different things. Totally different things. All right. In James, though, we are told... Let's see if I can find that. Let me look it up. Go ahead. What is your thoughts on this, Carol? Hmm. Let's read on. Let me see what they have to say. This is also a difficult petition because of the ambiguity of the Greek word. Parasimos is translated here as temptation. Should it be remembered temptation or testing? Both are legitimate renderings of that Greek word. Yet both have their own difficulties because of other scriptures. Like, for instance, James chapter 1 verse 13 says... Okay. Well, I wouldn't expect him to. I would think that would come from the devil. All right. But... In verse 13... Why, then, does Jesus tell us that we need to pray, leave us not into temptation? Hmm. So you're thinking... Putting the leading in the emphasis is on God. Would God ever lead us into temptation? The Bible tells us that he will never tempt. Tempt with evil. But lead us into temptation if the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. So it was God's will for him to go through that. Right. Okay. Then this is the caveat. This is the question. This is the perplexity. Why does the Lord want us to pray that which he said, first of all, he will not, that he will not tempt. But we do have an example in Jesus' life where the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the enemy. So why do I need to pray for God not to lead me into temptation if that is something that he did in Jesus' life? We can ask the Lord to spare us from that. I mean, is it something we want to go through? I don't think any of us ever really want to go through that. Don't you think we could ask the Lord, Lord, please? Because the temptation was not from the Lord. The temptation was from the enemy. But the Holy Spirit led Jesus there because the Father was permitting it. But the enemy was the one that was tempting him. So the Lord wasn't tempting Jesus to do those things. This is how I deal with this. Okay. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and the Scripture says, to be tempted by the enemy. That's what the enemy was doing. The enemy tempts to do what? To destroy. From God's vantage point, what was God doing? God was leading Jesus into the wilderness, yes, to be tempted by the enemy. He was allowing the enemy to tempt Jesus. But what was God doing in this? He was bringing his Son into the wilderness to be tested. God wasn't tempting. So God looks at it as a test. The enemy looks at it as, I'm trying to tempt you to get into evil. Right. To disobey God. Right. So when I'm asking God, lead me not into temptation, this is how I deal with it. I don't ever believe that the Lord is going to tempt me to do evil. That's something that the enemy does. Right. But I'll say, Lord, you know that there are times that I do need to be tested. And only you know those times. But Lord, I am so prone to put myself into situations to where I will be tested when I don't need to be tested. This is not your doing, this is my own doing. So the way I approach this is, Lord, please deliver me from me. You know what, there's a verse that I always, whenever I pray this, I always couple this part of the Lord's Prayer with this. In fact, I'd like you to look it up with me. Psalm 141, verse 4. And Jerry, why don't you read that out. I would encourage you all to underline this. So you can even memorize it. What now again? 141, verse 4. So, where is it? Oh, I don't know how to do this, don't you think? Oh, I think you've gotten pretty good at it. Oh, no, it's beyond me. Why can't I change it? Let me look it in here. Okay, Psalm 141, verse 4. Excuse me. It's kind of in the middle of the Bible. Okay, let me get Psalm 375. 375. There you are. Book of Psalms. Now look for Psalm 141. Verse 4. Okay, let me read it from the NIV. That must be the King James, right? Yeah. Okay. Right. My own evil desires want to do these things. My evil desires want me to eat the delicacies of the wicked. So I'm actually asking, when I'm praying this, I'm saying, Lord, you know what my evil desires are. You know what my sinful nature would get me into. So Lord, please don't give me over to that. I think of how in Romans where Paul teaches us that the wickedness of man had gotten to the point that God finally said, all right, I'll just give you over to it. And he did. When I'm praying this, I'm saying, Lord, please do not give me over. Even though I still have the sinful nature that needs to be crucified, and I am daily crucifying that sinful nature, Lord, don't give me over to it. Deliver me from the evil one. Deliver me from evil. And that's how I deal with this. Well, let me go ahead and read the 1 Corinthians 10-13 that they gave us also. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you're tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Okay, so let's look at the Lord's Prayer. We've gotten five things thus far that are six. We went through six. We're at Petition 7. I think they divided 13 into two is what they did. I'll look at it as one. So I have five different things for simplicity's sake in the Lord's Prayer. First, we start with what? Praise. Then we go into purpose. Then what was it? Provision. And then we go into forgiveness. And then what's the last thing? Protection. Okay, I guess you could call it protection. Lord, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me. Well, let's see why they divided it. Can we read that? Yeah, please. The connection but here presupposes that we will face the difficulties defined as paraparissimus in Petition 6 and that the evil one will want to take advantage of those difficulties to bring destructive ends. Thus, as to the meaning of paraparissimus in Petition 6, note the following explanation by Hayford. What we have here in verse 13 is a special facet of prayer which Jesus taught, one which cannot be understood apart from linking it with the last part of the sentence, verse 13. The two work in tandem. Don't bring us in, but bring us out. That's an easy way of saying it. Right. The spirit of the text argues that we understand the Lord's instruction as a summons to maturity. He's saying, when you pray, acknowledge that the Father isn't your problem when temptation assails you, but that he is your protector. That's a good point. Assuming the traditional ending of the prayer is to be retained, most scholars agree that textual evidence in its favor is weak, how does the prayer close? What I do is I know that, Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, Biblical scholars have come out with more and more transcripts of the Bible, copies of the Bible that date older and older and older than what they used to make the King James Version, for instance. And so what I do, but thankfully all the versions put it down in the notes. And so if you are a stickler where you still want to say, For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, amen, just highlight it in the bottom, And I put a mark down here so that I won't forget, because you can be in some public instances where they ask you to read the Lord's Prayer or repeat it, and if you don't put that ending on, you're going to offend some people. Some people that are diehard know it's there, it's in the King James, and I'm not letting go of it. Don't offend them, I just put it down there for my sake so I see it, and I don't forget to include it in that. Well, it certainly is within biblical principles. Yeah, sure. You're not saying anything that is not backed up by the rest of Scripture. No. Alright, so Jerry, so what we encourage you to do is take the Lord's Prayer, and take these principles that the Lord's Prayer teaches us, that should take place every time we pray. Start out with praise. Next thing you deal with God's purpose. Then the next thing you deal with is your needs, your provision. Recognize that He has your prayer. I tell you what I do. I start out with praise. This is what I do. But I go to forgiveness. Well, that's good. That's fine. I do go to forgiveness. But as long as those things are all dealt with. And then provision, forgiveness, and then ending. I think it's a neat way to end your prayer saying, Lord, I live in this world, but I'm not of the world, so protect me. Protection. You know, and even though I like what Hathor said, Lord, where was that? Yeah, don't bring us in, but bring us out. So we recognize there are going to be times that we are led into difficult situations, but Lord, I'm believing you to get me out. Deliver me. So I think we thoroughly covered that, so I don't think we need to go into the last paragraph, because we already covered Matthew 6, 14, and 15. Right. Carol, what have you gleaned from today's lesson about the Lord's Prayer? I think that I need to be reminded that I must start, you know, all my prayers really with worship in the Lord and loving Him and thanking Him for what He has done. At times when we're distraught over things, we can get caught up in just going straight to, Lord, help me. This is happening. That's happening, you know. And you really, in a way, that's kind of rude when you think about it, to start something out like that. It's not really. Okay, Jerry, what have you learned? Building relationships. I am very proud of myself, because I am really into the, I do these things in different order, but these points, I praise the Lord, I open up by praising the Lord, I ask for forgiveness for myself and, you know, things that I might have done, and then I do ask for personal things, and I do ask for protection, for deliverance. I do ask for deliverance. I really do this every day, you know, in some form, but following, you know, the basic. Oh, yeah, that's pretty good. I think that what I've learned from this is, I've never seen it like this before, but something that you commented on, Carol. This isn't really set in stone. The Lord has given us principles that need to be dealt with in prayer. But if we, I think it is good to always start with praise, because that sets our mind straight. But if we need to pray for forgiveness, very next thing, this thing isn't set in stone that we can't, you know, interchange, whatever, that the bottom line is the Lord is seeking to build relationships. Yeah, I think that's the number one point we got today. It's all about relationship. It's not about getting our needs met, it's about relationship. Oh, and you can't start working with the Lord in the second part, the purpose. You can't really do that. You can't work with the Lord unless you have a relationship with the Lord. That's why you always start out with praise, because you build relationship, and that's how you can be in covenant with Him in advancing His kingdom. So that's what I gleaned from it. It's really all about relationship. That's why babbling and doing root prayers and all that are meaningless. In our thinking, they're getting the job done, getting prayers answered, but that's not what God is after. God is really after building a relationship with His people, and out of that, He's going to use us to accomplish His will in prayer. Amen. Okay. Amen. All right, thank you so much for joining with us today in our Bible study, and we'll see you next time. Our next week is Easter.