Lord, teach us to pray (Part 1)

 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” Luke11:1

Teach us to pray

The disciples saw Jesus praying and when he finished, they asked Him to teach them to pray. Note that they didn’t say, “teach us HOW to pray.” They knew how to pray. We see that in Jesus’ response. He says, “When you pray….” They also knew they ought to pray and by their request we can see that they understood that they fell short in the discipline of prayer. They asked that he teach them “to” pray.

Most of us can echo this request today, because we don’t spend enough time in prayer. It’s not that we don’t know how to talk to God. It’s that we don’t.

In response to their request, Jesus gave them a model prayer. It is very similar to the prayer he prayed during the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13) which today we refer to as the Lord’s Prayer. But this model he gives in Luke 11 differs from that prayer.

And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. (v. 2)

 

Prayer is about relationship

The first thing we learn from this model is the importance of relationship found in the word “Father.” Prayer is the privilege of God’s children—those who are born again. It is necessary for us to have a relationship with God before we can really pray. If you aren’t a child of God, your only approach to God is through Jesus Christ (see John 14:6). As a child of God, our relationship opens the door to God. Our Father in heaven always hears our needs and is willing to commune and fellowship with us. He is always available through our relationship. He is our Father. It is an intimate relationship with God and prayer draws us closer. We have a Father in heaven who loves us, will listen to us, and help us. This encourages us to pray.

Hallowed be thy name

“Hallowed by Your name.” His name. This isn’t referring to his title, God, but his name. We can’t pronounce His name. It has no vowels in the Hebrew. What’s interesting is that in the Hebrew, his name is a verb that means “the becoming one.” “I am.” It is a name by which God reveals his desired relationship with you. He is willing to become to you what your need is. If you look into the namesof God used in the Old Testament, this brings a deeper understanding to how God becomes what we need. For instance, Jehovah-Raah means The Lord My Shepherd and Jehovah Rapha means The Lord that Heals. Through Jesus Christ he has become God our Savior.

As we pray, we declare His name hallowed (holy). This is one of the reasons the Jewish scribes left the vowels out of the name of God, because they thought the name so holy that people were not worthy to even say it or read it to themselves. So they made it unpronounceable. We can say that is extreme, but in our culture we’ve gone the other direction. It isn’t unusual to hear people call God, “The big guy upstairs” or similar euphemisms. 

Thy kingdom come

“Your kingdom come.” In this phrase we come to the real purpose of prayer. Let me say, God didn’t intend prayer to be a negotiation to bring your kingdom to earth. But many treat it this way. They think prayer is how you get your heart’s desires. We see this in some of the formulas for prayer that promise results in getting what you want from God in this life now. This is not the purpose of prayer. God is not a genie that grants your wishes. Praying in this way reveals a person who thinks they are sovereign, rather than honoring God as sovereign. Prayer isn’t about accomplishing our will on earth. Prayer is about God’s will. It opens the door for God to do the work he desires in our hearts, which reminds me of Ps. 37:4, “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” If we delight ourselves in the Lord, our desires line up with his desires.

This brings me to praying in Jesus’ name. Jesus taught his disciples to pray in his name in John 14:13–14; 15:16; 16:23–24. Many people tack the phrase "in Jesus name" onto the end of a prayer without understanding what it means to pray in Jesus’ name. Praying in Jesus name isn’t a mantra that makes prayer "work." It goes back to our relationship with God. It is through Jesus that we have our access to God in prayer. By grace, the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ and grants us entrance into the fellowship that Jesus has with His heavenly Father. Praying “in His name” means praying according to His will. Yes, we can express our desires and our will in matters of prayer but when we pray in Jesus name we submit our will to His. We don’t have to say, “In Jesus name,” we only need to pray in Jesus name--his will.In this way, you yield yourself to God’s will in prayer.

Lord, teach us to pray (Part 2)

About The Inheritance

Written within the allegorical tradition of classics like Pilgrim's Progress, The Inheritance offers a literal but symbolic story for today's fantasy enthusiasts. This cleverly devised tale doesn't tell you what to think, but stimulates thought as to why you believe what you believe in your own quest for the Eternal City. The Inheritance is an ideal discussion starter for youth groups, homeschoolers, and families who enjoy meaningful discussions.

The Inheritance is available on Kindle, paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Nook, Kobo (Christian fiction), and Googlebooks. When you read it, be sure to leave a review! Thanks for your support.

Photo credits: pixabay

Why did Jesus call the Pharisees whitewashed tombs?

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean)" (Matthew 23:27).

What did Jesus mean by whitewashed tombs?

Jesus pronounced seven "woes" on the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. Did you ever wonder what woe means? Or for that matter, what did Jesus mean when he compared them to whitewashed tombs?

Before we look at the term whitewashed tomb, we should look at the word "woe." In Greek, the word for woe is οὐαί (oo-ah'-ee). It is a term used to express sorrow, grief, pity, concern, or apprehension of evil. In the case of the woes listed in Matthew 23, Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites, and they knew, exactly, what he was saying when he called them whitewashed tombs. 

 

Why they whitewashed tombs

At this point in Jesus' earthly ministry, People were flooding into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. The surrounding roads leading into the city were spruced up and readied for the influx of pilgrims. Along these roads were tombs of holy men painted with fresh whitewash. They did this for a few reasons. 

First, they looked clean. But the real reason was to warn people not to touch them because if they did, they would be unclean for seven days and unable to participate in the Passover, according to Jewish Law. "Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days" (Numbers 19:11). These tombs, with their fresh coat of whitewash, looked clean and attractive and they also had religious significance. They were the graves of holy men. But because they held the dead, they were to be avoided.  

When Jesus compared the Pharisees to whitewashed tombs, they recognized the condemnation against them. Plus, he couched this woe with six other woes pointing to even more of the hypocrisy evident in their lives! The Law they said they upheld, told them about Jesus. Yet, they rejected him. In the times of Jesus, the Jews believed in the Torah (first five books of the Bible) as the Word of God, but they also accepted the Oral Torah. 

 

The Oral Torah represented laws, statutes, and legal interpretations not recorded in the Five Books of Moses. It is considered a legal commentary on the Torah, which explains how to follow the commandments. Bible teacher, Beresford Job, explains it like this in his book Biblical Church – A challenge to unscriptural traditions and practice:

"The Mosaic Law was handed down to Moses directly by God on the Mount, and the Oral Law was put in place by man as a protector of the Mosaic Law (the Pharisaic law, or the laws of the fence or hedge as it is known)." 

In Matthew 15:1-3, Jesus challenged the Pharisees and scribes regarding following the oral law (traditions of man) rather than the commandment of God.

"Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?"

They thought that by following the law to the letter, they would be good enough for heaven. But Paul tells us the Law serves as a tutor to show us we can't obey the Law one hundred percent and that points to our need for a Savior.

* * *

 

Read The Inheritance by Donna Sundblad

Written within the allegorical tradition of classics like Pilgrim's Progress, TheInheritance offers a literal but symbolic story for today's fantasy enthusiasts. This cleverly devised tale doesn't tell you what to think, but stimulates thought as to why you believe what you believe in your own quest for the Eternal City. The Inheritance is an ideal discussion starter for youth groups, homeschoolers, and families who enjoy meaningful discussions.

When you read it, be sure to leave a review! Thanks for your support.

What does good measure mean in the Bible?

 

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke 6:38).

 

Pressed down shaken together meaning

When Jesus spoke, he used terms his listeners would understand. Today, as we read the Word, we often perceive it through the lens of our current culture. The phrase, “good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over,” is understandable enough for us to grasp but recently, I learned, specifically, what it meant in the times of Jesus and what his listeners would understand.

What is a good measure in the Bible?

When buying grain, in Bible times, men visited the marketplace to do the shopping. Merchants sat at their stall surrounded by heaps of barley and wheat. Barley was the less expensive of the two grains and more often the grain purchased by the poor. But all grains were crudely graded for quality. It was common practice for the buyer and seller to haggle over price and an expected part of the purchasing process. The merchant started at a ridiculously high price, and the buyer offered an unreasonably low amount. They went back and forth until they met somewhere in the middle.

Once they agreed on the price, the merchant scooped the grain into a deep, round, wooden measure. In his writing about the history of Jerusalem, theologian Joachim Jeremias, explains the process in this way: 

“First of all, he fills the measure three-quarters full, and then gives the basket a rotating shake to make the grain settle, and settle, and settle, and settle Once the rotary motion is done with the three-quarter filled basket, it all settles and settles, and all the little grain find all the space and fill it up, fill it up, and it’s solid packed, then he fills the rest to the very top. And once it’s filled to the very top flat, it’s given another shake and another shake. Then he presses the corn together strongly with both hands, pushing, and pushing, and pushing it down.”

That sounds like a good and fair measure, but that isn’t where the process ended. As wheat filled the firmly packed container, it formed a cone of grain. When it was packed full and seemed like not one more grain could fit, the man poked his finger into the cone and made an indent. He poured in more grain to fill in until the grain ran down the sides. This is what was meant by "a full measure" in Bible times.

We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19)

 It starts with giving

Now that we’ve made it clear what a full measure was in the times of Jesus, let’s take a brief look at what Jesus was talking about and how a full measure applies. The verse starts with, “…Give, and it shall be given unto you….” Jesus was talking about giving. Just like that grain, we are to give, and give and give. But it’s not only talking about money or even property. We are also to give love, kindness, grace, forgiveness, and more. And when we do, we will receive the same back in good measure, but that is not to be our motive. Our motive is to love because He loved us.

 

***

 About The Inheritance

Written within the allegorical tradition of classics like Pilgrim's Progress, The Inheritance offers a literal but symbolic story for today's fantasy enthusiasts. This cleverly devised tale doesn't tell you what to think, but stimulates thought as to why you believe what you believe in your own quest for the Eternal City. The Inheritance is an ideal discussion starter for youth groups, homeschoolers, and families who enjoy meaningful discussions.

The Inheritance is available on Kindle, paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo (Christian fiction). When you read it, be sure to leave a review! Thanks for your support.

 

Photo credits: pixabay, wikimedia, bible.knowing-jesus.com