A New Way of Praying
Candy Land and the Spiritual Life
We have these board games at our house. The kids played them a lot when they were little, and even now, when our girls babysit, they’ll take these games with them. Maybe you remember them. They’re classic. “Candy Land” and Chutes and Ladders.”
If you haven’t seen them or have never played them, they’re super simple. There’s a starting point where everyone begins. You’re trying to make it all the way up the path to the finish line.
In Chutes and Ladders, sometimes you’ll land on a space with a ladder, and that’s good news, because you get to climb the ladder and skip a bunch of spaces and move ahead quickly. But sometimes, you’ll land on a space with a slide. And that’s bad news, because now you slide down and you’re farther behind than you were before.
In Candy Land, every once in a while you might land on a piece of licorice, and that stuff is sticky. If that happens, you might be stuck for a while.
Some of you might think I was describing board games, but what I was really describing was your spiritual life.
When Faith Feels Like Forward and Backward
How often do we feel this way in the spiritual life?
We take ten steps forward, and everything seems like it’s going in the right direction. We’re reading our Bibles. We’re praying every day. We’re moving forward. Maybe we go on a retreat, that’s 5 steps forward in one weekend. A mission trip, we just took 10 steps forward in a week. It’s like we landed on a space with a ladder, and we just jumped ahead in our walk with God. Things have never been better. We’ve never felt closer to our Father in Heaven.
Then we face temptation. Maybe we fail. Or a struggle comes, and we don’t handle it well. Or hardship hits, and we forget to fully rely on God. We try to fix it on our own. We used to call this backsliding. That sounds about right. We landed on a space with a slide that sent us spiraling down. We had made so much progress, but now we’re farther behind than we were before. We feel like God is farther away than He was before.
And then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, we feel stuck. Prayer is irregular at best. Going to church is a chore. We can’t remember the last time we read God’s Word on our own. Life is hard. We feel isolated and alone. We don’t know how to get unstuck.
Here’s the Good News.
The spiritual life really isn’t like a board game. Our enemy would like us to think that way. Our brains are wired to think that way. It’s linear. We understand moving backwards and forwards, up and down. We know what it’s like to get stuck. And those can all be helpful metaphors for us.
But the invitation of Jesus has always been to, “Come, follow me.” It’s an invitation to walk with Jesus every day. We see this in every Gospel story, especially in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus invites these everyday, ordinary people to come and follow Him, walk with Him, and they do.
They are far from perfect. They make mistakes along the way. But they keep walking with Jesus, and He keeps walking with them. Along the way, He teaches them how to live in the Kingdom of Heaven, and what life is like in the Kingdom of Heaven. And it’s not a board game where we’re trying to progress from the starting line to the finish line; it’s more about a relationship and living as a son, a daughter, of God.
Throughout this series, we’ve been slowly working our way through the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6, in the center of this sermon, Jesus teaches us what to center our lives on as we learn what it means to be His disciples.
A New Way to Pray
Listen to what Jesus says: Matthew 6:5-13.
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Jesus is about to teach His disciples how to pray, but before He does that, He essentially says, “Don’t miss this!” There’s a new way to pray.
Don’t pray like the hypocrites. In other words, don’t pray like the pretenders. Those who pray because they want to be seen by people. Those who pray because they want to impress people.
When you pray — and Jesus is presuming that if you’re a follower, you’re a pray-er. If you’re among the people of God, then you’re a person of prayer. — When you pray, go into a private place where it’s just you and God. Talk to Him. Tell Him what you need. But also remember, He already knows what you need before you ask Him.
How?
Because He is your Father. He sees you, He knows you, and He cares for you.
He Knows…
In 1955, there was a hymn written by Thomas “Mosie” Lister entitled: He Knows Just What I Need. The lyrics to this old hymn are just as meaningful and powerful today as they were when they were written some 70 years ago.
My Jesus knows when I am Lonely
He knows each pain, He sees each tear
He understands each lonely heartache
He understands because He cares
My Jesus knows just what I need
Oh yes! He knows just what I need
He satisfies and every need supplies
Yes, He knows just what I need
1955 hymn by Thomas “Mosie” Lister: He Knows Just What I Need.
Your Father in Heaven knows just what you need. Prayer is an intimate encounter where you come before Him in humility and cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you. Jesus invites us into this intimate encounter where we can talk to God, trust Him, and then wait for Him to work.
Start Here: “Our Father”
No doubt, the disciples of Jesus had grown up praying. Their parents had taught them how to pray. They had learned how to pray in the synagogue as well. But here, Jesus is going to teach them a new way to pray.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
What’s new about this way to pray?
It starts with the simple yet profound move Jesus makes when He teaches His disciples to address God as Father. It wasn’t uncommon to refer to God as “Father.” The Jewish people would often pray and address God as “our Father, our King.” But the word Jesus uses here for Father was the word a child would use to refer to their father, but it’s not a childish word. This is family language. Family talk.
Jesus doesn’t pray, “My Father.” He teaches us to pray, “Our Father.” So when we pray, we remember, we are not alone. We belong to a family. We are a part of a people, the people of God.
We pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
The Name of God is Holy.
This is why we don’t take the Name of the LORD in vain. Our Father is Holy. His Name is Holy. And by the way, not taking the Name of the LORD in vain doesn’t just mean we don’t say His Name or use His name in inappropriate ways at inappropriate times. That’s part of it. But it’s also how we carry His Name.
As people called by His Name, His sons and daughters, as Christians, how we carry His name, how we live as people who carry the name of Christ, who wear the name of Christ, matters. His Name is holy. And we are called to carry His name with reverence, awe, and worship.
We pray,
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
and then we pray…
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
God’s Kingdom, God’s Will
We can’t usher in God’s Kingdom. Only God can usher in God’s kingdom. We can pray for it. We can wait for it. And, we can participate in it. Every time we feed the hungry, we share the Gospel, we love our neighbor, we participate in making things on earth as they are in heaven.
Jesus teaches us to pray to God:
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
This first part of the prayer, it’s all about God. It’s all about our relationship to God. It’s all about this vertical relationship between God and us. Then, Jesus teaches us to pray…
11 Give us today our daily bread.
Daily Dependence
This is the prayer for daily provision.
The people of God knew something about daily bread. The Israelites, after being delivered by God from Egypt, wandered in the wilderness for forty years. They were on the way to the Promised Land, but they weren’t there yet. One of their greatest needs was for food as they wandered in the wilderness. They needed daily provision.
God heard the cries of His people, and He answered that prayer. Every day, they woke up to manna in the morning, this daily bread that God miraculously provided every day. The manna they gathered in the morning was only good for that day.
They would have to trust God again for tomorrow’s provision. But they learned to trust God, because there was manna every morning. In the same way, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, Give us today our daily bread.
We trust every day in God for everything we need. We’re not going to worry about our tomorrow. We’re trusting God’s provision for today.
Then Jesus prays…
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
The Hardest Prayer: Forgiveness
This may be the hardest part of the prayer. We all want forgiveness. We all need forgiveness. Jesus teaches us to pray for forgiveness. But there’s a caveat. He teaches us to pray for forgiveness “as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Here’s the truth: We have a debt before God that we could never repay.
The Bible talks about sin in several ways. It’s referred to as corruption, as a sickness or disease, as transgression, as breaking the law, missing the mark, it talks about being slaves to sin, as unfaithfulness, darkness, rebellion, brokenness, and there are more.
But here’s how Jesus refers to our sin in the Lord’s Prayer. He calls is a debt.
In the law of Moses, if you were hurt or harmed in some way, then this law came into effect that said whatever injury has been done to you must be done to the one who hurt you. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, etc. (Exodus 21:23–25; Leviticus 24:19–20; Deuteronomy 19:15–21).
The other way of resolving the issue was to offer financial compensation for the harm that was done. In other words, if you caused the harm, you owe a debt to the person you harmed. (Exodus 21:18–19; 32).
In our personal relationships, Jesus is calling us to forgive those debts. To forgive those who have hurt us or harmed us in some way.
In other words, don’t demand your right to receive back what was taken from you, or your right to financial compensation for your loss. Forgive that debt. Release it. Forgo your right to it.
Why?
Because that’s what God our Father has done for us. Our sins against Him, He will forgive if we forgive those who have sinned against us. And that is Good News, because we owe a debt that we could never repay.
And then Jesus finishes the prayer with these lines…
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
The Battle Is Real
This is where translation lets us down a little. The line, “lead us not into temptation,” can be a little misleading.
God does not lead anyone into temptation. James, the half-brother of Jesus and leader in the early church, would later write, “God tempts no one!” We are tempted by our own evil desires. (James 1.13-14.)
A better translation or way to understand this line is:
“And don’t let us yield to temptation” (NLT)
“And do not bring us to the time of trial” (NRSVUE)
“Grant us the strength to resist temptation.” (Interpretation Bible Commentary)
God allows us to be tempted, but God doesn’t tempt us. Jesus teaches us to pray, knowing that there are temptations, testing, and trials that will come our way. They come our way every day.
When they come, we pray for the strength to resist, for the strength to not yield, and to stand firm in our faith and our convictions.
Because there is evil. There is an evil one. Jesus teaches us to pray for deliverance from evil and from the evil one.
So let me be crystal clear: We have an enemy. An adversary. He goes by many names in the Scriptures. He’s called the satan, the accuser, the tempter, the evil one, the deceiver, the father of lies, the ruler of this dark world. He roams around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is real, he is relentless, and he has nothing to lose. He has been tempting mankind since the very beginning, since Adam and Eve were walking around in the Garden of Eden. And he is still tempting people today.
He wants you to sin. He wants you to live your life in opposition to God. He wants to convince you that you should be happy, that you should have whatever you want at whatever cost. He will put enticing things before your eyes. He wants you to give in to your selfish, self-centered desires. He wants to trap you. He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.
But there is One GREATER than our enemy.
The devil is real, but he is not all-powerful. The devil is strong, but he is not Almighty. The devil is present, but he is not omnipresent. The devil is limited, but our Great God and King is unlimited, unparalleled, unmatched in all His glory, power, and might! Our God has no rival, no equal; there is no one like Him, there is no one beside Him. Our God hates sin, but He loves people. And if you’re living in sin, He wants to save you, redeem you, restore you. In fact, He’s calling you today to turn from your sin and turn, or return, to Him! Because He loves you.
Jesus teaches us to pray, “And don’t let us yield to temptation” (NLT), because Jesus wants us to live in right relationship with God and with each other!
Centering Your Life on God Through Prayer
The only way that can happen is if God is the center of your life. If prayer is the center of your life. What is at the center of your life, today?
Whenever I play Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders with my kids, I rarely, if ever, win. My kids are very competitive, and they love to win.
But prayer isn’t about winning, it’s about being.
It’s not about arriving, it’s about becoming.
There will be days when you feel like you’re ten steps ahead, or like you just tripped and fell ten steps behind, but in every season we are called to pray this prayer.
In fact, will you pause and pray this with me right now?
I’ve combined three different Bible translations to make it familiar but also clear. (NIV, NLT, NKJV). Let’s pray these words together…
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
May your Kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Pray this prayer every day.
Center your life on prayer and let prayer become the center of your life.
Here’s what I want to challenge you to do today and every day: Pray this Prayer.
Pray this prayer every day and see what happens in your relationship with God and in your relationships with others. As you pray this prayer, also strive to live this prayer.
We’re not just praying for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done; we’re participating every day in making things on earth as they are in heaven.
We’re not just praying for daily bread, we’re trusting God every day for whatever we need.
We’re not just seeking God’s forgiveness; we’re doing the hard work of forgiving others.
We’re not just praying for deliverance from temptation, we’re living our lives in a different direction, seeking God in prayer and in His Word every day and asking for His help as we live by the power of the Holy Spirit to honor Him in all we do!
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