The Disciples' Prayer

The Gospel according to Matthew records the word of Jesus in chapter six. Beginning in verse five, though, we find a rather familiar passage of scripture to believers and unbelievers alike. Jesus begins teaching, as a part of His renowned message; The Sermon on the Mount. 

He says, "when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."  

Though He was alluding to the passage known as the Lord's Prayer. He was instructing and is instructing His disciples how to pray. One writer said, “We must pray in secret before we pray in public;” pointing out that if in public is the only place we pray, it becomes hypocritical. We could point out that Jesus prayed in public. He was recorded in the Gospel according to John 6:11 and again in Matthew 8:6, praying over meals. He was heard in the Gospel according to Mark 15:34 praying aloud on the cross saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani? Which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" However, we should also be reminded that He prayed first in the intimate place of privacy. Matthew 1:35, "And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Or again in Matthew 14:32-42, where we find Jesus praying in the garden, where He told His disciples to stay and watch and wait as He went away (to private) to pray. 

As a disciple of Jesus, we must imitate Him. This means mimicking His prayer life in private before we mimic it in public. Be reminded today that this was intended to be the very foundation of the disciples prayer life. That means you and I! Though it is affectionally known as the "The Lord's Prayer." Perhaps, we should honor it, as the disciples prayer, taking note of its instruction. 

*At the LaFayette Church of God, during our Midweek Encounter, the adult class is dissecting this passage verse by verse. Join us or stay tuned here, for more related to this topic.* 

--Pastor Josh Edwards
josh@lafayettecog.org
www.lafayettecog.org


Comments

  1. SandraOctober 15, 2017 at 5:34 PM

    Tim Keller says that when you hear someone that prays really well in public it is because they have spent time praying in private and they are speaking to the Father they know and have grown to know on a personal level in private.

    ReplyDelete

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