Corona Chronicles - The Lord's Prayer

Welcome to Corona Chronicles. We're gonna have a little break in Mark's gospel just for the month of November. Because it's locked down too, we thought we would just focus in on prayer. I want to encourage you each day to come before the lord and pray And we're gonna think about what is known as the Lord's prayer or it's the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. And As we look at it, you'll find the depth and the beauty of this prayer, and we hope that you find you pray, pray it.

It it really, really helpful. So we're gonna start with the introduction that that Jesus gives to prayer in the sermon on the Mount. And it's chapter 6. And he says, 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. 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 he's done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans. For they think that they will be heard because of their many words, Do not be like them.

For your father knows what you need before you ask him. This then is how you should pray. Our father in heaven. Hello, be your name. Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us to today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil 1. It's an amazing sermon, isn't it? An amazing section here. And Jesus is teaching in this sermon on the mount. What it what it looks like to be part of the Kingdom of God, and essential to that is that we can know Jesus' father as our own father.

And when we know God as it does affect absolutely every area of life. So not just prayer, it affects giving, it affects our everyday lives, what we choose prioritize, when we understand that God is our father, it makes it makes a huge difference. And that is the kind of contrast that Jesus is drawing here, isn't it? Between disciples and the religious hypocrites or the pagans. And he's really saying, look, when when you pray, don't be like those people who don't know God as father.

What they're concerned about is not talking to the 1 who loves them in heaven, but being seen by other people. So they just go and they stand on street corners in in the most visible place possible. You know, a corner can be seen by both streets, can't it? So it's the most visible place. And they don't just want a humble request they wanna go on and on and on.

And that's because they don't know God as their dad. You know, if they knew him as their dad, they wouldn't pray like that. And so this is a warning. Firstly, isn't it against hypocritical prayer? Mhmm.

Yes. I think I think maybe 2 things there. There's There's definitely the hypocritical prayer that you've just emphasized and, you know, and and that in itself is a very helpful thought because You don't have to be someone who has the right gear or -- Yeah. -- you know, the right sort of stance or posture or You know, it's not This isn't for religious people. No.

This is for family members, isn't it? Because of the word father? I think that other little thing about the sort of babbling pagans. Mhmm. I mean, you get that, don't you?

I mean, Buddhists have the prayer wheel. Mhmm. Where it just goes around at any prayers. I think it's just They're not seeing God as a personal God. No.

No. He's an impersonal force. And that the more that you it's a bit like getting electricity from from 1 of those torches. You know the torches where we wind up or the radios we end up. You 0.11111, and then there's enough power in there to get the light.

Yeah. And if you treat that's not how you treat God. That's not prayer. Yeah. Just endlessly, you know, trying to get what you want from from God.

I think that's right, isn't it? And it is so impersonal that because Jesus' counter to that in verse 8 is do not be like them for your father knows what you need before you ask him. So it sounds like these religious hypocritical prayers or whoever they are are just going on and on and on and treating God like a day it's God -- Yeah. -- that he doesn't know and he can't see and he doesn't understand what his people need. And so they've got to And we've seen this in our Elijah series that the prophets of Bale have to shout and try to get his attention and tell them what they need God to do.

Yeah. But God is saying, no, when you know when you know me as father, I know what you need. Don't have to persuade me of that or tell me what's going on, I can see and I love you and I wanna provide for you. So just ask like a child. Yeah.

You know, you don't have to sort of summon me from a distant universe and draw me in. I'm there. I'm with you. You know, just ask me. Yeah.

And and Jesus goes on in the sermon on the mount to sort of open that sort of stuff up, doesn't he, where he where he talks about you know, he knows every hair on your head. Yeah. You know, aren't you worth more than a sparrow and that sort of stuff. And yet, he knows and the flowers of the field. You know, he he supplies a great beauty and clothing.

Yeah. So don't worry about those things because he's a he's a father that knows. So that's that's a I think that's a huge thing in this introduction. Yeah. So it's you know, we and we mustn't fall for this -- No.

-- notes, sort of all night prayer meetings. Then and sometimes our language is a bit like that. It's almost like we'll twist this impersonal forces arm or we twist God's arm -- Yeah. -- somehow in getting what we want. If we just go on and on and on -- Yes.

-- you know, in the end, we say, okay. Yeah. You know, like a like a a parent to a child. Can I have a sweet can I have a sweet can I have a sweet can I have a sweet can I have a sweet, yes? Have a sweet, you know.

I think that's right. And it's interesting that in Luke's account, of this. He he goes on to talk about an example of of how perseverance in prayer is important. You know, you keep asking, you keep speaking, you keep knocking. And there's the guy who turns up asking for bread in the middle of the night, you know.

And so, perseverance prayer is 1 thing, but it's not what these are doing, is it? This is this is not persevering because you The burden of your heart is to see God glorified in the kingdom come. It's it's to be seen by others to twist God's arm to convince him that he needs to care. So it's an ungodly type of persistence, isn't it? Yeah.

And you're right to say, we do have to be careful because, you know, presumably the reason Jesus warns about this is because it there is something quite attractive about to us, isn't there? And when Jesus says they have received their reward in full, he means it. There is a type of reward it comes from this. You know, when people see you praying on the street corners or going on and on in great impressive language, some will think, oh, he's a pretty spiritual guy. He's a pretty godly guy.

Look at him. And that feels good, doesn't it? There's something nice about that. And the reward has come -- Yeah. -- from other people.

And our hearts are are drawn to that because it's immediate it's instant and it makes us feel good. It's like a shot in the arm of something pleasant, isn't it? But I think Jesus wants to see that is a deceptive drug to become addicted to because it produces an unreality. And and the other thing is is sort of buying him off again with all of the words. Remember when I was in Singapore, I went to a a temple where people were sort of queuing up to pray.

And I thought, well, I'll go and have a look I'll go and have a look in. I didn't have anything else to do. And there was a flower store just in front of the temple. And people would buy bunches of flowers. Yeah.

And the bigger bunch of flowers. Yeah. The more impressed. The more impressed. And then, but the the the amazing thing was that they would come and obviously they were requesting.

And I thought, I'm gonna some people, what they were praying for. Yeah. So I asked a few afterwards and it was all all of them. I think I asked about 5 people. It was all for sort of money and things of this earth.

It was quite important. Not quite interesting. Not that they're not right things to pray but but it was just in it was all about getting on in this world. That's interesting, isn't it? And it's transactional, isn't it?

It's like I've got this but the thing is they put this massive bunch of flowers on this sort of huge long altar. Yeah. And the priests would come out and just wipe them off after a few seconds into the bin. Yeah. And I was wondering They're only good for 1 prayer.

Well, I was wondering, do they go round again? Into the shop and they resell them because you might as well, because they've only just been bought. Yeah. But anyway Well, that's interesting because that reminds me when we were in when we were in Belarus 1, visiting some friends there. We went to 1 of these Orthodox Church, which has just got idols, you know, absolute icons rather absolutely and there was a chap who came in and spoke to the priest in Russian, which we didn't understand.

And then our friend over there translated it. And And the guy had come in saying, you know, I'm having troubles with my business, which which icon do I need. And it's like, oh, you want Saint Barn us over there or something, and then he went over. And and that's right, isn't it? You come to the house of God for a transaction.

You know, you venerate Saint Barnnebus. He'll bless your business and then you leave. And, you know We must we must stop there and we want to get on to that wonderful 2 words our father -- Yeah. -- next time. Because God is a father and we can come to him.

That's really what we're trying to say.