Prayer, Session 2: The Lord’s Prayer

Read the passage: Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV, Bible Gateway)

How are our prayers a window onto our hearts? Meaning, how does what we pray about (or don’t!), and how we pray about it, tell us about the state of our hearts, about what we love, about what we fear, about our ambitions, etc.?
Before we look at the Lord’s Prayer itself, look at how Jesus introduces it: read Matthew 6:5-8.
- What two things does Jesus highlight as being typical of ‘hypocritical’ prayer?
- Do you recognise this temptation in your own heart? How does it manifest itself?
- What foundational principles lie behind Jesus’ advice that we should pray in secret and don’t need to use long words?
Read Matthew 6:9-13.
What do we learn about God from the first part of this prayer (v9-10)?
- What should our attitude be to the coming of God’s kingdom?
- What do we learn about our will and God’s will?
- Considering the above, which of these means most to you at the moment, and why?
- God is our Father;
- We submit our wills to his;
- We long for his kingdom.
- How is/has prayer been teaching you one of these?
Considering v11, what is our ‘daily bread’ and why should we pray for it?
- Do you ask your heavenly Father daily for ‘daily bread’? What might a failure to do so imply?
Re-read v12. What does it mean to be in debt to God?
- Why do we pray, ‘forgive us our debts’ rather than ‘help us repay our debts’?
- To pray ‘forgive us our debts’ is obviously quite a general approach to confessing our sins.
- Why might we also need to get more specific in confession?
- Why, in addition to living a confessing, repentant life, should we live a forgiving one (v12b)?
- What are some dangers of not doing so?
Look at v13. Why is it essential to recognise that we live in a spiritual battle where evil is a daily reality?
- How might asking God to not lead you into temptation, and to name some specific temptations that you can foresee coming your way each day, help you?
Doxology
You may be surprised to discover that the section “For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen” isn’t actually a part of the Lord’s prayer in the Bible. Indeed, there is no ground for thinking that Jesus repeated this part of the Doxology, as it is not found in the oldest manuscripts of the gospels. So where does it come from?
Some theologians and scholars assume it was added in as part of Jewish prayer culture.
So should we continue including it? In principle, there’s nothing wrong with adding a doxology, if it is in keeping with the intent of the prayer. The Bible contains many other doxologies, and it puts words on the natural and proper reaction to truly praying the Lord’s prayer – worship and surrender.¹

Recap & Reflect

What are two dangerous motives in prayer, what is an obvious way to avoid them?
What does the Lord’s prayer teach us about God? (Stick to keywords)
As a group or alone, spend some time stopping on each verse and praying over the different points you’ve discussed. You could also use this method in your own personal prayer life throughout the week.

Leader’s notes

The notes are here to help you lead a group and answer tough questions. The idea isn’t to read the “right” answer out after each question, but rather to give you support or the helpful nudge in guiding your discussion in the right direction. Feel free to use them as best suits your group.

Before we look at the Lord’s Prayer itself, look at how Jesus introduces it: read Matthew 6:5-8.
- What two things does Jesus highlight as being typical of ‘hypocritical’ prayer?
  v5: praying to impress people; v7: praying to impress God
- What foundational principles lie behind Jesus’ advice that we should pray in secret and don’t need to use long words?
  God’s omnipresence: God sees and hears us just as well when we are hidden away as when we are in public. The implication is that he also sees the hidden motives in our hearts – motives that influence how and why we pray. God’s omniscience: our Father already knows what we need before we ask, so we don’t need to ‘get our words right’ or try and impress him, or others, by how we pray for something.
What do we learn about God from the first part of this prayer (v9-10)?
He is our Father; he is in heaven and so sees all things; his name is to be hallowed above everything else; he has a kingdom and it can come; he has a will that is done in heaven and can be done on earth.
- What should our attitude be to the coming of God’s kingdom?
  It is something we should want, desire, be praying for it to come. Prayer teaches us to long for its coming
- What do we learn about our will and God’s will?
  We must submit our wills to God’s. Prayer is one means by which we do this.
Considering v11, what is our ‘daily bread’ and why should we pray for it?
Jesus almost certainly means our needs for physical sustenance. In his day it would literally have been bread. For us it means the physical, material provision that enables us to live and meet our needs. Praying for daily provision reminds us that all good gifts come from God, that we are not self-sufficient but rather depend on him for everything. Such an attitude promotes gratitude!
- Do you ask your heavenly Father daily for ‘daily bread’? What might a failure to do so imply?
  A failure to ask God for our daily provision implies that we don’t really think such provision is dependent on him. We might, subconsciously, think of ourselves as being self-sufficient, or that God is in someways separated from the stuff of our daily lives.
Re-read v12. What does it mean to be in debt to God?
As God’s creatures we owe him the duty of our whole hearted, loving worship. We fail to give this to him – both by things we don’t do that we should do, and things we do do that we shouldn’t. Like a financial debtor who fails to pay what we owe, or takes what he should not, we are in debt to God.
- Why do we pray, ‘forgive us our debts’ rather than ‘help us repay our debts’?
  The first acknowledges nothing we can do can repay God the debt of our sins. It recognises that we need the grace and mercy that can only be found in Christ who paid our debt for us. The second is a religion of works – it thinks it can do what can never be done. And because it is itself a further outworking of our human pride that says we can save ourselves, it puts us even further into debt!
- Why might we also need to get more specific in confession?
  We can pray generally about our sins without ever really facing them, or repenting of them specifically. We must pray generally and adopt a confessing, repentant lifestyle, but we must also do the hard work of facing up to our specific sins and seek to turn from them.
- What are some dangers of not doing so?
  Jesus links our forgiveness with our willingness to forgive others (see also v14-15). We cannot hope to be forgiven by God if we are refusing to forgive others. Also, unforgiveness robs us of the life of joy God would have us live. For our own good, we must forgive and not allow bitterness to take root.
Look at v13. Why is it essential to recognise that we live in a spiritual battle where evil is a daily reality?
People who live in a holiday resort and those who live on a battlefield have very different expectations and lifestyles. The world is a spiritual battlefield, if we live thinking it is a holiday resort we will be in grave danger!

Recap & Reflect

What are two dangerous motives in prayer, what is an obvious way to avoid them?
impressing others, impressing God – meeting God “in the secret place”

For more on this question, we suggest listening to the sermon “Lord’s Prayer – For Thine is the Kingdom”, by R. Kent Hughes, which can be found on thegospelcoalition.org.

Download the complete study: Bible study on Prayer (PDF)