The
prayer traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer” is frankly a simple request:
“Daddy, you promised!” And the ones who
pray this child-like prayer are those who are so helpless that they are in
need.
Our
Father in heaven
“Father” in the ancient world meant
not only one’s dad, but also one’s ruler.
One of Caesar’s many titles in ancient Rome
was “Father” because, ultimately, he was the one who provided for and judged
every citizen of Rome
He sees his toddler across the room and says, “Give me a
hug!”
She paddles across the floor and is wrapped in her Daddy’s
secure arms. He tickles her and then
whispers in her ear, “Hungry?” She nods
and, almost magically, a plate of eggs and toast appears. She sits down to eat and he looks at her with
eyes of joy.
May
your name be sanctified 38
God’s reputation has been, and
continues to be, defiled.39
People who call God by his name have been hypocrites, and the enemies of
God has used this as an excuse to defile God, to say that the Father of power
and love does not exist. This is the
prayer of the faithful in God who cannot accept that God’s reputation is
sullied. But, at the same time, they
know that only He can cleanse his own reputation.
In his eyes there is a sadness. She cannot accept her daddy being sad, so she
will take care of it. “Daddy, are you okay?”
“Oh, some bad people have been saying things about your
daddy.”
She stamps her foot.
“Don’t let them!”
He smiles with a tear in his eye, “I’ll take care of it,
little girl.”
“Good,” she murmurs.
May
your kingdom come
May your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God’s promises are all toward the
fulfillment of the utopia of God. A land
where God’s people will be secure, provided for and God would rule.40 The earth, as it stands, is far from that
ideal, but the people of God continually hope and expect God to take over the
world and make all things right.
“I’m tired of being stuck in this place. I want to play!”
“We can go to a park.”
“But I can’t go out by myself!”
“It’s pretty dangerous out there.”
“Daddy, we will live in a big house, right?”
“With a backyard for
you to play in.” 41
“And a pony. You know
I want a pony!”
“We’ll see,” he smiles.
Give us today our daily bread.
In our society of full refrigerators
and overstuffed cupboards, it seems hard to imagine that more than a billion
people go to bed hungry every night.
Yet God promised them plenty and generous food.42 If God provides for his anawim daily—even as
he did the children of Israel in the wilderness—it would be seen that God’s
power is greater than any god or government or wealthy patron. For who feeds all of their people, every
day? Who has that kind of resources? Only God.43
She and her daddy play with a ball on the wood floor. Suddenly she jumps up, “Daddy, guess
what?”
“What?”
“I’m hungry again!”
“Imagine that! How
often do you get hungry, anyway? Don’t
you ever quit?”
She throws her hands on her hips, making a defiant stance.
“Nope. I’m always hungry.”
“So what do you want?
A rock?”
“Nooooo! I want
food.”
“Ah, let’s see what we can do for you, then.”44
Forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors.
God promised to forgive his people.45 But forgiveness is never unconditional. According to Jesus, forgiveness is
conditional on two things: forgiving
others and repenting of what one needs to be forgiven of.46 Thus, God must send his Spirit—a promise of
God—so his people would be able to fulfill the conditions and thus gain the
promised forgiveness.
She walks up to him with her hands behind her back and her
eyes fixed on the floor. “I broke
something.”
His face is serious, “What?”
“Your calculator.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to play with it?” She says nothing, but her cheeks burn
red. “Give it to me.” She takes it from behind her back and shows
it to him. He gently takes it from her
hand, looking at it closely.
“Are you going to punish me?”
“Do you want me to?”
“No!”
“Well, it was good you told me. If you had tried to hide it, then I might
punish you.” He pushes the corner of the
object back into place. “See, it just
came out of the casing. It’s okay now.”
She stares at it with
eyes wide, “You can fix it?”
“I already did,
see?” She does, and jumps in joy. “Now listen, little girl. Remember when your brother broke your doll?”
She glowers, “Yeah.
He was mean.”
“Were you mean when you broke my calculator?”
“No. I didn’t mean
to.”
“Uh, huh. But you
disobeyed me when you played with it, right?”
She looks down,
“Yeah.”
“And he shouldn’t have played with your doll, right?”
“Yeah!” “What did you
want to do to him?”
“I hit him!”
His face registers its disappointment. “Did you?”
Her stare doesn’t waver. “He broke my doll!”
“Do you want me to
hit you for breaking my calculator?”
She stares at him soulfully in his face. “Are you going to do that, daddy?”
“Do you want me to?”
“No!”
“Do you think your brother wants you to hit him for breaking
your toy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Remember this—your brother is like you. If you want me to not hit, then you need to
not hit, too. I won’t hit you, so don’t
hit your brother.”
Reluctantly she says, “Okay….”
Lead us not into testing
But
deliver us from the evil.
Most of all, God’s people must
remain faithful to their God.47 It is God’s promise in Ezekiel 36
that if God’s people received of God’s Spirit, they would have hearts that
would be faithful.48
But how could God’s people remain faithful,
day by day, unless they are released from the daily testing of their
faith? The suffering we face causes us
to doubt. The difficulties we face make
it hard to live according to God’s law.
Our own weaknesses make it difficult some mornings to get up and live in
God. How can we rest in God’s kingdom
until the constant persecution, the constant attack, the consistent pounding
against our faith is finished? God’s
people must finally be delivered from the evil attacking them each day—they are
only human. To fulfill the complete
promise, not only must the power be there, but the obstacles to fulfillment
must be removed.49
She comes running to her daddy, crying in his arms, “You
told me to go next door, daddy!”
He is surprised to find a shivering child with a damp face
on his lap, “Yes. You’re being babysat
by Ellen tonight.”
“But I can’t!”
He sees her sorrow and holds her, soothing her. “Why can’t you?”
“There’s a boy on the sidewalk, and he says it’s his and I
can’t walk on it and if I do then he’ll hit me and I don’t want to be hit
because it will hurt!”
“Oh really?” He
stands up, steel in his eye. “Well, I’ll
tell you what. I’ll walk out the front
door with you and go with you to Ellen’s”
“But what if he’s still there?”
“He might be there still.
But not for long.”
The promise of God can only be
fulfilled through the power of God. The
power of God can only be found through intimacy with God. “Don’t
be afraid little sheep, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the
kingdom.”50
37. Luke 11:10-13; Luke 12:22-32.
38. “Hallowed” is an often misunderstood term. It is not a term of praise, nor does it
strictly mean “holy”. Rather, the
request is demanding that God’s name be made holy, as if His name is not
currently holy. This is not about God’s
nature—which is always holy—but about His reputation. Thus, the request is that God’s reputation be
straightened out.
39. As we saw in Ezekiel 36:20-23-- in the section "I Refuse to be a 90 lb. Weakling!"
40. Ezekiel 36:24.
41. With regards to Audio Adrenaline.
42. Ezekiel 36:29-30; Matthew 6:25-34.
43. See the first chapter on Psalm 146.
44. Matthew 7:9
45. Ezekiel 36:25
46. Luke 17:3-4; Mark
11:25-26; Matthew 18:21-35.
47. Faithfulness and obedience is the condition of receiving
God’s promises. Not perfect obedience,
but an obedient walk, a faithful approach to life. This allows for mistakes that can be
forgiven, but an obedient heart. John 3:36; Matthew 12:50; Matthew 7:24-27;
Matthew 18:15.
48. Ezekiel 36:26-27.
49. Matthew 18:6-7.
50. Luke 12:32.
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