Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20090722.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part XXXIX: Christ's Identity As God's Worldwide Savior By His Model Prayer
(Luke 11:1-4)
  1. Introduction
    1. If Jesus is God's true worldwide Savior, the way He would want us to pray should reflect that fact.
    2. Luke 11:1-4 offers Christ's model prayer for His disciples, and analyzing it reveals our Lord's will that our main focus in life should be the spiritual welfare of the world, a focus with great application for our lives:
  2. Christ's Identity As God's Worldwide Savior By His Model Prayer, Luke 11:1-4.
    1. The disciples had often seen Jesus pray to the Father (Luke 3:21; 5:16; 9:18, 28), and they knew that John had taught his disciples to pray (Luke 11:1c), so they asked Jesus to teach them to pray, Luke 11:1a,b.
    2. Analyzing this model prayer provides rich insight into how Jesus viewed the whole spiritual universe, and it gives evidence that He is the Father's Savior of the world in way that highly instructs us, Luke 11:2-4:
      1. Throughout this prayer, not once is the party praying directed to refer to himself in the singular, but always in the plural. Christ did not want us to view ourselves selfishly outside the community of God's people, but to recognize that we are just one member of the massive family of God's worldwide flock!
      2. We are to address God as "Father," a term indicating a relationship with One Who is both to be loved and revered, Luke 11:2a. We must pray in fellowship to God to have effective prayer, 1 John 3:22.
      3. The phrase "which art in heaven" shows we are related to One Who is above the limitations and evil of this world, that our love should be directed toward God and not this world! (Lk. 11:2b; 1 John 2:15-17)
      4. The prayer's first request, that our heavenly Father's will be done on earth as it is in heaven (11:2c) reveals that the first request should never be for our interests or for those in the world, but for God's interest of establishing His kingdom in this world! That focus will dramatically alter how we live!
      5. Luke 11:3 then turns toward the needs of the believer's daily sustenance so that he might fulfill the Father's assignments in the establishing of the Father's kingdom on earth. This fact in view of the Luke 11:2 preceding context reveals God's concern regarding His meeting of our livelihood needs, be they food, drink, health, sleep, companionship, mental health, etc., all are to be subjected to and provided for based on the purpose of fulfilling God's call in the establishing of His kingdom on earth!
      6. The request for the Father to forgive us our sins as we forgive those who are indebted to us, the idea that indebtedness refers to the moral sense of sin, indicates our need to forgive others is a necessary part of establishing God's kingdom, Luke 11:4a. This implies our responsibility to live considerately of other people, and to be gracious in our dealings with others are incredibly important parts of discipling.
      7. The Luke 11:4b request that God not lead us into temptation does not mean God ever leads us to be tempted: indeed, James 1:13-14 teaches God tempts no man, but man is tempted of his own lusts. The phrase means "Jesus' followers are to pray that they be delivered from situations that would cause them to sin," Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 135. This implies we need God's help to avoid sinning since we are not able in ourselves to live righteously apart from God, Ibid. Such an avoidance of sin is the ultimate advancement of the Father's kingdom on earth in the believer's own heart!
      8. [The Luke 11:4c KJV phrase " . . . but deliver us from evil" is not in "A variety of excellent [manuscript] witnesses", for they "resisted the temptation to conform the text to the prevailing Matthean form of the Lord's Prayer (Mt. 6:13)." (Bruce M. Metzger, A Text. Com. on the Grk. N. T., 1971, p. 156) We accordingly omit reference to that phrase here in Luke 11:4.]
Lesson: In His model prayer, Jesus' VIEW was WORLDWIDE, His ORIENTATION GOD-BASED, His AIM GOD'S-KINGDOM-ON-EARTH, with all HUMAN REQUESTS merely FITTING INTO that AIM, be it our DAILY NEEDS for PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, MENTAL or SPIRITUAL issues!

Application: (1) Jesus' model prayer reveals He is the WORLD'S Savior in that He saw the whole world as standing in need of RELATING SELFLESSLY to GOD, and of ADDRESSING ALL NEEDS TO THAT END! (2) May we shift our view from man-centered living to God's eternal kingdom if we would expect Him to meet our earthly needs, and have our lives take on real eternal value in meaning!