The Model Prayer

By Bob Myhan

Jesus’ disciples, seeing Him pray often and effectually, and seeing the power of prayer in His life because of the intimate relationship He had with His Father, asked Him to teach them to pray.

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one." (Luke 11:2-4)

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:9-13)

“In this manner, therefore, pray”

Matthew’s account indicates that Jesus meant what follows as a model for prayer, rather than something merely to memorize and routinely recite. Let us analyze this “model” prayer to see how we may apply it today.

“Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name”

How we address God is of primary importance. Because He has bestowed such love on us “that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1), we should reciprocate by calling Him “Father” (Gal. 4:6) and praise His high and holy name (Psalm 111:9), by expressing the reverence which is due Him. This will help us to be mindful of the gravity—as well as the privilege—of prayer.

“Your kingdom come”

The apostles were to pray for the kingdom to be established, as God had promised through such prophets as Daniel, Micah and Isaiah. It is important that we also express hope in the fulfillment of the promises of God. Of course, His kingdom has long been in existence (see Mark 9:1; Col. 1:13), but we might pray, “May the borders of your kingdom be extended.”

“Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven”

We should also express the desire for our lives and the lives of others to be conformed to God’s will. Since God “desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1-4), we should pray to this end.

“Give us this day our daily bread”

Rather than worry about what we eat, drink, wear, etc., we should recognize our total daily dependence upon God, remembering that

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (Jas. 1:17).

If you “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” you shall have the things you need (Matt. 6:33). This involves “casting all your care upon Him, for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

“And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors”

If we would seek forgiveness of our own sins against God, we must forgive the sins of others against us. And we will do this if we want to obey the second great commandment—“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39-40).

“And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one”

We are to follow God wherever He may lead, and we are to “count it all joy when [we] fall into various trials” (James 1:2). But we are permitted to ask Him to keep these to a minimum. Of course, God “will not allow [us] to be tempted beyond what [we] are able; but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that [we] may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). We should, however, pray for the wisdom to recognize “the way of escape” when trials come (James 1:2-5).

“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever”

We must ever remember that the kingdom belongs not to us but to God. We can not add to or take from the things concerning it. We should also keep in mind that He alone has the power to command and enforce obedience. And we should continuously give Him the glory that He alone deserves for the good that is accomplished through our efforts and those of others, for “without Him we could do nothing.”

“Amen”

The word, “Amen,” meaning “So be it,” occurs 22 times in the Old Testament and 50 times in the New (KJV). Interestingly, it does not appear in any of the prayers that are recorded in the book of Acts. Thus, it cannot be considered wrong to omit it. &

Meet the Apostles (Part 2)

By Bob Myhan

Just as Simon Bar-Jonah always occurs first in the first group of apostles, Philip always appears first in the second and is always followed by Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, in some order. We are given relatively little information about these four men. But we are told how Philip and Matthew were called to discipleship.

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee , and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida , the city of Andrew and Peter. (John 1:43-44)

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. (Matt. 9:9)

We are also told that Philip asked Jesus to “show us the Father” (John 14:8).

Thomas’s call to discipleship is nowhere recounted. Indeed, Thomas is not so much as mentioned by the synoptists (Matthew, Mark and Luke), other than being on the lists of apostles. But a few events involving him are mentioned by John.

When news of Lazarus’s death reached Jesus and the apostles, it was Thomas who stated, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him." (John 11:1-16)

In the farewell discourse, he said, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" (John 14:5)

He was absent from the first meeting of Jesus with the apostles after the resurrection. And he later said he would not accept the reality of the resurrection without tangible proof. But when given the opportunity to put his finger in the nail-scarred hands and thrust his hand into the Lord’s side, he confessed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:19-29)

Bartholomew is never mentioned in the gospel of John and Nathanael is nowhere mentioned anywhere but John. Nathanael was the first person Philip thought of after he was convinced that Jesus was Messiah (John 1:45). Also, Nathanael was present when Jesus met seven disciples in Galilee after His resurrection (John 21:2). But he is not so much as mentioned even once between these two events. Many think that Bartholomew and Nathanael are two names for the same person. Several of the apostles had plural names: Simon was called Peter, Thomas was also known as the Twin and Matthew was AKA Levi. Thus, it is possible that Nathanael was also known by more than one name. “Bartholomew” (lit., “son of Tolmai”) is a patronym (“a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor;” compare Bar-Jonah, “son of Jonah” and Barnabas, “son of encouragement”). It is not a necessary inference but it is certainly a reasonable one that Bartholomew was just a nickname for Nathanael. &