Verses 1-4 When we practice our faith/righteousness by giving to the poor, praying, and fasting, these are honorable things to do to glorify God. But if we’re doing them to show off or to elicit praise from people (“sounding the trumpet”), then we’ve got the wrong mindset and it will not be rewarded in Heaven. We can’t just have external actions with no internal change. When we let our left hand know what our right hand is doing, this refers to bragging to others about how much we do or give for God. Whatever kindness your right hand does, do not let your left hand know about it. Keep it between you and Jesus.

Whatever praise we get from people by announcing our giving is going to be our only reward because it’s clear we didn’t do the act for God. We are only cheating ourselves by filling up our ego on earth while missing out on the abundance awaiting us as a reward in heaven. When we do these acts of faith in secret or not looking for applause, God will see that and reward us. This doesn’t mean we avoid doing kindness because someone might see us. If someone sees us doing kindness, God sees the heart. He knows the deeper motives behind our actions.

Verses 5-8 Some of the religious leaders, the Pharisees, would pray in public to show off. They cared more about the applause and admiration from people when they prayed rather than being accepted by God. It was for vain glory. And then they would babble by going on and on, filling up the air with empty words that sounded good but had no meaning behind them. It was vain repetition. Jesus warns against this. It’s okay to pray in public but watch your motives. If you are trying to get attention, then you’ve gotten your reward here on earth. Jesus says to go in secret to pray because here we are not being watched by people. We can be quiet, uninterrupted, disrupted, avoiding distraction, unheard by anyone, and thus, we can have greater freedom when we pray.

Be careful of praying with no meaning or using lots of words to get God’s attention. He knows what we need before we even ask Him so you can get right to the point. Pray to God like he is eager to listen and ready to answer. God’s reward for us is not like when our employer pays us what we earned. He gives abundantly more to those who serve Him.

There was so much corruption that has crept into the “duties” of prayer among the Jews. Jesus sets it straight here with this outline on how we should pray. When you go to your secret place to talk to God where no one is looking, this is an example to follow. Jesus isn’t saying this is the only way to pray. He’s directing us in how our prayers should be constructed. But also know this isn’t meant as a word-for-word prayer, but rather a guideline to our prayers. You can find lots of printable outlines online of what is known as “The Lord’s Prayer”. I’ll walk you through it here. The NLT Bible version does a great job of making this clear, and yet the ESV Bible version is what most people will hear in church. I’ll include both the ESV and NLT versions for reference.

Verse 9 “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name.” (ESV) Or, “Our Father in heaven, May your name be kept holy.” (NLT) When we begin praying or talking to God, it is good for us to acknowledge Him. After all, you don’t just show up at someone’s house and begin rambling about your needs. So we acknowledge “our” Father (yours, mine, all believers). And no matter what kind of relationship you had with your earthly father, God in heaven is the standard of a father. He is loving, kind, gracious, gentle, and we have been reconciled in a relationship with Him through Christ. We should view, measure, and forgive our earthly father through the lens of our Heavenly Father. Our Father is an advocate for us so we can come boldly to Him with our requests. God knows our desires and burdens before we open our mouths, and He is able to do great and seemingly impossible things in our lives, and so we come with reverence or respect as we enter Heaven through prayer to talk with our holy and awesome God. The ultimate aim in all our requests and petitions to God should be that He is glorified. Our foremost thought in all things should be that God’s name would be honored as holy. Who He is is holy. Set apart. Every character attribute about God is beyond our words or imagination. He’s not just another friend or family member to us. He is the Creator of all, including the breath and blood that pumps through our bodies. He is more amazing, most amazing, than anyone or thing we have ever witnessed on this earth. God is the Beginning and the End. Everything in our lives finds its beginning in Him and its final resting place in Him. He is deserving of all our worship. The Pharisees wanted to be glorified and praised by men for their prayers. This first verse in the Lord’s Prayer aligns our aim in prayer to glorify God only. Our Father in Heaven hallowed (holy) be Your Name, not mine.

Verse 10 “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (ESV) “May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (NLT) We pray for all of God’s promises to be done on this earth. His Kingdom is at hand. Any day now He will return again. We pray that God’s kingdom would fill up this world and leave no soul untouched by the gospel message. We are instruments who carry out God’s kingdom purposes. God has things He wants to do on this earth (and we know they are good things because they reflect his perfectly good character) and we pray for those purposes to be carried out.

We pray for God’s will to be done here on earth. If we’re following Jesus, we shouldn’t be afraid of what God wants in our lives. If we’re practicing shady things, then God’s will, His want is to set us straight and clean up our lives. God’s will is to break strongholds of addiction or independence in our lives so we can be truly free and not slaves to sin. We should want God’s will in our lives because it’s beyond any imaginable picture of what our lives could be. He “is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20) We pray that all will come to this place of recognizing obedience to God’s Word is the best way to live our lives on this earth. His will is like heaven on earth. We should pray for the grace that is necessary to know God’s will and to be obedient to it. 

Verse 11 “Give us this day our daily bread.” (ESV) “Give us today the food we need.” (NLT) This is where we begin our requests. After we pray for God’s glory, His kingdom, and His will, we ask God to meet our daily needs, acknowledging that He is the source of all that is in our lives. We pray for the comfort that His gifts bring. We daily ask for all that we need to accomplish His purposes in and through our lives. We don’t worry about tomorrow but ask for God’s provision today. This keeps us daily dependent on God. Our eyes opening, our body functioning, our house still standing, our car starting up in the morning is all dependent on God.

Verse 12 “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (ESV) “and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” (NLT) Just as we ask God to forgive us for our wrongdoing, we must also be willing to forgive others. No matter how bad someone treated us, we must remember that our Sovereign God allowed that action to pass through His fingers for our good. Even if we may never understand the good on this side of heaven, we know this is the character and purposes of God and we must trust this with our words and actions if we say we believe… we believe He has the power and authority to stop it or allow it… we believe He is a good, good Father with good, good purposes and things in store for us… we believe evil doesn’t have the last word because death couldn’t hold down Jesus… we believe He forgives us daily, hourly, and thus if we can be forgiven, how can we hold that from someone else when it has been given to us through Jesus to give freely? We’re not told to understand it. We’re asked to be obedient to God’s Word.

Verse 13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (ESV) “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” (NLT) We should ask God to keep us from getting into situations that steer us away from His purposes. We should pray for deliverance from any situation we’re not ready to handle. God does not tempt us. He may allow Satan to get away with a temptation that will strengthen our faith and glorify God by doing so, but God Himself never tempts us. We also pray for God to keep us away from anything that would assault us or overcome us, like feelings of depression or anxiety, lust, greed, or the sinful nature in our own hearts. We pray for the deliverance from the sting of death itself. 

Verse 14 We have heard this same instruction in the Lord’s Prayer that if we forgive others for their sins, then God in heaven will also forgive us. But if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us. This isn’t about salvation, it’s about our fellowship, our relationship with God after we’re saved. We create barriers in our fellowship with God when we don’t follow His Word. When we follow everything in scripture except forgiving, we are not following God’s Word.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You alone are the Almighty God. So holy, so righteous, so kind, pure, and true. You are so good to me, Lord. I pray Your kingdom come, Your desires and will be done in my life, in my family, in my community, and on this earth as it is in heaven. Help me to be obedient to Your Word so that I may be a part of Your purposes in this world. I pray for Your provision in my life. For food and shelter, for the work of my hands. You see my heart and know the motives behind my words. Father, help me not get caught up in the flesh and seek applause and attention from this world. I want my vision and desires to be on You alone. When my flesh cries out for vain glory, help me remember my abundant reward awaiting me in heaven. Help me, Jesus, to forgive those I need to forgive so that my fellowship with You is not hindered. Help me to accept Your forgiveness for my sins so that the gratitude will spill out and forgive others for what they’ve done to me. I ask for deliverance, Lord, from tempting situations that I cannot handle or that steer me away from Your purposes. When I’m tempted to tell others about the kindness I’ve done, fill me up, Holy Spirit, with an awareness of Your eyes and the satisfaction that comes from serving You in secret, God. Help me not get caught up in vain repetitions in my prayers, Lord. You see me. You know me. Help me to listen more than I speak. Deliver me from evil and anything that hinders my walk with You, Jesus. Strengthen me with Your Spirit for the glory of Your Almighty name. In Jesus’ name, Amen.