Sermon: Rooted in the Sermon on the Mount – The Lord's Prayer as our Compass – Mt 6.9 (2/1/26)
Introduction
Scripture
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6.
The Adventurer's Bag
Take a look at this explorer's bag...
I have all the key things a seventeenth-century explorer might need!
If a seventeenth-century explorer set out west into unknown territory, COURAGE AND DESIRE ALONE would not be enough.
He would also need...
COMPASS
A compass keeps you oriented when landmarks disappear.
Without it, you are not traveling...
You are drifting.
MAP
Maps in the 1600s were incomplete and often wrong...
But they still gave direction and prevented wandering aimlessly.
FLINT AND STEEL
Fire meant survival...
Warmth...
Food...
ROPE
Rope does not make the journey easy...
But it keeps you from losing your footing when the terrain turns dangerous.
CANDLE
Light makes so many other things possible when darkness closes in.
An explorer did not just need bravery.
He needed tools that oriented him, sustained him, steadied him, and guided him step by step.
Now, to live the Christian life...
For the faith journey before us...
With all of the obstacles, distractions, failures, temptations, and discouragements we encounter...
We need more than just sincerity and a commitment to Christ...
Like an explorer's courage, those are essential, but NOT ENOUGH.
So, what has the Lord given us for our journey?
What is in our adventurer's bag?
The Lord has given us a key tool, a critical provision...
HE HAS GIVEN US THE LORD'S PRAYER.
The Beauty of the Lord's Prayer
Across centuries, cultures, and conditions, God’s people have returned to these words not out of habit, but out of need.
This prayer has shaped the way faith is lived out in prison cells and in living rooms, in times of persecution and in times of peace.
It has been whispered by martyrs and memorized by children.
It has formed believers who could not read and theologians who could read everything.
Few words have done more to quietly, steadily shape Christian faith than these.
Phillip Keller wrote...
The Lord’s Prayer has been repeated millions upon millions of times by countless numbers of human beings for nearly twenty centuries. Yet, in spite of so much use, in spite of so much repetition, in spite of so much worldwide familiarity, it has never lost its luster.
There is a reason it has endured.
It is not trendy.
It is not clever.
It does not flatter us.
And yet, it refuses to loosen its grip on the people of God.
It is the most memorized and recited portion of Scripture in history.
It is often the first prayer learned and the last prayer remembered.
When strength fades, when language fails, when fear crowds the mind, these words remain.
Martin Luther said...
Since our Lord is the author of this prayer, it is without doubt the most sublime, the loftiest, and the most excellent. If he, the good and faithful Teacher, had known a better one, he would surely have taught us that too.
The Lord’s Prayer is beautiful because it gathers the entire shape of Scripture into a few lines.
It echoes the longings of the Old Testament.
It reflects the moral vision of the Ten Commandments.
It orders our desires before it ever voices our needs.
Nothing essential is missing, and nothing unnecessary is included.
Every proper Christian prayer, in one way or another, traces its shape back to this one.
When we pray rightly, whether in praise, confession, dependence, or hope, we are often praying the Lord’s Prayer without realizing it.
Even our best hymns and spiritual songs borrow their theology, posture, and priorities from this prayer.
It is simple enough to memorize quickly and deep enough to spend a lifetime exploring.
The Lord’s Prayer is not a prayer you grow out of. It is a prayer you grow into.
The longer you follow Christ, the more weight these words carry.
The more you understand Scripture, the more you realize how much is packed into the Lord's Prayer.
THIS IS TRULY THE TOOL WE NEED FOR THE ADVENTURE WE LIVE!
Let us read the Lord's Prayer together...
Matthew 6.9 | “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. (CSB)
Matthew 6.10 | Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (CSB)
Matthew 6.11 | Give us today our daily bread. (CSB)
Matthew 6.12 | And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (CSB)
Matthew 6.13 | And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (CSB)
Matthew 6.14 | “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.(CSB)
Matthew 6.15 | But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses. (CSB)
(This may be a little different than what you memorized long ago. Nothing to be concerned about. I'll explain that next Sunday.)
Plan
We are studying Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.
Two Sunday's ago, we looked at Matthew 6.5–8 and learned why we should pray.
Now we come to the Lord's Prayer...
Today, I'm going to show you what to do with the Lord's Prayer...
Next Sunday, we will dig into the words of the Lord's Prayer...
The Lord’s Prayer and the Christian Adventure
The Lord's Prayer is like an adventurer's bag...
It contains the essential items needed for this Christian journey and adventure.
Let me show you SIX things we can and should do with the Lord's Prayer...
I. Let the Lord's Prayer declare the greatness and goodness of God.
Matthew 6.9 | “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.(CSB)
We will look closely at Matthew 6.9 in next week's message, but notice how Jesus teaches us to begin prayer...
Begin by declaring three things...
THE LOVE AND AUTHORITY OF GOD...
"Our Father..."
He is our Father, he loves us...
He is our Father, he cares for us...
He is our Father, he is good...
THE TRANSCENDENCE OR OTHER-NESS OF GOD...
"In heaven..."
God is near us but he is not like us.
He reigns above all things and is not limited by our circumstances.
THE MORAL PERFECTION OF GOD...
"Your name be honored as holy."
Before we get to any of the practical benefits and daily usefulness of the Lord's Prayer...
We must see that first and foremost, the Lord's Prayer is about God, not us.
YES, the Lord's Prayer is a great tool in the Christian journey...
But it is much more than a tool.
It is a declaration of the greatness and goodness of God!
II. Embrace the Lord’s Prayer as a model that trains us to pray.
Through the years...
Christians have debated whether the Lord’s Prayer is something to recite or a pattern meant to shape and structure our prayers.
It is an interesting question.
When we read Matthew 6.9, the question seems easy...
The Lord's Prayer is a model.
Matthew 6.9 | “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. (CSB)
Notice he said pray LIKE THIS...
When we read the Lord's prayer in Luke 11, it seems the prayer is given as something to recite.
Luke 11.2 | He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say, Father, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. (CSB)
Notice he said SAY this...
We learn from this that it is PROPER both to recite the prayer and to use the prayer as the superstructure for our own prayers.
And because of how Jesus teaches that prayer should be an expression of our heart to our Father, the Lord's Prayer's greatest value is as a model for our prayers.
How does it serve as a model?
It teaches us to begin with God’s glory before our needs.
It teaches us to ask for daily dependence, not excess.
It teaches us to connect forgiveness, obedience, and humility.
It teaches us to pray realistically about temptation and danger.
Let's go back to our illustration of the adventurer's bag...
The Lord's Prayer is a key tool to help us...
FORM our prayers...
CORRECT the focus of our prayers...
EXPAND our prayers...
What might it look like to use the Lord's Prayer as a model?
Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
Context and recognition...
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Context and request...
Give us today our daily bread.
Context and request...
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Context and request...
Do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Context and request...
III. Carry the Lord’s Prayer with you as a rhythm of prayerful dependence.
I want to show you a pattern implied in Scripture and embraced by the early church.
As long as we are careful not to be legalistic, this could be one of the most helpful practices for strengthening our spiritual lives.
It is important to remember that patterns are patterns and instructions are instructions.
What I am going to show you is a pattern not an instruction.
This pattern is not something the Lord commands...
It is not something we are bound to do...
It is not something that should be the source of any kind of comparison...
But this has been very valuable to me and many others through many seasons of seeking to live out the Christian life.
First, notice a biblical pattern...
The book of Acts assumes recognized times of prayer.
Acts 3.1 | Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon. (CSB)
Luke speaks of THE time of prayer, not A time of prayer.
Acts 10.9 | The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. (CSB)
Note that Peter went up to pray on the roof ABOUT NOON.
In Jesus's day, it was a well-established Jewish practice to pause and pray three times a day.
Those near the temple would actually go to the temple to pray.
The majority of Jews who were not close to the temple, would just pause and pray where they were (often facing Jerusalem or the temple in Jerusalem).
Generally, the set hours were...
Morning around nine (Shacharit)...
Afternoon around three (Mincha)...
After sunset around six (Ma’ariv)...
This rhythm reaches deep into the Old Testament.
Look at what David said...
Psalm 55.17 | I complain and groan morning, noon, and night, and he hears my voice.(CSB)
And Daniel...
Daniel 6.10 | When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.(CSB)
Of course, Jews did not pray the Lord's prayer.
They most often recited verses from the Shema (Deuteronomy 6.4–9) when they prayed.
Still, there is biblical evidence that early Christians continued this Jewish practice of praying three times each day.
Acts 2.42 | They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. (CSB)
Next, Let's learn about the pattern of the early Christians...
Only what we find in our Bibles is authoritative as the word of God...
But we also have valuable historical witness from the generations immediately following the apostles.
One of the earliest pieces of history we have is a document called the Didache.
The Didache was written or at least begun to be written almost immediately after Paul's and Peter's life and ministry.
The Didache lays out how these early Christians lived out the Christian life.
Basic Christian moral formation...
Practical instructions for baptism and the Lord's Supper...
Guidance for church leadership and church life...
The Didache tells us that Christians prayed the Lord's Prayer three times a day!
This same practice was echoed by early Christian leaders.
Tertullian (c. 155–220) argued that Christians should pray the Lord's Prayer three times per day likely to honor the Trinity and the events of Christ's passion (death, burial, resurrection).
Cyprian of Carthage (c. 210–258) emphasized that the Lord's Prayer is a public and common prayer.
Praying it at intervals ensures that the believer never wanders too far from the consciousness of being a child of God.
This is not Carthage, Texas :).
Basil of Caesarea in the fourth century...
Jerome in the fifth century...
How can we benefit from the Biblical and Historical pattern of praying the Lord's Prayer three times a day?
The problem we face...
We often compartmentalize the Lord...
God gets a quiet time.
God gets Sunday.
The rest of the day often runs on autopilot.
Praying the Lord's Prayer as a model and a catalyst three times a day would help us bring the Lord into the rest of our day.
This by itself is a biblically modeled pattern...
Psalm 119.164 | I praise you seven times a day for your righteous judgments. (CSB)
Psalm 1.2 | Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. (CSB)
Joshua 1.8 | This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. (CSB)
The goal is not rigid scheduling.
The goal is steady dependence.
A prayer that keeps pulling our hearts back to God throughout the day...
How might this work in your day?
...
IV. Speak the Lord’s Prayer as comfort and encouragement in hardship.
I will be very brief here...
Let me point to a practice with deep historical roots and real pastoral value.
When we walk with someone through grief, anguish, or deep disappointment...
We often do not know what to say or how to encourage them.
We know we must avoid the well-intended but unhelpful things people often say:
“I know what you’re going through.”
“It will all work out in the end.”
“At least they are in heaven.”
“God must have needed them more than we did.”
“Everything happens for a reason.”
“You need to forgive and move on.”
So, what can we say?
How about we just pray the Lord's Prayer?
God's words are never out of place.
God works through his words when our words fall short.
The Lord’s Prayer steadies the heart and anchors the soul.
The Lord's Prayer is a better statement of theological truth than any of us could ever come up with.
And it gently turns suffering hearts toward hope in God.
In moments like these, we do not need better words.
We need truer words.
How might this work?
...
V. Use the Lord's Prayer in family worship and to teach theology to children and grandchildren.
Scripture calls us to pass the faith on through daily life, not just formal moments.
Deuteronomy 6.6 | These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. (CSB)
Deuteronomy 6.7 | Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (CSB)
Parents and grandparents...
The Bible commands you to teach the faith to the next generations.
But we often feel unprepared or unsure where to begin.
Grandparents...
I know you have limited time with your grandchildren...
But if your legacy was to teach them the Lord's Prayer, you would leave a great gospel and spiritual legacy!
Teach them to memorize it...
Teach them what each line meant...
Teach them how to use it as a skeleton and superstructure for their prayers...
Teach them this through the years...
The 3-year-old lesson...
The 6-year old lesson...
The 16-year old lesson...
The Lord’s Prayer gives us a simple and trustworthy place to start.
It teaches children who God is.
It teaches them how to speak to him.
And it quietly shapes their understanding of the gospel over time.
You do not need a theology degree to teach theology.
You need faithful words, spoken again and again.
How might this work?
LEGACY
VI. Hear the gospel invitation in the Lord’s Prayer.
Can I tell you something that will surprise you?
In the early church, unbelievers and children were not allowed to pray the Lord's prayer with the congregation.
(They called these people "outsiders" and "catechumens." Technically all children were not considered catechumens if they were baptized as infants.)
Why were unbelievers and children not allowed to join the church in praying the Lord's Prayer?
Because of the first two words...
Our Father
You cannot truthfully and truthfully pray those words unless something is already true of you.
God is Father as creator of all, but Father in this prayer speaks of redemptive adoption.
Fatherhood, in this prayer, assumes:
Reconciliation...
Adoption...
Belonging...
In other words, the Lord’s Prayer assumes the GOSPEL.
It is not how you become a child of God.
It is how the children of God speak to their Father.
That means every time the Lord’s Prayer is prayed...
It quietly issues an invitation:
“If God is not yet your Father, he can be.”
“Through Christ, you may come in and call him Father too.”