Bible Truth #135 - Matthew 6:9-13

Matthew 6:9-13

9  “This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

10  your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11  Give us today our daily bread.

12  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

You should recognize this as the model prayer. It was our Lord’s response to the apostles when they asked Him to teach them to pray. And the way the Lord taught us to pray was to first acknowledge God, then our worship of Him, then His sovereignty - THEN our requests. I saw in a Bible once the acronym A.C.T.S. as a guide to prayer - Adoration, Confession, Thanks, Supplication.

The point is that Jesus taught us to ask (v11) AFTER worship and acknowledging His sovereignty, i.e. His will being done on earth as it is in Heaven (v10).

But here’s the kicker - please keep in mind that verse 10 is NOT a request as a lot of Christians believe, but an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty as fact. Please let me repeat that - Verse 10 is not a request. It is an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty as FACT. This should be easy to understand and accept after recalling verses like:

Isaiah 55:11 (…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.),

Romans 8:28 (And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.), and

Ephesians 1:11 (In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:).

All three of those verses give proof of God’s sovereignty in human events, ALL human events - and there are many more. This necessarily and absolutely includes salvation. God’s will IS being done on earth - IN EVERYTHING. Jesus did not teach that we are to pray and request that His Will be done on earth. He taught that in prayer we are to acknowledge His will IS done on earth, that we are to acknowledge a sovereign God.  This is why we are to thank God FOR everything (Ephesians 5:20) - because what has occurred and what will occur is His will.

Then in verse 11 our supplication begins.

If God wanted all men to be saved, they would be saved. Since it is God that determined the time and place for EVERY person to exist - when and where they would be born and spend their lives (Acts 17:26), it should be obvious that God has already determined who would even hear the Gospel, much less believe it. What does that tell you about the countless millions who lived before Christ? And the tens of thousands or more who die every day who have never heard the Gospel?

Bottom line - God is working in the lives of not only those He chose in Christ before the foundation of the world (Philippians 2:13), but also in the lives of those He did NOT choose to save (Proverbs 16:9). God does what He wants, when He wants, how He wants, where He wants, and to whom He wants. God’s will IS being done on earth - IN EVERYTHING.

We become children of God NOT by human decision. (John 1:13)