Hello All,
Please join us, our Zoom Link is below for this Saturday’ssession at 8:00 AM PST 03/07/2026. I am blessed by the presence of each one of you in my life. We show gratitude to God by “giving thanks in all circumstances …” [1Thess. 5:18a]
We will continue our study of Matthew. [Matt. 5, 6, 7] These chapters are the very basics of Jesus’ teachings. He articulated them in a single teaching spoken in a relatively short period of time, a single lecture if you will. He then spent the next three years explaining what He said. WE should all reflect on that for a moment. We have thought about that before as we work our way through them. There is no rush, we do not want to miss any important elements of His teachings. In this study session we will review [Matt. 6:5-14]. It is here that Jesus lays out the proper manner we are to pray. This is a portion of the Similitudes.
It is my prayer that you are able to join us.
Love, hank
Zoom Link:
For Study, Prayer and Fellowship – 8:00 AM PST 03/07/2026:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82968961343?pwd=LzcwVjJKcWVESDRURlhDcXlNV0JUdz09
Meeting ID: 829 6896 1343
Passcode: 77299ere:
Bible Study Notes:
The Lord’s Prayer
The Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer, and The Apostle’s Creed are foundational documents of our Christian faith. If we had no other documents, books or writings, in our daily lives, if we believed and adhered to the teachings contained in these three documents we would be assured of salvation. That is a strong statement, but as we explore what each is saying and study their words in the context of our faith, we may agree. The Lord’s Prayer/Our Father. [Matt. 6:9-13]
This prayer comes from Jesus Himself:
Introduction – Our Father, who art in heaven, [Matt. 6:9]
This is the introduction and Jesus is inviting us to believe that God is our true father and we are His true children. Thus, we may ask these things as a child
would ask his earthly father.
1. hallowed be thy name; [v. 9]
We know God’s name is holy and we pray that we keep it holy. We keep it holy when we teach His Word with truth and purity. We also ask that God help us to live holy lives according to His Word. We also pray that if anyone teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word or profanes Him, we ask God to protect us from them.
2. thy kingdom come, [v. 10]
God’s kingdom comes without us, but we pray it comes to each of us. His kingdom comes when we are given the Holy Spirit. We ask for His grace to believe His Word and lead godly lives on earth and for all eternity.
3. thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [v. 10]
God’s good and gracious will is done without us, but we pray it may be done among us. God does this when He hinders every evil plan of the world and of our sinful nature. Evil does not want us to say God is holy or let His kingdom come to us. He strengthens and keeps us in His Word and faith until we die.
4. Give us this day our daily bread, [v. 11]
God gives daily bread to everyone without our action, including those who are evil. We ask God to lead us, to believe this and to be thankful daily for the opportunities that are granted to us by our Father. Daily bread means all of our support and needs: food, shelter, clothes, shoes, land, animals, money, stuff, devout spouse, children, workers, leaders, good weather, peace, Government, health, self-control, reputation, friends, neighbors and etc., etc.
5. and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; [v. 12]
Trespass means sin. We ask that God not look at our sins and thus deny our prayer. We know we are not worthy nor deserve what God gives us, but we know He gives all things His grace. We know we sin too much and deserve to receive punishment. Thus, we should forgive and happily do good to those who sin against us.
6. and lead us not into temptation, [v. 13]
God tempts no one! We pray God guard and keep us so the devil, the ‘world’ and
our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, vice or shame. We pray we will overcome them all and win eternal victory.
7. but deliver us from evil. (Sed libre nos a malo) [v. 13]
We pray our Father, in heaven, rescues us from the evils that afflict our body and soul, possessions and reputation. When our last hour comes, give us a blessed end and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to be with Him in heaven.
Amen – Yes, it shall be so.
10/03/23 – Bonhoeffer – Lord’s Prayer [Matt. 6:5-8, 9-13]
“Lord, teach us to pray!” So spoke the disciples to Jesus. In doing so, they were acknowledging that they were not able to pray on their own; they had to learn. “To learn to pray” sounds contradictory to us. Either the heart is so overflowing that it begins to pray by itself, or it will never learn to pray. But this is a dangerous error, which is widespread among Christians today, to imagine that it is natural for the heart to pray.
We then confuse wishing, hoping, sighing, lamenting, rejoicing—all of which the heart can certainly do on its own—with praying. But in doing so we confuse earth and heaven, human beings and God. Praying certainly does not mean simply pouring out one’s heart. It means, rather, finding the way to and speaking with God, whether the heart is full or empty. No one can do that on one’s own. For that, one needs Jesus Christ.
The disciples want to pray, but they do not know how they should do it. It can become a great torment to want to speak with God and not to be able to do it, having to be speechless before God. In such need we seek people who can help us, who know something about praying.
If someone who can pray would just take us along in prayer, if we could pray along with that person’s prayer, then we would be helped! Certainly, experienced Christians can help us here a great deal, but even they can do it only through the one who alone must help them, and to whom they direct us if they are true teachers in prayer, namely through Jesus Christ. If Christ takes us along in the prayer which Christ prays, if we are allowed to pray this prayer with Christ, on whose way to God we too are led and by whom we are taught to pray, then we are freed from the torment of being without prayer.
Yet that is what Jesus Christ wants; he wants to pray with us. We pray along with Christ’s prayer and therefore may be certain and glad that God hears us. When our will, our whole heart, enters into the prayer of Christ, then we are truly praying. We can pray only in Jesus Christ, with whom we shall also be heard. Therefore, we must learn to pray.
The child learns to speak because the parent speaks to the child. The child learns the language of the parent. Thus, we learn to speak to God because God has spoken and speaks to us. In the language of the Father in heaven God’s children learn to speak with God. Repeating God’s own words, we begin to pray to God. We ought to speak to God, and God wishes to hear us, not in the false and confused language of our heart but in the clear and pure language that God has spoken to us in Jesus Christ. God’s speech in Jesus Christ meets us in the Holy Scriptures.
If we want to pray with assurance and joy, then the word of Holy Scripture must be the firm foundation of our prayer. If we want to pray with assurance and joy, then the word of Holy Scripture must be the firm foundation of our prayer. Here we know that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, teaches us to pray. The words that come from God will be the steps on which we find our way to God. AMEN
To be continued:
HJH Lord’s Prayer: 11/04/2020; amended 06/30/2025; 02/23/2026.
Bonhoeffer: 10/08/23; amended 02/23/2026. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 02/04/1906 – 04/09/1945, Neo-orthodox theologian.
Words: 1298
Love, hank
Hank Hohenstein, OFS
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