Describe a time when you sought to know God’s will about a particular decision or situation. Did you, or how did you, arrive at an answer?
Two biblical narratives, one from the OT and the other from the NT, provide some further insight about what it means to pray “thy will be done.” The first is the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob (Genesis 37-50). Through a series of
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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!
events, Joseph is betrayed by his brothers and is imprisoned in Egypt. However, through time he is able to gain favor with Pharaoh, save Egypt from famine, and reconcile with his family. Read Genesis 50:20-21. How does this passage influence your notion of God’s will in the presence of evil and suffering? What’s the difference between what Joseph says and the popular cliché: “Everything happens for a reason”? ! ! The second story about God’s will comes from the end of Matthew’s Gospel. There we find Jesus at prayer in the garden of Gethsemane on the very night he would be betrayed by his friends. In anguish, he prays, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want” (26:39). In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shows us what it looks like to desire a good thing – his own life! – and yet to live into God’s will instead. ! In asking for God’s will to be done, we must learn to set aside our own will in the process. Our wills must be slowly replaced by our willingness to step into God’s will. What is an example of this in your own life? Where have you had to lay your own will aside in order to step into God’s will? !
INTRODUCTION After the opening address to God, the Lord’s prayer does not immediately move into a series of petitions about human needs. Rather, the prayer starts with its focus squarely on God – God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. In arranging the prayer in this fashion, Jesus is teaching the disciples, and us, that prayer is not primarily about getting what we want but about shaping our wants in light of God’s wants for the world. In praying for God’s name to be hallowed, God’s kingdom to come, and God’s will to be done, we are asking for things that are not so easy to understand. What does it look like to honor God’s name through our words and actions? In a time when politics threatens to divide us more than ever before, what does it mean to pray for God’s kingdom to come? How do we make sense of the hope for God’s will to be done in the midst of a world that often feels so secular? In this study, we will begin to explore these and other questions about the three Godcentered petitions found in the first half of the Lord’s Prayer. Do you prefer praying in a spontaneous, free-form way or with set language like the Lord’s Prayer? What are some advantages of each type of prayer?
“HALLOWED
BE THY NAME” In the Old Testament, God is called by many titles – father, king, judge, shepherd, the Almighty, and so forth. But God only has one personal name, Yahweh. This name was revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3-4) and means something like “I will be who I will be” or “I will cause to be what I will cause to be.” In most English translations, the divine name Yahweh is written as LORD (all small caps). Read Exodus 3:13-18. Why did Moses ask God to reveal his name to him? Why would knowing God’s name matter to Moses’ mission?
In ancient Israel, the divine name was considered so holy that it was never spoken outside of the Temple. This tradition continues in most Jewish circles today, where titles like Adonai or Ha-Shem (a Hebrew word meaning “the name”) are said in place of Yahweh. These practices derive from a strict interpretation of one of the Ten Commandments: You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7). While this commandment is often understood to prohibit profanity or curse words, the wording in Hebrew implies not attaching God’s name to any false statement. Where have you seen God’s name being used in a false way?
Read Mark 1:14-15. According to this passage, what does it look like to prepare for the coming of the kingdom of God? What does this look like in ! your life?
!!!! !!
What is the kingdom of God like? The primary way Jesus taught about the kingdom of God is through parables, which convey truths in intentionally open-ended ways. Luckily, a section of the Gospels known as the Beatitudes contains a more concrete – though no less complex – picture of what the kingdom of God is like. Read Matthew 5:3-9. According to these sayings, how is the kingdom of God different from how things typically work in our world today?
In these verses, Jesus turns the ways of the world on its head. God’s kingdom isn’t about winning, promotions, wealth, or popularity – all things that are evaluated as the ultimate goals in the earthly kingdoms in which we live. The kingdom of God seems upside down to us in that it asks us to evaluate our lives according to a different set of values and goals. Thus when Jesus asks us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” he is inviting us not to volunteer more or have better church attendance but rather to take up a whole new way of seeing the world and evaluating our lives. Using the Beatitudes for inspiration, how does praying for the kingdom of God bring hope to the world? To your church? To your personal life?
In 2 Corinthians 5:20, we are called to be ambassadors of Christ. What does it mean to be an ambassador? How does this relate to honoring God’s name through your words and actions?
“THY
KINGDOM COME” When Jesus asks for God’s kingdom to come, things move from talk of heaven and holy names to politics. Praying for God’s kingdom to come reminds us that whatever our political affiliations might be, we are citizens in heaven whose loyalty lies first and foremost with God. The promise of God is not just that one day we will go to heaven, but that, through Christ, God’s kingdom has already begun to break into the bits and pieces of our everyday lives.
“THY
WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN” The world is full of beautiful and wonderful things. But it is also full of tragedy, sadness, and loss. These days, every news cycle seems to feature a gut-wrenching story about natural disasters, violence, discord, or injustice of one kind or another. In the midst of such difficult realities, we dare to ask God in this prayer for a taste of heaven here on earth in the midst of such difficult realities.
“HALLOWED
BE THY NAME” In the Old Testament, God is called by many titles – father, king, judge, shepherd, the Almighty, and so forth. But God only has one personal name, Yahweh. This name was revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3-4) and means something like “I will be who I will be” or “I will cause to be what I will cause to be.” In most English translations, the divine name Yahweh is written as LORD (all small caps). Read Exodus 3:13-18. Why did Moses ask God to reveal his name to him? Why would knowing God’s name matter to Moses’ mission?
In ancient Israel, the divine name was considered so holy that it was never spoken outside of the Temple. This tradition continues in most Jewish circles today, where titles like Adonai or Ha-Shem (a Hebrew word meaning “the name”) are said in place of Yahweh. These practices derive from a strict interpretation of one of the Ten Commandments: You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7). While this commandment is often understood to prohibit profanity or curse words, the wording in Hebrew implies not attaching God’s name to any false statement. Where have you seen God’s name being used in a false way?
Read Mark 1:14-15. According to this passage, what does it look like to prepare for the coming of the kingdom of God? What does this look like in ! your life?
!!!! !!
What is the kingdom of God like? The primary way Jesus taught about the kingdom of God is through parables, which convey truths in intentionally open-ended ways. Luckily, a section of the Gospels known as the Beatitudes contains a more concrete – though no less complex – picture of what the kingdom of God is like. Read Matthew 5:3-9. According to these sayings, how is the kingdom of God different from how things typically work in our world today?
In these verses, Jesus turns the ways of the world on its head. God’s kingdom isn’t about winning, promotions, wealth, or popularity – all things that are evaluated as the ultimate goals in the earthly kingdoms in which we live. The kingdom of God seems upside down to us in that it asks us to evaluate our lives according to a different set of values and goals. Thus when Jesus asks us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” he is inviting us not to volunteer more or have better church attendance but rather to take up a whole new way of seeing the world and evaluating our lives. Using the Beatitudes for inspiration, how does praying for the kingdom of God bring hope to the world? To your church? To your personal life?
In 2 Corinthians 5:20, we are called to be ambassadors of Christ. What does it mean to be an ambassador? How does this relate to honoring God’s name through your words and actions?
“THY
KINGDOM COME” When Jesus asks for God’s kingdom to come, things move from talk of heaven and holy names to politics. Praying for God’s kingdom to come reminds us that whatever our political affiliations might be, we are citizens in heaven whose loyalty lies first and foremost with God. The promise of God is not just that one day we will go to heaven, but that, through Christ, God’s kingdom has already begun to break into the bits and pieces of our everyday lives.
“THY
WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN” The world is full of beautiful and wonderful things. But it is also full of tragedy, sadness, and loss. These days, every news cycle seems to feature a gut-wrenching story about natural disasters, violence, discord, or injustice of one kind or another. In the midst of such difficult realities, we dare to ask God in this prayer for a taste of heaven here on earth in the midst of such difficult realities.
Describe a time when you sought to know God’s will about a particular decision or situation. Did you, or how did you, arrive at an answer?
Two biblical narratives, one from the OT and the other from the NT, provide some further insight about what it means to pray “thy will be done.” The first is the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob (Genesis 37-50). Through a series of
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
!
!
events, Joseph is betrayed by his brothers and is imprisoned in Egypt. However, through time he is able to gain favor with Pharaoh, save Egypt from famine, and reconcile with his family. Read Genesis 50:20-21. How does this passage influence your notion of God’s will in the presence of evil and suffering? What’s the difference between what Joseph says and the popular cliché: “Everything happens for a reason”? ! ! The second story about God’s will comes from the end of Matthew’s Gospel. There we find Jesus at prayer in the garden of Gethsemane on the very night he would be betrayed by his friends. In anguish, he prays, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want” (26:39). In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shows us what it looks like to desire a good thing – his own life! – and yet to live into God’s will instead. ! In asking for God’s will to be done, we must learn to set aside our own will in the process. Our wills must be slowly replaced by our willingness to step into God’s will. What is an example of this in your own life? Where have you had to lay your own will aside in order to step into God’s will? !
INTRODUCTION After the opening address to God, the Lord’s prayer does not immediately move into a series of petitions about human needs. Rather, the prayer starts with its focus squarely on God – God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will. In arranging the prayer in this fashion, Jesus is teaching the disciples, and us, that prayer is not primarily about getting what we want but about shaping our wants in light of God’s wants for the world. In praying for God’s name to be hallowed, God’s kingdom to come, and God’s will to be done, we are asking for things that are not so easy to understand. What does it look like to honor God’s name through our words and actions? In a time when politics threatens to divide us more than ever before, what does it mean to pray for God’s kingdom to come? How do we make sense of the hope for God’s will to be done in the midst of a world that often feels so secular? In this study, we will begin to explore these and other questions about the three Godcentered petitions found in the first half of the Lord’s Prayer. Do you prefer praying in a spontaneous, free-form way or with set language like the Lord’s Prayer? What are some advantages of each type of prayer?