# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2016_S169
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

IV. THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

6: Jesus’ prayer priorities—II

B.
(Pray Psalm 140 if this is a separate session)

(TPP, pages 52-63)

A.
Opening: Pray Psalm 104
Christian prayer, flowing from childlike faith, responds to God’s command, His promise, and our need.
We ask for His will as His name is hallowed and He rules in our lives—but what shall we pray about dayto-day living?
Fourth Petition: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt 6:11)

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Sin is a constant and evil surrounds us. How will we live in this world?
Sixth Petition: “And lead us not into temptation” (Mt 6:13)
As we pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” we are recalling Satan and his work (1 Pet 5:8), for he seeks
to tempt us to sin (Mt 18:7). Jesus, who was tempted for us, is our strength in temptation (see Lk 22:40
and Hb 4:15).
God tempts no one, but…

Read and briefly discuss Exodus 16 as background to this petition. Consider the importance of the phrase
“this day” and the words “daily bread.” These words call to mind our most basic human needs and God’s
daily provision.

This petition can be misunderstood, but James 1:13 reminds us God does not lead us into sin. Rather, it is
true that as Satan is tempting, God is testing—to get us to rely on Him.

The Source of all good for all

Our weakness, God’s strength

Jesus teaches us to pray not only for eternal blessings (the name, kingdom, will of God), but also for daily
blessings—and not for us alone, but for all (Mt 6:26).

We are too weak to withstand the attack, but God isn’t. So we rely on Him to keep us from false belief
and despair (2 Pet 2:1, Mt 27:4-5).

Prayer with thanksgiving

Seventh Petition: “But deliver us from evil” (Mt 6:13)

This petition curbs our greed, diminishes anxiety and leads to thanksgiving. These words also connect us
to one another and open our hearts to one another’s needs as each one of us learns to pray for “our” daily
bread and not “mine” alone (Ph 4:6; 1Tim 6:8).

“Evil” summarizes the human problem, and the reason we need to pray. Our deliverance comes in Christ
and will be total in the resurrection (Ps 140:1-2, 13; Gal 1:3-4).

Fifth Petition: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Mat 6:12)
This petition leads us to acknowledge our guilt and need for forgiveness, in the recognition that our debt
is greater than we can ever hope to pay (Mt 18:23-35).
Power in the plural

Deliverance from every evil
We have no strength in ourselves against evil (Rom 7:19; Ps 79:9-13), but the Lord is faithful in
preserving us against every evil of every sort (2 Th 3:3; Eph 5:15-16).
Overcoming evil

Christ, who became sin for us, leads us in this prayer. He has won forgiveness for all the world—for all of
us. Forgiveness is not mine to keep for myself (2 Cor 5:21; Lk 23:34; Eph 4:32).

Consider how God’s goodness overcomes evil (Rom 12:21) because Christ—in whom there is no evil—
is able to overcome it (Lk 23:22). He does so in His atoning death and by the work of the Spirit who
keeps us in faith to the end (Gal 1:4; 2 Tim 4:18).

But I just can’t forgive…

Amen! Yes, Yes, it shall be!

God can, however, and He puts words of forgiveness for all of “us” into this petition. We struggle to
forgive when we see the sins of others apart from our own. In this petition Jesus has us praying against
such feelings, based on His death for all (Rom 5:6-8).

We conclude the prayer (“For thine is the kingdom…) with confidence anchored in faith in God. The
“Amen” (which is translated “truly”) says that this prayer is pleasing to God, and reflects the assurance
we have regarding everything Jesus teaches and accomplishes for us (e.g., Mt 18:3).

God wishes “to draw us to himself so that we may humble ourselves before him, lament our
misery and plight, and pray for grace and help” (Luther, quoted in TPP, 56).

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“Having said, ‘Deliver us from evil,” there remains nothing beyond for us to ask for… we stand
secure and safe, against all things that the Devil and the world work against us” (Cyprian,
quoted in TPP, 61).

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2016 Convention Workbook