NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Happy Independence Day to my U.S. readers! Amid the hot dogs, potato salad, and fireworks, let us all pause and thank God for the durability of this democracy. May we always strive to be one nation, under God indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Amen!
Last Week’s Work
MY PERSONAL TREASURE
This time, as I prayed over my huh?s and wow!s from last week, I was drawn to the prayer’s final request: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil [or the evil one]” (v13), and I recorded these three thoughts:
- This is the last of the requests. I’ve mentioned before the primacy and recency learning principles: material presented first and last should be the most important because it’s easier for learners to recall that information.
- The choice of verb, lead, seems strange: does God actually lead us to temptation? I thought that was Satan’s job.
- And didn’t Jesus already deliver us on the cross?
So, in this study, I intend to focus on the phrasing in Matthew 6:13.
WHO (FIVE CHARACTERS)
This passage is part of a larger discourse by a character referenced only as I (v5), but Matthew identified Him earlier (in context at 4:17) as Jesus. Jesus refers to His audience as you/your throughout the passage. And they also seem to be a least part of the group referred to as our (v9), us (vv11-13), and we (v12)—with Jesus, I assume.
He also used your, as well as who in vv9-10, to refer to the Father character (v6). I think it’s interesting Jesus didn’t call Him God in this passage.
The last characters I noticed were the two bad examples: the hypocrites/they/their in v5 and Gentiles/they/their/them in vv7-8.
WHERE (FIVE LOCATIONS)
Jesus begins his instruction on prayer with a discussion of where one should pray: not in the synagogues or at the street corners, but alone and in your room with the door shut (v5). He does have good reasons for that though, and we’ll explore them more this coming week!
The other two locations present two contrasts (more on that in two weeks!): the Father is in heaven, and that’s where His will is done (vv9-10). But on earth, where this discourse took place, the audience is enjoined to pray for God’s will to be done (v10).
WHEN (THREE TIMEFRAMES)
By repeating the phrase when you pray (vv5,6,7), Jesus infers that prayer is something the audience already does, and he explains three important prayer techniques: don’t grandstand like the hypocrites, pray in private, and don’t heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles.
The second timeframe I noticed was in v8: Jesus says God already knows what you need before you ask for it. And last, in v11, I discovered Jesus’s prayer is intended to ask for bread daily. That makes me think prayer should be a regular, daily occurrence.
Dig-In Challenges
Here’s my plan for this week:
- PRAY the prayer I wrote last week before I study.
- MINE: Look for repeated words or phrases like(hint hint) when you pray in this passage; and check for synonyms or pronouns that might refer to emphasized concepts, too.
- MINE: Locate any special statements (blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, requests, and/or warnings) in the passage.
- MINE: Note any lists (3 or more similar items) mentioned in Matthew 6:5-15.
Remember, you can download this printable summary of the DISO process for more specific instructions. I hope you’ll check in with me next week!