Lesson 4

Question 1

Describe the context of the Lord’s Prayer

Answer 1

• Righteousness of the whole person, entire life submitted to God (not constraining the law as the Pharisees do) discussed beforehand in Sermon on the Mount
• It is an expansion of an entire life devoted to God.
• The Lord’s prayer covers all of life
  * Our relationsihp to God as Father
  * Our need for daily nurishment
  * Our need to forgive and be forgiven
  * Our need for help against temptation
• Matt 6:1-18 Religious Rites
  * Practice of justice and righteousness before others
  * Against hypocracy and injustice
• we are not manipulating God but we are approaching him as our Father.
• He knows are needs before we do.
• We cannot impress Him

Question 2

What are the various ways the Prayer is grounded in a ‘posture of faith’?

Answer 2

‘The Chief exercise of Faith” (Calvin)
1. It does not intrinsingly acompish anything
2. It forces us to rely on God
3. submission to God’s will,
4. dependence on him for daily bread & forgiveness,
5. anticipating the coming of the kingdom,
6. coming confidently though needy,
7. trusting God’s wisdom,
8. confessing to a forgiving God
9. ‘The Chief exercise of Faith” (Calvin)

Question 3

Explain how the Prayer is a ‘mantra’ for our own prayer

Answer 3

1. words to train us
2. say the actual words
3. and then also expand upon them
4. Like scales in music. You practice scales in order to create music.
5. you practice praying the Lord’s prayer in order to understand and pray our own prayers.
6. We must know the content of the Lord’s prayer that helps us pray our own prayers.

Question 4

How does the WLC describe a given segment of the Lord’s Prayer?

Answer 4

Each segment divides the Lord’s Prayer into sections for further exposition or meditation