Introduction

• As another year begins, it is helpful to take your ’spiritual temperature’, so to speak, to evaluate your priorities in light of the Scriptures.

• To do so, I want to focus on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and, in particular, on the well-known Lord’s prayer, a short model prayer, easy to memorize, recorded in Matthew 6, which reflects a biblical set of priorities.

• The Lord taught this prayer to counteract the deficient righteousness and the perverted priorities of the religious leaders of His day (cf. Matt.5:20). Even they got it wrong! God’s people are to be characterised by a different kind of righteousness (cf. Matt.5:20; 6:8).

• For our purposes, I have grouped the petitions of this prayer under three priorities:

1. Prioritise God’s Glory

• Significantly, the Lord’s Prayer begins with a focus on God: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’ (Matt.6:9).

• The verb ‘hallowed’ is couched in the passive voice, with God the unstated subject. In effect, this means that God will ensure that His Name is hallowed; this matter is too important to be left in the hands of men.

• To hallow means to ‘set apart as holy’, i.e., to recognize and respect God’s name as being uniquely holy in the world. (JS)

• In the Book of Exodus, God reveals His name to Moses as ‘I AM WHO I AM,’ emphasizing His eternal and unchanging nature. Significantly, in that OT context, God tells Moses, ‘Do not come any closer…Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground’ (cf. Exod.3:5). Here God hallows His Name, setting it apart as holy.

• Like Moses, believers are called to recognise God’s holiness. In a world that has sidelined the God of the Scriptures, you are called daily to give Him pride of place in your affections and actions, to respond to him with worship, obedience, gratitude, faith, and humility. (ES) In this way, God can hallow His Name in your life.

• The focus on God doesn’t end there. We must prioritise not only God’s Name, but also His Kingdom and His will (cf. Matt.6:9-10). (JMB)

2. Prioritise God’s Kingdom

• The Kingdom of God ‘dawned’ in Jesus’ ministry, like a fFalse Bay sunrise glimpsed on the horizon, but not in all its glory, like the midday sun. This will happen when Jesus returns. Then God will truly hallow His name!

• This is what we pray for in the petition: ‘Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (cf. Matt.6:10).

• This petition prioritises the eternal Kingdom of God when the blessings of the Beatitudes will come to complete fruition (cf. Matt.5:3ff.). So believers eagerly await its arrival. No more sin, sickness, suffering or sun, so great will be God’s glory (cf. Rev.22:5)!

• This petition calls you to have a heavenly and eternal perspective on this present life which is passing away, i.e., to look beyond 2025, and to live accordingly.

• Those with an eternal perspective will not pursue earthly pleasures, nor will they seek to hoard earthly treasures, neither of which endure (cf. Matt.6:20-21; LA fire - 12 000 homes destroyed). Instead:

  • They will be content to look to their heavenly Father to provide just enough bread for the day ahead. (DB)
  • They will be generous with their earthly possessions towards those in need thereby storing up for themselves treasures in heaven (cf. Acts 5).
  • They will seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting their Father in heaven, who sustains the entire universe, to take care of all their physical  needs (cf. Matt.6:25ff.).

• However, this eternal perspective does not mean that the present is unimportant.

3. Prioritise God’s Forgiveness

• You need God’s forgiveness daily as you fall short of His holiness, not loving God and neighbour as you ought. This is to be a priority.

• But, significantly in our text, Jesus links divine forgiveness to human forgiveness:

Matt.6:12; 14-15: 12 ‘and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…14 ‘For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’

• Extending forgiveness towards those who have offended or hurt you can be difficult. That is why Jesus here links divine forgiveness to human forgiveness, the one to motivate the other.

• Note the extensive ‘footprint’ of this petition, reinforcing the point that this human forgiveness is not optional.

• You are saved by faith alone, but here Jesus implies that faith without forgiveness does not save (cf. Jam.2:14ff.)!

• While human forgiveness is not the foundation of divine forgiveness, it is the fruit. So, lingering unforgiveness in your heart towards others is a ‘red flag’ that all is not right between you and God!

• Notice that ‘sandwiched’ between Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness in this prayer (cf. Matt.6:12, 14-15), there is a reference to the devil: Matt.6:13: ‘And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one’.

• This strategic placement may suggest that the devil is often at work in broken relationships tempting believers towards revenge, rather than reconciliation.

• Difficult though it may be, God’s forgiveness is a compelling reason to forgive others. That is why I have entitled this point ‘Prioritise God’s Forgiveness.’ Doing so will motivate you to do the same to others (cf. Eph.4:32).

Conclusion 

• Let me conclude this message by identifying 3 important keys, drawn from our text, to help you maintain these priorities as you face 2025.

• The first key is to point out the rather obvious fact that these priorities are couched as petitions in a prayer. This observation reinforces the point that their fulfillment is dependent on God (cf. God must give…forgive..lead…deliver).

• Indeed, left to your own strength, you will fail. That is why many new year’s resolutions do not last. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak! Neglect prayerful dependence on God and you will fail.

• The second key is to notice the repetition of ‘us’ and ’our’ in Jesus’ prayer, a reminder not only to pray this prayer for others, but also that you are part of a community of believers that is designed to provide instruction, encouragement and accountability for God’s people. Neglect regular church attendance and fellowship and you will fail.

• Finally, the third key is found in the opening line of this prayer, ‘Our Father in heaven…’ This designation for God is more than a wonderful invitation to the believer to approach God in prayer, confident of His fatherly love and care; it also reflects your identity as a child of God!

• We live in a world that seeks its identity elsewhere - in the pursuit of a career or in the accumulation of possessions or the praises of others. These become their priorities.

• The sad reality is that even as a believer you can be susceptible to these messages that resound around you. However, that pathway to identity will leave you dissatisfied; you never have enough, and success fades = ‘diminishing returns’.

• As a believer, your identity is not based on your achievements, but is rooted in the achievements of another. Your hope is based not on how well you are doing but on what Jesus has done for you. It is on this ‘solid rock’ that you can now call God, your ‘Father in heaven.’ (PT)

• By grace God has connected you to things that really matter, things that last and satisfy - seeking first God’s glory and Kingdom. Rather than being driven by anxious needs, your priorities can now be shaped by worshipful gratitude and service. (PT)

• So, the real issue is not one of priorities, but of identity. It comes down to this: remembering whose you are! God redeemed or purchased you with the precious blood of Christ from the empty way of life depicted in this world so that you now belong to Him and are called to honour Him (cf. 1 Pet.1:18-19).

• Grasping your true identity as a child of God with its many blessings will encourage you to continue to pursue the biblical priorities reflected in the Lord’s Prayer. But that leaves you with an all-important Q: Do you know God as your Father in heaven?