Mathews 6:9-13 reveals a considerable Christian belief anchored on the foundation of prayers. This reinforces the grace of prayers as a sufficient framework of guiding the Christian way of life. It from this principle that Mathews 6:9-13 underscores the need for acknowledging the presence of God and the inherent connection and fellowship of Christians through prayers. The petitions envisioned in this passage focuses on the attention of worshipers on God as well as entrusting God with the provision of the needs of Christians. Evidently, prayer is the fundamental experience, practice and ritual in the Christian life. This is the indispensable aspect that builds the relationship between believers and God.
Literary Crisis
Context
The passage Mathews 6:9-13 falls within the historical context of 90-110 AD. While the location of the model prayers seems to be Syria or Northern Palestine, the presupposition of the authors bordered on the need to enhance the interests of the Christian message familiar with the basic s feasts and customs of the Jews. According to Dugdale (p.33), it is evident that the passage of Mathews 6: 9-13 addresses the spiritual concerns that faced the early church composite of both Jews and gentiles. It is within this spectrum that the composition of the audience were believed to be the often victims of persecution of Christian throughout the entire Mediterranean basin. The underlying principle of the model prayer was to enhance the co-extensiveness with the spread of gospel.
The prayer was taught at a time when the status of the believers was characterized by seeking the needful information about salvation through Jesus. It is from this dimension that the edification of faith was founded in prayers. The extensive larger context that constructs Mathews 6:9-13 is the hortatory teachings taken from the sermon on the mountain when Jesus was on his ministry in Galilee Carter (p.514). The focus of the early church was to transform the believers into a model of salvation by enhancing the spiritual vision of Christians through prayer (Gavin, p.126). The implication of this foundation rests in the belief that the author of Mathews characteristically captured the divine commission of Jesus in compelling the church to exhibit the appeal for the proper attitude that underlie the observance of Christians. This was the best and the most effective approach that Jews and Gentiles would user in glorifying God for a lasting heavenly rewards.
Literary form
The immediate literary context of Mathews 6:9-13 depicts the Christian desire for spiritual growth, repentance and the extensive design for changing the way of life. The hymnal and narrative nature of the passage highlights the response to the request by a disciple who asked Jesus to teach them how to pry. This narration before the request intimates that Jesus had just finished his own prayer which attracted the attention of his followed. The Lord’s Prayer is thus a series of instructions on how to pray. Structured within the spectrum of the perseverance parable, the passage of Mathews 6:9-13 teaches the importance of prayer through captivating imagers.
The general theme of prayer is manifested as a liturgical significance among the early Christians. This form of prayer is widely used in communal function as part of the instruction to Christians of aspects of life (Carter, p.514). It through this prayer that Mathews formulate a distinctive identity to Christian’s different from other adherents. Essentially, Mathews 6:9-13 portends a unique genre that foretells the situation outcomes within the spectrum of contrasting hypocrisy and spiritual success. The prayer is applicable to various audiences through its loaded language, allusion, metaphors and symbols to override the message of hope, communion and fellowship.
The understanding of the Lords prayers enhance the perspective of the fatherhood of God that is illustrated in Deuteronomy 32: 6 and Malachi 2:10 as the creators. This implies a close indication on the special relationship that God establishes with his creation. Isaiah 63:16, Psalms 103: 13 and Jeremiah 31:9 constructs the Christian consciousness that color Mathew’s passage n prayers. The allusion to other biblical texts strikes a semblance of how prophets, saints and other believers addressed God through prayers and supplication (Dugdale, 35).
Structure
Mathews 6:9-13 presents a narrative discourse that is characterized with the e traditional genres of salutation, introduction, plot and denouement. The passage largely and entirely focuses on the thematic styles of metaphor and imagery. The wider philosophy of religion, fellowship and spirituality is denoted in the key words littered with symbolism, alliteration and repetition (Gavin, p.132). This is the build up to a host of parallelism that enhances the rhetoric structure of the passage.
The model prayer in Mathews 6:9-13 is longer to fit into the liturgical usage. Carter (p.514) underscores that the passage includes the Lord’s Prayer in the sermon on the mountain characterizing the design of Jesus speaking on his own initiative. From this dimension, the passage constructs a structural design that provide a concise layout within its original presentation with punctuation. This shows the separation of a sentence with commas and semi Collins. The first full stop come at the end of the third petition “on the doing of God’s Will in Heaven and on Earth.
Mathews 6:9-13 adopts a tone that calls for acknowledging the power of God, submission to the Father’s Will and repentance by promising the desire to overcome temptations and evil through fellowship and communion. The dramatic shift, as evidenced by Dugdale (36), underscore the framework of prayer that builds on the reconciliatory tom to allow Christians in working towards the truth and spirit. This extensively enhances the chances of sharing the Kingdom of God as part of accomplishing the work of God. Accordingly, the structure of the passage calls to mind other similar structures of communal lament and individual psalms within the mechanics of praising God and expressing the confidence of the believer in God in the everyday situations of life. A close understanding of the passage reveals the functional significance of the prayer in discovering the intrinsic message of communion and fellowship around the ecumenical commitments that is encoded in the invocations.
Redaction Criticism
The passage has come through the editorial processes because the underlying changes made include reduction of articles and phrases. The prayer was recorded in the ancient documents of Christians called Didache and described as the first Christian manual. This highlights a possible redaction based on the structure and implication of the prayer to fit the universal purpose of its usage as a form of instruction of the daily frequency of the prayer. The version of the Didache, According to Dugdale (p.35), follows closely to the text of Mathews. However, the doxology at the end is accepted on the basis of the liturgical adaptation by the early church.
Key Words
Our Father: portends a significant salutation that announces the conversation between people in a relationship. It categorically implies the reaffirmation that God is Father and has the ability to sustaina mankind. This key word is symbolic proof that the church embraces God with the hope of salvation.
Who art in heaven Implies the values of introduction, worship and acknowledgement. The remaining sections are dived in two parts that constitute petitions. The phrase characterizes the belief of the church that God reigns in heaven and is the custodian of the eternal life.
Hallowed be thy Name: reinforces the belief that each part portend a common feature that determines the aspect of worship, and supplication. This symbolic reference of God and heaven informs of the valuable power of divine intervention, Holy Spirit and Grace in guiding the Christian journey of faith towards the path of righteousness. Arguably, the phrase espouses the God is the only source of salvation and hope.
Our daily Bread: Invokes God’s in the daily sustenance, protection from temptation. It epitomizes the stability of God in providing for his creation. According to this phrase, the ideological nature of faith is to believe in the ability of God to sustain humanly needs.
Forgive us: Depicts the Christian desire for spiritual growth, repentance and the extensive design for changing the way of life. This refers to the compassionate appeal by God to embrace the inherent need of communion and fellowship. The question of pride and self-sufficiency is rebuked because it allows sin to flourish blocking the spiritual light of Christians.
Deliver us from evil: Underscore the framework of prayer that builds on the reconciliatory tom to allow Christians in working towards the truth and spirit. Jesus urges the Christians to emphasize on embracing truth in spirit and faith as a measure to facilitate the process of redemption
Theological Analysis
Relationship with God
Mathews 6:9-13 underscores the need for acknowledging the presence of God and the inherent connection and fellowship of Christians through prayers. The petitions envisioned in this passage focuses on the attention of worshipers on God as well as entrusting God with the provision of the needs of Christians. Evidently, prayer is the fundamental experience, practice and ritual in the Christian life. This is the indispensable aspect that builds the relationship between believers and God.
The prayer was taught at a time when the status of the believers was characterized by seeking the needful information about salvation through Jesus. It is from this dimension that the edification of faith was founded in prayers. The extensive larger context that constructs Mathews 6:9-13 is the hortatory teachings taken from the sermon on the mountain when Jesus was on his ministry in Galilee (Carter, p. 514).It through this prayer that Mathews formulate a distinctive identity to Christian’s different from other adherents. Essentially, Mathews 6:9-13 portends a unique genre that foretells the situation outcomes within the spectrum of contrasting hypocrisy and spiritual success. The prayer is applicable to various audiences through its loaded language, allusion, metaphors and symbols to override the message of hope, communion and fellowship.
Community in which it was originally written
Mathews 6: 9-13 addresses the spiritual concerns that faced the early church composite of both Jews and gentiles. It is within this spectrum that the composition of the audience were believed to be the often victims of persecution of Christian throughout the entire Mediterranean basin. The underlying principle of the model prayer was to enhance the co-extensiveness with the spread of gospel. The focus of the early church was to transform the believers into a model of salvation by enhancing the spiritual vision of Christians through prayer. The implication of this foundation rests in the belief that the author of Mathews characteristically captured the divine commission of Jesus in compelling the church to exhibit the appeal for the proper attitude that underlie the observance of Christians. This was the best and the most effective approach that Jews and Gentiles would user in glorifying God for a lasting heavenly rewards. It is within this spectrum that the composition of the audience were believed to be the often victims of persecution of Christian throughout the entire Mediterranean basin. The underlying principle of the model prayer was to enhance the co-extensiveness with the spread of gospel.
Work Cited
Carter, Warren. "Recalling The Lord's Prayer: The Authorial Audience And.." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 57.3 (1995): 514
Dugdale, Kate. "Understanding The Lord's Prayer As A Paradigm For Prayer." Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal Of Christian Thought & Practice 19.3 (2012): 30-37
Gavin, John. "Becoming An Exemplar For God." Logos: A Journal Of Catholic Thought & Culture 16.3 (2013): 126-146.
