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[Jesus said]: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” When we pray for our sins to be forgiven, we are looking to the past. Next, the Lord’s Prayer looks to the future. Once again, the prayer is fiercely realistic. Although we have had the privilege of our sins being forgiven, we haven’t overcome the problem of sin. Every day we will still face temptation to be less than the best. We are tempted to cut corners and to be selfish and unkind. Temptation is incredibly subtle. The evil one knows our weaknesses and he will exploit them in every possible way. But as we face up to these temptations, we have the wonderful privilege of knowing that Jesus understands exactly what we are going through. In the letter to the Hebrews, the writer says that Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). What an encouragement it is to know that Jesus fully understands the temptations we live with. In fact, He knew even more about them than we do; we all too often give in to temptations and therefore don’t experience their full force, but Jesus never did, so He experienced their maximum power. As we look to the future, we don’t need to be fearful that we will be overcome by evil one day. We can be confident that however great the challenge, Jesus will deliver us from the evil one. Question What is the greatest temptation that you face, and how are you confronting it? Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, help me to stand strongly for You, however great the temptations. Amen

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them. False prophets make an appearance in both the Old and New Testaments. Jeremiah had a particular problem with them. He believed that he was called by God to inform the people that, unless they turned back to Him, a foreign nation would sweep over them. This was not the message that people wanted to hear. They much preferred the soothing words of the false prophets who told them that they had nothing to worry about. But the truth was that they had everything to worry about because Jeremiah’s words were true and, in due course, the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem and took the Lord’s people off into exile. False prophets were a continual challenge in the early Church and Jesus sought to prepare His followers to meet them. What they needed to know was how to spot a false prophet. Jesus told His followers to look carefully at their lives, because the way in which they acted would be bound to reveal the people that they truly were. False prophets still exist today. When we see religious leaders who are only out to make money, or to gain a reputation and a following, we need to be suspicious. When we see anger, rudeness, selfishness and divisiveness we are bound to ask where those actions come from. As Jesus said: “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). Question – How would you spot a false prophet? Prayer – Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for warning us about the dangers that we might face and for giving us Your Spirit to give us wisdom and strength as we confront them. Amen

Matthew 7:12 In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. This statement is often known as The Golden Rule. The Jews were familiar with something like this but always in the negative form. Only Jesus expressed the rule positively. That is to say, we are not merely to stop thieving, lying and killing but to go out of our way to love, care and encourage. And the reason for living in this way is that surely this is exactly how we would like other people to treat us. Jesus plainly saw this simple and clear rule as a summary of His Sermon on the Mount. This principle should be shaping the way in which we live day by day. So our first task is to decide how we like to be treated. It would be excellent if you could take some time today to make a list of the things that are important for you. If you want to be loved, respected and listened to then that’s exactly the way in which you need to act towards others. It’s as simple as that! The Golden Rule is very similar to the command to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. That is to say we need to start our thinking by reflecting on ourselves. This isn’t a command to be selfish! It is only selfish if the thinking stops with us. Having done our thinking about what we enjoy and appreciate we are then in the position to reach out in love to those around us. Question – What do you want other people to do for you? Prayer – Lord God, help me to love others in the way that I want to be loved. Amen

Matthew 7:11 - If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Some years ago I was travelling on a bus in Israel and heard some amazing pan-pipe music. I spoke to the driver and told him how much I enjoyed it. Without a moment’s hesitation he took the cassette tape out of the machine and handed it to me, insisting that I receive it as a gift. I was quite embarrassed and insisted that he should keep it. He wouldn’t hear of it. It was now mine because I had liked it so much. Moments of generosity like that are a great blessing aren’t they? Our reading today tells us that that is the nature of God. He is always generous. He can’t wait for the opportunity to bless our lives. Jesus pointed out that no parent would give their child a stone if they asked for bread, or a snake if they asked for fish. Crazy and mixed up as we may be, we would never do those things. We want to bless our children and, Jesus says, God is exactly the same. He is looking for the opportunity to bless our lives. When we are convinced of God’s generosity it will massively affect our prayers. Instead of coming to God with fear and anxiety, we can come to him with confidence and joy. We will pray knowing that God is delighted to hear our prayers and looking forward to us working with Him to receive and share His blessings. Question – In what ways have you experienced God’s generosity? Prayer – Lord God, thank You for all the ways in which You have been generous to me. Amen

Matthew 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Jesus uses this comical illustration to press home His teaching about being judgemental. Jesus isn’t suggesting that other people’s inadequacies aren’t real. They do indeed get lots of things wrong. But He encourages us to look at ourselves and recognise that our failings may be much greater than the little failings of others. He isn’t saying that we should stop identifying the specks in other people’s eyes but that we should start by becoming far more self-aware. How well do you know yourself? It is very easy for all of us to develop annoying habits and attitudes which are so deeply embedded that we are totally unaware of them. When someone points out that we are a little short of perfection, we shrug our shoulders and conclude that people just need to “take us as they find us”. Jesus suggests that this isn’t good enough. We need to let His light shine into our lives so that our shortcomings are revealed, and He can set us free from them in the power of the Spirit. Jesus urges us not to judge people harshly because if we do so then that will be the way that He judges us. Don’t go there! We need to be constantly aware of our failings and in that way we will be always be gentle and gracious when we seek to help other people. Question – What might be the log in your own eye? Prayer – Lord God our Father I confess that I have sinned against You. Forgive me for those times when I have been so quick to see the failings of others and totally unaware of my own shortcomings. Amen

Matthew 6:26-27. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? The most useless thing that you can say to a person who is worrying is: “Don’t worry.” No doubt it is meant kindly, but you are actually increasing the person’s problems, because you have done nothing to stop their worrying and have now added a layer of guilt on top! I love Jesus’ approach. He tells His followers that they have no need to worry because God will provide for them. If He is able to look after the birds and the flowers, He can certainly cope with their problems. Trusting God is the answer. Worrying has never, and can never, build anything. I do realise that those wise words don’t in themselves solve the problem. Worries will still come knocking at the door wanting to claim our attention. So what shall we do when the next worry turns up as it is bound to do? The best thing that we can do is to bring that worry to God in prayer. As we pray we are able to commit our concerns to God knowing that He knows the whole story. He knows all about our aches and pains, our passions, our frustrations, our hopes and our fears. Nothing is hidden from him and as we pray we can be sure that He longs to respond. Question – What are you going to say when you are next tempted to say “don’t worry”? Prayer – Lord God, thank You that You perfectly provide for my needs and that I have no need to worry. Amen

Matthew 6.20-21. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What matters most to you in your life? It could be any number of things – your family, possessions, relationships, career, hobby, sport, reputation, political convictions or your faith. The point that Jesus is making here is that whatever matters most to you will shape the way in which you live. So it is vital that you fix your sights on something that will last. The truth is that most things about this life are temporary. Our possessions are a blessing to us because they are part of God’s gift to us, but they have a short shelf life. They are either attacked by moths and rust or could be stolen. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is encouraging His followers to keep their eyes fixed on the Kingdom of heaven because that treasure will last forever. I have always been inspired by the story of Jim Elliot. He was determined to share the Good News of Jesus with the Auca Indians in Ecuador. They had a savage reputation but he and his four missionary colleagues weren’t put off. Tragically in February 1955 they were all murdered by ten tribesmen. Jim was 29 years old. Some years before that Jim had reflected on the dangers of his ministry and wrote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose." Jim knew where his treasure was. Our lives may look very different from his, but it is still the key question for us. Question – What is your treasure? Prayer – Loving Father, help me to seek Your kingdom before anything else. Amen

Matthew 6.16-17 “When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face.” Fasting formed a significant part of Jewish life. Solemn fasts were held every year on particular days such as the Day of Atonement, the New Year and the anniversaries of notable calamities in Jewish history. In the early church many Christians fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays. So fasting was a regular experience for Christians and Jesus did nothing to discourage it. But His concern was the way in which it was done. He taught his disciples to be completely private about it. Because it was to be entirely between them and God, He encouraged them to go out of their way to hide the fact that they were fasting. Fasting continues to be important for many Christians. It isn’t a requirement, but many find it to be a blessing. It’s a time to focus our attention on the Lord and to listen to Him. When you fast you are telling God that He is more important than food and freeing up time to nourish your spiritual life. Some people use it as an opportunity to read Scripture or a devotional book, or to have unhurried time in prayer. The choice is yours, but the focus must always be on God and your relationship with Him. Question – In what ways is fasting a blessing to you? And if you don’t fast, in what ways do you think it might be helpful? Prayer – Lord God, we thank you for the blessings that You bring to Your people when they fast. Amen

(Jesus Said) Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one When we pray for our sins to be forgiven and for us to forgive others we are looking to the past. Now the Lord’s Prayer looks to the future. Once again, the prayer is fiercely realistic. Although we have had the privilege of our sins being forgiven, we haven’t overcome the problem of sin. Every day we will still face temptation to be less than the best. We are tempted to cut corners and to be selfish and unkind. Temptation is incredibly subtle. The evil one knows our weaknesses and he will exploit them in every possible way. But as we face up to these temptations, we have the wonderful privilege of knowing that Jesus understands exactly what we are going through. In the letter to the Hebrews the writer says that Jesus was: “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). What an encouragement it is to know that Jesus understands fully the temptations that we live with. In fact, He knew even more about the temptations than we do. The reason for this is that all too often we give in to temptations and so we don’t experience their full force. Jesus, however, never succumbed to temptations and so he experienced their full power. As we look to the future, we don’t need to be fearful that one day we will be overcome by evil. As we look to Jesus we can be confident that, however great the challenge, He will deliver us from the evil one. Question – What is the greatest temptation that you face, and how are you confronting it? Prayer – Lord Jesus Christ, help me to stand strongly for You, however great the temptations. Amen

[Jesus said]: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” The Lord’s Prayer has its feet firmly planted on the ground! It talks about our everyday life, and here it faces up to the horrible but undeniable fact that sin forms a big part of our lives. But here’s the good news: through our faith in Jesus, sin is no longer an overwhelming problem. Before we met Jesus, sin defeated us, but now, through His death on the cross, we can be completely forgiven. God’s forgiveness is a wonderful gift but, if we are willing to receive it, it places a huge responsibility on us. We have to share it. This is the tough bit. When we are deliberately wronged, everything in us cries out for justice, if not retribution. We want the perpetrator to be punished. But the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that just as we received forgiveness as a free and totally undeserved gift, we now need to pass it on to others. CS Lewis wisely commented: “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” Forgiving others rarely involves words. Forgiveness is something which happens in our hearts and expresses itself in our attitudes and actions. When someone has wronged us, our forgiveness will be shown in the kind and thoughtful way we respond to them when we next meet. Our loving words will show that we have truly forgiven them and moved on. There’s nothing easy about forgiveness, but it’s the way of liberation. It’s the way to find life in all its fulness. Question What has been your own experience of forgiving others? Prayer Lord God, give me strength to pass on Your gift of forgiveness. Amen

[Jesus said]: “Give us today our daily bread.” Have you ever wondered why we ask God for food on a daily basis? Why not ask Him to supply us for a week or even a month? It’s a perfectly sensible question, and the answer is that God wants a relationship with us. He wants us to live in continual partnership with Him. Every day we need to turn to Him to obtain the nourishment that we need. This applies in both a physical and a spiritual sense. Just as we need to eat each day, so too we need to ensure that we are receiving spiritual nourishment. However excellent last Sunday’s church service was or however blessed we were by yesterday’s time of prayer, we need to open ourselves to God’s Spirit today. I am struck by the fact that everything in this prayer is plural. The prayer begins with the words “Our Father in heaven”, and here we don’t pray for my but our daily bread. The moment we start praying, we identify the fact that we are part of a worldwide family. When we think about getting fed, it isn’t just about my empty stomach or my spiritual needs but about the feeding that we all need. If you are feeling thoroughly well fed in body, mind and spirit, that’s excellent – but it isn’t enough. We pray that that same blessing will extend to everyone everywhere. What we are learning is that the Lord’s Prayer is incredibly radical. We are praying that God will fundamentally change our world. Question In what way do you need to be fed today? Prayer Lord God, thank You that Your understanding of me is so complete that You know exactly how I need to be nourished today. Amen

[Jesus said]: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom of heaven comes about when we obey God’s will. So when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are saying that we have signed up to working for this amazing kingdom and we want to bring it about here and now. We want the kingdom to be established in our family, our community, our workplace and our church. Some years ago, I was sent a wonderful press cutting. It was the report of the stone-laying of a church in Plymouth in 1905. It was a wet day, but even so, the event went ahead and the mayor of the city kindly attended. He was clearly a Christian, and declared that the more widely the good news of Jesus Christ was proclaimed, the less work there would be for the police and magistrates – and the less claim would be made on the poor relief of the town. Speaking generally, he said: “the proclamation of the Good News made municipal work more easy and the rates more light”. I love that! He was saying that the church’s business was to introduce the kingdom of heaven – and that would have an impact on the whole community. With less crime, council tax would come down! Too often churches turn in on themselves and forget that God’s desire is that we should work for the coming of His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Question In what way are you working to bring the kingdom of heaven here on earth? Prayer Lord God, thank You that You have invited us to work with You to bring Your kingdom to our world today. Amen

[Jesus said]: “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’” The Lord’s Prayer is all about relationship. It begins by looking to God, because everything in this prayer flows out of our intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. As an Aramaic speaker, the word that would have been in Jesus’ mind was ‘Abba’. He would have used this word to address His earthly father, Joseph, and it literally means ‘daddy’. It is a warm and intimate word, and Jesus is clearly wanting His followers to enjoy that kind of closeness to God. As we pray to our heavenly Daddy we are fully aware that He has a unique status. He is holy and set apart from anything that is imperfect. So we begin the prayer by affirming that He is to be totally respected, or “hallowed”. We aren’t only recognising the importance of respecting God’s name but also honouring Him for all that He is and all that He has done. As we pray “our Father”, we are also affirming that we have brothers and sisters and that we are part of a community of people which wants to live for God. Christian faith can never be a solitary, private affair, and this wonderful prayer reminds us that we are part of an amazing worldwide family. The Lord’s Prayer should never be said unthinkingly or quickly. It is the prayer for those who are fully committed to putting their heavenly Father first in their lives. Question How would you describe your personal relationship with God? Prayer Loving heavenly Father, we thank You that You have invited us, through Your Son Jesus, into such an intimate relationship with You and one another. Amen

[Jesus said]: “When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Prayer is often described as being like talking to a friend. There is much that is right about that description apart from the fact that God is totally unlike any friend that you or I have ever had. For a start, He knows everything. One of the key features of a conversation with our friends is that, wonderful as they might be, they don’t know everything. In a conversation we spend plenty of time sharing information with them. So the big question is this: if God knows everything, what is the point of praying? The answer is a wonderful one. Relieved of the necessity of informing God, prayer is all about relationship. As we pray, we affirm the fact that we are His children and that we are totally dependent on Him. That’s why it is so important to spend time alone with God – time to be completely honest and time to listen. The joy of our relationship with God is that we can be completely sure He knows our situation more intimately than we know it ourselves. So we don’t need to ‘babble on’ for ages as some religions taught. The moment we come into God’s presence, we can be sure we are enveloped by His love and totally understood. Isn’t that wonderful? Question In what ways are your quiet times with God important to you? Prayer Lord God, thank You that You know everything about me and yet still love me and want to fill me with Your life. Amen

[Jesus said]: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Jesus was reacting against people who made a great show of their praying. They prayed in the synagogues and at street corners because they were looking for an audience. Jesus obviously wasn’t saying that it was wrong to pray in synagogues and at street corners but that it was wrong to turn prayer into a religious performance totally focused on people and not on God. Jesus drew attention to the importance of private prayer, because this reveals where the heart is. Jesus could see that many of the most religious people in His society lived their lives furthest away from God. The word ‘religion’ is often thought to mean ‘bind back’. It ties people to a particular set of beliefs and practices, but it is easy for religion to become merely a performance. Jesus’ desire was to renew people’s hearts so that, through their relationship with God, they would want to honour and serve Him. At the end of the day, anyone can pray a long prayer, give money or fast, but what matters is where their heart is. I wonder where you find it best to have your quiet time with God. In a busy life and noisy household this can be hard to achieve, but it will be the most important moment of your day. Question Why is it so crucial to have a quiet time with God each day? Prayer Lord God, help me to live so close to You that my words and actions flow out of my relationship with You. Amen