11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord,teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name,
Michael Jordan reminded people again and again that his hope when he first came to Chicago was that the basketball team in Chicago would be as respected as Boston, LA and Philadelphia. This is where our prayers originate, from a hope we have. He saw those other teams as the legacy, the fathers of faith, and he wanted his team to honored just as they were. This hope became a prayer that he lived out. Elizabeth’s prayer was concerning the “mother of my Lord”. She prayed that Mary would be blessed and that the “fruit of her womb” would be blessed. “Blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.” Mary prayed that the Lord would be magnified in her. She had a vision that although she was in a low estate, from henceforth all generations shall call her blessed. “Those who honor me I will honor” (1Sam 2:30). She proclaimed that He was doing mighty things. She proclaimed His mercy. He scattered the proud and exalted them of low degree. This is what it means to hallow the Lord’s name and this is the prayer that she lived.
your kingdom come.
Zacharias was focused on God who had wrought redemption and salvation. He praised God for His faithfulness in remembering the covenant with Israel. He prophesied that John would have a mission to go before the Lord to make ready His way, to give knowledge of salvation, and to guide our feet in the way of peace.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
Scottie Pippen was ranked 2nd on the Bulls in scoring, 2nd in rebounding, 2nd in minutes played, 1st in assists, 1st in steals, and 6th in salary. He was 122nd in the league in salary. He was a hall of fame player, he played on the Dream team, one of the 11 best players in the league at the time, and he was undeniably underpaid. We aren’t praying to “get what is ours” we are praying for our daily bread. The reason Scottie was underpaid was simple, he had two people in his family in wheelchairs, and he had a very large family (11 brothers and sisters) depending on him. Therefore he signed a long contract (8 years) for $18 million to make sure everyone was taken care of. He was advised that this was a bad contract, but he felt in his situation security was the most important. Let’s keep our prayers simple, just to be given our daily bread. Everyone in his family said clearly that they had been given their daily bread. There are many, many athletes who go broke after having huge contracts. Scottie didn’t go broke because he knew from day one that this money had to take care of everyone.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
The case with Scottie Pippen is very instructive. The owner knew he was being underpaid, but his principle was “once you sign a contract that is it, don’t come back to me”. So righteousness without any forgiveness. One might think the owner was righteous in sticking to his principles. Really? A few years earlier Jordan had retired to play baseball. The owner paid him $3 million a year which was not required in any contract, he said he did it because Jordan had been underpaid. This is hypocrisy. Pippen saw the hypocrisy and insult to him as a sin. How did he react? Scottie ruptured his tendon at the end of the 1997 season. He could have had an operation that would have had him ready to play on day one of the next season, but instead he waited till the summer was over. As a result he had to sit out for three months in the next season. ‘You don’t care about me, why should I care about you’? He succumbed to this temptation and that hurt everyone else on the team, not simply the owner. Righteousness without forgiveness, without mercy is very cold. Suppose the owner had gone to Scottie and said “I feel terrible about this contract, it is an embarrassment to me that you are so underpaid and it is giving others the impression I am stingy. Therefore I would like to renegotiate our contract if that is alright with you, for the sake of my good name.” Yes, he would have paid a few more million a year to Scottie, but everyone would have been much happier, his reputation would have been much better, and it is very possible they would have all been able to work out a deal where they won a 7th championship. When you take that attitude that you are righteous without considering forgiving others you will be led into temptation.
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
There is a wonderful example of shameless audacity with Jordan. He broke his foot, the doctor’s wanted him to remain out the entire season because there was a 10% chance he’d reinjure the foot. Owner didn’t want to take the chance, so he went public making a big stink that they were just doing this to get better draft picks. Ultimately they relented. So even though the owner wouldn’t relent because of his friendship with Jordan, ultimately he did because of his shameless audacity. Another example of shameless audacity is Dennis Rodman. In the last season they were playing Utah in the championship. Dennis had to guard Karl Malone, a hall of fame forward. Dennis was also a hall of famer, but Karl Malone was the real deal and at the very top of his game. Dennis needed to grow, to expand, to become the “Rodmanator”. In the middle of the series he leaves, goes to Vegas and is seen with Hulk Hogan in a wrestlemania show and was christened “the Rodmanator”. To leave without permission, skip out on practice during the championship was both shameless and audacious. This is why no other team would have anything to do with Rodman. But he upped his game and met the challenge. He also was praying that this team would be honored. When they won he told people they needed to respect this team. He lived that prayer even if he resorted to shameless audacity.
Michael Jordan reminded people again and again that his hope when he first came to Chicago was that the basketball team in Chicago would be as respected as Boston, LA and Philadelphia. This is where our prayers originate, from a hope we have. He saw those other teams as the legacy, the fathers of faith, and he wanted his team to honored just as they were. This hope became a prayer that he lived out. Elizabeth’s prayer was concerning the “mother of my Lord”. She prayed that Mary would be blessed and that the “fruit of her womb” would be blessed. “Blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.” Mary prayed that the Lord would be magnified in her. She had a vision that although she was in a low estate, from henceforth all generations shall call her blessed. “Those who honor me I will honor” (1Sam 2:30). She proclaimed that He was doing mighty things. She proclaimed His mercy. He scattered the proud and exalted them of low degree. This is what it means to hallow the Lord’s name and this is the prayer that she lived.
your kingdom come.
Zacharias was focused on God who had wrought redemption and salvation. He praised God for His faithfulness in remembering the covenant with Israel. He prophesied that John would have a mission to go before the Lord to make ready His way, to give knowledge of salvation, and to guide our feet in the way of peace.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
Scottie Pippen was ranked 2nd on the Bulls in scoring, 2nd in rebounding, 2nd in minutes played, 1st in assists, 1st in steals, and 6th in salary. He was 122nd in the league in salary. He was a hall of fame player, he played on the Dream team, one of the 11 best players in the league at the time, and he was undeniably underpaid. We aren’t praying to “get what is ours” we are praying for our daily bread. The reason Scottie was underpaid was simple, he had two people in his family in wheelchairs, and he had a very large family (11 brothers and sisters) depending on him. Therefore he signed a long contract (8 years) for $18 million to make sure everyone was taken care of. He was advised that this was a bad contract, but he felt in his situation security was the most important. Let’s keep our prayers simple, just to be given our daily bread. Everyone in his family said clearly that they had been given their daily bread. There are many, many athletes who go broke after having huge contracts. Scottie didn’t go broke because he knew from day one that this money had to take care of everyone.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
The case with Scottie Pippen is very instructive. The owner knew he was being underpaid, but his principle was “once you sign a contract that is it, don’t come back to me”. So righteousness without any forgiveness. One might think the owner was righteous in sticking to his principles. Really? A few years earlier Jordan had retired to play baseball. The owner paid him $3 million a year which was not required in any contract, he said he did it because Jordan had been underpaid. This is hypocrisy. Pippen saw the hypocrisy and insult to him as a sin. How did he react? Scottie ruptured his tendon at the end of the 1997 season. He could have had an operation that would have had him ready to play on day one of the next season, but instead he waited till the summer was over. As a result he had to sit out for three months in the next season. ‘You don’t care about me, why should I care about you’? He succumbed to this temptation and that hurt everyone else on the team, not simply the owner. Righteousness without forgiveness, without mercy is very cold. Suppose the owner had gone to Scottie and said “I feel terrible about this contract, it is an embarrassment to me that you are so underpaid and it is giving others the impression I am stingy. Therefore I would like to renegotiate our contract if that is alright with you, for the sake of my good name.” Yes, he would have paid a few more million a year to Scottie, but everyone would have been much happier, his reputation would have been much better, and it is very possible they would have all been able to work out a deal where they won a 7th championship. When you take that attitude that you are righteous without considering forgiving others you will be led into temptation.
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
There is a wonderful example of shameless audacity with Jordan. He broke his foot, the doctor’s wanted him to remain out the entire season because there was a 10% chance he’d reinjure the foot. Owner didn’t want to take the chance, so he went public making a big stink that they were just doing this to get better draft picks. Ultimately they relented. So even though the owner wouldn’t relent because of his friendship with Jordan, ultimately he did because of his shameless audacity. Another example of shameless audacity is Dennis Rodman. In the last season they were playing Utah in the championship. Dennis had to guard Karl Malone, a hall of fame forward. Dennis was also a hall of famer, but Karl Malone was the real deal and at the very top of his game. Dennis needed to grow, to expand, to become the “Rodmanator”. In the middle of the series he leaves, goes to Vegas and is seen with Hulk Hogan in a wrestlemania show and was christened “the Rodmanator”. To leave without permission, skip out on practice during the championship was both shameless and audacious. This is why no other team would have anything to do with Rodman. But he upped his game and met the challenge. He also was praying that this team would be honored. When they won he told people they needed to respect this team. He lived that prayer even if he resorted to shameless audacity.