Luke 6:
27. But I tell to you – the ones hearing: You love your enemies, do well to the ones hating you,
28. Bless the ones cursing you, pray about the ones abusively treating (insulting) you.
29. To the one striking you on the cheek, turn also the other, and from the one taking your coat do not prevent him from taking your shirt.
30. Give to everyone asking you, and from the one borrowing do not ask for return.
31. And as you wish that men may do to you, do you to them likewise.
32. And if you love the ones loving you, what thanks is there to you? for even the sinners love the ones loving them.
33. And – for if you do good to the ones doing good to you, what thanks is there to you? even the sinners do the same thing.
34. And if you hope to receive from whom you lend, what thanks is there to you? even sinners lend to sinners that they might receive back equal things.
35. But love your enemies and do good and lend nothing despairingly and your reward will be much, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the unthankful and evil ones.
36. Be ye compassionate, as your Father is compassionate.

Let us examine the parallel passage found in the gospel of Luke to further our understanding of what the Lord is saying. The words of the Lord bear witness of both Matthew and Luke. We must take note of scripture that is repeated in text and witness. The Lord must be trying to emphasize to us the importance of the message. Why else would it be repeated? We must let the impact of these words gain priority in our study and in our dedication to apply their meanings

Matthew 6:
5. And when you pray, be not as the hypocrites; because they love to stand praying in the synagogues and in the corners of the open streets, so that they might appear before men; truthfully I tell you they will have their reward.
6. But when you pray, enter into your private room and shut the door, then pray to the Father in secret; and your Father seeing in secret will repay you.
7. When praying do not utter empty words as the Gentiles; for they think in their much speaking they will be heard.
8. Don’t be like them; for God the Father knows of what things you need even before you ask them.
9. Thus therefore pray: Our Father, the one of the heavens: Solid be your name.
10. Let your kingdom come; let your will come; as in heaven also in earth.
11. Our daily bread give to us today;
12. and forgive us our debts, indeed as we have forgiven our debtors;
13. bring us not into temptation, but rescue us from the evil. (for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.)
14. for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but,
15. if you do not forgive men, your heavenly Father will neither forgive you.

1. Love your enemies.
2. Pray for your enemies.
3. Our love is to be greater than the world’s.
4. If we do this we become the sons of God.
5. Let our love be like the Father’s (compassionate).

Think on these things. The Lord Jesus has asked us to petition him in secret. What is prayer? Why should we pray? How do we pray? God is speaking to us and wishes to converse with our hearts in the communion of prayer. Jesus commands us to do our praying in secret; in our closet. He warns against praying with the desire to be heard of others. He does not say we cannot repeat our prayer, nor does the king exhort concerning with what energy or with what measure of intent we pray. Instead we must not just be saying words to him just to be talking as if the words or the quantity of them was the measure of our prayer; or, the guarantee of His answer. To pray to fulfill a duty is against the will of the Father. To pray we should ask in His will, to His glory. Listen to the prayer of the Lord in example.

Speak (talk) to the Father, the Lord of heaven. Give Him the praise He deserves. Glorify His name, for it is solid. Let me stop to give a note of explanation. The Lord is using in this prayer a type of poetry used by His heritage, the Jews. It is called Hebrew parallelism. That means the poetry is like counting out things that are equal. A non-spiritual example would be:

Lift up the flag, for the patriot must see the banner.
or;
1+4=5 and 2+3=5
or;
A house is not a home for matrimony does not make a family.

Do you understand the example? One side of each phrase is equal or in balance with the other. They may refer to the same subject but from an equally different view to the show the equality. Let us examine again this prayer. The Lord God’s name is solid equals His domain of the heavens. Sometimes the equals are not obvious, but the intent of this poetry is to show these relationships. It was the Jewish way of expressing their wisdom. The listener was to provide the understanding. The depth of this type of poetry is endless. It is almost exclusively used by the Jews. Even in our day they are noted for their level of intellect. Now, Jesus is not doing this to impress the listeners, but to show to His listeners the quality of the depth of intellectual intent involved with His prayer. In other words, He was showing that, when He prayed, He was serious about what He said. Jesus wants us to understand the level of thought and preparation involved when conversing with God. To Jesus, prayer had a level of importance that demanded the usage of the talent He was created with. To us this has two immediate impacts. First of all, prayer should become an issue to us of equal importance to follow Him as an example. Secondly, we have an unparalleled example of the teaching of Jesus condensed into a tight package of His deepest thoughts.

So let us again look at the prayer of the Lord. Please do not say to yourself I don’t think I am going to understand this. For as the sons and daughters of God, we have been adopted by Him and grafted unto His vine. We by the aid of the spirit of the Lord can and should exercise greater energy in our thoughts and in our level of thinking than we did before our submission to the king. We as the children of God have the library of heaven at our disposal to discern and measure the integrity and truth of all things. Jesus is saying, first of all, that the true measure of His Father can be found in the value of His name and the height of His authority. God is. Do we remember: “I am that I am.”, as told to Moses and delivered to Pharaoh. Well, Jesus knows His Father and shows His intimacy with Him by the way He addresses the Father. Later in other scriptures the Lord shows how that the level of that intimacy comes to us by the spirit as we find the words: “Abba, Father” coming out of our mouths. Simply calling God in all of His greatness, daddy. Please think upon these things.

Mark 14:
35. And going forward a little he fell on the ground, and prayed that if possible the hour might pass away from him,
36. and said: Abba [Daddy] Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; but not what I wish but what thou. (KJV)

Romans 8:
14. For as many as by the spirit of God are led, these sons are of God.
15. For ye received not a spirit of slavery again for fear, but ye received a spirit of adoption, by which we cry: Abba [Daddy] Father.
16. The spirit himself witnesses with the spirit of us that we are the children of God.
17. And if children, also heirs; heirs on one hand of God, joint heirs on the other of Christ, since we suffer with him in order that we also may be glorified with him. (KJV)

Galatians 4:
6. And because ye are sons, God sent forth the spirit of the Son of him into the hearts of us, crying: Abba [Daddy] Father.
7. So as no more art thou a slave but a son; and if a son, also an heir through God. (KJV)

The kingdom of the Lord can only come, as the will of the Father, is come. God’s will must be done on earth, in our hearts, as it has already been planned in heaven. God has perfectly planned in His heart and predestined a plan for each one of us. We must but attune ourselves to this plan written in heaven to see the will of God done upon the earth in us. And only when our hearts become listeners of the will of God can the kingdom of heaven come to us in our prayer. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THE WILL OF GOD DONE UPON THE EARTH THROUGH THE INDWELLING OF HIS SPIRIT IN THE BELIEVER FOR THE GLORIFICATION OF HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST. Our hearts can only be filled (full) when the kingdom of heaven is come into us. As Martin Luther said, “Christus in nobis”, “Christ in us”.

Please understand. God made our hearts; and, has breathed into them His will. You have known the Lord God if you have lowly, mercifully and sorrowfully felt His breath upon you. The word spirit means wind or the moving air. Let God breathe upon your soul and feel His reign in you in the name of the Jesus the King. Amen. I say these things to you so you will feel the reign of the kingdom of heaven in you. And you will know God and become perfected as His sons and daughters.

Lord, the bread you knew we needed, give to us today, thank you. That is what the Lord says next. Did we forget that God knows what we need in our lives even before we ask His will? Yes, God knows and He loves us. Do we think that for one moment that He has forgotten us and we know so much, that we should remind Him? God forbid! Let us simply pray as He has shown, in praise of the hand of God in the small things of life.

The Lord goes on and prays that we can only be forgiven as we forgive. God cannot forgive us if we cannot forgive others. My earnest prayer is that all men should come to the full knowledge of Christ. Let us be wise in what we pray for. Please let the major thought remain. Forgiveness from God comes hand in hand with our forgiveness of others, regardless of what they have done. Jesus died for all.

God I know that you alone have conquered the evil one and you alone know the ways of my heart. Jesus don’t let the evil one bring to me more temptation than you have allowed for me the hours of this day. Lord lead me through this, to your glory alone; and, rescue me from the weakness of my humanity, as your will brings me into the glory of your likeness. Amen. Does this prayer, my prayer bring strength to your heart? It has been an aid to me. Let the spirit of the Lord render to you a prayer of faith that you may prosper in the spirit, too. Let Him be glorified in your closet, alone with you. The presence of the Lord alone with the believer, in the closet of prayer, is equal to the miracle of birth in my eyes. This is the best way I have with which to express the magnitude of prayer’s greatness.

I write with all of the love that Jesus has given to me to give. I pray these words, with discernment, benefit you greatly in letting prayer become glory for my Lord in His kingdom. When we pray we must stop and listen. Prayer is much more than petition – it is conversation. It should loosen the ear. It is spiritual communion leading to the fruition of the spirit of the Lord within you. It is not a one way dialogue with the Saviour; but, a consecrated conversation in secret with the spirit implanted in your heart. He is already here. We do not need to call out to him to come near. He is already in us. For whose spirit do we have? Look inside and bare yourself to His presence and He will speak to you. He will love you and hold in His arms. Prayer is the greatest single blessing in the kingdom! To be able to talk with the Saviour and to listen to the king’s instruction speak to you. The intimacy of this moment is beyond measure. Faith is our vocabulary. Only the limits we place upon our belief, limit our conversation. I say this not to make anyone feel less; but, to give you the knowledge of His blessings that you too might share in this beautiful hug of the Lord. Only in the love of His presence, is the Lord so free to converse. To hear His voice and in our meekness to bear His word. He wants to, He needs to, He died that He would be able to converse with us as brothers and sisters. To allow the reign of the kingdom of heaven to live within our hearts. Please let the king reveal His ways for you too in these matters. The way Jesus discloses himself to each of us is differently. Do not attempt to copy what is for me, but seek the Lord for yourself. Prayer is the answer.

John 10:27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (KJV)

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Kenneth D. Davis

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