The Lord’ Prayer

 Greg Lauer — 2019/#10. Alittlestrength.com

…Something occurred to me while working on this article that really struck me…so much so that when it hit me, I actually double-checked Scripture to make sure my memory wasn’t failing me.

 In Matthew 6:9–13 (also Luke 11:2–4), Jesus gives His disciples a model prayer, or prayer template you might say, and it became universally known as the Lord’s Prayer. Here’s Matthew’s version, and I just have to quote the KJV for this one:

9After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

(Matthew 6:9–13 KJV)

Our Father which art in heaven,

First and foremost, He is our Father—and as our Father, He loves us. And understand that only believers can call Him “Father,” a word that aptly characterizes our family relationship with Him through Christ as adopted sons and daughters.

And He is our Father in heaven. His abode is far above the world in which we exist. He is the Almighty, the Creator, and we are His creation. He is sovereign over all, and we should remind ourselves of that regularly.

Hallowed be thy name.

Hallowed. The same word is usually translated “sanctified” in other places throughout the New Testament. In other words, He is holy. We should seek always to acknowledge and reverence God’s character when we pray—His holiness, His justice, His love, His faithfulness, etc. After addressing His Father, the first declaration Jesus makes is that His Father is holy. We should assume there is a reason for that and follow suit.

Thy kingdom come.

Our prayer should not only exhibit a passion for God’s glory and honor, but also for the advancement of His sovereign agenda. We should pray for God’s kingdom to be established on earth, which it will.

After all, we’re going to be part of it.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

God’s will is always done in heaven, and we should express our desire to see the same done here on earth. By praying in this manner, we are expressing our desire to conform to His will…not our own. This serves to remind us that we should be in subjugation to His perfect will, not to our own ideas of what should happen or how we think things should be.

I see this as being no small issue in the Church today, where an alarming percentage of believers don’t know the Bible well enough to understand what God’s will is to begin with. For example, we see believers today praying for things like “unity” and “tolerance” in the Church, but they may in fact be praying for things that sound good to the natural man but are actually 180 degrees out from God’s expressed will as written in His Word.

I couldn’t have done it without you: Note also that when we pray along the lines of these last two points, it’s not like we’re helping God out. It’s not as if we have to remind God what to do, or God can’t do something unless we pray for it to happen. Trust me, the Creator of the universe is perfectly capable of carrying out His perfect, sovereign will without our puny little prayers, not matter how eloquent or well formed.

The point is that He wants us to align and conform ourselves to His will, and our prayer is one vehicle through which we can do that. In other words:

The purpose of our prayers isn’t to bring
God on board with our plans—they are
to bring us on board with God’s plans.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Naturally, we should pray for our real-world needs. Even though God knows what we need before we ever ask (Matt. 6:8), He still wants us to ask—if for no other reason than to remind us that He is the source of all good things and that He loves us enough to provide for us.

Also, notice it’s not “Give us this day our daily filet mignon.” It’s bread—the most basic of foods. Simple and wholesome. God promised to meet our needs, not our greeds.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

This is about sin, which is sometimes characterized as a “debt” to a holy God. We are asking God to forgive our sins, while expressing our compliance with the command to in turn forgive others who have wronged us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

Obviously God doesn’t “tempt” us in the sense of malevolently enticing us to sin, but rather allows us to go through periods of testing (which is the primary meaning of the Greek word used here), typically to discipline us or to refine us spiritually. Of course, such testing is seldom pleasant in nature, so by praying that God not let us go through such testing, we are expressing our desire and determination to live in a manner that neither warrants nor invites such testing, even though it is ultimately for our own benefit.

On the bright side, however, even when God does allow us to be tested (which He will, because we all need it from time to time), He has promised not to allow us to be tested in ways that are beyond what we can handle (1 Cor. 10:13).

In the Greek, the word translated “evil” can either be neuter or masculine, which means it can legitimately be interpreted as evil in general, or Satan in particular. However, the majority of commentators seem to lean toward viewing this as a reference to the Evil One. We should pray that God would protect us from the wiles of the devil, who is quick to capitalize on any opening he can find. So as we pray in this manner, we are expressing our determination to not give Satan a foothold in our lives.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.*

*Although Luke omits this final line in His version of the Lord’s Prayer, most commentators consider it a valid part of Scripture. At any rate, I am more than happy to take a rain check on that particular scriptural furball.

Last but certainly not least, our prayer should always acknowledge God’s sovereignty, His power, and His glory—a generous helping of this should float on top of our prayers like cream on a latte.

Amen.

Amen and amen. Now that’s a prayer.

Of course, you can spend a lot of time and effort plumbing the depths of what the Lord said in this little prayer, but this simple summary is adequate for our purposes. John MacArthur summarizes the thrust of the Lord’s Prayer as well as anyone:

The purpose of prayer is seen more in the overall thrust of these five verses than in any particular word or phrase. From beginning to end the focus is on God, on His adoration, worthiness, and glory. Every aspect of true righteousness, the righteousness that characterizes God’s kingdom citizens, focuses on Him. Prayer could hardly be an exception. Prayer is not trying to get God to agree with us or to provide for our selfish desires. Prayer is affirming God’s sovereignty, righteousness, and majesty and seeking to conform our desires and our purposes to His will and glory.

— Rev. John MacArthur