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THE LORD’S PRAYER

The "Lord's Prayer" is the deepest prayer contained in the Word of God. The Lord God himself was teaching us how to pray and what to pray for. It is something that should be studied in depth. The following words will only skim the surface in understanding the prayer. Since it was spoken by God on this earth, in the form of Jesus Christ, it can only be an eternal Word of God, its expression continuing to unfold forever. It as applicable to Christians today as it was when it was spoken.

THE LORD'S PRAYER IN CONTEXT

We must first see that the title "The Lord's Prayer" is actually a misnomer. In the context in which it was spoken, Jesus was teaching his audience how they (not He) should pray. In one case (Matthew 6) He was speaking to the multitudes in His Sermon on the Mount. In the other instance, (Luke 11) He was speaking only to His disciples, in response to their inquiry "Lord, teach us to pray". So technically, the prayer may properly be called the "disciples prayer" or even the "multitudes prayer". No matter what we call it, let's first examine the context and the background in which it was spoken.

The prayer is spoken only twice in the Gospels, in Luke 11:2-4 and in Matthew 6:9-13. In Matthew, the Lord was speaking to the multitudes, which included a mix of people including some believers, some undecided and some who were there for the curiosity factor.

In Matthew 6, during the Sermon on the Mount, He addressed the topic that true believers should not be hypocrites, as the religious leaders of Judaism were, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He told them that the Pharisees did "good deeds" in order to be seen by man and gain the favor and respect of men. He instructed them not to pray as the Pharisees did, with vain repetitions and long prayers, thinking they would be heard for their many words. By praying in public, on street corners and in synagogues, they were again seeking the favor from men, not from God. Jesus told the crowd to do good deeds in secret, and to pray in secret, and that the Father would then reward them openly. And as they were praying to the Father in secret, in v.9-13, he told them what to pray in secret; that was Lord's Prayer.

In Luke 11, Jesus spoke the words of the "Lord's prayer" in a different context. There he was speaking only to His disciples. He spoke in response to their inquiry of "Lord teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). So the Lord answered them. He said "This is how you are to pray". Thus came the Lord’s Prayer recorded in Luke 11:2-4.

In this case, however, He gave the disciples additional guidelines in how to pray, guidelines He did not give the multitudes (Luke 11:5-13). Following His speaking of the prayer recorded in Matthew, He spoke to them another parable as further instruction on how to pray. He said: “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’

“I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence [shamelessness] he will get up and give him as much as he needs”.

Jesus was teaching them the principle of persistence in their prayer. He showed the disciples that even if God is your friend, that fact alone does not give any special inside track on getting prayers answered. He pointed out that real persistence means asking God and seeking God (the Greek words are "ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking" (see New American Standard Version of Luke 11:9-10). The point He was making, knowing man as He did, that too many will give up if the answer does not come quickly enough for them. They will wonder why God didn't answer their request and not be persistent long enough to get the answer.

Jesus goes on to liken persistence to shamelessness. Often if a person wants something bad enough he becomes shameless in his pursuit of it, not caring how he looks or what others think. His mind is set on only one goal and will do whatever it takes to obtain it.

Jesus goes on to note that you must go to God in prayer with a faith that He will give you what you are praying for. Their faith was to be like that of an earthly Father. A human Father will not give his son a stone when he asks for a fish, then "how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask (and who keep on asking”. (Luke 11:11-13). The answer will come even if it's in a form that you not agree with, or worse, will not perceive it as the answer at all.

Therefore, in Luke 11, The Lord had given the disciples a complete response to their inquiry regarding prayer. Of course, the same principles apply to us as well, 2000 years later.

ANALYZING THE PRAYER ITSELF

Volumes could be written and myriad words could be spoken about the "Lord's Prayer". It is, however, a prayer that God really will answer. When praying this prayer you are seeking "His Will", not your own. Too often we pray for personal blessings or other things that God may not be concerned with at all. He is concerned only with His own will, which in the long run will benefit us more than our whims of the moment. Let's examine the prayer, one line at a time, from Matthew 6:9-13.

1. Hallowed Be Thy Name

First, (v.9) starts with "Our Father who is in heaven Hallowed be Your name". This verse teaches us how to approach God in prayer. We must approach Him with worship and reverence in our hearts. Words synonymous with "Hallowed are (from the Oxford Concise Thesaurus): worshiped, honored, Holy, sacred, consecrated, sanctified, blessed and revered. We approach Him in worship, in a recognition of who He is, how glorious He is, that He is the all in all, the Holy Father who created the heavens, the earth and us. In approaching Him thus, we are recognizing that He as God, can do anything, including answering our prayer. In a word we Glorify the Father before asking anything.

2. Thy Kingdom Come

Verse 10 begins with ..."thy Kingdom come..." Therein, God reveals His entire purpose for the earth and His involvement in it. He wants to accomplish in the Earth what already exists in heaven. It is only in the Kingdom of God that "His will" will be done on earth. And He does not want us to wait until we "die and go to heaven" - He wants His Kingdom to BE ON EARTH, just like it is in heaven.

What is the Kingdom? As stated above, it is a place of continuous joy, blessing and all the other attributes or fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Kingdom is an eternity of blessing existing both on Earth and in Heaven. Jesus did it in heaven by, after resurrection, obtaining authority over all of creation. It is up to us, His elect, to manifest on earth what He has already accomplished, in the Spirit realm, where He and the Father reside as one.

3. Thy will be done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven

In Verse 10 Jesus says: "Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven". What an audacious request! As we you look around us in this age we see anything but God’s will being done. The world is under darkness and futility, cursed from the time of Adam and Eve (see Genesis 3; Romans 8: 20-21). How then is it possible that God's will is to be done on a corrupted Earth, as perfect as it is done in heaven? The answer is that only God can do it. That's why we are praying for it. We are recognizing that we cannot do it in our own futile efforts. No man/women or multitude could possibly accomplish this, only the unlimited God.

As Paul puts it (Galatians 5:19-21) the deeds of the flesh done on Earth by the corrupted human nature are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, and carousing. Contrast this with the deeds done in Heaven, in the Spirit realm, where God lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Quite a difference! We have a big job ahead of us. We must pray that God change both this present world and you/me. It is done by Christ through us. All we can really do is to pray for it, as the Lord has told us to do, then walk in it when He answers.

4. Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Many think this verse means to give us our physical food each day. While it may mean that, it means much more in the context of walking with God. Jesus said: “I have meat to eat that you know not of. My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work” (John 4:32, 34). Christ is our daily bread our true spiritual nourishment (John 6:48-51). He is the bread of Heaven, and God’s Word, like bread, is the spiritual staff of life (Matthew 4:4). When we are praying for bread, we are praying for Christ, our spiritual subsidence. He is the “way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Like communion, we partake of Him, His body and blood. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. (I Corinthians 10:16-17).

Therefore, by partaking of Christ, our spiritual bread, we grow in Him and become more like Him. And we still get fed our daily meals on the physical plain.

5. Forgive Us Our Trespasses (Debts) As We Forgive Those Who Have Trespassed Against Us (Our Debtors).

We are asking God to forgive us our sins, which are many and are constant. There are sins we commit that we are not even aware of. But God in His mercy has given us Christ, who is able to forgive sins. “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (Matthew 9:6). In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:14). If we do not allow Christ to forgive us our sins, we can hardly forgive someone else. Sometimes it is more difficult to allow Christ to forgive us our sins or to forgive ourselves through His provision, than it is to forgive others. We are harder on ourselves. However, we must remember: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Forgiveness of sins is crucial in our walk with God. If we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven. “For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:14-15).

How deeply do we forgive? There must be a limit. “Peter came to the Lord and asked, “How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times?” Jesus replied, “Until seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21–22). In other words, there is to be no limit to our forgiveness of the sins of others.

Christ came to save the entire world (John 3:16), including the evil and the good. He would that not one would perish. If we love only those who love us, do not even the Gentiles do the same? (Matthew 5:46). His grace is so great that “He causes the sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and the rain to fall upon the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45). Christ even said of those who had beaten him, whipped Him, falsely accused Him and pounded nails through His hands and feet and left Him to die on a cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). If we are to be like Him, we must be able to forgive others to that degree. How do we do that? We pray; the Lord’s Prayer. Although we are unable in ourselves to do these things, with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

6. And Lead Us Not Into Temptation but Deliver Us From Evil

Temptation is all around us, especially in this present age. Around every corner, we are tempted by this or that. John the Disciple said: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abides for ever. (1 John 2:15-17). You may say “I am not tempted by this world”. However, we are tempted where we do not even know we are tempted. Satan is the God of this world and smarter than any of us; he deceives the whole world. “Unless those times be cut short, there will be no flesh saved alive” (Matthew 24:22), because the wrath of Satan is to deceive and destroy the whole world.

The wicked are tempted and drawn to it. They have no defense against temptation, save a set of human morals and their will. However, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. “Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41). Our wills are not enough to save us in the face of temptation, neither are our religious convictions. We must pray, as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew what He had to go through, but He recognized that His flesh was weak. He prayed, in his weakness, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:” (Matthew 26:39). If our Lord had to pray in order to gain the strength to complete His final trial, so we who are imperfect have much more need to do the same thing.

This prayer of temptation is two-fold. First, He promises us He won’t lead us into temptation in the first place. We can even form wicked plans in our minds and God will frustrate them if we are His. For those who have fallen into evil for whatever reason, He is able to deliver them from it. God looks on the heart, not the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7) and even in the midst of evil or extreme temptation, He sees our heart and is able to manipulate circumstances so everything turns out all right.’ all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Romans 8:28). Therefore in the midst of extreme circumstances beyond out province to solve, rather than despair and condemn ourselves, we pray. God is able to solve the problem and even turn it to good.

7. For Thine Is The Kingdom and the Power

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen”. Some recorded versions of the prayer do not include this last sentence in verse 13. But it a solemn reminder of who and what God is. The Kingdom of God “is His”. It is for us, but all for His own glory. It is His power that created the heavens and the earth, it is His power that delivered His Son from the dead and it His power that delivered us from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). We will always remember that. We will not be like Satan who, although created by God, wanted to take His place. We will inherit the Kingdom, not by our own righteousness, but by His. He will always receive the glory. We will give it to Him. We will throw any crowns we receive at His feet (Revelation 4:10). We will worship Him forever.