The Lord’s Prayer

Tim Davis 6/28/2020 - Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4

Praying can be daunting. In Luke 11: 1 we are told that Jesus' own disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Prayer came very naturally to Jesus. He was simply speaking to HIs Father. To His disciples, it was another matter entirely. Just as an infant has to learn to form words in order to communicate, so do we who enter into the Kingdom of God. How exactly does one address the God of creation? What if I do it incorrectly?

Can it be done incorrectly? According to Jesus, it can. Jesus said praying solely to be seen by others is hypocritical. Praying, using meaningless repetition, supposing you will be heard for your many words is something taught by “ Godless religions”.

Prayer, simply put, is a communication between you and God.

If we attended Church services very much, at all, we were taught the Lord’s Prayer. It goes something like this.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen

This teaching on prayer was taught at two different times in the Gospel accounts. Matthew 6:9-13 tells us that when teaching the disciples and the crowds of people who followed Him. As part of the sermon on the Mount, He taught them about prayer. Luke 11:2-3 also records this prayer..

There are many different translations of Jesus' words, translated at different points in history. This is okay since the translation is intended to enable us to understand the communicated message. Do not get caught up in specific rendering of words such as “Thou” and “thine” which were useful to those who used this vernacular.

Let us look into what Jesus taught, I would like to go through this line by line with you.

Our Father - notice Jesus did not say to address God as His father, if He had wanted that He would have said, Dear God, the father of Jesus, rather, He said to address God as “our Father”, Not our half father, not our step Father. For this is the reality, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the blood of His sacrifice brings us into the family of God. He is now “our Father”. What a Father would do for His Son, God will do for each of us. We are in a relationship with God who desires our communication, who desires to give His children good gifts.

Who is in Heaven - an acknowledgement of God’s place in the Universe

In this we establish the fact that we know that God is over all. His Throne is in Heaven, the earth is His footstool. Jesus taught, “in my Father’s house are many dwelling places”. Heaven is His eternal home, to which He desires we come. He is the One who looks down upon us, He sees us, He cares for us. He does not dwell in houses made with human hands, as if He needs anything.

Hallowed be Your name - Other than Father, His name is here unspoken.To Moses God said His forever name, His memorial name is I Am. In the original languages the name is too revered to be spoken, lest it be mispronounced.To Hallow the name is to give reverence. In this we are taught to revere the name of God and by extension, God Himself. We come before HIm in humility. We do not come demanding, nor do we need not come begging, but we come humbly before the throne of grace to find help in our time of need.

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done - God has established an extension of His kingdom on earth. Peter says that in Christ we” are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a Holy Nation, a people for God’s own possession so that we might proclaim the excellencies of Him. I Peter 2:9 We by saying this state our desire to be in agreement with His Kingdom goals, desires and ideals. May God’s will be done in my life, in my heart, in my mind, in my family, in the Church, in the lives of those which we come in contact with. We are reminded that His will is that no one perish, but all come to the truth, and Jesus is the Way, the Truth And the life.

On earth, as it is in Heaven. - When we understand this idea, it might be shocking. God’s will is done in Heaven without question. It is done without hesitation. It is accomplished by His spoken word. On earth human kind has been given free will. We are allowed to follow or not follow. Jesus entered into the garden and prayed, “not my will, but Yours be done”. Oh that this understanding could be ours on a minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day basis.

In this part of the prayer we are reminded of our purpose in this life.

Give us this day our daily bread - This eases our worries about this temporal life. We here seek God’s blessings. We know that God provides for the birds of the air, and clothes the lilies of the field. Our faith looks up to God to provide at all times. As God provided the manna day by day in the wilderness, so He provides for us. It also reminds us that we are not solely responsible, or to be credited with our food, clothing, or housing. It reminds us to not be seeking the things of the world, but the things of God.

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors - And Here is where the prayer gets a little sticky. We want grace and mercy. We love this idea that God loves us enough to separate our debts, (sins) as far as the East is from the West. We know we are not perfect. We stumble in many ways. We like to be reminded that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who is willing to forgive when we confess, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. --- It is the last part of this. AS WE FORGIVE OTHERS.. Wait just a minute, what is this condition? We are here cautioned about our own attitude and heart. Note the IF clauses in verse 14-15 of Matthew 6. “IF you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But IF YOU DO NOT FORGIVE OTHERS, then YOUR FATHER WILL NOT FORGIVE YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS.” We must clean the slate. We have to come to a heart condition that gives mercy to others as God does to us. We must be careful, for in the way we judge others, we will be judged. Now is the time to take to repent and forgive those who have harmed us. Yes, this is where we take a good long look at ourselves and our attitudes.

Do not lead us into temptation - We know that God cannot be tempted by evil and He himself does not tempt anyone. So lead us to trust in God so much and so completely that we will not be tempted. Remember, you shall not covet, You shall not murder, you shall not slander? We are drawn in our minds to the words of James Chapter 1:14, “Each one is tempted when they are carried away and enticed by their own lust”. We know that Satan is a tempter, and that he sets snares. This line, “do not lead us into temptation” is our request that God open our eyes, minds and hearts to what is of God and what is not. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, as He did Lot. from Sodom and Gomorrah.

Deliver us from evil (or the evil one) - By this we acknowledge that God is the only one who can deliver us. We need His direction, HIs strength. Even Michael the Archangel did not bring a railing accusation against Satan when disputing over the body of Moses, but said, “The Lord rebuke you”. We humbly acknowledge that we cannot save or deliver ourselves, only God has accomplished this deliverance through His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

Yours is the kingdom and the power, and the glory forever. Amen - This last line is not found in the earliest manuscripts. However, there is nothing in it that contradicts or betrays the rest of Scripture. It is almost like a brief summary of the prayer. This world and all in it are His Kingdom, He has all the power, and He deserves and will get all the glory. I can say Amen to that.

May we spend time in communication with God our Father. Because He is the author of blessings.