Today, we will take a look at The Lord's Prayer which is the model Jesus gave His disciples when they asked Him how they should pray. See Matthew 6: 6 to 14.
What we today call the Lord's Prayer is in fact the disciple's prayer as it was the prayer Jesus gave to his disciples. He had just been speaking to them about the importance of prayer and they responded by asking Him how they should pray. This was the model which He gave them so what better basis or example do we have than this to follow so that our prayers might be both heard and answered.
The prayer itself is structured in three parts, the first and third being what I describe a statement of affirmation. That is, it tells God in plain and simple words how we view our relationship with Him and the various aspects of that relationship, both as He sees them and as we see them. The third part, which contains our requests to Him, are sandwiched between the first and third sections. It is interesting to note that there are eight statements of affirmation but only five requests, indicating the greater importance of confirming our relationship with God than the use of prayer as a shopping list.
Statement of affirmation:
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN: to get a better understanding, let's look at this phrase word by word -
OUR: the first word of the prayer establishes the nature of the link between God and us, that is, one of belonging, hence the use of the word "our" rather than "the". Also, it clarifies that He is not just any one's father, He is our father. He belongs to us and we belong to him. We are affirming that two-way belonging.
FATHER: the second word defines the nature of our belonging, which is that of children and their father. In a "complete" family situation (father, mother and children), the father is head of the house. His is the authority to which the rest of the household submits. But for the father, with that authority comes responsibilities to those in his care, which includes protection, security, taking care of their needs and requirements, teaching and training, admonition (correction and punishment) etc. By acknowledging God as our father, we are acknowledging His role in our lives in all these aspects of fatherhood, and our submission to the fatherly authority He has over us. It also acknowledges His acceptance of His responsibilities to care for us as a true father.
If He is the father of this family and we are his children in this family, that makes us all brothers and sisters. As brothers and sisters, we have a duty and responsibility to look out for one another to an even greater degree than if we were just friends or neighbours. Jesus taught us how much love, care and compassion we should give and show towards friends or neighbours (John 15: 10 to 17; James 2: 1 to 17), so how much more should we show towards our relatives, our brothers and sisters in God's family (Galatians 6: 1 to 5).
IN HEAVEN: I used to wonder why we had a to qualify that this prayer was being directed to our Father in Heaven as opposed to our earthly father when it seemed pretty obvious who we were talking to. When I began studying the prayer more closely and analysing it like we are doing now, I realised that this part of the prayer is affirming our relationship with God, therefore it is important for our benefit to qualify totally who we are addressing. So in reality what this first phrase of the prayer is really saying is "Our Heavenly Father".
HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME: Let's look at this phrase word by word too -
HALLOWED: When I was a little boy I once told my dad he was lucky for being named after God. When he asked me what I meant, I reminded him that we prayed "Harold be your name".
The word "hallowed" is not in common use these days, so what does it mean? According to the dictionary, it means "holy, honoured as holy". And what does holy mean? "morally and spiritually perfect, of high moral excellence". So having acknowledged our relationship with God (our Father), the prayer then acknowledges his nature (morally and spiritually perfect, of high moral excellence).
BE YOUR NAME: I often wondered why it says His name is hallowed and not He himself is hallowed until I began to study the importance and relevance of names in Bible times and hoe they were a reflection or representation of the person themselves. In those days, a person's name wasn't just something to be addressed by or as a means of identification, it was given to reflect or represent who they were. A person and there name were seen as one and the same, which is why some people had names like "Smith" (their occupation was a smith - blacksmith, goldsmith etc), "Cooper", "Noble" and "Taylor". It represented everything that they were. We still use our signature to seal agreements or to make statements. Our names not only represent us, they are us.
God's name has a meaning and it describes Him and defines his nature. His name is "Jehovah" which means "I am". In other words, he never changes. He is always in the present tense, perpetually being his unchanging self and portraying his ongoing characteristics. So what this line of the prayer is saying is "I acknowledge the relevance and significance of your name - Jehovah, the great "I Am' who never changes - and everything it represents (the very essence of you, my Heavenly father) which is moral and spiritual perfection, and high moral excellence". See also Philippians 2: 9 to 11.
(May) YOUR KINGDOM COME (on earth as in heaven): In a way this is as much an expression of our desire for the state of things on earth to change as it is a statement of affirmation that God's kingdom will come to the whole earth even as it has already come to us (those who believe) as individuals. When God created the world He gave the rule and authority of earth to man. But when man sinned, man passed that authority over to Satan which is why the world is now under Satan's rule and authority. The Bible says we as christians are living in the world but we are not of this world (See the prayer of Jesus to His Father, John 17 13 to 21). God's kingdom is in us, so we are subject to God's kingship and authority, not Satan's, even though we are still living in the domain of Satan's kingdom (earth). This sentence in the prayer is therefore saying "God, I want your kingdom to come on earth both in me (as a subject of your kingdom now) and in the earth as a whole (in the future), so that the power and authority Satan has over this world can be transferred back to You, in the way that you presently have total power and authority over everything that happens in Heaven.
(may) YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN: This affirms that, by declaring we are subjects in God's spiritual kingdom (even though we physically live on earth which is Satan's kingdom), we are submitted to God as our king or ruler. In other words we are saying to God, because you have established your kingdom on earth in my heart, so I on earth am submitted to your authority just as those who live in heaven are submitted to your authority.
Another scripture that at first seems unrelated but actually ties in very much with this section of the prayer is Matthew 16: 19 - Jesus, speaking to his disciples, said, "I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven". The Authorised version has lost a bit in the translation so I'll also quote the Amplified version which makes it clearer - "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind (declare to be improper or unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in Heaven, whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in Heaven". This is not only saying we can only bind and loose things on earth which God has already bound and loosed in heaven, it is also saying that an essential part of the establishment of God's kingdom on earth is that whatever God has bound or loosed in Heaven he has given us the power and authority to bind or loose on earth on behalf of His kingdom also. Now that's a powerful statement that not only affirms in us the truth and reality that we now have power and authority over Satan. It also puts Satan on notice that he'd better watch out because, whilstever God's kingdom is operative in our lives, God's will is going to be done in it on earth, (which is Satan's territory), as it is in Heaven. Satan's domain therefore is under invasion and we can and will take back territory he has stolen from us and others who we minister to and who receive the truth of the gospel (Matthew 16: 18 & 19).
Naturally, Satan doesn't want us to know that, which is why he tries his hardest to convince us that we should be afraid of him and cower when he comes around when the boot is really on the other foot. He's the one who should be cowering and running away when we come prowling on his territory (Luke 10: 17 to 20; James 4: 7 & 8).
Requests:
Now we come to the requests. As stated already, notice that there are only five requests, and of the five, only one, the first, requests things which pertain to our physical requirements for our day to day life on earth. The others relate to our spiritual lives.
GIVE US (TODAY) OUR DAILY BREAD: Throughout history and in the Bible also, bread symbolises the essentials we need for survival. Thus what the prayer is asking for is nothing more than the essentials for survival. Not for the icing on our cake, not even for the cake, but for the "bread and butter" that doesn't always taste as nice as the sweet and sugary cake which rots our teeth and makes us obese, but it gives us strength and nourishment. So does that mean God doesn't want us to have anything more than the basics? Not at all. So why does this prayer teach us to only ask for he basics? Because God has installed pathways that, if we follow them, guarantee us the things over and above our basic needs to enhance our everyday lives, which will come automatically without us having to ask for in prayer. Here are some of those pathways:
1. Make God the delight of your life (make it your delight to behave as God would have you behave rather than what is your natural way or behaviour). Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."
2. Establish God as the ruler on the throne of your heart. Matthew 6:33 literally says, "seek first the establishment of God's kingdom and his righteousness in your life and all these things (the things pertaining to a comfortable, happy and prosperous life) will be added (by God) to you".
3. Live your life in total unity with God. See John 15: 1 to 12, verse 7 being the key verse.
It is both interesting and relevant that Jesus included the words "today" and "daily" in this prayer request as it stresses the importance of being like God who is a God of the present tense ("I Am"). All we are taught to pray for is what we need today, which is the dimension God exists in. We are not to live in the past or desire things from it because it is dead and gone. We can't change it, or undo anything that happened in it. While leaving those things in the past where they belong, let us learn from them, and move on (Phillipians 3: 12 to 14).
Let's not worry today about tomorrow, which will have plenty of problems or situations of its own for us to deal with when it arrives (Matthew 6: 34), but let us focus on getting through today (Matthew 6: 25 to 34). After all, God hasn't promised us tomorrow (James 4: 13 to 15), but what He has promised us are the two essential things we need to get through today - grace and salvation (2 Corinthians 6: 2).
AND FORGIVE US OUR SINS: None of the things we are asking for in our prayer can or will become a reality in our lives without us first seeking God's forgiveness and receiving it from Him. Don't forget He has promised to respond positively each time we ask for forgiveness (1 John 1: 5 to 9). The forgiveness we receive through Jesus is a vital ingredient in our lives as it is what gives us right of access to God the Father through prayer in the first place (Romans 5: 1 & 2). It is through the confession of sins (and the forgiveness which follows) that we can receive healing (James 5: 14 to 16). Here are a few other scriptures which highlight areas where you might need forgivness: 1 John 4; 20-21; Matthew 7: 1 to 5.
AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US: This is just as vital a part of our prayer as is our request for God to forgive our own sins, because He can't do that unless and until we have forgiven others who have sinned against us. Jesus in fact qualified this when teaching his disciples this prayer (Matthew 6: 14 & 15).
SAVE US FROM THE TIME OF TRIAL: The Authorised version more accurately translates this section as "Lead us not into temptation". I often used to think this was a strange thing to pray because I couldn't see God deliberately leading us into a place where we could be tempted and ultimately fall into sin. Such, of course, is not the case. Having just prayed that the guilt of sin be removed, we are now expressing our desire that we may never return again to its folly, that we do not want to be tempted by it. It expresses the same sentiments as Psalm 19: 13, "Lord, do not let Satan loose upon us; chain up that roaring lion, for he is subtle and spiteful; Lord, do not leave us to ourselves, for we are very weak; Lord, do not lay stumbling-blocks and snares before us, nor put us into circumstances that may be an occasion of falling.'' It's basically a cry of a child to its father, "Dad, please don't let go of my hand."
Temptations are to be prayed against because of the discomfort and trouble they bring and because of the danger we are in of being overcome by them, and the guilt and grief that then follow. Such prayers do bring us closer to God and push back and weaken the forces of darkness arrayed against us.
AND DELIVER US FROM EVIL: Again, this is not an inference that God would deliberately lead us into a place where we could be tempted and ultimately fall into sin, but a request that if we end up in such a place, He will deliver us from it, remove us from it and put in place whatever is necessary to avoid us going there again.
Statement of affirmation:
This final section is in effect a summary, or conclusion, to what has been just been prayed.
THE KINGDOM (is yours): An acknowledgement that we are indeed subjects of His kingdom and not the kingdom of this world, and we place ourselves under His Heavenly laws and rules. Under them we shall reap the benefits of the protection, strength, nurture, guidance, correction and well being they afford us.
THE POWER (is yours): Again, a recognition not only of God's authority, but of the emmense power He has over sin, death, sickness or anything else Satan might try to put on us, a power that is available and useable by us, the subjects of His Heavenly Kingdom.
AND THE GLORY IS YOURS: When all is said and done, we acknowledge that everything we have is from Him (John 1: 1 to 14); it has been given to us as a result of the unmerited favour (grace) he has extended toward us through his son Jesus (Ephesians 2: 4 to 10). We receive it with a grateful heart and to Him and Him alone do we give honour and glory (1 Peter 1: 1 to 8).
NOW AND FOREVER: Being sons of God and part of His family, we now have a right to adopt His Name ("I Am") as part of our inheritance, knowing that what he has achieved for us and given to us is like He himself, for now and for ever.
AMEN: A Herbrew words meaning "So let it be".