The Lord’s Prayer
What follows is most often called the Lord’s Prayer although in some circles of Christianity it may be known as The Our Father.
Luke 11:2 He said to them, "When you pray, say: " `Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. (3) Give us each day our daily bread. (4) Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ’ "
Luke’s rendering of the Lord’s Prayer is a condensed version of the one given in Matthew Chapter 6:9-14 which I have provided here for comparison.
Matthew 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: " `Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, (10) your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (11) Give us today our daily bread.
(12) Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’
Before we begin dissecting this prayer let us first realize that this was not the exact prayer that Jesus said we are to pray, this is an example of a format that we could use. Excessive repetition of this exact prayer earns us nothing, in fact Jesus Himself recommends against repetitive prayer in Matthew’s gospel. Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Repetitive prayer was what the pagans did saying over and over again the same words—passing them through their mouths but not through their minds and hearts. We don’t earn points with God by praying in repetition; He looks at our hearts and would rather have us speak to Him like we would our Earthly father—from the heart.
This is a format that Jesus recommended for prayer, let’s look at it:
Luke 11:2 He said to them, "When you pray, say: " `Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
Give recognition to God the Father for Who He is and what He has done for us. Recognize Him as the creator; praise His greatness in all creation.
Pray for the arrival of His kingdom on the Earth. Pray to be used toward that arrival.
(3) Give us each day our daily bread.
Pray for our daily needs whatever they may be, not just food. We may pray for protection, wisdom, help with grief, suffering, sadness, friendship, holy living the things that we need Him for in our lives. Pray that he will sustain us daily and submit all our daily needs to Him.
(4) Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
Pray for forgiveness of sin—when we sin we should take it to God immediately and seek forgiveness—Jesus is our only mediator and it is not necessary to seek a “confessional” before a priest to get forgiveness. The bible is clear here when it says, 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (6) who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time.
When looking at the above scripture we realize that prayer through Mary or any of the so called “saints” is useless prayer since there is only one mediator or go between who exists between God and man and He is Jesus Christ. Why then would we attempt to pray to God through anyone else? This long popular but unbiblical teaching is based on some very old denominational traditions (not on scripture) and has led many of our prayers astray--they don’t get to God the Father through anyone but Christ. Pray only through Jesus, He is the only mediator or go-between between God and man.
While seeking for forgiveness of our sins we must realize that Jesus says our forgiveness is dependant upon how we forgive those who have sinned against us. Many Christians get bottled up in this area because they expect forgiveness (which doesn’t come) because they refuse to forgive others who have trespassed against them. Forgiveness of others is essential in the Christian walk and to be totally forgiven one must be totally forgiving. This is a difficult pill to swallow for some and it causes a binding in their Christian walk that they won’t get free of until they learn to forgive. This forgiveness of other is of such importance that Jesus at one point said this to the Jews: Matthew 5:23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, (24) leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
He told them that even if they were bringing a gift to God at the very altar in the temple of God that they were to set aside the gift right there at the altar and go and make things right with the brother first. That is how important forgiveness is to Jesus! It should be that important to us as well.
Mark 10:4b.. And lead us not into temptation.
The final part of the prayer format is that we pray not to be lead into temptation. Some interpret this as if it says that God may lead us into temptation but this is not the correct interpretation here. The Lord’s half brother James has the right idea, let’s see what he says. James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; (14) but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. (15) Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
James clearly says that God is not the tempter but it is our own evil desires. Jesus is telling us here to pray not to be lead into temptation; pray that God would keep us free from the many temptations in this world that may ruin our Christian walk.
The whole point here is that Jesus is not setting up for us a prayer that must be said exactly as He prayed it—by memory repeating His every word. Instead we are given an outline of how to pray but we fill in our own blanks along the way. We are to recognize and praise the Father, seek the coming of His kingdom, share with Him all our needs, seek forgiveness from Him of our sins and ask protection from the temptations of the world. Using this format helps us communicate effective prayer with God the Father. God wants us to speak with Him in prayer just as we would speak to our earthly father. There is no need for fancy 16th century English, just talk to Him following these guidelines that Jesus has left us. —It is a wonderful guideline which we should thank the Lord for.
God bless you in your efforts toward more personal communication with our loving Heavenly Father.
