The Lord Jesus Christ Himself had a practice of praying. He spent time alone with the Father in communication. In fact, His own prayer is found in John 17 where He prayed for Himself, for His disciples and for all believers. The prayer He offered as He faced arrest, trials, beatings and finally, crucifixion. But, during His three-year ministry on earth, He gave the famous Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew which also includes what we call the Lord’s Prayer since He gave this as a pattern for His disciples to follow. For many years, the church used it frequently (some, every week), but it seems to have dropped out of the service in recent times. When is the last time you spoke or heard it?
Jesus said, “Pray, then, this way:” (Matthew 6:9) so let’s look at it.
Our Father…
This prayer is for those who know Him as Father. For His children. For believers. Jesus gives it to His disciples. His disciples are told to “go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19) and those are the followers of the Lord, adopted as sons (Romans 8:15).
Who art in heaven…
Where God dwells (1 Kings 8:30).
Hallowed be Thy Name…
Greek: hagiazo = “to be held in reverence and holiness”. God’s Name is holy and must be respected and given the honor it is due. To the Jews He was Yahweh, but they used no vowels (YHWH) and never dared speak His Name.
Thy kingdom come…
His kingdom, Jesus said, “is not of this world” (John 18:36). But, one day He will set it up as described in the closing chapters of Revelation.
Thy will be done…
This is what Jesus Himself prayed in the Garden. It’s something we all struggle with: giving up our will to His.
On earth as it is in heaven…
When His kingdom comes and His will is totally accomplished, it will be heaven on earth!
Give us this day our daily bread…
The Lord provided the Israelites with the manna from heaven each day. This is asking God to do the same for us: provide for our needs. Which recognizes our dependence on Him.
And, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…
This is convicting. First of all, as His children, we have already had our sins forgiven as we have come to faith in Him (Romans 8:1). That doesn’t change (John 10:28). But, we are to forgive others as we are forgiven for the sins we commit each day and take to Him in confession (1 John 1:9).
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…
God doesn’t tempt us (James 1:13-14), but He does test us at times in order to strengthen us and prove our faith. So, when we are tested or Satan tries us, it is not beyond what we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Acknowledging who He is, similar to what Solomon prayed in 1 Chronicles 29:11.
Because Jesus gave this to His disciples, it is an example of the way to pray. Acknowledgement of who God is and of His ability alone to provide. Is this the forgotten prayer? Jesus told them (Matthew 6:7) not to pray with “vain repetition”. Is that what it became before we dropped it altogether? Maybe it’s time we took a fresh look at it. Jesus left it to us for a reason.
“Pray, then in this way…” (Matthew 6:9)
Thank you for reminding us of this important teaching from our Lord. As I study each phrase and think about it’s deeper meanings, instead of just repeating the familiar words while my mind is somewhere else, I am struck by the fact that in all things God is to be glorified. Thanks for blessing us with a fresh look at this wonderful passage.
Thank you for your reminder Teri! The Lord is certainly using your gift to touch many lives!
❤️Cathy
Thx Teri. Thank you Lord for the privilege!! And for the model!
Amen. What a good reminder to pray this prayer thinking about what we are saying……and to pray this out loud with our grandchildren when they are with us. Thank you Terri.
Beautiful reminder of the hope we have in Jesus. Thank you so much for all you do with your blog. It makes a difference to me!
Thank you Teri for the beautiful reminder. I love this prayer and it’s very format can teach us how to pray and what to pray for.
Love you.
A beautiful reminder! I think “The Lord’s Prayer” is John 17 and the Lord’s Prayer should be called the Apostles prayer. After all it is instruction to is disciples. However, I’m glad to continue to employ this prayer often and be convicted by its admonitions and encouraged by it’s promises!
I hope I can teach this prayer to Kairie and that someday she will understand its meaning in a personal way.