The Lord's Prayer
3. The “Lord’s Prayer.”
The iconic prayer of Christian devotion traditionally known as the “Lord’s Prayer” appears in Matthew 6:9–13 and Luke 11:2–4. Didache 8 shows that some in the first-century A.D. church recited this prayer three times each day as a replacement for the Shema and Tefillah. Each of these two Gospels presents a different version of Jesus’ words (see Table 1).
Matthew shows his familiarity with Jewish practice by introducing the prayer as a model rather than a fixed formula (recall the Jewish aversion to memorizing written prayers). Matthew’s Jesus says, “Pray like this/in this manner” (houtōs proseuchesthe). Jesus instructs his followers in the concerns and priorities that he expects to animate their lives, a format typical of prescribed prayers. Elaborating on any or all of the petitions was standard practice. Perhaps this accounts for the two different canonical versions of the prayer. Or they may reflect the evolution of two liturgical traditions, although it is equally possible that they exhibit the editorial interests of the Gospel writers, especially Matthew (see 4 below).
Matthew’s version divides into two sections of three petitions each united by parallel grammatical constructions (see Table 2). Luke’s introduction describes a disciple asking Jesus to teach him how to pray. The various sects of Second Temple Judaism were distinguished by religious, social and political emphases that naturally would tailor group-specific approaches to prayer. In approaching Jesus as he does, this disciple notes that *John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray appropriately. The Teacher of Righteousness played a similar role at Qumran. According to Luke, at least some of Jesus’ disciples expected comparable instruction from him. Their request, coupled with Jesus’ positive response, indicates that Jesus and his followers viewed themselves as a distinct group animated by particular concerns. Furthermore, since the disciple makes his request after observing Jesus at prayer, the narrative implies that Jesus taught what he modeled and modeled what he taught, a crucial principle for Christian theology and practice. This prayer is simultaneously the Lord’s prayer, conveying his priorities, and the disciples’ prayer, instructing them (and all Christians) in how their prayers become like his. Disciples are expected to appropriate Jesus’ priorities, conforming their lives to his passions. Since Luke’s entire version is contained within Matthew’s, the longer tradition will be analyzed here.
3.1. The Address: “Our Father”. Although the address in Matthew’s version (“our Father who is in heaven”) is more elaborate than the one in Luke’s version (“Father”), there is no essential difference between them. Relating to God as Father connotes personal intimacy but also acknowledges God as the Creator (Deut 32:6; Acts 17:28), King (Ps 2:7; Mal 1:6; Jub. 1:24–25; Pss. Sol. 17:26–27) and Redeemer (Ex 4:22; Is 63:16; Jer 31:20), dimensions of divine Fatherhood directly addressed in the first three petitions. Matthew’s collective address (“our Father”) is no less intimate than Luke’s, since the one praying understands that relationship with God results from an individual’s membership within the covenant community. That the Father “is in heaven” does not put God at a distance but rather acknowledges divine sovereignty over all the earth, for heaven is the Father’s throne room (Mt 5:34). The phrase also coheres with Matthew’s preference for referring to “the kingdom of heaven” instead of “the kingdom of God.” Jesus is inviting his disciples to follow him and enter into their own unique relationship with God as Father.
Table 1. Lord’s Prayer in Matthew and Luke
Matthew 6:9–13
Luke 11:2–4
Our Father in heaven
Father
May your name be sanctified
May your name be sanctified
May your kingdom come
May your kingdom come
May your will be done
As in heaven, so also on earth
Give us today our daily bread
Give us each day our daily bread
Forgive us our debts
Forgive us our sins
As we also have forgiven our debtors
As we also forgive everyone who sins against us
And do not lead us into temptation
And do not lead us into temptation.
But deliver us from evil.
3.2. The First Petition: “May Your Name Be Sanctified”. “The name” is a circumlocution for God’s person. To know another person or a deity by name is to be in relationship with that person or deity. To act in someone’s name is to act by that person’s authority on his or her behalf. “To sanctify the name” was the traditional Hebrew way of calling for the public display of God’s holiness (Lev 22:32; Is 29:23; Ezek 36:23; 1 En. 61:12). Thus, the first petition instructs disciples to ask that God would reveal his holiness to the world, something that God alone can do. Jesus almost certainly had in mind the words spoken through the prophet Ezekiel in which Yahweh declares, “I will show the holiness of my great name” by delivering Judah from Babylonian captivity (Ezek 36:21–23; 38:16, 23; 39:7, 25–27). Ezekiel’s association of Yahweh’s commitment to deliver Judah with the promise to pour out the Spirit on all people, thereby transforming Judah’s “heart of stone into a heart of flesh” (Ezek 36:26–27; 39:29 [cf. Jer 31:31–34]), gives a specific focus to the manner in which God “sanctifies the name”: it occurs when the end-time gift of the Spirit comes to transform God’s redeemed people, and Yahweh is shown to be the one and only true God. Jesus the messianic Son fulfills Ezekiel’s vision through his inauguration of the kingdom. God’s holiness is now revealed in the cosmic plan of redemption unfolding through Jesus. Disciples are to share in this endeavor, praying for the Father’s ultimate success.
3.3. The Second Petition: “May Your Kingdom Come”. Jesus was not the first to associate the sanctification of God’s name with prayer for the coming *kingdom. An ancient prayer known as the Kaddish states, “May his great name be magnified and sanctified according to his will in the world he created. May he establish his kingdom in our lifetime, in our days.” Yahweh sanctifies his name by establishing the long-awaited kingdom on earth (Pss. Sol. 17; 1QM XII, 7–8). The kingdom’s consummation is the establishment of God’s royal rule over creation demonstrated in the *judgment of all those in rebellion and the eternal *blessing of all the righteous. Jesus’ particular formulation of “the kingdom coming” remains unparalleled in Jewish literature, where typically it is God who comes to the nation (1 Chron 16:33; Ps 96:13; 98:9; Is 26:21; 35:4; 40:9–10; 1 En. 1:3–9; 25:3; Jub. 1:22–28; As. Mos. 10:1–12). Now Jesus and the kingdom come together, for he inaugurates the Father’s victory on earth (laying the foundation for the “already but not yet” eschatology characteristic of the NT). Jesus’ disciples must live as obedient citizens within the kingdom, submitting to the king’s authority, demonstrating the transformative power of the Father’s life-giving Spirit. However, kingdom obedience should not be confused with the kingdom’s coming; this is not a request that people behave in a manner sufficient for the establishment of God’s reign, or that human transformation may inaugurate the kingdom. Only the Father brings the kingdom through the gospel proclamation of his Son. Thus, prayer for the kingdom’s coming is multidimensional. The petitioner (1) surrenders daily to the comprehensive, existential demands of Jesus’ lordship; (2) embodies the self-sacrificial, ethical expectations of kingdom citizenship; (3) eagerly anticipates the Father’s final victory at Jesus’ parousia.
Table 2. Matthew’s Two Parallel Petitions
Set One
Set Two
1. May your name be sanctified
4. Give us our daily bread
2. May your kingdom come
5. Forgive us our debts/sins
3. May your will be done
6. Deliver us from evil
Some late manuscripts of Luke’s Gospel replace the kingdom clause with “May your Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us.” This change accords with Luke’s special interest in the Spirit’s activity (seventeen references, versus six in Mark and twelve in Matthew). Since the Spirit’s arrival is evidence of the kingdom’s presence, the petition requests the spiritual empowerment necessary for obedient kingdom living.
3.4. The Third Petition: “May Your Will Be Done”. The first three petitions offer variations on a theme, repeating the same request in different ways; thus, nothing substantive is lost by the absence of this petition from Luke’s version of the prayer. Furthermore, the third petition in Matthew is identical to a unique phrase also found in Matthew’s version of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (evidence of Matthean redaction?). On that occasion, the Matthean Jesus prays, “My Father [pater mou], if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Mt 26:42). Jesus does not teach his disciples to perform anything that he himself does not implement. At his moment of greatest crisis Jesus embodies the principal lessons of the first half of the Lord’s Prayer: *discipleship is always theocentric, never egocentric; it is animated by the kingdom’s coming; thus prayer, even when petitionary, is not so much a means of getting what one wants as it is a continual (re)submission to the Father’s purposes.
The clause “as in heaven, so also on earth” probably is intended to modify all three of the preceding requests, as was first suggested by Origen (Or. 26.2). Jewish prayer typically was cosmic in scope, anticipating the eventual obedient coordination of every dimension in God’s creation. Since heaven is the ultimate location of God’s throne (Mt 5:34), praying “on earth as it is in heaven” anticipates the coming of the *Son of Man on heaven’s clouds, when the Father’s lordship becomes cosmically uncontested.
3.5. The Fourth Petition: “Give Us Our Daily Bread”. The transition from the first to the second set of petitions has long been the subject of debate. There are two basic positions: first, there is no transition to speak of because the second half of the prayer is as *apocalyptically oriented toward future fulfillment as the first; second, there is a definite shift at the prayer’s midpoint, with petitions four through six turning away from apocalyptic hopes to focus on the real-world necessities of temporal well-being. Perhaps it is wiser to reject the demand to choose, allowing the entire prayer to remain apocalyptically oriented while reading petitions four through six as instructive in how to submit temporal concerns to the primacy of God’s apocalyptic kingdom (cf. Mt 6:33–34).
The sole adjective in the entire prayer, epiousios, which modifies “bread,” appears nowhere else in Greek literature (apart from later Christian references). Three different etymologies have been suggested: (1) from the preposition epi plus the noun ousia (“being, existence”), yielding either “the bread necessary for physical existence” or “the spiritual bread from heaven;” (2) from the temporal phrase epi tēn ousan [hēmeran] (“for the present [day]”), yielding “enough bread for today”; (3) from the feminine participle of epeimi (“to come upon, arrive”), yielding “give us today our bread for the coming day.” This last option also may be read materially (real bread for now) or spiritually (spiritual bread preparing us for the parousia). Although the etymology remains uncertain, the freedom with which Jewish prayers asked God for immediate, physical necessities should give priority to a straightforward, material understanding.
Disciples are invited to pray for their material needs, but they should not forget the emphasis on (1) needs not desires, (2) essentials not luxury or abundance, (3) daily requirements not accumulation or excess, and (4) necessities for faithful citizenship in the kingdom of God not temporal society. Authentically praying the first three petitions radically reshapes a disciple’s perspective on what constitutes genuine necessity.
3.6. The Fifth Petition: “Forgive Us”. The variation in Matthew’s use of “debt” and Luke’s use of *“sin” is evidence of the prayer’s origin in Palestine, where Aramaic was commonly spoken. The Aramaic word hôbāʾʾ means “debt, money owed,” but it can metaphorically designate “sin, guilt” (as indebtedness to another). Matthew and Luke offer two translation variants of a shared Aramaic source (oral or written?). The apparent conditionality of this request (“forgive us as we forgive others”) must be interpreted within the full context of Jesus’ teaching (Mt 5:23–26, 43–48; 6:14–15; 18:21–35; Lk 6:35; 7:36–50; 17:4). The Father’s *forgiveness is always a gift to the undeserving (Ps 19:12; 25:11, 18; Is 40:2; 55:6–7; Jer 31:34; 33:8; 36:3, 7; Ezek 36:25–32; 11Q5 XIX, 9–11, 13–14; Tefillah benedictions 5, 6), but Jesus frequently reminds disciples that a tree is identifiable by its fruit (Mt 3:10; 7:17–19; 12:33; Lk 8:43–45.). Grace received overflows as grace extended to others. An unforgiving disposition indicates alienation from God’s *mercy. Because the fifth petition presumes daily self-examination, confession and *repentance, the continual experience of God’s mercy should create a humility that willingly forgives others.
3.7. The Sixth Petition: “Do Not Lead Us to Temptation”. The final petition, containing the prayer’s only negative request, asking God not to do something, presents several ambiguities. First, the Greek word peirasmos may mean either “temptation to do wrong” or “testing to be approved.” The Letter of James, for example, uses peirasmos in both senses when discussing life’s struggles (Jas 1:2 [testing]; Jas 1:12–14 [temptation]). Second, commentators debate whether Matthew’s additional clause “but deliver us from evil” refers to “evil” (i.e., acts of personal wickedness) or to the “evil one” (i.e., Satan). Third, interpreters disagree over whether the person praying asks for preservation through life’s turmoil or for preservation from the final tribulation at the end of history (Rev 3:10). The tenor of the second half of the Lord’s Prayer, turning as it does to the disciple’s temporal, material needs, together with parallels such as Sirach 2:1; 33:1; 11Q5 XXIV, 1—texts that describe God’s responsibility for both sending and delivering from testing—indicates that the most likely sense is “Do not lead us into worldly tests, but rescue us from wickedness.”
The tension in the request is palpable. The disciple is being taught to pray, “Father, do not lead us into the tests that you provide for our growth.” But again, Jesus’ experience provides the key. Both Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness (Mk 1:13 par.) and his agony in Gethsemane (Mk 14:32–42 par.) illustrate Jesus’ grappling with this very tension as he follows the Father obediently into a crisis situation while also praying for the Father to deliver him out of it (compare Sir 2:1; 33:1). Such seemingly contradictory behavior is actually a faithful recognition that there is no need to go searching for trials, since obedient discipleship will bring them readily enough; and while the origins of life’s struggles often remain inscrutable, the Father’s resources are always available. Whether a difficulty is merely circumstantial or deliberately sent either by God to test us or by Satan to tempt us is best evaluated in retrospect. In any case, the origins of the trial are irrelevant to the final outcome, for the Father never sends an impossible test (1 Cor 10:13), and demonic temptation need never prove irresistible (Jn 16:33; Heb 2:18; Jas 1:14; 1 Jn 4:4; 5:4–9). Gethsemane is paradigmatic. The disciples’ behavior contrasts with Jesus’ actions as their failure to pray presages their failure in the moment of testing/temptation (Mk 14:38 par.). For Jesus, Gethsemane (and his fasting in the desert) was a test that he endured even though both entailed satanic temptation. For the disciples, an opportunity for growth in Gethsemane became a temptation that they failed even though they were led into it by Jesus. Jesus’ faithful endurance also demonstrates how the sixth petition is connected to the third, tying together the end of the prayer’s first half with the end of the prayer’s second half: “Father, do not lead me into testing, but may your will be done, and may I always obey.” Such daily prayer, introspection and situational awareness are essential to enduring discipleship.
4. Prayer in the Gospels
Appreciating each Gospel as a unique, literary achievement is an important dimension of NT interpretation. Whether reflecting diverse oral and/or written traditions (e.g., Q), editorial activity or a combination of both, each of the four Gospels presents the subject of prayer somewhat differently. Adequately grasping NT teaching requires both an appreciation for the literary dimensions of each Gospel (rather than harmonizing them into a single narrative) and valuing the different ways in which each book depicts the historical Jesus. These two approaches need not conflict and may prove to be mutually illuminating.
4.1. Mark. Mark’s Gospel opens with the *Holy Spirit descending on Jesus as a heavenly voice declares that he is God’s unique Son, who now takes up the roles of Davidic king and Isaianic *servant (reading Mk 1:11 as a conflation of LXX Gen 22:2; Ps 2:7; Is 42:1). As Son of God, Jesus experiences the Spirit’s direction (Mk 1:12–13) and empowerment for his proclamation of the kingdom (Mk 1:14–15, 21–22, 39), the performance of exorcisms (Mk 1:23–28, 32–34, 39) and *healing of the sick (Mk 1:29–31, 40–42). The first prayer reference depicts Jesus rising early in the morning to pray (Mk 1:35) and then instructing his disciples in the next step of their itinerary (Mk 1:38–39). The implication is that the Spirit-empowered Son of God receives divine direction through prayer. Mark’s second prayer reference (Mk 6:46), coming hard on the heels of John’s martyrdom (Mk 6:14–29) (and earlier references to hostility [Mk 3:6, 21–22; 6:2–6, 11, 14–29]), reiterates that Jesus obeys the Father regardless of opposition. Thus, Mark begins to unfold a complex Christology: Jesus fulfills his mission through the combination of personal identity, empowerment by the Holy Spirit and faithfulness in prayer.
Mark 9:29, the third prayer text, extends the value of prayer from Jesus to the disciples. Although they too have experienced great success in preaching, exorcism and healing (Mk 6:7–13), when confronted by a demon-possessed boy, their attempts at exorcism failed because they failed to pray (Mk 9:17–29). Apparently, they had forgotten that kingdom service requires ongoing, prayerful dependence on the Father (Mk 9:29). In other words, they had yet to fully appropriate the example modeled by Jesus. Here Mark indicates the connections between his *Christology (Jesus as the prayerful Son) and successful discipleship (and the theological category of sanctification).
The fourth prayer text (Mk 11:17, 24–25) further expands upon the disciples’ role in the kingdom. Jesus accuses the temple leaders of subverting God’s intentions that the sanctuary be a house of prayer for all (Mk 11:17). In contrast, Jesus appoints his followers as the new house of prayer, replacing the apostate leadership (Mk 11:18) soon to be destroyed by God (Mk 11:12–17, 20–25). The mountain being removed through the disciples’ prayers (Mk 11:23) is Mount Zion, now representative of any obstacle that would stand in the way of God’s coming kingdom. The community of Jesus’ praying followers becomes the new location of the Father’s holy presence on earth, as well as the new hub for his kingdom expansion.
Mark finally includes two incidental references to prayer, one ethical (Mk 12:40), the other concerning prayer for relief during the Roman siege of Jerusalem (Mk 13:18), before reaching the climax of his prayer theme in Gethsemane (Mk 14:32–39). Jesus and the disciples are juxtaposed. Jesus pursues obedience through his greatest test/temptation by praying, while his disciples fall asleep, neglecting their spiritual preparation for the trial ahead. Thus, Mark’s prayer theme portrays Jesus both as the paradigmatic man of prayer to be emulated by every disciple and as the unique agent of God’s kingdom whose own prayer life was essential to his successful mission.
4.2. Matthew. Matthew reproduces Mark’s basic prayer themes in presenting Jesus as both exemplary and unique in his prayer life. First, Jesus prays as John’s martyrdom foreshadows his own destiny (Mt 14:1–12, 23), again suggesting that his persistent faithfulness to Calvary is in some measure due to his prayerful communion with the Father. Second, the community of disciples will become the new house/temple of prayer (Mt 21:12–13, 18–22; cf. Mt 18:15–20). Third, Gethsemane remains paradigmatic for prayer’s role in spiritual perseverance (Mt 26:36–46). Matthew also adds didactic texts supplementing his special portrait of Jesus as the final prophet like Moses. Thus, Jesus authoritatively prays for and blesses little *children (Mt 19:13), and he introduces the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:9–13) with apodictic, ethical injunctions: disciples pray for their persecutors (Mt 5:44); they will not pray in ways calculated to gain public recognition (Mt 6:5–6); and they pray not to bend God’s will but instead to place their trust in God’s goodness (Mt 6:7–8).
Most importantly, as the final prophet like Moses, Jesus thanks the Father for answering his prayers (Mt 11:25–27), thereby revealing the content of Jesus’ petitions. This Son has an exclusive, filial relationship with the Father in which “all things have been committed to him,” including his role as sole revealer of the Father to others, another crucial christological affirmation. It is through the medium of Jesus’ prayers that disciples are enabled to find faith.
4.3. Luke. Luke’s Gospel says more about prayer than any other, sharing Mark’s perspectives but with significant alterations. First, Luke’s introductory chapters serve as a pre-Pentecost, linking the work of the Holy Spirit with the prayers of the faithful (Lk 1:10, 13; 2:37; cf. Acts 1:8, 14; 2:1–4, 42).
Second, Jesus continues to receive divine guidance through prayer (Lk 5:16, replacing Mk 1:35 // Lk 4:42); he also remains exemplary in his prayerful obedience on the Mount of Olives, unlike the sleeping, unfaithful disciples (Lk 22:39–46). Here Luke’s editing highlights Jesus’ paradigmatic role as the “pray-er” par excellence (Crump 1992). However, Luke omits Mark’s materials linking prayer and discipleship where Jesus exhorts the disciples about prayer and exorcism (Mk 9:29; cf. Lk 9:43–44) and curses the fig tree (Mk 11:24–25), replacing this symbol of judgment with Jesus’ prophetic lament over Jerusalem (Lk 19:41–44). In both cases Luke reserves Mark’s lessons about the importance of prayer to kingdom ministry and the disciples’ status as God’s new “house of prayer” for fuller treatment in Acts.
Third, the Lukan Jesus teaches extensively about the ethics and nature of prayer. The Q traditions about praying for enemies (Lk 6:28), reciting the Lord’s Prayer (Lk 11:2–4), and using prayer for public display (Lk 20:47) need no comment. Luke’s special material includes three assurances: the Father (1) is always eager to receive his people’s prayers, never viewing any petitioner as “shameless,” no matter the request or the circumstances (Lk 11:5–10 [in Lk 11:8 the word anaideia, traditionally rendered as “persistence,” is better translated as “shamelessness”]); (2) will answer prayer only with good things (Lk 11:11–13), beginning with the best gift of all, the Holy Spirit (Lk 11:13; cf. Mt 7:11); (3) hears prayer the first time it is offered, unlike the unjust judge who responds only to repetition (Lk 18:1–5). Nonetheless, the Father answers in his own time, expecting that the faithful will persist in their prayers (even when seemingly unanswered) until the end of time (Lk 18:6–8; 21:36). Perseverance in prayer, not to be confused with repetitious prayer, even while suffering is the sign of faith for which the Son of Man will search when he comes (Lk 18:8).
Finally, Luke develops the christological theme of Jesus the intercessor, the Father’s prayerful agent of divine revelation. Thus, Jesus prays while receiving his baptismal commission (Lk 3:21), before choosing the Twelve (Lk 6:12), before Peter’s christological confession (Lk 9:18), before his *transfiguration (Lk 9:28–29) and before the disciples ask him how to pray (Lk 11:1). Luke’s lesson is that spiritual illumination, especially insight into the truth of Jesus’ identity, is made possible through his prayers. Disciples exercise faith as a direct result of Jesus’ intercessions (Lk 10:21–22); the disciples persevere and overcome satanic accusation only because Jesus prays for them (Lk 22:31–32). Whereas other NT writers describe Christ taking up the cause of heavenly intercession after his *ascension and glorification (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25; 1 Jn 2:1; cf. Acts 7:54–60), Luke insists that Jesus had already begun his work as (heavenly) intercessor during his earthly ministry of humiliation.
4.4. John. John’s prayer material expands the christological theme of Jesus the intercessor. As the preexistent Word (*logos) that became flesh (Jn 1:1–18), Jesus comes “in the name of the Father” (Jn 5:43; 10:25), meaning that he lives to glorify God by doing only those things that the Father wants him to do (Jn 5:19–30; cf. Jn 8:49–50; 11:4; 13:31–32; 14:13; 15:8; 17:4; see also Deut 18:19–20). The resurrection of *Lazarus (Jn 11:1–44) serves to demonstrate that Jesus’ petitions are always answered positively (Jn 11:21–22, 41–44) because he only asks according to God’s will, which means that he always prays “in the name of the Father.” The so-called High Priestly Prayer (Jn 17) depicts Jesus the intercessor praying for the fulfillment of the Father’s will in his life (Jn 17:1–5), the lives of his disciples (Jn 11:6–19) and all future believers (Jn 11:20–26). Such wholesale obedience to the Father is the central tenet of discipleship and the focus of Jesus’ prayer because the Father desires the same type of relationship with every disciple that he has with the Son: to be one (Jn 17:11, 20–23, 26). Jesus therefore “sends them [disciples] into the world” just as the Father sent him (Jn 17:18; 20:21). In other words, disciples are sent “in the name of Jesus” just as Jesus was sent “in the name of the Father.” On this basis, Jesus assures his followers, “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do” (Jn 14:13–14; 15:7–8, 16; 16:23, 26). In other words, Jesus promises the Father’s positive response to prayer when it is aligned with his will, a point made explicit in 1 John 5:14: “This is our assurance we have in him, that whatever we ask according to his will, he hears us.” In his own way, John agrees with the Synoptics. The praying Jesus is paradigmatic and unique, simultaneously. The intercessions of Jesus the intercessor make possible and exemplify the miraculous possibilities available to every disciple who intercedes “in the name of Jesus,” in oneness with the Father and the Son.
See also DISCIPLES AND DISCIPLESHIP; FAITH; FASTING; WORSHIP.
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D. M. Crump
THE DISCIPLE’S MODEL FOR PRAYER
9 In this manner, therefore, 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 this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
—Matthew 6:9–13
The beauty of this prayer, called the Lord’s Prayer, has been honored in both spoken word and in music. Across the lines of culture and language, the Lord’s Prayer has served as the model for Christians to approach God. No liturgy is complete without it and no prayer can surpass the scope of meaning contained in its simplicity. Placed here at the center of the Sermon on the Mount, it is a focus of faith. It is a liberating expression before God. It is faith in action, focused on the future rather than on a restoration of the past. His kingdom is to come now, His will is to be done now, for piety is not our works but is God working in and through us.
The prayer includes an invocation that is threefold, with three petitions in the body of the prayer. Numerous scholars hold the belief that the doxology was added in the early part of the second century. But with the Matthean account we include the doxology as an essential part of the prayer. It may be divided into three sections of emphasis: (1) the honor that worship accords to God; (2) the humility that recognizes our dependence upon God; and (3) the hope which the rule of God creates. As a model prayer, it calls for more attention than this suggested outline offers.
The use of “our Father” means that we are members of a community. “Father” is a designation that witnesses to personal concern, and the phrase “which art in heaven” (KJV) is a Jewish expression found twenty times in Matthew as a title for the Father-God. To reverence His name is to worship. For His kingdom to come means to experience the full reign of God now, a desire for the fulfillment of divine purpose. For His will to be done is a response of the disciple confessing that it will be done in us. The request for bread focuses on that which will sustain us for the coming day. The confession of debts is in relation to our sins or debts owed to God. To forgive, as we forgive, is to recognize that God cannot renew those who stubbornly cling to grudges, thus defying His extension of grace. The prayer to be delivered from the evil one is a recognition that we will not totally escape temptation, nor delight in temptation, but we will ask God to deliver us when we are being tempted. The kingdom is His, and has priority for us; the power is His and sustains our trust and respect, for it is ultimately in His power that we serve; and the glory is His forever, and is the ultimate end or meaning of our creation and purpose. It is of interest here that the second petition of the Jewish Kaddish reads, “May He establish His Kingdom in your lifetime and in your days and in all the ages of the whole house of Israel soon and in the near future.”