The Lord’s Prayer

One of the great things about our Living God is his desire to interact with us, his children. His love for us is shown through his developing a channel for communication and His joy in our use of this means of communication to talk with him and express our love, needs, desires and joy in knowing him. I am, of course, talking about prayer. Prayer is our greatest tool for communicating with God and is free and without restriction. God is innumerable lines open and waiting and God will pick up every call that you place to him.

First off, what is the benefit to us for praying? It says in the bible that God wishes us to pray to him, but why should we? Here are some reasons that we should pray to God:

1 - It puts our trust in God to provide for our needs

2 - Promotes our fellowship with God, like children talking to their father

3 - It allows us to be involved in activity that is important, the work of God in the Kingdom

4 - A means where we can glorify God

Despite the fact that God is all-powerful and thus already knowing what we are going to pray for before we even start, God still wishes us to pray to him. Unfortunately, many people are intimidated by the thought of praying, as though the expectation is that we need to sound like Professors of Theology or that we need to pray for extended periods of time. Some of the stories from history talk about famous church leaders praying for hours at a time. As a matter of fact, in medieval times, the final action before a person completes his path to knighthood is to perform a vigil, where he is to spend the night in a church or cathedral, praying until sunrise.

Back to our story, prayer as I said can be an intimidating act on par with speaking to a crowd. However, the actual act of prayer can be very brief as long as it is a true, heart-felt message between you and your Creator. Jesus addressed this after his disciples asked him to teach them to pray. Jesus responded with the following passage, which in my mind is best viewed in the classic Kings James Version, Luke 11:1 - 4 -

King James Version Chapter 11

11 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say,

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

This is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer, although this is also known as the Disciples’ Prayer since Jesus responded to their request for guidance on how to pray. Whichever the case, what you have here is a simple, concise prayer that is best viewed as a pattern, not a substitute. Somewhat similar to the Ten Commandments, there are clauses directed to God’s glory and others directed at our request to God for providing for us. But like all things, there are miscommunications about what is said and what it really means.

The first three clauses look at God and qualify who he is and his plan for our lives and world. He is our Father, he lives in Heaven. He is holy, and his plans include coming down from heaven and bringing a New Jerusalem where we will live in peace, love and joy through all eternity as addressed in Rev. 21:1-4 -

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 21

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. 2 I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: x

Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity,

and He will live with them.

They will be His people,

and God Himself will be with them

and be their God.

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Death will no longer exist;

grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer,

because the previous things have passed away.

The second part of the Prayer looks at our relationship with God and what he does for us. In this group, we acknowledge that we know He is the provider of our daily needs (not just bread), our Saviour without whom we would be condemned to a life of spiritual death and removal from God’s presence. It also shows us our role in the equation where we need to forgive others for their sins against us just as God forgives us our sins towards Him. Finally it is also a request for God to guide us through the evils and temptations of the world so we will not stray from His Word and fall into eternal damnation (not that we are asking God to not test us with temptation).