CreationFoundation
-- Home Page/Contents
26
-- THE LORD'S PRAYER
Luke 11:1-4 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." So He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Our
Father in heaven, Hallowed [made holy, honored] be Your
name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And
forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who
is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from
the evil one."
Luke
11:5-13And
He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him
at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves; for a
friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set
before him'; and he will answer from within and say, "Do not trouble
me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot
rise and give to you'? I say to you, though he will not rise and give
to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence
he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
It's probably true to say that most people feel quite capable of living their lives without input from God, and therefore see no need for prayer (Psalm 73:1-13), unless and until some calamity occurs -- and so it had been with the disciples of Jesus up to this moment, which is why, having seen the power of God at work in him, they now ask him to teach them how to pray.
The Lord's Prayer is not magical mantra for Christians to repeat in times of need or danger -- but is, rather, a topical outline for structuring daily prayer. The way in which we are intended to expand each of the headings in that outline into practical detail is clearly illustrated in many of the Psalms -- where we can read about the emotions and experiences of those who have been through this training programmer before us. Reading a psalm is, in fact, a good way to begin praying.
In the introductory first line Jesus instructs us to hallow or hon ourGod's name, acknowledging in particular his role or title of Father, the one who brought us, as well as the whole universe, into being in a way that is simply beyond human comprehension. Again, many of the Psalms hallow God's name, often describing the majesty of creation (e.g. Psalm 19).
Four topical headings follow that introduction:
First we are told to pray: Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Here, then, Jesus focuses our attention of the purpose and priority of our calling (Mathew 6:33) -- the mission of announcing the good news of the Kingdom of God, the coming of which will finally solve the problems of this troubled world and cause God's will to finally be done on Earth, as it is in heaven. Again, we can expand that topical heading into detailed requests and discussion of needs (Romans 15:31, Philippians 1:19, Ephesians 6:19-20).
Notice, incidentally, that God's Kingdom has not yet come, which is why God's will is not yet being done on earth as it is in heaven. This is not "God's world", as Paul explains in several places (Galations 1:4, 1 John 2:15-17).
Meanwhile, as human beings, we clearly need daily bread to keep us alive -- and although most of us have little problem getting enough to eat, it may not always be so, and is certainly not so at this moment in various parts of this troubled world.
No doubt Jesus is also speaking metaphorically here, so that the daily bread also symbolizes the spiritual food we need to nourish us as we grow as children of God (1 Peter 2:2). Do we seek that on a daily basis?
As we live in this world we are must of necessity rub shoulders with other people in all manner of situations, and there will inevitably be conflicts, problems, and pain -- some caused by other people and some by us. A readiness to forgive and forget is therefore essential in coping with such situations and avoiding the bitterness of stored up resentment. Notice that God will forgive us as we forgive others -- the general principle being that he will treat us the way we choose to treat other people.
Finally, in dealing with the complexities of life, we need God to guide and protect us, us as shepherd leads his sheep -- away from temptation and the influence of the evil one, for whom the disciples of Jesus are prime targets.
Having given this topical outline for prayer, Jesus then gives a parable to stress that effective prayer has an emotional dimension, reflecting the fact that God is a real person and should be addressed as such -- as we discuss the pros and cons of problem situations and ask his help and advice, just as naturally as we would with our earthly father.
To be effective, prayer cannot be mechanical and repetitive, as Jesus also makes clear elsewhere (Matthew 6:5-8), and as James also stresses (James 5:17). Obviously, if we are really concerned about a situation, then our sincerity will be demonstrated by our persistence.