In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus taught his disciples to pray what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” Most of us learned this prayer as children and we have recited this prayer from memory thousands of times throughout our lives. How often do we take in the intent of this prayer? It becomes an empty recitation if we give sound to the words through our mouths and do not give meaning to words through our minds. This simple prayer places us in the right relationship to God and how we are to live our lives for God and under God, now and forever.
Our Father,
We recognize Him as our loving creator, protector, and provider.
We pray to Him with our brothers and sisters. We come to Him, not alone, but in relationship with each other, as a community.
Hallowed be your name.
He is worthy of honor and respect. We show that respect when we address Him, whenever we call to Him. His name is to be honored every time we call to Him.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We invite His kingdom into our hearts, not only my heart, but the heart of everyone, that His kingdom would shine through us, that all would know and experience God as Father, that all would be brought into Him and know Him as Father. When all are part of His Kingdom, then earth will be like heaven, where only God’s will is done.
Give us this day our daily bread.
While we live on earth awaiting Christ’s return, we ask God to give us our bread, which is Christ, who offered his body, broken for us, that we might live. We ask not just for physical nourishment, but also for spiritual nourishment that comes through Christ. Knowing that God daily provided manna from heaven to sustain the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness, we ask Him to daily provide the heavenly bread of Christ that will sustain us until His return.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
While we live in these broken bodies awaiting our resurrection bodies, we acknowledge our sin, our need to be forgiven, which can only be granted if we ourselves forgive our brothers and sisters who commit sins that hurt us. Without our willingness to forgive, we cannot be forgiven by God. We hold within us the key to our own forgiveness.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
We ask God the Father to lead us in our earthly lives, guiding us away from temptation and giving us strength to resist temptation. We acknowledge the pervasiveness of evil in this world and ask the Father in faith to deliver us safely, protecting us from the purveyor of evil, Satan.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.
We acknowledge that all belongs to God: His Kingdom, into which He invites us; His Power, in which we trust; and His Glory, in which we add our voices to the angels in praising and honoring Him. In this acknowledgment, we can give up our primal instincts to seek personal security, control, and esteem. In acknowledging God as Sovereign and Lord, we are secure—because we rest in His kingdom, we give Him all control over our lives—because all power is His, and we release our desire for esteem—because all glory is His.
The next time you recite the Lord’s Prayer, be attentive to its meaning.
To His glory,
Doug