Did you ever realize that the Lord’s Prayer, that we find in (Matthew 6), is not just any prayer but that it is a prayer for a lifetime. It is sometimes referred to as the model prayer and while many Christians can recite it from memory, few have ever plumbed the depth of its rich and inexhaustible meaning.
Jesus never intended this prayer to be just a memory verse. Instead He wanted it to act as a template for our prayers. Jesus gave us this prayer as a wonderful outline on how to approach the Father in prayer, as well as how we are to align our hearts with that of God’s.
I love how Henry Ward Beecher referred to the Lord’s Prayer: “I used to think the Lord’s Prayer was a short prayer; but as I live longer, and see more of life, I begin to believe there is no such thing as getting through it. If a man, in praying that prayer, were to be stopped by every word until he had thoroughly prayed it, it would take him a lifetime.”1
My friends, I also believe that our Lord intended us to truly delight in this special prayer, learn the rich secrets and power in its short phrases, and revel in the awesome joys we gain by praying its timeless words.
The words to this simple but profound prayer are below:
“Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
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)
Rather than share some of my many thoughts on this unique prayer, I leave you with the one supreme thought on prayer, that I have gleaned, by slowly reading this prayer over and over again.
The chief priority of prayer is to showcase God’s glory throughout His universe
As I read the opening words of this prayer I see, in reference to our heavenly Father, the following: Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, and Your will be done. The first three phrases are all about God. We aren’t even in the picture yet. It’s all about God, and His name, His kingdom, and His will. I believe that when we come to the Father, rather than come first with our petitions and needs, we need to acknowledge that He should first be hallowed or reverenced, second that His kingdom be built up here on earth, and third that we always pray with our heart centered in doing and seeing His perfect will carried out throughout earth and heaven.
It is only after we rejoice in hallowing God’s name, work with all our heart at desiring to play a part in building up His kingdom, and always setting our heart, mind, and soul on doing is perfect will, that we should ask for our needs to be met – Give us this day our daily bread.
I am a firm believer that when we put God first in everything, and especially in our prayers, we will receive so much joy that our hearts will be overflowing with gratitude and praise to the Lord. This in turn will help us pray for not only our own needs but those of others.
My prayer for you is that you will slowly read and re-read this awesome prayer that our Lord has given us, and ask God to open it and illuminate it to our hearts and minds so we can bless God first, others second, and ourselves third!
It’s interesting to note that Jesus refers to the first three commandments at beginning of this prayer.
1. Our Father=no gods before me
2. Who art in heaven=no earthly idol made with hands
3. Hollowed be thy name=Do not take His name in vain
Jesus loved the law, so, it makes sense he would incorporate it into His prayers.
The second thing that I often question is “What does God’s will look like when being done in heaven?”
If we are to do His heavenly will on earth, we must have some idea what that looks like. How would you describe it and how it’s done? Not just said but “done!”
As a side note, if we say that this “will” is perfect, then we just made some popular eschatologies obsolete because they fervently preach that everything is running down and going to hell in a hand basket. Like they say, “it’s like moving deck chairs on the Titanic.”
In light of this prayer’s optimism, I encourage you to think hard about your view of the end times. It had better be based on God’s will being done on earth, where Jesus said I have overcome and now have all authority. Go disciple the nations!
A good word. Thanks, I needed that. –Lee Moseley