The Lord's Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer is probably one of the most famous prayers that has ever been recorded. Jesus takes the opportunity to teach prayer as he is teaching the disciples and the crowds that have gathered to listen to him teach. I think that this is a prayer that we should spend more time with and pray in our individual lives because of what it is. Because it is the model prayer that should be not only used to structure our prayers off of but also to pray verbatium as we go to God. Jesus says,
“Pray then like this: “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 also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 6:9-15 ESV
I want to first notice the structure of the prayer. Jesus opens the model prayer with focusing on God. God is to come first. This concept is one that Jesus teaches throughout the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6:33 is an example of this teaching, seek God first as he should be the most important thing in your life. This is reflected in the model prayer. As we pray, God is recognized first as he is most important. We pray first recognizing who we are praying to then pray that his will is done. We pray in such a way that we place God and his will higher than any of our desires as he and his will should be our desire.
After we have prayed, recognizing God and asking that his will be done in all things, the focus shifts. Matthew Henry writes, “we pray for the needful supports and comforts of this present life.” The focus becomes what our needs are. We pray for our deliverance from temptation, that we have the needs for each day, and that we are forgiven for our shortcomings. The forgiveness is prayed for in light of the forgiveness that we have given. The focus is our relationship to God. We focus on God from the beginning, and at the end of the prayer, our focus is being right with God.
Jesus then focuses in on forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is talked about in the light of the forgiveness that we extend. Are we forgiving people who, when someone has wronged us, are willing and do forgive the wrong that is done against us? God calls us to be forgiving, just as he is forgiving, and when we are forgiving, we are then forgiven.
The prayer that Jesus teaches is one where God and our relationship with God are emphasized. We pray to God with him and his will as our focus, and we pray that we live in accordance with his will, being kept from evil and forgiven so as to remain in a right relationship with God. The model prayer is all about God and is a picture of what our prayers and life should look like; that is, praying and living in a manner that is all about God.
BIBLOGRIPHY
Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000.