(1) After this manner pray ye – the prayer itself
(2) So much negativity – objections to praying this prayer
(3) Positivity restored – objections shot down
After this manner therefore pray ye
The Lord’s Prayer is found twice in the New Testament. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus teaches about righteousness, specifically almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (chapter 6). Concerning prayer he says, After this manner therefore pray ye. In Luke 11, when he had ceased praying the disciples said, Lord teach us to pray; he said, When ye pray, say.
They are substantially the same, but we are most familiar with Matthew 6
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The prayer is rather straight forward, so I just have a few observations.
Our Father, who art in heaven – Clearly, Jesus intended this to be offered in a group setting, as all the pronouns are plural. BUT there is a wonderful truth in the plural pronouns – we are always part of something bigger than us. This is community. When we are the only believer in our family, in our city, in our people group, we are not in this alone, there is always we. This is part of the communion of the saints. I must have faith for myself, but as soon as I believe I am part of the family! It is not just me and Jesus, it is us; it is we; and my prayers should reflect this blessedness: Our Father.
The prayer consists of seven petitions: hallowed, come, be done, give us, forgive us, lead us not, deliver us.
Hallowed be they name – nearly every single time I hear someone teach on this prayer they say, 'This means to praise the Lord.' There are plenty of good words in the Bible for praise - hallowed is not one of them! Hallowed is an old English word. It is the verb form of holy. It means make holy. Hallowed is a translation of the Greek word agiazo, which everywhere else is translated sanctify. So this petition is, May your name be regarded as holy.
Thy kingdom come – we are praying for the return of Jesus and his kingdom on the earth. But we know that the kingdom has already begun, it is righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; it is power and not mere words.
Thy will be done – thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Notice, prayer begins with God, not me.
Give us this day our daily bread – God cares about our needs and Jesus teaches us not only dependence on our Father, but that it is his delight to meet our needs.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors – Jesus is teaching us to keep short accounts by confessing our sins and asking forgiveness. But notice, we are asking God to be as merciful to us as we are to others. You doubt this? Consider v 14-15. The only part of the prayer Jesus offers commentary on is forgiveness. Unforgiveness is a dam that hinders the blessings of God; this grows into bitterness, which is poison to my soul. Forgiveness is the dam-buster!
How is it that some churches say forgive us our trespasses? especially since the Greek word means, that which is owed, a debt. Reformed churches tend to use debts, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists tend to say trespasses. John Wycliffe, in the first English translation of the Bible (1395), had debts. William Tyndale (1526) used trespasses. In 1549 the first Book of Common Prayer in English had trespasses. This became the "official" version used in the Anglican community. Ironically, the King James Version (1611), the version specifically authorized for the Church of England, accurately translated it as forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Bottom line, I don’t know why or how trespasses slipped in, perhaps because v 14 & 15 have trespasses. I always say, forgive us our debts.
Lead us not into temptation – “For the completeness of so brief a prayer He added — in order that we should supplicate not touching the remitting merely, but touching the entire averting, of acts of guilt — Lead us not into temptation: that is, suffer us not to be led into it, by him (of course) who tempts; but far be the thought that the Lord should seem to tempt, as if He either were ignorant of the faith of any, or else were eager to overthrow it. Infirmity and malice are characteristics of the devil.” (Tertullian, On Prayer)
But deliver us from evil – Do not allow us to be led into temptation but deliver us.
For thine is the kingdom – there are many who remove this from the prayer, declaring that it was not part of the original. Yet The Didache (100) has it. The Liturgy of St James, the oldest liturgy, which came from the church in Jerusalem, has it. The Liturgy of St Mark (tradition says he brought the gospel to Egypt), which is the liturgy of the Coptic Church, has it (of course, it also has trespasses!). I vote to keep it.
Amen. I encourage you to pray this prayer every day this week when you say your prayers.
Tuesday – So much negativity
Wednesday – Positivity restored
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