(1) After this manner pray ye – the prayer itself
(2) So much negativity – objections to praying this prayer
(3) Positivity restored – objections shot down
Monday we considered the prayer itself, After this manner therefore pray ye. Tuesday it was the objections of those who say this prayer is not for Christians today, So much negativity. Today we look at the answers to these objections.
Positivity restored
My plan is to go through the list I presented yesterday. I don’t want to repeat the entire post so I will only summarize each objection.
Dispensationalism – Everything Jesus said/taught was to Jews under the Law and has nothing to do with us. The Gospel as we know it was preached by Paul.
This is, in a word, outrageous! Heretical even! We follow Jesus, not Paul. The very first verse of the Gospel according to Mark says, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The gospel begins with John the Baptist! Jesus said, For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. The entire ministry of Jesus, miracles and teaching, was kingdom of heaven stuff, gospel stuff! We are followers of Jesus and he said, After this manner therefore pray ye.
The milder form of dispensationalism – it is good as far as it goes, but the Apostles and thus the Church have moved on to a higher spiritual realm of prayer.
Is it suggested this is the only prayer to be prayed? No! No one anywhere, ever, has suggested this is the only prayer to be prayed. Have you ever been to a liturgical worship service? Prayers are offered throughout the service. There is more prayer than in many/most evangelical services. Besides, how can you really rise above praying the very words the Lord said to pray?
The repeated use of this prayer falls under the category of ‘vain repetitions.’
And yet, it was on the heels of this statement that Jesus gave us this prayer. Have you never wrestled in prayer, where you bring the same petition over and over to the Father because of the burden of your heart? Or the burden leads you to pray the same prayer for years until it is answered? What about all night prayer meetings? Surely every word and petition can’t be freshly minted. It’s the heart. Vain repetitions, as Jesus explained, is thinking that the mere multiplication of words will give efficacy to your prayer.
Praying the Lord’s Prayer weekly at church or daily at home does not even come close to vain repetitions.
Liturgy and ritual. Bad, just bad. Repeating the Lord’s Prayer is part of empty, mind-numbing ritual which should be avoided.
Everybody has liturgy, some more involved and thought out than others. “What?? My church does not use liturgy!” Do you have an order of service that you follow every week? That’s fundamentally a liturgy. Is your order of service one that without even thinking about it or, gasp, without a bulletin, you know what’s going to happen next? Sounds like mind-numbing ritual. Ha! Actually, we should all avoid judging the intentions and motives of others. Surely we can disagree without condemning.
This is a Catholic thing, right?
There are those for whom this is the real issue, “If Catholics do it, must be bad, we’re not going to do it.” Yes, Catholics pray this prayer. If this is your concern, I can absolutely, positively guarantee praying the Lord’s Prayer will not make you Catholic.
True prayer is extemporaneous, spontaneous, unplanned, and unprepared. Spiritual prayer is from the heart, depending on the Holy Spirit for the words and direction. Therefore, using the Lord’s Prayer, or any other written or prepared prayer, is not spiritual, is not praying in the Spirit.
This is probably the most substantial objection. True prayer is from the heart. Isn’t true praise and worship from the heart as well? Yet we sing songs other people wrote and no one questions whether that is spiritual or in the Spirit. Interesting.
Actually, I don’t know where it is written that reading a prayer is not spiritual. (Spoiler alert: Nowhere.) There are other prayers in the Scriptures, surely we can pray them. I believe the best devotional time is reading the Word either until a prayer arises in your heart from what you read or simply praying what you just read. You are praying the Word of God. With your eyes open, even! When your prayer is the Word of God, is that not the essence of spiritual? The Lord’s Prayer is the Word of God - by definition it is spiritual. It was inspired by the Holy Spirit - by definition that is praying in the Spirit.
Every gospel tract I have ever seen has this at the end, “If this is the desire of your heart, then pray this prayer...” Many church services end with, “Bow your heads, close your eyes, and say with me, Lord Jesus…”
True spiritual prayer is indeed from the heart. It can be both extemporaneous and written.
This as a model for prayer, this was never intended as a prayer to be prayed
I’ve heard this often. I’ve seen it in books. But no one prays this way, following the model. No one. I’ve been to a lot of churches and have never heard the pastoral prayer follow this outline. Interesting. Now surely these seven petitions can serve as a guide or outline for prayer. I occasionally pray through the Lord’s Prayer expanding each petition.
Honestly, I don’t think it is wrong to use the prayer as an outline, but I believe it was given and intended to be prayed as written, and in church, too!
I conclude with the words of Mary from John 2, Whatever he says to you, do. Amen!
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.
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