The Lord’s Prayer

Matthew 6:9-15; Luke 11:1-4.

Our Father in Heaven.

We are praying to the heavenly Father. Our God is all powerful, the creator of everything that we see and do not see. Isaiah 40 talks about the greatness of God. We read in verse 12.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,

And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?

 

Verse 26.

Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars,

The One who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,

Not one of them is missing.

You can also read Job 38 to 41 to further get a glimpse of God’s awesome power.

 

Hallowed be Your Name.

Hallowed means set apart or sanctified. In ancient Jewish culture, a ‘name’ is so much more than what we often understand it today. A name denotes someone’s whole character and personality. When we set apart and sanctify God’s name, we are acknowledging that there is no one like Him. He is above everyone and everything else. If something has a name, it must bow its knee before His NAME (Phil. 2:10, Isaiah 45:23)

 

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

God’s name, God’s Kingdom and God’s will must have the utmost priority in our lives. We pray that God’s will shall be accomplished freely and correctly on this earth as it is being done perfectly in heaven. His will shall also be accomplished in our lives and we can genuinely say with love to our Father in Heaven that ‘your will be done’ in my life.

 

Give us this day our daily bread.

Freely bring your needs and requirements to a loving Father; but be careful that you do not fall into greed as you ask the Father for your needs. Picture a young son or daughter coming before their parents with their needs. We can pray not only for our daily needs and provisions but for everything else, as long as these are in the Father’s will.

 

Forgive us our sins just as we forgive those who sin against us.

Just as there is a need for daily food, there is a need for daily forgiveness. We live in a fallen and sinful world and it will influence us in ways that are contrary to the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we cannot walk in the Spirit and we will be influenced by the desires of the flesh. We need daily forgiveness; and just as God freely forgives us daily, so also we must forgive others (Matt. 6:15).

 

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.

Temptation also means trial; it is not only a solicitation to do evil. God will not tempt men but He will allow us to pass through periods of trials. Remember that the testing of your faith produces perseverance (James 1:3). A person who prays, ‘lead us not into temptation’ and then gets himself in a tempting situation is a lair before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). When we say, ‘lead us not into temptation’, we do not desire time of trials and testing; we do not want to be tempted nor we will we allow ourselves to go into a place of temptation. We will also not tempt others into sin.

 

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

This doxology is not found in the earliest Greek and Latin manuscripts and was probably added later to follow the patterns of Jewish prayers. Read 1 Chr. 29:10-13 for a similar doxology by King David. However this does not mean that it should not be understood in proper context.

 

As with most doxologies, we end this prayer by glorifying our God and Father. We acknowledge that He has the sovereign right to all kingdoms on earth and in heaven; everything that has ever been created belongs to Him. We also acknowledge His power over all creation. He has the power to accomplish everything according to His will. Finally, we give Him the glory and honor and praise that is due to Him and Him alone.

 

Amen.

Amen comes from the Hebrew 'āman and when it’s uttered at the end of prayers, it means so be it, may it be fulfilled. We end our prayers by believing and asking God to please let it be fulfilled as we’ve prayed.