Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” So he said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, may your name be hallowed/ honored; may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the bread (of life?), and forgive us our transgressions/debts, for we also forgive everyone who has transgressions/debts against us. And do not lead us into trials, but deliver us from the evil one.
“Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him. For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.”
Jesus offered this prayer to his disciples as sort of a model. There’s nothing magical in the recitation of it, but in it we see foundational principles in how to pray, and why.
Our Father In Heaven…
“Our Father” starts us off with good theology. God is not a deistic God, aloof and uncaring. God is not a pantheistic God that is just part of nature. God is not the Force. God is personal,[1]relational, immediate, accessible. With this opening, we not only acknowledge God, we exercise faith that God will, indeed, relate to us as a perfectly good and loving Father relates to His children.
“Our Father” reminds us that he’s our father. Not just mine; ours. We cannot forget when we pray this that we are raised from death into new life in a family, a Christian community. In this, we are recognizing that while God is for us, He is for all of us. I cannot be content to simply think of God in terms of “me and God.” It’s “us and God.”
“This at once takes away hatred, quells pride, casts out envy and brings in the mother of all good things, charity…It shows [the equality of] the king and the poor person in all those matters that are most indispensible and of greatest weight.” - Chrysostom
“Our Father” reminds us of our status as Christians. It reminds us whose we are. We are meant to approach God as a child approaches her father.
Galatians 4:6 “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father!’”
Romans 8:15, 16 “You received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Think of “Abba” as the word children say before they can fully pronounce the word.[2] It’s the best expression of a deep, gut-level, unrestrained cry of joy when daddy walks into the room; it’s the instinctive wail of his title when a child in pain believes only daddy will make it better. It’s a word that is used only in a relationship of safety, trust, and love.
“Our Father” reminds us that God cares for us. God will guide and discipline us for our growth into maturity, but he does so because of His love. So just in this opening, we establish a theology of God, our status with Him, and our place within the Christian community.
May Your Name Be Hallowed/Honored…
“Hallowed be your name” is a plea, not a statement of fact. It’s saying, “Please, make your name revered or holy.” It’s asking for God to start the process in a world full of people – including the one praying – who takes the name of Jesus too casually. It’s asking that God’s character and nature be recognized as great by all who dismiss, insult or ignore it. This should humble us, because that includes us.[3]
It’s also a plea of both humility and hope. “Help me not to take your name lightly. Help me to appreciate the majesty of God. May the entirety of my life reflect that great weight and value I give to you; with your help, all I think, say and do will offer an accurate representation of you. ”
“The prayer to hallow God’s name corresponds with what Jesus has previously taught: ‘Let you light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven…’ In effect he is saying, ‘Enable us to live so purely that through us all may glorify you’ It points us again to mature self-control, that we may present to all a life so irreprehensible that every one of those who observe may offer to the Lord the praise due him for this.” - Chrysostom
May Your Kingdom Come, May Your Will be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven
This is another phrase of hope and humility. Robert Law writes,
"Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting [our] will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done.”
Whenever we pray for justice, mercy, hope, and love, truth, and holiness, we are praying with hope that we will see these heavenly realities part now what we will see fully in the life to come.
It’s humbling in that we are asking God to reign in our lives in ways He does not now - emotions, desires, thoughts and commitments.
We want His desire to be our desires; His will to be our will; His loves to be our loves; His holiness to be ours. It’s also a reminder that, at the end of the day, we want God’s will to be done, not ours.
It’s not always easy to tell if we are within God’s will, or if we are selfishly motivated. It’s not possible for us to see all that God sees, so in many situations our best prayer is one where we ask God for life to unfold in a way that makes complete sense to us – but it might not be in the will of a God who has faultless wisdom, love and power. Even Jesus prayed:
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22)
This is another part of praying in God’s name. Praying in his name means praying in tune with God’s nature and character, and therefore praying for something to happen as God would have it happen.
In prayer we call on him to work out his purpose, not simply to gratify our whims. (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary[4])
It’s also challenging. This part of the prayer reminds us that others are praying this too. If we are excited to see God’s will for ourselves or the earth accomplished through the Holy Spirit and the people of God – well then, people of God, buckle up. What if I am the thing God uses in answer to someone else’s prayer?
When the poor pray for finances, will I be willing to help?
When the lonely pray for a friend, am I available?
When the desperate pray for help, am I ready?
Give Us Today The Bread (of life) …
Literally, “that which is sufficient for our life.” In ancient literature, this word is only found in the Bible and only twice, so there is uncertainty about how to translate it. It almost looks like Jesus coined a new word to make his point. It can convey everything from bread today, to bread tomorrow, to the bread of heaven that will sustain us for eternity.[5] Jerome called it “bread that is above all substances and surpasses all creatures.”[6]
This is a prayer about trusting God to provide what we need. We can take for granted that we can take care of ourselves. If that fails, our family, church or government will provide. This part of the prayer reminds us that our blessings find their source in him. For that reason, we thank God ultimately for supplying for our needs. It’s a constant reminder that life is saturated with the presence and work of God, and even in our greatest accomplishments or in the most generous deeds of others it is God who sustains and provides.
There is a future hope here as well. We are trusting that God will sustain us into and through eternity, which will require the true “bread of life,” Jesus Christ.
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Jesus, in John 6:51
And Forgive Us Our Transgressions/Debts, For We Also Forgive Everyone Who Has Transgressions/Debts Against Us.
Apollonius of Tyana was a Greek philosopher, a contemporary of Jesus whom a number of scholars have compared with Jesus. They shouldn’t. He once prayed, “Give me that which is my due—pay me, ye gods, the debts ye owe to me.” This is not the prayer of one who understands Jesus or the Christian faith.
Here is the first acknowledgment: We have all sinned, broken God’s law and harmed ourselves and others as we have stepped out of the path of Life. We are in desperate need of someone to free us from the wages of sin. This is a plea for God, in His mercy, to cover the cost of our sins and repair that which has been broken by us or in us.
The second acknowledgment is that we must forgive those who sin against us. This is much tougher than praying that God forgives us of our sins. We must forgive those who have sinned against us: our spouse, our parents, cruel people at work or school. This list includes users and abusers, manipulators and liars. We all have sinned; we all are in desperate needs of God’s forgiveness. We want God to forgive us; as representatives bearing His name, we must offer forgiveness as well.
This portion of the prayer is what Augustine called “a terrible petition.” If we pray these words this while harboring unforgiveness, we are actually asking God not to forgive us. We would be saying, “I haven’t forgiven my friend/spouse/neighbor yet, so please don’t forgive me.” John and Charles Wesley wrote of this passage that, if we pray this while harboring unforgiveness, it is as if we were saying, “Do not forgive us at all…We pray that you will keep our sins in remembrance, and that your wrath may abide upon us.”
Scripture teaches that God forgives even when we don’t deserve it (Isaiah 43-44 is a powerful passage on this note). I don’t think this is a demand that we perfectly remember all the ways we need to extend forgiveness, because we aren’t perfect. I think this is about a crucial spiritual marker of an ongoing commitment to purposeful and sincere forgiveness, which will say something about the sincerity of our ongoing surrender and discipleship.
“God sees His own image reflected in His forgiving children; to ask God for what we ourselves refuse to men, is to insult Him.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
We must be committed to being deliberately and habitually forgiving.[7]
And here I must note something. So far, this prayer is full of excellent requests: “Make you Kingdom come alive in me; provide for my physical and spiritual needs every day.” But here it’s different: here we are asking God to mirror our commitment to life in the Kingdom. Some commentators call this a ‘covenantal’ part of the prayer. I’d like to suggest that this is the line in the prayer that does two things:
Reminds us we aren't passive participants in the Kingdom
Highlights the heart of the Kingdom: forgiveness
We’ve been asking so far for God to give us incredible gifts: He hallows his name; He brings His Kingdom into reality in our hearts; He nourishes us with what we need for this life and the next. So, what do we do with all this provision He has provided? It turns out that God is equipping us to do the thing that is central to the character and nature of God: forgive. As Chrysostom noted,
“Nothing makes us so like God as our readiness to forgive the wicked and the wrongdoer.”
And do not lead us into trials,[8] but deliver us from the evil one.
Trial: “trouble sent by God and serving to test or prove one's faith, holiness, character.”
Temptation: “an enticement to sin, arising from outward circumstances, within, or from Satan” (Luke 8:13; 1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:12; 1 Timothy 6:9; Luke 4:13).[9]
The commentaries I have been reading note that “lead us not into temptation” is better understood as “lead us not into trials/testing.” Wuest’s Translation says:
“Do not bring us into the place of testing where the circumstances in which we are tested lead us on to the place where we are solicited to do evil.”
So this is once again humble and hopeful. It’s humbling in that we acknowledge we are people in need of the refining result that trials can bring. This prayer asks for us to be able to mature without trials (wouldn’t that be great???). Please, dear God, if at all possible, let this cup pass from me. Jesus prayed it; we can too. But if a trial is what it takes, keep us from giving into the temptation from the Evil One (Luke 4:13; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8) and from from the lusts within ourselves that undermine us (James 1:14; 4:1-4). It’s a prayer to save us from moral failure within and the ravages of moral evil all around.[10]
It is so easy for a maturing test to push us away from God instead of toward God. Deliver us, Lord, from the Evil One, who would turn what you plan to use to bring us spiritual life into something that brings spiritual death.
But there is the hopeful reminder in this request: we know that God is a Deliverer. The Old Testament shows us that, time after time, God faithfully guides his people through trials and delivers his people from the snares of sin and power of temptation.
For Yours Is The Kingdom, And The Power, And The Glory Forever, Amen.
This phrase is not in the earliest manuscripts, but it was written in the margins beside this prayer so often that the early church added it relatively quickly – think of it as a doxology, a short closing song. After focusing on our needs, our troubles, our frailty, we return to the glory of God. N.T. Wright says,
“If the church isn't prepared to subvert the kingdoms of the world with the kingdom of God, the only honest thing would be to give up praying this prayer altogether, especially its final doxology.”
All kingdoms answer to God. All power comes from God. All glory belongs to God. In a world where kingdoms rise and fall, and power corrupts, and glory is tarnished and fleeting, it’s a reminder that God is uncorrupted, lasting, powerful and good, and true glory is found only in him.
* * * * * * * * * *
So, “Lord, help us to: Never forget your holiness and majesty; pray for your will and reign, not ours; trust for daily and eternal provision; constantly forgive others; mature through trials without giving in to evil.”
That’s a lot. It’s a high bar. I’ve said several times that it’s hopeful and humbling. Here’s where I add, “This sounds almost impossible.” But…Jesus isn’t done with this teaching. I believe the next thing he says addresses that fact that when God calls us, God equips us. Don’t think of what I am about to read as the next ‘episode.’ This all flows together.
Luke 11:10-13; Matthew 7:7-11
“So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? Or if he asks for bread, will give him a stone?
If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the good gift of the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
There it is. The solution. The equipment for the life to which we have been called. The Spirit of God himself resides within us. God has not left us to our own devices to live the way he has designed us to live. He is personally helping us flourish as image bearers of God, as children of God, as ambassadors for God.
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[1] http://www.biblesociety.org.au/news/god-is-a-person-but-what-does-this-mean
[2] I first heard this point made by Tim Keller in a sermon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqxXABgRhVo
[3] I pulled some ideas about the radical nature of the Lord’s Prayer from this excellent article: “The Lord’s Prayer Advert Has Been Banned For Being Offensive - Which It Is.” http://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/the_lords_prayer_advert_has_been_banned_for_being_offensive_which_it_is\
[4] “The prayer of Gethsemane—“If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done,” should teach what prayer in the name and spirit of Christ means.” (Ellicot’s Commentary)
“ ’In My name’ corresponds to “according to My character” and thus is parallel to other texts that require us to leave room for God’s will to overrule ours.” (The Apologetics Study Bible)
[5] From Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers: “The form of the word admits of the meanings, (1) bread sufficient for the day now coming; (2) sufficient for the morrow; (3) sufficient for existence; (4) over and above material substance… I find myself constrained to say that the last meaning seems to me the truest. Let us remember: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4… I think, to see that He meant His disciples… we mean not common food, but the “Bread from heaven, which giveth life unto the world.”
[6] I believe all the quotes from the early church fathers comes from the commentary in the series Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture.
[7] “The parables of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:41) and of the Unforgiving Creditor whose own debt had been forgiven (Matthew 18:23-35) were but expansions of the thought which we find in its germ in this clause of the Lord’s Prayer.” (Elliot’s Commentary For English Readers)
[8] I lean toward “trials” as being the best way to translate the word. However, Tertullian (an early church father) represented what it looks like to read it as “temptations.” He reads Jesus as saying, “Do not allow us to be led by the Tempter.”
[9] Both these words use the same root word; translations will differ on the usage at times. (http://biblehub.com/greek/3986.htm).
[10] How does God answer this prayer and deliver us? His Word. (Psalm 119:11; Proverbs 6:20-24); Prayer (Matthew 26:41; Luke 22:40); The Armor of God (Ephesians 6); Wise Boundaries (1 Corinthians 7:5; Proverbs 5-7); Resistance and flight (1 Timothy 6; James 4:7; Matthew 18:8-9; Proverbs 1:10-15; Genesis 39:7-10; Daniel 1:8).