The Lord’s prayer is a model prayer for all believers to learn from. Prayer is a cornerstone of our faith, and of our fellowship with God and with one another. Prayer may seem like an instinct to nearly every person. When times are hard, everybody senses a need to pray. But most people don’t know how to pray. Just like we all must learn how to talk and how to walk, we must learn how to pray. Prayer should become to faith what breathing is to life.

Prayer is not an exercise in futility, but an exercise of faith. It is not a time filler until the next person reaches the pulpit, but an intentional time of communion with the Eternal God. Our prayers reveal what we believe and what is influencing us. Just like we mature in walking and talking, so we must in how we pray, to be more like Christ and the Spirit who intercede for us, and like the saints before us, whose pattern of prayer can be seen in Scripture which is full of prayers and doxologies from which we can learn so much that can infuse our prayer life with new sap.

Prayer mut be learned. It is the only thing the disciples asked Jesus to teach (Luke 11). Notice with me what is mentioned in Luke 11:1: the disciples knew of others who had been taught how to pray, John the Baptist setting a good example in this practice. Then they saw Jesus’ pattern of prayer, and how important was this discipline to his life. They wanted to follow his example as their master. So they entreated him: Lord, teach us how to pray. And you know what the lovely thing is? He did! To their and our benefit. And so believers: we ought to learn from the word of God how to pray, and help one another in our prayers. Prayer may be an impulse to most humans. Yet for the Christian: it is more than that: it is a command; a necessity. And so our meditations today will be on this model prayer that our Lord gave to help our lives of prayer as we worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Our Father

Jesus does not start by his felt needs. While we oftentimes focus on our wants and needs in our daily lives, we should be careful not to approach prayer the same way. Our prayers can be self-absorbed, often focusing on “I”, “me” and “my”. But in this model prayer, there is absolutely no use of the first-person singular pronoun. It is a corporate approach to prayer, which starts with the One to whom it is addressed: Our Father. Prayer, dear friends, does not start, nor end, with me.

The word “father” can be hard for some. There is no perfect earthly father. Many fathers strive to do what is right, but others eclipse them with how they abuse the fatherhood they’ve been entrusted with. We may be tempted to project on God our human experiences. But he is not a human father, nor does he act as one; he is the heavenly Father, the only perfect Father, Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5), full of justice, mercy and grace.

But is he the Father of all that lives? In some sense, his entire governance of the universe is fatherly. But he does not have a personal Father-son relationship with every person. Nor are we his children by birth, by right, choice, strength, or genetics. In fact, he owes nothing to us except justice – and that would be condemnation for our sin. He has one and only begotten Son, and his name is Jesus (John 3:16). But praise be to God: he is Father to those who rightly come to know him through this Son. Romans 8:15 tells us that through his Spirit we become adopted, and receive the privilege of calling him: Abba! Father!

We are freed by his Son to be his children forever. This means a personal Father-son relationship. But also, so gloriously, this means becoming members of his family on earth, called to serve one another in unity under the headship of Christ. And although God is utterly holy and high above us, inhabiting the heavens, he is also immanent, tangible, near to us, revealing himself to us through his word, inhabiting us by his Spirit, and making us so often the manifestations of his caring grace to one another.

And so we pray to the true, perfect and righteous Father, as true children and heirs of the promises. He is an intimate Father; a holy Father; a good Father! And only the believer may call him: Abba! Father! May we honor him as Lord and Father, in our lives and in our prayers. 

Hallowed be Your Name

When we hallow God’s name, we are exalting the uncreated Creator, the self-existing One, who sits enthroned above the circle of the earth (Isaiah 40:22), inhabiting the heavens (Isaiah 66:1) which altogether with the entire universe declare his glory (Psalm 19:1). He is not a local, national, or continental deity; he is transcendent and universal in his deity and eternal in his holiness. His glory does not belong to another (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11).

In our November day of fasting and praying, we focused on some of the names of God and their importance throughout the Bible. His names proclaim his attributes and display his character: holy, righteous, peace, jealous, Lord of hosts, self-existent, almighty, most high, banner, shepherd, healer, sanctifier, everlasting… He is jealous for his name’s sake and does not desire it to be taken in vain (Exodus 20:7). He is the ‘I AM!’ The one who was, is, and is to come.

God is perfect in his holiness, and has no need for anything or anyone to increase it. To hallow his name means to honor him as holy; to live holy lives because our Father is holy (1 Peter 1:16). When we do not lead such lives, the manifestation of the holiness of his name and the glory of his character is made less visible in this world. Everything we do, every word we say, every attitude we show, either display more, or less, of his attributes. In our lives and in our prayers, we are either responsible for a more evident holiness of God in this fallen world, or for dimming the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. The holiness of God’s name calls us live the Gospel and to share the Gospel!

“Hallowed be your name” is a plea from the Son, and by extension should be the disposition of every believer in prayer, for God to show forth the holiness of his name and make the holiness of his name recognized, acknowledged, embraced and believed by all peoples, particularly through the lives of his own children, whose earnest desire must be to know him more, and make his holy name known among all peoples. 

Your Kingdom Come

Biblical history tells us the kings of Judah and Israel were not perfect. The surrounding kingdoms were worse, often desiring to afflict the people of God. But God was jealous for his kingdom and sent his prophets to warn the kings of Israel. He promised David in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 to establish the kingdom of his offspring (Christ) forever and ever. And so, the entire Old Testament becomes progressively pregnant with the yearning for the coming King who would bring salvation.

Then along came John the Baptist who started to preach repentance, “for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). And he rejoiced when he saw the Lamb of God who is the fulfillment of the prophecies, and the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on this earth. In Christ, the kingdom has entered our world. This kingdom is an “already and not yet” state. God is already King over all, and he is recognized as such and worshipped as such by all the creatures in heaven, but not yet on earth. His Kingdom is a reality in the lives of those who believe in him, anticipating the final revelation of his Kingdom from heaven. But the unregenerate are living in rebellion against the King, even seeking to make Christ’s followers suffer.

So when we pray for his kingdom to come, we are in fact praying for the salvation of the elect, for all nations to come and worship him, for redemption to be complete, for the renewal of this world, for justice to take place, for the final battle to be fought, for Satan to be put away, for death to be no more, for sickness to be done away with, for sin to be obliterated, for every wrong to be made right, for every fear to be conquered, for martyrs to judge tyrants, for unregenerate sinners to be judged unto hell, for regenerate sinners to be glorified, for every knee to bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11). Hallelujah!

As history has shown us, kingdoms and empires fail, and so will one day our modern kingdoms and nations, especially as Psalm 2 tells us: the nations rage and the kings of this earth set themselves against the Lord and his Anointed. But by faith, brothers and sisters, we earnestly pray for the final consummation of the Kingdom that is already here, even as we behold the Man, seated on the throne! His Kingdom is forever! Come let us adore him! 

Your Will Be Done, on Earth as It Is in Heaven

The Lord’s will. I wonder how often we read our own subjective interpretations or personal desires into its meaning. “What is Your will for my life?” makes me the central point of importance. But “What is your will?” and “I want to do your will oh God”, with a sincere desire to apply our lives to his word, would honor him by making him and his will the centerpiece of our life.

Christ himself demonstrated how to submit to the Father’s will. Even in the face of the utmost evil and the sin that turned the Father’s face away, he said: “not my will, but yours be done!” (Luke 22:42) The New Testament encourages us to renew our minds so that we may discern what is the will of God (Romans 12:2). It exhorts us not to be foolish but to understand what the will of God is (Ephesians 5:17). This will is for us to be sanctified (1 Thessalonians 4:3) and to be grateful (5:18). Sometimes his will is for us to suffer, even when we do good (1 Peter 3:17). And while we may not understand it in the moment, such suffering ought to bring glory to his name. The foremost example of such a suffering is Christ. Isaiah reminds us that it was the will of God to crush him (Isaiah 53:10) and hang him on a cross so that God’s wrath against sin would be satisfied, and by it, his people be justified.

God works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11). He ordains all things and establishes their happenings. He is the first cause and works through secondary causes in the created order. For example, the rain causes the grass to grow, and God causes the grass to grow by means of rain. The people freely choose their president, and God chooses the president by means of the free will of people. Babylon invaded Israel without being coerced, and for its own gains, and God willed Babylon to invade Israel to discipline his people. While God and his creatures might work simultaneously for the ends he desires, his will is always righteous, but that of people is sometimes sinful. Joseph’s selling by his brothers and Christ’s crucifixion by Pilate and the Pharisees are prime examples.

So when we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we are praying for his righteous will to be made fully manifest to all. While this will is clearly understood, revered and honored in heaven, in the manner his kingdom is, it is not yet fully visible to those on earth. We then are praying for Christ’s rule to be manifest supremely over all, for this earth to be restored, for the adopted children to be glorified, for all their desires to be made holy, and for sin to be condemned. We are praying for the Gospel to be preached to all peoples. We are singing: “Come Thou long expected Jesus.” We are praying that we be found faithful. May our prayers not be merely ceremonial, but carry within them the depth, meaning, urgency and weight of the words of this prayer, as we seek to increasingly submit our will to his purpose. Christ showed us the way by submitting to the Father; let us imitate our Brother in our submission to this same Father. 

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Learning to pray is not learning to be so altruistic that we avoid mentioning our needs. It is not merely acceptable, but encouraged that we come to God with our needs. We are to depend on him, for he is our provider. God has always been the bread Giver. In Exodus 16, the Israelites grew hungry in the wilderness and started to grumble. Then God literally rained on them bread and meat from heaven. He provided for them every day (and on the 6^th day, enough for both the 6^th and the Sabbath). But those who did not trust the Lord, found out that hoarding made worms, and the bread stank.

In Deuteronomy 8:3, God reminded them that he let them hunger and then fed them with manna. He instructed them that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Christ himself quoted this verse to Satan who was tempting him (Matthew 4:4). Jesus knew the importance of physical needs, but even more, the importance of depending on the Father for provision, and on his word for holiness. He resolved to know the Scriptures and to live daily before the face of God. Many wanted to follow him because he provided bread, yet shouted “crucify him” a few days later when he became the eternal bread of life broken for us. He is the one preparing a table for us at the great marriage supper of the lamb where we will feast with him!

He provided a way for us through his own body and blood. None of us come to him from a place of plenty: we are all hungry beggars of bread, coming to the only one who sustains us and meets all our needs in Christ Jesus according to his riches (Philippians 4:19). Not our wants, but our needs. I love Proverbs 30:8-9: give us neither poverty nor riches, lest we be poor and profane his name, or we be full and forget him. In the western world today, our question is often not whether we will have food, but which food we will have. And we need be careful that we don’t fall prey to affluence and hoarding, treasuring leftover manna that stinks with worms, leading us to forget our dependence on God, and the necessity of being thankful. Let us learn from this corporate prayer (give us our daily bread) to be a community of redeemed sinners serving and loving one another by meeting needs, desiring the eternal more than the temporal, doing all things for his glory. 

Forgive Us Our Debts as We Forgive Our Debtors 

This model prayer not only teaches that we need to depend on God for provision, but that we also depend on him for forgiveness. And this is a daily dependence, because none of us goes a day without trespassing. There is no such thing as a small sin for he is no small God. Every sin is a direct affront to God who is too holy to look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13).

And so we come before the One to whom alone belong mercy and forgiveness (Daniel 9:9). We come before him in desperate need of daily forgiveness, to be saved again from our sin and from our flesh. We come as beggars of mercy, with nothing to offer, but everything to gain. He is a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful (Nehemiah 9:17), promising to forgive our iniquities, giving us new hearts (Jeremiah 31:34). In his forgiveness he remembers our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12). God does not suffer from amnesia, but once he forgives, he chooses not to hold our sin against us because of the blood of his son, Jesus.

The petition for forgiveness is the only one in this model prayer which is contingent upon another. This is made clear in Matthew 6:14-15 with the “if…then…” clauses. If God forgives us, then we must forgive others; if we forgive others, then God will forgive us; if we do not forgive others, then God will not forgive us. These 2 cannot be separated. Whichever sin is committed against us pales in comparison to our sin against our Holy God. When we are forgiven, we receive an abundance of pardon and joy in our new righteousness; then our souls must overflow with gratitude for the cleansing work of God in our hearts, which in turn should be eager to extend forgiveness to others.

Our God does not hold our sin against us when he forgives us. Similarly, we ought not to hold sin against others after we forgive them, nor remind them of it. That would be an utter failure to forgive. It might be impossible to forget; but to forgive is to make a commitment never again to bring up the offense, under any circumstance. Christians: God reminds us that if we do not forgive, he will not forgive to the uttermost. We would indeed be subjecting ourselves to his wrath. Is there any trespass against us that deserves this? There is no way we could ever pay the debt of the moral depravity we have committed against God, but he is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). His grace is enough to forgive us and save us and help us to obey his command to forgive one another. May we grow every day to be slow to sin and quick to forgive, with thankful hearts for the hope we have in Jesus. 

Lead Us Not into Temptation but Deliver Us from Evil 

Here we see our need for protection from future sins. The words might be striking as we ponder them. Does God lead people into temptation? James 1:13-15 teaches us that God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. Rather we become tempted when we let ourselves fall prey to our desires. The Biblical narrative is full of stories of people who fell to such temptations: Adam and Eve, Samson, David, Judas Iscariot… But the Bible is also full of stories of people who persevered through tests: Job, Jesus, Stephen, Paul… In fact, while God does not tempt us, he tests us to prove our faith – not to him, but to us and to those around us (Genesis 22:1; Deuteronomy 13:3; James 1:3; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 4:12-13).

God does not desire us to fall into temptation. He commands us to watch and pray not to be tempted (e.g. Matthew 26:41). He even sends the way out of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). Christ himself was tempted by the devil for 40 days, yet he persevered, with much suffering but without sin, and so he is able to sympathize with and help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15). Christ has conquered sin and overcome the devil, making a spectacle of him. Yet for the time being, although the devil was crushed by Christ, he still has some power to tempt (1 Peter 5:8); the serpent’s head is crushed, but its fangs still have some power.

Hence the 2^nd part of this petition asks our Father to deliver us from the evil one. The liar and father of lies seeks to deceive us and make us stumble (Romans 1:25). Therefore, the word of God calls us to actively resist the devil and gives us the promise that he will flee from us (James 4:7). Hebrews 12:4 reminds us that resisting sin might cost us blood! This cost is nothing next to the joy of faithfully obeying Christ until we receive the crown of life.

We are once more reminded to pray corporately, this time for protection. We worship together, resist together, and conquer together. The Christian life is not that of a lone ranger but of a family where we experience the means of grace together: Christian life is a church. And the church overcomes the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18). May God grant us faith to resist temptation and to persevere in testing, giving us and all his people victory in Jesus over all the forces of evil, so that we reign with him forever. 

Kingdom, Power and Glory

“Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” This line has been prayed and sung for hundreds of years. Yet as you notice in your Bible, this line might be bracketed or included as a footnote, because it does not exist in the original manuscripts, was not spoken by Christ, but was being used by Christians from very early on. It seems these words form a doxology which was adapted from 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 by early 2^nd century Christians in their prayers.

While not part of the canon of Scripture, these words are not wrong to pray. This “post-script” declares with full assurance that all kingdom, power and glory belong to him and him alone, now and forever. His kingdom is everlasting; his throne is forever; his word sustains the universe; the power of his blood sets the captives free; his glory fills the heavens and one day the knowledge of his glory will cover the face of the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14).

May our prayers be that his kingdom rules over our lives, his power upholds our faith, his glory captivates our minds and fills our hearts, until the day when we shall sing Hallelujah with all believers from all history at the marriage supper of the Lamb, giving him blessing, honor, glory, and power now and forever. Amen.