"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your 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. for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9 to 13 NKJV)
This is the passage of Scripture normally referred to as The Lord’s Prayer. It is a prayer recited weekly in some churches as a part of their liturgy. When I was in elementary school in the Tulsa Public Schools, in the late 60’s, we started each day with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and this prayer. However, it has been a point of contention whether this prayer was ever actually intended to be prayed verbatim. Albert Barnes in his notes on the New Testament says, “This prayer is given as a model. It is designed to express the manner in which we are to pray, evidently not the precise words or petitions which we are to use. The substance of the prayer is recorded by Lu 11:2-4. It, however, varies from the form given in Matthew, showing that he intended not to prescribe this as a form of prayer to be used always, but to express the substance of our petitions.”. Most scholars hold a combined view, both looking to this as an actual prayer, and as a model to be followed. Adam Clarke in his commentary tells us, “Forms of prayer were frequent among the Jews; and every public teacher gave one to his disciples. Some forms were drawn out to a considerable length, and from these abridgments were made: to the latter sort the following prayer properly belongs, and consequently, besides its own very important use, it is a plan for a more extended devotion. What satisfaction must it be to learn from God himself, with what words, and in what manner, he would have us pray to him, so as not to pray in vain!”. John Wesley said this, “-He who best knew what we ought to pray for, and how we ought to pray, what matter of desire, what manner of address would most please himself, would best become us, has here dictated to us a most perfect and universal form of prayer, comprehending all our real wants, expressing all our lawful desires; a complete directory and full exercise of all our devotions.”.
I want to share with you how I use this prayer – as a model for my own daily devotions.
OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME - Begin with praise and worship. Usually I will read from a variety of Old Testament and New Testament passages. Then I draw from my readings reasons to praise God. These don’t have to be positive in nature. He deserves praise for being our Father, and as a father He often has to discipline his wayward children. He loves us, He provides for our needs, He protects us, but we still go astray. Discipline is intended to train us more than punish us. His discipline may hurt, but we are the better for it. Some suggest having a hymnbook at hand so we can sing our praises as well as speak them.
YOUR KINGDOM COME. YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN - Submit is a word many people do not like. It means turning our will over to another party. However, who better to submit to than our heavenly Father whom we have just praised. Often our praise and worship will readily lend to our submission. If nothing else one of God’s attributes that makes us submit to him is His sovereignty. He is our Lord as well as our loving Father.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD - When we pray our prayer often become nothing more than a list of wants and desires. Yes, we need to come to Him with our own petitions and requests, but we also need to intercede, stand in the gap, for the needs of others. If we are involved in a congregation, a list of needed intercessions is probably readily available.
FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. DO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE - Debt here of course refers to sin. I John 1:8 to 10 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (NKJV). Confession needs to be a part of our regular prayer life. I find it interesting that in the Old Testament Law there were provisions made for sins done in ignorance, sins done which were not recognized as sins. I John says denying that we have sinned is self delusion, and worse calls God’s honesty into question. We need to confess our specific sins, and the fact that we sin in general.
FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY FOREVER. - I finish as I started, with a time of praise
Dr. Oberg
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