The Lord's Prayer

1. The Lord's Prayer – 19th
July 2016
“OurFather in heaven, hallowedbe yourname,10
yourkingdomcome, your will be done,on earth asit
is inheaven…”(Matthew6:9-10).
Lord's Prayeris a devotionbasedonChrist's model forprayerasstated inMatthew 6. It iscommonly
employedamongprofessingChristiansasthe customto ‘repeat’itas theirmorningprayer.
Unfortunately,they thinkthatwhentheyhave repeatedthese sacredwordstheyhave done enough.
Therefore itwouldbe prudenttodiscussthisimportantprayergivenbyourLordhimself.
The Lord's Prayerbeginswith "OurFatherin heaven…" We needtoalwaysacknowledgefirstand
foremostwhowe are talkingto.He (God) isour heavenlyFather.We addressHimwithrespectjustas
we shouldaddressourearthlyfatherwithrespect.He isGod whocreatedall thingsinthisuniverse,
includingus.He lovesusandwe needto show our respectand love forHimin return.Whenwe beginto
pray,our prayersare directedtoHim because we prayto Himthroughfaithfor Hisblessingsand
provision. We canlearnfromRevelation “Youareworthy,our Lord andGod,to receive glory andhonor
and power,for you created all things, andby your will they were created andhave their
being.”(Revelation4:11).
"Hallowedbe your name…" We mustsee Himas beingholy,sanctified,consecrated;worthyof praise,
honorand glory!"Yourkingdom come…" Here we acknowledgeHiscomingkingdom.We praythat
Christwill soonreturnandestablishHisearthlykingdomwhere we will be withHimforeternity. "Your
will be done on earth as it isin heaven…" AsChristianswe needtobe prayingfor Hiswill tobe done in
our lives,sothatwe mightbringgloryto Him here onearth as He is glorifiedinheaven.We needtodo
thingsHisway,insteadof selfishlydoingourownthingstosatisfyourown sinful desires.
"Give ustoday our dailybread…" As Christianswe referto Godas ‘father’because he isourprovider.
We shouldaskour Fathereachday to provide forourneeds,justasHe promisedinHisHolyWord. His
Word saysthat we don't have, because we don'task!We wishto askthe readerif he or she asks God for
the provisionforourfood as a natural habit. Truthfullymostwon’tdosoand take itfor granted! The
bible teachesusin Matthew7:7,“Ask andit will be given to you; seek and you will find;knock andthe
door will be opened to you”. Of course,we must firstknow God throughHisSon,our Lord and Savior
JesusChrist.We mustknowclearlythatif we don'tknow Christ,God won'tacknowledge thisrequestfor
dailyprovision.
"Forgive us our debtsas we also have forgivenour debtors…” Thisspeaksaboutforgiveness inourday
to day lives amongourassociates,neighbors,friends,familyandlovedones. Simplyanyandall persons
inour livesthatwe come in contact withinsocial or businesssituations are includedaswell. Whenwe
state above inour prayers,itshouldtouchour hearts whetherwe have forgiventhose whohurtus… If
we can't forgive others,howcanwe expectourheavenlyFathertoforgive us? Althoughthe answerto
thisquestionisnot foundinthe Lord’sPrayer,we can learnwhenthe bible tellsus inMatthew6:14-15,
“ Forif you forgiveother people when they sinagainstyou, your heavenlyFather will alsoforgiveyou.
15
But if youdo not forgiveothers their sins,your Father will not forgiveyour sins. As Christianswe
mustknowthat we are pleading forGod’s Grace and forgivenessforoursinandsinful deeds.Butwe
cannot forgetthatthisprayer embodiesapromise fromus whenwe seekHisforgiveness:We askHis
Forgivenessfor‘ourill deeds’ aswe have forgiventhosewhohave done ‘ill deeds’ orhurtus.

2. "Leadus not intotemptation…” Here we are askingourheavenlyFathertohelpusrecognize everyevil
thing,everytemptationbeforeus. We are constantlypummeledwithvariouskindsof temptations from
the worldtoday.Therefore we badly needHisassistancetostayfocused inour walkwithGod. As
Christianswe knowthatthe evil one isconstantlytryingtodistance usfurtherawayfromGod. We can
learnwhenthe apostle Petertellsus: “Bealert and ofsober mind. Yourenemy the devil prowlsaround
like a roaringlionlookingforsomeone to devour”(1Peter 5:8).We are prayingto our Fatherwhowill
see the evil thatwe mightfall into,forwhatit isreallyis buta trap setby Satan to bringusdownto his
level.
"But deliverusfrom the evil one… We are pleadingforHimto helpus,to enable usto steerclearof
that liarand deceiverandletussee clearlythe paththat you wanteach of us to walk.By the powerof
the HolySpiritthat dwellswithinus,maywe neverstrayfromyourwill andway... Websterdefines
deliveras"tosetfree or liberate;torelease orsave."Thus,"deliverusfromevil"meanswe are askingto
be freedor savedfromevil. Itisevil andresultingsinthatdrawsusaway fromGod that destroysus. Evil
isanythingthat temptsusto do somethingwhichisagainstGod'swill.Itisanythingthatwoulddisplease
God if we were to followourowndesires drivenbythe evil one insteadof beingsteadfastinfollowing
God’swill. Inthislife,we will neverbe free fromthe presence of evil.Until we arrive inHeaven,we will
be taintedbysinand evil.Until Godcreatesthe New HeavensandNew Earth,this worldwill be filled
withevil.Praying"deliverusfromevil"isapleaforprotectionfromevil andvictoryoversin.
The end of the Lord's Prayer whichsays: "Forthine is the kingdom,and the power,and the glory
forever".Some commentatorsbelieve thatthiswasaddedbysomeone otherthanthe original writer.
Whetherthat'strue or not,thislast phrase simplyemphasizesmore praise andglorytoGod the Father -
so it'sabsolutelybiblical…agloriousendingtoamodel prayerto God!