Jesus was teaching us how to pray

JESUS WAS TEACHING US HOW TO PRAY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 6:9-13 9"This, then, is how you shouldpray:
"'Our Father in heaven, hallowedbe your name,
10your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as
it is in heaven. 11Giveus today our daily bread. 12And
forgive us our debts, as we also have forgivenour
debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from the evil one.'
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6:9-15
W.F. Adeney
This is the model prayer. It is not simply one form of prayer intended to
supersede all others, or to take its place among prayers of a different
character. It is the type and pattern of all prayer. "After this manner
therefore pray ye." Let us note its leading characteristics.
I. IN FORM IT IS BRIEF, CLEAR, AND SIMPLE. This is offeredin contrast
to the vain repetitions of the heathen. It is not the length of a prayer, but the
reality of it, that finds acceptance withGod. He does not need to be urged with
piteous entreaties, the frantic shrieks, leaping, and gashing with knives that

the dervishes of Baalresortedto. He is close athand; he is always ready to
hear; he knows whatwe need. Some prayers are sermons preachedto God.
We have neither to inform God as though he were ignorant, nor to persuade
him as though he were reluctant to help. We have simply to make him the
confidant of our hearts' desires.
II. IT IS ADDRESSED TO THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD. The "Pater
noster" has its key-note struck in its two opening words.
1. God's fatherly nature. The characterof our prayer depends on our
conceptionof God. Christ delighted to setbefore us the picture of God as our
Father. Here is the basis of faith. All confidence is justified by this greatface.
2. Our relationto God. He is not merely the "All-Father." He is "our Father;"
this personalappropriation of God is necessaryfor the most real prayer.
III. IT HONORS THE HOLINESS OF GOD. God loathes adulation, but he
accepts adoration. High-sounding titles and elaborate ascriptions of praise
mar the simplicity of genuine worship. It is enough to address God as "our
Father." Still we must remember that he is in heaven. The familiarity of love
must not forgetthe reverence due to holiness. The essence ofprayer is
worship.
IV. IT SEEKS THE GLORY OF GOD. Thoughts of God come first - that his
Name may be treatedwith reverence;that his kingdom may come, his will be
done. Many prayers are too narrow, selfish, and worldly. The model prayer
fills our minds and hearts with large thoughts of God and his kingdom. If we
have the Christian spirit in us, these thoughts will lie very near to our hearts;
if that spirit is developed and enlarged, they will be predominant, so that we

shall more eagerlywish for the coming of the kingdom and the doing of God's
will than for the satisfactionofour personaldesires. But, alas!few of us have
reachedthat standard.
V. IT TRUSTS GOD'S DALLY CARE. Now we come down to the personal
prayer. It begins with a most simple, universal want - daily bread.
1. Bodily food. This comes from God, who makes the corn grow, and finds us
the providential means of a livelihood. Christ recognizes the need of common
earthly things; God supplies them.
2. Necessaries. Merely"bread."
3. The moment's need. "Daily" bread. We can leave the morrow.
VI. IT CONFESSESSIN AND ASKS FORGIVENESS. This is of universal
application. The saint must confess sinas well as the sinner. This is of daily
necessity. We sin daily. But this recognizes God's forgiving grace - to coverall
sin. Yet it is conditioned by our forgiving spirit.
VII. IT CRAVES DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL. If possible we would be
spared temptation. If we must be tempted, we pray to be savedfrom the
powerof the evil one. Our Father is our greatDeliverer. in view of darkest
dangers we cry for his raving help. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator

Our Fatherwhich art in heaven.
Matthew 6:9
The Divine Father
Thomas Manton, D. D.
I. IN WHAT SENSE GOD IS A FATHER.
1. With relation to Christ, as the Son of God: so the first Personis calledthe
Father, as He is the fountain of the Deity.
2. With respectto us: for the first Personis not only the Father of Christ, but
our Father. We share with Christ in all His relations:as God was His Godby
covenant, so He is our God.
II. By CREATION God is a Father. To establish the relation of a Father,
there must be a communication of life and likeness. A painter that makes an
image or picture like himself, he is not the father of it; for though there be
likeness, yetno life.
III. What ADVANTAGE have we in prayer from this common interest, or
generalrespectof God's being a Father by virtue of creation?
1. This common relation binds us to pray to Him. All things which God hath
made, by a secretinstinct they are carried to God for their supply.
2. It draweth common benefits after it. Christ saith where God hath given a
life, He will give food.

3. It giveth us confidence in the power of God. The Creatorwho made you out
of-nothing cankeepand preserve life when you have nothing.
IV. How WILL GOD PERFORMTHE PARTS OF A FATHER?
1. In allowing us full leave to come to Him in all our necessities.
2. In supplying all our wants (Isaiah 49:16).
3. In pitying our miseries. Many times we forgetthe duty of children, but God
will not forget the mercy of a Father.
4. In disciplining us, and treating us with much indulgence, wisdom, and care.
A father takes a greatdeal of pains in forming his child, fashioning its
manners and behaviour: so God doth with His children.
5. In providing able guardians for His children. None so attended as God's
children are. They have a guard of angels to watchover them.
6. In laying up an inheritance for them.
(Thomas Manton, D. D.)
Our Father

Isaac Barrow, D. D.
I. That we should in our prayers considerand acknowledgethe universality of
God's power and goodness.
II. That we should not in our conceitproudly and vainly appropriate or
engross the regard of God unto ourselves, but remember that our brethren
have an equal share with us therein.
III. That in all our devotions we should be mindful of those common bands
which knit us togetheras men and Christians.
(1)The band of nature and humanity;
(2)The more strict ties of common faith and hope; of
(3)manifold relations unto God that made us, and
(4)our Saviour that redeemed us, and the
(5)Holy Spirit that animateth us and combineth us in spiritual union.
IV. That we should bear such hearty goodwilland charitable affectiontoward
others as not only to seek and desire our own private and particular good, but
that of all men.
(1)Especiallyof all goodChristians who, in a peculiar manner, are

(2)God's children and (b) our brethren.
(Isaac Barrow, D. D.)
Lessons ofthe Paternoster
T. Spencer.
I. The Divine Fatherhood.
II. Christian sonship.
III. Human brotherhood. What greatlessons in such little compass.
(T. Spencer.)
Our Fatherwhich art in heaven
F. Edwards, B. A.
1. In prayer we address One who sustains the relationship of Fatherto us.
2. In prayer we direct our thoughts to One who is above us.
3. In prayer we confess that we form members of one family.
4. In prayer we depend upon and confide in God as children.

(F. Edwards, B. A.)
God a Father
Dr. Cope.
I. The CHARACTER in which God is representedas approachable in prayer.
The common Parent of all men, the bountiful supplier of their wants, His
people's covenantGod and Father in Christ.
II. The PRIVILEGE which this title imports, Relationship, access, protection,
direction, expectations.
III. The DUTY connectedwith this privilege. To pray to Him, to glorify Him,
reverence, trust, submit, love Him, and look for His coming.
(Dr. Cope.)
The Invocation
NewmanHall, LL. B.
I. THE DIVINE FATHERHOOD.
II. The Fatherhoodof God by CREATION.
III. The Fatherhoodof God by REDEMPTION.
IV. The BLESSINGS INVOLVED in the Divine Fatherhood.

1. Love.
2. Sustenance.
3. Protection.
4. Education.
5. Discipline.
6. Consolation.
7. Intercourse.
8. Inheritance.
V. UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD in the Divine Fatherhood. We pray for
others; we share in the prayers of others. This brotherhood extends to the
various conditions of sociallife. It embraces nations. What a bond to our
otherwise disseveredhumanity is this word " our."
VI. The MAJESTYof the Father. These were added that there may not be
anything earthly in our conceptionof the heavenly majesty of God. "In
heaven":—

(1)It is suggestive ofdignity;
(2)power;
(3)knowledge;
(4)purity;
(5)mystery;
(6)constancy;
(7)nearness.
VII. PRACTICAL LESSONS:
1. Filial confidence.
2. Reverence.
3. Gratitude.

4. Resemblance.
5. Assurance.
6. Hope.
7. Prayerfulness.
(NewmanHall, LL. B.)
The Paternity of God
E. H. Chaplin.
In our nature are quenchless affections. These callfor something more than
God the Creator, the Ruler.
1. We should recognize that God is our Father, in order that we may have
right views of religion.
2. It is important to realize the truth of God's paternity, because ofits
consolations.
3. This truth furnishes us with the profoundest motives to obedience.
(E. H. Chaplin.)

The invocation
Dr. Stanford.
I. From the title FATHER we know that God is a Person.
II. OUR Father belongs to God as the Father of all mankind.
III. God is our Fatherthrough Jesus Christ.
IV. In teaching us to pray "Our:Father," Jesus wouldremind us of our
brotherhood.
1. The fellowship that knits togetherGod's elect.
2. It is a word of love that takes in all men.
V. Which art in heaven, means Father in perfection.
1. Perfectionoflove.
2. Perfectionofhelp.
3. Perfectionofnearness and observation.
4. Perfectionofhomeliness.

(Dr. Stanford.)
The doctrine of the invocation
Dr. Saphir.
1. God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him the Fatherof all
who believe in the Saviour.
2. Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren, Head of the Church, the centre
of union. In Him we say "Our Father."
3. Jesus has openedto us heaven; and, risen with Christ, we seek the things
which are above, we pray to our Father in heaven.
4. "We sayOur Father, because the Holy Ghostis given unto us, as the Spirit
of adoption.
(Dr. Saphir.)
The spirit of the invocation
Dr. Saphir.
I. The FILIAL spirit.
1. It rests upon the Fatherhoodof God as the source ofall blessings.
2. It is a childlike .spirit, earnest, unsuspicious, submits to discipline in faith.

3. As a spirit of dignity and perfection.
4. A spirit of separationfrom the world.
II. The BROTHERLYspirit.
III. The HEAVENLY spirit. All spiritual blessings are treasuredup for us in
:heaven. Our storehouse cannever fail.
(Dr. Saphir.)
In heaven
Downame.
1. Power.
2. Authority.
3. Omnipresence.
4. Wisdom unsearchable.
5. Mercyunspeakable.

(Downame.)
Our Father
Dr. C. J. Vaughan.
1. A revelation.
2. When faith says "Father," love says "Our."
3. Contrastbetweenearth and heaven.
4. We can speak to our Father in heaven, and yet be audible.
(Dr. C. J. Vaughan.)
The opening address
D. Moore, M. A.
I. The views here furnished of the CHARACTER OF GOD.
1. The title "Father" belongs to God essentially:as part of His nature He must
be the Parent of all being. We are indebted to Him not only for life, but for
likeness;He made .'us partakers of a spiritual nature.
II. The affections and EMOTIONS these views ofthe Divine characterare
fitted to inspire.
1. Admiring gratitude.

2. Confidence and trust.
3. Submission.
4. Contentment.
5. Reverentawe.
6. Purity and elevationin our desires.
7. We should remember that our inheritance is "in heaven."
(D. Moore, M. A.)
The filial spirit of the Lord's Prayer
Dr. O. Winslow.
1. Christ confirms the fact of God's Paternity.
2. Christ was also the personaland visible representationof the Father.
3. Christ also reveals the Paternalcharacterof God.
4. Christ also revealedthe Paternalheart of God.Father: —

1. It is the language ofthe believing heart.
2. It is the language offilial love.
3. It is the language ofthe spirit of adoption in prayer.
4. The filial spirit exhibited not less in times of trial than in seasonsof
communion.
(Dr. O. Winslow.)
"Our Father
Dr. O. Winslow.
The catholic spirit of the Lord's Prayer. The Paternal relationinvolves the
fraternal; no engagementso uniting as prayer. Considerations forfraternal
union: —
1. The equality of love with which the Father regards all His family.
2. The same spirit of adoption dwells alike in all the children of God.
3. That our Father is bringing us all to one parental and eternalhome.
4. This topic belongs essentiallyto practical Christianity.

5. How uniting this truth upon the family institution.
(Dr. O. Winslow.)
"Which art in heaven
Dr. O. Winslow.
In ascribing localityto God we must not forgetthat He is everywhere. How
appropriate heaven as the dwelling-place of God.
1. Heaven is a glorious place.
2. It is a holy place.
3. It is a happy place.
4. It is a prepared place.Practicallessons:
1. We are instructed to look up, the whole soul should be in the ascent.
2. To seek heavenlyblessings.
(Dr. O. Winslow.)

The Fatherhoodof God, and the brotherhood of man
J. Morgan.
Prayer a most exaltedprivilege — connectedwith the richest blessings;but is
liable to abuse.
1. Christ admonishes His disciples to avoid the ostentatious formalities of the
Pharisees.
2. To avoid the vain tautologies ofthe heathen.This is to be our model prayer:
—
1. Simplicity.
2. Brevity.
I. The FATHERHOOD of God.
1. By an actof creation.
2. By an actof adoption.
3. God is in heaven.
II. The BROTHERHOODofmen.

1. The whole human race constitutes one family. They belong to different
classes, climes, ages;all sprung from one Father.
2. All Christians constitute one family.
(J. Morgan.)
The Paternalrelationship of God to us
F. C. Blyth, M. A.
1. It confers noble privileges (1 John 3:1; Romans 13:7; Psalm113:5;1
Samuel 2:8).
2. Such a name and title we could never have dared to take upon us had not
God permitted.
3. This is no barren title (Romans 1:21; Isaiah49:14, 15; Isaiah63:16).
4. This first word of the Lord's Prayer is designedto give us accesswith
confidence to God (Ephesians 3:12; Psalm81:10).
5. This sonship has its duties.
(F. C. Blyth, M. A.)
Children worthy of the Divine Father

It is recorded of Alexander the Greatthat to one who bore his name he gave
this admonition, "Remember thy name is Alexander;" implying that such a
remembrance would keephim from doing anything that would stain and
tarnish, and so render him unworthy to hold it.
The title of Fatherenables us to understand God
Luther was one day catechising some country people in a village in Saxony.
When one of the men had repeatedthese words, "I believe in God the Father
Almighty," Luther askedhim what was the meaning of "Almighty"? The
countryman honestly replied, "I do not know." "Nordo I know," saidthe
catechist, "nordo all the learned men in the world know; however, you may
safelybelieve that God is your Father, and that He is both able and willing to
save and protectyourself and all your neighbours."
Fatherhoodindicative of Personality
Dr. Stanford.
You never say Father, to a force; Father, to a law; Father, to a mist; Father,
to a mile, nor to infinite millions of miles in a line; "Father" is not the name
for Thought apart from the Thinker, nor for Friendship apart from the
Friend; nor for a Link, though the first link in a long chain of grand
phenomena. If we mean more than a figurative father, we mean by that word
a living Person.
(Dr. Stanford.)
The Lord's Prayer an intercessionfor others as well as for ourselves
It was a law among the Romans that no one should approach the Emperor's
tent at night, under penalty of death. One night, however, a soldierwas found
near the royal tent, holding in his hand a petition which he meant to present
to his masterand thereupon he was sentencedto death. But the Emperor,
hearing voices, and asking whatwas amiss, and hearing that a soldierhad
intruded within the forbidden bounds to present a petition, and that they were
about to dealwith him according to the law, said — "If the petition be for

himself, let him die; but if for another, spare his life." It was found that it was
for two of his fellow-soldiers that he had come to intercede, who had been
takenasleepwhile they were postedon the watch. The Emperor, well pleased,
commanded that he should escape death, and that they also should escape
punishment.
The look of the soulever toward its heavenly home
It is related of Cicero when he was banished from Italy, end of Demosthenes
when he was banished from Athens, that they wept every time they looked
towards their own country, so greatwas their love for their fatherland, and so
keentheir desire to return thither: so should our soullong after our home
above.
Which art in heaven
Dr. Cope.
I. The RESIDENCEofGod. Heaven is the seatof His government; the region
of holiness and enjoyment; the abode of angels and saints.
II. His STUPENDOUS CONCERNS.Arranging all the affairs of the universe;
receiving the homage of the celestialinhabitants (Revelation4:2); issuing His
commands and executing His threatenings;attending to the supplication of
His people;protecting His Church" (Zechariah 2:5).
III. THE INFLUENCE OF THE SUBJECT UPON OUR MIND. Humility,
reverence, spiritual desires, confidence, expectation, joy.
(Dr. Cope.)
Looking up to God

"in heaven," showethus: —(1) Prayer is an act of the heart, not of the lips. It
is not the sound of the voice which can enter into the ears of the Lord of Hosts,
but sighs and groans ofthe Spirit .... The commerce and communion of spirits
is not hindered by localdistance.(2)The work of prayer is to lift up the heart
to God; to withdraw the heart from all createdthings, that we may converse
with God " in heaven."
Which art in heaven
Thomas Mangey.
I. Our Saviour, to oppose narrowness ofopinion, requires us to pray to our
Father which art in heaven, showing by this, that our petitions have equal
access to Him from all places.
II. This acknowledgmentof our Father in heaven, shows His greatkindness in
suffering us to approachHim. Though distant in station, and unprofitable in
our service.
III. By calling God our Fatherwe express the greatness ofthose blessings we
have received;and by professing this our Father to be in heaven, we own the
greatdignity of the personthat hath conferred them upon us; and the sense of
both these togetherwill naturally prepare our hope, reverence, andattention,
to send up the following prayer.
(Thomas Mangey.)
Hallowedbe Thy name.
How and when may God's name be sanctified?

(1)Upon us, by the righteous executions and judgments of His providence;
(2)By us, in our thoughts, words, and actions;in our hearts, and life. Not only
when we speak ofthe name of God, but when we think of it;
(3)When in straits, difficulties, and dangers;
(4)When we speak ofthe Lord with reverence;
(5)In our actions;
(6)In our worship;
(7)In ordinary conversation. Let this be your care, and let these be your
directions in hallowing and sanctifying the Lord's name.
1. Be holy.
2. Study His name if ye would sanctify it.
3. Submit to His providence without murmuring.
4. Live to public ends. Allure others, and recommend God to them.

5. Be fully sensible when God's name is dishonoured by yourselves and others;
not enduring the leastprofanation of it.
Hallowedbe Thy name
Isaac Barrow, D. D.
As to the substance of this particular, we may consider, that sanctity implying
—
I. A Discrimination;
II. A distance;
III. An exaltment in nature or use of the thing which is denominated thereby.
(Isaac Barrow, D. D.)
The Sanctificationof Jehovah's name
Dr. Cope.
I. THE OBJECTS ofthe petition. The name of God denotes His titles,
perfections, etc. To hallow His name denotes — A reverential
acknowledgmentof God; profound veneration for His Being, attributes,
ordinances, word, etc.; sanctificationofHim in thought, word, and action; the

diffusion of His name through the world; removal of the causes whichprevent
His name from being hallowed.
II. THE SINS DEPRECATED. Athoughtless and irreverent use of His name;
appeals to God in common conversation;perjury.
III. The grounds on which this petition rests. God is jealous of the glory of His
name; He has commanded it to be reverenced;punishment is annexed to a
violation of that command.
(Dr. Cope.)
Hallowedbe Thy name
F. Edwards, B. A.
1. This prayer is a confessionofour ignorance.
2. It is a supplication for knowledge.
3. It is an acknowledgmentofour sin.
4. It is an entreaty for holiness in ourselves.
5. It ought to be increasinglycomprehensive.
(F. Edwards, B. A.)

The first petition
NewmanHall, LL. B.
I. The PLACE of this petition.
II. The MEANING of the petition.
III. What is involved in this petition.
1. Honour to Jesus, as revealing the name of the Father.
2. Appropriate thoughts of God.
3. Suitable emotions towards God.
4. Reverentialuse of the name.
5. Confessionof the name.
6. Private and public worship of the name.
7. Observance ofspecialinstitutions: sacraments.
8. Subjectionto the name.

9. Making knownthe name.
IV. REASONS foroffering this petition.
1. The welfare of the world.
2. Forthe goodof ourselves.
3. Forthe glory of God.
(NewmanHall, LL. B.)
The first petition
Dr. Stanford.
I. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE NAME OF THE FATHER.
1. His name is the expressionof Himself through the language ofnature.
2. It includes the further expressionof Himself through the medium of
inspired words.
3. His name is perfectly expressedin the language of the Incarnation.
II. How CAN WE HALLOW IT?

1. In the language ofthe Old Testamentto hallow a thing is to set it apart
ceremonially, as a thing sacred.
2. Hallowedbe Thy name by the indwelling of the Holy Ghostin us.
3. By our trust.
4. In the spirit of our prayers.
5. In our lives.
6. In our language.
7. In Thy Church by the ascriptionto Thee alone of honours due.
8. In the overthrow of idolatry.
(Dr. Stanford.)
Hallowedbe Thy name
E. H. Chaplin.

I. In breathing this prayer we ask THAT GOD WOULD HALLOW HIS
OWN NAME, or cause it to be hallowed. It is not the tribute which we pay to
mere power and magnitude. Nature appears in forms of greatness; we do not
reverence her. Nor do we reverence mere kindness. A full knowledge ofGodis
necessaryin order to hallow His name. To avoid superstition. Terroris not
reverence. Some view the Divine Being as too good-naturedto punish; the
guilt of sin is not felt. By this theory God's name is acknowledged, but not
hallowed.
II. We canalso pray THAT WE AND ALL MEN MAY HALLOW THE
NAME OF GOD. We should consecrateHis name —
1. On our lips.
2. In our lives.
3. In our hearts.
(E. H. Chaplin.)
The fundamental petition
Dr. Saphir.
I. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE NAME OF GOD? Godhas revealedHis name
—
1. In creation.
2. In Israel.

3. In His Law.
4. In the sacrifices.
5. In the names of His servants. Elijah means, Jehovahis my strength.
6. In the face of Jesus.
II. HALLLOWED be Thy name. All the works of God glorify His name. The
petition implies —
(1)The desire to know God's name;
(2)To treat it as a reality;
(3)To rejoice in it;
(4)To separate it from our corrupt thoughts and desires;
(5)To regard it as inviolable in its unity;
(6)That we be manifestations of God.

(7)This prayer is universal; there is no health for the nation or family but by
the knowledge ofGod's name.
(Dr. Saphir.)
The reverential spirit of the Lord's prayer
Dr. O. Winslow.
This petition takes precedencein the Lord's prayer: all things must resolve
themselves into a manifestationof the Divine glory.
1. God's name is Holy (Leviticus 22:2).
2. He is jealous of it (Ezekiel39:25).
3. God notices the hallowing of His name by His people (Matthew 2:5).
4. God has hallowed His own name
(1)in His revealedword;
(2)in the Lord Jesus Christ;
(3)in His dealings with His saints. How is God's name to be hallowed?We
cannot make it more holy, yet may hallow it

(1)By a deepening sense ofits holiness;
(2)By bringing it into the daily exercise offaith;
(3)By a meek, submissive spirit, under the discipline of our Father's
correcting hand;
(4)By a full trust in the name, Person, work ofJesus.
(Dr. O. Winslow.)
The first petition
D. Moore, M. A.
This prayer directory for the matter and order of our desires.
I. What we should INCLUDE in this prayer.
1. Just and worthy apprehensions of the Divine characterand attributes.
2. That fresh accessions ofglory may be constantly accruing to that name
from the Personand work of Christ.
3. That in everything which pertains to God, due regardmay be had to the
sanctities of His holy nature.

4. To emphasize the utterance of the sacredname by some actof mental
worship.
5. A reverent observance ofHis ordinances.
II. What we may LEARN from this petition.
1. That in all our prayers, regardmust be had to certainfixed principles of
moral government.
2. The law of subordination according to which we are to frame our desires.
3. He may not allow praise to be given to any other name.
(D. Moore, M. A.)
The Holy name
J. Morgan.
I. The NAME.
II. The HOLY name. Who so worthy of honour:
(1)He is the God of Nature;

(2)of Providence;
(3)of Grace;
(4)of Glory.
(5)The redeemedsaints in glory honour and venerate Him; the angelic host
worship Him.
(6)The other Persons in the adorable Trinity honour Him — "He shall glorify
Me."
III. How can we honour Jesus?
1. By giving Him the first place in our thoughts and affections.
2. By a reverential use of all the appellations by which He is distinguished
from all other beings.
3. By solemn and grateful acts of worship.
4. By keeping holy the Sabbath day.

5. By living holily before our fellow men.
6. By praising, and recommending Him to all who dwell around us.
(J. Morgan.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(9) After this manner.—Literally, thus. The word sanctions at once the use of
the words themselves, and of other prayers—prescribed, orunpremeditated—
after the same pattern and in the same spirit. In Luke 11:2 we have the more
definite, “Whenye pray, say, . . . .”
Our Father.—Itis clearthat the very word “Abba” (father) uttered by our
Lord here, as in Mark 14:36, so impresseditself on the minds of men that, like
“Amen” and “Hallelujah” and “Hosanna,” it was usedin the prayers even of
converts from heathenism and Hellenistic Judaism. From its special
associationwith the work of the Spirit in Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, it would
seemto have belonged to the class of utterances commonly describedas the
“tongues,” inwhich apparently words from two or more languages were
mingled togetheraccording as eachbest expressedthe devout enthusiasm of
the worshipper.
The thought of the Fatherhoodof God was not altogethernew. He had
claimed “Israelas His son, even His firstborn” (Exodus 4:22), had loved him
as His child (Jeremiah 31:9; Hosea 11:1). The thought of an outraged
Fatherhoodunderlies the reproaches ofIsaiah(Isaiah 1:2) and Malachi

(Malachi1:6). “Thou, O Lord, art our Father” (Isaiah 64:8) was the refuge of
Israelfrom despair. It had become common in Jewishliturgies and forms of
private prayer. As the disciples heard it, it would not at first convey to their
minds thoughts beyond those with which they were thus familiar. But it was a
word pregnant with a future. Time and the teaching of the Spirit were to
develop what was now in germ. That it had its ground in the union with the
Eternal Son, which makes us also sons ofGod; that it was a name that might
be used, not by Israelites only, but by every child of man; that of all the names
of God that express His being and character, it was the fullest and the truest—
this was to be learnt as men were guided into all the truth. Like all such
names, it had its inner and its outer circles of application. It was true of all
men, true of all members of the Church of Christ, true of those who were led
by the Spirit, in different degrees;but all true theologyrests on the
assumption that the ever-widening circles have the same centre, and that that
centre is the Love of the Father.
The words “Our Father” are not a form excluding the use of the more
personal“My Father” in solitary prayer, but they are a perpetual witness that
even then we should remember that our right to use that name is no peculiar
privilege of ours, but is sharedby every member of the greatfamily of God.
Which art in heaven.—The phrase, familiar as it is, has a history of special
interest. (1.) In the earlier books of the Old Testamentthe words “Jehovahis
God in heaven above and in earth beneath” (Deuteronomy 4:39; Joshua 2:11),
express His universal presence;and this was embodied also in the name of
“the MostHigh God, the Possessorofheaven and earth,” of the earliest
patriarchal faith (Genesis 14:22). Lateron, men began to be more consciousof
the infinite distance betweenthemselves and God, and representedthe
contrastby the thought that He was in heaven and they on earth (Ecclesiastes
5:2); and this thought became a liturgical formula in the great dedication
prayer of Solomon, “Hearthou in heaven thy dwelling-place” (l Kings 8:42,
43, et cet.; 2Chronicles 6:21, etc.). And so, emancipated from over-close

identification with the visible firmament, the phrase became current as
symbolising the world visible and invisible, which is alike the dwelling-place of
God, uttering in the language of poetry that which we vainly attempt to
express in the language ofmetaphysics by such terms as the Infinite, the
Absolute, the Unconditioned. (2.) We ought not to forgetthat the words
supply at once (as in the phrase, “God of heaven,” in Ezra 1:2; Daniel2:18-19)
a link and a contrastbetweenthe heathen and the Jew, the Aryan and Semitic
races. Eachalike found in the visible heaventhe symbol of the invisible forces
of the universe of an unseenworld; but the one first identified his heaven (the
Varuna of the Vedic hymns, the Ouranos of the Greeks)with that world, and
then personified eachseveralforce in it, the Pantheism of the thinker
becoming the Polytheism of the worshipper; whilst to the other heaven was
never more than the dwelling-place of God in His undivided unity.
Hallowedbe thy name.—The first expressionof thought in the pattern prayer
is not the utterance of our wants and wishes, but that the Name of God—that
which sums up all our thoughts of God—shouldbe “hallowed,” be to us and
all men as a consecratedname, not lightly used in trivial speech, or rash
assertion, orbitterness of debate, but the object of awe and love and
adoration. The words “Jehovah, hallowedbe His name,” were familiar
enough to all Israelites, and are found in many of their prayers, but here the
position of the petition gives a new meaning to it, and makes it the keyto all
that follows. Still more striking is the fact, that this supplies a link betweenthe
teaching of the first three Gospels and that of the fourth. Thus the Lord Jesus
taught His disciples to pray—thus, in John 12:28, He prayed Himself,
“Father, glorify Thy name.”
BensonCommentary
Matthew 6:9. After this manner pray ye — 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 ofour devotions. By the expressionουτως, thus, or after this manner,
our Lord could not mean that his disciples were to use the words of this
prayer in all their addresses to God, for in the Acts and Epistles we find the
apostles praying in terms different from this form; but his meaning is, that we
must frame our prayers according to this model, and that in respectboth of
matter and manner; that we must pray for the things here mentioned, and
often in these very words.
This prayer, it must be observed, consists ofthree parts; the preface, the
petitions, and the conclusion. The preface, Our Father, who art in heaven, lays
a generalfoundation for prayer, comprising what we must first know of God,
before we can pray in confidence of being heard. It likewise points out to us
that faith, humility, and love of God and man, with which we are to approach
God in prayer.
Our Fatherwhich art in heaven — Almighty God has a peculiar right to the
title of Father, as from every creature, so particularly from mankind, being
the father of their spirits, Hebrews 12:9, the makerof their bodies, and the
continual preserver of both: and he is in a yet higher sense the father of his
believing and obedient people, whom he adopts into his family, regenerates by
his grace, andrestores to his image:so that, partaking of his nature, they
become his genuine children, and canwith holy boldness callhim their father.
Being, in this sense, made his children, we are here directed to call him our
father, in the plural number, and that even in secretprayer, to put us in mind
that we are all brethren, and that we ought to love one another with pure
hearts fervently, praying not for ourselves only, but for others, and especially
for our brethren in Christ, that God may give them likewise the blessings
requestedin this divine prayer. The words, which art in heaven, do not
confine God’s presence to heaven, for he exists everywhere;but they contain a
comprehensive, though short descriptionof his divine glory, of his majesty,
dominion, and power; and distinguish him from those whom we call fathers

on earth, and from false gods, who are not in heaven, the regionof bliss and
happiness; where God, who is essentiallypresentthrough all the universe,
gives more especialmanifestations ofhis presence to such of his creatures as
he has exalted to share with him in his eternalfelicity. Hallowedbe thy name
— The name of God is a Hebraism for God himself, his attributes, and his
works. To sanctifya thing is to entertain the highest venerationfor it, as true,
and great, and good, and to manifest that veneration by our dispositions,
words, and actions. Thus it is used 1 Peter3:15; Isaiah8:13. The meaning of
this first petition, therefore, is, May thy existence be universally believed; thy
perfections revered, loved, and imitated; thy works admired; thy supremacy
over all things acknowledged;thy providence reverencedand confided in.
May we, and all men, so think of thy divine majesty, of thy attributes, words,
and works, and may we and they so express our veneration of thee, and
subjection to thee, that thy glory may be manifested everywhere, to the utter
destruction of all idolatry, sin, and misery. “The phraseologyofthis and other
prayers recordedby the inspired writers, wherein the worshippers addressed
God in the singular number, saying, thou, and thy, is retained by all
Christians among us, with the highest propriety, as it intimates their firm
belief that there is but one God, and that there is nothing in the universe equal
or secondto him, and that no being whatevercan share in the worship which
they pay him.” — Macknight.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
6:9-15 Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the
matter and method of their prayer. Notthat we are tied up to the use of this
only, or of this always;yet, without doubt, it is very goodto use it. It has much
in a little; and it is used acceptablyno further than it is used with
understanding, and without being needlesslyrepeated. The petitions are six;
the first three relate more expresslyto Godand his honour, the lastthree to
our own concerns, bothtemporal and spiritual. This prayer teaches us to seek
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, andthat all other things shall
be added. After the things of God's glory, kingdom, and will, we pray for the
needful supports and comforts of this present life. Every word here has a
lessonin it. We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance: and
we ask only for bread; not for what we do not need. We ask for our bread;

that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not ask for the bread of others,
nor the bread of deceit, Pr 20:17; nor the bread of idleness, Pr 31:27, but the
bread honestly gotten. We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us
constantly to depend upon Divine Providence. We beg of God to give it us; not
sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it. The greatestof men must be beholden to
the mercy of God for their daily bread. We pray, Give it to us. This teaches us
a compassionfor the poor. Also that we ought to pray with our families. We
pray that God would give it us this day; which teaches us to renew the desires
of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies are renewed. As the day
comes we must pray to our heavenly Father, and reckonwe could as well go a
day without food, as without prayer. We are taught to hate and dread sin
while we hope for mercy, to distrust ourselves, to rely on the providence and
grace ofGod to keepus from it, to be prepared to resistthe tempter, and not
to become tempters of others. Here is a promise, If you forgive, your heavenly
Father will also forgive. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Those
who desire to find mercy with God, must show mercy to their brethren. Christ
came into the world as the greatPeace-maker, notonly to reconcile us to God,
but one to another.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
This passagecontains the Lord's prayer, a composition unequalled for
comprehensiveness andfor beauty. It is supposedthat some of these petitions
were takenfrom those in common use among the Jews. Indeedsome of them
are still to be found in Jewishwritings, but they did not exist in this beautiful
combination. This prayer is given as a "model." It is designedto 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 recordedby
Luke, Luke 11:2-4. In Luke, however, it 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, or to show what
petitions it would be proper to present to God. That he did not intend to
prescribe this as a form to be invariably used is further evident from the fact
that there is no proof that either he or his disciples ever used exactly this form
of prayer, but clearevidence that they prayed often in other language. See
Matthew 26:39-42, Matthew 26:44;Luke 22:42;John 17; Acts 1:24.

Matthew 6:9
Our Father- God is called a Father,
1. as he is the Creatorand the Great Parentof all;
2. the Preserverof the human family and the Provider for their wants,
Matthew 5:45; Matthew 6:32;
3. in a specialsense he is the Fatherof those who are adopted into his family;
who put confidence in him; who are the true followers of Christ, and made
heirs of life, Romans 8:14-17.
Hallowedbe thy name - The word "hallowed" means to render or pronounce
holy. God's name is essentiallyholy; and the meaning of this petition is, "Let
thy name be celebrated, venerated, and esteemedas holy everywhere, and
receive from all people proper honor." It is thus the expressionofa wish or
desire, on the part of the worshipper, that the name of God, or that God
himself, should be held everywhere in proper veneration.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
9. After this manner—more simply "Thus."
therefore pray ye—The "ye" is emphatic here, in contrastwith the heathen
prayers. That this matchless prayer was given not only as a model, but as a
form, might be concluded from its very nature. Did it consistonly of hints or
directions for prayer, it could only be used as a directory; but seeing it is an
actualprayer—designed, indeed, to show how much realprayer could be

compressedinto the fewestwords, but still, as a prayer, only the more
incomparable for that—it is strange that there should be a doubt whether we
ought to pray that very prayer. Surely the words with which it is introduced,
in the secondutterance and varied form of it which we have in Lu 11:2, ought
to set this at rest: "Whenye pray, say, Our Father." Nevertheless,since the
secondform of it varies considerably from the first, and since no example of
its actual use, or express quotation of its phraseology, occurs in the sequel of
the New Testament, we are to guard againsta superstitious use of it. How
early this beganto appear in the church services, andto what extent it was
afterwards carried, is known to every one versed in Church History. Nor has
the spirit which bred this abuse quite departed from some branches of the
ProtestantChurch, though the opposite and equally condemnable extreme is
to be found in other branches of it.
ModelPrayer (Mt 6:9-13). According to the Latin fathers and the Lutheran
Church, the petitions of the Lord's Prayerare sevenin number; according to
the Greek fathers, the ReformedChurch and the Westminsterdivines, they
are only six; the two last being regarded—we think, less correctly—as one.
The first three petitions have to do exclusivelywith God: "Thy name be
hallowed"—"Thykingdom come"—"Thywill be done." And they occurin a
descending scale—fromHimself down to the manifestation of Himself in His
kingdom; and from His kingdom to the entire subjection of its subjects, or the
complete doing of His will. The remaining four petitions have to do with
OURSELVES:"Give us our daily bread"—"Forgive us our debts"—"Lead
us not into temptation"—"Deliverus from evil." But these latter petitions
occurin an ascending scale—fromthe bodily wants of every day up to our
final deliverance from all evil.
Invocation:

Our Fatherwhich art in heaven—In the former clause we express His
nearness to us; in the latter, His distance from us. (See Ec 5:2; Isa 66:1). Holy,
loving familiarity suggests the one; awful reverence the other. In calling Him
"Father" we express a relationship we have all knownand felt surrounding us
even from our infancy; but in calling Him our Father"who art in heaven," we
contrastHim with the fathers we all have here below, and so raise our souls to
that "heaven" where He dwells, and that Majestyand Glory which are there
as in their proper home. These first words of the Lord's Prayer—this
invocation with which it opens—whata brightness and warmth does it throw
over the whole prayer, and into what a serene regiondoes it introduce the
praying believer, the child of God, as he thus approaches Him! It is true that
the paternal relationship of God to His people is by no means strange to the
Old Testament. (See De 32:6; Ps 103:13;Isa 63:16; Jer3:4, 19;Mal 1:6; 2:10).
But these are only glimpses—the "back parts" (Ex 33:23), if we may so say, in
comparisonwith the "openface" ofour Father revealedin Jesus. (See on
[1228]2Co3:18). Noris it too much to say, that the view which our Lord gives,
throughout this His very first lengthened discourse, of"our Father in
heaven," beggars allthat was ever taught, even in God's own Word, or
conceivedbefore by His saints, on this subject.
First Petition:
Hallowedbe—that is, "Be held in reverence";regarded and treated as holy.
thy name—God's name means "Himself as revealedand manifested."
Everywhere in Scripture God defines and marks off the faith and love and
reverence and obedience He will have from men by the disclosures whichHe
makes to them of what He is; both to shut out false conceptions ofHim, and to
make all their devotion take the shape and hue of His own teaching. Too much
attention cannot be paid to this.

SecondPetition:
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Not always in these words, but always to this sense, and in this manner. None
ever thought Christians obligedto use no other words than these in prayer,
though none must deny the lawfulness ofusing those words which Christ hath
sanctified.
After this manner; first seeking the kingdom of God, and begging those things
which more immediately concernGod’s glory, and then those things which
more immediately concernyourselves. Or, After this manner, praying only in
particular for such things as are more generallycouchedin the following
petitions.
Our Fatherwhich art in heaven: a compellationspeaking our faith both in the
powerand in the goodness ofGod; our eyeing him as in heaven speakethhis
power, Psalm 115:3, our considering him as our Father speaksour faith in his
goodness,Matthew 7:11.
Hallowedbe they name. God’s name is whatsoeverhe hath made himself
known by: Let the Lord be glorified in every thing whereby he hath made
himself known.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
After this manner therefore pray ye,.... That is, in such a concise andshort
way, without much speaking and vain repetitions; making use of such like
words and expressions as the following: not that Christ meant to pin down his
disciples to these express words, and no other; for this prayer is not a strict
form, but a pattern of prayer, and a directory to it, both as to brevity, order,
and matter; for we do not find the disciples ever making use of it in form; and

when it is recited by another Evangelist, it is not in the selfsame words as
here; which it would have been, had it been designedas an exactform.
Besides, Christdoes not bid them pray in these very words, but "after this
manner"; somewhatlike this: not but that it is very lawful to use the very
express words of this prayer in any of the petitions here directed to; and
which indeed were no other than what goodpeople among the Jews did
frequently make use of; and which were collectedand singled out by Christ,
as what he approved of, in distinction from, and oppositionto, other
impertinent expressions, andvain repetitions, which some used; as will appear
by a particular considerationof them.
Our Fatherwhich art in heaven. This may be lookedupon as the preface and
introduction to the prayer, and regards the objectof it, and his character,
which is an epithet of God, often to be met with in Jewishwritings, and
particularly in their prayers; for thus they (k) say,
"Mymvbv wnyba, "our Father which art in heaven", show mercy "to us,
because thy greatname is calledupon us."
Again (l), let the prayers and the requests of all Israelbe receivedby , "their
Father, which is in heaven". They seemto have a regard to this prayer, when
they apply that passagein Proverbs 3:35 "shame shall be the promotion of
fools", to the nations of the earth, who, they say(m),
"do not considerthe glory of the law; and how, say they, "our Father which
art in heaven", hearour voice, have mercy on us, and receive our prayer?''
So in confessions, thanksgivings, andsacrifices ofpraise, they required, and
lookedupon it, as the main thing, for a man to direct his heart , "to his Father
which is in heaven(n)." By "father", our Lord means the first person in the
Trinity, who is the Father of all men by creation, and of the saints by

adoption; who are to address him in prayer under the characterof"our
Father", partly to command a reverential fearof him, and partly to secure
boldness and liberty of speechbefore him; and also to express fiducial
confidence in him, faith of interest in him, and relation to him; which arises
from some experience of his paternal love, and requires the witnessings ofthe
Spirit of adoption; and inasmuch as the direction is not to say "my Father",
but "our Father";it shows that we should pray for others as wellas for
ourselves, evenfor all the dear children of God. It is a rule (o) with the Jews,
"that a man ought always to join himself in prayer with the church;''
upon which the gloss says,
"let him not pray the short prayer , "in the singular, but in the plural
number", that so his prayer may be heard.''
The objectof prayer is further describedby the place of his residence, "in
heaven";not that he is included in any place, but that the heaven of heavens is
the place where he most eminently displays his glory: and this may teach us to
look upwards in prayer, and seek those things which are above; and also, that
this earth, on which we dwell, is not our native country, but heaven is, where
our Fatherdwells. Next follows the first petition,
hallowed, or sanctified be thy name; so the Jews (p) in their prayers,
"Kmv vdqty, "let thy name be hallowed", or "sanctifiedby us", O Lord our
God, before the eyes of all living.''

And very often (q),
"let his greatname be magnified and sanctified in the world, which he hath
createdaccording to his will.''
continued...
Geneva Study Bible
{3} After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowedbe thy name.
(3) A true sum and form of all christian prayers.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 6:9. “Having now rebuked and condemned such false and
meaningless prayer, Christ goes onto prescribe a short, neat form of His own
to show us how we are to pray, and what we are to pray for,” Luther.
The emphasis is, in the first place, on οὕτως, and then on ὑμεῖς, the latter in
contrastto the heathen, the former to the βαττολογεῖν;while οὖν is equivalent
to saying, “inasmuch as ye ought not to be like the heathen when they pray.”
Therefore, judging from the context, Christ intends οὕτως to point to the
prayer which follows as an example of one that is free from vain repetitions,
as an example of what a prayer ought to be in respectof its form and contents
if the fault in question is to be entirely avoided, not as a direct prescribed
pattern (comp. Tholuck), excluding other ways of expressing ourselves in
prayer. The interpretation, “in hunc sensum” (Grotius), is at variance with

the context; but that of Fritzsche (in some brief way such as this) is not “very
meaningless” (de Wette), but correct, meaning as he does, not brevity in itself,
but in its relation to the contents (for comprehensive brevity is the opposite of
the vain repetitions).
On the Lord’s Prayer, which now follows, see Kamphausen, d. Gebet d.
Herrn, 1866;J. Hanne, in d. Jahrb. f. D. Th. 1866, p. 507 ff.; and in Schenkel’s
Bibellex. II. p. 346 ff. According to Luke 11:1, the same prayer, though in a
somewhatshorterform, was given on a different occasion. In regardto this
difference of position, it may be noted: (1) That the prayer cannot have been
given on both occasions, andso given twice (as I formerly believed); for if
Jesus has taught His disciples the use of it as early as the time of the Sermon
on the Mount, it follows that their request in Luke 11:1 is unhistorical; but if,
on the contrary, the latter is historical, then it is impossible that the Lord’s
Prayer canhave been known in the circle of the disciples from the date of the
Sermon on the Mount. (2) That the characteristic brevity of Luke’s version, as
compared with the fulness of that of Matthew, tells in favour of Luke’s
originality; but, besides this, there is the fact that the historical basis on which
Luke’s versionis founded leaves no room whateverto suspectthat legendary
influences have been at work in its formation, while it is perfectly conceivable
that the author of our version of Matthew, when he came to that part of the
Sermon on the Mount where warnings are directed againstmeaningless
repetitions in prayer, took occasionalso to put this existing model prayer into
our Lord’s mouth. Schleiermacher, Baumgarten-Crusius, Sieffert, Olshausen,
Neander, de Wette, Ewald, Bleek, Holtzmann, Weiss, Weizsäcker, Schenkel,
Hanne, Kamphausen, also rightly declare themselves againstthe position of
the prayer in Matthew as unhistorical. The material superiority of Matthew’s
version (see especiallyKeim) remains unaffected by this verdict. On the
Marcionitic form, especiallyin the first petition, and on the priority of the
same as maintained by Hilgenfeld, Zeller, Volkmar, see the critical notes on
Luke 11:2-4.

πάτερ ἡμῶν] This form of address, which rarely occurs in the O. T. (Isaiah
63:16;Deuteronomy 32:6 : in the Apocrypha, in Wis 2:16; Wis 14:3; Sir 23:1;
Sir 51:10;Tob 13:4; 3Ma 6:3), but which is constantlyemployed in the N. T.
in accordancewith the example of Jesus, who exaltedit eveninto the name for
God (Mark 14:36; Weisse, Evangelienfr. p. 200 ff.), brings the petitioner at
once into an attitude of perfect confidence in the divine love; “Godseeks to
entice us with it,” and so on, Luther.[419] But the consciousnessofour
standing as children in the full and speciallyChristian sense (comp. on
Matthew 5:9), it was not possible perfectly to express in this address till a later
time, seeing that the relation in question was only to be re-establishedby the
atoning death.
ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς]distinguishes Him who is adored in the characterofFather
as the true God, but the symbolicalexplanations that have been given are of
an arbitrary character(Kuinoel, “Deus optime maxime, benignissime et
potentissime;” de Wette, “the elevationof Godabove the world;”
Baumgarten-Crusius, “Godwho exists for all men;” Hanne, “Fatherof all”).
Surely such a line of interpretation ought to have been precluded by ver.10, as
well as by the doctrine which teaches thatChrist has come from heaven from
the Father, that He has returned to heaven to the right hand of the Father,
and that He will return again in majesty from heaven. The only true God,
though everywhere present(2 Chronicles 2:6), nevertheless has his special
abode in heaven; heavenis specially the place where He dwells in majesty, and
where the throne of His glory is set(Isaiah 66:1; Psalm2:4; Psalm 102:19;
Psalm115:3; Job 22:12 ff.; Acts 7:55-56;1 Timothy 6:16), from which, too,
the Spirit of God (Matthew 3:16; Acts 2), the voice of God (Matthew 3:17;
John 12:28), and the angels ofGod (John 1:51) come down. Upon the idea of
God’s dwelling-place is based that very common Jewishinvocation‫וניבא‬
tisa tsuj,(922 .p ,toofthgiL)‫שבשמים‬may be affirmed in a generalwaythat
(comp. the ΘΕΟῚ ΟὐΡΑΝΊΩΝΕς ofHomer) “ΠΆΝΤΕς ΤῸΝ ἈΝΩΤΆΤΩΤῷ
ΘΕΊῼΤΌΠΟΝ ἈΠΟΔΙΔΌΑΣΙ,” Aristot. de Coelo, i. 3. Comp. generally, Ch.
F. Fritzsche, nov. Opusc. p. 218 ff. Augustine, Ep. 187. 16, correctlythinks
there may be an allusion to the heavenly temple, “ubi estpopulus angelorum,
quibus aggregandiet coaequandisumus, cum finita peregrinatione quod

promissum estsumserimus.” On heaven as a plural (in answerto
Kamphausen), comp. note on 2 Corinthians 12:2; Ephesians 4:10.
ἁγιασθήτω]Chrysost., Euth. Zigabenus, δοξασθήτω;more precisely, let it be
kept sacred(Exodus 20:8; Isaiah29:23). God’s name is, no doubt, “holy in
itself” (Luther), objectively and absolutelyso; but this holiness must be
assertedand displayed in the whole being and characterof believers (“ut non
existiment aliquid sanctum, quod magis offendere timeant,” Augustine),
inwardly and outwardly, so that disposition, word, and deed are regulated by
the acknowledgedperfectionof God, and brought into harmony with it.
Exactly as in the case of ‫נ‬ ִ‫ק‬ ְ‫,נַּד‬ Leviticus 10:3; Leviticus 22:2; Leviticus 22:32;
Ezekiel28:22;Ezekiel38:23;Numbers 20:13;Sir 33:4; 1 Peter3:15.
τὸ ὄνομά σου]Everything which, in its distinctive conception, Thy name
embraces and expresses, numen tuum, Thy entire perfection, as the object
revealedto the believer for his apprehension, confession, andworship. So ‫ם‬ ‫ם‬‫נ‬
‫ְי‬‫ו‬ֹ‫י‬ְ‫,י‬ Psalm5:12; Psalm 9:11; Isaiah29:23; Ezekiel36:23;and frequently also
in the Apocrypha. Everything impure, repugnant to the nature of God, is a
profanation, a ΒΕΒΗΛΟῦΝ ΤῸ ὌΝΟΜΑΤῸ ἍΓΙΟΝ (Leviticus 18:21).
Observe once more that the three imperatives in
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 6:9-13. The Lord’s Prayer. Again, in Luke 11:1-4—vide notes there.
Here I remark only that Luke’s form, true reading, is shorterthan Matthew’s.
On this ground Kamphausen (Das Gebetdes Herrn) argues for its originality.
But surely Matthew’s form is short and elementary enough to satisfyall
reasonable requirements! The question as to the originalform cannotbe
settled on such grounds. The prayer, as here given, is, indeed, a model of
simplicity. Besides the question as to the original form, there is another as to
the originality of the matter. Wetsteinsays, “tota baec oratio ex formulis

Hebraeorum concinnata est”. De Wette, after quoting these words, asserts
that, after all the Rabbinical scholars have done their utmost to adduce
parallels from Jewishsources, the Lord’s Prayer is by no means shownto be a
Cento, and that it contains echoes onlyof well-knownO. T. and Messianic
ideas and expressions, andthis only in the first two petitions. This may be the
actualfact, but there is no need for any zeal in defence of the position. I
should be very sorry to think that the model prayer was absolutelyoriginal. It
would be a melancholy accountof the chosenpeople if, after thousands of
years of specialtraining, they did not yet know what to pray for Jesus made a
new departure by inaugurating (1) freedom in prayer; (2) trustfulness of
spirit; (3) simplicity in manner. The mere making of a new prayer, if only by
apt conjunction of a few choice phrases gatheredfrom Scripture or from
Jewishforms, was an assertionofliberty. And, of course, the liberty obtains in
reference to the new form as well as to the old. We may use the Paternoster,
but we are not bound to use it. It is not in turn to become a fetish. Reformers
do not arise to break old fetters only in order to forge new ones.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
9. Our Father]It is of the essence ofChristian prayer that God should be
addressedas a Fatherto whose love we appeal, not as a Godwhose angerwe
appease. The analogyremoves nearly all the real difficulties on the subject of
prayer. A wise earthly father does not grant all requests, but all which are for
the goodof his children and which are in his powerto grant. Again, the child
asks without fear, yet no refusal shakes his trust in his father’s love or power.
Hallowed] “held sacred,” “revered.”Eachofthese petitions implies an
obligation to carry out on our own part what we pray God to accomplish.
9–13. The Lord’s Prayer

St Luke 11:2-4, where the prayer is found in a different connection, and is
given by our Lord in answerto a requestfrom the disciples to teach them to
pray, “evenas John taught his disciples.” The text of St Luke as it stands in E.
V. has probably been supplemented by additions from St Matthew.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 6:9. Οὕτως, thus) i.e. in these words, with this meaning; sc. with a
short invocation of the Father, and a short enumeration of the things which
we require. To have truly prayed thus, is sufficient, especiallyin meaning, one
portion being employed at one time, another at another, to express our
desires;and thus also in words. Forthis formula is given in oppositionto
much speaking, has words best suited to the things which they express, a most
perfect arrangement, and a fulness combined with brevity, which is most
admirable; so that the whole discourse may be said to be containedin it. The
matter of this prayer is the basis of the whole of the first epistle of St Peter;
see Gnomon on 1 Peter1:3.—Πάτερ, Father. An appellation by which God is
never addressedin the Old Testament:for the examples which Lightfoot has
adduced, are either dissimilar or modern, and prove no more than that the
Jews spoke ofGod as their Fatherin Heaven, a formula to which Christ now
gives life. The glory of the faithful in the New Testamentis thus to pray. In
this place is laid the foundation of praying in the name of Christ: see John
16:23. He who is permitted to address God as his Father, may ask all things
from Him in prayer.—ἡμῶν, our) The children of God individually pray for
all His children collectively:but even their prayers are, by this little word our,
declaredto be more acceptable whenofferedin common: see ch. Matthew
18:19.—ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, which art in the Heavens)i.e. Maxime et
optime[255](Almighty, and All-good); see ch. Matthew 7:11. Shortly
afterwards we find in Matthew 6:10.—ἐνοὐρανῷ, in Heaven; nor is it without
cause that the number[256] (which is elsewhere frequently used
promiscuously, as in ch. Matthew 22:30, and Matthew 24:36), varies in so
short a passageas the present: ΟὐΡΑΝῸς (in the singular number), signifies
here that place, in which the will of the Father is performed by all, who wait
upon Him; ΟὐΡΑΝΟῚ (in the plural) signifies the whole Heavens which
surround and contain that one as it were lowerand smaller Heaven: cf. note
on Luke 2:14.—ἉΓΙΑΣΘΉΤΩ, hallowedbe) The petitions are sevenin

number and may be separatedinto two divisions, the former containing three
petitions which relate to the Father, “THY Name, THY Kingdom, THY Will,”
the latter containing four which concernourselves. In the former we declare
our filial affectionsubscribing to the right, the dignity, and the goodpleasure
of God, after the manner of the angelic chorus in Luke 2:14 : but in the latter
we both sow and reap. In both divisions is expressedthe struggle of the sons of
God from Earth to Heaven, by which they as it were draw down Heavento
Earth. The objectof the first petition is the sanctificationof our Divine Father
s Name. God is holy: i.e. He is God. He is sanctified therefore, when He is
acknowledgedand worshipped and celebratedas He really is. The mood[257]
in ἁγιασθήτω (hallowedbe), has the same force as in ἐλθετω, come and
γενηθήτω (be done): it is, therefore, a prayer and not an express doxology.
[255]The mode in which the ancients addressedthe Supreme God.—(I. B.)
[256]i.e. οὐρανὸς Heavenin the singular—οὐρανοὶ heavens in the plural.—(I.
B.)
[257]i.e. all the three verbs are in the same mood, the Imperative, and have
the same precatoryforce. It is scarcelynecessaryto remind the generalreader
that the Imperative Mood intreats as well as commands.—(I. B.)
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 9-13. - The pattern of prayer. Parallelpassage:Luke 11:2-4. For most
suggestive remarks onthe Lord's Prayer, both generallyand in its greater
difficulties of detail, compare by all means Chase, 'The Lord's Prayer in the
Early Church:' (Cambridge Texts and Studies). Observe:
(1) If the prayer had alreadybeen given by the Lord in the sermonon the
mount, "one of his disciples" would hardly afterwards have askedhim to

teachthem to pray, as John also taught his disciples (Luke 11. l). It is much
more easy, therefore, to considerthat the original occasionof its utterance is
recordedby St. Luke, and that it therefore did not belong to the sermon on
the mount as that discourse was originally delivered.
(2) A question that admits of a more doubtful answeris whether the more
original form of the prayer is found in Matthew or in Luke. It will be
remembered that in the true text of his Gospel, the latter does not recordthe
words, "Which art in heaven," "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth,"
"But deliver us from evil," besides reading "day by day" instead of "this
day," "sins" insteadof "debts," and "for we ourselves also forgive every one
that is indebted to us" instead of" as we also have forgiven our debtors." Most
writers suppose St. Matthew's form to be the original, and St. Luke's to be
only a shortenedform. In favour of this are the considerations that
(a) St. Matthew's words, "Forgive us our debts," representan older, because
parabolic, form of expressionthan the apparently interpretative "Forgive us
our sins" in St. Luke.
(b) St. Matthew's words, "as we also," seemto be expanded into "for we
ourselves also,"in St. Luke.
(c) St. Luke's "day by day" occurs elsewhere in the New Testamentonly in his
writings (Luke 19:47; Acts 17:11), so that it is likely to be his ownphrase, and
therefore less original than St. Matthew's "this day" (cf. Weiss, 'Matthiaus-
Ev.,' and Page, Expositor, III. 7:436). On the ether hand, the words, "Which
art in heaven," are so characteristic ofSt. Matthew (Matthew 10:32, 33; cf.
12:50;15:13; 18:10, 14, 19, 35;23. 9), and especiallyof the sermon on the
mount (Matthew 5:16; Matthew 6:1; Matthew 7:11, 21; cf. 5:45, 48; 6:14, 26,
32), that it seems more natural to suppose that this clause at leastwas added

by him or by the authors of his sources to the original form, rather than that it
was omitted by St. Luke. In connexion with this it may be pointed out how
easyit was for our Lord to say only "Father" (Luke 11:2) immediately after
his ownprayer to him (Luke 11:1). Taking everything into consideration, it
seems reasonableto arrive at two conclusions. First, that the form in Luke
presents, as a whole, the more primitive and original instruction of the Lord,
and that that given in Matthew presents the Lord's words as fully developed,
partly perhaps by himself directly, partly by his indirect guidance of
Christian usage. St. Matthew's Gospelwould thus at once both show the effect
and be the cause ofthe preference for the longer form in liturgical use.
Secondly, and more exactly, that both the evangelists recordthe prayer after
it had passedthrough some development in different parts of the Church, St.
Matthew giving it a generallylater stage, but preserving one or two clauses in
an earlier and better form. Verse 9. - After this manner therefore. Therefore;
in contrastto the heathen practice, and in the full confidence which you have
in your almighty Father's intuitive knowledge ofyour needs. After this
manner (οὕτως). Not "in these words;" but he will most closelyimitate the
manner who most often reminds himself of it by using the words. Pray ye.
"Ye" emphatic - ye my disciples; ye the children of such a Father. Our
Father. In Englishwe just lack the power to keep, with a plural possessive
pronoun (contrast"father mine"), the order of Christ's words (Πάτερ ἡμῶν)
which other languagespossess(Paternoster;Vater unser). Christ places in
the very forefront the primary importance of the recognitionof spiritual
relationship to God. There is no direct thought here of God as the All-Father
in the modern and often deistic sense. Yet it is affirmed elsewhere in Scripture
(Acts 17:28; cf. Luke 15:21), and spiritual relationship is perhaps only
possible because ofthe natural relationship (cf. Matthew 5:16, note). Our.
Though the prayer is here given with specialreference to praying alone (ver.
6), the believer is to be reminded at once that he is joined by spiritual
relationship to many others who have the same needs, etc., as himself. Which
art in heaven(ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς). Added in this fuller form of the prayer
(vide supra), on the one hand to definitely exclude the application of the words
howevermediately to any human teacher(cf. Matthew 23:9), and on the other
to remind those who pray of the awful majesty of him whom they address.
"They are a Sursum corda; they remind us that now we have lifted up our

hearts from earth and things earthly to another and a higher world" (Trench,
'Sermon on the Mount'). Hallowedbe thy name. The first of the three prayers
for the furtherance of God's cause. Theirparallelism is seenmuch more
clearly in the Greek than in the English order of the words. Thy name. We
look on a name almostas an accidentalappendage by which a person is
designated, but in its true idea it is the designationof a person which exactly
answers to his nature and qualities. Hence the full Name of God is properly
that description of him which embraces all that he really is. As, however, the
term "name" implies that it is expressed, it must, when it is used of God, be
limited to that portion of his nature and qualities which can be expressedin
human terms, because it has been already made known to us. The "name" of
God, here and elsewhere in the Bible, therefore, does not mean God in his
essence, but rather that manifestation of himself which he has been pleasedto
give, whether partial and preparatory as under the old covenant(cf. Genesis
4:26 [16:13]; 32:29;Exodus 6:3; Exodus 34:5), or final as under the new (cf.
John 17:6); or again(to take another division found in Exell's 'Biblical
Illustrator,' in loc.)the manifestationof himself through nature, through
inspired words, through the Incarnation. Comparedwith the Glory (δόξα)
"the Name expresses the revelation as it is apprehended and used by man.
Man is calledby the Name, and employs it. The Glory expresses ratherthe
manifestation of the Divine as Divine, as a partial disclosure of the Divine
Majestynot directly intelligble by man (comp. Exodus 33:18, ft.)" (Bishop
Westcott,'Add. Note'on 3 John 1:7). Hallowedbe. Ἁγιασθήτω cannot here, as
sometimes (Revelation22:11;cf. John 17:17;1 Thessalonians 5:23), mean"be
made holy," for this God's manifestationof himself already is; but "be
counted holy," i.e. in human judgment. The prayer is that God's
manifestation of himself may be acknowledgedandrevered as the one
supreme standard of truth and the one means of knowing God and
approaching him; of 1 Peter3:15, where "ἁγιάζω obviouslymeans 'set apart,
enshrined as the object of supreme, absolute reverence, as free from all
defilement and possessedofall excellence'" (Johnstone,in lee.); cf. also Isaiah
29:23. The same thought appears to have been the basis of the early Western
alternative petition (Marcion's or Tertullian's, vide Westcottand Herr, 'App.,'
Luke 11:2) for the gift of the Holy Spirit; i.e. the address to the Father was
followedby a prayer for purification by the Holy Spirit preparatory to the

prayer, "Thy kingdom come." A man must acceptGod's manifestation of
himself before he cantake part in the spread of the kingdom. Gregoryof
Nyssa (vide Westcottand Herr, lee. cit., and Resch, 'Agrapha,'p. 398)says
distinctly, "Let thy Holy Spirit come upon us and purify us;" but he
substitutes this prayer for the words, "Thy kingdom come." (Forthe support
afforded by this to the theory that the Lord's Prayercirculated in a varying
form, cf. Chase, loc. cit.)Gregory's petition, as affecting only humanity, is less
comprehensive than that found m o r Gospels.
JAMES HASTINGS
GreatTexts of the Bible
The Lord’s Prayer
After this manner therefore pray ye.—Matthew 6:9.
1. The Lord’s Prayer has been the type of prayer among Christians in all ages.
Throughout the Christian centuries men have poured forth their hearts to
God in these few words, which have probably had a greaterinfluence on the
world than all the writings of theologians put together. They are the simplest
form of communion with Christ: when we utter them we are one with Him;
His thoughts become our thoughts, and we draw near to God through Him.
They are also the simplest form of communion with our fellow-men, in which
we acknowledgethat He is our common Father and that we are His children.
And the leastparticulars of our lives admit of being ranged under one or
other of the petitions which we offer up to Him.
2. It has not only become the one universal prayer of Christendom; it has
appealedto and has been adopted by the most enlightened exponents of other

faiths. This result is all the more astounding if, as some scholars have
declared, no single petition of the prayer was in the strict sense “original,”the
startling originality being in the structure of the prayer. Within the narrow
framework of an utterance containing only petitions, Jesus has gatheredall
the deepestnecessitiesofthe collective and of the individual life of mankind,
and has so knit togetherand built up these petitions in orderly sequence that
the prayer as a whole appeals to men everywhere, and remains to any man
who will thoughtfully use it a liberal education in sympathy with mankind and
in understanding the characterofGod.
In his “Ode on the Pleasure Arising from Vicissitude,” Thomas Gray
endeavouredto impress on an age of indifference the priceless value of the
daily earthly blessings whichwe receive, too often without a thought of their
beauty, and healthfulness, and joy, without a word of gratitude to Him who
gives and sustains, without one real expressionof prayer that we may
consecrate them more entirely to His service. He describes the feelings of one
who, after a long and painful illness, finds himself at last able to leave his
room, and move once more amid familiar sights and sounds which, in a
normal state of health, scarcelyexcite attention:
See the Wretch, that long has tost
On the stormy bed of Pain,
At length repair his vigour lost
And breathe and walk again;

The meanestflowret of the vale,
The simplest note that swells the gale,
The common Sun, the air, the skies,
To him are opening Paradise.
In the spiritual world there are blessings like “the common sun, the air, the
skies,”the priceless value of which in regardto communion with God in
Christ, the conscioussense ofthe Divine presence, the formation of character,
and controlof conduct, we for the most part hardly estimate until we find
ourselves deprived of them, or unable to make use of them. Among such
blessings, inestimable, yet takenas a matter of course, is the gift of the Lord’s
Prayer.1 [Note:A. J. Worlledge, Prayer, 160.]
(1) To begin with, a man is bidden postpone the outpouring of his private
needs till he has relatedhimself aright to the needs of the world: the first three
petitions of the Lord’s Prayerare “missionary” intercessions, which, when a
man begins to use, at once narrowness and possible selfishness ofoutlook are
checked, andthe sympathies spread out to take in the wants that lie deepestin
the life of universal man. “Our Fatherwhich art in heaven, Hallowedbe thy
name”—hallowed, thatis, the whole world over. What a sweepof intercessory
affection, what enlightening recollectionofwhat the world most truly needs,
what readjustment to fraternal fellowship of desire lies behind the intelligent
use of this petition alone! It means that one sees, instructedby Christ, that the
profoundest necessityfor the broken and sundered lives of our race is reunion
in spiritual religion, in one universal reverence to one worthy thought of God;
and to go on intelligently to pray, “Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done on

earth as it is in heaven,” is to desire (and surely also to be moved to work for)
the reorganizing of man’s brokenlife on the basis of a universal subordination
to God, orderly and loyal, because willing, enlightened, and free. Think of the
powerthat lies in a series of intercessionslike that to educate the intercessor
in the true meaning and inwardness of the history behind him and being made
around him! Think of its stores ofimpulse to a cosmopolitanoutlook, its
potent force as a solvent of the parochial spirit! And then think of the range
and depth of the insight of the “Galilæanpeasant” who thus perceivedand
read the universal needs of man! How came He to have those eyes which, like
the eyes of God, “are over all the earth”?
In eachpetition we ask to be blessedwith GodHimself. In eachpetition we
therefore see the Trinity, while one Personof the Trinity is more prominently
brought forward. The name is the Son revealing the Father; the kingdom is
the Fatherbeheld and loved in the Son; the will renewedis the Holy Ghost
fulfilling in us what the Father ordains and Christ mediates. In these three
petitions there is no sequence—theyare co-equal, co-ordinate—hencethere is
no conjunction.1 [Note: Adolph Saphir, The Lord’s Prayer, 58.]
(2) The remaining four petitions of the prayer are no less marvellous as a
transcript of the cry of the world-wide heart of man. “Give us this day our
daily bread”—give us, for we canneither manufacture nor for very long so
much as store the raw material of life’s nourishment. “Forgive us our
debts”—forgive, forwe can neither pay for, expiate, nor endure unexpiated,
the irreparable past. “Lead us not into temptation”—for life is besetwith risk
as well as opportunity. “Deliverus from evil”—forthat is the deep-setroot of
all woes. Is it not the unanimous voice of mankind that sights through these
petitions? Has there ever been so perfect, so adequate an articulation of the
murmur of the hungering world-soul? Is prayer for more than this prayer
includes essential? Wouldprayer for less be less than vicious? Men vary in
their power of calling up from the subconscious regionthe thoughts and
sympathies that wander to the farthest frontiers of personality and seemto

travel even beyond; but this is more than telepathy in excelsis:it is a
knowledge ofuniversal man gathering itself in such a way within the compass
of a single mind that the inference is irresistible that this Man’s consciousness
was more than “individual,” and that these things He had learned in some
residence in God antedating His residence on earth. The vast sweepof the
Lord’s Prayer, and its astounding graspof what is deepestin the necessitiesof
the world in every age, go far to make credible even the saying attributed to
Christ in the Fourth Gospel, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Of symbolical numbers in Scripture, there are none whose meaning is so
certain and obvious as the numbers three, four, and seven. Three is the
number of God, as in the threefold blessing which the high priest pronounced,
the threefold “holy” in the song of the seraphim, and in various passages. The
mystery, most clearlyexpressedin the institution of baptism and throughout
the Epistles, is contained in germ in all the manifestations of God unto His
people. The number four is evidently the number of the world, of the manifold
mundane relationship of creationin its fulness and variety. This symbolism
finds its expressionin nature—the four directions in space, the four corners of
the earth, the four winds, from which all the electshall be gathered. It is to be
noticed in the Tabernacle,the measures, curtains, colours, and ingredients,
where it denotes regularity and completeness. With this correspondthe facts
that we have a fourfold accountof the life of Christ, and that the creaturely
life and perfection is representedby the four living Beings. Sevenis the
number symbolizing God manifesting Himself in the world. From the very
first chapter of Genesis to the closing Book ofthe inspired record, this
number is invested with a specialdignity and solemnity. The seventh day is
not merely the day of rest, but the day on which are completed and perfected
the works ofGod. Sevenis the number of cleananimals which Noahwas
commanded to bring into the Ark. Sevenbranches had the goldencandlestick
in the holy place of the Tabernacle;sevendays lastedthe greatfestivals in
Israel; on sevenpillars was built the House of Wisdom; walking amid seven
golden candlesticksJesusis representedin the Apocalypse;sevenspirits are
before the throne; sevenwords the Saviour uttered from the cross;seven

petitions He gives to His people.1 [Note:Adolph Saphir, The Lord’s Prayer,
59.]
The Father
“Our Father which art in heaven.”
“After this manner therefore pray ye.” This then is the right way of praying.
Our Lord here in the Sermon on the Mount is telling men how to do the three
eminent duties—“Whenthou doestalms,” “When ye fast,” “When ye pray.”
About eachof the three He has the same thing to say—Do notadvertise it; but
when He speaks ofprayer He goes further, for it is by far the most difficult of
the three; He goes on to tell us the right method. “After this manner therefore
pray ye.” The Lord’s Prayeris given, not to tie us down to that particular
form of words (though, indeed, there are none so good), but to show us how to
pray. “After this manner.” This is the right way.
1. Too often man trips in and out of God’s presence, saying words that he does
not feeltowards a Personof whom he has no intelligent conception. But we
must not do so. Our love and our awe must be first evoked. “Father,” we
approachHim as a child in the tenderestrelationship; He is One who loves us
with more than human love, loves us more than we can love Him, One who is
more ready to hear than we are to pray.
Father! It is the greatestwordon mortal tongue, and the truth of the universal
Fatherhoodof God is the greatestwhichever dawned on the intelligence of
man. But did it ever dawn upon the intelligence of man in such a way as the
other truths have done? When Peter made his great confession, “Thouart the
Christ, the Son of the living God,” our Lord answered him in joy and

thankfulness, “Blessedart thou, Simon, sonof Jonah; for flesh and blood hath
not revealedit unto thee, but my Fatherwhich is in heaven.” May we not say
that flesh and blood never revealedthis truth of God’s eternalFatherhood? It
is God’s owndirect supreme revelationof Himself in Christ His eternal Song
of Solomon1 [Note: C. F. Aked, The Lord’s Prayer, 14.]
No exercise of will can procure for me, and no amount of demerit can forfeit
for me, the fact, the existence, ofa sonship and a Fatherhood. Even in the far
country, where the prodigal sonis feeding swine, not memory alone, but
consciousness, recognizesa relationship betweenhimself and a far-off person,
whom he confidently calls his father. And when he forms the resolutionto
escape from his misery and his destitution, and to seek againthe land and the
home which for years have been to him but a dream and an illusion, he frames
into words, without a doubt or a peradventure, the confessionwith which he
will present himself at the door of that house and that heart, and it begins
with the assertionofan inalienable relationship—“I will say to him, Father!”1
[Note:C. J. Vaughan, The Lord’s Prayer, 15.]
2. The Lord’s Prayer bids us lay aside all selfishness atthe outset. Its first
word—“Our”—is the most difficult of all; for to lay aside selfishness is the
hardest thing in the world. We must begin by casting off self, by realizing that
we are only one minute unit in the greatmillions of humanity. Think of it,
what this word “our” means—allthose who are separatedfrom us by
impassable barriers, those who are so far above us that we cannot reachthem,
those who are so far beneath us that we reckonthe slightestact of human
recognitionis a gracious condescension, allthose who belong to the opposite
faction in politics, those who belong to hostile nations, those whose religion or
whose irreligion wars with our deepestconvictions;all those who are outcasts
too, and criminals, the enemies of society, and those—itis often hardest to
remember—with whom we have had disagreements, quarrels, those whom we
feel we cannot like. He is our Father only in connexion with these others also.
We cannotspeak for ourselves unless we speak also for them; we cannotcarry

our petitions to the throne of His grace unless we carry theirs; we cannot ask
for any goodunless it is for them as much as for us. For He is their Father as
much as ours, and we cannot say, “Our Fatherwhich art in heaven,” unless
we have first learnt to say, “Our brothers who are on the earth.”
The Lord’s Prayer is the simplest of all prayers, and also the deepest. We are
children addressing a Fatherwho is also the Lord of heaven and earth. In
Him all the families of the earth become one family. The past as well as the
present, the dead as well as the living, are embracedby His love. When we
draw near to Him we draw neareralso to our fellow-men. From the smaller
family to which we are bound by ties of relationship we extend our thoughts to
that largerfamily which lives in His presence. Whenwe say, “Our Father,”
we do not mean that Godis the Father of us in particular, but of the whole
human race, the greatfamily in heavenand earth. The Heavenly Father is not
like the earthly; yet through this image we attain a nearernotion of God than
through any other. We mean that He loves us, that He educates us and all
mankind, that He provides laws for us, that He receives us like the prodigal in
the parable when we go astray. We mean that His is the nature which we most
revere, with a mixed feeling of awe and of love; that He knows what is for our
goodfar better than we know ourselves, andis able to do for us above all that
we can ask or think. We mean that in His hands we are children, whose wish
and pleasure is to do His will, whose duty is to trust in Him in all the accidents
of their lives.1 [Note: Benjamin Jowett, Sermons on Faith and Doctrine, 252.]
It is in every line a prayer of fellowship and co-operation. It is a perfect
illustration of the socialnature of prayer. The co-operationand fellowshipare
not here confined, and they never are exceptin the lowerstages, to the inward
communion of an individual and his God. There is no I or me or mine in the
whole prayer. The person who prays spiritually is enmeshed in a living group,
and the reality of his vital union with persons like himself clarifies his vision of
that deeperReality to whom he prays. Divine Fatherhoodand human
brotherhood are born together. To say “Father” to God involves saying

“brother” to one’s fellows, and the ground swellof either relationship
naturally carries the other with it, for no one can largelyrealize the
significance ofbrotherly love without going to Him in whom love is
completed.2 [Note:R. M. Jones, The Double Search, 65.]
3. Yet again, it is to the Father in heaven that we are to pray. Mankind before
Christ soughttwo ways of knowing God. The philosopher thought of Him as
far removed from earth in His perfection. The polytheist thought of Him as
embodied in many gods, half-human, and for that reasonvery near to him.
The one protested againstthe error of the other, and both were half-true. God
is infinitely above us, as the philosopher thought; but He is also very human,
very near. So Jesus Christ came to show us that God is not some vast
abstraction, but is a present Father, closerto us than breathing, and nearer
than hands or feet.
For God is never so far off
As even to be near.
He is within. Our spirit is
The home He holds most dear.
To think of Him as by our side
Is almost as untrue

As to remove His shrine beyond
Those skies ofstarry blue.
So all the while I thought myself
Homeless, forlorn, and weary,
Missing my joy, I walkedthe earth,
Myself God’s sanctuary.
4. “In heaven” does not mean at a distance. What does it mean? It means
perfection. “Our Father in heaven” suggests perfectionin love, in helpfulness,
in homeliness.
(1) Perfectionin love.—We canlearn heavenly things only from earthly types.
Looking at such types, what is our idea of what a Father should be? At least
we understand that the word represents love—love that thinks, love that
works;the love of one who is wise, who is strong, and who takes trouble. It
means this in man, it means this in God, and to perfection.
(2) Perfectionin helpfulness.—“Ifye then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven
give goodthings to them that ask him?” That word “if” seems meantnot only
to imply an argument, but to suggesta question. “If ye … know how!” Do

fathers and mothers always know? Look at Hagar, when the bread was gone,
the waterspent, and Ishmaelready to die of want—did she know? “She cast
the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over
againsthim, a goodway off, as it were a bowshot:for she said, Let me not see
the death of the child. And she satover againsthim, and lift up her voice, and
wept.” Look at certain times into certain houses not far from your own, and
you might hear a child ask for bread, and then hear the father say, “There is
none.” He would help, but he does not know how. God, as our helper, because
He is our Father in heaven, might sayto us, “As the heavens are higher than
the earth, so”—inhelping you—“are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts.”
(3) Perfectionin homeliness.—The words, “OurFatherwhich art in heaven,”
suggestto us the perfectionof our home. Although the word “heaven” is here
used mainly to remind us of our Father’s perfection, it is meant also to remind
us of the family home. Some Christians seem not to care for this doctrine, and
in giving us their own views they are almostas refined as Confucius, who said,
“Heavenis Principle.” Our notion, although it includes this idea, does not stop
at it. It includes not only characterbut condition, not only principle but place.
We look upon heavenas the perfect home of perfect human nature.
What must that place be in which even God is at home! We cannottell, and it
is astonishing that any mortal has ever tried to tell. It is written in an old story
that an artist, led by Indians, once went to paint Niagara, but that when he
saw it, he dashed his disappointing pencil down the precipice, for he felt that
he could as soonpaint the roar, as the fall, the foam, the greatsheets of light,
the arch of colouredrays, with all the other wonders that went to make up the
surprising cataract;and shall we who have only seenearth, try to picture
heaven! No! poems of glory, pictures of magnificence, all fail, “imagination in
its utmost stretch, in wonderdies away”;in our present state, our future state
is a mystery, though a mystery of delight. It is our home, but the celestial
homeliness is beyond us now.1 [Note:C. Stanford, The Lord’s Prayer, 81.]

I
The Name
“Hallowedbe thy name.”
This is no doxology. It is a prayer. It is the first of three prayers concerning
God Himself.
1. What is a “name”? What is it for us? A name is the brief summary of a
person. The use of a name, the object of eachman having a name, is to
supersede the necessityof interminable descriptions, and to setbefore us, by a
sort of telegraphic dispatch, the whole person—face, form, and properties—of
him whom we know and of whom we would make mention. The “name” is the
catchwordwhich renders amplification needless by bringing up to us the
person—figure and qualities and characteristicsin one. The name is the man.
The absent, distant, inaccessible manis made present to us in the naming of
the name.
Even thus is it with the name of God. When Moses prayed, “I beseechthee,
shew me thy glory”—and when he was told that to see the Face ofGod was
impossible, but that he might be privileged to behold some sort of back look
and (as it were) retrospectofHis Person—wereadnext that the Lord
descended, passedby before him, and, in answerto that prayer for a sight of
His glory, proclaimed the name of the Lord. Now what was that name? Was it
the “Jehovah,”the “I Am,” of the original revelation? Readit as it lies there
at length in the 34thchapter of the Book of Exodus, and you will see that the
name of God is, in other words, the sum of God’s attributes, “The Lord, the

Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, andabundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clearthe guilty.” God, such as He is, in
mercy and righteousness, in boundless compassionand just judgment—that,
that is His “name.”
2. Learning what God is, we ask that His name may be hallowedor held
sacred, regardedby all as a true and holy thing that is at any costto be
maintained in esteem, and under all temptation still believed in. May the idea
of God which He would have us to possessbe held as the choice possessionof
our spirits, the treasure on which our hearts rest, and to which they ever
return; may it be held separate from all contaminationof our own thoughts
about God; and may it never be obscuredby any cloud of adversity tempting
us to think that God has changed, never lost sight of by any careless devotion
of our thoughts to other objects and names; never presumed upon nor
polluted as countenancing folly or sin, but cherished still and guarded as “the
holy and reverend name of the Lord.”
It is to be noted that this petition stands first of all the petitions in the Lord’s
Prayer. It is the very first thing that a disciple thinks of as he begins to pray,
indicating what must be our first business on the first day of every week—to
hallow God’s name. Nothing else is to take precedence ofthat. Other things
may follow. Before the day is over it will be right to offer a prayer for daily
bread, but that canwait till later. Even the prayer for forgiveness ofour sins
comes later, and the prayer for deliverance from temptation comes later. In
Christ’s order earliestof all stands this petition that the name of God our
Father may be hallowed.1 [Note:W. R. Richards, A Study of the Lord’s
Prayer, 45.]
II

The Kingdom
“Thy kingdom come.”
What is a kingdom? It is a societyof men living in an orderly manner a
common life under one head or ruler. The Kingdom of God is this, but more.
For human rule is over men only, speaking generally;the rule of God is over
all createdthings. Thus the Kingdom of God is an orderly constitution of all
things visible and invisible, inanimate, animate and spiritual, eachin its own
place fulfilling the Divine will.
1. Now this idea of the Kingdom is takenfor granted when we pray “Thy
kingdom come.” The necessityfor this prayer arises only because the rule of
God in the world has been—notindeed banished, but—obscured. So that
from the point of view of sinful, alienated man, the Kingdom of God, His
manifested rule, must be treatedas an absent thing to be desired and invoked.
2. This is by no means to be limited to the desire that God’s sovereignty
should be establishedover our hearts. The prayer is put into the mouth of
disciples, who have already surrendered their hearts and wills to God. “Jesus
came preaching the gospelof the kingdom”;and the Kingdom of God is only
Christ’s name for the blessings of the gospel. Therefore this petition means:
Let thy gospelhave world-wide supremacy, and the conceptions of God and of
life which it teaches governeverywhere. It means that the kingdoms of this
world shall become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ, through the
acceptanceand applicationof Christian teachings;and that the name of God
which is to be hallowedis that revealedby Jesus Christ.

I am prepared to adopt the following declaration:“The coming of the
kingdom would mean the death of flunkeyism and toadyism in the personal
life, the death of mammon in the sociallife, and the death of jingoism in the
national life.” I venture to think that it would banish from our sociallife all
strife, all envy, all slander. It forbids Christian people to follow unchristian
fashions. It makes the pride and stand-offishness ofsome Christians towards
their fellow-members positively ridiculous. It bids us be courteous, kindly
affectioned, pitiful, given to hospitality, charitable. The same consecrating
hand laid upon our commerciallife will prevent the fierce competition which
chokes the life out of the weak and exalts the strong; a heartless rejectionofa
goodservant because a few shillings a week canbe savedby giving the post to
a boy: a recognitionof a moral code differing fundamentally from Jesus
Christ’s moral code. Business men will give a helping hand to fallen brothers
who are trying to recoverthemselves;they will scornto ask their young clerks
to make untrue statements about goods. Workmenwill lose their passionfor
strikes. Christian people—certainlyChristian ministers—will be ashamedto
take shares in a brewery “becauseit pays,” or to demand a largerdividend
from any company without enquiring what the effectmay be on the
employees. In civic and political life we shall refuse to allow large vested
interests to occupy the seatof authority and to shape legislationfor their own
advantage. When the Kingdom comes, no Parliament would allow the
children’s charter—a Bill for preventing the sale of intoxicants to young
children, a Bill the necessityfor which was recognizedby everybody—to be
flung to the brewers and publicans for them to tear and trample upon. Indeed,
we might go a step farther back, and say that when the Kingdom comes there
will be no liquor traffic on lines that bear any comparisonwith that which
shocks andmocks and murders us to-day. And in our national life when this
prayer is prayed earnestly, we shall distinguish betweenthe shoddy patriotism
which is only a maskedpagan vice, which desires to exalt British interests by
any means warlike or not at the expense of other people, and that truer
patriotism which is a Christian virtue, which longs to make one’s own nation
good, that it may be blessedof God and become a means of blessing to the
world. You may easilyquarrel with my provisional programme of Christian
life, but you cannotbe a true followerof Christ if you do not pray and labour
for the coming of the Kingdom of our Father, through the spreadof the

Christian religion and the supremacyof the teaching of Jesus.1[Note:J. E.
Roberts, Studies in the Lord’s Prayer, 29.]
Father, let Thy kingdom come,—
Let it come with living power;
Speak at length the final word,
Usher in the triumph hour.
As it came in days of old,
In the deepesthearts of men,
When Thy martyrs died for Thee,
Let it come, O God, again.
Tyrant thrones and idol shrines,
Let them from their place be hurled:

Enter on Thy better reign,
Wearthe crownof this poor world.
O what long, sad years have gone,
Since Thy Church was taught this prayer!
O what eyes have watchedand wept
For the dawning everywhere.
Break, triumphant day of God!
Break at last, our hearts to cheer;
Eagersouls and holy songs
Wait to hail Thy dawning here.
Empires, temples, sceptres, thrones,
May they all for God be won;

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