The Lord's Prayer

I cleaned out a desk yesterday. We are getting rid of it so I needed to take everything out and decide what to keep and what to throw away. This is not always an easy task.  Some things I'll probably never use, need or even remember I have but parting with them seems, i don't know wasteful.  Like old Bible Study notes for leading some senior high students.  These studies are old, meaning that the reference materials (like names of "current" people and situations) are not longer current. But getting rid of it seems, like I said, wasteful.  I found a cabinet to store it in. :)

I also found a couple of papers I'd written for a Wednesday night worship service that we used to have at out church where lay people presented a message.  One that I found is one that I'd often thought of and even looked for - in electronic version.  I thought I'd saved it and transferred to new computers along the way, but I guess I hadn't.  Anyway, I found it neatly typed out in large font to make it easier when I read it for the Wednesday service.  I think I listened pretty well to God when I wrote this.  I'd like to share it.  It is based on Matthew 6:5-13 NIV.

These next few paragraphs are notes from resources I have regarding the Lord's prayer. I will post something on MY thoughts tomorrow.

Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples.  He didn't want them to pray like the religious leaders of the time who paid more attention to the spectacle of their public praying than to the prayer itself. Jesus wanted them to think about the words they used and the sincerity of those words.  They were to be sincere and thoughtful.  They were to be persistent in their prayers, not merely repetitions.  They were to THINK about what they were really saying to God during their communion with Him.

So, Jesus gave them a sample.  It is a pattern, like a dress pattern, or a wood-working pattern.  The Lord's prayer communicates everything we need to say to God. It praises Him, Asks for His will to be done, ask that our physical needs be met, asks for His forgiveness and asks for help against temptation.  It is a complete prayer.

The Lord's Prayer starts this communication with God by recognizing God's majesty and holiness and that He is worthy of being honored.    This helps put us in the right frame of mind.  Too often our prayers are more like shopping lists to than conversations.

"Our Father who art in heaven" also refers to God's spiritual reign as being completed when His Kingdom comes to earth as it is in heaven, when all evil is destroyed and God establishes a hew heaven and a new earth.  The day will come when all is right with God as He intended.

"Your will be done" simply asks that God's perfect vision and purpose be accomplished in this world as well as in the next.

"Give us our daily bread" acknowledges that God is our sustainer and provider every day and that we KNOW that He is.  Pray daily.  We cannot store up God's gifts then cut off communication with Him until we need Him again. Daily Bread also refers to Jesus as our spiritual bread, which we also need daily.

"Lead us not into temptation" does not mean that God sometimes leads us astray.  It means that when we are tempted by worldly temptations, god will be with us to face and overcome those temptations.  Temptations are the tests of our will and desire to obey God.

"Forgive us".  We simply ask for forgiveness.  Unfortunately, Jesus followed this simple statement with a difficult command. "As we forgive others"  We are in fact asking God to forgive us the same amount we forgive others.  OUCH.  Jesus told his disciples that they had to forgive others in order to be fully forgiven.  God would only be as generous with forgiving them as they were with forgiving others.  To remain unforgiving shows that we have not understood that we ourselves deeply need to be forgiven, or that we expect something when we aren't willing to give.


Mack B Stokes in Talking with God, A Guide to Prayer says that 1) Jesus prayed. The Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Way, the Truth and the Life prayed.  If Jesus prayed, we need to pray.  The fact that Jesus prayed often indicates how important prayer is.  According to Stokes, Jesus taught us 7 things about prayer using his example and the Lord's Prayer.  Those 7 things are: 1) Be brief.  2) Pray in faith and EXPECT results. 3) be persistent. 4)be honest in prayer  5) pray for others 6) express thanksgiving 7) glorify God. According to Stokes, the greatest sentence ever uttered in a prayer is this:  "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  For if we do not pray this prayer, we need not pray any other.

Tomorrow, I will post MY thoughts.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  give us this day our daily bread.  Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.  Amen