THE LORD'S PRAYER
MATTHEW 6: 9 - 13
(KJV public domain)
When the Apostles asked Jesus how they should pray, He answered:
8) Do not be like them (hypocrites), for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
8) Do not be like them (hypocrites), for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9) After this manner therefore pray ye:
"Our Father Which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
10) Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.
11) Give us this day our daily bread
12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
COMMENTARY
The last part of verse 8 is what I like to quote to my grand babies: "I know the answer before I ever ask the question." They think I am psychic or something; but in reality, when you know your dependents, you know them enough to anticipate their every thought. How much more does our Heavenly Father know us? those He created? those who He loves and protects? Besides, He is not bound by time. He knows all of our needs and wants, so we come to Him in prayer to show our dependence upon Him for our needs, our wants, when we hurt, when we are happy.
Also of great importance is to Whom our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ instructed us to pray: Our Father! We are not instructed to pray to any man, either alive or dead, which includes those men who other men have declared as saints. We are not to pray to stones or wood, etc. We are instructed to only pray to The One True God. Sometimes when I visit the grave of my Dad, I catch myself asking him to put in a word to my Father due to his proximity to Him in Heaven. However, I have Jesus interceding at God's right hand on my behalf, so I have to laugh at myself and hope my Dad is doing the same.
This "Lord's Prayer" is not a prayer that we are to pray verbatim, although there are times that we fall back to this prayer when we are distraught, when we cannot concentrate on praying but are aware that we need to pray. This is in reality, a blueprint of how to pray:
1) We address our God, our Creator, as our Father. Although He is with us to the end of the age, His place of power is on the throne, which is in Heaven. His Name, His very essence is holy.
2) Thy kingdom come: may Your Word be heard by everyone and be accepted by all. May You be glorified, by those who hear and accept Salvation. Have Your will with me, especially, but also my family and friends. Use me to further/grow Your kingdom. Help me to reflect Your mercy and Your grace.
3) We ask for "our daily bread" that we receive honestly and that keeps us dependent upon our Father. (See also James 4: 2-3) Give us "our" daily bread, not just "mine", that we can have fellowship with others or can share with others. Also, Jesus is "the Bread of Life". Give us Jesus EVERY DAY. Give us the desire to study Your Word, O Lord, and be able to share Your wisdom with others or at the very least, to support those who share Your wisdom.
4) And forgive us our debts/sins/trespasses daily, our sins against You, O Lord, as we sin every day. We therefore, forgive the insults, affronts, etc. done to us. When we forgive others when they hurt us and those we care about, we receive hope that God has forgiven us. Likewise, this particular part of the prayer can be a curse to us if we don't forgive. Forgiveness is hard.
5) I like Psalms 19 for this one. Lead us not into temptation: Satan goes back and forth looking for those he can devour. Tempting preacher and the youth, presidents and the poor. He tempts everyone. We are hereby instructed to pray against being tempted. Giving in to temptation causes guilt, grief, and all kind of sorrow. Deliver us from evil, that we may not be caught up in it's snare, but that we can overcome.
6) My children would give me treats when they would ask me for favors during their childhood. They expected to get their way when they did this. They also used the treats to inform me of their misbehavior but they expected that they wouldn't be in so much trouble. I guess I got this from my God. We give Him praise and honor and glory when we ask Him to intervene in our lives, whether it is for our needs or our wants. But there is more: we give Him praise and honor and glory forever. He deserves eternal praise, not just for today. This also lets Him know we want to be in heaven with Him eternally to give him praise. There is no other who deserves it all like my Father.
7) Then, in closing, we say "amen" to indicate we are finished, we tie up our petition to our Loving Father, our Powerful Father with expectation and confidence.
How about you? Is The One True God your Father? Would you like to have this peace, joy, love?
You are encouraged to visit our "Pathways to Salvation" page to learn more: https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.
If this ministry is a blessing to you, you are invited to share this post on your favorite social media. We also welcome comments with your thoughts. Thank you.
3) We ask for "our daily bread" that we receive honestly and that keeps us dependent upon our Father. (See also James 4: 2-3) Give us "our" daily bread, not just "mine", that we can have fellowship with others or can share with others. Also, Jesus is "the Bread of Life". Give us Jesus EVERY DAY. Give us the desire to study Your Word, O Lord, and be able to share Your wisdom with others or at the very least, to support those who share Your wisdom.
4) And forgive us our debts/sins/trespasses daily, our sins against You, O Lord, as we sin every day. We therefore, forgive the insults, affronts, etc. done to us. When we forgive others when they hurt us and those we care about, we receive hope that God has forgiven us. Likewise, this particular part of the prayer can be a curse to us if we don't forgive. Forgiveness is hard.
5) I like Psalms 19 for this one. Lead us not into temptation: Satan goes back and forth looking for those he can devour. Tempting preacher and the youth, presidents and the poor. He tempts everyone. We are hereby instructed to pray against being tempted. Giving in to temptation causes guilt, grief, and all kind of sorrow. Deliver us from evil, that we may not be caught up in it's snare, but that we can overcome.
6) My children would give me treats when they would ask me for favors during their childhood. They expected to get their way when they did this. They also used the treats to inform me of their misbehavior but they expected that they wouldn't be in so much trouble. I guess I got this from my God. We give Him praise and honor and glory when we ask Him to intervene in our lives, whether it is for our needs or our wants. But there is more: we give Him praise and honor and glory forever. He deserves eternal praise, not just for today. This also lets Him know we want to be in heaven with Him eternally to give him praise. There is no other who deserves it all like my Father.
7) Then, in closing, we say "amen" to indicate we are finished, we tie up our petition to our Loving Father, our Powerful Father with expectation and confidence.
How about you? Is The One True God your Father? Would you like to have this peace, joy, love?
You are encouraged to visit our "Pathways to Salvation" page to learn more: https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.
If this ministry is a blessing to you, you are invited to share this post on your favorite social media. We also welcome comments with your thoughts. Thank you.
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