Editorial
September/October, 2008
Volume 43, Number 5
At the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove, and a Voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Immediately Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, where He was tempted by Satan. Upon His return from the desert, Jesus went up on a mountain to teach His disciples. That teaching included the Lord’s Prayer (or more appropriately, the Disciple’s Prayer).
Jesus says, “After this manner therefore pray”—
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13)
By Harold S. Martin
The Annual Meeting Minutes in the year 1805 dealt with a query about the Lord’s Prayer. The query to Annual Conference read: “Concerning praying the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Our Father’—since some do not [use] the same expressions as given in the Gospel accounts by Jesus, it was considered that we should use the expressions according to the pattern of … Jesus, our Master, and at the same time contemplate the meaning contained in these words, so that we may pray with the spirit and understanding of the heart, according to the mind of Christ.”
The “Lord’s Prayer” appears twice in the Scriptures, with only slight variations. The Prayer occurs in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the Sermon on the Mount, and also Luke records the Lord’s Prayer in answer to a question from one of His disciples, when the disciple said, “Lord teach us to pray.”
The Prayer is really a prayer for the disciples to pray, but it was our Lord who taught it, and therefore we frequently speak of it as “the Lord’s prayer.” The disciples did not ask Jesus, “Teach us to preach” or “Teach us to sing.” They said, “Lord teach us to pray.” Men and women can teach other human beings to become great orators and good singers, but only Jesus can teach disciples of His to become great masters of prayer. More is accomplished by prayer than has ever been accomplished by preaching, for without prayer even our preaching becomes cold and empty and without power. The songwriter asks some sobering questions:
“Ere you left your room this morning,
did you think to pray?
In the name of Christ the Savior,
did you sue for loving favor
as your shield today?”
Few passages of Scripture are as well- known as the one recording the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. We frequently use the Prayer, but lest we become content with merely repeating it and paying little attention to its real meaning, we want to try and examine its real spirit and the meaning of its words. The Lord’s Prayer is a family prayer.
1. The Head of the Family is Addressed
We pray, “Our Father who art in Heaven.” Notice who He is He is our Father. There was a time when we were children of wrath even as others are, and we could not address .God as “Our Father.” But God, who is rich in mercy, and for the great love He had toward us, has made us spiritually alive so that we might enjoy fellowship with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. John says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). And now, as we approach Him in prayer, we come as a devoted son to a loving Father.
An earthly father usually wants the best for his children, and yet he may not always know what is best, and even if he does know, he may not always have the ability to grant it. But our heavenly Father has all these qualities. His love wants the best for us. Whatever is good for us, He wants us to have. “No good thing will be withheld from those who walk uprightly.” And not only that, His wisdom knows what is best for us. And what is even more valuable, He has the ability to grant it! Surely it is a blessing to be a member of the family of God, and to have a Father like that. He is one who pities our weakness and pardons our sins and supplies our needs. We should always be grateful for this Father-son relationship—a blessed relationship between those who are saved and the God who saved them.
Remember that not all people can call God, “Our Father.” Jesus told certain religious Jews of His day, “You are of your father the devil.” John says it is only those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior, that have been given the right to become “the sons of God.” An unsaved man praying, “Our father,” would really be addressing the devil (John 8:44). That is why we call this prayer the “family prayer,” because it is only those who have become the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, who have the right to address God as “Our Father.”
The words, “Our Father who art in heaven” are intended to impress our minds with a sense of God’s majesty and greatness and power. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are addressing the One who inhabits eternity. And while our God is every where, His headquarters are in Heaven, and from there He sees all that comes to pass on the earth. And He invites us to come boldly to Him that we might obtain mercy, and grace to help in time of need. See Hebrews 4:16. And so when we begin the Lord’s Prayer, the Head of the family is addressed.
2. The Interests of the Family are Sought
For all members of God’s family, the primary interest and concerns are not their own things, but the things that belong to God. So often we think of ourselves and our own needs first. We pray about our needs, our family, our church, our country, (and if we have a few minutes at the end, we pray for the missionaries)—but Jesus’ model prayer implies that this is all wrong. Before we think of ourselves and our needs, we must start with our great concern about God, and express our concern for His honor and for His glory.
The Lord’s Prayer is a form—”When you pray, say…” (Luke 11:2).
It is also a model—”After this manner you are to pray…” (Matthew 6:9).
In this model Prayer, Jesus points out that the first activity of praying is not getting something for ourselves, but getting something for God.
(1) There should be a concern for His name.
The word “hallowed” (in the phrase “Hallowed be Thy name”) means “to render or to pronounce holy.” This is the desire that the very name of God and all that it represents may be honored among mankind. God revealed Himself to the Children of Israel under various names. He was known to His people in Old Testament days as “Jehovah,” which means “the self-existent one.” Many variations of that name are given in the Scriptures. Sometimes it is “Jehovah-jireh” (the Lord will provide). Sometimes it is “Jehovah-shalom” (the Lord our peace). There are many other names that describe the various attributes of God.
When we pray “Hallowed be Thy name,” we express a deep desire that the name of God (and all His attributes, and all that He represents) may be pronounced holy. And remember that words such as “goodness” and “mercy” and “grace” are attributes of the Most High God, and one who sincerely prays the Lord’s Prayer will be careful not to use those words carelessly in daily conversation. It is mockery to pray “Hallowed be Thy name,” and then use His name and His attributes lightly in daily conversation.
(2) There should be a concern for His kingdom.
We pray “Thy kingdom come,” and the Bible predicts the setting up of a great kingdom on earth, with Jesus Christ as King. We need only to look upon the world about us to see that this promise has not been fulfilled. This kingdom is not going to come into being by a vote of the people, but by the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus will be King in all the earth, and the knowledge and glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Iniquity will no longer abound. Nations will beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. The lion will lie down with the lamb. And blight and poverty will be forever gone. This is not a dream. This is the teaching of the Bible (Isaiah 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-5). The day is coming when Jesus will reign over the whole earth.
The whole message of the Bible points forward to the time when Jesus shall be King. Daniel (when interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar) saw “a stone cut out without hands,” which crashed into the great image of Nebuchadnezzar, and brought it down to dust. “This,” said Daniel, “is the kingdom which the God of heaven shall set up, which shall break in pieces and consume all the kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).
And so when we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we are expressing the longing in our heart for the time when Jesus will come back. The devil will be bound, the earth will be renewed, the Antichrist will be defeated, and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ.
(3) There should be a concern for His will.
The next phrase calls for God’s will to be done “in earth.” This may be an appeal for God’s will to prevail on the earth. It may also be a request that God’s will might be done in these earthly bodies of ours. Then, what we are really praying is: “Thy will be done in me as it is in heaven.” In our bodies the laws of Heaven should be observed. The Bible says (Psalm 103:20-22) that the supreme desire of all heaven is to do the will of God, and thereby to praise and to worship Him. And so, we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, that such a condition will prevail in earth—perhaps over the wide earth, but also in these earthly bodies of ours.
To desire the will of God to be done in our lives, is not always an easy thing. Ask the young father who sits at the bedside of his dying wife, or the aged sister who for thirty years has been confined to her bed as an invalid. Even Jesus prays for the Father’s will to be done. Jesus always came back however, “Nevertheless not my will but thine be done.” The point is this: When we pray, “Thy will be done in earth,” we are not necessarily asking for pleasure or fame. It may be God’s will to put us in the place of suffering, or to cause us to pass through the valley of sorrow, in order to make us what He wants us to be. Thy will be done in me, Oh Lord, as it is in Heaven.
3. The Needs of the Family are Mentioned.
We pray, “Give us this day our daily bread; forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Here, in just a few words, our Lord has covered the needs of our whole life.
(1) Our physical needs.
The term “daily bread” most likely stands for everything that we really need for our earthly existence. There are two words in the Greek language for “bread.” The one means “cornbread,” and the other (used here by Jesus), is a wider word meaning “food.” Jesus selected a word which was worldwide in its scope. It includes the rice of the Hindu, the macaroni of the Italian, the oatmeal of the Scott—in short, it is a word standing for basic food in general. The God to whom the nations are but as “the small dust,” and the God who inhabits eternity, is prepared to consider our needs, even down to the small details such as matters of our daily food. We are not told to pray for luxuries, but we are promised that we shall have enough. David (looking back in his old age), could say, “I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).
When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are declaring our absolute dependence upon God for everything, even for our daily bread. And even if one has plenty of money, still He must depend on God—for what is wealth if God withholds the gift of bread. Some readers probably recall the legend of King Midas. Above everything else, he wished to have the power to turn to gold, everything that he touched. And when his wish was granted, he went about touching this and that, with the feeling that his wealth was piling up by the millions. But when he became hungry (and went to take bread into his mouth), the bread turned to gold. And when he became thirsty, the water turned to gold at the touch of his thirsty lips. He found that all his wealth was worthless if God didn’t give him bread. The case of King Midas is merely a legend, but it is a sober fact that we are equally dependent upon God for our daily bread. He could withhold the sun and stop the rain and make the land barren, and the farmer with all his modern equipment and chemical sprays would be unable to raise a crop. We are absolutely in the hands of God, and it is supreme folly to suppose that we can live a single day without Him.
(2) Our mental needs
The words “debt” and “debtor” are practically synonymous with “sin” and “sinner.” In fact Luke records this phrase, “And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” Just as we are taught to pray for daily bread, so we should pray for daily forgiveness. But our forgiveness is conditioned upon our forgiving others. We need to extend to our brothers and sisters the same kind of full and complete forgiveness that God has extended to every one of us.
There are many whose lives are spiritually barren because there has been a refusal to completely make up with someone with whom they have been quarreling. Nothing is as exhausting to mental health as the habit of holding grudges and the failure to forgive. It racks the nervous system; it hurts the digestive processes; it sours the disposition; it harms the faculties of the mind. That is one of the reasons Paul told the Christians at Ephesus, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Paul was saying that we should always practice forgiveness, and we should do it “before sundown.” He says, “Unloose your collar and cool off; you’ll sleep better if you are at peace with everybody.” All kinds of pills are taken to induce sleep, but Paul says, “How is a man going to sleep when his mind is pursuing an enemy?” Therefore practice forgiveness before sundown! We can never be at peace with God until we have, done our part to be at peace with others.
(3) Our spiritual needs.
We do not mean by the expression, “And lead us not into temptation,” that God is the author of evil or that He tempts humans to sin. The phrase is used here in the sense of “permitting.” Do not “suffer us” or “permit us” to be tempted above what we can bear. This implies that God our Father has control over the devil and that He can save us from the snares of the wicked one—for no temptation or trial will be allowed to touch the life of God’s child without God’s permission.
It is only mockery to pray “Lead us not into temptation,” and then rush into it daily, of our own accord. Too often we want to put our head into the lion’s mouth and tickle his throat in order to see if he will bite. Too often we are willing to play with fire in order to see if we will get burned. We can not invite temptation, and pray against it at the same time. We can not chase sin, and still pray to be delivered from it. The Bible says we should “Abhor (shrink away from) that which is evil and cling to that which is good” (Romans 12:9). One preacher often said, “Son, when you are enticed to go into questionable places–stop where you are and say, ‘Lord Jesus, here I am; You lead me in.- We can be sure that the Lord Jesus will turn us around and send us away. He will never direct us into the way of temptation—if we ask Him for guidance.
But we also pray, “Deliver us from evil.” The word translated “evil” might well have been rendered “the evil one.” The same Greek word is used in Matthew 13 when Jesus interpreted the Parable of the Sower. Jesus says, “And then comes the wicked one.” The devil is powerful and clever. He knows his business. He has been dealing with human beings fo-r six thousand years now, and we can be sure that he has our name on his list. Therefore we need often to pray, “Deliver us from the evil one.”
4. The Goals of the Family are Added
The prayer that Jesus taught His followers to pray, ends just as it begins, ascribing all praise and honor and glory to the Heavenly Father: “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.” Too often we praise men, and too seldom do we praise God. We conclude with the words about God’s power and God’s glory when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, and thus God is once again exalted as we conclude the prayer.
It is true that we show concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ when we pray the Lord’s Prayer. The word “I” is not mentioned even one time throughout the entire prayer. It is always “we” and “us” and “our.” We cannot pray the Prayer alone. There is no room for selfishness in the Lord’s Prayer. The blessings we crave are not for ourselves alone, but for all the others in the family of God as well. When we say “Our Father,” we include a great company beyond imagination—the whole born-again family of God. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say not “me” and “mine,” but we use the pronouns “us” and “our.” We include all of God’s children. Yet, while we show concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we ascribe all glory and ultimate honor to God.
The words of the Prayer have probably passed over our lips many times, and there are some questions which deserve serious consideration. Do we really care for the sanctity of God’s name? Do we really wish the kingdom of God to come? Are we ready to pull up stakes here, and go along with our Lord into the eternal world? Do we feel our need of daily pardon for sin? Do we dread the evil one above all things? Happy is the person who can call God his Father, and can say a heartfelt “Amen” to all that the Lord’s Prayer contains. May the Spirit of God help us pray the Lord’s Prayer with more thought and with a more clear understanding of what we are asking.