The Lord’s Prayer (2/2)
The Lord’s Prayer, as we have been learning, is one of the most amazing prayers in Scripture. It’s not the only way to pray, but it teaches us some things that we should be praying about. Last time, we looked at the first three out of the six requests found in the Lord’s Prayer. These requests were for things concerning God: First was that God’s name would be respected, second was that the Kingdom of God would come to earth, and third was that God’s will would be done here just as God’s will is being done in heaven.
Now, we’re going to look at the last three requests, things that Jesus wants us to be praying for ourselves. Let’s get a refresher on the whole prayer in question, and then let’s continue!
Matthew 6:9-13
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Give us this day our daily bread
Let’s look at the obvious part of this. We’re praying for food for today. Psalm 37:25 essentially says that a righteous man will never go hungry, and that’s supported by Jesus’ own preaching just a few verses later:
Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Those who rely on God’s provision will be provided for. This line, in reference to food, is something that privileged Westerners don’t really have to appreciate because food is so readily available. However, doesn’t this mean that every time you pray this and eat, God is tangibly answering your prayer? That certainly gives you something to be thankful for!
There’s another facet to this whole bread business.
Deuteronomy 8:3
Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Sound familiar? This is one of the verses that Jesus used to fight off the devil when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. The devil, talking to a man that had not eaten in 40 days, told Him that if He commanded, He could make stones become bread. Jesus knew that He could, but He also remembered this verse.
So, when we pray for our daily bread, we’re not just praying for physical food, but spiritual food as well. We’re praying that God would give us something that will help nourish our faith and help us to grow as Christians! Thus, when we pray it, we need to believe that the Lord will do it for us, because Jesus wouldn’t have us pray this if He wasn’t ready to provide it.
It’s important to be depending on God for provision. The Bible says to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), so relying on God helps fulfill that. We have to realize that without God, we wouldn’t have physical food and we certainly wouldn’t have spiritual food. So trust that He will give it to you!
Notice that little word “us” again. The first time we saw that was at the beginning of the prayer, which points to this being a group prayer, but this time it evokes more of a sense of really caring about others. We should be praying hard that our brothers and sisters in the Third World don’t starve! Don’t take this line when you pray and make it just about yourself, because being a Christian means you’ve got others’ interests to pray for as well as your own.
Finally, it’s important to look at the “this day” phrase. We are praying that God would give us what we need for today only. As Jesus says later (6:34, NIV), “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Take it one day at a time.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors
The first part, if you know anything about Christianity, is a no-brainer. We’re sinners, we mess up, and we need a gracious and loving God to forgive us constantly.
But it’s the second part that’s probably the most radical part of the whole prayer. Have you ever said anything controversial and then felt like you needed to explain the statement further? Well, Jesus does the same thing. Look at the first two verses after He finishes giving the prayer:
Matthew 6:14-15
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Jesus is serious about this. So serious, in fact, that the message is repeated multiple times in the book of Matthew.
Matthew 5:23-24
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 18:21-22
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
That last one transitions into a parable that illustrates the foolishness of expecting God to forgive when we don’t forgive ourselves. This message had its effect on the apostle John, who had this to say:
1 John 4:20
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he as seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
It’s more about love in general, but it takes love to forgive, so it’s relevant. In essence, we need to try to be more forgiving than God! After all, at the end of time, there will be people whom God does not forgive. We NEVER have that ability. Go make peace with everyone, as much as it depends on you, before you’ll have peace with God.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
Just as we did with the line about daily bread, I think it’s really important to look at this line in light of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.
Matthew 4:1 (emphasis mine)
Then Jesus was led up by they Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Isn’t it interesting that after Jesus was led into temptation, He’d put into this timeless prayer that we should pray to not be led into temptation? I mentioned before that Jesus wouldn’t have us pray these things if He wasn’t going to do them; that doesn’t make sense. So this means that if we pray this and believe it, then God will never lead us into temptation. That doesn’t mean that we won’t be tempted, because we do a pretty good job at falling into temptation ourselves. It also doesn’t mean that the devil won’t come after us, though he ultimately answers to God. It certainly doesn’t mean that the world won’t have its wiles, things that will entice you to reject God. “Lead us not into temptation” just means that God won’t actively put us in situations where we can be tempted by these things. If we’re wholeheartedly pursuing God, that pursuit won’t lead into a vicious bout with the enemy.
I believe that the second part is just the contrasting thing God does if He’s not leading us into temptation. Don’t lead us in, but deliver us.
Doxology
Finally, there’s the bit that Protestants say that isn’t in most of the original manuscripts. “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” I won’t spend a lot of time on it, but if you’re going to recognize that the kingdom is God’s and God has all the power and you want God to have all the glory, then don’t go out and live like you reign and you’re powerful and you deserve glory. ‘Amen’ means something along the lines of “let it be so.”
And that’s it! Praise God! Hopefully you took a lot from this study, and when you pray through it again I hope you really appreciate the words that Jesus told us to speak. Don’t pray it in a monotone…speak earnestly and fervently about the things that God would have us pray about!
Grace and peace,
Brendan
