The Lord's Prayer, pt. 1

The Lord’s Model Prayer, from Matthew 6

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which 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.

Pray like this. The Lord doesn’t say “pray this”. He says pray LIKE this. That is not to say that we are wrong to pray this prayer. He simply wasn’t attempting to give us a prayer; he was giving us a model for prayer.

I have been using this in my personal prayer life and found it to be powerfully worshipful, convicting, uplifting, and meaningful.

Our Father

He doesn’t say, “My” father. He says “Our” father. WE are praying. WE are praying with and for each other. We are a unit, a team, a family. We are not isolated pockets of intimacy with God. He is “Our” father and our prayers need to reflect that relationship.

Hallowed be thy name

We don’t use this word often. In the KJV of the Bible, it is only used 2 times in the New Testament, here and in the other record of the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11. It means something that is honored, holy, precious, special, sanctified. We ought to desire that God’s name be honored, holy, precious, special, and sanctified. Our hearts desire ought to be that in every place, by every creature, God’s name is reverenced: in our homes, our neighborhoods, our families, our friends, even our enemies and our enemies nations. We seem to have lost the notion of Hollowing anything. We've seen millions of people lately grieving over the loss of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. I see few people bemoaning the loss of respect for God.

Thy kingdom come

Part 2 to come...