So we reached Luke 11, where a very familiar prayer to all of us- young and old, the Christian and non-Christian, the business man or the stay-at-home mom- is introduced. This prayer was actually first introduced in Matthew 6, and the text in each of Matthew's account and Luke's account differ slightly. However, the model remains intact and simple. I am going to break down each line of Luke's account of the Lord's prayer and explain it, personalize it and apply it. Enjoy!
"Father, hallowed be your name."
Father, is the name God uses for His children. Hallowed means to regarded as holy, sacred. Do you see God's name as holy and sacred? When you pray and address God, your attitude should be that of reverence and submission. How do you address God?
"Your kingdom come."
In the Bible, "your kingdom" is often used interchangeably with "the kingdom of God". The kingdom of God is His dominion. So when we pray, "Your kingdom come", we are saying, "Lord have your way. Reign and rule here on earth." We are essentially submitting to His reign because obviously we don't give God permission for Him to have dominion on earth, but we do invite Him to have complete dominion in our hearts. Have you given Him dominion over your heart, or do you pray to God only when you are in desperate need of something?
"Give us each day our daily bread..."
First of all, what is "daily bread"? Remember in the desert when God sent manna down from heaven to feed the Israelites? They had a physical need (hunger) and God provided, but they had a spiritual need for Him and He showed them their need for Him also [Exodus 16]. When we pray, "Give us each day our daily bread" I include not only the physical needs of our life on earth, but also that God would meet us daily where we are and provide for us fullness in Him. Do you rely on God to give you all you need or do you trust in your own doing?
"and forgive us our sins..."
Notice that this is a model for prayer- not once, but daily. This is very relevant as this prayer shows that daily we need to ask Him for forgiveness and it isn't a one time thing. When is the last time you have asked for forgiveness?
"...for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us."
Also notice the word for in this text being used right after the request that God forgives our sins. In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus says this: "For if you forgive others their trespasses [sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." WOW. This is huge. Many people ask God to forgive them, but they remain unforgiving to someone who has hurt them. This text says that if you have not forgiven someone then you will not be forgiven! Who have you not forgiven?
"And lead us not into temptation."
Temptation is not fun. It can be hard. But as believers we don't have to sin because Jesus gives us a way of escaping the temptation {1 Corinthians 10:13}. Since we live in a fallen world with an evil one who wants to devour us in sinful enticements, we are asking God here to be our strength and help us in times of temptation. Matthew 6:13 says: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (emphasis mine). So not only are we asking that God protect us from temptation, but deliver us from it. How do you respond to temptation?
I hope that reading my thoughts on the Lord's prayer, that you learned something or saw it in a fresh perspective. My prayer is that you respond to what God wants us to know about Him through this text.
~Leanne~
I hope that reading my thoughts on the Lord's prayer, that you learned something or saw it in a fresh perspective. My prayer is that you respond to what God wants us to know about Him through this text.
~Leanne~
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