New: 13 February 2025
'Our Father' —
A complete Prayer
Matthew 6:5-16
After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:9-10 KJV
A complete Prayer
There are people who say little with many words, and there are those who say much with few words. Jesus' well-known prayer, usually called, "The Lord's Prayer," is a complete prayer, touching on the main aspects of life, although this prayer has very few words. Jesus was able to say a lot with only a few words, and what He said was always profound and powerful. So it is with this beautiful prayer. Remember, the Bible a book of both doctrine (what we believe above God) and devotion (how we relate to God). This brilliant prayer helps us believe the right things about God so that we can relate to God the right way.
We may see it as a model prayer for His disciples, as the context indicates. Before Jesus told them what to pray, He instructed them how to prayer (and how not to pray). There is a hypocritical way to pray (seeking the attention of people or a crowd to impress) and there is the pagan way to pray (trusting in repetitive forms of prayer). Both of these two ways to pray are unnecessary (Matthew 6:5, 7). This is not the proper way (v 8a). The divine way of Jesus is the opposite: you pray to God in secret (v 6), you trust Him that He knows what you need (v 8b) and you chose your words carefully (v 9a). God isn't impressed when we seek to impress others, neither is He moved by much talk or 'magic formulae.' Genuine simplicity will do. You are praying to the God who knows your heart, every thought of your mind, and the depths of your motives.
The content of the prayer touches on all important areas of life: orientation, priorities, purpose, provision, relationships and facing challenges. God not only hears prayer, He has provisions before we even ask. We can trust Him. He wants us to have right motives in prayer and relate to Him in a proper way.
Proper Orientation, Right Priorities, Divine Purpose
The first area of life, the most important one, is a proper orientation on the Giver of life: Father God (Matthew 6:9). We are not praying to some impersonal god or arbitrary deity. He is Father, we are His children.We come to Him in childlike trust and humility. Abba ('Daddy') won't ignore or fail us. Our focus is heavenwards, a place where God abides. Our orientation is upwards, symbolic of His awesome greatness and divine majesty in heaven, and our humility and spiritual poverty on earth. God is above all the strive and challenge of life on earth. He is above all, exalted and powerful. Yet God dwells with the contrite and humble (see Isaiah 57:15). He hears us when we cry out to Him and pour our hearts out before Him in trust (Psalm 62:8).
We come to Father in humility to honour His Name (Matthew 6:9b). His Name is powerful and beautiful. We set our priorities right to worship Him and honour His name. We are called by His Name and designed to honour His Name. We are bought by Christ's blood to glorify God (1 Corinthians 6:20). As His children, prayer makes us aware of the glory and power of the Father and the importance of living to honour His Name. We live for something higher than ourselves, something more than what this world has to offer.
By praying for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done, we are seeking two things: (1) we wish to have His kingdom (divine rule and lordship) established in our hearts and His will be done in and through our lives, and (2) we desire for His rule to bering healing, justice and peace into a hurting and suffering world. The Christian hope is for Christ to return and remove all evil from the earth. By praying for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done we are joining God on His mission to renew the world and restore divine order. The Paradise that was lost is the Paradise He wishes to restore—on earth, as it already is in heaven. We find purpose for life through the Lord's Prayer, a cause higher than earthly endeavours or human ambitions, a noble cause of eternal value. The great Swiss theologian Karl Barth was right when he stated that prayer is an 'uprising against the disorder of the world.' We do so in love for people and in honour of God. We seek to overcome evil by doing good (Romans 12:21). It is both a call to prayer and to action. Our deeds must align with our prayers. Our action must follow a genuine prayer.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive as our debts,
as we ourselves have
forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:11-13 NET
Divine Provision, Proper Relationships, Strength to face Challenges
When we have our motives checked and our priorities right, we can trust God for provisions (Matthew 6:11). God is not Aladdin's Genie in a bottle that must fulfil our wishes. Rather, we pray to the God whose mission we joined and seek to establish with the best of our abilities. As we seek first His kingdom (His will) and His righteousness (His way), we can confidently believe that His provisions will be there (vv 33-34). The whole context speaks of a proper attitude towards God in view His provision. As we seek heavenly treasures (v 19), express generosity (vv 22-23), and serve God (v 24), all good things will come to us, starting with daily provisions (see Q4).
Our relationship with God must be our first priority in life. This aspect is reflected in this prayer. We are to love God with all of our hearts, as the first commandment (Matthew 22:35-38; Deuteronomy 6:5). But equally important are our relationships with people; we are to love our neighbours as ourselves (Matthew 22:37; Leviticus 19:18). The core for Jesus in relationships is love—everything depends on love (Matthew 22:40). Love is the fulfilment of all law because it seeks the well-being, not harm, of others (Romans 13:8-10).
Yet, as we all know, relationships sometimes suffer. People do wrong, break trust or abandon friendships. David had even companions, those he trusted for counsel and with whom he worshipped God together, who betrayed him (Psalm 55:12-14; see E5). The only way to restore relationships and keep a pure heart without bitterness and resentment is forgiveness. This, too, is part of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:12). Jesus placed a high priority on forgiveness, since He repeated the importance of it after the model prayer and added an explanation why it is crucial (vv 14-15). Note how asking God for forgiveness requires you to have already forgiven those who wronged you. We cannot ask God's forgiveness if we haven't forgiven yet. Paul instructed to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). It is the only way to live in love, keep all bitterness and anger out of our hearts (v 31) and not grieve the Holy Spirit (v 30).
Unforgiveness is dangerous, as it pollutes the soul and poisons the mind. People to great evil from a place of resentment and a desire for revenge. Jesus wants us to be free of it. We are to live at peace with all people as much as it depends on us (Romans 12:18). If others don't want to accept your apology or refuse to forgive you and restore a relationship, make sure you forgive and let go. Let go and let God, as the saying goes. Never revert to revenge, never degrade yourself to vengeful evil (vv 17-20). Forgiveness and doing good is the only way not to be overcome by evil but rather overcome evil (v 21). Keep your heart clean and free by forgiveness.
Finally, life has many challenges, be they in relationships with others, the struggle for provisions or the challenge to live a moral life in an immoral world. In all of this, the Lord's Prayer ends by the prayer to God to preserve us from or in temptation and keep us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13). God is not the One leading us into temptation; temptations are a part of life, and we must master them. Jesus had His temptations to over come and did so by being faithful to God's Word (Matthew 4:4-11). He focused on God's provisions (v 11) and fulfilled His purpose (vv 12-17). Sadly, many in Scripture failed to overcome temptation. But God is with us to strengthen us and make right choices when faced with challenges.
James explained how sinful desires can make us fall and cause harm (James 1:13-15). The way to overcome temptation is to endure in trials with joy and rely on God's wisdom (vv 2-5, 12). He provides strength and strategy to face challenges and be victorious (see Romans 8:37; 1 John 5:4). Adam and Eve lost Paradise because they disobeyed God in the most fundamental way: drawing from another source, relaying on their own opinions contrary to God's instructions and failing to take responsibility for the purpose God had created them for. Their orientation was wrong, their priorities out of line and the provision were cut off—they were cast out of the Garden and lost access to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24).
The Lord's Prayer makes sure our orientation in life is proper, our priorities are right and our purpose is clear. God's children are to live for God's will and enjoy the beauty of healthy relationships. They can trust the God who knows what they need before they even ask for His provisions. The Lord's Prayer is a complete prayer. Enjoy praying it, and also pray with that prayer and its priorities in mind.