Teach Us to Pray

The disciples approached Jesus one day with an important request. They said to the Lord, “Teach us to pray.” Jesus gave to them what has become known as the Lord's prayer. Churches and Christian believers the world over recite this prayer, both privately and congregationally. Jesus did not mean for this prayer to be something they memorized and repeated every time that they spoke to God, though. He meant for it to be a model, a pattern, from which they could shape their own prayers, expanding on it, and making it personal and an expression of themselves. Studying the various elements of the Lord's prayer, and understanding the intent behind them, can breathe new life into our own prayers and make them much more focused in the will of God.

Our Father. . .

Of all the ways that we can address Almighty God, "Father" is the one that I believe pleases Him the most. We might address Him as "Creator of the universe," "Judge of all the earth," or just simply "Lord," but the title of "Father" speaks first of intimacy, and then of authority and security. He wants us to approach Him as children would approach a loving father. If we could only keep this image in mind every time that we come before Him in prayer, it would change the confidence with which we approach the throne of God. Knowing that we are secure in His love, even as our own children are secure in our love, gives us a basis of acceptance and allows us to trust that He will answer according to what He deems best for us. We can be assured that He is always looking out for our best interests according to His perfect will. Our Father loves us and will not cast us away.

Some have grown up without good parental role models, and they may struggle with the concept of a loving parent at first; but the more they come to know God in this way, the more they come to understand what the perfect parent/child relationship can be. They can then come to truly rest in His love and not doubt His acceptance. God is not like any earthly father that we have known. They all have failed and been imperfect in some way or another. God, however, is the perfect father because He is our father who is in heaven.

Which art in heaven. . .

Because God inhabits heaven, He is not affected by all of the distractions and pressures that this world places on earthly fathers. His is the ideal vantage point from which to watch over our lives. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9).

Our heavenly Father sees every trial and every obstacle that enters our life; and, like a wise master refiner, He regulates how much heat we must endure. What often seems counter-productive from our perspective makes perfect sense when viewed from God's great master plan. Like a fine embroidery, the underside (which is all we can see now) is just a tangle of threads that don’t always appear to have any discernable pattern; but the upper side (which God sees) is a beautiful work of art which the Master Designer is creating.

Corrie Ten Boom, who helped shelter Jews from the Nazis in WWII Holland, would often display such an embroidery to hospital inmates and people going through difficult times. She would show the underneath of the embroidery and explain how our lives oftentimes do not make much sense - our trials do not always appear to add up to anything purposeful or meaningful. Miss Ten Boom would then turn the embroidery over and show a beautiful crown. She would then talk about how God always has purpose for our lives. In Christ, God is completing a work of art in us. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28).

Because God's throne is in heaven, it is not subject to change as are worldly kingdoms and earthly thrones. His authority and His reign is forever. Though other kingdoms dissolve and pass out of remembrance, Our Father's kingdom has always been, and will always be. It is there that our real home is. He is preparing a place there for us.

Hallowed be Thy name. . .

I must remember that God is holy, and the name of Jesus is above every name in the universe. At the name of Jesus, every knee must bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord. The powers of darkness tremble at the name of Jesus, and must flee from the power of His presence.

God’s name is holy, and He delights in our praise. We must, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name." (Psalm 100:4). We find that when we magnify the name of the Lord through praise, our problems and concerns become smaller in comparison. Our prayers should always begin and end with expressions of our praise and gratitude for Who God is, and what He has done for us. As we do this, we find ourselves ushered into His very presence.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. . .

We must come to the place where we desire God’s kingdom to be established on earth and His will to be accomplished here just as surely and unquestioningly as it is in heaven. The Jewish nation was looking for their Messiah to come and establish an earthly kingdom that would crush under its feet all of the enemies of Judaism. Jesus was not at all what they were hoping for. He was meek and lowly, and not interested in the least about setting up some earthly throne except in the hearts of men. Many today want to see an earthly kingdom that is established on Christian principles. They call America a Christian nation but, realizing that it is not living up to Christian principles, they labor to make it so. Such labors are doomed to be unfruitful, however. God desires for us to be totally committed to what He wants, and not what we want. America will never be a truly Christian nation. Neither will any other nation on earth. The only righteous nation is the kingdom of God, which is an invisible kingdom whose citizens are those who have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. The citizens of that kingdom are scattered all over the world and in every nation. God has his people in communist countries, radical Islamic republics, dictatorships, Hindu lands, and all others. Our labors for God must be based on establishing His kingdom, and not ours.

Likewise, we must not work to establish our own will, or the will of any man, but God's. We must not go about trying to complete our own agenda, no matter how well-intentioned it may be, and ignoring altogether what our Father's will is. When we pray, therefore, we must always lay aside our will in favor of His, and always acknowledge the importance of establishing His kingdom and not our own, or some earthly kingdom.

Give us this day our daily bread. . .

Our Father will meet our every need. We do not have to worry and fret about where our next meal is coming from, or how our needs will be in the future. Our prayer should be always for our daily bread. We expend too much energy in fretting about the future when Jesus said that tomorrow would take care of itself. "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:25, 26, 31-34).

It is even more essential that we seek the Lord daily for our spiritual bread. When the Israelites hungered in the wilderness, God sent them heavenly manna to satisfy them. Every morning it appeared on the ground. All they needed to do was go out and collect it. Any that was left over could not be kept and used for the next day, though, because it rotted. It was good for that day only. So, also, is the Word of God. It must be something that we seek for daily. It must be fresh and alive, and it can only be so as we seek Him in the now.

And forgive us our debts, even as we forgive our debtors. . .

How wise of our heavenly Father to link our receiving mercy for our sins with our willingness to forgive others for theirs. We are often very harsh and unbending in our judgments of others. We are quick to hold others to task for their shortcomings, even to the point of harboring bitterness and resentment against them for years that seethes to the point that it poisons all other relationships. We certainly expect forgiveness from our Father in heaven, yet often we are not willing to deal with the unforgiveness that is in our own heart. Jesus made it very plain that these two principles were closely aligned. He taught His disciples that, "When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." (Mark 11:25, 26).

Jesus set no limits on how deep our forgiveness must reach. As He was teaching on these things, Peter wanted some clarification on just what Jesus was expecting. Perhaps He was looking for some loop holes much like we often do. "Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:21, 22). Jesus then illustrated His teaching with the parable of the unjust steward who, though he had been forgiven a great debt by his master, went out and exacted cruelty on another who owed him. Jesus finished His parable by saying, "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses." (Matthew 18:35).

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. . .

Scripture tells us that every man is tempted when he is "drawn away by his own lust and enticed." (James 1:14). Every day we are subject to being tempted; and so, every day we should be praying that we not be led away. Our enemy is very subtle in his tactics. He will not attack us head on if he can sneak up on us and ambush us when we least expect it. This is why we are admonished to be sober and vigilant. Our adversary is like a roaring lion who is ever walking around looking for his next meal.

Some Bible translations say, "deliver us from the evil one." Satan seeks to steal from us, kill us spiritually, and destroy us utterly, but we must remember that he is a defeated foe. When our Lord died and was resurrected, He won the victory over the Devil. Now, though he fights fiercely to avoid it, our enemy is merely playing out his time until the final judgment when he will be cast into the lake of fire and destroyed. Until then, he busies himself with trying to convince the saints of God that they are losers. Well, it just ain't so!

We must be aware of the spiritual warfare that is raging around us, and we must be praying for our Father's protection and strength. We must never let down our guard. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12). Therefore, we need to pray for His might and power to keep and sustain us in the fight.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.

This is simply an acknowledgment of God's glory. We should never seek any of the glory for ourselves, for it is God Who possesses all wisdom, and power, and glory. It is His kingdom, and He sits and reigns over all the heavens and the earth. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. God will not stop until all His enemies are under His feet, and His kingdom is established on earth just as surely as it is in heaven.

"Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre." (Psalm 45:6).

"They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power." (Psalm 145:11).

"Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." (Psalm 145:13).

Amen.

So be it!