Matthew 6:9-13 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer said by many different people and people groups. In the small country school I went to we prayed The Lord’s Prayer before we ate lunch. (boy, that ain’t happening anymore). If there is a question about who will pray an individual prayer for an activity then it becomes a group prayer to recite. Why pray the Lord’s Prayer? Because it is the prayer Jesus told us to pray. It is our Savior’s explanation of how to pray. In this “model prayer” we read the backstory and see that Jesus was not stressing for this prayer to be a “show” so as to impress. In Matthew 6:1 he begins the chapter with these words Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So the attitude of praying the Lord’s Prayer is one of an individual plea for something to happen. Jesus lays it out. this way.
Honor and lift up the Lord – ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Request the Lord to move– ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Supply our needs – Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive our debts after we have forgiven our debtors– ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil – And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Acknowledge that all power is from God – For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Verse 14 and 15 continue on with more explanation by Jesus – 14 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
This prayer has super power in it when you think about it. The Lord’s kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven? That is powerful when you think realistically about it. What an amazing thing it would be to see God move here on earth as in heaven. The power of God is real and it is accessible to all who come and seek it and ask for it. Thus the Lord’s Prayer is an “asking prayer.” More like a begging prayer from people who are desperate for God to move in a powerful way.
The point is this “Are you asking?” Why not? Perhaps we don’t want God to move in an incredible powerful way because it would upset our way of thinking about who God is and what He does. Maybe He would initiate some changes in our our lives that would be scary for us and would take us out of our comfort zone. Whatever might happen, keep in mind that God wants us to live in His power, but we must ask…. Which brings to mind another great scripture Jesus shares with us in Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; [c]knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
It is time to get serious about praying and begin with The Lord’s Prayer. When Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the temple He said Luke 19: 45 Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘And My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a robbers’ den.” Our praying begins with us and makes it’s way to the house of the Lord and becomes the very power source for living our lives. Every meeting becomes a “prayer meeting” and everything that is planned by a church is bathed in prayer first. We need the power of God to live our lives, so we must let Him be honored above all others by asking, seeking, and knocking. It is time to pray and it all begins with The Lord’s Prayer. Time to get on our knees and lift up those requests. God is listening.
The Pilgrimage continues….
David Warren
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