Jesus then instructs them how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13:
This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
It’s amazing to see how intentional Jesus is with the order of these petitions. We see this in the Beatitudes; the first four relate to our relationship with God and the next four relate to our relationship with others. We also see this same structure in the Ten Commandments. Our relationship with God will be based on what we believe about God, not only in our head but in our heart, who we are in light of this. This will then dictate how we treat others.
This prayer is commonly known as “The Lord’s Prayer”. This prayer is meant to be a model and guide to Jesus’ disciples. How and what we pray matters to God. Remember, He is speaking to believers. It really is “The Disciples’ Prayer”. A similar prayer can be found in Luke 11:2-4 when the Disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. (John 17 is actually the Lord praying for His Disciples & all believers.)
In a series “Kingdom Life in a Fallen World”, Pastor Miles Rhodes, points out the truths Jesus is teaching us in this prayer: God IS the Father, God is Our Father, Our King, Our Provider, Our Redeemer, and Our Deliverer.
God unites us with all believers throughout all generations. Hebrews 12:1 says, “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses”; we are not alone. This can only be through the Doctrine of Adoption which is accomplished through Jesus.
God is to be the object of our worship. “Hallowed” means to be held in reverence and holy awe. We recognize His absolute Holiness and His name encompasses all that He is. We are to approach God in total reverence that He is King over the whole universe, all of history. He is King over believers and non-believers. This is where we are acknowledging and believing that God is sovereign over EVERYTHING. This belief will affect why and how we pray. And it should!
We now come to our needs. We come to the truth that God is our Provider, and we acknowledge in our humility that we are completely dependent upon him for everything. (There is much debate about exactly what Jesus means by Daily Bread. However, we need to rest in His promise from Philippians 4:19 “and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Jesus told them just a few verses before, “your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” But, we still need to ask Him!)
We come now to the heart of the message of the Gospel within this prayer. FORGIVENESS. God is our Redeemer. The entire Bible is about the story of God and His story of redemption. Jesus paid OUR debt. Jesus came to save us from death which is the penalty of sin. As we have been granted forgiveness for our sins, we should extend forgiveness to others. As Christians, we can find the ability to do this, even in the most difficult circumstances. That’s not saying it will be easy, but it is possible.
One note about forgiveness. If we cannot forgive, it may be a sign that we don’t really understand what we have been forgiven of by God. This verse does not say or mean that how we forgive others will determine how God forgives us. God’s forgiveness of us is not dependent on that, or anything else we do or do not do. Again, it is saying it is a matter of the heart; that the way you forgive others is a sign that you understand what Jesus has done for us.
Finally, our Father is our Deliverer. In Matthew 26:41, Jesus says to his Disciples, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – When one’s spirit is under God’s control, it strives against human weakness. We are to pray here to not be led into positions of temptation. We are to recognize God is sovereign even over the evil one, Satan. We live in a fallen world, ruled temporarily by the prince of this world (satan), but “…….God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
