The Lords Prayer

Most people with any church background know the Lords Prayer; however, most don’t know the prayer. By rote, they repeat the words without a full understanding of what they are really saying.

In Matthew 6, a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount that starts in chapter five, Jesus begins to teach his Jewish listeners about prayer. Now, these folks knew about prayer, at least you would think so, but Jesus wanted to teach them how to establish a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father. That only comes through prayer.

When He gave them the Lords Prayer, He wasn’t saying that the only way to pray was to repeat the words exactly. Instead, He was giving them a formula for approaching the Heavenly Father in prayer.

It can be categorized into the following:

Begins with worship
Pray for His Kingdom work and will be done first
Lay your petitions
Repentance and Forgiveness
Protection and deliverance from all evil
End with a triumphal worship.

Let's take a deeper look into the Lords prayer model.

Mt. 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. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' [Or from evil; some late manuscripts one,] 'for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'

Our Father in Heaven

First, the Lord told them to whom to address their prayer…their Father in Heaven…God.

Hallowed be Thy Name

The next step was to acknowledge that the very name of the Father was holy and worth of adulation.

Your Kingdom Come

“Your Kingdom come” literally means “foundation of power”. So in essence, when you pray this way you are praying for God’s foundation of power…throne to come or appear.

Your Will be Done

Your will (determination, choice, decree) be done (come into being, be performed, be fulfilled) on earth as (as it had been) it is in Heaven. In essence, this prayer says that you want God’s choice to come into being or to be performed on earth as it has already been done in Heaven. In other words, you are not asking for something new, but for something to be manifested here that was already done in heaven.

Give Us Today Our Bread

Give (bestow, bring forth, commit, deliver (up), give, grant) us this day our daily (for subsistence, that is, needful: - daily) bread (bread, loaf). With this we are asking our Father to bring forth what we need today.

Forgive Us Our Debts

As soon as Jesus completes the Lord’s Prayer, He goes on to explain what He means by “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” when He says that if we forgive those who trespass (sin) against us, then our Father will forgive us. So when we come to the Father with our petitions, we have to make sure that we have forgiven others.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Lead us not into temptation, literally means that we are asking God to NOT carry us or lead us to adversity or let us experience evil.

Deliver Us From Evil

Deliver (rescue as a rushing flood) us from (lead away, reversal) evil (degeneracy, calamitous; diseased; culpable, derelict, vicious, mischief, malice, guilt; the devil, or sinners: - bad, evil, grievous, harm, lewd, malicious, wicked). When we pray this part of the Lord’s Prayer we are in essence asking the Father to quickly rescue us from all types of wickedness and evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is the Kingdom (realm) and the power (miraculous power, ability, abundance, strength) and the Glory (dignity, honor, praise, worship) forever (eternity, from the beginning to the end). Once again, we are acknowledging the Father of all, with all power, strength and abundance, who is worthy of honor, praise and worship, from the beginning of time to the end of time.

By following the example Jesus gave in the Lords Prayer, we can approach the Father in prayer, knowing that not only will He hear our petition, but that we will be ready to receive both answers to prayer and forgiveness.

Return from The Lords Prayer to Heart of Worship