By David Faust
The Lord’s Prayer contains only about 70 words, and it can be said in less than a minute. But for nearly 2,000 years it has inspired great music, comforted the dying, and encouraged the downhearted. Many of us memorized the Lord’s Prayer when we were children. In the past, it was routinely recited in public schools. Someone described it as “the first prayer we learn by heart and the last we forget.”
The early church fathers wrote lengthy discourses about the Lord’s Prayer. Martin Luther called it “the most sublime, the loftiest, and the most excellent” prayer ever spoken. Even unbelievers know phrases like “Give us this day our daily bread” and “Lead us not into temptation.”
We call it the Lord’s Prayer, but it might be better to consider it the Disciples’ Prayer, for it’s a model given for our sake. Jesus never sinned, so the request, “Forgive us our debts,” wasn’t meant for him, but for us. The Lord’s own longest recorded prayer is found in John 17, where he prayed for the unity of his disciples.
Its Context
The prayer recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 is part of the Sermon on the Mount, given early in Jesus’ ministry. In this message, the Lord drew a sharp distinction between hypocritical, performance-based religion and the heart-level commitment he wants from his disciples.
We forgive our debtors, remembering that the merciful will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). We pray, “Your kingdom come,” as those who “seek first his kingdom” (Matthew 6:33, New International Version). We ask for daily bread, trusting that the Father won’t give us a stone (Matthew 7:9). We pray, “Your will be done,” understanding it’s not enough merely to hear Jesus’ teachings; we must put them into practice (Matthew 7:21-27).
Its Usefulness
The Lord’s Prayer begins where the Bible does, with God himself—his name, his kingdom, his will. Then it moves to our needs for food, forgiveness, guidance, and deliverance. Here are three practical ways the Lord’s Prayer can help us.
1. It provides a God-given outline or pattern for prayer. Jesus said, “This is how you should pray,” not “what you should pray.” Immediately before giving us this model prayer, Jesus warned about vain repetitions. Superstitious, mechanical recitations of the Lord’s Prayer violate Jesus’ teaching: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words” (Matthew 6:7).
The Lord’s Prayer helps me jumpstart my conversations with God when I struggle to express myself. I have uttered this prayer from my bed during restless nights, on morning walks with my mind still foggy from sleep, and in hospital rooms where nervous patients await surgery.
2. It provides a needed balance for prayer. In this prayer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “every prayer is contained.” This short prayer includes praise for God and his name, surrender (submitting to God’s will), petition (asking for daily needs), and confession (seeking forgiveness).
3. It provides an unselfish focus in prayer. Throughout the prayer, notice the plural words “our” and “us.” The Lord’s Prayer compels us to think about others, which is one reason it frequently has found its way into the church’s public worship.
Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of,” for when believers pray, “the whole round earth is every way bound by gold chains about the feet of God.” Those gold chains are within our grasp, and the Lord’s Prayer is a good place to start.
Next week: “Our Father.”
David Faust serves as contributing editor of Christian Standard and senior associate minister with East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of 1 & 2 Thessalonians: Unquenchable Faith.
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