📖 Matthew Intensive — Unit 5: The Lord's Prayer

Text: Matthew 6:9

The Pattern Prayer

Most of us know this as the Lord's Prayer, though some have called it the Disciples' Prayer or the Model Prayer, since Jesus did not pray it for Himself but gave it when the disciples asked, "Lord, teach us to pray." It was never meant merely to be memorized; it is a pattern for all our praying. Jesus had just warned His hearers not to pray "to be seen by men," but to go into a private room and pray to the Father who sees in secret, and not to "use vain repetitions as the heathen do," heaping up many words as the prophets of Baal did on Carmel, crying from morning to evening with no answer — while Elijah offered one simple prayer and the fire fell. Our Father already knows what we need before we ask Him. So the model prayer is short. It has six petitions: the first three concern God and His glory, the last three our own need. Each phrase can serve as a heading under which we bring our own concerns — under "daily bread," our needs for the day. Let us walk through it.

"Our"

There are no singular pronouns in this prayer; they are all plural. It begins "Our Father." When we pray we are part of God's worldwide family, and we have no right to ask for anything that would harm another member of that family. Those who pray this prayer are young and old, rich and poor, learned and simple; we belong to all races and ages on earth, yet cutting across every difference is one single fellowship. And "our" makes the prayer personal — God is not an idol or a rock or a tree, but One with whom we have a relationship, as Enoch walked with God three hundred years until God took him.

"Father"

It takes more than a dictionary to define this word. "Father" can mean mere paternity — the man responsible for a birth, who may never lay eyes on the child. But it can also mean fatherhood, a relationship of love and confidence and trust between father and child. As Christians we believe God is our Father in both senses: He is the source of all life, and, uniquely, through Jesus we may have an intimate, loving relationship with Him. This was not understood before. The Greek Stoics saw a God without feeling; the Epicureans an utterly detached God; the Old Testament writers a splendid but terrible God. But Jesus teaches us to call God "Father." In Gethsemane He prayed "Abba, Father," and through Him we are adopted as sons (Galatians 4:5-7).

"Who Art in Heaven"

"In heaven" is actually plural — "in the heavens," as Genesis says God created "the heavens and the earth." To our sophisticated minds we ask, "Exactly where is heaven?" A Russian cosmonaut once said he did not believe in God because he did not see Him in outer space; yet I have known American astronauts who saw God very clearly while in space — they saw Him with spiritual eyes. As Jesus told the Samaritan woman, God is Spirit; He is not confined to any one place but is everywhere, creating, upholding, and saving. It may be better to think of the quality of life in heaven than of its location. In Revelation 21:4 God will wipe away every tear; there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. One cannot imagine a cyclone in heaven, or an automobile wreck — none of the things that bring sorrow to human life.

"Hallowed Be Thy Name"

"Hallowed" means "to be different," and is related to the words holy, sanctified, and saints. A temple is holy because it is different from other buildings; the Sabbath is holy because it is different from other days; a priest is holy because he is different from other men. So this petition means, "Let God's name be treated differently from all other names." True worship always recognizes that God is different than we are. Before asking God for the things we want, we need to "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). He is spirit, we are not; He is all-powerful, we are weak; He is all-knowing, we are ignorant; He is good, we are sinners. As we lift God higher and higher, it inspires awe and reverence — "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty."

"Thy Name"

In Hebrew a name does not simply mean what a person is called; it means his nature, his character, the personality of the person insofar as it is revealed. So the psalmist says, "They that know thy name will put their trust in thee" (Psalm 9:10) — meaning those who know what God is like will trust Him. The name Jehovah, or Yahweh, meant the great "I AM," a covenant-keeping God; the Jews so revered it that they would not even pronounce it. But the greatest reverence for the name of God comes not from avoiding its pronunciation but in obedience to His commandments. A preacher once sat in a Chicago park near a statue of Abraham Lincoln. One man gazed into that face and removed his hat in reverence; another sat on the pedestal writing obscene verses. So some reverence the name of God while others blaspheme it.

"Thy Kingdom Come"

A kingdom is a place with a King — ruled not by elections or congress but by the King's word. In the Old Testament Israel had "no king but God" until the elders came to Samuel asking for a king (1 Samuel 8); and so came Saul, David, Solomon, and a divided kingdom. In the New Testament the wise men sought the King of the Jews, Jesus' baptism was His coronation, and Pilate asked, "Are You the king?" — to which Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world." That kingdom is past (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are in it, Luke 13:28), present (it is "within you," Luke 17:21, and the church is built on the rock), and still coming, for we still fall short of His glory. And it is going forth: in Africa there were eight million Christians in 1900 and some four hundred million today; in China the church exploded under communism after the missionaries left; in Iran it is the fastest-growing church on earth, largely women-led, growing despite intense persecution.

"Thy Will Be Done"

"Thy will be done" was not only part of the prayer Jesus taught; it was the ruling principle of His own life, the one reason He came into the world. How do we know God's will? Through our conscience, the voice within that says stop, or that urges some good thing. Through our circumstances — Albert Schweitzer, trying to settle on his life's work, picked up a misdelivered magazine, read an article on the needs of the Congo mission, and said, "My search is over." Through our talents — the woman fed up with life whose pastor told her, "It is God's will for you to sing in the choir, for you have the talent and the choir needs you." Through the counsel of others — Thomas Carlyle said his mother's voice kept calling him, "Trust in God and do the right." There is one caution: we try to learn everything at once, but God reveals His will like an old kerosene lantern held up in the dark — you see only a few yards ahead, but each step you take, the light moves a little farther. Ask not what God wants for your whole life, but, "What does God want me to do this day?"

Responding to His Will

People react to God's will in different ways. Some refuse to hear Him — Peter Marshall told of a sick woman who prayed to be well, until one day she sensed God asking, "Is that what you really want?" and realized she had grown fond of her quiet bed with no struggles to face. Some reject His will with sadness, like the rich young ruler who went away grieved. Some grow angry; they say Beethoven was found in death with his fists clenched as if to strike God. But the supreme example is the acceptance of God's will by Jesus in Gethsemane. He had given everything to the kingdom, and now it seemed all was lost; His struggle was so great that drops of blood fell from His face. Yet He won the victory when He prayed, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." Why trust that will? Because God knows the future when we cannot — not psychics or horoscopes, but the God who knows the way that we take (Job 23:10). Because He knows what is best — a stained-glass window looks dull from outside but glorious from within (Romans 8:28). Because His will is to bless — Joseph told his brothers, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20). And because His will is sovereign and ordained (Ephesians 1:11); Jonah tried to resist, and learned that resistance is futile.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

After teaching us to pray about God's name, God's kingdom, and God's will, Jesus turns to our needs: "Give us this day our daily bread." There is an order here that we should not miss. Prayer begins with God before it begins with us. Only after we have prayed, "Your will be done," are we ready to pray properly, "Give us."

Jesus teaches us to ask for daily bread. Bread represents the ordinary necessities of life. God is concerned not only with what we call spiritual matters but also with the everyday needs of His children. We are invited to bring those needs to our Father.

But notice that Jesus teaches us to ask for daily bread. The prayer is an expression of continuing dependence upon God. We would often prefer for God to give us enough security today that we would not have to trust Him tomorrow. Jesus teaches us instead to live in daily dependence upon our Father.

There is also an important difference between a prayer that says "Give me" and one that says "Make me." The prodigal son began by saying, in effect, "Father, give me." When he finally came to himself, his attitude changed: "Make me as one of your hired servants." There is nothing wrong with asking God to give us what we need. Jesus specifically commands us to do so. But Christian prayer cannot end there. Mature prayer asks not only, "Lord, what will You give me?" but also, "Lord, what do You want to make of me?"

That is why "Give us this day our daily bread" belongs after "Your will be done." We ask confidently for God's provision while remaining surrendered to God's purposes.

Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Forgive Our Debtors

Jesus next teaches us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." This may be the most uncomfortable petition in the entire prayer because Jesus connects two things we would sometimes prefer to keep separate: the forgiveness we want to receive and the forgiveness we are willing to give.

Robert Louis Stevenson once began praying the Lord's Prayer during family worship but stopped and left the room. When his wife followed and asked whether he was ill, he replied that he was not fit to pray the Lord's Prayer that day. He understood the difficulty of sincerely praying, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," while harboring an unforgiving spirit.

Jesus considered this so important that immediately after the Model Prayer He returned to the subject:

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14–15).

We must be careful here. We do not earn God's forgiveness by forgiving someone else. Salvation is by God's grace. But a person who has experienced God's forgiveness cannot comfortably insist upon receiving mercy while permanently refusing mercy to others.

General Oglethorpe once reportedly told John Wesley, "I never forgive." Wesley replied, "Then I hope you never sin." His answer exposes the contradiction. Every Christian lives by forgiveness. We cannot stand before God pleading for mercy for ourselves while insisting upon strict judgment for everyone who has injured us.

Unforgiveness also builds barriers. It is like destroying a bridge to prevent an enemy from crossing, only to discover later that we ourselves need that same bridge. Every one of us will need to cross the bridge of forgiveness many times during our lives.

Forgiveness does not mean pretending that evil did not happen. It does not make wrong right, and it does not necessarily remove every consequence. Forgiveness means surrendering our claim to personal vengeance and refusing to allow bitterness to control us.

The person who prays the Lord's Prayer is therefore asking for two miracles: "Father, forgive me—and make me the kind of person who can forgive."

Lead Us Not into Temptation, but Deliver Us from Evil

Finally Jesus teaches us to pray, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." This is the prayer of someone who understands his own weakness.

The Christian life was never intended to be lived independently of God. We need God's provision for our physical needs, His forgiveness for our failures, and His protection for the spiritual struggles we will face.

This petition is not suggesting that God tempts us to sin. Rather, we are acknowledging that temptation is real and that we dare not face it depending solely upon our own strength. We are asking God to guide us away from temptation and to protect us from the power of evil.

Jesus prayed something very similar for His disciples. He did not ask the Father to remove them from the world. He prayed that the Father would protect them from the evil one. The Christian answer to evil is therefore not simply escape. We are called to live faithfully in the world while depending upon God to keep us.

There is humility in this prayer. The person who believes, "I would never do that," is already in a dangerous position. The disciple knows enough about human weakness to pray, "Father, keep me. Guide me. Protect me."

Jesus Himself demonstrated that dependence. Before important decisions He prayed. In times of pressure He prayed. When suffering approached, He prayed. And in Gethsemane, facing the cross, His prayer ultimately became one of complete surrender to the Father: "Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done."

That brings the Model Prayer back to where it began. We ask for bread, forgiveness, and protection, but underneath every petition remains the prayer, "Your will be done."

The Lord's Prayer is therefore much more than a formula to recite. It teaches us how to live before God: depending upon Him for today's provision, receiving and extending His forgiveness, and trusting Him for strength against tomorrow's temptation.

"Thine Is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory"

This closing doxology is not found in the oldest manuscripts; it is best understood as an epilogue of praise, echoing David's prayer, "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory... and the kingdom" (1 Chronicles 29:11). The kingdom is His, as we have seen. The power is His — Jesus told the disciples to wait at Pentecost for power; there is power in the resurrection and power in His blood. A logging foreman sold a farmer a chainsaw guaranteed to fell fifty trees a day; the exhausted farmer brought it back, saying it could barely manage three — until the foreman pulled the cord and it roared, "Bzzz!" "What's that noise?" cried the farmer. So God's power is available to us, but we do not know how to access it. As Pope Innocent IV said to Aquinas, showing him the treasures of the Vatican, "We can no longer say, with Peter, silver and gold have I none" — to which Aquinas replied, "Yes, but no longer can we say, in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk." And the glory is His — glory is the manifestation of God's holiness. Moses asked, "Show me your glory," and God hid His face (Exodus 33:18–23), for "I will be shown holy" (Leviticus 10:3). Astronomers once cataloged the brightest star ever found, R136a1 — not twice, not a thousand times, but millions of times brighter than our sun. Call it the Jesus Star, for He said, "I am the bright and morning star" (Revelation 22:16). The Christian rapper Lecrae once tried to buy a plain T-shirt and found it cost six hundred and forty dollars, for the designer's name was on it. "Do you know how valuable you are," he asked, "because of Whose name is on you?" We bear the image of God (Genesis 1:27), created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10), to let our light shine and glorify our Father (Matthew 5:16). And some climbers in the Alps, reaching a wind-blown summit, were pulled down by an experienced guide who warned, "Up here, the only safe place is on your knees." So this prayer that begins "Our Father" and ends "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory" frames our whole life between God's fatherly nearness and His sovereign majesty — to be prayed not as empty words but as a pattern, and lived out as "Thy will be done."

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