The Perfect Prayer- The Lord’s Prayer (part one) by Jeannie Armstrong 2nd December 2013 Advent Day 2 Matt.6:9-13 - ...Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. (10) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. (11) Give us this day our daily bread. (12) And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. If you are in any doubt about what to say in your prayers to your heavenly father then beginning with speaking out loud and thinking through The Lord’s Prayer is a very good place to start. For this prayer is the one Jesus spoke when he taught his disciples how to pray. It contains all the elements that we need to cover when we pray to God. It’s structure serves both as a pattern and shape for our prayers and also as a springboard where we can go from praying this prayer to expanding on its themes as led by The Holy Spirit. So if this is the perfect prayer- and we know it is because it’s the prayer that Jesus himself taught us to pray- we need to first understand what it means and says and does if we are to keep it real and not treat prayer as a mere tradition or ritual. We need to make prayer a real and clear and honest intelligent conversation between ourselves and God. So what is its meaning and how do we then connect with the requests within it as individuals? More than a really comprehensive yet short prayer The Lord’s prayer covers a whole range of topics within it. Whole books are written about each sentence of it, it’s so packed full of meaning! When we pray the Lord’s prayer out loud it’s both an honest and sincere personal request for God to manifest the things we ask for from him in our own lives but it’s also a powerful spoken declaration in agreement with Jesus and the whole of the company of heaven before principalities and powers and all of creation of the sovereign and eternal power and glory of God. So what in a nutshell does the prayer all mean? Our Father which art in heaven- God who is in heaven is our spiritual father- we are to recognise that God wants us, his children, to interact with him closely and intimately as our heavenly father- not see him as some distant far off figure. Only God can be our spiritual father. He doesn’t want us calling anyone else our spiritual father or turning any mere man into the spiritual confidente that he himself wants to be for each of us. Matt.23:6 - And call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which art in heaven. Hallowed by thy name - Holy or Sacred is thy name. Is.6:3 - ...Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory. How many times a day do we hear people blaspheming and using The Lord’s name in vain. If you recognise that you use his name in this way and feel bad about it tell him right now that you are sincerely sorry and ask him to change you today to stop this happening. It’s ok- he will. Only praise and honour and thanksgiving and worship and honest witness should come out of our mouths towards and about God- his Holy name is not to be used as an expletive or bandied about as slang. Thy kingdom come - God will send Jesus back to earth again to set up his kingdom at some point soon. When we say Thy Kingdom come we are stating our faith in God and his plans and promises for mankind. We are also declaring to the whole of creation that it must bow the knee to Jesus and his coming kingdom. We are also taking authority in Jesus name over the world and declaring the lordship of Christ over the present age.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 11:18:39 +0000
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