Matthew 6:9-13
Word studies in the Lord's Prayer
The Lord's prayer is used in many settings. Many sports teams pray it before their games. Our church says it together weekly, and has done so for years in the former Word and Table service. At least some Alcoholics Anonymous meetings use the Lord's prayer as part of recognizing a higher power.
The Lord's prayer has a wealth of meaning for disciples. But it is possible for anyone, even Christ-followers, to pray the words without thinking of the meaning. In that case, we could be accused of "babbling," as Jesus said the pagans did: reciting the words like a good-luck charm, without recognizing their meaning or allowing them to affect us.
This prayer is intended for disciples--those who've committed themselves to Jesus. Naturally, we need to know what we're saying. This knowledge grows through the years as we continue to follow. Luke chapter 11 describes another time when Jesus taught this prayer. It was when the disciples became aware that their own prayers were not as effective as they could be.
The class mentioned some of the notable elements in the Lord's prayer:
- "Give us our daily bread"--Trust God regularly and constantly. The burden is not ours alone; we can trust.
- "Reveal who you are"--The Message uses that phrase to capture the meaning behind "Hallowed be thy name"
- "Forgive as we forgive"--These go together. In case anyone missed it from the prayer itself, Jesus made it very plain in the next two verses.
- "Trespasses" or "Debts"--Both deal with shortcomings. Some of us prefer the concept behind debts. Trespasses may suggest deliberate offenses, while debts are debts whether we recognize what we've done or not. God offers to forgive all our offenses, and we need to do the same for those who've done wrong to us.
- "If God wills"--We discussed this concept earlier, and find it in the Lord's prayer as "Thy will" in "Thy kingdom"
- "Lead us not into temptation"--Would God ever lead us into temptation? Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where He was tempted. But this is different from God actually tempting us. God does not tempt us (James 1:13-15), but we are drawn away by our own desires. The Message puts this as "Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil."
- "Our Father"--We are to be part of a community.
- There is no "In the name of Jesus" at the end of this prayer.
Overview
We looked at the order of thoughts in the prayer, and David mentioned the order of words in the Greek language. In Greek, the first word is "Father." The way to get the same sense in English is awkward: "Father of ours." The word Father recognizes a relationship between us and God, an intimate relationship.
"Hallowed by your name" suggests mystery. There is a balance to be struck between intimacy and mystery. "If I can explain God in all things, I don't need Him." A similar truth is found in other relationships. Total equality among human family members undermines parental responsibility and authority. In marriage, couples keep dating who recognize that there are still things they don't know about their partners. ("There's no mystery any more" is not usually a good description of a growing marriage.)
"Thy kingdom . . . Thy will" is an invitation for God to function as God in this world. This is more our recognition of who God really is, rather than an urging to a reluctant God to come down here and help us. God's concerns are top priority. When He is given proper place, we can move on to our requests and needs. (Speaking of "our needs" led us to recognize that US Christians are discussing issues the rest of the world doesn't have the luxury of worrying about. Most of the world is worried about survival. We often try to explain God completely.)
When evil circumstances hit us, we wonder if we're being hit by God. The mystery of God is not supposed to be fear-filled. It should be positive expectation, "What will God do next?" Parents try to help their children grow, which involves allowing the child to experience reality. That can be painful. But the parents still want the best for their children. Of course, this is idealized: Human parents are not perfect, and some are not the examples they should have been.
Father
The Old Testament compared God to a parent fourteen times. Some of these passages are Isaiah 49:15, 63:16; Jeremiah 3:4-5, 31:20. Jesus used "Father" to indicate love and trust. Disciples who find this intimacy in their God-relationship describe new freedom in their lives.
Our
The second word in Greek is "Our." The Lord's prayer is a community prayer, to be prayed by groups of disciples. It becomes a model for private prayers, and the "our" reminds us that we belong to a community. And the "our" includes Jesus, who prays with us, since we are His body. Sin isolates people. Trusting in Christ gives us a place of belonging.
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