The Lord's Prayer

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13 [KJV])

If praying the Lord's prayer is an exercise of vain repetition then Christ would not have first warned his disciples about praying with vain repetition as the heathen do and then told them to pray instead in this manner giving them what is referred to as "The Lord's Prayer."

As a Baptist we are prone to reject formality and ritual in worship opting instead for originality and sincerity from the heart only to find that "originality and sincerity" can be just as dead or more so than thoughtful formality and ritual. Not only can it be dead but it can be arrogant, carnal and basically unintelligible.

When a congregation recites the Lord's prayer during worship some might see it as useless repetition but I have come to see that it is of great value.

1. First of all repetition causes people to memorize scripture. To memorize a prayer from the lips of the Savior is vital as it will work itself into the heart and mind.

2. Secondly, it brings a spirit of unity in Christ to pray in this way. What Christian can find fault in this prayer? How can we pray together or how should we pray in unity any better way than to recite the words given to us by Christ himself?

3. It reveals to us how God would have us to tailor our personal prayer life.

The Lord's prayer begins by addressing it to the proper party. We are not commanded or even given permission to pray to saints or angels. The Bible tells us to pray directly to the first person of the Trinity God the father and to take our prayer to Him under the authority of and in the name of God the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

(John 16:23 [KJV]

To ask in the name of Christ Jesus implies asking things of God according to the authority that is Christ Jesus. We are not given authority to pray in our own name... in other words praying according to the carnal flesh as a majority of prayers are today.

Prayer must come not from the mind but from the indwelling Spirit of God within us. This is to pray "In the name of Jesus". To simply tack the name Jesus on the end of our prayer is not sufficient. It must be according to his will and under His authority.

Even Christ himself prayed the night he was betrayed, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

The Apostle Paul sought the Father repeatedly for healing but healing did not come and God had to teach him a lesson through his infirmity and that was that we need to pray according to spiritual understanding. We petition God... we ask God and we bring what we believe to be our cares and needs before his throne but the next step of prayer is to wait to hear or see what the answer is. God told Paul that his sickness was God's design to keep him humble, dependent and able to trust God during infirmity. That when he is sick and weak, God is able to be strong in his spirit because the prayer warriors soul and spirit becomes submissive to God and His will.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (II Corinthians 12:9 [KJV])

So as we look to the Lord's prayer to teach us how we ought to pray be mindful that prayer is not the exercise of our will to convince God to act accordingly but is instead the submission of our will to accept and understand the will of God.

Praying "In the name of Jesus" means "In the will of and authority of Jesus" and that takes submission to the Spirit of Jesus. An ambassador of a nation does not have authority to speak what he wants as being in the "name of the country" but is relaying his recognition of what the country he represents wants him to convey. Just as "believing on the Lord Jesus" means believing what the Bible teaches about him and who he really is, so praying in His name means prayer according to His Word and in His Spirit.

Nothing carnal goes anywhere with God. Prayer is worship and the Bible tells us succinctly that: God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

(John 4:24 [KJV]

We will continue to examine the model of the Lord's prayer in the next devotional