🙌 Matt 6:9-13: 1st The Father, His Honor Kingdom Will; 2nd Our Provision, Relationship God, Others (Forgiveness ↕️ & ↔️), Kept from sin, evil one...
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Silas
Beloved of All
Your outline of the prayer Jesus taught captures its heart very well, and your desire to pray it with understanding rather than empty repetition is exactly right. That prayer was given as a pattern to shape our praying, not as words to recite without thought. There is great value when it is prayed slowly, phrase by phrase, weighing what each petition means and expecting God to answer.
The order itself teaches us what prayer is for. Prayer was never meant to be a way to get our own will done on earth. Its primary purpose is the will and purposes of God. That is why the first petitions are not about us at all, but about the Father. Our Father who is in heaven, may Your name be kept holy. May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
To hallow His name is to ask that His character and all that He has revealed about Himself would be honored in our thoughts, words and actions, and that His name would not be misused or dishonored because of us. To pray for His kingdom to come is to put concern for His reign first. Scripture shows that the will of God is not being done on earth now. What we see is the will of man in rebellion against God. So we pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done here as it is in heaven. There is a present sense in which we ask for His reign to be real in our own hearts and lives, bearing the fruit of righteousness and peace and joy, and showing His power to set people free from darkness, and there is a future sense in which we long for the day when Jesus Himself will come and establish His kingdom fully. That longing is the last prayer of the Bible, come Lord Jesus, and it should be ours as we see the brokenness of the world.
Only after that focus on the Father, His honor, His kingdom and His will, does the prayer turn to our own needs. And even then it keeps us dependent day by day. Give us this day our daily bread. It is a prayer for today, trusting that the Father who cared for us today will care for us tomorrow and each day that follows, so we do not need to be anxious. He promises to meet our needs as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, putting first things first and trusting Him to add what we need.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors is an essential petition. We all need forgiveness, and we are to come honestly confessing our sins by name and receiving His forgiveness, while also forgiving those who have sinned against us and praying for them rather than holding their debt against them.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one recognizes our daily need for keeping. Temptation in this sense is a solicitation to evil, often promising immediate fulfillment if we will step off God's path and walk according to the flesh. Each temptation requires a choice, whether we will walk after the flesh or after the Spirit. God Himself does not tempt anyone to evil, but we need His keeping from the lies, deceptions and snares of the enemy, and His strength to walk in a holy way.
Prayer in this way opens the door for God to do what He has desired to do for us all along, without violating the will He has given us. It is asking and seeking in alignment with Him, not asking to consume something upon our own desires.
The prayer ends where it began, with worship. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Prayer that begins with God and His purposes and brings our needs to Him should end in praise, with confidence that He hears and will answer. Continue to pray through this pattern in that spirit, with a sincere heart, trusting the Father who has adopted you through Jesus and given you His Spirit so you can call upon Him freely.
The order itself teaches us what prayer is for. Prayer was never meant to be a way to get our own will done on earth. Its primary purpose is the will and purposes of God. That is why the first petitions are not about us at all, but about the Father. Our Father who is in heaven, may Your name be kept holy. May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
To hallow His name is to ask that His character and all that He has revealed about Himself would be honored in our thoughts, words and actions, and that His name would not be misused or dishonored because of us. To pray for His kingdom to come is to put concern for His reign first. Scripture shows that the will of God is not being done on earth now. What we see is the will of man in rebellion against God. So we pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done here as it is in heaven. There is a present sense in which we ask for His reign to be real in our own hearts and lives, bearing the fruit of righteousness and peace and joy, and showing His power to set people free from darkness, and there is a future sense in which we long for the day when Jesus Himself will come and establish His kingdom fully. That longing is the last prayer of the Bible, come Lord Jesus, and it should be ours as we see the brokenness of the world.
Only after that focus on the Father, His honor, His kingdom and His will, does the prayer turn to our own needs. And even then it keeps us dependent day by day. Give us this day our daily bread. It is a prayer for today, trusting that the Father who cared for us today will care for us tomorrow and each day that follows, so we do not need to be anxious. He promises to meet our needs as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, putting first things first and trusting Him to add what we need.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors is an essential petition. We all need forgiveness, and we are to come honestly confessing our sins by name and receiving His forgiveness, while also forgiving those who have sinned against us and praying for them rather than holding their debt against them.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one recognizes our daily need for keeping. Temptation in this sense is a solicitation to evil, often promising immediate fulfillment if we will step off God's path and walk according to the flesh. Each temptation requires a choice, whether we will walk after the flesh or after the Spirit. God Himself does not tempt anyone to evil, but we need His keeping from the lies, deceptions and snares of the enemy, and His strength to walk in a holy way.
Prayer in this way opens the door for God to do what He has desired to do for us all along, without violating the will He has given us. It is asking and seeking in alignment with Him, not asking to consume something upon our own desires.
The prayer ends where it began, with worship. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Prayer that begins with God and His purposes and brings our needs to Him should end in praise, with confidence that He hears and will answer. Continue to pray through this pattern in that spirit, with a sincere heart, trusting the Father who has adopted you through Jesus and given you His Spirit so you can call upon Him freely.
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