Creator, Father, King #175

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

HAVE YOU TRIED STRIKING up a friendship with someone without ever speaking to them? No, of course not! That friendship would be doomed to failure. Communication is key to a healthy relationship.

It’s the same in our relationship with God. Talking with God is called prayer. It isn’t hard, yet we often don’t do it enough, and sometimes we struggle with what to say.

Jesus knows all this, so he gave his listeners (and us) a prayer model that’s known as “The Lord’s Prayer”:

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

What’s It Mean?

Prayer is vital to the Christian life. For the next eight days, we’re going to study prayer, starting with the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s take a closer look at it, phrase by phrase:

• Our Father in heaven. As you pray, remember that you are approaching the Lord of heaven and earth. But rejoice that he is also a God who loves you intimately as your Father.
• Hallowed be your name. Our prayers should always include praise and worship for God’s “hallowed” (i.e., “holy” or “honored”) name.
• Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. As God’s image-bearers, we are to prayerfully seek how we can use our spiritual gifts to reflect Christ (“the Kingdom of Heaven”) to others in this world.
• Give us this day our daily bread. We should never take for granted God’s gracious provision but rather acknowledge our daily dependence on him.
• And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Confession and repentance are crucial parts of prayer (1 John 1:8-10), as well as asking God to help us love others well.
• And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Our battle is a spiritual one (Ephesians 6:12), so we should pray to that end!

Now What?

Memorize the Lord’s Prayer to help your prayer life!

Did You Know?

The Lord’s Prayer is a model and is not meant to be all-inclusive. It’s perfectly fine to pray it when needed, but Jesus intended it to be used more as a pattern for prayer, rather than a daily script to be recited.