By Vernon Gruver
"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."
God Almighty in his infinite wisdom and the glory of his power and the majesty of his might, has given to his anointed Son Jesus the Christ, to reveal the depth of his unsearchable riches and judgments beginning with the secrets of the disciples prayer at the very beginning of his ministry. The following is a thesis that no other man on this earth has ever rendered of this model prayer. He only, but by the Creator's spirits of wisdom and understanding could accomplish this so great a task.
1 Th 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."
This most widely used of all religious formularies has suffered greatly at the hands of its friends. Some neglect it, some recite it heedlessly and only a minority use it as the Lord intended.
In the verses immediately preceeding the prayer, Jesus warned of two perils he foresaw that would beset the use of it:
1. They were not to pray as the hypocrits nor as the heathen.
a. The hypocrits reserved their praying for the public.
b. The heathen heaped up empty phrases.
2. In the prayer Jesus lays down the principles governing man's relation to God and these are relevant to Christians in every age.
a. He did not say, in these precise words, "pray ye", but "after this manner pray ye."
b. Jesus gave a pattern and not an inflexible form.
Again, it must be pointed out here the importance of Jesus' emphasis that this was only a pattern by which to pray and not an actual prayer to be quoted. To enhance this thought further, we see that Jesus did not give this pattern of prayer in Luke's account to the extent that he did in Matthew. In fact, he ommited the last sentence, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."
Luke 11:1-4 "And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples......And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth......Give us day by day our daily bread......And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil."
Because of the great length of the prayer that Jesus prayed to his Heavenly Father, it will not be quoted in its entirety, but only four verses. This is what is rightly called the Lord's prayer found in John 17:1-26. The Lord's prayer should be read carefully over and over so as not to miss the importance of his truth on unity.
John 17:20-23 "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;.....That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me......And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:.....I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
What is prayer?
1. An act; practice; the offering of adoration; confession; supplication and thanksgiving to God.
2. Prayer is communication with God.
3. Prayer is an act of allegiance: the Christian pledge of allegiance.
"I pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ and to the church his kingdom for which he died"
The prayer unfolds the relationships the disciple sustains with the God to whom he prays:
Our Father.
Hollowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done.
Gives us our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses.
Lead us not into temptation.
There can be a variety of approaches to our God:
1. Today we may pray to him as our Father.
2. Tomorrow as our mighty God.
3. The next day as our King.
4. Then as our Savior.
We must worship God in spirit and truth:
However, we can worship God in spirit, but not in truth. On the other hand, we can worship God in truth, but not in spirit. Also, we can tell the truth and not have the right spirit, or we can have right spirit and not tell the truth. A right spirit and the truth are mandatory when it comes to the Christians worship and manner of life.
John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
This prayer defines the spirit and truthful attitude we should have in prayer:
Our
Father
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done.
Give us our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses.
Lead us not into temptation.
Thine is the kingdom.
And the power.
And the glory.
Forever
Amen
Here is a yardstick by which we can gauge whether our prayers are acceptable to God. The spirit and truthfulness in which we pray is much more important than the words in which they are clothed.
The prayer reveals the priorities to be observed in prayer. The prayer is half way through before the petitioners interest and needs are mentioned.
The first three petitions relate to God and his Glory and the last three to man and his needs.
We marvel at the brevity:
This prayer is written in Greek. The Greeks believed in an ocean of truth in a drop of speech. There are only sixty six words in this prayer and only God could compress so much meaning and such a range of truth and instruction into so few words.
We need to consider the comprehensiveness of this prayer. It is a model, a skelton which contrives to embody in embryo every possible desire of the praying heart. It combines every divine promise and every human aspiration. It summarises all we should pray for. Nothing promised to the Christian is outside its scope.
This prayer is universal:
It covers all the needs that are common to humanity. It bears no mark of race or creed. People of every class and color have made it the expression of their own hearts. It is one prayer that is so worded that it can be translated into all languages and dialects.
God is bound to answer every prayer of a Christian who follows this pattern. This prayer should only be prayed by Christian people.
The pronouns used in this prayer are plural:
Our Father = our-we-us. It is a family prayer.
There is not an I - me - or mine in the entire prayer.
God changes to Father in this prayer: a father child relationship.
Under the old law of Moses, the Jews would not call God, God, because they feared the name. Today we call him God and Father without fear.
The fine points of the prayer revealed.
God is our Father:
1. By creation.
2. By covenant relationship.
3. By regeneration.
4. By Christian brotherhood.
1. His kingdom has come:
Heb 12:28 "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:"
Rev 1:9 "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."
Col 1:13 "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"
2. Yet we must preach the kingdom to man so he can receive it and become a part of it. Then the kingdom will have come to him.
3. The kingdom and the church are the same thing.
Mat 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Mat 16:18-19 "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it......And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Christ did not build one thing (the church) and give Peter and other apostles the keys to something else.
The kingdom came on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-47.
Christ is King of Kings:
Rev 17:14 "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
Rev 19:16 "And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
1 Tim 6:15 "Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;"
The kingdom the church will be delivered up to the Father and God.
1 Cor 15:24-26 "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power......For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet......The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
Christ must reign until Death is destroyed.
1 Cor 15:26 "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
Mat 16:19 "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Acts 2:36-38 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ......Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?.....Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Psa 119:89 "LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven."
Mat 4:4 "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Mat 6:14-15 "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:.....But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
1 Cor 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
Kingdom equals King of Kings.
John 3:1-7 "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:.....The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him......Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God......Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?.....Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God......That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit......
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
Power.
Mat 28:18 "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
Rom 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
Rom 1:20 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"
Glory.
Col 3:4 "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."
Forever:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psa 23:6 "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."
This is a true saying or true prayer.
Under no circumstance may this thesis be reproduced.
© by Vernon Gruver 1960/2009