Skip to main content

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father
Who is in heaven
Hallowed by 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 forgive our debtors
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

The Lord's Prayer - ESV

The Lord's Prayer is one of the central passages of Scripture. Jesus, teaching his followers how to pray, says this prayer during the Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew. It is, in a way, a summary of the entire Sermon on the Mount. It can be summed up in several points.

1. Glorify God
2. Obey God
3. Trust God

Point one is easy. Only God, who is in heaven, deserves to be glorified. We should treat his name with the utmost respect and reverence.

Point two is interesting. "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." We should pray that God's will be done here on earth just as it is in heaven. This means that earth should be a place where God's will is done with question. In heaven, in God's holy presence, there is no hesitation or rebellion. 

This means we are a people called to a specific purpose; obedience. By obeying God as individuals, families, and communities we usher in the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We are a people who embody heaven on earth.

Point three is again simple. Trust God in the little things that happen day to day. "Give us this day our daily bread." Trust God's mercy and forgiveness and show people that forgiveness as well. Trust that God will not lead you astray and that he does not tempt you to evil.

The Lord's Prayer seems simple, but it is in fact a powerful lesson from Jesus to us. We must glorify, obey, and trust God with all our hearts.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reading Aloud

What is the primary way we use Scripture today? I think the answer, at least in our society, is private reading and study. The majority of our spiritual advice can be summed up in "study the Bible more." The moral of many sermons is simply that we don't read the Bible enough. I think that this is absolutely true, but I probably mean something a little different. While I obviously agree that we, in general, don't read the Bible enough individually that isn't actually my main gripe. I think we don't read the Bible enough out loud, in community, as a part of worship. This, I think, should be a central part of our gatherings every week. We should simply read the Bible out loud and listen together in community. How much is the Bible read aloud in your gathering? I'm talking specifically about just reading, not during sermons or classes. How often is the Bible simply read without someone commenting on or explaining it? Just the Scriptures read aloud for all to h

Jonah, Mercy

The story of Jonah is one of the most well known in the entire Bible. It is one of the very first stories we learn about in Sunday school. It is the story of a man who tries to run away from God, but is swallowed by a big fish! To a child, and quite a few adults, that sounds like an incredible story. It is. The problem we have with the book of Jonah is that we never move beyond this way of looking at things. We see it as a kid's story and nothing more. Rarely would do we as adults ever open the book of Jonah outside of teaching little ones. We've already touched on this with the story of the Flood and the Battle of Jericho. This week we are going to look at the book of Jonah and discover just how intense this book really is. Background We do not know who wrote the book of Jonah. It is unlike the other prophetic books in that it doesn't contain oracles and proclamations from God to Israel. The book of Jonah tells a story. This doesn't mean, however, that the boo

We Need More Images

What is your favorite way to describe God? Is there a particular name of God in scripture that you are drawn to? What images and pictures come to mind when you think of God? These are questions I don't think we ask often enough. We all have an image of God in our heads that we work with. It may not be a literal picture, though it might be, but ideas and concepts we tend to associate with who God is. Some of those images and associations may come from the Bible, but some may not. These things are influenced by our upbringing, Bible reading habits, personalities, relationships, culture, and more. The way we picture God has a dramatic impact on the way we live our lives. For example, if the primary idea you have of God is "Healer," when you hear or read that you are made in God's image you will likely feel called to heal, be it physical ailments or spiritual wounds. But, if your primary image of God is "Judge," that changes things. You very likely might tend to