What does the Lord's Prayer teach?
The prayer Jesus gave us is a pattern for all prayer: it begins with God (His name, His kingdom, His will), then brings our needs (daily bread, forgiveness, protection), and ends in praise. It teaches us what to pray for and how to pray for it, simply, trustingly, together.
This question arose from studying How do I pray?.
Begin by reading
Go into the Word
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
It starts with God, not us
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. We come as children to a Father, and we begin with His glory, not our agenda. Prayer puts God first, and then everything else falls into place.
Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
His kingdom and His will come first
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Prayer aligns us with God's purposes before it asks anything for ourselves, and Jesus Himself modeled it in the garden: not my will, but yours.
Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
Daily bread: honest dependence
Give us today our daily bread. Not hoarding, not anxiety, just enough for today, received from His hand. It is a request for provision and a discipline against worry in one.
Give us today our daily bread.
Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing? See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?
Forgiveness received and given
Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Jesus underlines it: if you forgive others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. The measure of our own forgiveness is the mercy we extend.
Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
Deliverance and praise
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. It ends where it began: with God. He is able to keep us, and to Him belongs the praise.
Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. ’
No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Continue this trail
Does God really hear my prayers?→“This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him.”Why does God seem silent when I pray?→“Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.”Why pray 'your will be done' if God already has a will?→“Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.”How do I know God's voice from my own thoughts?→“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”What is fasting, and does it belong with prayer?→““Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”What does it mean to pray in the Holy Spirit?→“In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.”What does it mean to pray in Jesus' name?→“Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.”Does God still speak today?→“God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.”Does prayer change God's mind?→“Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.”To whom do we direct our prayers?→“Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.”What is the relationship between prayer and giving?→“But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”What do I do when I feel far from God?→“How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. ’
He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
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