This is a series on what we commonly call The Lord’s Prayer.
Jesus prefaced it with –
Mt 6:5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
The individual posts are:
This then is how you should pray
Our Father
Hallowed be Thy Name
Your Kingdom Come … on earth …
Your Will Be Done … on earth …
Give us this day our daily bread
Forgive us … as we forgive …
Lead us not into temptation …
For thine is … (everything)
After the words that we recite as the prayer, Jesus also said this –
Mt 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
I can’t help but feel it’s significant that we don’t actual say that last verse as part of the prayer.
Maybe it touches a little too close to home?
And we don’t want to condemn ourselves?
I mean – Jesus said we condemn ourselves with our words.
Do we honestly believe that he didn’t also mean the words that we excluded?
If you need it, the words we recite as the prayer – at least in many Protestant churches (no, we don’t all agree on even this prayer) are –
Mt 6:9 “ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Mt 6:10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Mt 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.
Mt 6:12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Mt 6:13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
1The Holy Bible, New International Version®. Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation, © 1973, 1978, 1984.
We will also get into why the words here may not match the ones you say in your church.
For some of us – there entire ending part isn’t here.
Enjoy the study. And, I pray, learn as well.
I’d love to hear from you = see what you think of the series. (Especially if you like it, nut even if not).
It’s a different look at this prayer from what we normally see.
Footnotes
- 1The Holy Bible, New International Version®. Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation, © 1973, 1978, 1984.