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I have decided to deal with this in two sections:
To me the words ‘Our Father’ are probably the most important words of the most important prayer of the Christian faith.
When Jesus taught us to call God Our Father he was saying something almost entirely new about our relationship with God. He was telling us that we have a very close and personal relationship with God. Before Jesus people tended to think of us as God’s cowering servants. I do not believe this is how God wishes it to be. God is the perfect, loving, father. He cares about every one of His children, even when we sin He still loves us.
This familiarity reminds us that God is not distant, He is an essential part of our lives, present in everything we do. When we pray to God we know He listens and cares, because each of us is loved by Him.
When we were kids we probably all thought of God as sitting on a cloud in the sky, surrounded by angels playing harps. Of course I realise long ago that this is just an image, but it took me a while to realise what Heaven really means.
Christianity’s greatest task is to bring about Heaven here on earth. Every time we say something nice, or help someone out, or do any act simply out of love, we bring God’s dream one step closer.
Yes Heaven is after death, when we are finally with God. Yet God is also close to us in this life, and as we try to live our lives as He desires, Heaven can be here as well.
On a very basic dictionary level this means ‘Your name is holy’. Well okay, but that doesn’t tell me much. So now for the deep cross-referency bit. In the depths of Genesis (Gen 32:29 and a bit) Jacob wrestles with God. At the end of this fight God says “What is your name?” Jacob then goes on to ask God his name and God doesn’t tell him. This strikes me as a bit weird. But if the question is interpreted as something like ‘Who are you?’, or ‘What are you?’, it makes a bit more sense.
Back to the Lord’s Prayer. We’re saying ‘You are holy’ or ‘We worship You’ or ‘We respect You’ or something like that. That’s what I think anyway — I may be wrong.
Wow, what a thing to say. What does it mean? In basic terms the Kingdom is God’s, and it represents his rule over things. There are two different ways in which we can think about this part of the prayer, firstly as Christians we should want to see the day when Jesus returns — at least I do! My main aim in life is to see Jesus and I’d love to be around when he returns. To see everyone bow and acknowledge Christ as Lord would be pretty sound to say the least.
Asking for God’s kingdom to come is the object of our lives, when he comes the sin and pain of the world will be over. If you take a look at a newspaper or even personal experiences, its not pretty. Violence, famine, addiction, sin, natural disasters, greed, loneliness (should I continue?) are all part of our culture. However a day will come, foretold by the prophet, when “they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the lord, as the waters cover the sea.” ‘TKC’ is if you like a trumpet call for this day (See Luke 22,18).
Secondly ‘TKC’ is for NOW. We can let God rule over our sin, sickness, broken relationships etc. and experience his Kingdom in the present as well. When Jesus prayed it, he meant for this wonderful rule of God to have authority over our circumstances, our situations and our lives. (See Mat. 12.28, Mark 1,15 and Luke 17,21.) Now this might seem a bit confusing, but if you want to have eternal life, and experience an importance, a love and a protection (basically what we all need!), we have to ask the Kingdom of God into our lives, we have to live for God and promote Christ’s Kingdom. One phrase that comes to my mind is that death is near — God is eternal, choosing Jesus puts you on the right side as the Kingdom of the World becomes the Kingdom of God.
This phrase has implications for the whole way that we live our lives. In praying this, we are asking for fulfilment for ourselves and for the world. For the world we are asking that God’s order may be restored and seeking the completing of his will in the second coming. In our personal life we are showing our desire to do God’s will and asking for his guidance in this. The admission is that on our own we are weak, but with God’s help we can do all things.
A process of submission is taking place; we are acknowledging God’s wisdom over our own, and desiring that we can be led on in him. Even Jesus was subject to his father’s will when he was on earth; at Gethsemane he prayed, “My father, if this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, your will be done!” (Matt 26:42). It is not always easy to follow the will of God, but in the words of Jesus, “Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened.” (Matt 8:8). It pleases God if we adhere to his wishes, and for this reason we must persevere in doing so.
Heaven on earth — can I live it? Sounds a bit of a tall order. This bit of the Lord’s prayer says something to me about my duties, what I should be doing. Coming after the praise bit it’s a call to action — there is no excuse for just sitting there and hoping God will sort it all out for me. So what to do? On earth as it is in heaven — not as I’d like to do things. It is very tempting to choose your own “heaven on earth” ideal and work to that agenda, with all good intent. But the full phrase that Jesus uses is “repent, for the kingdom of God is close at hand”. Repent, meaning turn away from your personal schemes to sort out the world, yourself, and rely on God.
What do ducks need? Hmm, ignoring the sarcastic comments from “duck loving” students(!). They seem to survive purely on bread and water. The ones around campus may loiter outside your window waiting for a bit of bread, but even so, they are easily contented and do not worry about what they will eat or drink tomorrow.
This attitude of having simple needs that are easily contented is found in the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread”. If God had left out this request for personal material needs we might think it rude to ask Him for personal requirements.
However, God shows us that he not only cares for our needs but that He wants us to acknowledge that we are dependent upon Him, the great Provider of all “good gifts” (Matthew 7:11). He teaches us how to ask; not for a long shopping list of items (sticky toffee pudding, new pair of combats, Tomb Raider 3, a generous bank manager, etc, etc), but for what is sufficient for today so that we realise we have a constant reliance on God. Like the children of Israel who lived in the desert for 40 years, and were given sufficient “manna” from God each day — and no more — so we should realise that what we have has been provided by God. We should trust not in the provision but in the Provider.
In Proverbs 30:8–9 we see the right attitude: “Keep falsehood and lies far from me: give me neither poverty or riches, but only my daily bread”. For the author of this passage, Agur, God’s will is best for his life and continues: “but give me only my daily bread, lest I be full and deny you, and say ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and profane the name of my God”. Agur is aware that it is easy to forget the Provider, and in an affluent society his first concern, that we are greedy and forget God’s gifts to us, is relevant. In asking only for the basic necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing, warmth etc), God teaches us that we are not to be obsessed with material things, but should trust Him alone to provide us with what we need for today and be content with His provision.
The Apostle Paul had real contentment and was able to say “I know what it is to be in need and know what it is to have plenty; I have learned the secret of being content in any or every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Phillipians 4:12). Such an attitude is a real witness to a real and living dependence upon God.
God gives us more than bodily nourishment. Jesus Himself is referred to as the “Bread of Life” (John 6:35) which shows how vital He is for everyday living. Of the “bread” of Jesus (i.e. spiritual blessing through faith in him) we cannot have too much. Proverbs 10:22 literally says “The blessing of the Lord it makes rich” — that is to say nothing else really does. We are reminded that “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). So we should use our physical and material benefits for spiritual ends. Indeed, the use of “our daily bread” shows that we are not just praying for ourselves but also for each other. God gives us everything we need and more, so there is plenty for others and we should be pleased to share it. In 2 Corinthians 9:7 it says “God loves a cheerful giver”. It is part of the Bible’s teaching that both we and others will benefit from generosity.
Ultimately we are to acknowledge God as our Provider, ask for necessary provisions, then trust in Him because He knows what state is best for us: Whether we are to be “well fed” or “hungry”, “in need ”or “having plenty”. We should learn to come to him daily and to ask him to provide for us and others with the material things that we need. It may be hard to remember to incorporate these thoughts into our daily prayers, which is a good reason why we should give thanks to god before our meals, to praise Him for what we have already and what He will provide.
So next time you lob stale bread at the ducks remember who provides for you!
Jesus goes on to explain this line in verse four. There it says “For if you forgive men when they sin against you your heavenly father will also forgive you”. The next line implies that those without forgiveness will not be forgiven.
Although this seems harsh, we must remember that it was harsh for God’s own son to die to save us. Jesus died on the cross so that we could be forgiven and set free. Because of this, if we didn’t forgive one another, and bore a grudge in our hearts we would be setting ourselves outside and above Christ’s law of love.
However, this doesn’t mean that the person won’t have to answer before God for whatever they have done to you. It’s just important to remember that human forgiveness is our realm, and judgement belongs to God’s.
I’ve always found this line of the Lords Prayer the hardest to understand and relate to. My main problem is with understanding the theology of God ‘leading’ us into temptation. It sounds a very cruel, hard thing to do to someone you love. Does God really lead us into temptation, bringing us into sin? I suppose temptation could be seen as testing, which is a way in which we can prove our loyalty to God. But I’m not sure whether God tests us directly, or if it is life that tests us, and God watches over it. Temptation or testing could be a necessary thing which God must do to us, so that we can learn from it. Either way, this line is at least followed by “deliver us from evil”, which shows that God loves and saves us from the evils of temptation.
Sitting to write this article I naturally turned to the
passage where Matthew records Christ’s utterance of this
prayer. Confidence waned as I read … but deliver
us from the evil one
, and there it ends in the NIV. So
why, as my footnote (offering a minor consolation) notes, was
it added in later manuscripts and why have we recited it ever
since we memorised it in Junior School. At this point in the
prayer we have acknowledged God (Our Father
…
), prayed for his kingdom to be expanded, asked
for our daily needs, for forgiveness and for his protective and
guiding presence.
Sounds comprehensive, certainly, but this last passage not
only reasserts our acknowledgement of God, it is to Him after
all that we pray, but illustrates why we pray. A prayer without
confidence that God can accomplish what is asked for is
foolish; it is in this phrase — For Thine is the
Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, for ever and ever
— that we express our knowledge of the God to whom we
pray. Simply, His is the Kingdom to which we aspire and work
towards the expansion of, in evangelism and witnessing. His is
the Power in which we trust to do the things we ask of Him and
in which we therefore rely for our salvation; and finally, His
is the Glory to which we work, and if we glorify Him, so can we
be proud of sharing in His glory. We are after all to boast in
Him, only Him, and I can think of nothing I would rather boast
of than the eternal nature (… for ever and
ever
) and Love of my God; that I can offer up this
prayer to Him in confidence of his Power and his love of
me.
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Last modified: 25th November 2005