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Introducing the Lord’s Prayer

Introducing The Lord’s Prayer

Scripture quotations taken from

The Holy Bible, New International Version

(Anglicised edition)

Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

(formerly International Bible Society).

Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers,

an Hachette UK company.

All rights reserved.

‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica

(formerly International Bible Society).

UK trademark number 1448790.

Preface

The importance of prayer in the life of every Christian

Church, every Christian believer and every Christian

worker cannot be underestimated. It is essential that we

are people of prayer. Yet, having stated that, many

believers find prayer far from easy. A Christian pastor

once said, “The more spiritual an exercise is the more

difficult it is, and prayer is the most spiritual.” Even the

disciples of Jesus knew they needed help with prayer and

asked him to teach them. In this book we are going to

begin with some general points about prayer, and then look

in some detail at the Lord’s Prayer.

I am again indebted to Philip Parsons who did the series of

Serving Today radio talks on prayer, and this book has

Introducing the Lord’s Prayer Page 2

been produced using his detailed notes. Philip used the

questions of a catechism to form the basis for his talks and

his studies are very instructive.

Our prayer is that as you consider the scriptural teaching on

prayer you will be greatly helped in your personal prayer

life and that the Lord will help you to encourage other

believers to pray.

Derek French

August 2012

Chapter 1: The Place of Prayer in the Believer’s Life

If you were asked, ‘What is prayer?’ what would you say?

Indeed there are many ways we could approach this

question, but if you considered the vast amount of teaching

that the Bible contains on this subject, then a good

summary would go something like this. Prayer is asking

God for things according to his will and for his glory and

giving thanks for his goodness. That is by no means an

exhaustive answer, but it does highlight a number of the

chief elements or principles which the Bible gives us to

guide the way we pray. The fact that the Bible has so much

teaching about prayer means there are a number of general

lessons we need to highlight.


1. The Importance of Prayer

The Scriptures show us how important prayer is in two

ways:

(a) Because of the place given to prayer in the life of our

Lord Jesus Christ

As we read through the Gospels again and again we

discover that Jesus spent time in prayer, and that he needed

to do that. Here are some examples. The first is Matthew

14:22-23. Immediately prior to these verses Jesus had

learned about the death of John the Baptist, and he had also

been ministering to a very large crowd and the miracle of

the feeding of the five thousand had taken place.

Following these events we read,

“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the

boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he

dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he

went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.”

Jesus had the need to commune with his Father in heaven,

and so he made time and found somewhere quiet where he

could do just that. On another occasion we find Jesus at

prayer very early and before the busyness of the day ahead

ate up his time. Mark 1:35 tells us,

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark,

Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary

place, where he prayed.”


Luke 5:16 tells us this was something Jesus did often,

seeking out lonely places where he could concentrate on

prayer. Another occasion that found him in prayer was

immediately before he chose the twelve men to be his

disciples. We read in Luke 6:12-13,

“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to

pray, and spent the night praying to God. When

morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose

twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles…”

These are only some of the references to our Lord's prayer

life, but they teach us a vital lesson. If Jesus, the eternal

Son of God needed to pray, how much more do we!

(b) Because of the many exhortations to prayer in the

Bible

Reference has already been made to the large amount of

teaching about prayer that there is in the Bible. Here are

some examples where God urges us, his people, to prayer.

We find these words in Luke 18:1,

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them

that they should always pray and not give up.”

This was followed by the parable of the woman who

persistently came to the unjust judge until he answered her

request for help. This emphasis is also discovered in 1

Thessalonians 5:17 which simply says,

“…pray continually…”


And similar words can be found in Ephesians 6:18 where

prayer is urged on all occasions, and 1 Timothy 2:8 where

all men wherever they are, are encouraged to pray. Again

these are only some of the references exhorting us to pray

and never to give up. This leads us to our next point.

2. The place that we give to prayer is a test of our

spiritual condition

Prayer is a bit like a spiritual thermometer. Using and

ordinary thermometer the doctor can tell by the patient’s

temperature if he or she is unwell. Similarly, a good,

vibrant prayer life is an indication of good spiritual

wellbeing. This does not mean that the praying of long

prayers is a mark of spirituality, for in the words of the

famous preacher and pastor C. H. Spurgeon: “Prayers are

measured by weight, not by length.” Indeed, the Lord

warned his disciples to beware of vain repetitions in prayer

(see Matthew 6:7). Having said all that, it is still true that

the importance we attach to prayer is a test of our spiritual

condition. How important is prayer to us? What part does it

actually play in our lives? We can apply this test in 3 areas:

(a) As Individuals The Christian life begins with prayer, by calling upon the

Lord to save us. And it is sustained by prayer. So there is

no Christian who does not pray at all. It was said to

Ananias about Saul after his conversion in Acts 9:11,


“The Lord told him, ‘Go to the house of Judas on

Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named

Saul, for he is praying.’”

We therefore regularly need to ask ourselves the question:

what place do we give to private prayer in our lives? If

your life is so busy with almost no time to devote to prayer

and your whole day is filled with work or social pursuits or

sport, then you do not regard prayer as being very

important. Time has to be made to pray and this needs

discipline and perseverance. If only a small amount of time

is devoted to prayer then do not be surprised at the

slowness of your spiritual growth. The Bible teacher Dr. D.

M. Lloyd-Jones, commenting on Romans 1:9, says: "I

suppose there is no more delicate or subtle test of our

growth in grace and true spirituality than how much of our

time is spent in prayer for others."

(b) As Families The Christian family is intended to be a microcosm of the

Church. The apostles assumed that husbands and wives

would pray together. We read in 1 Corinthians 7:5,

“Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual

consent and for a time, so that you may devote

yourselves to prayer.”

And Peter writing to husbands declared in 1 Peter 3:7,

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live

with your wives, and treat them with respect as the


weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious

gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Let us strengthen family praying, making it more regular if

it has become intermittent and beginning it if we have not

yet practised it at all.

(c) As a Church

How important are Church prayer meetings to you? Are

they vital? Would it worry you if the prayer meetings were

not held, would you even know? Do you think that a

Church can survive without prayer? How readily we make

excuses in this area and how easily the prayer meeting is

put lower down our agenda than it should be. The

faithfulness of some is of great encouragement to those

who lead in the Church, while the lack of support by others

is a great discouragement.

Surely, none of us are completely satisfied with our own

prayer lives. All of us need improvement and all of us need

help to improve. Let our first cry be “Lord give me a heart

to pray.” Let us give God no rest or peace until he has

answered that prayer.

3. The Ingredients of Prayer

We come now to consider the content of our prayers. What

are some of the essential things we need to include in our

own prayers? The following list is again not exhaustive,

but will give a helpful framework around which to

cultivate and develop your own praying.


(a) Realisation

It is vital that we realise to whom we are coming in prayer,

to the Creator of the universe, to the one true God who is

sovereign over all. Prayer is asking God and the very word

‘pray’ comes from an old English word which means

asking a favour from someone greater than ourselves. So

when we pray, we must remind ourselves of the greatness

and the majesty and the holiness of God. What a privilege

to be allowed into his presence. True prayer, therefore, will

not just consist of a shopping list of requests, but will

include adoration. A good example of this is found in the

prayer of Nehemiah recorded in Nehemiah 1:5-6 where his

humble approach to God is full of adoration and worship.

“Then I said: ‘LORD, the God of heaven, the great and

awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with

those who love him and keep his commandments, let

your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the

prayer your servant is praying before you day and

night for your servants, the people of Israel...’”

To underline this, the word ‘prayer’ carries with it the idea

of being face to face with someone. So when you pray, do

not just blurt out your needs first, but remember who you

are addressing and the great privilege it is to be in the

presence of the Most High God.

(b) Petition Prayer is asking God for things. Paul expresses it like this

in Philippians 4:6,


“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every

situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.”

It is not that God needs to be informed of our needs

because he knows all things, but he wants to hear from us.

If God did not in general make his blessings conditional

upon our asking for them, how much would he hear from

us? One of the reasons why we are such spiritual paupers

is that we do not even ask! James is very pointed about this

as he exposed this deficiency in the prayer lives of his

original readers in James 4:2,

“... You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

(c) Submission Prayer is asking God for things according to his will. And

James 4:3 is again very direct in exposing this sin,

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask

with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get

on your pleasures.

Too often we have fixed ideas of what we want and try

and impose them upon God instead of asking for his

help and leaving the way of answering to him, with the

result that often his answers are surprises! In this

connection our understanding of the Scriptures is vital

at this point so that we may know what the Bible

teaches about our particular situation, and then plead

the relevant promises in our prayers. And if we do not


know how to react in given circumstances, especially

when facing persecution or suffering, then we may

always ask for wisdom (James 1:5). Submission in our

prayers also includes an acceptance of the

circumstances in which God has placed us. This does

not mean that we never ask for relief, but that if it is

clear that God is not going to change our circumstances

then we must submit to his will in them. We see this so

clearly in the life of the apostle Paul. He tells us on

one occasion that he was deeply distressed and

troubled by a messenger of Satan who was causing him

considerable distress. His prayer and God’s reply is

found in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9,

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming

conceited, I was given me a thorn in my flesh, a

messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I

pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he

said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my

power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will

boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that

Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Paul gladly submitted to God’s will for him and this ‘thorn

in the flesh’ which was causing him so much distress was

not taken away, but God did promise Paul he would receive

all that he needed to cope with this. It is claimed by some

that prayer is always answered in the affirmative, while

others claim that a negative answer proves that the person

praying is guilty of the sin of unbelief – both of these are

wrong. Paul was full of faith when he prayed for this

trouble to be taken away, but God’s will was a negative


answer. Paul was not guilty of the sin of unbelief and the

Lord never once rebuked him for his prayer. But God’s

will was for the messenger of Satan to remain and Paul’s

trouble to continue, but that God would give him the grace

needed to cope with it.

Something that is very important to note is that bodily

healing and material wealth are not the Christian's

guaranteed possessions as some are claiming today. That is

not the true gospel of Christ, but sadly many have been led

astray by this false teaching. Yes, the Lord can take illness

and other difficulties away from us, but it may not always

be his will to do so. This does not indicate there is

something wrong with our relationship with the Lord or

that he is angry with us, but that the Lord in his infinite

wisdom knows that is not the best thing for us. In Paul’s

case had the ‘thorn in the flesh’ been removed from him,

Paul tells us that he could so easily have become guilty of

pride by being conceited over the considerable blessings

God had given him. God’s answer ‘No’ helped Paul to

continue to walk humbly before the Lord. To this Paul

gladly submitted.

(d) Confession Confession of sin is an essential part of prayer. In Psalm

32 David tells us of a time when he was in considerable

distress which on that occasion was directly connected to

his sin. He may well be referring to the time when he

committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for the

murder of her husband Uriah. As the Psalm opens this is

what we read,


“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin

the LORD does not count against them and in whose

spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted

away through my groaning all day long. For day and

night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was

sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I

acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my

iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the

Lord’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

Confession means 'to say the same things as’ or ‘to say

together with’. In other words we try to look at our sins as

God does, not minimising or excusing them, but freely

admitting them. It is that humble, repentant confession of

sin to God which brings the great blessing of his pardon

and forgiveness. (See also 1 John 1:9)

(e) Thanksgiving for the mercies and goodness of God Philippians 4:6 exhorts us to give thanks in everything,

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every

situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.”

Note that this is not necessarily for everything but in

everything. For example, we do not thank God for sin as

some have erroneously taught. But even if we do not

understand what is happening to us or why it is happening,

we can thank God for his wisdom and love to us, telling

him that we believe that all his ways with us are perfect. It


is possible to thank God for his goodness, even when

surrounded by the most appalling circumstances.

It is also essential that we do thank God for his answers to

our prayers and that he receives the praise of our hearts.

(See also Colossians 4:2)

4. Our praying must only be in the name of Christ

This is such an important point because the only way for

any sinner to approach God and be received and welcomed

and accepted is through the Lord Jesus Christ. John 14:6

makes this very clear as Jesus said,

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes

to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is quite direct and he excludes any other way of

trying to approach God. He alone is the way.

(a) Scripture evidence for praying in Christ's name

There are a number of passages in John’s Gospel which

record the teaching of Jesus on this important matter. In

John 14:13-14 Jesus said to his disciples,

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that

the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me

for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Then in John 15:7 we read,


“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask

whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

Then in John 16:23-24 we find Jesus saying to his disciples,

“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell

you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you

ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for

anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and

your joy will be complete.”

As we read these verses, the clear teaching is that for our

prayers to be answered, they must be in the name of Christ.

There are other conditions which need to be fulfilled for

prayer to be answered, but the underlying principle is that

only prayer offered in the name of Christ is acceptable.

(b) What it means to pray in the name of Christ

We may wonder why there is all this emphasis on the name

of Christ in the verses we have just noted. In answering

this question we need to realise the great difference

between our use of names and the Bible's. To us names are

little more than useful and pleasant labels. In many parts of

the world people name their children because they like the

sound of the word or because there is some friend or

relative of that name. But in God's dealings with his people

in the Bible, names take on a very different meaning; the

name and the person’s character are closely linked together.

For example, Adam means man or mankind, Eve means

life-giving, Abraham means the father of a multitude. But

the most significant name of all is Jesus which really


means God our Saviour (Matthew 1:21). So to pray in the

name of Christ is not just a question of adding a finishing

touch to our prayers, like ‘yours sincerely’ at the end of a

letter. It means approaching God through Jesus Christ and

in the light of all his work as mediator (see 1Timothy 2:5).

It means we trust that because of Christ's person and work,

our prayers will be heard and answered. But it also means

that our requests must be consistent with the character and

will of Christ. True prayers are not lucky charms or

magical in any way, but when offered in Christ's name take

into account all that he is and has done and has

commanded.

(c) Prayer offered in any other way is unacceptable to

God

This does not mean that God never answers prayers which

are not offered in Christ's name. He sometimes does and

we may be aware of such prayers which ungodly people

have offered during a time of extreme crisis. Such prayers

may be answered by God apart from Christ. The person

who prays to God without trusting in Christ as mediator

cannot be accepted by God. Neither is a person accepted

who prays through another intermediary: Mary or the

Saints. Such prayers are not acceptable. It is therefore

important to understand the theology of prayer in order to

pray aright. We also need to realise the wrongness of some

clichés: 'prayer changes things', 'the power of prayer'. It is

God who changes things and only the prayer of a righteous

man is effective (see James 5:16). Only prayer in the name

of Christ, with all we understand by that phrase, will avail.


With this understanding we turn next to consider the Lord’s

prayer.

Chapter 2: Introduction To The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer is found in two places in the new

Testament with slight variations between what Matthew

recorded and Luke’s version. Matthew sets the prayer in

the middle of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:9-13,

while in Luke we find the prayer in Luke 11:1-4 in a

section where, in response to his disciples request to him to

teach them how to pray, there is an extended treatment of

prayer of which the Lord’s prayer is a part. Clearly these

were two different situations, and Jesus often repeated

teaching, often with a slight change in emphasis depending

on the context. In this book we shall be following

Matthew’s account, but there is no basic difference with

Luke.

The reason why this prayer has been given by Christ is so

that we may know how we should pray.

1. The need for such a form of Prayer

The purpose of Jesus to teach us through this prayer can be

deduced from the circumstances in which the prayer was

given. In Luke 11:1 the disciples had asked for such

teaching. They had observed that Jesus often prayed and

sometimes for long periods. Clearly they saw how far his

praying was removed from theirs. And this provoked the


obvious question: “Lord, teach us to pray” for they wanted

to learn to pray like he did and in a way which honoured

him and was particularly suited to them as his followers. It

is part and parcel of true discipleship. They were behaving

as true disciples and wanted to learn from their master in

this matter of prayer. The fact that what we call the Lord's

Prayer was given in response to their request as a pattern

and form, shows that true prayer is not natural to us as

human beings. There is a great deal which passes for prayer,

which is not true prayer, but which human beings often

engage in. And since true prayer is not natural to you and

me, even after conversion, there is this need to be taught

how to pray. Paul writing to believers in Romans 8:26

reminds us,

“We do not know what we ought to pray for...”

We all need to make the disciples' request our own: “Lord,

teach me how to pray.”

Before we leave this point, just think what a great privilege

it is for us not only to have been given this form but to

have been given it by none other than the Lord himself.

How thankful we should be that the eternal Son of God has

put words into our lips so that we can be confident that our

praying is acceptable. Whoever, therefore, despises the

Lord's Prayer as a pattern or form, despises the very Son of

God.


2. The uses of the Lord's Prayer

In describing the Lord's Prayer, we have used two words:

form and pattern. This has been deliberate for these two

words describe the two uses of the prayer.

(a) As a form of prayer it is a prayer which we may

actually pray In considering this use of the Lord's Prayer, we need to be

aware of two extremes. The first is that some have taught

the more times we say the Lord’s Prayer the greater will be

the result. This is clearly an abuse of the Lord's Prayer,

because in Matthew 6, immediately before giving it, Jesus

warns against such vain repetitions. But equally extreme is

the view of others who refuse to say the Lord's Prayer at all.

This view too is not in accordance with Scripture, for the

Lord's Prayer was given as a prayer and was meant to be

said by the disciples. The words of introduction to the

prayer in Matthew 6:9 indicate this

“This, then, is how you should pray:...”

and Luke 11:2 is similarly clear to understand,

“When you pray, say:...”

So it is right for us to use the actual words of the Lord's

Prayer. To do so sincerely and spiritually is right.

(b) As a model or pattern prayer

The prayer was given in answer to the disciples’ request to


be taught how to pray. So its structure and order is not just

for us to repeat and use as our own prayer, but it is also a

general pattern for all our praying. It includes things we

should include in our prayers. In fact, one of the amazing

things about this prayer is that while it is so brief, it still

contains everything we need to pray for and about. In

principle nothing is left out, and nothing needs to be added.

So we can say that while the giving of the Lord's Prayer

shows our native ignorance of prayer and provides a form

of prayer we ought to use, it is also a pattern for all our

praying and for us to develop.

3. The Lord's Prayer as a whole

There are four parts to the prayer: (a) The Introduction or

Preface – “Our Father in heaven.” (b) The first three

requests which are centred on God and his concerns. (c)

The last three requests which cover all our physical and

spiritual needs. (d) The doxology. (This has been disputed

by some but is not out of keeping with the rest of the

prayer and is found elsewhere in Scripture).

(a) The Introduction

This little phrase “Our Father in heaven” underlines the

need to pause when we pray and remember to whom we

come - the Almighty God, and what we are - sinful human

beings. Three principles are embodied in this phrase.

(i) We come to God as Father

Again this marks out Christianity from all other


religions, because which other religion encourages us

to pray to God as father? And since God is our Father

it means that we are his children, not by natural but by

spiritual birth (see John 1:12-13). Only those born of

the Holy Spirit can truly call God ‘Father’. What a

marvellous relationship this is that is taught in the

Lord's Prayer, and what confidence it gives us. For so

often when we come to pray, we are aware of our

sinfulness and only the encouragement of knowing

God as Father dispels our fear and reminds us that God

has received us as sons. However poor our earthly

fathers were, if we went to them for help in time of

need, would they have turned us away? If it is so with

them, how much more with God our heavenly Father?

This preface to the Lord's Prayer also reminds us that

our prayers ought to be addressed to the first person of

the Trinity. This is seen in Paul’s letter to the Ephesian

believers. In Ephesians 2:18 we read,

“For through him (that is Jesus) we both (that is

Jews and Gentiles) have access to the Father by

one Spirit.”

Not that praying to the Lord Jesus or the Holy Spirit is

wrong, but primarily our praying is to be to the Father.

(ii) We come to God as our heavenly Father

And this teaches us to come with a proper sense of

reverence, an attitude which is often lacking in the

Church today. Not that God is far away, he is not, but

that there is a great difference between us and him. The


Old Testament prophet Isaiah reminds us of this in

Isaiah 55:8-9

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither

are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As

the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my

ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than

your thoughts.’”

Our confidence in approaching God as Father must be

tempered by a sense of reverence for his majesty and

power and holiness.

(iii) We come to God as our Father

Does this mean that we must always use the plural

pronoun when praying? Of course not. The singular

pronoun is applicable for private prayers. We have

Jesus’ own example in what is known as his high

priestly prayer in John 17, but we would expect to use

plural pronouns in any kind of corporate praying. The

use of ‘I’ and ‘my’ in corporate prayers is a modern

bad habit and smacks of extreme individualism and

self-centredness. Even in our private praying we

should remember that God is the God of the whole

earth and not just of me and my concerns. So often our

prayers get little further than ourselves; how cramped

they are. If we were to set ourselves to pray more for

others, then God would more readily respond to

prayers for ourselves. If we resolved to make our

praying more all-embracing and less self-centred, then

surely we should see more of the blessing of God upon


our lives.

Chapter 3: The First Request In The Lord’s Prayer

In studying these requests in turn we shall first consider the

meaning of each request and then its implications and

lessons.

1. The meaning of the first request – “Hallowed be your

name”

(a) The word ‘hallow’ is related to the word holy

In this request we are praying for God's name to be kept

holy or reverenced or honoured. Now the name of God is

holy, but the problem is that men do not regard it as such,

hence the need for this request. We find a lovely example

of this in the book of Nehemiah. The people of God had

gathered together in Jerusalem to read the law of God and

to have it explained to them by the Levites whose job was

to assist the priests in the work of the temple. We read in

Nehemiah 9:5-6,

“And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani,

Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and

Pethahiah—said: ‘Stand up and praise the LORD your

God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be

your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all

blessing and praise. You alone are the LORD. You

made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all

their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas


and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and

the multitudes of heaven worship you.”

They desired first and foremost that God should be

honoured, that his name should be hallowed.

(b) Hallowed be your name

When the Bible speaks of the name of God, it is referring

to all that is true of God. Names of people we know, or

even places, are associated with the characteristics of the

person or place. The better we know the person, the more

the name means to us. And it is just the same with the

name of God. When we speak of him we should be

reminded of his nature. He is almighty, all knowing, all

seeing, and infinite. He is holy and majestic, he is merciful

and compassionate. He is loving and kind. We could go on.

The list is almost endless. In the Old Testament God

progressively revealed himself, partly by means of names,

each one showing a further aspect of his character. For

example, Jehovah Jireh which means the Lord will provide,

or Jehovah Shalom which is the Lord our peace, and

Jehovah Tsidkenu meaning the Lord our righteousness. No

wonder the writer of Proverbs says in Proverbs 18:10,

“The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the

righteous run to it and are safe.”

The name of God represents all that is true of God and all

that he has revealed himself to be.


2. The place of this request in the prayer

The order of the requests in the Lord’s Prayer is not

accidental or random. Just as there is order in the Ten

Commandments, so too there is order in the prayer. So,

being first, this is the most important request for us to make,

that God's name should be honoured by men on earth; that

God should be given the reverence due to him. What we

are asking is that the whole world should bow before God

in worship and adoration for what he is as well as for what

he has done. True prayer always puts the honour of God

first. “Lord, whatever happens to me, I want your honour

to come first. I want above all else only what will bring

honour and glory to your holy name.” Is that how you pray?

It should be. Let us all aim for this and ask for grace that it

may be the way we pray.

3. How should we expect to see this request answered?

(a).We are praying that men will acknowledge God as

Creator In the world in general, men would prefer to attribute the

origin of all things to chance, evolution, luck or nature

rather than to God. By doing so, they dishonour his name.

We are praying that men will give God the honour as

creator. We discover in that God is exalted as the Creator

in Psalm 8:3 & 9,

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your

fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in

place... Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in


all the earth!”

We should therefore encourage every effort which

endeavours to achieve this goal.

(b) We are praying that people will honour God as their

Provider

We pray that men will not only honour him as the one who

gave them life, but the one who continues to sustain that

life in this world. Nothing in this world happens by chance,

it is all under God's sovereign control. Our lives are not

subject to mere chance or directed by the stars, but all

things are sustained by God. Let us learn to honour him for

all he does in providence. See how Job did this in Job 1:21

and how Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this lesson the hard

way in Daniel 4.

(c) We are praying that God would be honoured as

Saviour Salvation is God's greatest work; it excels all his works in

creation and providence as wonderful as they are. So when

we pray for God's name to be honoured, we are praying for

his saving work to be truly acknowledged by all. And as it

is only the Christian who can truly honour God as Saviour,

we are therefore praying for the Church. We can break this

down into the following parts:

(i) That the word of God will be faithfully preached by

the Church and truly believed by God's people.

Because we are orthodox now, it is no guarantee of

continued orthodoxy. Many Churches that were greatly


used of God have departed from the truth and in some

cases God has removed the candlestick altogether and

they no longer exist. To honour God the Church must

be always reforming itself.

(ii) That the worship of God may be purified. In this

area alone many Churches are an utter disgrace. What

passes for Christian worship can be anything from

elaborate ritual that is totally unrelated to anything in

the New Testament, to an almost disco-like party

atmosphere. We are not saying that a totally uniform

worship is being advocated, but that which is called

worship today is often so irreverent. Entertainment has

often taken over, which is utterly dishonouring to God.

Let us strive to keep God's worship as pure as we can

and honouring to him so that we may thus hallow his

name. The words of Revelation 5:7-10 strike the right

note for us,

“He went and took the scroll from the right hand

of him who sat on the throne. And when he had

taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-

four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one

had a harp and they were holding golden bowls

full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s

people. And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You

are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,

because you were slain, and with your blood you

purchased for God persons from every tribe and

language and people and nation. You have made

them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,


and they will reign on the earth.’”

(iii) That true holiness may be seen in the lives of

God's people. One thing that brings much dishonour to

God’s holy name is a professing Christian whose life

does not match his verbal witness. The outsider will

say, ‘If that's Christianity then you can keep it!’ How

important it is for us to live God-honouring lives. What

glaring inconsistencies there are among us, sometimes

seen by the outside world (see Rom 2:24).

We have looked at some of the most important ways in

which we are praying for God's name to be honoured. In

one sense this request encompasses the next two, for God's

name is honoured when his kingdom is extended and when

his people are obedient to his commands.

Chapter 4: The Second Request in the Lord’s Prayer

The second request in the Lord’s Prayer is for God’s

kingdom to come.

1. The relationship between this request and the first

request

When we pray for God's name to be honoured by all, we

realise in reality that it is not being honoured by the

majority in the world. The only way that they may be

brought to truly honour God's name is by being freed from

the kingdom of Satan and brought into God's kingdom (see


Colossians 1:13). Satan has usurped God's place by

obtaining the honour and service of men in this world in

such a way that the Bible speaks of the world being under

the control of the evil one (see 1 John 5:19). But God has

set up another kingdom, known as the kingdom of grace or

of God or of heaven (these names are used interchangeably

in the Bible). So in this request we are praying for the

extension of his kingdom. The first request in the prayer

has reference to God's honour: the second and third

requests are concerned with the means whereby that

honour and glory is manifested and evident among men.

2. What kind of Kingdom is being referred to?

In considering the kingdom, there is much confusion

among the professing Church as to what aspect of God's

kingdom is being spoken of in the prayer.

(a) Not the kingdom of God's providential rule God’s providential rule can be seen in the following Bible

passages. These are just an example of what we find

throughout the Bible. We read in Psalm 47:1-2 and verses

7-8,

“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with

cries of joy. For the LORD Most High is awesome, the

great King over all the earth!.. For God is the King of

all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns

over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.”

We discover it in Psalm 99:1-2,


“The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits

enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.

Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the

nations.”

It is equally clear in Ephesians 1:11,

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined

according to the plan of him who works out everything

in conformity with the purpose of his will...”

Absolutely nothing falls outside of God’s providential rule.

Clearly the kingdom being referred to in these passages is

not what we are praying for in the Lord’s Prayer since that

providential kingdom already exists. When we pray for

God's kingdom to come we are not praying for God to take

control of all men and nations because he already does

control them although they do not acknowledge his rule

and reign.

(b) Not an earthly and political reign This is how the Jews of Christ's day conceived of

Messiah's kingdom, but they were terribly mistaken. So too

are some present day believers who look for a literal

earthly kingdom. Jesus has told us quite clearly in John

18:36,

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my

servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish

leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”


(c) The spiritual kingdom of Christ's rule in the hearts

and lives of people

Jesus did his utmost to help the people of his day

understand that his kingdom was a spiritual one that is

experienced in the believer’s heart. In Luke 17:20, 21 we

read,

“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the

kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The

coming of the kingdom of God is not something that

can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or

‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your

midst.”

On another occasion in Luke 11:20 he said,

“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then

the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

The difference between God's rule over all people in

providence and his rule over some in grace is really

twofold:

(i) God rules over all people externally but only over

his people inwardly and spiritually.

(ii) God's providential rule is universal but his

gracious rule is restricted to those who willingly

submit to him.


All people are subject to God's decrees, none can resist his

will in that respect, but only his people readily submit to

his precepts.

3. When will God's Kingdom come?

God's kingdom of grace has existed from earliest times

among the Old Testament believers, but its fullest

expression was brought in with the coming of Christ. Mark

1:14-15 declares,

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee,

proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has

come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near.

Repent and believe the good news!’”

This was prophesied in Daniel 2:44. As more and more

people are converted and brought into willing submission

to the rule of Christ in their hearts and lives, so the

kingdom of grace is being extended. As one poet has put it,

“And soul by soul and silently its shining bounds

increase.” But the kingdom will have only finally come

when all the elect are gathered and at the final judgement

every knee shall bow to Christ - some willingly, some

unwillingly. In which group will you be on that great day?

4. What we are asking for when we pray this request

When we ask for God’s kingdom to come we are praying

that the gospel will be preached throughout the world and

believed and obeyed by everyone.


(a) We are praying that the gospel may be preached

And this is because it is only by hearing the true gospel that

anyone is saved out of the kingdom of Satan and brought

into the kingdom of God. Romans 10:13-15 states,

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be

saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have

not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of

whom they have not heard? And how can they hear

without someone preaching to them? And how can

anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written,

‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good

news!’”

And when we pray that the gospel may be preached it is the

true gospel which is being referred to. It is belief of the

truth which is the vital method. Helpfully Peter speaks of

this in 1 Peter 1:22-25,

“ Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the

truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love

one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been

born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,

through the living and enduring word of God. For,

‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the

flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers

fall, but the word of the Lord endures for ever.’ And

this is the word that was preached to you.”

Do you pray for the preaching of the true gospel?


(b) We are praying that the gospel will be preached

everywhere

The great commission commands the gospel to be preached

worldwide (see Matthew 28:18-20 and Luke 24:45-48).

The kingdom of God is composed of men and women from

every tribe and kindred and nation (Revelation 7:9-10).

This means that our prayers are not to be insular or

parochial – not ‘you in your small corner and I in mine’.

Rather we should view the situation as John Wesley did.

He said, ‘The world is my parish.’ We should have an

interest and concern for every other place in the world

where the gospel is preached truly and faithfully.

Obviously we cannot pray for every true Church

individually but we can pray for those we know of.

(c) We are praying for the success of the gospel

For the kingdom of God to come, men must first hear the

gospel, since faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). So

we are praying that God will raise up true gospel preachers

who will not only be faithful to the message, but who will

be given power and unction in their preaching (see Luke

10:2). But we are not only praying for preachers to be

thrust out, but for men and women to believe the message

and for churches to be planted and established in every part

of the globe. What a great missionary petition is this

second petition!

(d) We are praying for revival

God's kingdom is advanced and brought in most

successfully during periods of revival. During revival,

whole communities are humbled and converted. God will


often do more to advance his kingdom in a few days of

spiritual awakening than in many long years previously.

The classic example of this was the day of Pentecost even

compared with the ministry of Christ!

(e) We are praying for the salvation of Jews as well as

Gentiles

When we pray for God's kingdom to come we should look

for a reinstatement of the Jews as part of the Church. (See

Rom 11:12, 15, 25-27)

Chapter 5: The Third Request in the Lord’s Prayer

The third request is for God’s will to ‘be done on earth as

it is in heaven.’

1. The relationship between the second and third

request

In the second request we were considering the rule and

reign of Christ in the hearts and lives of men and women.

But the question arises; how does God's rule manifest itself?

This occurs when his will is carried out by his subjects. For

although the kingdom of God is inward and spiritual, it

does show itself in the outward obedience of its subjects to

the will of the King. Just as the second request fulfils the

first, so too the third request fulfils the second. The perfect

order and arrangement of this prayer is thus clearly shown.


2. Whose will are we praying to be done?

The phrase “your will” is God's will, because this prayer is

addressed to God as our Father in heaven. This may seem

like stating the obvious, but it needs to be emphasized that

when you or I truly pray “...your will be done...” we are

saying that whatever our own inclinations might be,

whatever we may want or desire, that our first concern is

for God's will to be done. Doing the will of God was

something that was of paramount importance to Jesus

himself. While speaking to his disciples he said in John

4:34,

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to

finish his work.”

Then at the end of John 5:30 Jesus declared,

“...I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”

It is that kind of attitude that we are praying for, for

ourselves and for others, regardless of the personal cost to

us.

3. What do we mean by God's will?

This question also needs to be asked because of the great

confusion among Christians as to what constitutes God's

will. Some Christians would regard this request as being

solely a prayer for guidance. Now although God's

guidance is included in his will, this prayer is primarily


concerned with his revealed will. God's will can be viewed

from two aspects:

(i) His secret will; his decrees as to what will take

place.

(ii) His revealed will; those instructions he has given to

us for living in this world.

(a) God's secret will We call this aspect of his will secret because it is

hidden from us until it has actually occurred. It has

been defined in chapter 3 of the Westminster

Confession as: “God from all eternity, did, by the most

wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and

unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.” It

has been similarly put in the 1689 Baptist Confession

of Faith as: “God has decreed in himself, from all

eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own

will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever

comes to pass...” God's secret will is his providential

disposing of the affairs of our lives. There are two

passages in the book of Job which put this clearly. The

first stated by Job immediately on hearing the news

that he had lost all his possessions and also his children.

We read in Job 1:20-21,

“At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his

head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I

shall depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken

away; may the name of the LORD be praised.’”


The second is Job’s response to his wife when she

suggested he actually curse God for all the terrible things

that had happened to him. We read in Job 2:9-10,

“His wife said to him, ‘Are you still maintaining your

integrity? Curse God and die! He replied, ‘You are

talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good

from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin

in what he said.

Job was saying in effect “Your will be done”. He humbly

submitted to God's decree. This was a remarkable and yet

superb response from that godly man of faith Job, but the

supreme example of submission to God's decree is in the

case of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was the night before his

crucifixion and knowing what dreadful sufferings lay ahead

for him, Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane.

We read in Matthew 26:39,

“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the

ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may

this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you

will.’”

What astonishing willingness to submit to the will of God!

The important thing for us to grasp about this aspect of

God's will is that we do not know what it actually is until it

happens. As the Puritan Thomas Watson puts it:

“Providence is the Christian's diary, not his Bible.” Alas,

too many Christians today are trying to make God's


providential dealings with them their Bible or rule of

obedience. Such a course of action often ends in disaster.

(b) God's revealed will This is the aspect of God's will which has been given to us

as a rule for living in this world. Basically it is found in the

commandments, exhortations and teaching of Scripture.

We read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for

teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in

righteousness, so that the servant of God may be

thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The Bible gives us instructions about God's revealed will in

every area of our lives. There is instruction about the home

for fathers, mothers, husbands, wives and children. We

have teaching about how we are to live our lives in the

world of work as employers or employees. We are

instructed how to live in an evil world. We have directions

for how we are to conduct ourselves in the Church as

elders, deacons and church members. So when we pray

“...your will be done...”, we are praying primarily that our

lives and the lives of others will conform to the pattern laid

down in the Scriptures.

We need to submit passively to God's secret will of

providence, not trying to pry into it, and actively obeying

all his revealed will in the Scriptures. May God enable us

to do so.


4. We are praying that men may serve God just as the

angels do in heaven

There is a lovely statement 1 Thessalonians 1:9 which

describes the change that had taken place when the people

of Thessalonica came to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was recording what other people were saying about

these new believers,

“They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve

the living and true God...”

This is very important for us to remember and to do. In

fact it is a dimension which points up the clear difference

between the Christian and the most upright and moral

unbeliever. The good-living unbeliever may do a great deal

for his fellow man, and the Christian should not be behind

in this kind of activity. But the great difference is the

motive. The unbeliever does good to his fellow at best

only for his fellow's sake. The Christian behaves well

towards his neighbour also for the Lord's sake. We have

the example of this in the instruction given in Ephesians

6:5-8,

“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and

fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey

Christ. Obey them not only to win their favour when

their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the

will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as

if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you

know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever


good they do, whether they are slave or free.”

And there is the similar teaching found in Colossians 3:23-

24,

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as

working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you

know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord

as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

We are to serve others as if we were serving the Lord. Our

whole lives should be not to please ourselves but to please

the Lord.

5. Our service of God is demonstrated by our service of

others

This is the example which Christ gave us all when he

washed the disciples’ feet. We discover in John 13:12-15,

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his

clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand

what I have done for you? he asked them. ‘You call me

“Teacher” and “Lord”, and rightly so, for that is what

I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed

your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I

have set you an example that you should do as I have

done for you.

This same emphasis is found in Mark 10:42-45,


“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that

those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it

over them, and their high officials exercise authority

over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to

become great among you must be your servant, and

whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For

even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to

serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”

This service to others is to be primarily expressed to our

fellow Christians (see Galatians 5:13 and Matthew 25:37-

40). This does not mean that we are not to serve those

outside the Church, we should. But a great test of our

whole position is the service which we render to our fellow

Christians. Do you serve them or are you waiting for them

to serve you? This is helpfully explained to us in Galatians

6:10,

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to

all people, especially to those who belong to the family

of believers.”

6. An encouragement to our service

We are praying that people on earth will serve God as the

angels do in heaven. This raises the question why the Lord

brought in a reference to heaven at this point? Why not

stop at ‘..your will be done on earth’? Surely the reason is

to arouse hope and encouragement in prayer. If we simply

look around at the chaos on earth or to go no further, at the

remaining disobedience in our own hearts, then we would


no doubt be utterly discouraged. But here we are given an

incentive by the reminder that God's will is already being

done in heaven. Thus our praying is not a vain hope. The

will of God is done perfectly in heaven by all its

inhabitants: both angels and the spirits of righteous men

and women made perfect. We read in Psalm 103:20-21,

“Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones

who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the

LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do

his will.”

This should give us great encouragement to pray for that

time when God's will will also be done on earth, which

points us towards to the new heaven and the new earth

described in 2 Peter 3:13.

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking

forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where

righteousness dwells.”

If we want to know the will of God for our lives then let us

become thoroughly acquainted with the precepts and

commands of the Scriptures and seek to be obedient to all

His commandments. The longest of all the Psalms is Psalm

119 and is most helpful in teaching us how important the

Scriptures are in revealing God’s will to us.


Chapter 6: The Fourth Request In The Lord’s Prayer

The fourth request is, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’

You will notice that with this request we move from God's

interests to our own. The order is significant and we must

emphasise it: God first, ourselves afterwards.

1. The last three requests together

As we consider these three requests it should not take us

long to realise that here we have in these simple but perfect

petitions, a complete statement of all our needs as

Christians in this world. The requests cover both physical

and spiritual needs and there is nothing which we need for

life here below which is not included. The needs of the

whole man are covered, both for body and soul, in these

three amazing statements. There is nothing which we need

or ought to ask for ourselves which is outside the scope of

this part of the prayer: our daily bread, forgiveness of sins

and to be kept from sin in the future. How amazingly

comprehensive is this wonderful prayer, yet how

condensed.

2. The place of the fourth request

In the Lord's Prayer we have been dealing with those

infinities and immensities concerning God's glory, his

kingdom, his will. As we move into this second part of the

prayer, you would have expected something more elevating

than a request for our daily bread! And yet it is the first and

foremost of our needs. Why? There is really a very simple


answer to this. We human beings consist of two parts:

body and soul (spirit). We have a physical aspect to us and

a spiritual aspect. But for the soul to find expression, the

body must also be functioning. Thus we ought to recognize

that the body needs to be sustained in order to keep body

and soul together. This request recognizes the importance

of the whole person, not just our spiritual part (see James

2:15-17).

3. The meaning of the fourth request

(a) Our daily bread

We are praying for our physical needs, and for those things

necessary for our physical wellbeing. This does not only

include bread but all the food we need. Not that we should

eat sumptuously, but that we should have enough to sustain

us. In addition, when we pray for our daily bread we are

also praying for work so that we can buy our food. We are

taught this in 2 Thessalonians 3:10,

“For even when we were with you, we gave you this

rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’”

This request takes on a new significance for those who are

unemployed. When we pray for our daily bread we also

pray for the means to obtain it.

(b) It is daily bread We are not asking that we should have enough for the

future, but only for the present. Every day has its own

needs and concerns. We might not even be here tomorrow


so we have this instruction to ask for our needs on a daily

basis. Matthew 6:34 echoes a similar sentiment where

Jesus teaches us,

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for

tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough

trouble of its own.”

Note also that we are being instructed to pray every day.

(c) We ask God to give us our daily bread

This reminds us that we have no essential rights before

God. All that we have, down to our necessary food is a gift

from God, not a right. And in this age when everyone is

shouting about their rights, it is a salutary reminder that

even our staple diet is a gift from God. The Psalmist

teaches us this in Psalm 145:15-16,

“The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their

food at the proper time. You open your hand and

satisfy the desires of every living thing.”

(d) We ask God to give us our daily bread It is not give me, but us. And this reminds us that the needs

of others are as important as our own and we must never

adopt a wholly selfish view even about our food.

4. With this request we are asking God to give us all

things needful for our bodies


(a) God is interested in the smallest details of our lives

As our heavenly Father, God has a concern for our well-

being which exceeds our own. In Matthew 6:25-26 Jesus

taught that even the very hairs of our head are numbered.

So we should not be afraid to bring to God those details of

our lives which are causing us concern. He too is

concerned about our physical as well as spiritual well-

being. Nothing is too small or minor or beyond His

concern.

(b) We are completely dependent upon God for all our

physical needs

God not only created all things, but he also sustains them.

We are taught in Psalm104:13-15,

“He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;

the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes

grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to

cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: wine

that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces

shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.”

We need to be reminded of this in our day. It is true that

people today know more of the laws of Science than ever

before and are supposedly able to control our environment

better. Yet that does not alter the fact that it is through

God's providential and sustaining work that our physical

needs are met. We may plant and sow, but if God does not

give the increase then there will be no harvest. If he

withholds the rain or sun or sends hail or frost then the

crops either will not grow or will be spoiled. That is why it


is appropriate for Christians to have a Harvest

Thanksgiving.

(c) It is not spiritual to neglect the body

This is not very common today because we seem more

tempted to neglect our souls. It does however need to be

said, for there are still some who have this view that the

body is really an encumbrance. This was the view that was

behind the medieval practice of beating oneself and

holding a protracted fast. Martin Luther, before his

conversion, fasted and beat himself almost to the point of

killing himself. Our bodies do need food and rest and

relaxation and exercise. If you are a workaholic then you

need to take note of this point. And particularly in this day

of sedentary work, if you sit at a desk all day and take little

or no physical exercise then do not be surprised if your

body suffers as a result.

(d) Our physical condition has a significant influence

over our spiritual condition

In his book on Spiritual Depression, Dr. D. M. Lloyd-Jones

advises that we should first look for physical reasons as to

why we are depressed. In many cases our physical

condition can cause spiritual depression. For example, if

you come to Church tired out then it is much more difficult

to concentrate on the sermon, whereas if you are rested and

refreshed then it becomes so much easier to apply yourself

to spiritual activities. Physical fitness, if wisely used, can

be a great help in performance of spiritual duties.


(e) We shall be rewarded for ministering to the physical

needs of others

This is particularly true of aid given to God's people. Even

a cup of cold water given in the Lord's name will not be

forgotten (see Matthew 25:34-40). We must not neglect the

spiritual needs of others, but our care and concern for the

physical wellbeing of the people of God will not be

forgotten on the day of judgement.

Chapter 7: The Fifth Request In The Lord’s Prayer

The fifth request is for God to, “Forgive our debts, as we

also have forgiven our debtors.”

1. The relationship between the fourth and fifth

requests

Perhaps you had thought that there was no connection, but

there is one, since the connecting word ‘and’ is used in the

original Greek manuscripts which is often not included in

some Bible translations. By the use of that term the Lord is

reminding us that just as we need to pray daily for our

physical needs, so too we must daily pray for our sins to be

pardoned and cleansed. As the Puritan Thomas Watson puts

it: “Daily bread satisfies the physical appetite, daily

forgiveness the conscience.” We need reminding of this

because even Christians sometimes think of themselves in

terms of physical necessities only and lose sight of their

soul's relationship to God. Just as God does not supply all

our physical needs in one lump, neither does he supply our


spiritual needs in one lump sum. If God had done this we

would take the gift and ignore the Giver. So God puts the

supply for our spiritual needs as a deposit in the ‘bank of

faith’ and we may only draw on it in instalments. 1 John

1:9 states,

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will

forgive us our sins and purify us from all

unrighteousness.”

The tense of the verb ‘purify’ is 'goes on purifying’ or ‘goes

on cleansing.’ How good to know the Lord’s provision is

for on-going pardon for we all stumble and fall and let the

Lord down, yet he is always willing to pardon us when we

repent. One pastor from a former age said that if he died in

the pulpit he would like to die preaching repentance, and if

he died out of the pulpit he wanted to die practising it.

2. That our spiritual needs are more important than our

physical needs

We learn this because there is only one request to do with

physical needs but two to do with our spiritual wants.

Although the body is important and we sin if we neglect

our bodies, the soul is the highest faculty we possess and is

far more valuable than the body. This principle is

illustrated in the temptations when Jesus declared in

Matthew 4:4,

“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but

on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”


Jesus also emphasized the importance of our spiritual lives

over our physical in Matthew 10:28,

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot

kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can

destroy both soul and body in hell.”

3. The meaning of forgiveness

When God forgives us he pardons us, which means that he

wipes out the debt of our sins and will not exact the

punishment due to them. Forgiveness with God means that

he forgets our sins and that he will never bring them up

against us. The Psalmist David was so grateful to the Lord

for this and described it in these words in Psalm 103:12,

“as far as the east is from the west, so far has he

removed our transgressions from us.”

Then quoting from Jeremiah 31:34 the writer to the

Hebrews declared in Hebrews 10:17,

“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

God’s forgiveness is complete.

4. The basis of forgiveness

Immediately we talk about God forgiving and forgetting

sins, the question arises: how can a holy God forgive the

sinner and remain just and righteous? The answer is, only

because the Lord Jesus Christ paid the debt due to his


people when he laid down his life on the cross. To keep

this ever before us the apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:7,

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we

have fellowship with one another, and the blood of

Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

That is the basis on which we can ask God to forgive us

and be assured that he will. It is a most costly forgiveness

for Jesus had to die in order for us to be forgiven. Only

those who have repented of their sin and have received the

salvation offered in Christ can thus pray for forgiveness, no

others have the right to do so. The Lord's Prayer is the

Christian's prayer and not for unbelievers.

5. The depth of this request

In answer to the question, ‘What do we pray for in this fifth

request of the Lord’s prayer?’ we have to say we are asking

that God will pardon our sins for Christ's sake and help us

to forgive those who have sinned against us.

(a) Sin is described as a debt

There are several terms used to describe sin in the

Scriptures. For example, ‘transgression’ which means

stepping over a line. But in this prayer the term debt is used.

This simply means that sin consists of not fulfilling my

obligations to God, which are found in the ten

Commandments. This request for God to forgive us our

debts is a clear indication that the Christian is obliged to

keep the ten Commandments. Because his imperfection in


meeting the standard has been dealt with by the death of

Christ, it does not remove the obligation to live to God's

glory. Paul put this another way in Romans 8:12-14,

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an

obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according

to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will

die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of

the body, you will live. For those who are led by the

Spirit of God are the children of God.”

(b) The true Christian will be conscious of sin

If there was to be no consciousness of sin then why have

this request in the prayer at all? Immediately we can see

that two particular errors are demolished by the Lord's

Prayer:

(i) Perfectionism

There are those who claim that they have been

delivered from all known sin and therefore do not have

to pray any longer for forgiveness. But this claim only

proves their ignorance of the darkness and iniquity of

their own hearts, and it also proves their ignorance of

the spirituality of the law. Those who hold these

perfectionist views say that if you need to pray for

forgiveness then you are not in a state of victory. But

surely the exact opposite is true. If you do not pray this

regularly then you will soon not be in a state of victory.

The Bible flatly denies such perfectionism (see 1 John

1:5-10; Matthew 5:4). The Apostle Paul, in one of the


last letters he ever wrote, speaks of himself as the

‘chief’ or ‘worst’ of sinners (see 1 Timothy 1:15).

(ii) Positionalism

Those who advocate this view say that for the

Christian your sin has been dealt with by God through

Christ. God has justified you and forgiven you; why

drag up your sin again if God has forgotten it? Yes it is

true that we are no longer under condemnation for sin,

we do not come to God as Judge, but the Lord's prayer

has to do with our continued fellowship with God and

he will not allow us to enjoy this to the full if it is

marred by sin. We must confess our sins if we are to

enjoy the Father's smile. Not having our sins dealt with

is probably why so many Christians are lacking in joy.

(c) The true Christian is one who forgives others

“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” The

importance of this principle is underlined by the Lord in

Matthew 6:14 where he adds,

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against

you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

It is the only part of the prayer which he repeats, so it must

be very important. It is not that God forgives us because we

forgive others, but that we can test whether or not we are

forgiven by our attitude to others. There is no such person

as an unforgiving Christian. The parable of the unmerciful

servant illustrates the point forcibly in Matthew 18:21-35.

The servant had been forgiven a huge debt and then went


out and exacted a trivial sum from a fellow servant. The

supreme example of what we should be like is our Lord

Jesus Christ on the cross who said, “Father forgive...”

Chapter 8: The Sixth Request in the Lord’s Prayer

The sixth request asks, “And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil” or “the evil one”.

1. The relationship of this request to the rest of the

prayer

There is a progression of thought throughout the whole

prayer: God's name, God's kingdom and God's will take

precedence and should have first place in our praying. We

are also encouraged to pray for our own needs and

requirements both physical and spiritual. And after asking

that our basic bodily needs should be met, the fifth request

has dealt with our most urgent spiritual need, the need of

forgiveness of sins. But even as true Christians receive

forgiveness from God, they realise their weakness and the

possibility of falling into further sin in the future. So this

final request deals with the whole problem of being kept

from sin in the future. Not that the Christian will ever be

sinless in this life - the Bible never teaches that - but it is

still the earnest desire of the genuine Christian to live “a

godly, righteous and sober life to the glory of God's holy

name” as the Prayer Book puts it. Another writer has said:

“The loathing which we have of sin in the holy moment of

pardon, strangely weakens when we find ourselves in the


old atmosphere with the old temptation wearing its most

alluring garb.”

2. The meaning of this request

The request has two aspects to it: negative and positive.

Some have suggested that there are two requests, but the

thought in these two parts is so linked that in reality they

are one request.

(a) The negative aspect of the request. “And lead us not

into temptation.”

Now the word temptation means simply to put to the test

and it can be with a good or bad end in view. God tests us

with a good motive (see Job 23:10). But the context here is

not that of being tested by God, but of being tempted with

the motive of us falling into sin. We are not praying to be

kept from temptation as such, but we are asking that God

will not lead us into a situation or circumstances where we

would be overcome by temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13

expresses a similar thought,

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is

common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not

let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when

you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that

you can endure it.”

We are asking to be kept from situations which would

prove too much for us and so lead us into sin. There are

certain circumstances, places and company which would be


our undoing. We are therefore praying that God would help

us avoid such and we must thus not tempt the providence

of God by deliberately putting ourselves in the way of

temptation.

(b) The positive aspect. “but deliver us from evil” or “the

evil one.”

This request is not so much referring to physical protection

but protection in spiritual matters. Some modern

translations limit the sense to the evil one, but that is only

one aspect of evil from which we are praying to be

delivered. We do need to be delivered from the devil and

all his schemes, but we also need to be delivered from the

evil of our own hearts (see Jeremiah 17:9), and the evil in

the world - those influences which would mould us into its

way of thinking and behaving (see 1 John 2:15-17). Thus

in this petition we are asking that God would keep us and

deliver us from every kind of evil which would draw us

into sin. Jesus himself prayed for this concerning his

disciples in John 17:15,

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world

but that you protect them from the evil one.”

As A. W. Pink says: “To be kept from the evil of sin is a far

greater mercy than deliverance from the trouble of

temptation.” Or as Thomas Watson puts it: “Not that we

pray to be delivered immediately from the presence of

indwelling sin, for that cannot be in this life, but we pray

that God would deliver us more and more from the power


and practice, from the very acts of sin.” Is that what you

are praying for?

3. We are praying that God would keep us from sin

(a) The greatest evil we face is sin

We are not asking for deliverance from the threat of war or

the nuclear bomb or natural disaster or illness or trials in

this request. In this respect we are not asking to be

delivered from these, but from the far greater evil of sin.

Why is this? Because it is God's prime concern, not to save

us from the mere consequences of sin but from sin itself.

How seriously do you regard sin? Is it to you ‘the plague of

plagues’? One of our greatest problems is that we have too

light a view of sin. Great claims are being made about the

Holy Spirit's work today, but where is his first work:

conviction of sin? The pathway to true revival has always

been through a greater awareness and consciousness of

personal sinfulness.

(b) The great evil of sin is that it strikes at the

relationship between the Christian and God

The thing which mars fellowship with God is sin. Isaiah

the prophet declared this to the people of his day in Isaiah

59:2,

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will

not hear.”


So when we pray this petition, it is because we do not want

our fellowship with God to be marred or broken. True

fellowship with God is the very essence of the Christian

life (see John 17:3).

(c) This request reminds us that it is through

temptation that we are led into sin

Temptation is the means that the devil uses to get us to sin.

There will be temptations; the request reminds us of that

fact. The Christian life will be a war where we will be

constantly assaulted by evil. We need to be on our guard

against those three avenues of temptation: the world, the

sinful nature and the devil. Temptations will come from all

three quarters.

(d) The Bible tells us how to deal with temptation

Jesus said in Mark 14:38,

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into

temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

(i) Watch. First of all we need to watch ourselves to

know our weaknesses. We also need to watch the

enemy and his tactics. Do not be ignorant of his

devices and schemes (know our Bibles).

(ii) Pray. Depend upon God in all situations and

circumstances. Pray for His help at all times.

Develop the habit of being like Nehemiah. His

arrow prayer in Nehemiah 2:4 was only on the

basis of regular prayer (see Nehemiah 1:4ff). Pray


both when facing a crisis and in the midst of a

crisis, but always with the first desire to be kept

from sin and evil.

This is the last study specifically on the Lord's Prayer.

There is one final consideration, which is the doxology

which appears in some versions of the Bible: “Yours is the

kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever.

Amen.” Although we cannot be sure whether these words

were actually uttered by our Lord at this point, all we can

say is that they are a fitting and appropriate conclusion to

the prayer. For no prayer is complete without praise and

thanksgiving. Indeed, the measure of our spirituality is

indicated by the measure of our praise and thanksgiving.

The sentiment of that closing doxology that has

traditionally been added at the end of the Lord’s prayer is

fully in accord with what we find in 1 Chronicles 29:11

where David prays to God,

“Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the

glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything

in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the

kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”

Chapter 9: Prayer teaches us our complete dependence

on God

1. Prayer teaches us our complete dependence upon

God for Salvation


The Bible is clear in its statements that it is God who saves:

we cannot save ourselves. It is only on the basis of what

God has done through his Son that the sinner can be

reconciled to God. Where does prayer come in? Prayer

comes in because in order to obtain this salvation we must

call upon God (see Acts 2:21; Matthew 7:7-9). Asking,

seeking and knocking are all descriptive of prayer. In John

6:37 Jesus speaks of coming to him. Prayer is the only way

we can come to Christ today, for he is not here in the flesh.

2. Prayer teaches us our complete dependence upon

God for our growth in grace

Just as the Christian enters into new life by prayer, so too

does he or she continue by prayer. Indeed the measure of

our growing will be determined by the measure of our

praying. Consider the following:

Ephesians 6:18 The whole armour of God is to be put

on with prayer.

Philippians 4:6 Prayer is the only antidote to anxiety. If

our minds are in a constant state of agitation, with no

real peace then we are ignoring this exhortation.

Hebrews 4:16 Prayer will enable us to find grace to

help in time of need.

James 1:5 If we lack anything, including wisdom, we

must ask of God.

James 4:2-3 We do not have because we do not ask

God, or we ask for the wrong things.

Growing Christians are praying Christians.


3. Prayer teaches the Church's dependence upon God

for its reviving and restoring

Just as the Christian cannot expect to grow without prayer,

so too the Church cannot expect to grow without prayer.

The Apostle Paul in his letters often asks for prayer,

particularly that he will be given power in his preaching

(see Ephesians 6:19-20). Notice the phrase “devote

yourselves to prayer” in Colossians 4:2-3. One of the

main troubles in the Church today is that we have got our

priorities wrong; prayer does not have the place in our lives

which it should. That is why there are empty places at the

church prayer meetings and why we often put other

Christian activities before prayer. Yet prayer should be first,

and it would be if we realised our complete dependence

upon God.

This book is supplied by Grace Baptist Mission and

other titles are available in e-mail format at the address

below:

Grace Baptist Mission

12 Abbey Close

Abingdon

OXON

OX14 3JD

UK

e-mail: [email protected]

introducing the lord's prayer a5 - gbm.org.uk

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