Before we get into the Lord’s prayer, it’s important to note that Jesus taught how to pray on two separate occasions. The first time was at the beginning of his ministry at the Sermon on the Mount as recorded by Matthew. The second time was much later in response to a question from one of his disciples as recorded by Luke. We will look at both of these passages. Although both are very similar in content, there are slight differences which we will note as we study the Luke passage. In fact MacDonald differentiates between the two calling the Matthew passage The Lord’s Prayer and the Luke passage The Disciple’s Prayer. First, let’s take a look at Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus is speaking to the crowds at the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:9-13

Notice that in verse 9 Jesus tells us to pray "after this manner." This is an instruction more on the way we should pray than on the actual words we need to pray. This is confirmed by the Luke passage where Jesus slightly changes some of the phrases. I believe Jesus is giving us a guideline -- after this manner. Jesus’ prayer is both brief and simple, and probably so purposely. We need to come to God in simplicity. We don’t have to be flowery or wordy. It’s like just coming to your earthly Father and sitting at his side telling him what kind of day you’ve had. Or you can think of it as sharing with a close friend all the deepest secrets, disappointments, and dreams of your heart. Here is an outline of this prayer:

1. Acknowledge God as Lord of your life

2. Praise him

3. Pray for God’s will to be done, not your own will

4. Make your requests known to him

5. Ask for forgiveness

6. Pray for his help for the trials you may face today

7. Praise and worship him

Now this is simple enough, isn’t it? God makes things easy for us. It’s theologians that make things complicated, but God keeps it simple. We will be coming back to this passage in Matthew at the end of this study, but I want to now look at the occasion of the Lord’s prayer given by Luke in Luke 11:1-4. We will go through the Luke section verse by verse and then return to Matthew for our conclusion.

Luke 11:1-4

Verse 1

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

The first thing we see in this verse is that Jesus prayed. He believed in prayer and practiced it. Throughout the Bible man is encouraged to pray. Here are some scriptures:

(Romans 8:26 NKJV) Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

(Psalm 55:17 NKJV) Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.

(James 5:13-16 NKJV) Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

(1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV) pray without ceasing,

(Luke 21:36 NKJV) "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."

(Mark 11:24 NKJV) "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

(Jeremiah 29:11-13 NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

If we understand that the Son of God, who had all the power of the universe at his disposal, felt the need to pray while here on earth, how much more do we need to follow his example. This I think is what the disciples sensed. Upon seeing him praying, they realized they needed to follow his example. Let’s be a disciple of Jesus. Do we want to know how to pray? Are we willing to listen to his instruction? God graciously gave us these guidelines contained here in the 11th chapter of Luke and also the 7th chapter of Matthew. I believe this shows us not so much a ritual form for prayer, but rather a series of attitudes we need to develop in our prayer life.

Notice that the disciples had a desire to pray. This is the first step in learning how to pray: having a desire to do it. We will never truly learn how to communicate with our Creator if we don’t have a genuine desire to be alone with God. We make time for what’s important in our life. Do you want to pray? Make some time for God. If you lack this desire, pray that God will give it to you. We need to be willing to spend time communing with our Savior, our Redeemer, our Helper, our Friend, our Heavenly Father.

We see from verse 1 that not only had the disciples seen Jesus praying, but they also were taught by John the Baptist to pray. So even before they came to Jesus, Godly men had been influencing their lives. Apparently John did not take praying lightly, but was a dynamic witness to the necessity and power of prayer. Do people see this in our life? Is our prayer life a witness that would cause others to want to pray?

Verse 2

Jesus is responding to a request by one of his disciples. Luke doesn’t tell us who that disciple might be, but it is possible that this disciple was not present at the Sermon on the Mount. But even if he were at the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, here in the Luke narrative the disciple is responding to a specific time when Jesus was praying. Sometimes we may have been instructed and have knowledge of the things of God, but It’s only when we have a real desire in our heart that we are ready to receive spiritual understanding to go along with our head knowledge. Throughout this study of the Lord’s prayer, we will be using both passages to gain a better understanding of exactly how we should pray.

Our Father: The first thing we are to realize in our hearts as we pray is that God is our Father. God is not some impersonal force dwelling in some far reaches of the universe inaccessible to us. Nor is he a stern tyrant watching every move we make ready to send down the wrath of his judgement upon us as soon as we make one little error. He is a spiritual father. I believe God gave us families so we could begin to understand how he feels toward us. As a parent you want the best for your children; you love them unconditionally no matter what trouble they may be into; and you attempt to guide and discipline them to help them grow up to be productive adults. That’s the way God looks at us. He belongs to us personally. We never have to wonder if he really loves us, or if he really cares for us. We know he will always be there for us. He is ours; we belong to him. Can you say that God is truly your heavenly Father? Do you realize that he belongs to you even more than an earthly father does? Isaiah 63:16 tells us (NASB), "For Thou art our Father, though Abraham does not know us, And Israel does not recognize us. Thou, O LORD, art our Father, Our Redeemer from of old is Thy name." And Paul wrote in Romans 8:15 (NASB), "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ " David understood this in Psalm 103:13 (NIV) where he wrote, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him." Are you experiencing difficulties? Are you having troubles physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, financially? Go to your Father. He is there to help you!

Which art in heaven: This phrase tells us that God is in heaven. Now this may seem like an obvious statement and we may be tempted to read over it and go to the rest of the verse. But if we examine it closer, I think we will find an attitude that God wants us to have. People like to bring God down to their own level. Sometimes even Christians get caught up in this same thinking. But here Jesus reminds us that we must realize that God is in heaven, we are merely of the earth. As David expressed it in Psalm 8:4 (NIV), "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" David had the proper perspective of God. The Lord declared to Isaiah in Isaiah 55:9 (NIV), "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." We learn from these verses the proper attitude we should have in our heart. When we truly realize that God is in heaven so far above us, then where is pride, where is arrogance, where is haughtiness?

Jesus was no doubt reminding his listeners of the same idea expressed throughout the Old Testament of God’s heavenly might and power:

2 Chronicles 20:6 (NASB), "and he said, ‘O LORD, the God of our fathers, art Thou not God in the heavens? And art Thou not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Thy hand so that no one can stand against Thee.’ "

Psalm 11:4 (NASB), "The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men."

Psalm 103:19 (NASB) "The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; And His sovereignty rules over all."

Isaiah 66:1 (NASB) "Thus says the LORD, ‘Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?’ "

Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NASB) "Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few."

Psalm 33:13-15 (NASB) "The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works."

Hallowed be thy name: No prayer is complete without a time of worship, of acknowledging who God is: simply praising him. Here, Jesus' praise is short, just as the whole prayer is short. This seems to tell us that it’s not so important how long or how eloquent our praise or our prayers are, but how sincere is our heart. Of course we may feel like spending more time praising Jesus for all that he’s done for us. I find that when I go to the Lord in prayer, as I am praising God, my mind is focusing on God and not on myself and my own problems. As we think of his majesty and greatness, I believe it prepares our heart to enter into communion with our heavenly Father. Worshipping acknowledges our trust in him and builds up our faith to receive from him. Before we give the Lord a long list of requests of what we want, we need to spend time communing with God and finding out what he wants for our life. If our time of prayer is only a time of giving God our wish list, then we have overlooked the spiritual importance of prayer. As we spend time with God, our spirit is being nourished so we can grow in the things of the Lord. Notice what Acts 16:25 tells us about Paul and Silas when they were thrown in the Philippian prison: "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." Their prayer was not complete without praise. Neither should ours.

Thy kingdom come: I find it interesting that Jesus should include this phrase. God’s kingdom is going to come whether we pray for it or not. Nothing can withstand God’s sovereign will. But you see, Jesus understood the weakness of the flesh. If we had our way, we’d probably pray, "My kingdom come," instead of, "Thy kingdom come." In other words, instead of praying God help me in all that I am doing, we should be praying God what should I be doing. We may have a lot of good ideas as to what needs to be done in the church, in our family, or in the community. We can even get very deeply involved in doing a large number of good works. It may be church activities, or it could be something we are doing to have a better marriage, or some efforts to make our children grow up right. It could be some task we’re doing at the job to make things run better. It could even be trying to force our family to become Christians. Now all these activities are good things to do, but just because they’re good works doesn’t mean they’re God’s works for us to do at this particular time. We all know the story of Simon the sorcerer recorded in Acts 8: 18-23 how he tries to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit and is condemned by Peter for having a wicked motive. But did you know that Simon was a believer? Read it in Acts 8:13 , "Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done." Also in verse 24, after Peter condemned him, he revealed a true believer’s repentant heart, "Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me." You see, Simon wanted to do a good work, but for the wrong motive. He wanted the same power that he saw demonstrated by the apostles, not to build up God’s kingdom, but rather to draw attention to himself -- to build himself up in the sight of others. Simon was thinking, "My kingdom come," when he should have been praying, "Thy kingdom come." Nothing is recorded in the Bible by accident. It may be that you have been doing a lot of good works lately, and yet you feel frustrated by the struggle of the activities. Have you asked God for his direction? Have you come to him for instruction? When we are doing things for the wrong motives, no matter how good the things are we’re doing, we will be constantly battling frustration and disappointment. We will feel overwhelmed by the burden of the task. We will become weary and tired. Why? Because we are going in our own strength instead of the Lord’s.

Thy will be done: Some people don’t like to pray this way. They don’t want God’s will to be done, they want their own will. In fact some word-faith preachers teach that if you pray "Thy will be done," you are showing a lack of faith. Why would anyone clearly contradict the words of Jesus like that? It’s because they are operating in the material realm instead of the spiritual realm. They would rather have financial wealth than spiritual riches. It is easy to condemn this false teaching in others, but we need to honestly inspect our own prayers. Do we really want God’s will to be done in our life even if it means hardship for ourselves? Don’t we usually pray, Lord deliver me from whatever problem I’m in? Maybe we should be praying, Lord give me strength to endure the hardship which you are allowing me to go through. When things are going bad, do you get mad at God for not answering your prayers? If so, it’s because you didn’t pray, Thy will be done. Or maybe you prayed it but didn’t really mean it. You prayed, Thy will be done, but meant, As long as it’s what I want. God wants us to come to him in faith and pray for our needs. In fact later in this very section in Luke 11:9 (NKJV) Jesus tells us, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Jesus wants us to pray for healing, for deliverance from troubles, for financial needs, for emotional needs. But we need to understand everything in our life happens according to God’s will. God always answers our prayers. Most of the time he answers yes, but sometimes he says no, and other times he says wait. We need to have enough faith in God that he knows what he’s doing with our lives. Billy Graham explains (The Faithful Christian pg. 149), "When we pray for help in trouble, or for healing in sickness, or for deliverance in persecution, God may not give us what we ask for because that may not be His wise and loving will for us. He will answer our prayer in His own way, and He will not let us down in our hour of need."

By instructing us to pray, Thy will be done, Jesus is teaching us that we must have complete and absolute trust in God. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:28 (NKJV), "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Do we really believe that? If we do, and we practice it, we will be a much happier Christian.

As in heaven, so in earth: By comparing this passage to the wording the King James translators gave in the Sermon on the mount recorded in Matthew 6: 9-13, we see a phrase worded a little differently. Instead of "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth," in Matthew 6:10, the translation is "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Now in the Greek these phrases are identical. But the King James translators have inadvertantly revealed, by these two differing phrases, what our attitude toward spiritual things and toward earthly things should be. In Luke the stress is on the spiritual. God wants us to walk in the spirit and thus overcome the flesh: as in heaven, so in earth. As Paul stated (Gal 5:16 NASB) "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." So the emphasis in Luke is on our spiritual walk. But in Matthew the accent is on our earthly walk. We will have to face trouble in our earthly journey, but we need to look heaven-ward for our help. Jesus told his disciples (John 16:33 NASB) "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." But it is clear we are to remain in this world to help advance God’s kingdom by telling others about him. Jesus said in John 17:15, (NASB) "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one." So we must walk in the Spirit, but we must also realize God has called us to minister in this world.

Verse 3

This phrase is the only request for material or physical goods in the Lord’s prayer. There are no requests for new clothes, a car, a new house, or riches. How does this compare with our prayers? I’m afraid too much of our own prayers are filled with things that we want, and not enough in the other areas of Jesus’ model prayer. Of course the Lord loves us and he provides us with many material blessings. But as long as he is giving us our basic daily needs, we shouldn’t be disappointed. There’s nothing wrong with praying for other things, but let’s not place undo emphasis on material goods. It’s interesting that immediately following his teaching on prayer and the Lord’s prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 6:19-21, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." If the Lord provides us with immense abundance or with only daily bread, in either case we should equally rejoice because he has met our needs. What more can we ask for?

God provides us with physical bread for nourishment as he did the children of Israel when he sent them manna as recorded in Exodus 16:15 (NKJV) "So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.’ " And Isaiah 33:16 (NKJV) "He will dwell on high; His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will be sure." But Jesus is also talking about spiritual food. John 6:27 (NKJV) tells us, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." And John 6:35 (NKJV), "And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’ "

Luke 11:3 is also teaching us not to worry about tomorrow as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:33-34 (NKJV), "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Notice the way Jesus worded his instruction here in Luke: "Give us day by day our daily bread." In other words we are to look for our needs taken care of day by day, not by the week, not by the month, not by the year. Just trust him day by day. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus made it even clearer. In Matthew 6:11 he said, "Give us this day our daily bread." So don’t get all up tight about tomorrow or the next day. God will take care of you today. And if he takes care of you today, you have the assurance that he will take care of you tomorrow and the next day -- day by day. If God has blessed you so that you are taken care of for the next few weeks, months, or years, then rejoice in his goodness to you. But if not, then rejoice that he will take care of you today. He has promised it in his Word.

Verse 4

And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Forgive us our sins: This little phrase tells us a lot. Remember in Matthew 6:11, Jesus said we should pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," certainly indicating that we are to pray every day, actually throughout the day every day. This means Jesus anticipated that we would sin each day and need to ask forgiveness. As John wrote in 1 John 1:8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Jesus knew we would sin and need forgiveness. In fact, that’s why he was here on this earth: to redeem us from our sins. The next thing this phrase implies is that if we ask God to forgive us, he will forgive us. John went on to write in the very next verse in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This is important for Christians to understand: we are not perfect, and we will fail, but our heavenly Father forgives us daily, hourly, moment by moment as we confess to him. Now, this isn’t a license to sin. But when we fail, and we all do, we need not feel worthless and under condemnation. Jesus will forgive us. He understands our weakness and is very patient with us. But I think we need to do more than just mechanically ask for forgiveness. I believe the Lord wants us to repent of our sin -- to feel sorry about it and want to change.

In the Lord’s prayer Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:12 Jesus uses the term, "forgive us our debts," instead of Luke’s, "forgive us our sins." Hill (The New Century Bible Commentary, Matthew pg. 138) suggests that Jesus may have actually used the Aramaic word hoba which would usually mean sin as Luke renders it. But it could also mean a debt owed, and it would seem that Matthew, the tax collector, perhaps relating the way the word was used in his own profession, gives it the meaning of obligation: financial or otherwise. Now this one Aramaic word reveals to us exactly the two ways we need to receive forgiveness. We need to be forgiven for the awful things we do: our sins, and we also need to be forgiven for the debt we owe to God. He has done so much for us, and yet we take his blessings so much for granted. For all that he has done for us in redeeming us, in keeping us, in strengthening us, in helping us through difficult times, for those times he heals us and delivers us from trouble certainly we owe him our love, our faithfulness, our obedience, and our worship. But how often do we fail him chasing after the meager attractions of this world instead of the heavenly treasure he offers us. Yes Lord forgive us our sins, but also forgive us our debts: all that we owe you, all that we can never repay you.

For we also forgive every one that is indebted to us: We need to forgive others. Do you sometimes wonder how important it is to forgive others? Well, Peter did too. He came to Jesus in Matthew 18:21-22 (NKJV) with that very question, "Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ " Now Peter thought he was being generous: offering to forgive his brother seven times, but verse 22 tells us, "Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’ " It seems Jesus thought it was important that we forgive others. If we go back to the Lord’s prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, in the very next two verses in Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus had this to say about forgiving others, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Then again he said in Matthew 5:23-24 (NASB) "If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering." Immediately after Peter asked his question of how many times should he forgive his brother, Jesus told a parable in Matthew 18: 23-35 about a servant who owed his master ten thousand talents and was forgiven of the whole debt. Afterwards this same servant refused to forgive a fellow servant who owed him 100 pence. Comparing these two debts today would be like comparing 10,000 dollars to 100 pennies. The master heard about it and in verses 32-34 (NKJV) Jesus tells us, "Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him." Then Jesus makes this strong statement in verse 35 (NKJV), "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses." So it seems pretty clear to me: we need to forgive those who wrong us. As Paul wrote in Colossians 3:12-13 (ASV) "Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye:"

And lead us not into temptation: The Greek word used here for "lead us not" is eisenegkes which literally means, "bring us not." into temptation. Vincent explains (Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. I, pg. 359-360), "James tells us that God does not tempt any man (1:13); but the circumstances of a man’t life often, indeed always, involve possibilities of temptation. A caution is written even over the door of God’s own house (Eccl. 5:1). God also sends trials to prove and chasten us...." I think Jesus is saying here for us to pray that God will keep us from falling into temptation. Each day we are faced with opportunities to respond to earthly desires. The main temptations we are probably more aware of, and so better able to resist, such as human lust, anger, pride in our own abilities, or making money our god, or making our job our god. But there are so many subtle influences in our life that may catch us unaware: from television, from a novel, a desire to make little negative remarks about our co-workers or boss, wanting little things around the house or for our recreation that become more important than God’s things in our life, spending our time on seemingly worthwhile activities instead of spending time in prayer and study of God’s word. Sometimes we trust God for the large areas of our life, but then we want to do things our own way in small areas that are reserved exclusively for us and we leave God out of them. Sometimes we get upset or discouraged because we discover that other Christians aren’t as perfect as we thought they should be. Other times we get disappointed with God because he didn’t do for us what we thought he should. All these are temptations that we need to be on guard for.

Do you want to know how to find out where your priorities are to see if your falling into temptations? When you get home, make some lists. First make a list of everything that’s important to you, then make a second list of everything that you enjoy doing, and finally make a third list of every activity, no matter how small, that you participated in over the last seven days.

After you have made these lists, ask yourself these questions: Where is God in my list of acitivites -- do I spend time with him, in prayer, in his word, doing his work, in his house? Would Jesus be comfortable with all of the activities that I do each week, or would he advise me against participating in some of them? Is what I think is important what God would say is important? Are the things that I enjoy doing mainly focused on earthly things, or do I have a good balance of spiritual things on my list? Now before you think that God wants you to spend 24 hours a day being holy, reading the Bible, and only associating with Christians, you need to read the second chapter of the Gospel of John where Jesus was hanging out at a marriage party. But we need to have a balance of spiritual endeavors with our necessary earthly obligations and enjoyment. The problem comes when we reserve little time for God and what he wants to do in our life. Have you ever noticed that when you skip your prayer times and Bible reading for a few days how you seem to fall into temptation easier and more quickly? That list of your activities for the past week will tell you more about your priorities than anything else. We can talk a good Christian talk, but how we spend our time each day tells us where our heart really is and what is most important to us. You can say you love God and that you want to serve him, but do you really: deep down inside? How you spend your time each week is what’s most important to you. Now don’t get me wrong: we have to work, and we have to spend time with our family especially as the children are growing up. It’s OK to take some time off and go fishing. But is our work more important than God, or is God in our work? Is our family more important than God, or is God in our family time? Is fishing more important than God, or do we see God even when we’re out fishing? I know a man who loves to go hiking in Yosemite National Park. He spends a lot of time up there. He’s told me that it’s best when he’s all alone.

It’s at those times that he feels closest to God, when he’s all alone surrounded by God’s majestic creation. What’s happened is he’s allowed God to become part of his hiking time. Have you allowed God to be part of your activities? As you do, you will be amazed at how much more enjoyable they will become.

Deliver us from evil: Notice that this doesn’t say we will never be faced with evil, nor that we will never be ensnared by evil, but rather, when we are, then Lord deliver us from evil.

The Greek word used here for evil, poneros, means evil, but how this word acquired this meaning is an interesting study in the consequences of evil. It comes from the idea of bad things which are the perils of our daily toil. As Thayer defines it (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon pg. 350), "full of labors, annoyances, hardships; pressed and harassed by labors...causing pain and trouble." Now isn’t this the perfect definition of the results of evil in our life: hardships, pain, and trouble? But the beauty of the Lord’s prayer is that we can pray for God to deliver us from evil. No matter how enslaved we have become, no matter how much evil has taken control of our life, no matter how weak we are in resisting evil, God will deliver us. He does not leave us helpless.

I want to return to Matthew 6 for the conclusion of this study on the Lord’s prayer. Jesus added these words at the end of his prayer in Matthew 6:13, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." So here at the end of our prayer it is sometimes good to spend time praising and worshipping God. A time of praise and worship makes our prayer complete. The book of Psalms was Israel’s book of prayer and praise.

As we praise him, we acknowledge that God is in control of everything. Observe the words Jesus chose: "the kingdom" means that God is in control of everything here on earth, "the power" means that God has control over everything in our life, "the glory" means that God has control over everything in the universe. How long will God take care of us? "For ever."

Footnotes:

This Study © 1996 by David Humpal, all rights reserved.

All scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version