Luke 11:1-4 (CSB)
He was praying in a certain place and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,
Father, your name be honored as holy. Your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.”
Depending on which translation of the Bible you read, you will find the wording of The Lord’s Prayer reads differently. The meaning is still the same but in a different style. In each translation of the Bible you will also find a longer version of The Lord’s Prayer:
Matthew 6:9-13 (CSB)
“Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
The translation I have grown up with is as follows:
Our Father, who art in Heaven Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not in to temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory Forever and ever, Amen.
Let us now take a look at the meaning of this prayer.
If we were to write a letter of importance to someone, we would most likely start the letter with, Dear Sir/Madam. So when we begin to pray The Lord’s Prayer, we are addressing God as, Our Father who is in heaven. The word hallowed in the Merriam-Webster dictionary tells us it means Holy, consecrated, sacred, revered. In the Oxford dictionary we see it also means respected and important. So when we pray, ‘Our Father who art in Heaven Hallowed be Thy name,’ we acknowledge God as Holy, respected and important.
‘Thy Kingdom come’
We are praying for the Gospel to reach unbelievers, for their souls to be saved and for God’s Kingdom to grow.
‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’
This part of the prayer focuses on God’s commands being obeyed by all. It is about getting our thoughts into alignment with God’s thoughts. Life on earth will be like heaven when Jesus returns to take control and reign for 1000 years.
‘Give us this day our daily bread’
This not only means physical bread to eat but it also means spiritual bread for the nourishment of our immortal soul.
Jesus tells us not to be worried about the days ahead –
Matthew 6:34 (CSB)
“Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Looking at this verse of scripture, we see, we should only be concerned about one day at a time. So, asking for our ‘daily bread’ is about trusting God to supply our needs today and every day but one day at a time, and we receive not just bread for our physical nourishment but also bread for our spiritual nourishment.
‘And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us’
This tells us that if we do not forgive others, then God will not forgive us.
Matthew 6:14-15 (CSB)
“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.”
‘And lead us not into temptation’
Even believers in God can be tempted to sin. While God does not tempt us to sin, He can allow us to be tempted if we can grow in faith and character from the experience.
James 1:13 (CSB)
No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 (CSB)
No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
‘But deliver us from evil’
The devil comes only to steal, kill and destroy.
John 10:10 (CSB)
“A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.”
Jesus said these words. The thief he is referring to is the devil. The devil comes to destroy us but Jesus comes to save us. By asking God to deliver us from evil we are asking for protection and deliverance from the snare of the devil. We live in a fallen world and we must be very aware of the snares and traps of the devil.
‘For thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory’
Jesus is the name above all names. He has all authority, power and glory.
Philippians 2:9-11 (CSB)
For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
‘Forever and ever, Amen’
1 Chronicles 16:36 (CSB)
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting.” Then all the people said, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”
We see from the Old Testament that the Lord’s name is to be praised forever and ever. In the New Testament we read –
Philippians 4:20 (CSB)
Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:11 (CSB)
To him be dominion forever. Amen.
When we finish our prayers with the word Amen, how many of us actually understand the meaning of this word? In the Oxford dictionary we are told the word Amen means ‘may it be so’ or ‘so be it.’ It also means truth, certainty and verily. We use the word Amen as an expression of faith.
A summary of The Lord’s Prayer:
We are being respectful to God and acknowledging that He is our Father. We are praising His name and getting our thoughts into alignment with God’s thoughts. We are accepting that God is in control and not us. We are asking God to supply our physical and spiritual needs. We are repenting and asking God for forgiveness but we must first forgive others. We are asking God for His protection over our life and deliverance from sin and the snares of the devil. We know that God’s name is to be praised forever and ever and we say clearly and without any doubt the word Amen, as an expression of our faith.
Onward Christian Soldiers 