Most of us know the Lord’s Prayer by heart and can easily recite it. But have you ever stopped to really think about the depth of meaning in the words of the prayer Jesus provided?
Right Perspective
This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name…
Matthew 6:9 (NIV)
In the first few lines, Jesus gives an amazing framework for prayer. Firstly, the prayer begins with relationship. God is our Father, and we are His children. We belong to Him, and He is the source of life and everything that is good (Genesis 1).
Secondly, the prayer begins in heaven, where God’s throne is established. It is incredibly significant as it pushes our attention away from ourselves. It re-orients us beyond our limited perspective and focuses us on the One who is limitless! It reminds us to put Him first.
Then comes an acknowledgement of God’s holiness, and a declaration of our willingness to honour Him over every other thing. These are powerful declarations aren’t they?
Right Priorities
…your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10 (NIV)
I love these words “Your kingdom come!” Don’t you long to see God’s rightful rulership fully established on earth?
One of the problems we have is that we can often think that God’s kingdom will look like the kingdoms of this world. That’s what the disciples thought when they asked Jesus “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).
But God’s kingdom is completely different and has nothing to do with earthly kingdoms. (Remember Jesus said that the Kingdom of God had come – even though Israel remained under the rulership of the Roman Empire.)
Instead, this prayer is asking God to establish His order. And in asking for God’s will to be done, we are agreeing to partner with Him and fully participate in His way of doing things. That means we have to surrender our agendas. So while this prayer is incredibly powerful, it is also incredibly challenging!
Seeing the words, grasping the message
When studying Scripture, one of the things that helps me see the words more clearly and grasp the message of the passage, is to put it on paper. Click HERE to see the word-picture I’ve created of Matthew 6:9-10.
Then why not create your own word-picture? It will help you slow down and think about the words in more depth – and will be very rewarding.
