Some Final Thoughts on The Lord’s Prayer

In the beginning, God created light, the planets, the atmosphere, plants, animals, then Adam and Eve were placed in the garden. Eden—unspoiled paradise—was our first home. But Adam and Eve weren’t alone, God was there. And I don’t mean he was there in some incorporeal form, He was in the garden in such a way that Adam and Eve knew the sound of Him walking (Genesis 3:8).

But then we decided—Adam and Eve, along with each of us every day—we decided we didn’t need God anymore. We chose the fruits of creation for our source of wisdom instead of going to the one who created it all (Genesis 3:6). And just like that, when we took a bite of the fruit we cut off our relationship with God. No longer would Adam and Eve wake up to the sound of God walking in the cool of the day in the garden and no longer would they talk with him directly. One bite of that fruit and God gave them over to what they wanted—autonomy, freedom, and the lovely feeling of flying blind.

This doesn’t mean that God walked away. Contrary to what many might say, the Old Testament is filled with God’s work of reconnecting with his people. He chose a family when called Abram. He chose a nation when he selected Jacob. When he called Moses he freed and then instructed a nation. And by the time David came on the scene, he ruled a nation through his chosen person. But during each of those steps, people constantly rejected him; they did what was right in their own eyes and they did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. And they got what they wanted; the freedom to find wisdom in creation instead of from the creator.

But God never abandoned them. Sure, they were sent into exile, but God was still working his eternal plan (Ephesians 3:11). You see, before Adam and Eve walked in the garden, God planned to redeem humanity from the sins we would commit—to reconnect us with him even after we had rejected him. He planned to reinstate communication between us and him.

So God reached out to humanity by sending his Son, Jesus, to earth to communicate the will and wisdom of the Father to us in both word and deed. He taught us how to live as children of the Father, but he also taught us how to communicate with the Father. Jesus had a brief conversation with his disciples after he had been praying. One of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” He was asking Jesus how to once again talk with the Father who created them. So Jesus gave them—he gave all of his disciples—the key to communication with the Father; he gave them The Lord’s Prayer.

If you are at all like me, you’ve not thought too much about The Lord’s Prayer except for when you have been in church. We recite it then, we hear it sung by angelic voices, but we never really—I mean really—pray it. We’ve been told that prayer is more informal. Prayer is just us talking to God in the way we normally talk. Prayer is the time when I say to God what is on my heart in the way I want to say it. Maybe that’s all prayer is. But then again, maybe there is something a bit more to prayer than that.

If there is one thing we can know from reading the Old Testament it is that God had a very specific plan for how his people were to worship him. Remember Uzzah in I Chronicles 13? He touched the ark when he wasn’t supposed to and he died. Harsh? Maybe. But the death of Uzzah tells us at least one thing; God is very particular about how we interact with him, and his way doesn’t have much to do with how we feel. God defined how our interactions with him were to proceed.

It was with this in mind that I began paying a bit more attention to The Lord’s Prayer. And I have found that it is much more than a pretty song. In these past months, I think I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of that simple prayer. This has not been just so I can know more about prayer, but so that my own prayer life could become richer. And I’ve learned a lot that guides me each time I go to prayer.

I’ve learned that God wants us to call him “Father.” The creator of the universe, the one who brought us into existence, wants to have a father-child relationship with us. We call him Father. And what a Father we have.
I’ve learned that God has put his name on all of creation, his name is writ large on every element of love in the universe, holiness, purity, redemption, sanctification, all of it, and more has the great name of our Father written across it. That’s much better than having a sports stadium named after you, or a company, or even a country. Everything that lives and breathes has the words “Created by Our Father in Heaven” stamped indelibly on its surface.

I’ve learned that God is working to bring about his kingdom where we, his children made in his image, reign over all of creation. God has made us responsible for the care of creation because he knows that we are the best versions of ourselves when we act consistently with his will.

I’ve learned that God provides for us every day, he forgives us every day, he leads us from temptation, and he delivers us from evil every day.

I’ve learned that God’s Kingdom is eternal in both power and glory, and he wants us to be in it; he wants us, along with Jesus to inherit this kingdom from him.

I’ve learned that The Lord’s Prayer is the message of the Bible—it is the gospel—and it is the way the Father wishes for us to pray. Prayer isn’t about us getting what we want, it’s about communicating with the Father. Prayer reconnects us; it aligns us with the Father’s will; it brings us the Father’s wisdom.

Jesus doesn’t want us to blindly repeat The Lord’s Prayer like it’s some sort of magical incantation bringing protection to those who faithfully chant it each morning and evening. The Lord’s Prayer is meditation, and meditation is prayer. When we pray The Lord’s Prayer—when we meditate on it line by line, even word by word—we open ourselves to be moved by the Father’s Spirit.

Before praying The Lord’s Prayer I don’t recall the last time I spent any amount of time thinking about what it means that the God of the universe is my Father. I don’t recall thinking about Jesus as my brother. I could spend hours, days, a lifetime even, just meditating on these two truths and their implications in my life. And I think the time spent doing that would be more productive than any time I spend praying according to my own formula. Yes, even more productive than praying through a list of missionaries and friends. For when it comes down to it, when it really comes down to it, we can’t pray for others if our relationship with the Father is still broken.

I don’t think this means that we abandon our lists. But I think it means that we look at our prayer lists and ask this question, “Do these items fit into the Lord’s Prayer?” You may find that your prayers for missionaries are ways in which you are praying for the Father’s kingdom to come. Great! Then as you pray “thy kingdom come” let your prayer for the Father’s kingdom include the missionary and their work. You may find that your prayers for a friend struggling with sin are part of your prayer “lead us not into temptation.” Great! Then ask the Lord to guide them, but also ask the Lord what he would have you do to help your friend stay away from sin.

But you might find that some things on your prayer list don’t fit anywhere. Maybe the things you pray for aren’t really what a citizen of the Father’s kingdom would have. Maybe the desire for a position of influence, a new job, a date, a spouse, or some material thing doesn’t really fit into the Father’s Kingdom. Maybe they do, but maybe by praying The Lord’s Prayer you are convicted by the Father that those things are not really part of his plan for you
The point of prayer—the point of seeking the Father’s wisdom—is to change who we are and what we desire. We don’t pray so God will give us what we think we want. That’s the mistake Adam and Eve made. They wanted what they wanted and they wanted it now, so they ate the fruit. Things haven’t changed much since then, have they? We do the same thing. We reach out and grab what we want without a second thought about prayer. But that never worked well for God’s people in the Bible, did it?

Prayer is a way to communicate with God, our Father, and listen to him and his wisdom. We pray so that his thoughts become our thoughts; his ways become our ways. This is why Jesus replied to his disciples the way he did; he wanted to return us to the place where we sought the wisdom of God from our Heavenly Father.

I think this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote, “Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:16). He didn’t want us to walk around with our heads down, hands folded, and mouth muttering prayers. Neither did he want us to just have a continual attitude of prayer. Paul wants us to pray at any and all times that we can. As I study and pray The Lord’s Prayer I find that when I lay down for a nap, or go to bed, or sit in traffic, or wake in the middle of the night, or just have a few minutes of down-time, words from The Lord’s Prayer come immediately to mind; the words filter through my mind.

I might spend a few minutes meditating on the fact that God is my Father.
I might spend a few minutes meditating on reasons to praise his name.
I might pray through the beatitudes, assessing how I am living in the Father’s Kingdom.
I might pray for the Father’s will in both my occupation and my behavior.
I might thank the Father for his provision, both physically and spiritually.
I might question if I am too focused on providing for myself.
I might…

I think you get the idea. Any time we have a free moment is a good time to pray through the Lord’s Prayer. But there is more. The Lord’s Prayer is also a prayer of conviction; it is a mirror revealing my imperfections and teaching me to rely on the Father.

Can I really call God my Father if I am always doing everything in my own power?
Can I really pray that his Kingdom comes if I am building my own kingdom?
Can I really pray to not be led into temptation if I actively pursue temptations?
Can I really…

Maybe you are beginning to see why The Lord’s Prayer is such an important prayer. It is efficient and complete. Each part of the prayer is necessary and there is nothing left out. It opens us up to a real conversation with our Heavenly Father about what he is doing in creation and in us. And it is one of the most important steps in repairing our relationship with the Father. When I see The Lord’s Prayer in this way I understand why the enemy would rather we not pay it much attention. I think the enemy wants us to sing it on Sunday mornings and put it on pretty plaques, but in doing so he hopes that we never really pay it much attention. But if we really want to reconnect with our Father we must pay it attention; we must, if we are his disciples, obey Jesus’s words when he said,

“When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”