The Lord’s Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount: A Summary

The words from the Lord’s Prayer ripple, not only through the pages of Matthew’s Gospel but also through the most famous of Jesus’s sermons, the Sermon on the Mount. When Jesus sat down on the mountaintop to teach, I doubt that his disciples grasped the full breadth and depth of his words. Perhaps it was only after they heard Jesus teach many times over the next three years or perhaps it was years after he ascended to heaven before they were able to grasp the full import of Jesus’s words. For my part, I am now in my sixth decade and just beginning to catch a glimpse of the depth found in that simple prayer Jesus gave his disciples so many years ago.

The last two posts summarized a few such insights found through the past year’s study of Matthew’s Gospel and the Lord’s Prayer. This post jumps back to a study from nearly two years ago regarding the Sermon on the Mount and how it helps shape our understanding of the Lord’s Prayer. As I reviewed those posts I found myself agreeing with nearly everything I wrote with the exception of one point. I initially placed the first and second phrases of the Lord’s Prayer — 1) Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name 2) Your kingdom come — together and then read them through the lens of the beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-16). However, I am now more inclined to see the first phrase of the Lord’s Prayer as a statement of praise that lurks in the background of the entire Sermon on the Mount. The opening phrase of the Lord’s Prayer is a call to worship the Father and his hallowed name because none of the blessings, commands, encouragements, warnings, or propositions found in the Sermon on the Mount would be possible without the Father’s direct intervention. The poor in spirit are blessed only because the Father blesses them; we can become the salt of the earth only because the Father makes us savory to a lost and dying world; we can follow the fullness of the law only because the Father and his Spirit empower us to resist temptation; we can seek heavenly treasures instead of earthly treasures only because the Father opens our eyes and changes our desires; false prophets are known only because the Father reveals the truth; we can build our house on a rock only because the Father sent his Son, Jesus, to be the rock of our salvation. Everything Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount can only come into existence because of the Father’s great name. As such, when we praise the Father’s great name we are acknowledging the fact that unless the Father chooses to act, nothing for which we pray is possible.

Following this grand opening statement of praise comes the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 5:3-16: Your kingdom come, (on earth as it is in heaven)

This first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, as is the second, is qualified by the third phrase of the Lord’s Prayer. This means that our prayer for “Your kingdom come” is not solely for an eschatological kingdom; it is for the coming of the Father’s kingdom now “on earth as it is in heaven.” His kingdom for which we pray is a kingdom wherein,

• the poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3),
• those who mourn are comforted (Matt. 5:4),
• the meek inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5),
• those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied (Matt. 5:6),
• the merciful are shown mercy (Matt. 5:7),
• the pure in heart see God (Matt. 5:8),
• the peacemakers are called sons of God (Matt. 5:9),
• those persecuted for righteousness’ sake inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:10),
• those who inherit the Father’s kingdom on earth are rewarded in heaven (Matt. 5:11-12),
• the kingdom citizens are salt to a world that has become bland (Matt. 5:13), and
• the kingdom citizens are light to a world that has become dark (Matt. 5:14-16).

The Father’s kingdom does not come by means of the world’s understanding of power and glory, but through the power of God as he glorifies fallen people so they can become his children. His children, however, do not then merely bask in the glory of God’s redemption, they act according to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer which says,

Matthew 5:17-6:18: your will be done, (on earth as it is in heaven)

This second petition, like the first, is also qualified by the third phrase of the Lord’s Prayer. This means that when we pray “your will be done” we are praying for it to be done now “on earth as it is in heaven.” The Father’s will, as seen through the lens of the Sermon on the Mount, is not a prayer for jobs, houses, or spouses, it is a prayer that,

• the Father’s righteousness would permeate the world (Matt. 5:17-20),
• the citizens of the Father’s kingdom would neither commit adultery nor lust (Matt. 5:27-30),
• the citizens of the Father’s kingdom would not divorce (Matt. 5:31–32),
• the citizens of the Father’s kingdom would not swear false oaths (Matt. 5:33-37),
• the citizens of the Father’s kingdom would not resist those that are evil (Matt. 5:38-42),
• the citizens of the Father’s kingdom would love their enemies and pray for their persecutors (Matt. 5:43-48), and
• the citizens of the Father’s kingdom would practice their acts of righteousness (give, pray, and fast) in private (Matt 6:1-16).

The Sermon on the Mount teaches that the Father’s will is for his children to become righteous in their thoughts and actions. These are the sort of children the Father finds suitable to further carry out other aspects of his will, but personal holiness is not the only thing for which we pray. Citizens of the Father’s kingdom are told also to ask for the following,

Matthew 6:19-34: Give us this day our daily bread,

This petition tells the Father’s children to rely on the Father for daily sustenance, but this petition is not only about food: it is also about appetites. The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we pray “Give us this daily bread” we are praying that we would have,

• the will and strength to lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth (Matt. 6:19-21),
• desires that seek out the things of God, not the things of this world (Matt. 6:22-24), and
• no anxiety about the needs of the body (Matt. 6:25-34).

Trusting in the Father for all we need frees up our hearts and minds from the anxieties of this life so we can turn our full focus and attention to that which the Father requires of his children. In addition to the Father’s sustenance, we are also told to seek his forgiveness, the focus of the next petition.

Matthew 7:1-12: and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Father’s forgiveness does seem to have a qualifier attached to it. When we ask for the Father’s forgiveness, we must also forgive others. This is not merely the willingness to forgive; the actual act of forgiving is required. The wording of this petition shifts the focus away from what the Father does and to what the Father’s children do. When further enlighted by the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, this means that when we pray “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” we are praying that we would,

• not judge others (Matt. 7:1-2),
• take care of our own sins before we consider helping others with their sins (Matt. 7:3-6),
• freely ask for the Father’s good gift of forgiveness only after we have forgiven others (Matt. 7:7-11), and
• avoid sinning against others by obeying the intent of the Law and the Prophets: do unto others as we would have done to us (Matt. 7:12).

The Father freely offers his forgiveness, but as children of his and citizens of his kingdom, we are to forgive others in the same way. Should we choose, however, to hold onto a grudge and choose to withhold our forgiveness, it makes very little sense that we should still expect the Father to forgive us for all the sins we have and will commit. There is, however, a step before we sin, and that step is giving into temptation, the focus of the next phrase of the Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 7:13-14: And lead us not into temptation,

When we live according to the limitations of our own power, we seem to find all of life’s rabbit holes leading to sin’s dead ends, but with the help of the Father, we are able to become holy as he is holy (Lev. 11:44). This petition asks the Father’s guidance to keep us from the source of our sin in the first place: temptation. Guided by the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount our request to be led away from temptation is a request that the Father would,

• guide us through the narrow gate of his righteousness (Matt. 7:13),
• keep us from traveling the wide and easy way of destruction (Matt. 7:13), and
• provide us with the strength and will to remain on the difficult path of the Father’s call to continuing righteousness (Matt. 7:14).

Were it not for the Father’s help in leading us away from temptation, our nature will always take us to those things that cause us to sin. The dangers in life, however, are not only those found within ourselves; there are other sources of evil, and for such we pray in the next petition.

Matthew 7:15-23: but deliver us from evil.

This might be one of the most misunderstood petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. Certainly, we pray that the Father would keep us away from the devil, but when the Sermon on the Mount is taken into account I’m not so sure Jesus had him in mind. The coordinating section of the Sermon on the Mount indicates that this petition is a prayer for the Father to,

• protect us from the influence of false prophets (Matt. 7:15),
• give us eyes to see the fruit of prophets, whether false (bad fruit) or true (good fruit) (Matt. 7:16-20),
• grant us the power to do the Father’s will not merely call him “Lord” (Matt. 7:21-23), and
• preserve us so we will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21-23).

Ever since the moment when Satan asked Eve, “Did God actually say…?” humanity has been prone to embrace evil. This concluding petition of the Lord’s Prayer seeks the Father’s protection from both the evil that swirls about the world today and our own propensity to listen to such claims that are counter to the Father’s will.

Many translations of the Bible end the Lord’s Prayer with our petition for the Father’s deliverance from evil, but some do not. Some add a concluding statement of praise, that incidentally, seems to match up quite nicely with the last section of the Sermon on the Mount which is as yet unaccounted for if the prayer ended here. The final line of the Lord’s Prayer is praise for the Father and his kingdom, and encouragement for those praying.

Matthew 7:24-27: For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

The only kingdom whose power will never wane and glory never fade is the Father’s kingdom: it will last forever. When seen through the lens of the Sermon on the Mount, this final line of praise affirms that,

• the person who hears and follows Jesus’s teachings is wise (Matt. 7:24),
• they are a citizen of the Father’s kingdom which is built upon a rock (Matt. 7:24), and
• they can withstand any and all assaults of this age or the age to come (Matt. 7:25),

but

• the person who doesn’t hear or follow Jesus’s teachings is foolish (Matt. 7:26),
• they are not part of the Father’s kingdom, their life is built on sand (Matt. 7:24), and
• they cannot withstand the assaults of this age or the age to come (Matt. 7:25).

These final words of praise provide the eternal reason why the entire Lord’s Prayer is vitally important. If the Father’s kingdom was just another reign destined to disappear over the passage of years, there would be no reason to follow the Father’s will, for petitioning the coming of his kingdom, and for asking for the Father’s provision, forgiveness, guidance, and protection. But the Father’s kingdom is eternal, his power will never fade, and his glory will never diminish. The Father’s name is great above every other name, his kingdom supreme, his providence extravagant, his forgiveness complete, his guidance perfect, and his protection overwhelming.

Jesus gave this prayer to his disciples so they might remain true to him and faithful to his teachings throughout all of life’s difficulties. The Lord’s Prayer guides our conversation with the Father on a daily basis and is a model for how to lead a life of discipleship. When Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples he gave them words to live by and words by which they could find strength. In short, he gave them words of life. Such is the Lord’s Prayer and such is the reason we pray,

“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.

• Click HERE to go to the page containing all the posts for this study on The Lord’s Prayer and Matthew

• Click HERE to go to the page containing all the posts for the study on The Lord’s Prayer and The Sermon on the Mount