The Lord's Prayer

This prayer is arguably the most well-known of all. You can even hear it at the opening of Parliament, in Australia anyway. In passing, I do wonder if there’s much thought on the obvious gap between the prayer’s content and what goes on in Parliament.

The prayer is a wonderfully complete and appropriate way to approach God. This isn’t altogether surprising given the circumstances and the origin of the prayer. Jesus gave it to his followers in response to a request from them to teach them to pray.

The words from the King James Version, though now archaic, are a fixture in our culture. They are well worth looking at beyond the normal approach of simple recitation.

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)

The NKJV Study Bible Notes give a good approach to further considering these wonderful words: “The prayer is composed of six requests. The first three ask for the kingdom to come (vv. 9, 10) and the last three are for God to meet the needs of His people until the kingdom arrives (vv. 11–13).”

The meaningful use of the words in the prayer, both as a complete prayer, and as a template for how we should pray, are a great way to approach God.

Exploring God and the kingdom that this prayer talks about is as simple as reading a bible. It can impact your life now and offers so much more for the future!