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Lord's Prayer - A Model for Prayer Last edit February 29, 2022
© 2022 by Greg Clements Permission is granted to copy and distribute this document as long as no fee of any kind is charged and this copyright notice is included in the document.
RESOURCES
Resources: I used http://www.biblegateway.com/ Bible Gateway to search various translations of the Bible, Nave’s Topical Bible, etc.
NET (NET) Bible. THE NET BIBLE, NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, COPYRIGHT © 1996 BY BIBLICAL STUDIES PRESS, L.L.C. This Bible is a free download from www.bible.org. The First edition without notes is free from https://netbible.com/download. The second edition with notes is $4.95 download as of 2018. The NET 2nd edition can be read online for no cost at https://netbible.org/bible/Romans+1 (starts at Romans Chapter 1).
(ESV) English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org
(glc) Thoughts from Greg Clements … I put this (glc) in this document sometimes to emphasize that the following are my thoughts. I tried to reference the material I pulled from other sources (Morris, NBC, Vine, etc).
Some of the Bible studies I create are posted on www.gpclements.com .
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INTRODUCTION
How should we pray? Jesus gave this model (Matthew 6:9-13) for prayer to the disciples. I often pray this prayer, but not in a rapid, from memory fashion. I pray one phrase and then meditate on it and insert other words of prayer before continuing to the next phrase.
As Christians we are invited to approach God in prayer. You may wish to read a more comprehensive study I wrote about prayer in the Old Testament and New Testament (Titled: Prayer).
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.” (NET)
Ephesians 6:18-20 “With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and petitions for all the saints. 19 Pray for me also, that I may be given the right words when I begin to speak—that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.” (NET)
1 John 5:13-14 “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have before him: that whenever we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. “ (NET)
Ephesians 3:11-12 “ This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access to God by way of Christ’s faithfulness.” (NET)
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LORD’S PRAYER …. NET and ESV versions
Matthew 6:9-13 “ So pray this way: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, 10 may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. “ (NET)
Matthew 6:9-13 “9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, “ (ESV)
Luke 11:1-4 “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 So he said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And do not lead us into temptation.’” “ (NET)
Luke 11:1-4 “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." 2 And he said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation."” (ESV)
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PHRASE BY PHRASE
The following phrases from the Lord’s Prayer are from the ESV Matthew 6:9-13.
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v9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (ESV)
(glc) We need a proper view of God. God is our Father, our source of life. God is in heaven, in a spiritual realm much different than the world we live in. Read John 14:1-3, Revelation chapters 21 and 22.
(glc) We should honor God. God and his name should be respected and held as special. Read Revelation 4:8-11. Those in heaven will call him holy and worship him.
(glc) While we are living on Earth we should worship God and our activities should honor God. If our activities and thoughts are worldly it is a bad witness to the world and God’s name is dishonored. Read Ephesians 4:1-6 and Colossians 1:1-14.
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v10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (ESV)
(glc) First: Believe in Jesus and you will be part of God’s kingdom. Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15; Luke 17:20,21; John 3:3-5. God’s authority exists throughout the universe. God’s kingdom is not an area on Earth but rather exists in those who believe in Jesus.
(glc) Second: Help others to understand God’s plan for salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice. God has allowed Christians to participate in revealing himself to others. Read Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 10:42; and many other verses
(glc) Third: Read the Bible and obey what you read. What you are reading is God’s will. There is no doubt that those in heaven obey God’s will. We should be helping those on Earth to do God’s will, but only after we first are doing God’s will. Proverbs 3:5,6; Matthew 6:33; John 14:15; Romans 12:2;
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v11 “Give us this day our daily bread, ” (ESV)
(glc) We should thank God each day for our lives. We should trust that God will help us in our lives. We should not just rely on ourselves or others for what we need.
Read: Psalm 37:25; Proverbs 30:8; Ephesians 2:8; James 1:17
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v12 “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ” (ESV)
(glc) We all sin (1 John 1:7-10) and need to ask God for forgiveness.
(glc) God set the example by forgiving us so we should forgive others. (Ephesians 4:32) Jesus told Peter to forgive an unlimited number of times in Matthew 18:21,22. Let God be the judge of others. Concern yourself with your own faults. Mark 11:25 tells us that God is hindered in forgiving us if we don’t forgive others.
(glc) If I don’t forgive I will likely have bitterness towards the person who has offended me. This will impact me in my interactions with this person and with others. I may become resentful and even angry at the person.
(glc) We also need to be careful about being the judge of others. Our outlook on situations may be biased by our past experiences or our unreasonable expectations about the behavior of other people toward us.
Read Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:41; Romans 2:1; Colossians 3:13
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v13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ” (ESV)
(glc) God does not tempt us (James 1:13) so we can pray this in faith. In fact, God provides the way out of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). Our inner self with its desires leads us toward temptation and sin (James 1:14,15). We need to exercise self-control and stop walking towards temptation as soon as we realize it is present (Matthew 26:41; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Colossians 3:2). We also have the responsibility to train ourselves to recognize temptation as early as possible. Leaving tempting situations early is easier than staying near a tempting situation for a length of time. (Proverbs 4:14,15; 1 Timothy 6:11; James 4:7)
Read the Bible study I did on Temptation.
(glc) We can rely on God to deliver us from evil. Christians are impacted by evil in many ways in this world. Christians do suffer. But, we have full confidence that God will provide deliverance and the final victory for us over evil. Read: Psalm 27:1; Psalm 37:28; Psalm 91; Isaiah 43:2; Romans 8:28; 2 Timothy 4:18; Hebrews chapter 11; Revelation 2:10 and many other verses.
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The traditional ending of the Lord’s Prayer some people memorize has “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” I sang this when I sang the Lord’s Prayer in church (probably around age 12 the first time I sang it in church). This phrase is not at the end of the Lord’s Prayer in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew 6 or Luke 11. Similar praise to God is found in 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 and indeed throughout the Bible there is recognition that God is eternal, that God has a kingdom, that God is all powerful, and that God is glorious.
This closing praise is a fitting way to end the Lord’s Prayer, and, a fitting way to end all our times in prayer.
The End
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