“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
“Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]” (Matthew 6:7-13 NASB1995)
When this says here, “Pray, then, in this way,” the meaning is “like this, in this fashion, in this manner, along these lines.” Since the subject matter here is speaking against “meaningless repetition” in our prayers, surely the Lord is not then suggesting that we have to repeat over and over this same exact prayer, with these same exact words, or that would be contrary to what he just stated, would it not? But do you know that is what this has been turned into? A repetitious reciting of the same exact words over and again.
To me, considering the subject matter, it seems obvious that he did not intend that we should then just recite these same exact words repetitiously. This was meant, I believe, as a model, to teach us what kinds of things we should include in our prayers and the type of prayers we ought to have. So, when we talk with the Lord we should praise him for who he is and for what he has done for us, and we should thank him. And we should pray according to his will, and if we don’t know his will, “not my will but Thine be done.”
And for his kingdom to come upon the earth, this would engage the spreading of the true gospel of Christ, of our salvation, to the world around us, so that many will come to know him, in truth, and in righteousness, as by faith in him they die to sin and they now walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to his commands in holy living, by the grace of God, in the power of God. So we should pray for opportunities to share the gospel of Christ with the people of the world, and then we should be sharing the gospel.
And “Give us this day our daily bread” could be requesting of God that he meet our daily needs. Or, since Jesus referred to himself as the bread, this could be a request for the Lord to feed us from his word, and to teach us what he wants us to learn and to put that into practice in our daily lives. And if Jesus is that “daily bread,” this could be a prayer, too, for the Lord to give us more of himself, to show us more of who he is and what he desires for us who profess his name, and to fill us to overflowing with his love and grace.
Now, under the New Covenant, by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in the Lord Jesus, via us dying with him to sin and us walking (in conduct) in obedience to his commands, in his power and wisdom, we are forgiven our sins and we are given new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived for his glory. If we should sin at any time after that, our sins are still forgiven (1 John 2:1-2) unless we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against God, and we do not obey God in practice. But if we do sin, we should repent and obey God.
And we should also be those who make it our practice to forgive all who sin against us, no matter how many times they sin against us. Now this is not giving them permission to keep sinning against us, and if those habitually sinning against us are those professing faith in Jesus Christ, then we should speak the truth of God’s word to them, in love, about their sin, and share with them what God’s word teaches about those who continue in deliberate and habitual sin, that they will not inherit eternal life with God.
Now we learn in James 1 that God does not lead us into temptation, but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. But I find in the Scriptures that Jesus was led up by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And the tempter did try to tempt Jesus to do wrong, but Jesus always responded with the Scriptures. And the devil will try to tempt us, as well, to disobey the Lord, or to give way to fear, but we must resist him. And in those cases the temptation was not because the ones targeted for temptation were being enticed by their own lust.
But we should definitely pray to be delivered from evil, for the devil is certainly out to try to take us down in any way that he can. And he will keep trying to do so, from time to time, sometimes trying different angles than he tried before, hoping to catch us off guard. And so it is critical that we remain in a close walk of faith in obedience to our Lord on a daily basis, putting on the armor of God daily with which to fight off Satan’s attacks against us.
But let your prayers be real, honest, and sincere, and not repetitious religious exercises that end up meaning nothing but a religious exercise. For prayer is open communication between us and our Lord where he can speak to us and we can speak to him about whatever is on our hearts and minds. But let this prayer in Matthew 6 prompt you to remember to be thankful, to be repentant, to forgive others, to share the gospel, and to trust the Lord to meet your needs and to grow closer in your fellowship with Jesus Christ.
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
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Meaningless Repetition
An Original Work / September 27, 2025
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