The Lord’s Prayer- Word for Word, or Along Those Lines?

[newton3005]

Many are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer, found in Matthew 6:9-13, which goes like this: “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.”

Did Lord Jesus intend we use each and any every one of those verses, or did he want that we merely pray along those lines? Have you ever prayed to God, making you request of Him, and have your prayer responded to without using any of the words in the Lord’s Prayer except ‘Father’ or variation thereof? Here is one: When I was young, my mother entered a lottery contest to win a piano. We didn’t have enough money or credit to buy one ourselves, and she figured there was nothing to lose by entering; it cost her nothing to do so.

She prayed to God for that piano since nothing short of a miracle would result in our getting one. Turns out that out of 10,000 entries, her name was picked, and we got our piano! And because the piano was now in our apartment, I took lessons and developed a certain degree of proficiency. (Is it sinful to boast of one’s accomplishments?) Perhaps her winning the piano and my getting good at it was in some fulfillment of Romans 8:28, but I don’t know for sure.

But the point is, she didn’t use any of the words in the Lord’s Prayer except a variation of “Father.” And the Bible doesn’t record the Hebrews as using the Lord’s Prayer when they prayed to God for deliverance from Egypt. That may be understandable since they were enslaved in Egypt before Jesus spent time on earth. So, what is the Lord’s Prayer for? And should every word in the Lord’s Prayer be used in requests made of God?

Before Jesus gives the Lord’s Prayer, he begins in Matthew 6:9 in many versions of the Bible by effectively saying ‘Pray like this...’ The King James Version has Jesus saying, “After this manner therefore pray ye...” Commentators assert that the Lord’s Prayer is merely a template in which the exact words need not be used. Commentators also assert that the Lord’s Prayer denotes the categories of prayer which are acceptable to the Lord. With that understanding, maybe, this is how the Lord’s Prayer might be applied:

“Our father who art in Heaven...” Every prayer should probably start in a variation of this form. So, you have variations that include ‘Oh God,’ ‘Dear God,’ ‘Oh Lord’.

“, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...” You could start a prayer with ‘Great God,’ or something along those lines.

“Give us this day our daily bread...” Some form of this could be applied to many requests, such as ‘Please give us a good harvest’ if you’re a farmer, ‘Please give me prosperity for my efforts’ if you’re a businessman.’ The ‘daily bread’ part may cover requests of God for things we normally got in the past when we do things.

“...and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors...” A variation of this may be used when we pray for things we’ve given others, such as. ‘I’ve done my best to be good to others, please shine a light on me so I may have a break too.’

“...And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil...” This is similar to the prayer Solomon made to God in 1 Kings 3:9 – in which, when he is thrust into kingship over Israel after David, says “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

What part of the Lord’s Prayer would apply if you were praying to save the life of a loved one? Probably “Our father who art in Heaven,” for who else can grant your request if everything else was tried by doctors to save that life? You are calling on God...not on your Aunt, not on a rabbit’s foot, not on wood, but the one and only God who created the heavens and the earth and all living things and of which nothing Is impossible.

Would you be penalized if you recited the entire Lord’s prayer before making your request of Him? There is a joke that a man collapsed in a movie theatre and someone who’s seen him collapse called out to anyone if they an idea how to revive him. An old woman answers, “Give him a little chicken soup!” The man asks, “How is that going to help?” The woman answers, “It can’t hurt!”

In the same manner, since Jesus in Matthew 6:8 says that our father already knows what we want before we ask, it is probable, notwithstanding Proverbs 3:5, that God wouldn’t give a better response to us if we recited the entire Lord’s prayer than if we prayed along the lines of at least one part of it. In other words, at the very least, it can’t hurt.

 

[Tolworth John]

There is nothing magical about the words in the Lord's Prayer.
The radicle element is in the prayer is the relationship of God as our Father.
In the OT the relationship was that of Sovereign Lord and of subject.
As John says in Ch 1 Jesus gave us the right to be Children of God, that gives us a unique relationship.

The prayer is given as a pattern, when you pray use this pattern.

 

[com7fy8]

Have you ever prayed to God, making you request of Him, and have your prayer responded to without using any of the words in the Lord’s Prayer except ‘Father’ or variation thereof?

Well, actually "the Lord's Prayer" is our prayer, and I would say in John chapter seventeen we can find the Lord's prayer.

And you might note it is not the same as our prayer. But yes Jesus did say "Father" when praying. And we have other Lord's prayer >

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (in Luke 23:34)

But I would say each of these prayers means the same thing.

 

[Albion]

People naturally use the beautiful, meaningful, words that Jesus himself used on that occasion.

However, there's no reason--from Scripture or otherwise--to think that ONLY those words are to be used when praying to the Father.

 

[TLSITD]

Many are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer, found in Matthew 6:9-13, which goes like this: “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.”

Did Lord Jesus intend we use each and any every one of those verses, or did he want that we merely pray along those lines? Have you ever prayed to God, making you request of Him, and have your prayer responded to without using any of the words in the Lord’s Prayer except ‘Father’ or variation thereof? Here is one: When I was young, my mother entered a lottery contest to win a piano. We didn’t have enough money or credit to buy one ourselves, and she figured there was nothing to lose by entering; it cost her nothing to do so.

She prayed to God for that piano since nothing short of a miracle would result in our getting one. Turns out that out of 10,000 entries, her name was picked, and we got our piano! And because the piano was now in our apartment, I took lessons and developed a certain degree of proficiency. (Is it sinful to boast of one’s accomplishments?) Perhaps her winning the piano and my getting good at it was in some fulfillment of Romans 8:28, but I don’t know for sure.

But the point is, she didn’t use any of the words in the Lord’s Prayer except a variation of “Father.” And the Bible doesn’t record the Hebrews as using the Lord’s Prayer when they prayed to God for deliverance from Egypt. That may be understandable since they were enslaved in Egypt before Jesus spent time on earth. So, what is the Lord’s Prayer for? And should every word in the Lord’s Prayer be used in requests made of God?

Before Jesus gives the Lord’s Prayer, he begins in Matthew 6:9 in many versions of the Bible by effectively saying ‘Pray like this...’ The King James Version has Jesus saying, “After this manner therefore pray ye...” Commentators assert that the Lord’s Prayer is merely a template in which the exact words need not be used. Commentators also assert that the Lord’s Prayer denotes the categories of prayer which are acceptable to the Lord. With that understanding, maybe, this is how the Lord’s Prayer might be applied:

“Our father who art in Heaven...” Every prayer should probably start in a variation of this form. So, you have variations that include ‘Oh God,’ ‘Dear God,’ ‘Oh Lord’.

“, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...” You could start a prayer with ‘Great God,’ or something along those lines.

“Give us this day our daily bread...” Some form of this could be applied to many requests, such as ‘Please give us a good harvest’ if you’re a farmer, ‘Please give me prosperity for my efforts’ if you’re a businessman.’ The ‘daily bread’ part may cover requests of God for things we normally got in the past when we do things.

“...and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors...” A variation of this may be used when we pray for things we’ve given others, such as. ‘I’ve done my best to be good to others, please shine a light on me so I may have a break too.’

“...And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil...” This is similar to the prayer Solomon made to God in 1 Kings 3:9 – in which, when he is thrust into kingship over Israel after David, says “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

What part of the Lord’s Prayer would apply if you were praying to save the life of a loved one? Probably “Our father who art in Heaven,” for who else can grant your request if everything else was tried by doctors to save that life? You are calling on God...not on your Aunt, not on a rabbit’s foot, not on wood, but the one and only God who created the heavens and the earth and all living things and of which nothing Is impossible.

Would you be penalized if you recited the entire Lord’s prayer before making your request of Him? There is a joke that a man collapsed in a movie theatre and someone who’s seen him collapse called out to anyone if they an idea how to revive him. An old woman answers, “Give him a little chicken soup!” The man asks, “How is that going to help?” The woman answers, “It can’t hurt!”

In the same manner, since Jesus in Matthew 6:8 says that our father already knows what we want before we ask, it is probable, notwithstanding Proverbs 3:5, that God wouldn’t give a better response to us if we recited the entire Lord’s prayer than if we prayed along the lines of at least one part of it. In other words, at the very least, it can’t hurt.

The template that the Lord gave us for how to pray instead of using vain repetitions has been turned into the very kind of prayer He told us not to make ("Our Father"s). People who repeat the prayer word for word in repition are doing the very thing He told Christians not to do and are completely missing the point of the prayer. It's not a "magical" chant whose power is in the exact words and the number of repetitions.

The prayer template that Jesus gave us was to teach us how to think and prioritize in a spiritual way rather than in the earthly way to which people are naturally accustomed.

It starts with recalling to mind God's holiness and the reverence due Him of us, reminds us to set our minds on and look forward to the coming of His eternal kingdom, which is our home and inheritance, reminds us that we are to seek and do His will on earth, just as it is always done in heaven, reminds us to ask and trust Him to supply our daily needs, and that He is our sure resource and not money or goods, reminds us that God has forgiven us our sins (a debt that we ourselves could never repay) and to be forgiving of others just as God is merciful and forgiving toward us, reminds us to pray for protection and deliverance from temptation to sin, which is ever present, and which we depend on the power of His grace to withstand and overcome, and it concludes with the praise of His power and eternal dominion.

The so-called "Lord's prayer" is a template for the Christian life and mentality in brief.