by Pastor Paul Dugan
For centuries, Christians around the world have been using the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) to build a life of prayer. There are so many things that seem to divide believers and churches. This prayer is one thing that unites the whole church, regardless of race, culture, tradition, denomination, or worship style. The whole church is included in the “OUR” of “Our Father...” When we pray this prayer, we are not alone!
The Lord’s Prayer is actually six prayers- “The Lord’s Prayers”:
The Father’s praise: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name,
The Father’s purpose: Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The Father’s provision: Give us today our daily bread.
The Father’s pardon and reconciliation: And forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven those who sin against us.
The Father’s protection: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
The Father’s promise: For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
When we pray these prayers, we are praying the heart of Jesus. His entire ministry is essentially an answer to these six petitions. His life, ministry, suffering, death, and his resurrection have brought the kingdom- on earth, as it is in heaven. And he longs that your life and mine would be a living answer to these prayers. Wherever the Lord’s Prayers are answered, people experience renewal, restoration, and the blessings of life in the kingdom of God.
Jesus did not give the church these prayers as a script to be mindlessly repeated by rote. Rather, they form a trellis. I believe Jesus intended that we take these six petitions and grow a whole life of prayer on them, as a vine grows on the structure of a trellis, or as a jazz artist creates improvisational music on the structure of a chord progression.
Today we focus on the Father’s praise, building on this first petition: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name.
I invite you to pause right now, find a quiet place, and practice putting this prayer into your own words. For example,
“Father, we praise you, for you...” (deliver us, forgive, heal, rescue, guide, provide...)
“Father, we praise you, for you are…” (kind, holy, just, wise, faithful...)
“May I carry your Name well today in...” (my words, attitudes, work,...)
“Elevate your reputation today in...” (our church, school, neighborhood, city, county, state, nation)
Connecting the Lord’s Prayer and the Psalms: Jesus built his own prayers on the Hebrew psalms, Israel’s ancient book of prayer. The Psalms include many songs of praise. Here are a few (click on psalm for a link to a guide): Psalm 1; Psalm 8; Psalm 14; Psalm 15; Psalm 19; Psalm 24; Psalm 37; Psalm 47; Psalm 65; Psalm 67; Psalm 90; Psalm 93; Psalm 95; Psalm 96; Psalm 98; Psalm 100; Psalm 104; Psalm 112; Psalm 113; Psalm 115; Psalm 119:33-40; Psalm 119:105-112; Psalm 127; Psalm 139; Psalm 146; Psalm 148; Psalm 150
Here is one of my favorite improvisations on the first petition of the Lord’s Prayers:
“Father, help us to really know you- to bless, worship and praise you for all your works and for all that shines forth from them: your almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth. Help us to direct all our living - what we think. say, and do - so that your name will never be maligned because of us, but always honored and praised.” (based on the Heidelberg Catechism).
For a guide to praying the second petition of the Lord's Prayer click HERE.
For an excellent book on praying the Lord’s Prayer: Fifty-seven Words that Change the World, by Darrell Johnson.