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Family Christian StoresIt’s The Lord’s Prayer, not Yours
Posted By Ken Brown on January 23, 2010
For those of you who have frequented Christian church services of almost any variety, you are familiar with the routine: “Let us pray the prayer the Lord taught us. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name….” The tiny little inconvenient detail is that our Lord Jesus Christ never taught us any such thing. He did not teach us to pray this prayer. This practice is contrary to what he taught.
Let’s take a look at what he taught regarding this matter. The record is in Matthew 6 (and also in Luke 11).
Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts [used metaphorically here for “sins” as in Luke 11], as we forgive our debtors.
13 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.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
So did Jesus teach us to pray this prayer over and over and over again for centuries or did he teach to not use vain repetition like the heathen and think we will be heard for our much speaking? Did he say to pray this prayer or did he say to pray “in this manner?” Here, do it like this, not say these words over and over. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The magnitude of the irony that so many churches use a portion of this passage to put in to practice the very thing Jesus was condemning in the passage is bewildering. Yes, I know, the record in Luke says, “When you pray, say…” But the sense of it cannot be contradictory to what he was obviously teaching in Matthew. He was giving an example, not prescribing the right wording for repetition.
There is another reason why repetitious “praying” of “the Lord’s prayer” is inappropriate today. He wasn’t teaching “us.” He was teaching “his disciples.”
Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
OK, this is a distinction a little more difficult, perhaps, for some. I am a follower of my Lord Jesus Christ. I am, therefore, by definition, a disciple of Jesus Christ. But I am not in the same circumstance as his disciples who were living at that time and whom he was teaching. Jesus was not addressing people in the condition of we who are living after his death and resurrection, benefiting from his sacrifice, having been already forgiven due to the payment that he made. He was addressing people who were living before he made that payment. His disciples did not yet have the benefits that would come later as a result of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. He was addressing his disciples living at that time who wanted to know how to pray that day, not how to pray some day in the future when the arrangement of things would be different.
This is apparent from the two verses following “the Lord’s prayer” in Matthew.
Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Compare this to Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. [That’s past tense, not dependent on something you might or might not do in the future, like forgive others.]
Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray at that time (before he had made the sacrifice for our sins), not teaching believers in this grace administration (Ephesians 3:2) how to pray now. Compare also the following:
Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Colossians 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Romans 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
We no longer need to pray for God’s forgiveness. We already have it because Jesus Christ has paid for it. Praying that God would forgive us to the extent that we forgive others lowers the bar considerably. For us today to pray, “Forgive us our debts (sins) as we forgive…,” is to deny the accomplishment of our Lord’s completed work in his sacrifice for us.
For a more complete discussion on our righteousness before God coming to us as a gift without our works (not even confessing sins) see our series of postings titled, “The Gift of Righteousness.”
Actually, in spite of the title I chose for this article, it isn’t really even “the Lord’s prayer” let alone ours. It is his prayer only in the sense that he originated it, not that he would have ever prayed this. Jesus would have had no reason to have asked for God’s forgiveness. This was a prayer he gave as an example to his disciples living at that time in the circumstance they were in as to how they should approach God in prayer. Unfortunately, this description is too long to be catchy. I’m sure the title, “the Lord’s prayer,” will endure, but this title is misleading.
Routinely reciting “the Lord’s prayer” is a centuries old church tradition, but it is a tradition that contradicts God’s Word.
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Dear Ken,
“Reciting” ther “Lord’s Prayer” over and over must be rather an annoyance to God, for the reasons you state above, if you are reciting instead of praying. Praying the IDEAS in this prayer modeled by Christ is, on the other hand, very sound and practical.
Ask God to help you remember that his name is holy, and that he is our Father, and that his dwelling place is in heaven where we soon shall be. Don’t let people use his name as a swear word around you today.
Ask for his kingdom (which is “at hand!”) to make its appearance. “My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus told Pilate in John 18.36.
Ask for his will to be made known to you, so that you may do it. You can find his will in his Word. I wouldn’t worry about making anyone else do his will until I was sure I was doing it myself, but I do ask that his will be done in matters where I have no personal control, as in our government, the situation in Haiti, things like that. If everyone did his will here on earth we would have a taste of what it is like in heaven, but as long as humans are fallen, we will not see his will perfectly carried out.
Asking God to supply what we need for the day reminds us that he is the source of everything we have and everything we are. Better to ask him for our daily needs than to try to plan things out for ourselves. As a friend said to me, “We plan — God laughs.”
Although as Christ’s modern-day disciples we are indeed forgiven, I think it is still a good idea to ask God to help us forgive others. We are called to do this: “As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3.13 ESV). We, as fallen human beings, do not do this naturally; we need the Holy Spirit’s help (“Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2.7).
I think we need not ask God to “Lead us not into temptation.” It’s what he does for us while we are being tempted that is of importance. Remember that in any temptation, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1Corinthians 10.13) Ask him to show you that way of escape. Ask that he lead you AWAY from temptation. Ask that temptation will make your faith stronger.
And as for asking God to deliver us from evil, this is something we need to do all the time. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Keep Satan away from us. Help us to recognize evil when it approaches so that we can arm ourselves with spiritual armor and with the great sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
(As an aside, how much DO we really recognize evil when we see it? Think about TV, for example Just because something is funny does not mean it is not evil.)
And finally, whether the world knows it or not, all glory DOES belong to God, all power DOES emanate from him, and his mighty kingdom DOES belong to him alone. It is good to remember these things and to praise him for them. I don’t need to think about how good I’ll look in front of other people — God gets the glory in the end. I don’t have to worry about having the strength to get things done — God’s strength will be sufficient. And I look forward to my eternal home — the everlasting kingdom of God.
May his grace be on you today, and may your eyes be opened ever wider to see his power at work around us.
P. S. , Sorry about the typos. I can never seem to catch them all.
What’s the matter Ken?? You don’t like hearing the Lord’s prayer prayed at every funeral service and so on???
I do know Catholics and Lutheran’s love praying this prayer at events that makes no sense to do so. It would be like me visiting a sick person in the hospital needing prayer, and I pray that God will bless my dinner later that evening. I could never figure what that prayer has to do with some dead dude in a coffin, but many will pray it. I still remember back at Bible college that some guy panicked in a church when called upon to pray for the evening offering. He stood up and said, “God, thank you for this food” that got a snort of laughter out of me. That is how I view those praying the Lord’s prayer at odd events. Some pray it every night before going to bed.
By the way, I have found that with the very elderly and dying, saying these words, just as saying the old KJV 23rd Psalm, provides a level of comfort that transcends their meaning. I think it has to do with the familiarity of a beloved tradition, giving a connection with the past and a centering, calming effect. When I am with dying people, usually I have known them and discussed the Gospel with them, and I feel secure that their relationship with our Lord is firm and alive. Often their family members will have differing religious backgrounds, and the words of the “Lord’s Prayer” or Psalm 100 give everyone some common ground, something they can all say together, helping to draw them closer. This is so needed at times like that. Please understand, i am not negating anything you’ve said in your article. It’s just one of those things….
Hi Terry,
Yes, I understand and would never deny a dying person of whatever was comforting to him. One’s final moments are not the time to be confronted with the above article. In those situations you deal with, reciting the Lord’s prayer or the 23′rd Psalm or whatever blesses is certainly the thing to do. Still, how much more comforting it would be for that individual if he had been previously taught that all his sins had already been forgiven, paid for by Jesus Christ; rather than going into that moment wondering if he had been forgiving enough of others to be cleared of his own transgressions.
You do a great work for our God and His children.
God bless you.
I never mock those that do it but simply do not agree with it, and I keep that private. My wife’s aunt died a month ago, and they recited that prayer during the funeral service that to me fills in the gap. However, if it comforts them then so be it as it is completely harmless. My funeral I hope will be a different story. I would like the prayers and comments directed to the fact that I am with Christ and not a group reciting a prayer that has nothing to do with me lying there stiff. I think prayer should relate to what is before you, but I do not care or worry that others prefer some type of ritual at the death of a loved one that is harmless and makes them feel better.
Dave, I suggest very strongly that you leave clear instructions, right now, as to what you would like to be said at your funeral. In my “living will” which is all I have as I haven’t written a big old legal will yet, I have listed the scripture readings I want to be read, and I have asked that the gospel be presented, along with the idea that I have reached my lifelong goal. Also, I’ve asked that if I have hurt anyone, they would forgive me, and have asked that it be said that i forgive everyone who has done me any sort of harm (hopefully I’ll take care of that before I go). Lastly, I also ask that the people attending my funeral don’t fight with each other, but forgive and try to mend any broken relationships. That way at my death I’ll still have one last chance to touch people’s lives with the message of Christ.