I’ve
read several things recently on the subject of prayer in general, and I’ve been
thinking about the Lord’s Prayer in particular. I don’t come from a tradition
that recites the Lord’s Prayer on a regular basis, so I haven’t spent a lot of
time thinking about it. I’ve also been cautious because there are other
traditions that use the Lord’s Prayer in rote repetition that can quickly lose
all meaning. However, since these words came from Jesus Himself, perhaps they
are worthy of a little extra attention.
It
hadn’t really occurred to me before that there are just three main petitions in
the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts… And
lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:11-13 ESV). On the prayer for our daily
bread, C.S. Lewis wrote,
“It means, doesn’t it, all we need for the day—‘things requisite and necessary as well for the body as for the soul.’ I should hate to make this clause ‘purely religious’ by thinking of ‘spiritual’ needs alone” (Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer, 27).
While
we can drift to one extreme or the other, I think there is a greater tendency
to focus on physical needs rather than spiritual needs. I was struck by the
fact that Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not
hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). In a
counterintuitive way, praying for our daily bread is a prayer for more of
Jesus. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
shall be filled” (Matthew 6:6). He is sufficient for all our deepest needs,
though we may not always think so. I am challenged to pray that I would find my
fulfillment in Him alone.
Thinking
about the request for forgiveness, again the answer is found in the person of
Christ. Because of His death and resurrection, the Old Testament sacrificial
system was no longer needed. “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to
enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He
opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh” (Hebrews
10:19-20). Following the Sermon on the Mount, we get this brief response, “The
crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had
authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). No doubt this prayer
for forgiveness without corresponding sacrifices must have raised a few
eyebrows. I am thankful that forgiveness is just a prayer away!
The
third petition, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” I
suspect is the least used part of the Lord’s Prayer, though it should be
significant to us. We all need protection from temptation. Paul said, “Let
anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
I’ve learned from many falls that it is far easier and more effective to pray
for protection from temptation than to pray for deliverance once temptation has
already appeared. I have no idea how many times God has diverted me away from
temptation—probably far more than I could even imagine. The frequent appeal for
protection serves to draw my attention back to Christ and has increased my dependence
on His strength in my weakness.
Although
the Lord’s Prayer is so named because it was spoken by Jesus, the fact is that
every part of it points us back to our Lord and Savior through whom we receive
the Bread of Life, forgiveness of the guilt of sin, and deliverance from the
power of sin. Apart from Him they are just empty words.
“Yours is the
kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
