PRAYING THE LORD’S PRAYER

SOME FOLK think that the Lord’s Prayer is a Sunday thing. They think it’s not normally something you say at home. But have you ever pondered what praying the Lord’s Prayer day by day can do for you? It’s an important question. Let’s take it from the beginning.

There is an early Christian text called the Didachê or ‘Teaching’. In fact, after the actual texts of the New Testament, it is the earliest Christian text we possess. It is also the first text after the New Testament to speak about the Lord’s prayer. And it gives quite a lot of information on how they prayed the Lord’s Prayer in the earliest churches of the Holy Land.

PRAYING THE LORD’S PRAYER IN THE EARLY CHURCH

The Didachê or, to give it its full title, “The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations” (Didachê Kuriou dia ton dôdeka apostolôn tois ethnesin) was an important text in the early church. The Church Fathers refer to it as the basic manual of early Church practice and belief. But, somewhere in the middle of the first millennium AD, every version of it went missing. Everyone thought it was lost until it the Greek Metropolitan Philotheos Bryennios rediscovered it in 1873.

The Didachê is very much a Nazarene (or Jewish-Christian) text. As its title suggests, it is about the Lord’s teaching to all the nations. And one of its main concerns is how the Israelite faith in Israel’s Messiah should be shared with the nations. How were converts from heathenism to be received into the church? What was to be required of them? How were they to practice their faith day by day? These are important questions, for they show us how the earliest Christian community practiced the life of faith. And the answers to these questions should influence how we live our life of faith.

THE DIDACHÊ

The Didachê opens by outlining the two ways—the ways of righteousness and unrighteousness—so familiar from the Old Testament and the teaching of Jesus himself (Ps. 1:6; Prov. 2:12–22; Matt. 7:13–14). After this comes a list of virtues, which the righteous should strive to emulate, and a list of vices, which they should strive to avoid. Then follow instructions on how to administer baptism, how to fast, how to celebrate the eucharist, and how to regulate church discipline. It also gives instructions on prayer. This is what it says:

2. And do not pray like the hypocrites, but as the Lord commanded in his Gospel, pray thus: “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, as in Heaven so also upon earth; give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into trial, but deliver us from the Evil One, for thine is the power and the glory for ever.”
3. Pray thus three times a day.

Didachê §8.2–3

In other words, the earliest Christian communities prayed the Lord’s prayer among themselves, at home, at work, three times a day. If you’ve ever spent time in a Muslim-majority country, then you’ll have seen Islamic prayer practices there. Many people just stop everything to pray at lunch-time. You go into a shop and – surprise! – there’s no-one behind the counter. They’re all in the back room praying. So you just have to wait ten minutes or so. Of course, these Islamic practices of prayer were borrowed from the early church. Muhamad built Muslim prayer practices upon those of the Christians and Jews he knew in Arabia and the Levant. And these early Christian communities all learned from the practice of the first-century church in the Holy Land. They prayed the Lord’s prayer three times a day. In fact, threefold prayer had a long tradition in Israel. It looks like the Israelites already observed some such practice 1,000 years earlier, in the time of King David (Ps. 55.17).

Now the life of these first-century Christians is a good model of how we should live now. Just like they saw praying the Lord’s Prayer as foundational to following Jesus, so we should see it the same way. Jesus said, “This is how you should pray.” (Matt. 6:9) So the one who prays this prayer does what Jesus taught. And by doing so, he or she steps into the shoes of a disciple.

SEVEN PETITIONS

The prayer opens with an address to God as Our Father, which art in heaven. This reminds us where and who God is. He is the creator of the spheres, but he is also a Father to those who love him. And we call him our Father, not my Father, because we don’t live alone. We live and pray together.

At the end, it closes, like every other good Jewish prayer, with a doxology: For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, amen. It is good to give glory to God at end of our prayers.

Between the address and doxology, the body of the prayer consists of seven petitions. They are all in the aorist imperative, the standard tense for prayer in Greek. And, just like in the Ten Commandments, we begin first with God’s glory, and then we move to our human need and conduct.

THREE PETITIONS FOR THE LORD

The first three petitions concern God’s honour and will.

1. Hallowed be thy name.
2. Thy kingdom come.
3. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

In saying these things we ask that God’s reputation and his name will be honoured everywhere as holy. By God’s name, Jesus surely meant the name Yehovah. It’s a petition in line with the third com­mandment about not taking the name of Yehovah in vain. You see, by Jesus’s time, the religious authorities of Jerusalem had already banned the saying of the Sacred Name. Only the high priest was allowed to speak it, and only once a year, on Yom Kippur. Jesus prays that the name should be hallowed, which certainly isn’t the same thing as banning it. I suspect that he encouraged his disciples to speak the name, but not lightly or mindlessly. This is the same practice that has long been observed by Karaite Jews.

Thy kingdom come means that we ask for the Kingdom of God to come, the time when God’s Messiah will set up his kingdom on earth and rule the world from Jerusalem. Then will be fulfilled the third petition, that God’s will shall be done over all the earth.

FOUR PETITIONS FOR OURSELVES

Having given glory to God, we follow with four petitions for our own welfare as the Father’s dear children.

• Give us this day our daily bread.
• Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
• And lead us not into temptation.
• But deliver us from evil.

In saying these things, we ask God for our daily sustenance, for our much-needed forgiveness, and deliverance from testing and evil.

Our daily bread means all things needful to life, whether food or drink, work or rest, house or spouse, health or wealth. If we ask, he will provide.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive is the key to our peace with God. It is also the key to our spiritual and psychological health. We must learn to forgive as God forgives us. Anger against those who hurt or cheat us or treat us contemptuosuly is natural. It takes persistent prayer to forgive. But we must persist. And see how Jesus deals with our daily bread before our sins. He knows our body shouts louder than our soul. So he invites us to speak of those needs first. But both are important. And if we pray this prayer every day, we won’t major on one and forget the other.

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION

The last two petitions are closely linked. In fact, some people count them as just one. At the plainest level, lead us not into temptation or trial means to spare us from any kind of trial or trouble, whether temptation to sin or dealing with judgmental people or being dragged into court. And deliver us from evil asks that God will deliver us from any evil, whether car accident, or fraud, or plague, or fire, or the evil of incurring guilt by our actions. Now this is a very great secret of happiness. If you ask God to save you from evil, he will. The rocks and barbs that pitiless fate and dark forces hurl at humanity will fly over your head. You will stand amazed and look and give thanks for the many evils that have passed you by.

But there is a deeper meaning. It points to that passage in John 5:24 where Jesus says: Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He will not be judged. He has passed from death to life (John 5.24). Jesus is saying that there is an appointed time for all people to come to trial before God. But those who believe Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, those who hear and obey his word, will not come to trial. They will not be judged. Life will be theirs, without passing through judgment.

And, when we pray the Lord’s prayer, we ask that this promise might be true for us, that God might spare us from his judgment, and that he might deliver us from the evil that will come upon those who fall short at that judgment. And if we ask, we shall receive.

A KEYSTONE OF DISCIPLESHIP

Praying the Lord’s prayer regularly is a keystone of Christian discipleship. Many people don’t realize how important this is. They don’t like prescribed prayers. “We want to pray from our hearts,” they say. “Prescribed prayers are boring,” they say. But Jesus didn’t say, “Here’s an idea or a pattern you can use if you want.” He said, This is how you should pray (Matt. 6:9).

We can compare it to the Lord’s words to Moses when he gave Israel the Birkat kohanim or Priestly Blessing. He said,

In this manner shall you bless the sons of Israel, saying to them,
‘Yehovah bless you and keep you.
Yehovah make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
Yehovah lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.’

Num. 6.23–26

The kohanim were not free to bless the people with any words they wanted. They had to use the words given to them by the Lord. In the same way, when we pray we should use the words given to us by the Lord.

In fact, no one in ancient Israel, whether Nazarene (Christian) or Pharisee, just prayed from “their hearts”. Prescribed prayers were a standard part of in ancient Israel’s faith. Of course, one could add one’s own personal petitions, but the prescribed prayer was the main thing. It was reciting the prescribed prayer that made you a faithful believer. Long before Jesus’s time, the Israelites had a prayer to pray three times a day. They called it the Amidah or ‘standing’ prayer. The Talmud says it was composed by the 120 elders of the Knesset Ha-Gedolah (Great Assembly) who governed Israel in the Persian period, after the return from Exile (c. 516–330 BC) (cf. Talmud, Megillah 17). The faithful would say this prayer three times a day—morning, noon, and evening—and four times on Shabbat and holy days. It takes a good six minutes to recite or chant the Amidah.

Jesus’s intention was to gave his disciples a new Amidah. That’s why he said, This is how you should pray. In other words, “This should be your prayer now.” Yet his new prayer says more than the Amidah ever said. And, because Jesus was a master of economy, it only takes about thirty seconds to say it. It’s a prayer for busy, working people.

But the recitation of the Lord’s prayer is not optional for those who follow Jesus. It’s an essential part of the path of disciple­ship. We should pray it at least once a day. But, since it is a new Amidah, we should perhaps pray it three times a day, like the Amidah. Praying it once a day will do you great good. Praying it three times a day may do you more good.

PRAYING THE LORD’S PRAYER: A HAPPY STORY

I knew two struggling newly-weds. They were living in a tumble-down old house, paying a big mortgage, lacking money. A little baby came to stay, and the struggle increased. At the time, there was a craze for praying the ‘Jabez prayer’ (1 Chr. 4:10). They tried it. But the strain persisted. They tried reciting verses from Romans every day. That was good. But still anxiety and strain ruled. This went on for some four or five years.

Then, by some revelation, they began praying the Lord’s prayer every morning. The strain and stress evaporated. They became happier. Life became easier on every front. Not overnight perhaps, but pretty quickly. There is great blessing in obeying the instructions of Jesus.

Since that time, they have prayed this prayer every day. (That’s not to say they don’t occasionally forget, but 99 percent of the time, they do.) They pray it as a family in the morning. They usually pray it in the evening too. Sometimes they pause to say it at midday. And the blessings continue.

THE LORD’S PRAYER AND YOU

And so my best advice to anyone in trouble, to anyone addicted, to anyone lost or indebted or confused, or facing family breakdown or bad news, or worried about the future, or sick, or hopeless, or seeking the way, is this: “Pray the Lord’s prayer every day.” It will be to you a light in the darkness, a guide in perplexity, a fountain of blessing poured out upon your head and upon all around you. This is the incantation that turns all things to gold. This is the mantra the maharishi never knew. These simple words contain the undiluted power of God who formed the heavens and the earth. Don’t believe me? Try it! Pray it daily. Don’t forget. Persist. Say it with your family, your children, your spouse, and your parents. If they will not join you, cry it aloud over their mulish heads. Some part of the blessing will fall upon them.

Maybe you have been baptized but you have fallen away from faith in Jesus and you don’t know how to pick up the path again. Then begin with this prayer. It will guide your feet back.

Maybe you never believed, neither you nor your family, but now you wonder if you should believe. Yet the challenge of discipleship and baptism seems too great. You’re afraid or you don’t know where to start. Then begin with this prayer. It will protect your soul and guide you forward as you step onto the road of discipleship.

PRAYING THE LORD’S PRAYER DAILY

Some people pray for hours a day. And, if one has the time, that can be good. But praying the Lord’s Prayer is good for anyone, anytime. It’s a prayer for busy people. It’s where we all begin. And it’s enough in itself. Say it every day of your life. In doing so, you will align yourself with the purposes of God, make Jesus’s words your own, walk on the road of discipleship, and open the door to endless blessings.