What We Can Learn From The Lord's Prayer

The Lord Jesus Christ always prays before doing anything from the less significant to the most important or more serious business, or before performing a miraculous event.

For example, before feeding the crowd of 5,000 beside the women and children, with only five loaves of bread and 2 fish, he prayed (Matt. 14:15-21); and when the sick daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue of the Jews, died, the Lord Jesus prayed and the dead child resurrected (Matt. 5:22 and 35-42 KJV). There are numerous other examples yet, but these two spectacular ones are enough for the purpose and for the moment. Having observed the Lord Jesus’ manner, and seeing the power exhibited and enjoyed by Him, his disciples asked him. “Lord, teach us how to pray”.

Obliging at the request, Jesus gave a sample prayer, but with some preparatory or introductory statements just like a lawyer when filing a memorandum or brief in court, as follows:

^“5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen (or unbelievers) 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.” (Matt. 6:5-8 KJV).

Then, he specifically gave the sample prayer, the so-called LORDS prayer, by saying:

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 (or sin), 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. (vs. 9-13 KJV).

Analyzing the above sample prayer, it starts with worship of God’s name, power and His deity “Our Father…hallowed be thy name”… (vs. 9); it seeks the will of God not the believer’s will (vs. 10); we should ask only a daily supply of our bread (vs. 11). Why? If God gives us enough bread for many days, we will forget him. We will no longer need him until we run out of bread again. That is why, the wisest man that ever lived on earth, which the Bible says:

“And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

For he was wiser than all men … and his fame was in all nations round about” (1 Kings 4:29-31 KJV).

This is very true up to this day - - our generation and will be so forever and ever.

Then, always bearing in mind that “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and that the wages of sin is immediate spiritual death (meaning, when we sin by our willful disobedience like Adam and Eve, we do not instantly physically die, but only spiritually, waiting to be forgiven, by the grace and mercy of God, if we confess our sins and unrighteousness (1 John 1:9 [If we confess our sins, He will be just and faithful to forgive us all of our sins].

Temptation comes to us every moment of the day for our “adversary the devil” is “as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8), pursuing every one every step of the way, to lie, to steal, to be mad and angry, to be impatient or even commit “sexual sins.” etc.

The best example here is the story of King David who was tempted by the devil using the beautiful figure of Bathsheba, the mother of the wisest of all men, King Solomon. First, he committed adultery because Bathsheba was already married to a soldier fighting fierce battles in the war zone of Israel. Then, because of the hard-headedness of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, to conceal his sin, King David conceived of a subtle way of committing murder by writing a note sealed by his signet right to General Joab of the Israelite Army to assign Uriah, to the fiercest part of the battle to make sure that the latter will be killed. Thereafter, David married Bathsheba, and Solomon was born out of their marital union. Solomon became the ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notably, David confessed his sin and was forgiven by God. The Bible says,

32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

² Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

³ When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

⁴ For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

⁵ I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. (Psalm 32:1-5 KJV)

This is not to suggest for us men to follow the footsteps of King David, but significantly there is hope for every sinner.

God does not like us to incur a debt (or sin), except a debt of gratitude, (or utang na loob in Tagalog [Filipino language] for it is very difficult to pay an indebtedness of cash which will lead to bankruptcy or other serious economic and social problems to the borrower when these indebtedness pile up, which will result to other more serious personal or family problems. The Bible tells us, owe no man anything except LOVE [utang na loob, which in English means debt of gratitude] (Rom. 13:8 KJV).

Then, finally, words of thanksgiving and closing or sealing of our prayer, invoking the name and intercession of His only begotten Son, who is right now in the righthand of God the Father interceding for the believer. Thus, the Bible tells us, “For there is one God, and one (not two or many) mediator (or intercessor) between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom (or payment) for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6 KJV). This due time is fulfilled in Hebrews 7:24-25, thus: “But, this man (Jesus Christ), because he continueth ever (after his resurrection he lived up to this day and forever and ever), hath an unchangeable priesthood (mediator or intercessor) like our human priests. Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost (all repentant-believers-sinners) that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:24-25 KJV).

Notice that the sample prayer is short but otherwise comprehensive and complete, covering every aspect of human need on the physical and spiritual realm as well, and it follows an orderly pattern (or logical order) from beginning to the end. This logical order of praying can be learned by us as we keep on praying. “Practice makes it perfect”. Notice, there is no repetition of words! It comes from the heart, not memorized! It is “asking” for things or matters that are absolutely needed for the day only. One day at a time! God wants us to live daily and “die” to self daily.

We have to depend on Him moment by moment on daily basis. Because if we have the things we have need of until we die, then we will have no more need for God. We no longer need to pray to our God.

But what if we are tempted and once again, we commit a sin? Some preacher’s say, Jesus Christ already died in the cross for our sins, past, present and future. So, there is no need to confess and ask for forgiveness once again because our sins have been nailed to the cross! Not being dogmatic, personally I believe, we have to ask for forgiveness again. Precisely, this was the query of the Apostle Peter when he said, “Lord how many times will we ask for forgiveness when we sin, till seven times?” The Lord Jesus replied, “I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven” [literally 490 times] (Matt. 18:21-22 KJV). This means almost without limit, for as long as the sinner asks for forgiveness. Yes, indeed, many times, but we should not abuse. In every rule, there is an exception.

God wants us to have intimate relation with Him day after day, like a husband and wife. This is the closest human relation on earth - - between husband and wife - - they are one flesh. They do things not done by any other human beings, only they and God know it! A husband and wife to be intimately related and joyful, should communicate daily. For the Bible says, “It is not good for man to be alone”, so God gave Adam a helpmate (also helpmeet or appropriate) for him. Remember, wives, your role is to help not to manage or rule over your husbands. Never, never ever make your husband henpecked (under the saya in Filipino). This is not God’s way. It is a SIN as it contradicts the law of God!

A pertinent question is asked: Do we have to pray in that manner prescribed above by the Lord Jesus all the time? Of course, not. It depends on the situation at hand. For example, when Peter tried to walk in water like the Lord Jesus, the Bible vividly relates:

²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

²⁶ And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

²⁷ But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

²⁸ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

²⁹ And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

³⁰ But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (Matt. 14:25-31 KJV)

This is the second shortest prayer recorded in the Bible: “Lord, Save me”, the first being “Jesus wept”. No more introduction, only what was needed for the moment. No more concluding remarks. But I am sure, after he survived the ordeal, he must have thanked the Lord Jesus. “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20 KJV).