Reflections on the Lord's Prayer

Pastor. S. Asap Singh

Lord’s Prayer is found in two passages Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-13

This prayer is not for mere repetition but has rich meaning in its shift based on relationship towards God and human practices that are different from the Old Testament.

This prayer is not just another prayer to the Old Testament practices. Jews practiced praying three times a day (morning 9 am – third hour; noon 12 pm – sixth hour and evening 3 pm – 9^th hour). We see this practices from David (Ps 55:17; 92:2; 5:3) and Daniel (Dan 6:10) and in the New Testament (Act 2:15; 3:1; 10:9). There was prayer in the synagogue in the absence of the Temple of the Lord.

Disciples understood the value of this prayer which is different from the Jewish prayers so that the disciples asked Jesus “Lord, Teach us to pray.” This prayer Jesus prayed made great impact in the lives of others by means of miracles and wonders.

I observed three unique elements in the “Lord’s Prayer” and examine how it has been reflected in our lives as we had seen the above as theme for a year (2017).

1.      “OUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN” (Mat 6:9)

God is in Heaven – A Transcendent God, as for as the Jewish belief, the name of the LORD is most sacred (YHWH) – people never pronounce the name neither writes it in an unworthy manner. The Lord is transcendent God that human beings can never match His holiness neither utter His name. The scribes who copied the scriptures do not use the name YHWH for God rather they used as “Elohim” to refer God – Even to write that they have to wash their pens that they are using, and then they will be washing again to write the other words of the scripture. Everybody who pronounces that name in blasphemy shall be put to death.

Jews regarded that name so high that they fail to realize that the Lord is their father. There are expressions about God as Shepherd, Almighty, Creator, Holy …etc. Even though God calls His people as his children but nobody in the Old Testament called God as their Father. The concept of God’s imminence was found in some passages like Deut 4:7 and Ps 145:18 – God is near to the broken hearted and God’s people are privileged to have God closer to them.

Jesus identified that transcendent God as “Our Father” who is accessible (Imminent – close to you). The prayer Jesus taught gets higher importance because the prayer addressed to God as “OUR FATHER” (in Greek Abba) – He is not only a father to Jesus but also everyone of us. That puts us as believers equally importance before God. We should treat everyone as brothers and sisters in Christ (John 1:14). We can approach God anytime for any of our needs.

Challenge: Think of those who feel lonely, rejected, isolated and in need of Father’s Love – What are you going to do for them?

Question: Since God as our Father what are the advantages you have?

2.      “YOUR KINGDOM COME” (Mat 6:10)

There was no idea of “Kingdom of God” found in the Old Testament. Kingdom is something a domain under the ruling of a King. God portrayed as the King of the universe – He is the sovereign ruler of the earth – the establishment of the Kingdom concept found in the New Testament.

When an evil king/ruler rules the nation the nation get ruined, poverty increase, bribe, scandal, crime and all evil things happen because the ruler is evil. On the contrary God’s Kingdom is of God is filled with positive impact on the people. (Romans 14: 18) “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus came not to establish a Church but to establish His Kingdom (God’s Kingdom) we see lot of verses in the gospels where Jesus says to establish His kingdom…

Matthew 10:7-8, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”

Luke 4:43, “But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.””

Luke 10:9, “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

John 18:36, “Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.””

The disciples misunderstood the teaching of Jesus as Kingdom of God as an earthly Kingdom, we find it in

Acts 1: 3, 6 “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”

v. 6, “Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?””

Jesus responded about the spiritual nature of the Kingdom of God – God rules the heart of the people. The hindrances to His rule to be removed from the hearts to prepare the way. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers and drove demons (Mat 10:8) because the Kingdom of God is perfect which do not have sick, death, diseases, demons…etc. Jesus gave the foretaste of the Kingdom of God. In God’s kingdom material possessions cannot help (Mat 10:9).

The Kingdom of God is HUGE than the CHURCH aspect. Church gives spiritual importance where as the kingdom of God gives holistic growth of a person under the leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ. It must be started from our hearts – examine what are the things in my life that are NOT under God’s reign? Our prayer should be “Let Your Kingdom Come”

Challenge: Is your aim to establish your Kingdom / your church OR the Kingdom of God – Because God’s Kingdom is huge in size?

Question: Since God’s Kingdom is huge – What practice should I do/change to bring the Kingdom of God in my society?

3.      “FORGIVE OUR SINS – AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US” (Mat 6:12)

We all wanted to be forgiven by God for all our short comings (KJV says forgive our debts – not only the financial debts but referring all short comings) but not ready to forgive the mistakes of others??

Forgiveness of man to man is hard thing to find in the Old Testament – God in his nature forgives the mistakes of the people – or covering the sins of the people. It was not the specific command given in the Old Testament to forgive others but we see the revenge approach (Eye for eye – Tooth for tooth – Ex. 21:24).

Forgiveness is lacking everywhere – that leads to suicide and revenge. God calls us for forgiveness, when you forgive others you will be forgiven as well. We see the parable of Jesus in Matt 18:21-35 about forgiveness of God must lead to forgiveness of mankind. The preceding verses after the Lord’s Prayer say, “If you don’t forgive of other’s mistakes you will not be forgiven as well” (Mat 6:14-15)

Challenge: Am I able to forgive others of their sins/mistakes? What are the stumbling blocks in my life that prevent me to forgive others? As you say “Lord teach me to pray” did you also pray “Lord help me to forgive others?” (Eph 4:32; Col 3:13)

Question: What are the qualifications required for forgiving others in general?

Three Questions for Discussions (Group Discussion)

1. God as our Father what are the advantages you have?
2. God’s Kingdom is huge – What practice should I do/change to bring the Kingdom of God in my society?
3. What are the qualifications required for forgiving others in general?