“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 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” (Matt. 6:9-13).
“After this manner therefore pray ye”
Father, I pray that You would teach me to pray. I find that praying is not the easiest task that You have called me to. I often find myself distracted with the events of my life, and it seems that as I start to seek Your face in prayer, I am met with great difficulty to continue in prayer.
I remember that Jesus told His disciples that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I find this to be true in my own life, and I pray for Your help to overcome my flesh and to seek You in prayer. I often realize that I do not know what to pray about. Lord, teach me how I can pray according to Your will. Teach me how I can pray in a way that pleases You.
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name”
I thank You for calling me Your child and gracing me with the privilege of calling You my Father. I am an undeserving creature with nothing to offer You but tainted offerings and defiled gifts. I recognize that You are much greater than I, in ways that I cannot truly comprehend. While You tell me You are my Father, You are also to be hallowed above and beyond Your creation.
May Your name be esteemed, may it be adored, worshiped, consecrated, and sanctified. I recognize, Lord, that among the children of man, Your name is not exalted as it should be. It is not seen as something special.
In the Old Testament, it is said that You, Lord, “proclaimed the name of the Lord” (Ex. 34:5) to Moses.
Then You tell me in Your Word what You said when You proclaimed Your name. You said, “…The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that by no means will clear the guilty…” (Ex. 34:6-7).
Thus I can see that Your very name is bound up in Who You are. I pray, Father, that Your name would be seen as special, unique, and separated from Your creation.
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
It is evident that Your kingdom has not fully come to this earth yet. I can see this because Your will is not being done on earth as it is in heaven. In heaven, obedience, worship, joy, and love characterize the heavenly host. On earth, it is nothing of the sort.
Wars and rumors of wars plague the people of the land. Death, decay, hatred, and pride are prevalent in and among the people. The worship of the creation, rather than the Creator, is as much of a problem now as when Romans chapter 1 was inspired by Your Holy Spirit.
But, Lord, the great day is coming when You will make all things new. On that day, Your will shall be done in the same way that it is done in heaven. On that great day, Your kingdom will come on this earth, at the return of Christ.
Nevertheless, I can catch glimpses of eternity in the here and now. I pray that You would use me as an ambassador this day. Inspire me, embolden me, teach me, lead me, Lord, to be a vessel for honorable use. I pray, Father, that You would make Your appeal through me and that the unbeliever would be reconciled to You through me.
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
As I look all around me, I often see that I have more than I need. Sometimes I am met face to face with a thought of, “Do I actually need to pray for bread?” I know that Your Word says that I need to, but I have an abundance of bread; there seems to be no shortage.
Nevertheless, I must remember that it is still Your gracious hand that provides, even in the midst of my prosperity. Regardless of the means, You are the merciful and loving provider, and I pray that You would never let me forget that truth.
I also see that I have many spiritual needs. Jesus is declared to be the bread of life. And oh, how I need Jesus every day. Teach me to look beyond the physical matters of this life and to see with spiritual eyes.
Father, I need Jesus; each day I need Him. The trials of life are too many, they are too weighty for me, and I am unable to bear them apart from Your divine enablement.
The strong man, that deceiving serpent, is too strong for me. I need One stronger than him to run to my aid and bind him that I might walk in freedom this day. Give me this day my daily bread. For apart from My Savior, the Bible tells me that I can do no good thing.
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Father, I recognize that I am already a forgiven man. Christ has paid the debt for me on Calvary’s Hill. The work is accomplished, and even Your Son conveyed the fact that it was finished, as the world was shrouded in darkness.
But I also see that I need to continue to ask forgiveness for my sins against You. To maintain a vibrant and intimate relationship with You, I must continue to humble myself before You, and confess.
Father, I also see that if I harbor bitterness or unforgiveness in my heart, although I am still justified, I will not be forgiven in regard to the forgiveness I need to restore a healthy relationship with You. Simply because a child sins against his earthly father, it does not mean that the father is no longer a father to his child.
But it does mean that the child should seek the forgiveness of the father to restore the relationship. Forgive me for my sins this day, and help me to forgive those that sin against me.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”
Lead me not into temptation, Father. I need Your deliverance in this area. This world is full of ways in which it seeks to pull the Christian away from You. Please lead me not into the temptation of Demas, who fled the side of the apostle Paul because of his love for the world.
Please do not lead me into the temptation that Nebuchadnezzar faced, when he saw all that he had, and attributed it to his own doing. Please, Lord, lead me not into the temptation of Abraham, who feared man and responded with lies. Finally, Lord, lead me not into the temptation of the masses and that of Judas, who were willing to crucify their Lord.
Deliver me from this evil that is all about me. Deliver me from the enemy that I find waging war within my members. Deliver me from this body of flesh.
“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Father, I see that everything is Yours. It is from You, through You, and to You. To Your name be the glory. To You belongs the kingdom. To You belongs the power. You alone shall be praised and exalted among the nations.
A day will come when every knee shall bow before the glory of Christ, as He is seated upon His throne. Every eye will see that Jesus is God, and He ransomed for Himself a people for His very own possession.
Eternity is at hand, and vast numbers of people are entering into it each day. May I never forget that eternity is “for ever” and that this life is short. Teach me, Father, how to see the reality of Your ongoing, never-ending kingdom with spiritual eyes.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.