"Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Matthew 6:9-13
The prayer we are to pray on a regular basis was best described by Jesus in an instructional given that we know today as "The Lord's Prayer." No, it does not line up a word-for-word tradition that we are to follow on a daily basis. Rather it gives us a template that we can follow and apply at a level that makes it intimate.
Here are the five things lined up by the Lord's prayer that we are to pray for.
God's Honor | "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name."
Anything and everything we do starts first with the honor and glory of God. When we seek to "acknowledge Him" in all our ways, God will make our paths straight. (Proverbs 3:6) Ultimately, we cannot and will most likely not seek God's honor on our own accord so we must ask to be guided and reminded by the Holy Spirit regularly.
God's will | "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
While we may think that our will and ways are the best, God's will is always going to be preeminently better. When we set ourselves up to walk in and exist in God's good, pleasing and perfect will, we will experience the best He has to offer. God's abundant provision precedes His sovereign purpose.
God's provision | "Give us this day our daily bread"
Sure we may have jobs, but God is the primary source of anything and everything we need. We can and must work for our living, but also be reminded that God's grace is what truly puts food on the table.
God's forgiveness | "and forgive us our debts"
The removal of sin and it's consequences is never truly up to our own strength. We cannot earn the atonement we so desperately need, but we can surely pray and ask for it in the name of Jesus. Through the cross, we can experience spiritual and physical freedom from sin.
God's character | "as we also have forgiven our debtors."
Character is who you are on the inside but is also how you deal with others especially those who have maligned you. It is best formed in the forge of God's presence thus we are to allow God to work through our hearts and mould our character so that we will learn to love and forgive even those that sin against us.
God's protection | "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
At the end of the day, we find true and lasting security in the arms of our loving Father, not in wealth, ourselves or even other people. God can and will protect us from all harm and evil and looks to us to invite Him to do so.
