The Lord’s Prayer
If you grew up in or even just recently attended a Protestant or Catholic church then you have repeated the Lord’s Prayer every day you attended church. But, What is The Lord’s Prayer? It is found in the Gospels of Mathew (chapter 6) and in Luke (chapter 11). The Disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and this is the prayer he taught:
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 (sins), 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.
This is the version as is written in King James Version II. Of course this is a translation in early English which is a very poetic language but the meaning is the same. So Let us break it down and see what it really is all about.
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, — Standard salutation, right? Actually a normal salutation is to tell the recipient it’s for them. In this instance the recipient knows all, so he already knows who it’s for. So the salutation is not for the recipient but the sender. and the hallowed be thy name is to let the sender know that this is not just another average person he’s communicating with, but the one true God.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. This one has always made me a little curios. I assume it is just a little like buttering up before you ask Dad for a the keys to the car. Maybe I’m wrong so possibly some of you can help me out on that one because the next one is a doozy!
Give us this day, our daily bread. What does that mean? Well, in the time when Jesus walked the earth bread was not like the bread of today. Bread was made of many different grains and was coarsely ground so it had almost all the vitamins and minerals a person needed to survive, so a person could live on bread and beer alone. Yes, the water was so deadly with bacteria that it was like drinking poison so people (even children) drank a very weak beer if they had no wine. (and of course beer was fermented from grain i.e. bread) So when you asked God for your daily bread, you were asking for your daily sustenance. God already knows what you need so there is no need to ask for anything else. (as is stated in Mathew chapter 6)
The next verse is “And forgive us our debts (sins), as we forgive our debtors.” What are we asking, Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who do harm to us?” Do you really want God to forgive us the same way we forgive others? In that case most of us won’t be forgiven of our sins. You don’t believe me, what about that guy who cut you off in traffic the other day; or the one that broke into your house and stole your Flat screen TV; or God forbid, the drunk driver that killed your only child? This one is a real hard one. But you’re asking God to forgive you the same as you forgive them. Think about that the next time you simply repeat that prayer from rote.
The rest is easy. Your just asking God to help you stay away from sin and out of trouble.
Yes I left out the, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever, and ever, amen.” because that part was not in the original Bible, but added by a king at a later time. (I think it was Henry VIII but I’m not sure)
To understand The Lord’s Prayer properly, you should read/re-read Mathew, Chapter VI so I’m including the relevant part below, just in case you don’t have a Bible. God bless and keep you all!
Mathew 6, 1-34
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
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 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.
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, 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.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 Moreover when ye fast be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the ckingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
