How have you found the meditations on the Lord’s Prayer? It’s been a blast for me. What a privilege to get to spend 5 weeks thinking on this prayer that our Lord taught us. I’ve always desired to spend some time thinking on this short prayer, but have perhaps been deceived by its brevity and familiarity with it. I thought as a final reflection I’d take some time to think about what I’ve learnt from spending this time on this prayer.
Firstly, it has refreshed my view of God. While I cannot say that I learnt anything new about God, taking time over this prayer illuminated for me what God is like and what is due to Him. Having the privilege to call God Father is by no means an invitation to take His greatness for granted. We call Him Father even as we humbly acknowledge His deity and greatness, bringing honor to His name, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”.
Secondly, but related to the first point, I was struck by just how God-centered the prayer is. It spends considerable time dwelling on God: who He is and what He deserves. This struck me because of how my general thoughts on prayer are often, if not always, centered on me and what I want and feel I need. The pattern Jesus teaches for prayer focuses on God first and foremost. As creatures coming to their Creator, we are not meant to be preoccupied with ourselves but with God, who welcomes us to come to Him, in humble dependence.
Thirdly, I ought to desire the full consummation of God’s kingdom daily. This is not a prayer for special occasions but the pattern we should employ in our daily lives. This means that my daily prayers should include a focus on the return of Christ and the fullness of the New Creation. These represent the coming of the kingdom of God; when the King returns to take those who are his and vanquishes all those that oppose him, securing his kingdom forever. If this is meant to be a focus of my prayers, it should be something that I think about intentionally as well. This reminds me of a saint of old I was reading about recently: Richard Baxter. He lived in 17th century England and experienced a lot of hardship. The chapter I read started this way, “Richard Baxter was a man with heaven on his mind. It shaped all he did, all he loved and all he thought about – it was like heaven was stamped on his forehead.”1 After a particular near death experience he purposed to deliberately spend at least half an hour every day to think upon and pray about heaven! I was deeply encouraged by his example.
There are two things I realize I fail at when it comes to this. One, that though I might think about the coming of the kingdom from time to time, I have not made it a daily occurrence. I should be yearning for the return of King Jesus every day and not just once in a while. Two, that I am more often concerned with earthly kingdoms. Whether I’m thinking about my own little ‘kingdom’ (the things I think I control) or the bigger reality of living under the government of this country or even the other kingdoms of this world, I am more concerned (and anxious about) this fleeting world than the one that is coming. While I don’t want to claim that we are not to care at all about what happens in this world, I want to emphasize that the coming kingdom ought to heavily influence how I think about earthly kingdoms. Having a sure hope of the coming kingdom should lead me to pray for earthly kingdoms but in full understanding that whatever happens here happens only by the consent and will of the Great King who rules the earth he made! I will live with less anxiety at the changing tides of earthly kingdoms because I trust the reigning King to know what he is doing in allowing things to unfold as they are. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
Having then acknowledged who God is and what he deserves, I can bring to him all my needs. This fourth lesson goes beyond simply bringing my cares to God but teaches me about what I am to expect from his hand: physical and spiritual sustenance. He is the One who supplies me with all that I need to be sustained physically – food, clothing shelter. This is part of asking him for bread. I should trust him to do this day-by-day. It is after this prayer, still in Matthew 6, that Jesus speaks about not being anxious about tomorrow, “for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matt. 6:34). I ought to learn to deal with the problems in front of me and not go on stressing out about what will come tomorrow. Tomorrow will be another day in which to trust God for whatever comes.
I also learn to trust God for my spiritual needs. This does not just mean the forgiveness of my sins and help forgiving others, but also grace for the path God will lead me through, filled as it will be with various temptations. The latter was especially striking. I need to be aware of and trusting God in the spiritual battle that I am in every day. In whatever the Sovereign God determines for me to face, I must learn to lean on him and trust he will deliver me from the Evil One and all his influence, even as he grows me in holiness. May we joyfully learn to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Though it is not part of the Scriptures, the last part of the Lord’s prayer that was added by the Church is very much in line with the God-centeredness of what Jesus taught. “For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.” It takes us back to the One to whom we are praying, his rule and honor. We can pray these things because God is the One eternally ruling, he is the One able to do all these things and his will be the glory from the answering of this prayer. Hallelujah! May God help me to pray this daily!
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.
[For yours is the kingdom,
and the power and the glory, forever, Amen.]
- “Richard Baxter: Keep These Hearts Above”. Rachael Ciano. 10 Dead Guys You Should Know: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. Ed. Ian J. Maddock. (Christian Focus, 2021), 123-141. ↩︎