Rethinking the Lord’s Prayer
by Daniel & Michelle Ramsey
What is commonly referred to as The Lord’s Prayer is undoubtedly one of the most well known prayers of all time. Unfortunately, it is often misunderstood and misused. Our goal in this new blog series is to reexamine this prayer in hopes of gaining a better understanding of its central importance in the daily lives of Jesus’ disciples.
The Lord’s Prayer is recorded in two of our New Testament Gospels. It appears in Matthew chapter 6:9-15 and Luke chapter 11:2-4. While the accounts are quite similar, there are some rather notable variations among them. We’ll be discussing the most notable variations in our series. For our blog series, we will be primarily following Matthew’s version.
A Better Title
It has been noted by a number of New Testament scholars that a better title for the Lord’s Prayer would be the Disciple’s Prayer. Both Matthew and Luke make it clear that Jesus presents this prayer for the benefit of his disciples. In fact, in Luke’s version of the Disciple’s Prayer, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray in response to their request, “teach us to pray, even as John taught his disciples how to pray (Luke 11:1).”
A Guide to Prayer & Life
It is also important to understand the Disciple’s Prayer as a pattern of prayer and not merely a formalized prayer that is to be religiously recited. As we will discuss, the Disciple’s Prayer is filled with Greek imperatives. Unfortunately, this does not come through in most English translations. As you may know, in most cases, Greek imperatives require an exclamation point to be inserted into English translations in order to convey the fullest meaning of the original text. What is clear is that Matthew purposely stresses that Jesus taught his disciples that prayer was to be an earnest, heartfelt appeal to God. In fact, in the verses leading up to the Disciple’s Prayer in Matthew, Jesus has just instructed his disciples that when they communicate with God in prayer, they should do so in simplicity, directness, and absolute sincerity. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Disciple’s Prayer addresses some of the most central elements of faithful discipleship. For instance, it teaches disciples about the nature of their relationship with God: He is a loving Father who cares for the needs of his children. It teaches disciples about proper priorities in life: they are to hallow his name and do his good will on earth. It teaches disciples to trust in God’s provisions each day. It reminds us not only about our own need of forgiveness, but also about our need to forgive others. It also teaches disciples about allowing God to lead and deliver them from their adversary, the evil one. So, it is best to understand the Disciple’s Prayer as not merely a guide to prayer, but a guide to life.
The Structure of the Disciple’s Prayer
We should also say a few brief words about the structure of the Disciple’s Prayer in Matthew. We find a total of 7 petitions or requests. The first 3 requests teach disciples about proper priorities. Jesus instructs them to focus first on God and His Kingdom agenda. The following 4 requests focus on the daily lives of disciples, as they strive to faithfully carry out His will on the earth. As you probably know, the number 7 in Hebraic thought is highly symbolic. It symbolizes completion. Therefore, the seven requests found in Matthew’s gospel appears to symbolize the need for disciples to have a balanced and complete spiritual life.
You may have noticed that most modern English translations do not include the final doxology of the prayer in the body of their translations. It is often placed in a footnote. The reason for this is that the doxology is not present in any Greek manuscript prior to the 5th Century. It is widely held that early Christians composed the doxology in order to adapt the Prayer for formal use in congregational settings.
How Disciples are to Address God
In this initial post, we will discuss the opening address of Disciple’s Prayer. In Matthew 6:9, Jesus tells his disciples, 9 “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
Notice that Jesus instructs them to address God as “Our Father” rather than “My Father.” This was in keeping with the fact that all Jews were to remember that they were part of a a physical and spiritual community. Jesus here stresses to his Jewish disciples that they too should remember that they are part of a family or community of disciples. This is made clear by the repeated appearance of first-person plural pronouns throughout the prayer. In the prayer we see the following: “Our Father, Give Us, Forgive Us, Lead Us and Deliver Us. Obviously Jesus was not opposed to disciples bringing their individual requests to the Father. He was simply stressing that they be concerned with the needs of their fellow disciples; their spiritual brothers and sisters in the faith.
As Craig Blomberg has so rightly noted, “The Lord’s Prayer is not simply a private utterance . . . prayer should reflect the corporate unity, desires, and needs of the entire church.” In this opening address, Jesus deals with selfishness, which is one of the greatest ongoing dangers of discipleship. As we see here, the prayers and lives of disciples are not to be characterized by selfishness or self-centeredness. As disciples, we must all remember that we are part of a community of faith. Our prayers and our lives should demonstrate concern for the entire community of disciples.
A Father in the Heavens
Jesus instructs his disciples to address God as Father. This points to the intimate relationship that is to be experienced between God and his children. As Craig Blomberg has also noted, disciples “should consider God as accessible as the most loving human parent.” As Father, God is concerned for the needs of his children. As the One in heaven, he is all-powerful and therefore able to meet any earthly need. You may recall that in the verses preceding this prayer, Jesus told them that their Father knows their needs before they even ask. He will go on to tell them that their Father will not withhold good from his children when they ask. What comforting, encouraging and faith-building words!
The Gospel of Matthew will go on to record Jesus continuing to emphasize the love and care of the Heavenly Father following this prayer. I would like to leave you with the encouraging words from Matthew 6:25-34. Jesus says, 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
We invite you to join us in our next post as we continue to our discussion on the Disciple’s Prayer. Until then, Blessings to you!