"The Lord's Prayer" — Luke 11:2-4; Matthew 6:9-13

Opening Address: “Our Father who art in heaven.”

With respect to God:

1) “Our Father” implies intimacy and trust (Luke 11:11-13; Matt. 6:8, 32; Jeremiah 31:20).

2) Sonship is typically applied to the future (Matthew 5:9; Luke 6:35; Romans 8:23).

3) Sonship is our privilege now, however, through faith (1 John 3:1; 5:1; Galatians 3:26) and by the Spirit (Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:14-17).

4) “In heaven” implies an intimacy with God that is consistent with respect.

With respect to ourselves:

If He is our Father, we are his sons and daughters, who owe him heart-felt obedience.

With respect to others:

If we are His children, then we are each other’s brothers and sisters.

The corporate perspective (“our” “us” “we”) dominates the entire prayer.

Each of the first three petitions, which focus on our desires with respect to God, in Greek begins with a verb and ends with “your.”

1st Petition: “Hallowed be Thy name.”

This means “may Your name be held holy” or “vindicate the holiness of Your name” (Romans 2:24; Isaiah 52:5, 6; Ezekiel 36:21-23; Philippians 2:9-11).

2nd Petition: “Thy kingdom come.”

Daniel 7; Matthew 6:33; Luke 22:18; Revelation 22:20

3rd Petition: “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

Our desire is not merely that all things would conform to God’s will (they do so already, even if only reluctantly or passively — Ephesians 1:11; Psalm 99), but that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven, in other words, consciously and willingly (Mark 14:36; 2 Peter 3:13; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; 1 John 3:2).

This request will be finally answered with Christ’s return, but in part it is answered already through the work of the Spirit.

Each of the last three petitions, which focus on our needs, has an “us,” and the last two are joined by “ands” in Greek and so form a single sentence.

4th Petition (PRESENT): “Give us this day our coming day’s bread;”

“Our coming day’s bread” is the material and spiritual provision which awaits us in abundance in heaven, but of which Christ now invites us to have a foretaste (Luke 11:5-8; Luke 14:15; John 6:1-14, 25-71; Luke 6:21). “The coming day” refers to the day that is dawning (Luke 11:5), but it also points to the Day of the Lord (Rom. 13:11, 12).

5th Petition (PAST): “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;”

Mark 11:25; Matthew 6:14, 15; 18:21-35

6th Petition (FUTURE): “And lead us not into trial, but deliver us from the Evil One.”

trial (James 1:13; Psalm 143:1, 2; Revelation 3:10; Psalm 23:3)

Evil One (1 John 5:18, 19; Matthew 13:19; Psalm 143:9; Luke 22:46; Matthew 26:42)

We ask God, who is our Judge, that our own strength and righteousness not be put on trial. Nevertheless we want the benefit of an innocent verdict in deliverance from the Evil One (Romans 8:1; Revelation 12:10).

Doxology: “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

These words were added to the Lord’ Prayer by the church based on 1 Chron. 29:11-13.

Hugenberger 7/99