Our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount declares the blessedness of the pure in heart (Matthew 5:8), and other exemplary virtues, which, if put into practice, will make a true disciple. These virtues were eminent in the first disciples who followed Jesus in His ministry, notwithstanding their failures and weaknesses.
During our Lord’s exhortation to His disciples in the sixth chapter of Matthew, He taught them the Lord’s Prayer. He warns them against hypocrisy in prayer (verse 5) and in verse 9 states: “After this manner therefore pray ye . . . ,” and the Lord’s Prayer follows. This seems to imply that we should pattern our prayers, at least to some extent, after this example. This is a beautiful and forceful prayer, and can be grasped only in the light of the chapter in which we find it. If we carefully weigh each word, we are faced with the most searching examination we will find anywhere in the Bible.
There are many prayers given throughout the Scriptures by faithful men and women, and by the Lord Himself that warrant careful study, and would logically teach us that the prayer our Lord gave to His disciples was a lesson on their vital need to acknowledge their true relationship to their Heavenly Father as children of His grace, His holiness, majesty and Power; and above all, a true and honest appraisal of their own motives in prayer and supplication.
Let us now analyze this remarkable prayer.
v. 9: “Our Father”. Jesus said to Mary after His resurrection, ” . . . I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God” (John 20:17). These opening words are an acknowledgment of our relationship to the Father and to the Son, and to our fellowship with the saints.
“Which art in heaven”. Our minds are concentrated on the wonder of our relationship and high calling: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God . . . And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure” (1st John 3:1-3).
“‘Hallowed by thy name.” This statement takes its place fittingly in this order, commending itself to our sober and just judgment and to a most earnest and heart searching examination of our lives. To be adopted sons and daughters implies the personal love and mercy in the gracious will of a Father, as so beautifully dramatized in the Lord God of Israel in His compassion upon the infant “cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born” (Ezekiel 16:5).
The blessedness of our relationship defies description. But as bearers of that Name we are compelled to realize the responsibility that it enjoins upon us. We either manifest and glorify it, or bring reproach upon it, and cause men to blaspheme it. How heart searching are these words! As we repeat them, do we think deeply and seriously of the commitment that we have made, and then gird up the loins of our minds and dedicate ourselves anew to His service, realizing the grace of His calling and His love for us?
v. 10. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
Humbly we must ask ourselves, am I true to this supplication, am I willingly obedient to His commandments? Am I surrendering my entire will to the Father, and saying in effect, “Not my will be done, but thine, 0 Lord”? These words should come from our hearts as the utterance of a deep yearning, as David expresses it, “All my hope and all my desire.” Paul’s words to the Philippians are expressive here: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect (upright), be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you” (Philippians 3: 14, 15).
Think for a moment of the Lord’s disciples, a people despised and rejected of men; like their Master, fleeing from city to city, suffering the lash, imprisonment, and finally, death. Jesus warned them: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20). This has been the experience of the disciples which would inspire them to the very depths of their souls. These are men who had committed their all to the Lord, sacrificing even unto death; they had set their affections on things above, and not on things of the earth (Colossians 3:1). It would seem fitting to remark here that the prayer was taught to these first disciples with a view to the fact that they were to be witnesses of all that Jesus said and did, and entrusted with the Gospel to faithfully minister to the people.
The message is also addressed to us, and although we cannot do the works of the Lord to the same extent the apostles did, it is vital to our faith and our walk in life.
v. 11. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
This petition discourages any fulfillment of our lusts, but rather teaches us to be content with such things as we have and trust tomorrow to the Lord. “Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself . . ” (Matthew 6: 34). The first thought of the disciples when persecuted was to bear their cross faithfully. To have taken thought for tomorrow could have been a stumbling block to them, as it might be to us.
The harmony of our Lord’s teaching in the context of these two chapters with the Lord’s Prayer is most striking. There are fourteen verses in this sixth chapter on trusting Him for our temporal needs.
v. 19-21: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth .
v. 22-23: “The light of the body is the eye. . .
v. 24 “No man can serve two masters .
v. 25 . . . Take no thought for your life … “
v. 26 “Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not .
v. 27 “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature .. . ?”
v. 28-31: “And why take ye thought for raiment … ”?
v. 32: “For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
v. 35: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.”
v. 12: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
It is common to think of debts as financial maters, but there are no such limits. Insults, injury, abuse and slander are all debts to be forgiven. We ask God to forgive Our debts or trespasses, but He says: “If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” We could write off a bad debt, but fail to forgive. We could receive back into our midst the erring saint, and in heart retain a bitter and unforgiving spirit toward him. The measure of our mercy should be according to the yardstick our Heavenly Father has shown toward us: “When ye were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). We must look into the mirror of the Word to see ourselves, and try to retain the vision. ” . . . If any man (says Paul) have a quarrel (complaint) against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Colossians 3:13). It is a spiritual blessing of the inner man to put away all bitterness, anger and malice and to sanctify God in our minds and heart. Verse 15 continues: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful.”
We have observed that our Lord spoke at length in relation to our petition for daily food, and this is true of the matter of forgiveness: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). Verses 22, 39-44 all teach mercy and nonresistance to the extreme, so again we see the perfect harmony of this prayer with the Lord’s teaching throughout.
v. 13: ”Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Looking once more at the disciples of our Lord, we can see how great was their need, and how earnest their petition would be. Briefly, this prayer covers the following: Reverence for the Name; love for the appearing of the kingdom to come and His will to be done; faith in His power to provide—all these serve to keep them from evil. Their faith, honesty and obedience must find its place here if their prayer is to be effectual and the Lord’s response assured.
. . . The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5: 16).
There are a multiplicity of things we could warn our brethren and sisters against in regard to the evil and temptations to which they can so easily expose themselves. Our sisters could take stock of their dress in this Sodom and Gomorrah generation, when commercial minded fashion houses catch every whim and vanity of the people. Brethren likewise need to be on their guard lest the evil environment of the times in which we live cause them to deny God. The new car, the new home, the better job must not take precedence over the importance of our salvation. The Lord leaves no stones unturned here. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth . But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. . . For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6: 19-21).
“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 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” (Matthew 6: 22, 23).
There is more hope for the unenlightened than for him who, once knowing the truth, exploits it to his own glory, and rejects it. When our whole heart is in the hope set before us, our eye is single, our whole purpose in life is to run the race successfully, using life’s treasures only where they afford stepping stones to the kingdom. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, 0 man of God, flee these things: and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1st Timothy 6: 10, 11).
“. . . For thine is the kingdom, and power and glory, forever and ever, Amen.“
If the hypocrite making long prayers to be seen of men would give thought to this concluding declaration, he might well go and hide his head in shame and remorse, and beat on his breast and say, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” For his life is a contradiction of this prayer, as ours may well be if we do not faithfully follow the principles set forth in this wonderful prayer.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One