Constant Coulibaly

Many often refer to the passage in Matthew 6, verses 9-13, as the Lord’s prayer. But is it really?

While the passage is a prayer taught by Jesus, its designation as the “Lord’s Prayer,” with the word “Prayer” often capitalised may be nuanced.

The text reads, “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.”

In Matthew 6, Jesus taught His followers to keep God as their top priority, and not material things. He explained that it is better to focus on God and the things of the kingdom rather than getting caught up in worldly cares.

Many people have little or no time for God because of their concern for material possessions and fear of lacking those things, and so they chase after them. But Jesus in Matthew 6 reasoned with such individuals, and all of us, saying that God has given man life, and human life is a greater gift than food, raiment, and the riches one may possess.

One way to demonstrate that one prioritizes God over everything else is through prayer to God. So, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. From Luke’s gospel account, the disciples' training in prayer was the result of a request from one of them, who said to Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." (cf. Luke 11:1-4)"

There is no doubt that the Lord's Prayer originated from Jesus Himself. Every word of this prayer was spoken by Him. In this sense, it is appropriate to call it the Lord's Prayer. When people say, "The Lord's Prayer," this means that the prayer belongs to the Lord. The implication is that, given the possessive apostrophe in "Lord's," the prayer was worded by Jesus Himself. It was, indeed, worded by Jesus.

However, Jesus did not actually pray this prayer Himself. He did not address it directly to God the Father. The Lord's Prayer, as it is known, was a model prayer that Jesus provided to his disciples, teaching them how they should pray. It was not Jesus’ own personal prayer; it was rather an example of prayer He gave His followers for them to use in their own prayers to the Father. It is therefore more accurate to refer to it as the Lord’s model for prayer. Jesus introduced it with the words, “After this manner therefore pray ye” which indicate that the prayer was meant to be an example to be followed. The word "manner" in the original Greek of the New Testament denotes a way - or kind - of praying. The Revised Standard Version renders Jesus' introductory words as, "Pray then like this."

From this example of prayer, we can learn the following as we now get into the study of its verses:

1) God is our heavenly Father. We address our prayers only to God, not to any other person or object, including images, knowing that His dwelling place is in heaven.

2) The name of God is to be hallowed. We begin prayer by praising our great God. The phrase, “Hallowed be thy name” is the expression of humble reverence for God. God is great because He is perfect in power, love, and purity.

3) When Jesus taught His disciples to pray for the kingdom of God to come in Matthew 6, it had not yet arrived. But it exists today (Col. 1:13), so we do not need to pray for it to come. The kingdom of God on earth today is the church, which came into existence with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. However, there are many aspects of God's kingdom for which we can pray. We can pray for it to spread and for its members to be united (John 17:21), convinced of their faith, and strong in it (1 Cor. 16:13).

4) We pray for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven. Satan is busy causing havoc on earth, something he cannot do in heaven. Therefore, we pray that God will overrule the devil, enabling His will to be fulfilled despite Satan’s effort to steal, kill and destroy.

5) We pray that God will provide for our daily bread. This means that we give thought to our material needs when we pray. The word “bread” Jesus used represents all the necessities of life. We pray to God for everything we need that sustains our life (food, clothes, air, job, health, etc.).

6) As Christians, we make mistakes and sin now and then. We need to ask God for forgiveness. And when others offend us, we should be willing to forgive them as well, remembering that we too make mistakes, and be ready to forgive them when they ask for forgiveness. Instead of holding grudges, we should be willing to forgive. The Lord’s Prayer says, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”

7) The devil surrounds us with temptations of all kinds. We cry out to God asking Him to deliver us from Satan and his evil tactics of temptation (2 Cor. 2:11). Jesus taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

8) Our God is Almighty, sovereign, and all glory belongs to Him. When we pray, we must also praise Him for this reason. As the model prayer opens with praise, it also ends with praise. Indeed, it is right and proper to say to God, "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."

The Lord Jesus Christ personally offered many prayers during His time on earth. One of the most well-known is the prayer He prayed before He went to the cross, which is recorded in John 17. But the prayer commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer is certainly not one of them.