The Lord's Prayer

I like going back to the gospels. I always seem to find something new every time I read them. I was reading Matthew 6 last night and stumbled across an oldie but goodie. In this chapter we get instructions for how to pray to the Lord. The prayer that is shown is what we call, "The Lord's Prayer." I don't know about you, but I have said this THOUSANDS of times. I grew up going to church every week and I'm pretty sure we closed with this almost every Sunday. It was repetitive. It was an act. I had no idea what it really meant. No idea of the power behind it. I said it because it was part of the ritual of the church. It has now taken on a whole new identity for me. It has power, and it is beautiful. So I want to share with you what the prayer means to me.

Our Father: The prayer starts with two simple words that personify the entire nature of the Lord. Our father. The man who created us, loves us, disciplines us, and feeds us. He is not some spiritual being floating high above the clouds detached from our lives. But He is personal, available, and real. His nature is revealed, not as some creator that breathed life into us and vanished, but someone who cares about our most intimate desires, our strongest fears, and our deepest convictions. He is truly our father.

In Heaven: You reside above everything. You sit in a dwelling that I don't have the capacity to understand here on this earth. You love me, and are waiting for the day when I stand before you, and am taken into your arms for eternity.

Hallowed be your name: You are holy and set apart from the wickedness that I understand. You are sacred and deserve my utmost respect. Your name changes hearts, it brings sight to the blind and grace to the undeserving. Although I am surrounded by the wickedness of this earth, joy will be abundant in my life because I remain firm in the knowledge that you are good.

Your Kingdom come: There will come a time, when the full glory of your love is made available to me. There will be no death, no destruction, no evil, and no wickedness. You promise to eliminate evil and all that will remain is what is good, what is pure, and what is holy.

Your will be done: It is not about my desires. It is about the desires of the Lord. My heart is to be emptied of all meaningless pursuits I have, and be filled with the purpose of Christ. It is a convicting reminder that every hope and dream I have is meaningless if it's not for the glorification of the Lord. I'm praying that He uses me in a way where people see me less and less, and they see Christ more and more. It's not about Kate's will, but the will of the Lord.

On earth as it is in Heaven: This is my second favorite line of the Lord's prayer (we'll get to my favorite in a second). Here is my calling. Here is my purpose. How many times have we said this line without realizing the implications it has on our lives. I am praying that the Lord use me (as seen above) for His will while I'm here on earth. What do I believe the Lord's will for me on earth is? My convictions are that I am to be used to advance the Kingdom. He has left me on this earth to be a "fellow worker" for His desires. He calls me to demonstrate the love that Christ has shown to me through the cross, to non-believers. I am called to live a life that demonstrates God's will HERE ON EARTH just like it is IN HEAVEN. In heaven there is joy, peace, worship, fellowship, praise, love, and completeness. As I continue to grow in the Lord I will be emptied, and filled with the qualities of Christ. And through the process of growth and discipleship I will be used to bring the characteristics of heaven to a broken and hurting world.

Give us this day: I need you now, God. I don't care about what tomorrow has in store. I don't care about 2 months from now or 5 years from now. I need you here, with me, and this very moment. I need your grace to eliminate all anxiety and worry, and instead to fill me all the fruits of the Spirit that will provide me the strength to see what your intentions are for me RIGHT NOW. How can I love right now? How can I show faith right now? Don't let my relationship with you be a belief that swirls high above my heads but one I can never capture and put into practice. Give me the ability to put into action all that you have called me to be. Let my perspective be shaped by the knowledge of eternity, but grounded in the actions of today.

Our daily bread: As promised, this is my favorite part of the prayer. I think this means a variety of things to different people, but here is what it means to me. It means my only nutrition. My only fuel. The only thing that has any value to my life. I can search and search for things that fill me, but only one thing will give me life, and that is the Lord. He is not deserving of 2 hours on Sundays. He is not deserving of 30 minutes of quiet time a night. He is deserving of my entire life. Everything I am and everything I do is for him, and provided BY him. My actions, even if set in the right motives, if they are separated from the instructions and convictions He is giving me, are worthless. He fills me with His direction. He fills me with the only bread and the only nutrients I will ever need. His love, and His Word. They change my heart, they change my actions, and they will change the Kingdom.

Forgive us our debts: How beautiful is this line. It is so simple, and such an indication of where our hearts should be. The rest of the prayer is filled with praising God and admiring His love and beauty. So often we get caught up in our sins, our indiscretions, and our shortcomings. But these four words are all that is required for us to ask for. There is no constant plea for forgiveness, no long drawn out message of failure. It's a remembrance of what has already been done for us. We are free because our debts have already been paid for. Our sins have already been wiped clean, and our eternity has already been established. We are not called to dwell in guilt and to harp on our indiscretions. We seek the Lord. We humble ourselves at His feet and acknowledge our sinful nature. We ask for forgiveness, and we move on.

As we also have forgiven our debtors: Oh man. Enter humility. Have I forgiven my debtors? Have I forgiven everyone who has wronged me? And if not, why not? What has someone done to me that I haven't done moment after moment, day after day to the Lord. I have sinned against a perfect God repeatedly. I have sinned against a God who sent His son, who lived without sin, to bear the penalty of MY sins, and died on the cross. Christ died because of MY sins. How could I hold someone to a higher standard than that. With grace, I can forgive anyone who has wronged me. I can, because Christ calls me to. And He promises grace. I can't do it without Him. I can't muster up the strength in the pits of my wickedness to forgive someone unless the Holy Spirit is driving me towards love. But I can forgive. I can forgive because the ultimate example of being forgiven is the cornerstone of the gospel. I am reminded of forgiveness every time I read the word of God. Because of Christ, I too can forgive.

Lead us not into temptation: We are promised that the Lord does not tempt. But He allows us to be tempted (see Job) and He WILL test us. I am reminded that temptation is all around me. I am tempted to rely on myself, I am tempted to spend my money in ways that will bring pleasure to my flesh, but not to the Kingdom. I am tempted to watch the Hills instead of read the bible (whoops...gave into that one last night.) I pray the Lord helps me guard my heart. He steers me in ways that lead me far away from a temptation that will entrap me. And when I find myself at the mercy of that temptation, He promises a way out. I pray for strength to recognize temptations for what they are, a product of the enemy, and for grace and courage to turn back to my daily bread. For that is the only way I will be filled.

But deliver us from evil: This is two-fold to me. One, deliver me, in eternity, from evil. Write my name in the book of eternal life and promise me an eternity with you, Lord. Two, light my path while I wonder this earth in a direction that keeps me far from the snares of evil. Protect my thoughts, my actions, and my heart. I am reminded that I am less powerful than Satan, but the power of Satan doesn't even compare to the power of the Lord. And if I dwell in Christ, I am untouchable. It is when I wonder, when I stray because of the temptation, that I am vulnerable. It is then that I can be devoured. The only safety is in the light of the Lord.

For yours is the kingdom, and power, and glory forever: Forever. I love this word. In a world where forever have been replaced with "while it's convenient for me" it brings so much joy to imagine a time where there IS no time. There is forever. Forever with the Lord. All the glory, all the power, and the final kingdom will be revealed in a way that everything else will be revealed for what it really was. It is a reminder for the need to praise. Everything that is good belongs to God, and we worship Him because of this. Not because we have to, but because everything we have that has any value or joy comes from God. We can love because He first loved us.

It truly is the most amazing prayer. It hungers for the life that can be provided only from Christ. He acknowledges our shortcomings, but promises fulfilment through one thing and one thing only, a life devoted to the Lord.