LORD’S PRAYER
The basic Christian prayer.
Jesus used the Lord's Prayer as a straightforward explanation of how to pray to God in the book of Matthew.
Nevertheless, the prayer's old English phrases in the King James Version (KJV) can be difficult to comprehend.
Even so, we no longer use terms like "art," "thy," and "thine" from the KJV translation.
So, verse by verse, what does the Lord's Prayer mean?
The Formula On How to pray
Many individuals believe the Lord's Prayer is a prayer that must be spoken verbatim. Certain individuals regard the Lord's Prayer as a magical formula as if the words themselves possess some unique power or influence over God.
The Bible, on the other hand, teaches the contrary. When we pray, God is far more concerned with our hearts than with our words. When you worship, however, enter your room, shut the door, and address your prayers to your heavenly Father.
Then your Father, who observes all, will recompense you. And when you pray, avoid the heathen's foolish repetitions. For they believe that their numerous utterances will be heard. We ought to pour out our hearts to God in prayer, not simply recite memorized words.
The Lord's Prayer should be viewed as a model of prayer. It identifies the "ingredients" that should be included in prayer. This is how it works. The term "Our Father in heaven" instructs us to worship the Father. “Hallowed be your name” instructs us to worship God and to extol His attributes.
The phrase "your kingdom come, you will be done on earth as it is in heaven" reminds us to pray for God's plan for our lives and the world, not for our own. We ought to pray for the accomplishment of God's will, not our own.
In "give us today our daily bread," we are instructed to pray to God for the things we require. “Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors” reminds us to confess our faults to God and repent, as well as to forgive others in the same way that God has forgiven us.
The ending of the Lord's Prayer, "And lead us not into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one," is a request for assistance in overcoming sin and protection from the devil's attacks.
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
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.
Matthew 6:9-13 Version (KJV)
THE LORD’S PRAYER EXPLAINED
Our Father which art in heaven.
Since we are all God's children, the Lord's prayer starts with "Our Father." Not only for ourselves but for all of us, we pray for His grace and forgiveness.
“Which art in heaven,” the prayer begins. The word "art" means "to be" or "to exist" in Old English.
This serves as a reminder that we pray to a God who resides in Heaven, not to anything on Earth.
Hallowed be thy name.
To put it simply, "hallowed be thy name" means that we revere God and are solely faithful to Him. This expression is comparable to our oath of allegiance to God.
The term "hallowed" refers to something that is sacred or revered.
Be thy means your.
Your name means what we call you.
This expression could be translated as "we respect you" if we put these words together in plain English.
Thy kingdom come.
As Jesus prays, "Thy kingdom come," he is actually expressing his belief that God will be in charge forever, or until the end of time.
Thy means yours.
Kingdom refers to a territory ruled by a king.
Come literally means to occur.
Putting these terms together, we might conclude that God is actually in charge and will still be in charge.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
We must interpret this verse of the Lord's Prayer very carefully in order to comprehend what it means. The verse contains just a few simple words, but they are loaded with meaning.
Thy means: yours
Will denotes a desire or a wish.
Done denotes completion.
After looking at this section of the Lord's prayer, it's obvious that we're promising God that we'll follow his wants or wishes on Earth.
“Your wishes will be fulfilled on Earth, just as they are in Heaven,” says the verse.
Give us this day our daily bread.
If you read another analysis on the Lord's Prayer, you'll notice that the verse "giving us this day our daily bread" is perceived in a variety of ways.
God tells Moses in Exodus 16:4 that every morning bread will rain down from heaven to feed the starving children of Israel.
They are only to gather as much bread as they require for that day, and they are not to save any for the next day. This is the daily bread to which Jesus refers.
The true meaning of this verse may be that we must always depend on God for our needs.
When we mature spiritually, we become self-sufficient and no longer need God's provision. We need God more than ever before we move closer to him.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
The Lord's Prayer in the King James Version begs God to forgive our "debts" as we forgive our "debtors" (the people that owe us something).
When we think about debt today, the first thought that comes to mind is most likely a loan or money borrowed.
The verse, however, does not apply to financial debts. Rather, it represents righteous or spiritual debts.
Simply put, Jesus is alluding to our past transgressions. We ask God to forgive our wrongdoings after we forgive the sins of others in the Lord's prayer.
It's important to remember that we must first forgive others for their transgressions or errors. Then we should ask God to forgive us for our transgressions. It doesn't work the other way around.
And lead us not into temptation.
In this section of the Lord's Prayer, we ask God not to lead us astray or into temptation.
We need God's assistance because we are often duped by the devil into making poor life decisions.
We're pleading with God to help us stop making any more poor choices.
But deliver us from evil.
The word "deliver" in this verse has a different meaning than it appears. We're not asking God to deliver us from point A to point B like a pizza. Our Uber driver is not God.
Instead, we're pleading with God to save us and set us free from sin and wrong.
For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer concludes with our acknowledgment of God's strength.
Thine denotes all that is yours.
The term "kingdom" refers to a territory ruled by a king (heaven and earth)
The freedom to act is what power entails.
Glory means to admire or honor others.
By speaking this line, we are informing God that we can never forget that everything belongs to Him.
He is the ruler of Heaven and Earth, and He has the power to forgive or punish us. He is worthy of all glory and adoration.
The Lord’s Prayer Summary (Plain English)
Now that we know what each verse of the Lord's Prayer means, it's much easier to comprehend, right?
This is how I can break down the Lord's Prayer in simple English, based on my research:
Lord, In heaven, we are devoted to you.
You're in command, and we'll follow your rules to the letter.
Thank you for what you do for us every day.
Others' errors will be forgiven. Please excuse my errors.
Please assist me in avoiding poor choices.
Allow me to be set free from my sins.
You have complete control and are deserving of all praise. Amen.
How We Should Pray
Jesus instructs his followers on how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. This well-known passage of Scripture is referred to as The Lord's Prayer, although others refer to it as the Our Father Prayer. You should read and remember the Lord's Prayer below, as Jesus used it as an explanation of how we should pray when he was asked how we should pray.
Bear in mind, however, that this is a teaching method, not a mystical phrase capable of influencing God in a way that no other prayer from our souls can.
The Lord's Prayer teaches the Six Steps of Prayer.
1. Address God in His proper role as the Father.
2. Worship and thank God for who He is and all that He has accomplished.
3. Recognize that God's will and intentions are in charge, not ours.
4. Address God in His proper role as the Father.
5. Admit our faults and repent
6. Invoke aid and assistance in confronting sin and Satan's assaults on us.
Allow this Scripture to sink into your heart when you read it and begin speaking to God freely and openly. He made you, he adores you, and he longs to communicate with you! Utilize the Lord's Prayer as a guide for dealing with God!
Accept Jesus Today
Are you ready to transform your life today and start anew with the power and glory of God by your side?
The process of obtaining salvation is very simple. For anyone to be saved, he or she must confess Jesus Christ as Lord through faith.
Consider a Donation.
As you may have noticed I like to keep Steps With Jesus free from advertising and other commercial influence. The purpose is for your experience with God to be pure and free from distraction.
However, I do incur numerous costs whilst running this website. So I kindly ask if you have found this website useful in any way that you consider donating whatever you can afford so that others may hear the wonderful message of Jesus Christ too! God bless you.