Jesus’ disciples often saw Him praying and asked Him to teach them how to pray. In response, Jesus again presented His prayer recorded in Matthew 6:9-13.
The Lord’s Prayer begins with the invocation “Our Father,” assuring us God is our Father and we are His children.
“If you call God your Father, you acknowledge yourselves [as] His children, to be guided by His wisdom and to be obedient in all things, knowing that His love is changeless. You will accept His plan for your life…you will hold His honor, His character, His family, His work, as the objects of your highest interest” (Ellen White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, page 105).
The prayer continues, “Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10, KJV).
When we pray, we should speak God’s name with reverence and ask that it may be hallowed in us. “In every act of life, you are to make manifest the name of God. This petition calls upon you to possess His character…This you can do only through the acceptance of the grace and righteousness of Christ” (Ellen White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, page 107).
Moving on, the fact that Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Thy kingdom come,” is an assurance that He will definitely come again. And we have a part to play in hastening His coming.
Following that is the part mentioning, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” which is a petition for evil to end, sin to be forever destroyed, and God’s righteousness to be established.
After this, the prayer turns to our needs, saying, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It includes not only physical food but also the spiritual bread that nourishes the soul. With this, Jesus is “the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever” (John 6:51, KJV).
The next part of the prayer focuses on forgiveness, saying, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4, KJV). Here, Jesus emphasizes in as much as He is willing to forgive us for our sins, we should also forgive those who have wronged us. This is, however, not easy to do. But by realizing God’s love, we can extend compassion and forgiveness to others.
Moving on, Satan seeks to bring us into temptation so he may claim us as his own. However, if we turn to God in prayer, He will “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13, NIV).
“In offering the prayer that Christ has given, we surrender ourselves to the guidance of God, asking Him to lead us in safe paths…We shall wait for His hand to lead us; we shall listen to His voice, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it’ (Isaiah 30:21)” (Ellen White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, page 117).
The Lord’s Prayer ends pointing to the Father, saying, “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13, KJV). This assures us God is in control and His promises will be fulfilled.
As Ellen White said, “The Majesty of heaven has the destiny of nations, as well as the concerns of His church, in His own charge…He who slumbers not, who is continually at work for the accomplishment of His designs, will carry forward His own work…When the strongholds of kings shall be overthrown, when the arrows of wrath shall strike through the hearts of His enemies, His people will be safe in His hands” (Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, page 121).
What a privilege to pray to God!
May The Lord’s Prayer be the inspiration for our prayers too.
To learn more about this topic, read Ellen White’s book Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing and download its digital copy at https://egwwritings.org/.
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