About The Lord’s Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer can be divided into three parts.  The first part of the prayer is the Introduction, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” The second part of the Lord’s Prayer are “petitions.” Seven Petitions (or “requests’)  follow the Introduction. The third part of the Lord’s Prayer is the Conclusion. “For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever and ever. Amen.”

The Introduction:
“Our Father, Who Art In Heaven”

The “Introduction” is simply the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer.  By beginning the prayer with “Our Father,” Jesus taught His disciples some of the most important faith lessons in the Bible.

A First lesson Jesus taught in His Introduction is that God is our personal “Father.” He is not an impersonal force. He is not a make-believe invisible friend. Nor is our Father in heaven a hate-filled, angry, abusive Being set to destroy us.

A Second lesson from the Introduction, is that our heavenly Father loves, cares, listens and tenderly protects all His children...including you. He is a personal God who knows and loves us. He knows our failings, our sins and our weakness. But He also knows that we need His forgiveness. His forgiveness is something He freely gives us every day.

A Third lesson from the Introduction of the Lord’s Prayer is that because God is our all-powerful, all-knowing Father, we can fear, love and trust Him completely. Because He loves us as His dear children, we can boldly and confidently pray to Him with all our wants, desires, hurts and needs…no matter how large or small.
 

The First Petition:
“Hallowed Be Thy Name”

“Hallowed”??? What’s that?!!!

Perhaps the only time we ever use the word “hallow” is at Halloween. The word “hallow” is an old English word for “holy.”

In the Bible, the word “holy” means several things. It means “to be without sin.”

But holiness isn’t just following the Ten Commandments the best we can. To be holy means “to separate” ourselves from sin and evil. Especially as it relates to God, to be “holy” means to be “unique” or “in class all by ourselves.”

The Lord’s Prayer not only affirms that God is our Father in heaven. It also affirms that there is no other Being like Him…no will there ever be.

Psalm 86 describes the uniqueness and holiness of God.

“There is none like You, O Lord; no deeds can compare with Yours. All the nations
You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord; they will bring glory to
Your name. For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God.

Teach me Your way, O LORD, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.”                                                                    Psalm 86:8-12 NIV

“Hallowed be Thy name.” God is in a class all by Himself. No one can match Him. No one is equal to Him. He alone is our God. He is the only One who deserves our praise.

That’s what we affirm as we pray the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer.
 

The Second Petition:
“Thy Kingdom Come”

You have a King. You didn’t elect Him. You didn’t choose Him. He chose you first.

Your King, of course, is God, our King. He is Lord over everything on heaven and earth.

But Satan is in our world, too. As Prince of this world, he would love to be King of the universe. He would love to be your king so that he can destroy your life and take you away from God’s kingdom of love and grace..

What does “Thy  Kingdom come” mean? It simply is a prayer that everyone would believe in Jesus and His forgiveness.

How do we become members of God’s Kingdom? This happens, as Luther explained, when God sends us His Holy Spirit so that through Holy Baptism and His Word we can believe in Jesus and follow the Ten Commandments.

All who believe that Jesus is our Savior and strive to live according to the Ten Commandments are in the Kingdom of God. Each time we pray “Thy Kingdom Come,” we are asking our Father in heaven to
a
   1) keep us in His Kingdom by holding to the true Christian faith; and
     
   2) bring unbelievers to faith so that God’s Kingdom of love and grace can come to them too.

"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is
born of water and the Spirit.” Jesus in John 3:5 NIV
 

The Third Petition:
“Thy Will Be Done…”

Since God is our King, our every desire is that God’s rule will be complete in everything. Because God is God and controls everything, our loving, all-powerful God does whatever He wants to do…whether we pray for it or not. Martin Luther makes that fact clear in his Explanation to the Third Petition. 

So why should we even pray for God’s will to be done? God’s going to do what He wants anyway, right?

We should pray for God’s will to be done because that’s what Jesus taught us to do. Some of the reasons we pray for God’s will to be done are

First, by praying, “Thy will be done,” we recognize that God is our God.

Second, by praying, “Thy will be done,” we humble ourselves to God’s loving oversight of our lives.

Third, by praying, “Thy will be done,” we enthusiastically commit ourselves to do everything possible to let God’s will be done in our lives.

There are, of course, other reasons. But perhaps a more important question is, “What is God’s
will for us?”

Very simply, the first thing God wants for us is that we believe in Jesus as our Savior. The second thing God wants is for us to oppose every sin, every evil, any bad thing which keeps people from believing in Him.

When we pray, “Thy will be done,”  we are praying that our faith may remain strong. We are also asking God to use us to tell others about Jesus.

When we pray, “Thy will be done,” we are asking that God strengthen His Church to stand up against Satan. In the Third Petition, we are also asking God to reign in our families, in our schools, in our friendships, in our world, and in the deepest part of our hearts.

In what areas of your life do you want God to reign? The Third Petition is our prayer that God would do His will in these areas so that, as thankful children of His Kingdom, we can please Him.