Prayer had been a significant part of spiritual life long before Jesus lived on this earth, but as evidenced in Luke 11:1 (“Lord, teach us to pray”) not everyone knew exactly how to pray.  The disciples were eager to learn new methods in which to pray and this is what Jesus presented in what is now known as “The Lord’s Prayer”.  Its importance is demonstrated to us since Jesus had previously taught multitudes, as well as His disciples, this prayer in Matthew 6:9–13.  Many of us know The Lord’s Prayer by heart; however,  by reading from Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, by Ellen White under the chapter, “The Lord’s Prayer,” (p. 102–122) we are given a much more in-depth knowledge and understanding of each part of this prayer that perhaps we had never thought of.  (The following excerpts are taken from this book and chapter.)

“When ye pray, say, Our Father.” Luke 11:2

“Jesus teaches us to call His Father our Father. . . . The very first step in approaching God is to know and believe the love that He has to us (1 John 4:16); for it is through the drawing of His love that we are led to come to Him.

“The perception of God’s love works the renunciation of selfishness. In calling God our Father, we recognize all His children as our brethren. . . . In our petitions we are to include our neighbors as well as ourselves. No one prays aright who seeks a blessing for himself alone.

“But if you call God your Father you acknowledge yourselves 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. As children of God, you will hold His honor, His character, His family, His work, as the objects of your highest interest.”

“Which art in heaven.”  Matthew 6:9

“He to whom Christ bids us look as ‘our Father’ ‘is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.’ Psalms 115:3”

“Hallowed be Thy name.” Matthew 6:9

“To hallow the name of the Lord requires that the words in which we speak of the Supreme Being be uttered with reverence. ‘Holy and reverend is His name.’ Psalm 111:9. We are never in any manner to treat lightly the titles or appellations of the Deity. In prayer we enter the audience chamber of the Most High. . . . The angels veil their faces in His presence. . . . How much more should we, finite, sinful beings, come in a reverent manner before the Lord, our Maker!

“But to hallow the name of the Lord means much more than this. We may, like the Jews in Christ’s day, manifest the greatest outward reverence for God, and yet profane His name continually.

“When you pray, ‘Hallowed be Thy name,’ you ask that it may be hallowed in this world, hallowed in you. . . . You cannot hallow His name, you cannot represent Him to the world, unless in life and character you represent the very life and character of God.”

“Thy kingdom come.” Matthew 6:10

“The kingdom of God’s grace is now being established, as day by day hearts that have been full of sin and rebellion yield to the sovereignty of His love. But the full establishment of the kingdom of His glory will not take place until the second coming of Christ to this world.”

“But before that coming, Jesus said, ‘This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.’ Matthew 24:14. His kingdom will not come until the good tidings of His grace have been carried to all the earth. . . . Only those who devote themselves to His service. . . they alone pray in sincerity, ‘Thy kingdom come.’”

“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

“The will of God is expressed in the precepts of His holy law, and the principles of this law are the principles of heaven.

“The petition, ‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,’ is a prayer that the reign of evil on this earth may be ended, that sin may be forever destroyed, and the kingdom of righteousness be established. Then in earth as in heaven will be fulfilled ‘all the good pleasure of His goodness.’ 2 Thessalonians 1:11.”

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

“The first half of the prayer Jesus has taught us is in regard to the name and kingdom and will of God—that His name may be honored, His kingdom established, His will performed. When you have thus made God’s service your first interest, you may ask with confidence that your own needs may be supplied.

“Every day you are to pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Be not dismayed if you have not sufficient for tomorrow. You have the assurance of His promise, ‘So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed’. . . . Of him that walketh righteously it is written: ‘Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. . . .’ When we pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ we ask for others as well as ourselves. . . . God gives to us in trust, that we may feed the hungry.

“The prayer for daily bread includes not only food to sustain the body, but that spiritual bread which will nourish the soul unto life everlasting. [Jesus] says, ‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.’ John 6:51. Our Saviour is the bread of life, and it is by beholding His love, by receiving it into the soul, that we feed upon the bread which came down from heaven.”

“Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.” Luke 11:4

“Jesus teaches that we can receive forgiveness from God only as we forgive others.

“He who is unforgiving cuts off the very channel through which alone he can receive mercy from God. We should not think that unless those who have injured us confess the wrong we are justified in withholding from them our forgiveness

“However sorely they may have wounded us, we are not to cherish our grievances. . . but as we hope to be pardoned for our offenses against God we are to pardon all who have done evil to us.

“But forgiveness has a broader meaning than many suppose.

“Let Christ, the divine Life, dwell in you and through you reveal the heaven-born love that will inspire hope in the hopeless and bring heaven’s peace to the sin-stricken heart. . . . The one thing essential for us in order that we may receive and impart the forgiving love of God is to know and believe the love that He has to us. 1 John 4:16. When we feel that we have sinned and cannot pray, it is then the time to pray.”

“Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13

“Temptation is enticement to sin, and this does not proceed from God, but from Satan and from the evil of our own hearts. ‘God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempteth no man.’ James 1:13.

“God in His great love is seeking to develop in us the precious graces of His Spirit. He permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution, and hardships, not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives. Every temptation resisted, every trial bravely borne, gives us a new experience and advances us in the work of character building. The soul that through divine power resists temptation reveals to the world and to the heavenly universe the efficiency of the grace of Christ.

“The prayer, ‘Bring us not into temptation,’ is itself a promise. If we commit ourselves to God we have the assurance, He ‘will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ 1 Corinthians 10:13.”

“Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.” Matthew 6:13

“The last like the first sentence of the Lord’s Prayer, points to our Father as above all power and authority and every name that is named. . . . In the prayer that breathes their daily wants, the disciples of Christ were directed to look above all the power and dominion of evil, unto the Lord their God, whose kingdom ruleth over all and who is their Father and everlasting Friend.

“We are now standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. A crisis is before us, such as the world has never witnessed. And sweetly to us, as to the first disciples, comes the assurance that God’s kingdom ruleth over all. . . . He who is the King, the Lord of hosts, sitteth between the cherubim, and amid the strife and tumult of nations He guards His children still. He who ruleth in the heavens is our Saviour. He measures every trial, He watches the furnace fire that must test every soul. 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.”

The Lord’s Prayer is a template of how we should pray. We should pray with reverence to God, praying for others as well as ourselves. Although this prayer was spoken by our example, Jesus, we should not vainly repeat it with no context or substance behind it.  We can use the ideas and customize it to our situation.  The disciples saw the power and might that Jesus received after a session of prayer and naturally they wanted to see the same results in their own lives.  If we are not seeing results from our prayer, perhaps it is time to evaluate how we pray and re-evaluate the way Jesus taught His disciples to pray. Then we will see results. Amen.

Elaine Romero