Lord, Teach Us To Pray

The Lord’s Prayer

By every standard of comparison, the most popular prayer in existence is the Our Father. One sign of its popularity is the number of polyglot collections of the Lord’s Prayer which have been published at various times since the invention of printing. Already in 1787 the Spaniard Hervaz printed the Pater Noster in three hundred and seven dialects and languages, and the practice of multi-lingual editions has been going on ever since.

But the Lord’s Prayer is not only the most popular prayer in existence, it is also the most important. According to St. Augustine, “whatever else we say when we pray, if we pray as we should, we are only saying what is already contained in the Lord’s Prayer” (Letter 121, 12).

The Recitation of the Lord’s Prayer has been woven into the fabric of popular devotion since the days of the catacombs. It forms part of the Divine Office and has been so closely associated with the Sacrifice of the Mass that some have mistakenly thought that without the Pater Noster there would be no valid consecration of the Holy Eucharist.

One more reflection: If the Our Father is so popular and so important, is it also the perfect model of what all our prayers should be? Yes. One Father and Doctor of the church after another – Saints Cyprian and Augustine, Teresa of Avila and Robert Bellarmine – did not hesitate to say that the Lord’s Prayer is the divinely revealed pattern of what all Christian prayers should be.

Brevity and Scope

The brevity of the Our Father is remarkable, because the number of its petitions could hardly be shorter and yet more exalted. The special merit of this brevity is that it can be easily memorized. Since the early days of the Church, those preparing for baptism were expected to recite the Lord’s Prayer by heart.

Moreover, we are thereby reminded that there is no need of much talking when we pray. Why not? Because we are speaking to God who knows what we need before we ask Him. What is nore important is the devotion and fervor of spirit with which we pray.

The masters of the spiritual life found in the Our Father a proof of the wisdom of Christ, who compressed into a few words all the desires and aspirations of the human heart in its intimate communication with God.

Perfection of the Lord’s Prayer

Among the many saintly commentators on the Lord’s Prayer, St. Thomas Aquinas explains why it must be the most perfect prayer that we can say.

The Pater Noster was taught us by Christ Himself. It was also the only prayer He taught us to say. And He gave it to us in answer to the request of His disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

However, what makes it also commendable is that the structure of the Our Father is perfect.

Since prayer is an interpretation of our desires, we should only pray for those things which are proper for us to desire….

Now in the Lord’s Prayer what we are asking for from God is everything that we may lawfully ambition. It is, therefore, not only a catalogue of petitions but also, and especially, a corrective for our affections….

Thus the first object of our desires is our last end; then the means to arrive at this end. But our end is God, to whom our affections incline in two ways: the one in desiring the glory of God, the other in wishing to enjoy this divine glory. The first belongs to charity by which we love God in Himself; the second to charity by which we love ourselves in God. So, the first petition, “Hallowed beThy name,” asks for the glory of God; and the second, “Thy Kingdom come,” asks that we may come to the enjoyment of this glory….

Moreover, we are directed to the end of our existence either by something which is essential or by something which is accidental as a means of salvation. But, it can be essential again either directly, according to the merit by which we deserve beatitude because we are obedient to God, and in this sense we ask: “They will be done on earth as it is in heaven”; or it may be only instrumental, although essential, because it helps us to merit heaven. And in this respect we say: “Give us this day our daily bread,” whether we understand this of the sacramental bread of the Eucharist, the daily use of which is profitable to salvation, or of the bread of the body, which is symbolic for a sufficiency of food….

We are also directed to heaven, accidentally, by the removal of obstacles to beatitude; 1) sin, which directly excludes man from the kingdom of God. Therefore, we pray “Forgive us our trespasses”; 2) temptation, which leads us into sin. Hence our sixth petition, “Lead us not into temptation”; 3) temporal evils, the consequence of sin, which make the burden of life too heavy. Consequently, our final petition, “Deliver us from evil” (Summa Theologica, II, II, 83).

Centuries before St. Thomas and ever since, theologians and mystics, exegetes and moralists have written extensively and in depth, explaining the seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer and applying its lessons to our daily lives.

Words of the Our Father

There are two versions of the Our Father in the gospels. The longer version is in St. Matthew’s Gospel, where it forms part of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. The Lord is explaining how we should pray, and warns His disciples not to multiply words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by talking a great deal, they will be heard. Christians are not to pray in this way. Why not? Because God already knows what we need before we ask Him. “In this manner therefore shall you pray:

Our Father,who art in heaven hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evil. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-15).

The foregoing is the text in the Latin Vulgate of the New Testament.

Already in apostolic times, the Pater Noster was part of the Eucharistic liturgy, where it was followed by the words, “For thine is the power and the glory, for evermore.” This ending occurs in the first-century liturgical manual, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (8:2). It was taken over by the Eastern Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and may be found in some gospel manuscripts. Since the Second Vatican Council, the liturgical addition called the embolism is part of the Eucharistic Prayer in the Latin Rite.

In St. Luke’s Gospel, the Lord’s Prayer occurs as part of the narrative in which the disciples find Jesus praying in a certain place. After He has finished praying, one of the disciples asks Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.” He told them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation” (Luke 11:2-4).

The Church has adopted St. Matthew’s text for the liturgy and for its daily use by the faithful.

The Invocation:

“

Our Father, Who Art in Heaven”

Table of Contents

We open the Lord’s Prayer by addressing God as Father. The Pater Noster is addressed to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But we speak to Him as Father because God is our Father by every possible title.

He is our Father because He is our Creator, who brought us into existence out of nothing.
He is our Father because He is our Redeemer and therefore the source of our supernatural life.
He is our Father because we are His children by adoption, sharing already on earth in His own divine life by the grace He has given us.
He is our Father because by His Providence He cares for us and provides us with everything we need.
He is our Father because He has prepared for us a share in the inheritance that awaits us if we are faithful to the inspirations of His grace.

Christ made sure that from the opening invocation to the closing petition, we realized our solidarity with others. The collective words “we,” “our,” and “us” occur nine times in the Lord’s Prayer. This emphasizes the fact that the followers of Christ form a spiritual family, that we are members of the human race, and that when we pray we should recognize our kinship with others and other people’s need of our prayerful help.

Whenever Christ spoke to His heavenly Father, He always said “My Father.” There is only one natural Father of the Second Person of the Trinity. To bring this truth home, Christ also had no natural father of His human nature. But when Jesus taught us to pray, he told us to address God as our Father.

Saying to God, “who art in heaven”, does not mean that somehow He is not on earth. But He is in heaven as the Destiny to which He is calling us and for which we were made.

In a mysterious sense, heaven is wherever the experience of God’s presence is enjoyed. On earth we have a foretaste of heaven in the joy that God gives to those who serve Him, even while they carry their daily cross. In eternity this joy will be unalloyed and without sorrow or any trial.

The visible “heavens” of sky and sun, moon and stars are the biblical symbol for “heaven” as the home where God dwells and where Christ is preparing a place for us. The opening words of the Lord’s Prayer are, therefore, a reminder to raise our minds and hearts from the things below to those which are above. Everything on earth should be seen as a means to the end, or goal, which is our heavenly reward.

First Petition:

“

Hallowed Be Thy Name”

Table of Contents

The Latin words of the first petition bring out clearly what we are here asking for: “Sanctificetur Nomen tuum.”

What we are asking is that the Name of God may be sanctified. This calls for some explanations. We are not asking that God might become more holy. That would be blasphemy. He is the All-Holy One because He is the Totally Other. He alone is the Necessary One, the Infinite One; there is no other God than He.

Our petition is rather that God might be recognized and served as God by us and in us. He is all powerful, all wise, and all good. He is the Creator and the Destiny of the human race. But not everyone either acknowledges Him for who He is, or serves Him as He deserves.

Yet that is the main reason why God created rational human beings. He wants them to know Him – love and serve Him in time – as the condition for possessing Him in eternity.

In biblical language, “name” means the being who is named. When we pray that the name of God may be sanctified, we are asking that He may be glorified by His human creatures because they are His children and He is their God.

In the Church’s understanding, the comparison which occurs in the third petition, “on earth as it is in heaven,” refers to all the first three petitions. Consequently, in asking that the name of God be hallowed – that God may be known and loved – we are really praying that His name may be as hallowed on earth as it is in heaven.

If we ask, how is God’s name hallowed in heaven? the answer is clear. He is hallowed in heaven perfectly. The angels and saints in heaven know Him to perfection and they love Him to the limit of their created power.

Our petition, then, is that we on earth might grow in our knowledge and love of God. Every day, and in fact, every moment, our loving knowledge or intelligent love of Him should become more and more like the beatific vision of the hosts of heaven.

One more observation. The more we sanctify the name of God, by our devoted service, the more He will sanctify us. Indeed, we may say that our sanctity depends on how devotedly we hallow the name of God.

Second Petition:

“

Thy Kingdom Come”

Table of Contents

The kingdom for which we are praying to come is the kingdom of which Christ so constantly spoke in the gospels. The Greek word Basileia (kingdom), which occurs in the Lord’s Prayer is the same term He used throughout His public ministry and, after the Resurrection, up to the time of His ascension into heaven.

Jesus intended us to pray that the kingdom He described, in every sense, might come.

There are two principal ways in which Jesus spoke of the kingdom. He described it as a present reality, and as a future anticipation.

Present Reality

The kingdom as a present reality is the Church which Christ was founding. It is a visible reality to which people are called by the preaching of the gospel; into which they enter through Baptism; in which they are sanctified by the sacraments; which is composed of both good and bad members; with which Christ identifies Himself as “my kingdom”; and from which the whole world receives the graces of salvation.

On all these levels, the kingdom as present reality is meant to “come,” that is, to increase and intensify.

We pray that the Church may become more effective in proclaiming the gospel; that the zeal of her members might increase by spending themselves in preaching Christ and Him crucified.
We pray that more people may receive the gift of the true faith and be baptized.
We pray that those who are in the Church may become more holy and pleasing to God.
We pray that those in the Church who are estranged from God through sin may repent and be reconciled with the Lord.
We pray that Christians may become more Christlike so that others may see their good works and be drawn to embrace the faith that produces such reflections of the Divine Master.
We pray that by their practice of virtue, all followers may become more effective channels of grace to everyone whose life they touch.

Future Anticipation

Especially in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus speaks frequently of the “kingdom of heaven.”

Here the petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a plea for the salvation of souls and for their glorification in the world to come.

We pray for the grace that people need to reach the heavenly kingdom for which they were made.
We pray for the light that people need to know God’s will in their lives and the strength to fulfill this will, so they may deserve to enter heaven.
We pray that those who belong to Christ’s kingdom on earth may be more generous in cooperating with His grace, so that in heaven they may give God greater glory for all eternity.

Third Petition:

“

Thy Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven”

Table of Contents

This petition is an epitome of Christianity and a synthesis of our whole purpose for existence.

Why do we have a free will? In order to do the will of God. Unlike the irrational creation that surrounds us, we can choose either to conform our wills to God or refuse to do so.

The scope of this petition is the prayer that human beings on earth might do God’s will as the angels and saints are doing in heaven. We therefore ask that everyone on earth may do God’s will, even as everyone in heaven does. There are no exceptions in heaven. We pray that there will be fewer and fewer exceptions in doing God’s will on earth.

We further ask that, as in heaven, people may do God’s will out of love and not through fear. In heaven there is no danger of not doing God’s will, and therefore no fear of the consequences.

We further pray that we on earth, like those in heaven, may do God’s will spontaneously. We ask that the divine will be done without hesitation, with no aversion or reluctance. On earth we know how slow we can be in responding to the known will of God. Our plea is to become more ready to fulfill the will of God the moment we know what He wants.

We also pray to do God’s will with selfless generosity. There is no envy in heaven among the elect, because they see others also doing God’s will. There is no jealousy but perfect cooperation in performing the divine will, not only individually but collectively.

We finally pray that, as in heaven, those on earth may enjoy doing the will of God. There is a mysterious relationship between our doing what pleases God, and God’s doing what pleases us. In heaven everyone does only what pleases God. He, in turn, does everything to please the elect. They are supremely happy. Why? Because they are perfectly conformed to the will of the Most High. We pray to discover, already on earth, a foretaste of the joys of heaven, reserved for those who do the divine will. In fact, the measure of true happiness this side of heaven is the degree of our fidelity in doing the divine will.

Fourth Petition:

“

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”

Table of Contents

This is the turning point in the Our Father. Where the first three petitions were directed to the glory of God, from now on they are concerned with our needs.

The Church’s tradition finds two levels of request for nourishment in this petition. We ask for the food we need for our souls, and the sustenance we need for our bodies.

Spiritual Nourishment

When St. Pius X issued his decree on frequent Holy Communion, he explained that frequent means daily reception of the Blessed Sacrament. He based his teaching on the comparison with the food that we daily need to sustain our bodies, and the “all but unanimous interpretation” of the Fathers of the Church. They say that “daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer means daily Communion. The pope concludes that “the Eucharistic Bread should be our daily food.”

It is assumed that, in receiving Holy Communion, a person has sanctifying grace. The reason is obvious. No less than food for the body presumes that the body has its natural life, so the Eucharistic food for the soul presumes that the soul is supernaturally alive.

There is also another spiritual food that we pray for in this petition. That is the nourishment of truth that the human mind needs for its daily sustenance. No less than the body needs material food to remain healthy and stay alive, so the soul has to be fed daily on God’s revealed word to maintain its spiritual vigor and life.

Christ’s long discourse on the promise of the Eucharist uses the same word “Bread” to refer to both kinds of spiritual nourishment: His own living Body in the Holy Eucharist, and His revealed word in the truths of salvation.

Daily Needs of the Body

On the material side of our bodily needs, the fourth petition asks God to provide the hungry with food, the homeless with shelter, the sick and the aged with adequate care, the victims of addiction to drugs and alcohol with help to recover from indulgence and the resulting disease.

This petition applies to both impoverished and affluent societies, which often co-exist in the same country and even the same city or locality.

It is no exaggeration to say that in praying “Give us this day our daily bread” we are literally begging the Lord to move the hearts of men to share with one another of the resources that He makes available for respectable human living.

It is a sad irony of the modern world in an age of unprecedented wealth, the world is going through a period of superhuman suffering. There are many reasons for this paradox. But one of them is the cold indifference to the bodily sufferings of countless millions in every region of the globe.

When Pope John Paul II wrote his apostolic exhortation on The Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, he touched on every aspect of this petition of the Our Father.

We are to pray, he said, especially that God in His mercy, will inspire a legion of Good Samaritans to see the physical needs of other people and come to their selfless aid.

Following the parable of the Gospel, we could say that suffering, which is present under so many different forms in our human world, is also present in order to unleash love in the human person, that unselfish gift of one’s “I’ on behalf of other people, especially those who suffer….

The world of human suffering calls for, so to speak, another world: the world of human love; and in a certain sense owes to suffering that unselfish love which stirs in one’s heart and actions. The person who is a “neighbor” cannot indifferently pass by the suffering of another….

He must “stop,” “sympathize” just like the Samaritan in the gospel parable. The parable in itself expresses a deeply Christian truth, but one that at the same time is very universally human. It is not without reason that, also in ordinary speech any activity on behalf of the suffering and needy is called “Good Samaritan” work (Salvifici doloris, VII, 29).

Whatever else we pray for, when we ask for our daily bread, we are asking the God of mercy to inspire countless Good Samaritans to reflect this mercy in their loving concern for the suffering of others.

Fifth Petition:

“

Forgive Us Our Trespasses as We Forgive Those Who Tresspass Against Us”

Table of Contents

This is no ordinary petition to God asking for His mercy. We not only ask Him to be merciful to us, but we dare place a condition and a norm on God’s forgiveness. What is this condition and norm? It is the practice and the measure of our forgiveness to others.

What are we being told? We are being told that unless we are merciful to others, God will not be merciful to us. We further believe that the measure of our forbearance with the sins of others mysteriously determines the degree of God’s patient forgiveness of us.

Every form of mercy that we so deeply desire from God toward ourselves, we pray that we might receive from Him. But the condition remains. God will infallibly be tolerant and patient, indulgent and lenient, tender and compassionate, pardoning and forgiving toward us sinners if we practice these qualities of mercy toward those whom God’s Providence puts into our lives.

St. Matthew speaks of “debts” and “debtors,” St. Luke of “sins” and being “indebted.” But the meaning in each case is clear. By offending God in sin, we incur a debt of love and punishment for our misdeeds. We owe God greater love than we would have had we not sinned, and we owe Him a debt of suffering as punishment for offending the Divine Majesty.

In His mercy, God provides us with countless opportunities for expiation by allowing others to sin against us. Our patience in enduring their offenses, our kindness in bearing their coldness, our responding with love for them in return for their lovelessness toward us is part of God’s providential plan of redeeming a sinful world.

We pray for the strength to forgive so that we might be forgiven in return.

There is also a marvelous communication of grace at stake here. Not infrequently, the very reason God places difficult people into our lives is that by our loving patience with them, we might obtain from God the graces of conversion they need. We are channels of grace to others. This means that to be an effective channel for some people, I may have to be the victim of their indifference, or even cruelty, to win for them the gift of repentance to be reconciled with an offended God.

Sixth Petition:

“

Lead Us Not into Temptation”

Table of Contents

Temptation is an invitation to sin. The source of the temptation may be the attractive, sinful conduct of other people, called the world; or the disorderly desires of our own fallen nature called concupiscence; or the malicious urging of the evil spirit, whom we call the devil.

When we pray not to be led into temptation, we are not asking to be freed from the testing of all human beings to prove their loyalty to God. Temptation as a test of our fidelity to Him is part of our probation here on earth, and the price of earning our reward in the world to come.

What we are praying for is not to allow ourselves to give in to temptation, but rather to profit from the temptation experience. The saintly interpreters of the Lord’s Prayer give no less than nine ways that we should protect ourselves from yielding to temptation and should profit from the inevitable temptations in our lives. Our prayer in this petition will be answered to the extent that we follow these rules of Christian wisdom:

Be on guard against the evil spirit. Know his strategy, be able to recognize his deceits and above all, “resist him, steadfast in the faith” (I Peter 5:9).
Daily examine your conscience to see how well you coped with the temptations of each day. Thank God for the grace of benefiting from the temptations you overcame, and ask His forgiveness for those to which you gave in.
Periodically, during the day, look into the “book of your soul.” Read there what thoughts are on your mind, what desires in your will. Sift these interior movements by discarding some, keeping others, and acting on those which your conscience tells you are graces from God.
Be suspicious of your natural tendency to go after whatever appeals to you. Avoid being impulsive in rejecting what you dislike, or embracing what you like. All temptations are attractive. Learn to practice discernment of spirits as explained by the masters of the spiritual life.
Remember that we are now living by faith, which means that of ourselves we may not even recognize a temptation. Thus we must constantly ask for light from God: “Lord, that I may see.”
Life on earth is a warfare and we are members of the Church Militant. We must, therefore, be properly armed with humility and prudence, and the graces that come for the asking. Christ’s admonition to the disciples in Gethsemane is addressed to all of us, “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41).
Be on the alert. We can get into habits of action that may dull our perception. Custom can blind us to danger and keep us from even knowing we are being tempted. We may give in before we even realize what has happened.
Set yourself models for imitation. Do not follow the crowd. Come to know certain persons whose conduct you admire and whose example you resolve to follow. It may be several people. In one you imitate the person’s humility, in another fidelity to prayer, in another selfless charity, in another uncomplaining patience, in another cheerfulness under trial, in another prudent planning of work, in another devotion to the Eucharist, in another a great love of Mary, and in another a strong zeal for souls. In this way, we have a ready substitute for the temptations from the world – the attractive sinful behavior of others. We have, instead, the inspiration of good people in the world – their attractive practice of virtue.
Do not live in false security. Cultivate a healthy fear of offending a loving God. This will give you the protection you need to remain faithful to Him no matter how seductive the temptations you encounter.

Seventh Petition:

“

Deliver Us from Evil. Amen”

Table of Contents

The closing petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a compendium of everything from which we want God to deliver us, in this life and in the life to come.

St. Cyprian, who wrote the first extensive commentary on the Pater Noster, teaches that we are here praying to be freed from the consequences of sin. The Church follows this teaching, which places our dread of evil into proper perspective.

So far, in the Our Father, we have prayed for God’s mercy on our sins, for strength to do God’s will, for wisdom not to give into temptations. In closing, we ask to be spared such evils as are the result of sin, our own and the sins of others.

Evil, in general, is anything contrary to the will. But there are two kinds of evil, even as there are, finally, two wills that can be displeased. That which is contrary to God’s will we call sin. That which is contrary to the human will we call pain.

The special focus of the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer is to be delivered from pain. But, immediately we must be careful to explain what this means. While ultimately all pain is somehow the result of sin, not all pain is bad for us. Indeed some pain is even necessary for the salvation and sanctification of the world.

When God became man, He had joy set before Him and chose the Cross. If we are to become like Him and cooperate with Him in the redemption of the world, we should expect and even embrace a certain amount of pain in or lives.

Yet in the final petition of His own prayer, Christ tells us to ask for deliverance from evil. What kind of evil, as pain, are we praying to be spared? Pain is whatever contradicts our wills. It can be pain in the body, or pain in the soul. It can be physical distress or emotional disturbance, or spiritual dryness, or mental anxiety. In a word, the pain can be anything, inside of us or outside of us, that we find displeasing and want to be freed from enduring.

Realizing that pain can be a great blessing, we pray to be delivered from such pain as God, in His wisdom knows would not be beneficial for our souls. We also pray to profit from the pain we have to suffer. We pray that the pain we endure will benefit others. And we pray for deliverance from that absolute evil which is the eternal loss of God.

“Amen” is considered part of the biblical text of the Lord’s Prayer. It is in the Latin Vulgate of the New Testament and has been extensively commented on by the saints.

Literally “Amen” means, “truly,” or “it is true,” and expresses acceptance of what has just been said. At the end of the Our Father it is an earnest hope that God will grant all our preceding petitions. It is an act of confidence that the Father is moved by this “Amen,” which Jesus so often used to stress the divine authority of His words.

Question 186: What rule has God given for our direction in the duty of prayer?

Answer: The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in the duty of prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which our Savior Christ taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.

Question 187: How is the Lord’s Prayer to be used?

Answer: The Lord’s Prayer is not only for direction, as a pattern, according to which we are to make other prayers; but may also be used as a prayer, so that it be done with understanding, faith, reverence, and other graces necessary to the right performance of the duty of prayer.

Question 188: Of how many parts does the Lord’s Prayer consist?

Answer: The Lord’s Prayer consists of three parts; a preface, petitions, and a conclusion.

Question 189: What does the preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?

Answer: The preface of the Lord’s Prayer (contained in these words, Our Father which art in heaven), teaches us, when we pray, to draw near to God with confidence of his fatherly goodness, and our interest therein; with reverence, and all other childlike dispositions, heavenly affections, and due apprehensions of his sovereign power, majesty, and gracious condescension: as also, to pray with and for others.

Question 190: What do we pray for in the first petition?

Answer: In the first petition (which is, Hallowed be thy name), acknowledging the utter inability and indisposition that is in ourselves and all men to honor God aright, we pray, that God would by his grace enable and incline us and others to know, to acknowledge, and highly to esteem him, his titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, works, and: Whatsoever he is pleased to make himself known by; and to glorify him in thought, word, and deed: that he would prevent and remove atheism, ignorance, idolatry, profaneness, and: Whatsoever is dishonorable to him; and, by his overruling providence, direct and dispose of all things to his own glory.

Question 191: What do we pray for in the second petition.?

Answer: In the second petition (which is, Thy kingdom come), acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate: that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.

Question 192: What do we pray for in the third petition?

Answer: In the third petition (which is, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven), acknowledging, that by nature we and all men are not only utterly unable and unwilling to know and do the will of God, but prone to rebel against his Word, to repine and murmur against his providence, and wholly inclined to do the will of the flesh, and of the devil: we pray, that God would by his Spirit take away from ourselves and others all blindness, weakness, indisposedness, and perverseness of heart; and by his grace make us able and willing to know, do, and submit to his will in all things, with the like humility, cheerfulness, faithfulness, diligence, zeal, sincerity, and constancy, as the angels do in heaven.

Question 193: What do we pray for in the fourth petition?

Answer: In the fourth petition (which is, Give us this day our daily bread), acknowledging, that in Adam, and by our own sin, we have forfeited our right to all the outward blessings of this life, and deserve to be wholly deprived of them by God, and to have them cursed to us in the use of them; and that neither they of themselves are able to sustain us, nor we to merit, or by our own industry to procure them; but prone to desire, get, and use them unlawfully: we pray for ourselves and others, that both they and we, waiting upon the providence of God from day to day in the use of lawful means, may, of his free gift, and as to his fatherly wisdom shall seem best, enjoy a competent portion of them; and have the same continued and blessed unto us in our holy and comfortable use of them, and contentment in them; and be kept from all things that are contrary to our temporal support and comfort.

Question 194: What do we pray for in the fifth petition?

Answer: In the fifth petition (which is, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors), acknowledging, that we and all others are guilty both of original and actual sin, and thereby become debtors to the justice of God; and that neither we, nor any other creature, can make the least satisfaction for that debt: we pray for ourselves and others, that God of his free grace would, through the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, apprehended and applied by faith, acquit us both from the guilt and punishment of sin, accept us in his Beloved; continue his favor and grace to us, pardon our daily failings, and fill us with peace and joy, in giving us daily more and more assurance of forgiveness; which we are the rather emboldened to ask, and encouraged to expect, when we have this testimony in ourselves, that we from the heart forgive others their offenses.

Question 195: What do we pray for in the sixth petition?

Answer: In the sixth petition (which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil), acknowledging, that the most wise, righteous, and gracious God, for divers holy and just ends, may so order things, that we may be assaulted, foiled, and for a time led captive by temptations; that Satan, the world, and the flesh, are ready powerfully to draw us aside, and ensnare us; and that we, even after the pardon of our sins, by reason of our corruption, weakness, and want of watchfulness, are not only subject to be tempted, and forward to expose ourselves unto temptations, but also of ourselves unable and unwilling to resist them, to recover out of them, and to improve them; and worthy to be left under the power of them: we pray, that God would so overrule the world and all in it, subdue the flesh, and restrain Satan, order all things, bestow and bless all means of grace, and quicken us to watchfulness in the use of them, that we and all his people may by his providence be kept from being tempted to sin; or, if tempted, that by his Spirit we may be powerfully supported and enabled to stand in the hour of temptation: or when fallen, raised again and recovered out of it, and have a sanctified use and improvement thereof: that our sanctification and salvation may be perfected, Satan trodden under our feet, and we fully freed from sin, temptation, and all evil, forever.

Question 196: What does the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?

Answer: The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer (which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.), teaches us to enforce our petitions with arguments, which are to be taken, not from any worthiness in ourselves, or in any other creature, but from God; and with our prayers to join praises, ascribing to God alone eternal sovereignty, omnipotency, and glorious excellency; in regard whereof, as he is able and willing to help us, so we by faith are emboldened to plead with him that he would, and quietly to rely upon him, that he will fulfil our requests. And, to testify this our desire and assurance, we say, Amen.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.