An explanation of the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus instructed us to pray daily in Matthew 6:9-13, and Luke 11:1-13. This explanation is from the Bible with Bible references.
I spent the last 30 years diligently studying the Bible, and asking God for wisdom. This explanation, not fully understood by most, is very crucial to our Christian belief.
Our Father who are in heaven:
Getting God's attention with a respectful parental "term of endearment."
Hollowed be Your Name:
May Your name always be Holy and respected.
Your Kingdom come:
Give us the Holy Spirit to reside within us.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven:
We submit to your will.
Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our sins:
Give us our daily "Bread of Life" for the forgiveness of sins, so we "wash our robes" and become "righteous."
As we forgive those who trespass against us:
Acknowledging that unless we forgive others, we would not be forgiven. Meaning we would not become "righteous" for that day and would not receive the Holy Spirit.
Lead us not into temptation:
Help us avoid the spiritual temptation of ignoring the Holy Spirit and allowing worldly spirits in instead.
But deliver us from evil:
Keep evil away from us. Don't let it find room in us, or grab hold within us, but instead fill us with the Holy Spirit.
1. The Daily Bread of Life
We need the spiritual Bread of Life daily to always remain righteous in the eyes of God, receive His blessings, and truly be saved. The forgiveness of sins is the result of receiving the Bread for that day!!! The Bread is Jesus Himself - the spiritual Bread of life that God gives: John 6:32-35.
Question: Why did Jesus tell us to pray His prayer for the forgiveness of our sins daily? If we're covered by the blood, saved by grace, born again, and predestined, nothing else to do, why did He say to ask the Father for the forgiveness of our sins every day?
Answer: Our sins are only forgiven on a daily basis and when asked properly as Jesus commanded. Covered by the blood, saved by grace, and predestined, are only true if we've been praying the Lord's Prayer daily.
No blanket forgiveness for life! Yes, Jesus paid the price once and for all, which meant no more sacrifices needed. But asking God for forgiveness of sins is still required daily, according to Jesus.
1 John 2:4 “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and yet doesn’t keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
The Lord's prayer, from the Bible:
Matthew 6:9-13
Jesus said: This then, is how you should pray:Our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
- Most think the "bread" is our earthly needs. It's not! The "Bread" is the spiritual Bread of life, for the forgiveness of sins. John 6:32 Jesus: "...my Father gives you the true Bread from heaven."
- Most are not praying the Lord's Prayer "daily" as Jesus commanded, "Give us this day our daily bread". The Bible says God renews us day by day. And He also desires to hear from us daily, and properly.
This part is 1 sentence, not 2:
“Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
There was no punctuation in the original Aramaic Bible version. Verse-numbering and punctuation were done later. And in this case, they were done based on the "bread" = earthly needs.
2. Must Forgive Others - The Lord's Prayer Comes with a Non-negotiable Condition. In order for God to forgive us, which means we become "righteous" in His eyes, we first must forgive others! Hold no hate or grudge in our hearts against anyone!
3. The Overlooked Commandment
The Bible is full of vague statements, parables that need explaining, etc. And the Lord's Prayer is in this same theme - God wants us to work for it: Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
4. Your Kingdom Come
According to the Bible, God gives us the Holy Spirit on a daily basis:
2 Corinthians 4:16 Paul said: …our inner person is being renewed day by day.
Luke 11:13 Jesus said: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Luke 17:21 ...the kingdom of God is within you.
5. Lead Us Not Into Temptations
The strongest biblical evidence of the meaning of the term "lead us not into temptations" is here:
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
"Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil!!" If you read the rest of Matthew chapter 4, you'll see the devil luring Jesus into all kinds of earthly temptations for agreeing to worshiping him.
This was God, "leading Jesus into temptations!" - So "a Holy God does not lead people into temptations?" Think again, He does. If He did it to His own Son, He'll do it to you. Jesus did not fall in the devil's trap, but we likely would! So pray that God does not lead you into temptations.
If you're not praying this prayer with the Bread meaning the spiritual Bread of life for the forgiveness of sins, then you're just asking God for lunch! And you remain in your sins!
The Lord's Prayer daily is one of Jesus' commands. John 14:15: If you love me, keep my commands.
Jesus word-smithed the words in the Lord's Prayer perfectly. Which is consistent with what God did throughout history:
· After the fall God was the One that taught Adam and Eve how to present a sacrifice fitting to Him so He could forgive their sins.
· God was the One that crafted the Leviticus law to Moses that had to be executed precisely for the daily forgiveness of sins.
· And finally God was the One that word-smithed the Lord’s Prayer for the daily forgiveness of sins.
So how exactly do we Receive this "Bread of life"?
It is not actual bread to chew on, it is a spiritual Bread representing the physical suffering and death of Jesus' on the cross on our behalf. It is this part: "substitutionary death on our behalf" that mandates eating the "Bread of life" daily in order to receive the Holy Spirit daily - John 6:53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. We receive this Bread when we genuinely pray the Lord's Prayer and mean it correctly - when we mean it in our hearts that the Bread is indeed the "Bread of life", Jesus Himself for our forgiveness. This will "renew us day by day" 2 Corinthians 4:16. Which is the same way God commanded the Jewish priests, in the old covenant, to eat the sacrifice daily for the forgiveness of the people's sins.
You want to use your own wording?
And thinking, "Surely God did not want us to recite this same exact prayer every day?":
· As you can see in the summary above, the prayer is loaded with precious meanings directed to God. Every word in that prayer is perfectly word-smithed by Jesus, so "Jesus remains in us and we remain in Him". Without those prayer-words we'd be leaves that wither and die (spiritually), fall off the vine, as Jesus explained in His parable parable.
· Which of these words you want to modify? or find synonyms for and say differently?
· Or which part of the prayer you want to omit today? You see, you cannot receive God's Kingdom (the Holy Spirit) unless your sins have been forgiven through the Bread of life for that day?
· And you will not be forgiven unless you have been forgiving others!
· How do you prefer to say it?
· We need not think of this prayer as a legal requirement, as in the law of Moses. It is rather to be viewed as a "pure love" prayer directed to our heavenly Father. It is the minimum we should do, springing from within as a true believer, to obey Jesus' commands as He instructed.
(For details, please refer to the author’s webpage Real Bible Study.)
