Matthew 6:5-15
The LORD'S Prayer
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Luke 11:1-13
The LORD'S Prayer
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!”
How do I pray?...Teach me how to pray...And Jesus in teaching His Disciples about these things, He answers these things with a prayer, the LORD's Prayer...The LORD's Prayer is much about forgiving and forgiveness...
The prayer that Jesus taught His Disciples about "How do I pray" and on the subject of "Teach me how to pray" is called the LORD’s Prayer…The LORD's Prayer is in the gospel of Matthew and in Luke's gospel...The versions are a little different in the two gospels...It is the prayer Jesus taught His Disciples…Jesus would have prayed these prayers Himself, and thought these prayers worthy that all of us could use them...I might believe He prayed both these prayers to His Father...Like the Good Rabbi He was, His Disciples would have followed His prayer teachings and learned these prayers…Those hearing the Disciples say these prayers out loud would have known it is and was from the Rabbi and Teacher Jesus…But Jesus was not One for us to say our prayers out loud...He teaches us to be humble and to go to a quiet place and make our prayers known to our Father in a quiet and alone way...So I am not sure how much reciting out loud these prayers would have been done in His time...Jesus said this on prayer and He said this right before teaching them the LORD's Prayer, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others...Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full...But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen...Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you...And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words...Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."...So these prayers may have been heard more and out loud after His ascension into heaven, as the gospels spread throughout the world...Because He makes it clear in these verses that He wants us to pray alone...
As we read Luke's version of the LORD's Prayer we see the Disciples ask on a certain day when Jesus was praying in a certain place a question...When Jesus had finished His prayer, one of His disciples said to Him, “LORD, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”...Notice the Disciple ask Him to teach us to pray and not to teach them a prayer...So we may think that the LORD's Prayer could be called the Disciple's Prayer as some do call it...But we also might think that John the Baptist had told his disciples a unique prayer...And the prayer might have been a community type prayer that John had taught them...And the Twelve Disciples of Jesus were aware of John's prayer...Or we might think that John the Baptist taught his disciples the way he wanted them to pray...A style, maybe poetic, and in the cadence of John...Rabbi's, like John, taught their disciples about how to pray and about prayer...Much like Jesus was doing here...
The LORD’s Prayer is sometimes referred to as the Model Prayer…The Model Prayer is short and concise and not many words to His Prayer...Jesus did not use long and non-understandable words in His Prayer...There is no babbling in His Prayer...His Prayer is very brief...His Prayer is a simple, powerful prayer...It is a model for all our prayers...It seems to then to be the foundation for every prayer we do...
Today this prayer still resonates from our LORD Jesus Christ…Those who hear it know those saying and praying it are His followers...So His prayer still follows His current Disciples and followers around…His words will never pass, and His Prayer, the LORD’s Prayer will never pass…
In Matthew's version Jesus starts out with "Our Father in heaven" and not "My Father in heaven"...This welcome is family, intimate, warm, and kind...His Prayer is an inclusive prayer (by using the word "our") and one of fellowship with our neighbors...Then "hallowed be Your name", for our Father's name is Holy and sacred...Then He says, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.", God will does get done, and we should want God's will to be done on earth and in our lives, the same way we know it gets done in heaven...We are taught when we are praying, that it is God's will that needs to be done, and not our will...He then says, "Give us today our daily bread", we have daily needs and we should pray that God will give us our daily nourishment and our other basic needs like clothing and shelter...(Martin Luther said that our daily bread includes all of our basic needs and goes beyond just our food needs)...Then He says, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors"...God will forgive us of our sins, just as we are to forgive others of their sins against us...It is like saying "May I be forgiven, and forgiving."...And then He says "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one"...Let us do our best to not to fall back on our sins and any temptations that are around us...
And then He says and this maybe outside of the actual LORD's Prayer, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you...But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."...Jesus here forever links us with our neighbors and fellowship...We are to forgive our neighbors, just as God forgives us...May I be forgiven by God, and forgiving to others...