5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what
things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Matt
6:5-9
Our Father -This is a corporate prayer because it
does not begin My Father, but Our Father. He is our progenitor and Creator.
This is like a letter addressed to our
Father. What is His address?
Who art in Heaven! That is His address.
Hallowed be thy Name. Your name is Holy and we
should reverence you and not ourselves.
Thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. We
should hope for the soon appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ and , even if He
delays His coming, we should work that His Will be done here on earth as well
as in Heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread. We
should ask of Him no more than our necessity for the day. As He told us: Take therefore no thought for
the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought of itself. Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof. Matthew
6:34
The modern approach in worship
would have us believe we can demand from God all things and He is obligated to
provide. BIG ERROR! He is Sovereign and will provide according to HIS Will -
not ours!
And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Each
and every day we should seek forgiveness for our sins of commission and
omission. But if we expect OUR sins to be forgiven, we must forgive offenses
committed against us"For if ye forgive men their
trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Gospel
of St. Matthew 6:14 &15
How many of us are seeking forgiveness without result
because we forgive not others?
And
lead us not into temptation....We are all alike subject to the
woos of the world, we are tempted of the evil one daily in our lives. But if we
follow in the steps of Jesus, He will lead us away from the paths of
temptation.
But
deliver us from evil...When we do encounter evil, please,
dear Lord, deliver us from its grasp. When we do fall into the depths of the
sea of sin, kindly reach your nail-scarred hand down to grasp our failing arm
of flesh and lift us from our despair and ruin.
For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. It
is your kingdom, not ours. You are the Sovereign Ruler, not we. We often
attempt to usurp your power when we are puffed up with pride. We boast of our
gifts (and think they are our own goodness), we praise men of great fame more
than the Heavenly Power, we worship oftentimes to attract attention more to
ourselves rather than in giving all glory to God to whom it belongs. We fail of
humility and piety. Our worship should be directed toward the Glory of God
alone and none to man or creature.
And the simple Amen at the closing is appropriate...so be
it, dear Lord. Our simple supplication is not phony or long-winded, but
succinct and humble in its appeal to the Power on High.
To me, this is the essence of the Lord's Prayer.
© Jerry L. Ogles 2016
