What is the Lord's prayer and should we pray it?

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (KJV adds: "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen"). After warning His disciples against hypocritical and vain prayer the Lord Jesus tells them how they ought to pray. According to Luke 11:2-4 He answered their request, "Lord, teach us to pray," similarly, but with a slightly different wording and in a shorter form. Although it is a prayer out of the mouth of the Son of God and is therefore perfect, these differences ought to be a warning not to make a "fixed form of prayer" out of it. And yet the so-called "Lord's Prayer" has become the most repeated prayer in Christendom. The Catholic Church uses the wording of Luke 11 and the Protestant Church the one of Matthew 6! As many Greek manuscripts of the New Testament show the copyists soon added a doxology to give it a worthy end ("For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen").

The Pattern for Prayer

In Matthew 6:9-13 we have a pattern for prayer. This portion is not only well known amongst the saints but also in the world by those who have a religious interest, even though there may be no reality. When the Lord gave this example He was not asking His own to repeat the prayer parrot-fashion. The Lord guards against this in verse 7 by saying that we should not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. There are many religionists in the world (so-called Christians and non Christians) who do this very thing.

What can we learn from this pattern for prayer? In verse 9 we surely get a strong indication that when we address Divine Persons there must be an appropriate recognition of this fact, reflected in the language that we use. Scripture shows that there is a distinctive way of addressing a Divine Person which is entirely different to the trend of this world. The world attempts to remove all distinctions by treating everyone, including God, like the person next door. Regardless of how near we have been brought to God there is still an infinite difference and there will be even in heaven, where the saints will cast their crowns down at the Lord's feet. The pattern here in Matthew 6 brings before us the need for reverence.

As to repeating over and over again some formal prayer, this is forbidden. It is tragic error to think that the more often one says his prayers (using different beads, etc. for each different expression), the greater favor he will draw from God. Would any parent want to hear merely this from his child? If unbelievers in their ignorance do this, let us not be in anyway like them. God is concerned about prayers that come from the heart, and desires to see that faith that fully believes that He knows what is good for us. As a Father He knows what we need before we ask, so that our asking should be in a spirit of dependence and confidence. Certainly, repeating empty words will not persuade God to our point of view!

The prayer of verses 9 to 13 is not therefore merely to be repeated word for word. The Lord gives this as an outline of prayer from the viewpoint of the kingdom. He does not say "pray these words," but "after this manner therefore pray ye." This is further confirmed too by the fact that the expression added at the end ("for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever Amen") is not found in the Most Greek Manuscripts, but has evidently been interjected by some copyist who thought this would be a good ending for a prayer.

The prayer has three sections. The first is connected with Gods glory, the second with Gods authority, the last with God's Mercy. In our prayers it is wise to keep this in mind: our blessing is not the most important thing, but God's glory. Secondly, let our prayers be always subject to His authority; then His mercy to us has its proper and precious place.

The prayer the Lord taught (vs.2-4) corresponds to Matthew 6:9-13 and whether it is the same occasion or not, Luke omits some expressions that Matthew includes, making Luke's record quite brief in comparison. It is the Spirit of God who has decided this, giving an outline here morally suitable for the Gospel of Luke, but it is an outline, not intended to be repeated verbally, for there is no closing sentence and no "Amen" included. In fact, even in Matthew the closing sentence, "For Thine is the power...." in the KJV is only an addition by a copyist, for it is not found in the earliest and best manuscripts.

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as those who are of the nations: for they think they shall be heard through their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like them, for your Father knows of what things ye have need before ye beg anything of Him." Martin Luther says on this: "Here He censures the abuse of prayer, when they that are praying make use of many words and babblings; He calls this a heathenish practice, a loose, idle and useless talk, of such who think they would otherwise not be heard. The spirit of the worshiper prays, and because he knows that God will hear him, he dares not use such endless, idle talk -- the fewer the words, the better the prayer." (Luther's notes on the Gospels.) The Pharisees had their long prayers with many vain repetitions. One only needs to take up an orthodox Jewish "prayer book" to see the numerous vain repetitions, repeating phrases over and over again. That our Lord had this first of all before Him seems clear. Yet what else is Christendom but, as one has said, "an unauthorized revival of a departed shade"? (Adolph Saphir on Hebrews.) It is an aping after that which no longer exists. The rituals of Christendom with their liberal use of the Psalms in responsive readings, set forms of prayer for all occasions, their chant and rapid delivery, are but the daughters of the old mother -- Phariseeism. Here we mention especially rituals which are used at the Lord's supper, generally called by that unscriptural word "sacrament." There are used repeatedly phrases like "Lamb of God, have mercy on us," "Almighty God, have mercy on us," "O Lord, save us." These indeed are vain repetitions, and at the Lord's table when they are used by a believer (who only has a right to the Lord's table) they are worse than vain. Vain repetitions, however, may also be used by such who use no formal prayers, ritual and prayer book. This is often done when the name of God and the Lord is falsely used in public prayer as well as other oft-repeated phrases. Others have gone into an extreme and have declared that the Lord teaches here that a petition should be made only once, and that if we have asked in faith for something once, to ask again is only proof of our unbelief. The Lord teaches no such thing. Our Lord Himself in Gethsemane made the same petition three times, and Paul with his thorn in the flesh had besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from him (2 Cor. 12:7).

This is followed by a model for prayer which the King now gives. This prayer is generally called throughout Christendom "the Lord's prayer." Where is the authority in Scripture to call it by this name? If any prayer can be called the Lord's prayer it certainly is the one contained in John 17. It is not the Lord's prayer, but the disciples' prayer. This model for prayer has become the formal prayer, the ritualistic prayer of every sect in Christendom. That which our Lord forbids, vain repetitions, is practiced with this divine model by those who call themselves Christians. In the Roman and Greek Churches , so-called, it becomes a good work to repeat so many "Our Fathers," and the poor deceived souls expect blessing in this world and in eternity from the mechanical repetition of so many prayers. This of course is very little different from the prayer machines of Thibet, upon which a certain number of prayers written on paper are placed and unwound before some god or goddess. In "evangelical" denominations it is not much better. We remember well in childhood, being strictly brought up in the Lutheran denomination, how constantly this prayer was used. In sickness, in pain, in danger, at mealtime, in the morning and at night, in severe storms, etc., it was ever repeated as if a miraculous power indwelt these words sufficient to dispel sickness, deliver from danger and bring blessing which otherwise would not come. It is one of the rags which Luther brought away from the old Roman sepulchre. Yet it is the same in other denominations. In one of the strongest it is used at the burial of the dead, sprinkling of infants, Lord's supper, "ordination" of deacons and elders, "consecration" of bishops, and it is repeated in public by the congregation. All this practice, the use of this model for prayer, as the Lord's prayer given to the Church, to be used by the Church, is wrong, decidedly unchristian, nor can it be proven from the New Testament that it is intended for the Church. In the Acts of the Apostles we read of the breaking of bread, the gifts of the Spirit, the assembly of believers, the baptism of believers, but do we read anywhere in the divinely inspired record of the beginning of the Church that the so-called Lord's prayer was used by the apostles or by the primitive church? Is there a hint anywhere in the New Testament that the prayer is to be repeated in public and used by believers? Not even the faintest hint that this should be so, but many strong proofs and arguments that it should not be so. Centuries passed before it became a settled custom to make the prayer the King gave to His Jewish disciples the prayer for Christians and to use it in the form and in the way it is used now. An unknown hand then added something to the last petition, "Deliver us from the evil one." The words, "for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever -- Amen," are an interpolation. They do not belong into your Bibles, for the Lord never uttered them. The revised version (though so imperfect in many of its revisions) has done well in omitting them altogether. When it was decided to use this model for prayer as a prayer, this ending was written by some one and added to it and thus making it a prayer with the "Amen" attached to it. No such "amen" belongs there.

However, let us look at the prayer itself; for nothing can be more blessed, and all the truth of it abides for us. "When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking" (ver. 7). Now it is plain that our Lord does not forbid repetition, but vain repetition. We find our Lord Himself, when He was in an agony in the garden, repeating three times the same words. But vain, formal repetition, whether words read out of a book, or framed sentences of the mind, He does positively forbid. Again, let me press the plain fact, that our Lord here is not providing for the public wants of the Church; nor do we hear that it was so understood. There is not the smallest thought of such a thing after the gift of the Holy Ghost, when the Church was formed and at work in this world. So that while the Lord's Prayer was given as the most perfect model of prayer, and may have been used as it stands by the disciples previously to the death of our Lord and the gift of the Holy Ghost, yet it seems plain that afterwards it was not so. The New Testament is, of course, the only test of this. When we come to tradition, we shall find all sorts of difficulty on this as on other subjects, but the word of God is not obscure. In no way does it leave us uncertain as to what God's mind is: else indeed the very purpose of a revelation would be defeated. What then is the permanent use of the prayer? Why is it given in Scripture? The principle always abides true. There is not a clause of that prayer, I believe, but what one might proffer now, even to "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." For it is a mistake to suppose that it puts the sinner upon the ground of prayer in order to acquire forgiveness of his sins. Our Lord speaks of the believer — the child of God. Our daily faults and short-comings we need to spread before our God and Father, as He encourages us to do day by day. It is a question of His government who, without respect of persons, judges according to the work of each; and hence He will not own the petition of one who cherishes an unforgiving disposition toward others, even if they have done us ever so grievous wrong.

The last remark we make in this paper is that some of the remarks quoted above are a travesty of what we believe. The author groups together such a variety of teachers under the heading of "Darbyists," that it is quite possible that amongst them someone can be found to come under his strictures. For ourselves we thankfully accept our Lord's teachings in the Gospels in large allopathic doses, though we note, in view of the dispensational change at Pentecost, where the full Christianity of the Spirit's day would introduce modifications. The Lord's prayer will serve very well to illustrate what we mean. There appear to be seven petitions in Matthew 6:9-13, and though we do not use it as a form, each petition of the seven we can and do use, though with slight modifications. For instance, the disciples were penniless men following a penniless Master, so their request about the daily bread had in it a note that is absent in our case. There are requests that very frequently spring from our lips that are totally absent in this prayer. We should address God as our God and Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ, because those words of His, recorded in John 20:17, were spoken some time after He gave them the prayer. Again we should proffer our requests in His name, because of what He also said at a later date, as recorded in John 16:23-24. All this may be anathema to Mr. Reese, but we believe it to be simply a proper understanding of the progress of doctrine in the New Testament.

It may be necessary to remind the reader that the remarks made have reference only to the use of this prayer by Christians as a form in its entirety. It is freely conceded, nay, insisted upon, that though we are brought into a new place through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, and into the known possession and enjoyment of higher blessings, we can go back in the power of the Spirit, take up and present before God many of its petitions. Let us therefore pass through them in brief review.

I propose to examine the Lord's prayer as briefly as is consistent with a plain perspicuous exposition: first, looking at it as it is given in its most comprehensive form in the Gospel of St. Matthew; next, comparing the form which St. Luke presents; and, in the third place, seeking, as far as the Lord enables me, to gather His design, touching its use, whether at the time it was given, or afterwards.

— The first thing I desire to point out is the accordance of the Lord's prayer with the place it holds in the first Gospel, and with the object the Lord Jesus had then in view. It occurs in the sermon on the Mount, where He is addressing Jewish disciples, and leading them out of their previous thoughts and feelings and ways into the new principles of the kingdom of heaven, which He was about to introduce. This is important to remember for understanding either the meaning or the object of the prayer. It does not contemplate, as it was not addressed to, the whole human race indiscriminately; it does not express the state, wants, and feelings of every person who has certain desires after God or a fear of coming wrath. Thus, when the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, realizing his sin and unworthiness, he does not venture to say, "Father," or "Our Father, which art in heaven." He has no thought of taking up the profound and lofty petitions with which the Lord's prayer opens, nor has he leisure of heart to think of the full supplies and the tender mercy counted on in God, which the latter portion breathes. "God be merciful to me a sinner" was the just and becoming cry from his contrite heart. Here was a man under the guidance of the Spirit of God, contrasted by our Lord Himself, not with disciples of course, but with the Pharisee who trusted in himself that he was righteous and despised others, whose prayer, if prayer it is to be called, betrayed his self-gratulation, and whose thanks were not for what God, but for what he, the Pharisee, was. The publican, on the other hand, might be dark as to the riches of divine grace; but at least, so far as his conscience was enlightened, he really felt and owned his condition as a sinner before God. "He who is mighty despiseth not any;" and the publican went down to his house justified rather than the other. At the same time, it is not to despise a man if we call his attention to the actual condition of his soul, and remind him that the Lord's prayer supposes discipleship and the relationship of children with a Father. Sincerity can never change wrong into right, and ignorance, though less guilty than the conscious utterance of language which goes beyond our state and experience, is a sorry excuse before the full blaze of God's revealed light in His word.

"Our Father, which art in heaven." This is a distinct advance on anything previously known of God. The patriarchs communed with Him as the Almighty; Israel knew Him as Jehovah; but the coming into the world of the Only Begotten Son has brought out the sweet name of Father. Here then He is declaring the Father's name, as He says in John 17:6-26. It is true that in Ex. 4:22, Jehovah says, "Israel is My son, My firstborn," but that was merely a national relationship; while we have in the Lord's prayer what is personal and individual. But Matt. 6:9 falls far short of John 20:17. There we hear the risen One announcing the fruits of His great victory thus: "go to My brethren, and say to them, I ascend to My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God." In Matt. 6:9, there is no suggestion of identification with the Son; it goes no further than this, that men who had previously known God as Jehovah should now know Him as Father; John 20:17 lifts us up to the Son's own platform of blessing. To His Father and God we are henceforward "many sons" (Heb. 2:10) and to Himself we are many "brethren" (Rom. 8:29).

A moment's reflection should convince anyone that it is perfectly shocking to teach a mixed company to say "Our Father." It is teaching them to utter the biggest of all falsehoods, to their own hurt and delusion, as well as to the divine dishonour. Though the Lord's prayer was uttered in the hearing of the crowd, the Lord was manifestly instructing His disciples only (Matt. 6:1).