The Lord’s Prayer
CONTENTS
The Preface to the Lord’s Prayer
‘Our Father which art in Heaven’
The First Petition in the Lord’s Prayer
‘Hallowed be thy name.’
The Second Petition in the Lord’s Prayer
‘Thy kingdom come.’
The Third Petition in the Lord’s Prayer
‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’
The Fourth Petition in the Lord’s Prayer
‘Give us this day our daily bread.’
The Fifth Petition in the Lord’s Prayer
‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors.’
The Sixth Petition in the Lord’s Prayer
‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil.’
THE PREFACE TO THE LORD’S PRAYER
‘OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN’
Having gone over the chief grounds and fundamentals of religion, and enlarged upon the decalogue, or ten commandments, we shall now look upon the Lord’s prayer.
‘After this manner therefore pray ye,
Our Father which art in heaven hallowed,’ etc.— Matthew 6:9.
In this Scripture are two things observable: the introduction to the prayer, and the prayer itself The introduction to the Lord’s prayer is, ‘After this manner pray ye.’ Our Lord Jesus, in these words, gave to his disciples and to us a directory for prayer. The ten commandments are the rule of our life, the creed is the sum of our faith, and the Lord’s prayer is the pattern of our prayer. As God prescribed Moses a pattern of the tabernacle (xodus 25:9), so Christ has here prescribed us a pattern of prayer. ‘After this manner pray ye,’ etc. The meaning is, let this be the rule and model according to which you frame your prayers. [We ought to examine our prayers by this rule]. . Not that we are tied to the words of the Lord’s prayer. Christ says not, ‘After these words, pray ye;’ but ‘After this manner:’ that is, let all your petitions agree and symbolize with the things contained in the Lord’s prayer; and well may we make all our prayers consonant and agreeable to this prayer. The exactness of this prayer appears in the dignity of the Author. A piece of work has commendation from its artifices, and this prayer has commendation from its Author; it is the Lord’s prayer. As the moral law was written with the finger of God, so this prayer was dropped from the lips of the Son of God. The exactness of the prayer appears in the excellence of the matter. It is ‘as silver tried in a furnace, purified seven times.’ Psalm 12:6.
1 . For its comprehensiveness. It is short and pithy, great deal said in a few words. It requires most art to draw the two globes curiously in a little map. This short prayer is a system or body of divinity.
2 .
For its clearness. It is plain and intelligible to every capacity. Clearness is the grace of speech.3 .
For its completeness. It contains the chief things that we have to ask, or God has to bestow.The prayer itself consists of three parts.
1 . A Preface.
2 . Petitions.
3 . The Conclusion.