the Lord’s prayer as a pattern of caring for God’s need and also for our need

The Lord’s prayer in Matt. 6:9-13 is a pattern of how we as the kingdom people should pray. This prayer is all-inclusive, taking care both of God, His name, His kingdom, His glory, His will, and also of our need. When we pray, we firstly take care of God and His interest, and then we pray for our need.

After we pray that God’s name be sanctified, His kingdom to come, and His will be done, we also pray for our daily need. Our Father knows what we need, but we still need to mention our daily need for bread to Him. We don’t ask for bread for tomorrow – we live a life by faith, living on the Father’s daily supply.

First God’s Need and then Our Need

“Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done” (Matt. 6:9-10) – here we see that the name of the Father needs to be sanctified (the Father is the source), the kingdom of the Son needs to come on the earth, and the will of the Spirit needs to be done. To pray in this way actually means to pray that the Triune God would be as prevailing on the earth as He is in the heavens.

There’s no problem in the heavens: the Triune God is reigning there, His name is sanctified, His kingdom is there, and His will is being done. But on the earth the Lord needs some who pray for His kingdom to come, for His name to be sanctified, and for His will to be done!

After we pray for the Triune God to be prevailing on the earth as He is prevailing in the heavens, we pray for our daily needs. The Lord Jesus as our King and God as our Father do not want us to worry about tomorrow (see Matt. 6:34), but we would pray for our daily needs, our daily bread.

We don’t pray for bread for tomorrow or next week – we don’t need to worry about tomorrow. God wants us to pray for today’s needs so that He would take care of us today. The Lord is faithful to take care of the supply of our daily necessities. We don’t rely on what we have stored for the future, but we live by faith on the Father’s daily supply. Our Father takes good care of us!

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

In the Lord’s prayer as a pattern for us we see that the Lord wants to forgive us our debts, our sins, and our trespasses, but He also wants to make sure we are OK with the ones around us. As we ask our dear Father to forgive us our debts and trespasses, we should also forgive our debtors.

On the one hand, we are in debt with God, sinning against Him and making many mistakes daily. On the other hand, others may offend us or owe us something. For us to maintain a peaceful relationship with others, we need to forgive them. Before the Father can forgive us, we need to learn to forgive others, so that there would be peace between us and others as there is peace between us and God.

deliver us from the evil one

This part of the Lord’s prayer is so meaningful, “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13). When we pray in this way we admit that we are not strong enough to face the temptation or the enemy, we need the Lord to deliver us from the evil one and to not lead us into temptation.

Sometimes our faithful God may bring us into a situation of temptation to test us (just as the Spirit of God did with the Lord Jesus in Matt. 4:1). But because we realize our weakness (Matt. 26:41; 1 Cor. 10:13), we pray, Lord, do not bring us into temptation! Amen! Lord, You know our weakness – deliver us from the evil one!

Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever

The conclusion of the Lord’s prayer is not “a final benediction” but it is a realization and praise of God’s kingdom, His power, and His glory. We as the people in the kingdom of God recognize and praise reverently that the kingdom, the power, and the glory belong to the Father forever (Matt. 6:13).

The kingdom is of the Son, being the realm in which God exercises His power. The power is of the Spirit – He carries out God’s intention so that the Father may express His glory. The glory is of the Father, who is expressed in the Son and through the Spirit. The Lord’s prayer begins with the Triune God and ends with the Triune God! It is a prayer mingled with the Triune God!

The Lord’s prayer begins with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (in this sequence) and ends with the Son, the Spirit, and the Father (in this sequence). The Father is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, the initiator and the finisher of everything! We are of Him and we are unto Him!

By praying in this way, according to this pattern, we are asking for something that is according to the Father’s heart’s desire, and we are also being supplied by Him to fulfill something for the Father’s good pleasure. What a privilege to cooperate through prayer with the Triune God that His name be sanctified, His kingdom come, and His will be done on earth – even as it is being done in the heavens!

Our Father who are in heavens, may Your name be sanctified on earth as it is sanctified in the heavens! Lord Jesus, may Your kingdom come on the earth as it is in the heavens. Spirit, may Your will be done on the earth as it is being done in the heavens. Amen! Lord, give us today our daily bread. Lord, do forgive us our debts, even as we also have forgiven our debtors. And, Father, do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one! For Yours, Lord Jesus, is the Kingdom, and Yours, Spirit, is the Power, and Yours, Father, is the Glory, forever! Amen!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from brother Witness Lee’s speaking in, The God-man Living (pages 99-100), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking the Lead as Elders and Responsible Ones, week 5.
• This sharing is a continuation of, Father, Your name be sanctified!
• Hymns on this topic:
  # What love Thou hast bestowed on us, / We thank Thee from our heart;
  # Seek ye first the kingdom of God / And His righteousness;
  # Our Father God, the source; / God, the Son, has reached me. / God as the Spirit entered me!
• Picture source: the Lord’s prayer.