Written by Dawn Rutan
I’ve read several things recently on the subject of prayer in general, and I’ve been thinking about the Lord’s Prayer in particular. I don’t come from a tradition that recites the Lord’s Prayer on a regular basis, so I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it. I’ve also been cautious because there are other traditions that use the Lord’s Prayer in rote repetition that can quickly lose all meaning. However, since these words came from Jesus Himself, perhaps they are worthy of a little extra attention.
It hadn’t really occurred to me before that there are just three main petitions in the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts… And lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:11-13 ESV). On the prayer for our daily bread, C.S. Lewis wrote,
“It means, doesn’t it, all we need for the day—‘things requisite and necessary as well for the body as for the soul.’ I should hate to make this clause ‘purely religious’ by thinking of ‘spiritual’ needs alone” (Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer, 27).
While we can drift to one extreme or the other, I think there is a greater tendency to focus on physical needs rather than spiritual needs. I was struck by the fact that Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). In a counterintuitive way, praying for our daily bread is a prayer for more of Jesus. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 6:6). He is sufficient for all our deepest needs, though we may not always think so. I am challenged to pray that I would find my fulfillment in Him alone.
Thinking about the request for forgiveness, again the answer is found in the person of Christ. Because of His death and resurrection, the Old Testament sacrificial system was no longer needed. “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). Following the Sermon on the Mount, we get this brief response, “The crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). No doubt this prayer for forgiveness without corresponding sacrifices must have raised a few eyebrows. I am thankful that forgiveness is just a prayer away!
The third petition, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” I suspect is the least used part of the Lord’s Prayer, though it should be significant to us. We all need protection from temptation. Paul said, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). I’ve learned from many falls that it is far easier and more effective to pray for protection from temptation than to pray for deliverance once temptation has already appeared. I have no idea how many times God has diverted me away from temptation—probably far more than I could even imagine. The frequent appeal for protection serves to draw my attention back to Christ and has increased my dependence on His strength in my weakness.
Although the Lord’s Prayer is so named because it was spoken by Jesus, the fact is that every part of it points us back to our Lord and Savior through whom we receive the Bread of Life, forgiveness of the guilt of sin, and deliverance from the power of sin. Apart from Him they are just empty words.
“Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
© 2017 Dawn Rutan. The views stated may or may not reflect the beliefs of the pastor or leadership of Dulin’s Grove Church.
