In the gospels of Matthew and Luke we find an answer given to an important request posed by a disciple of Jesus. The request is, “Lord, teach us to pray”. In Matthew 6:9 and Luke 11:2 we see the answer which starts out as, “This, then, is how you should pray”. Jesus didn’t necessarily mean that his followers should recite this prayer word for word but in the next few verses in each one of these passages Jesus gives them a model, a pattern or a template for prayer.
It is known as “the Lord’s prayer” but because it was to be used by the followers of Jesus, many refer to it as “the disciple’s prayer”.
There are several important emphases in this prayer. It starts out with addressing God as our Father and praising Him for who He is; a holy God. The prayer is, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”. It then puts forth the desire for God’s kingdom to be established here on earth and for God’s will to be done. The prayer is, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. This is in contrast to the desire for our kingdom to rule and our will to be done. Then there is a place for us to ask the Lord to meet our personal needs. There are those things we do need each day. The prayer is, “give bread”. Then comes the prayer for forgiveness to a God who offers it and has the power to do it. The prayer is, “forgive us our debts (sins) as we also have forgiven our debtors”. Did you notice that the scriptures teach vertical forgiveness and horizontal forgiveness. It presumes that if a person has received forgiveness from God, based on the sacrificial death of Jesus, that a person will have no problem forgiving others for sins committed against them.
The prayer ends with a request for the Lord not to leave us in our temptation but to actually deliver us from the power that our temptations can have over us.
There is a presumption in this area of scripture where Jesus addresses prayer that Christians actually pray. In the beginning of Matthew 6 a phrase “when you pray” is used several times. So, when you pray, try using this disciple’s prayer as a model for your daily prayers.