The Lord’s Prayer
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.”
In Matthew 6:9-13 and in Luke 11:2-4, we read of Jesus teaching his disciples (and us) how they and we should pray – a template, as it were, for all of our prayers to God. This important and well-known Scripture is commonly known as The Lord’s Prayer or the Disciples’ Prayer, and some know it by Our Father Prayer. It has become the primary example Jesus provided when asked how we should pray.
As a Christian I am sure that many of you are not only familiar with this prayer, ideally very familiar, but have also prayed it on at least one if not many occasions – correct? If so, did you mean it? Did you really? If so, and I hope you did, then God has, in fact, answered every prayer you have ever prayed since you first prayed the Lord’s prayer – if you actually meant it when you prayed it.
You’re probably asking how I can accurately say that “God has, in fact, answered every prayer you have ever prayed since you first prayed the Lord’s Prayer – if you actually meant it”? Well, look no further than the prayer itself for the answer.
Where is our Father currently? According to the prayer – in Heaven. Correct?
Where are you currently? On earth. Correct?
The basic premise of this prayer is that you are praying to your Father in Heaven to do something, in fact, several somethings for you here on earth – correct?
And how are you praying for your Father to do those things? “Thy will be done.” Correct? And there you have it. Have you ever prayed for something that you did not receive – and then wondered why you did not have your prayer answered despite the fact you may have really wanted or even desperately needed it to be? Or so you thought?
If you had received that which you prayed for, then your will would have been done – not the Father’s as you specifically asked for when you pray the Lord’s Prayer. If you meant it when you prayed that prayer, then you made a very specific request of the Father and, in fact, entered into a legally binding contract of sorts between you and Him regarding ALL future prayers to Him – that His will be done – not yours, no matter if you disagreed with His decision, or really wanted or desperately needed “your” will to be done instead of His. That is not what you asked for! What you did ask for was that your Father’s will be done…regardless of what “you” thought you wanted or needed at the time of your prayer.
The Bible is very clear in this regard – that God’s understanding is way beyond yours and that He always knows what is best for His children…even when we do not. That is why we are instructed to lean not on our own understanding but on His and His “will.” And how do we accomplish that?
Simple; by asking that His will be done instead of ours. If we accept the Father’s will per our specific request, then even unanswered prayers are still answered – just according to His will instead of ours.
If you have prayed the Lord’s Prayer – and meant it, then every prayer you have ever prayed has, in fact, been answered exactly as you asked the Father to answer them; according to His will. Perhaps that is something to keep in mind the next time you think God failed to answer one of your prayers, since He may, in fact, have answered all of them – exactly as you asked Him to do – according to His will. Amen.