THE LORD'S PRAYER

Our Father > Jesus revealed the Father to the world - Jesus revealed His eternal power and Godhead(Romans 1:20) - Jesus revealed the Holy Trinity, "One in essence, yet undivided" - Jesus emphasized the reality of the Father in the Gospel of John chapter 14(22 times He mentions Father); John chapter 15(10 times He mentions Father); John chapter 16(12 times He mentions Father). In Matthew 6:8 Jesus introduces the Father's concern for your every "true" need as the basis for the Lord's Prayer found in the following 5 verses!!! - Our life of prayer is founded and based upon our relationship with the Father. - We do not have to badger or cajole our Father God to hear us like the pagans do with their mindless vain repetitions - All we must do is pray according to the divine will and Word of God - Jesus, the Son of the Father by nature, grants us the privilege of calling the Almighty Creator our Father by the grace of salvation/sonship(Romans 8:14-16).

Who art above the heavens > Jesus is not speaking necessarily of a material heaven, a place that is located in time and space. God is creator, he transcends the physical creation and all its' creatures. The word heaven reveals the infinite distance that there is between the Creator and His Creatures. When we pray we must see, we must know, the mystery of God's transcendence, and simultaneously, the mystery "that God was manifest in the flesh"(1 Timothy 3:16). Through Jesus, God's infinite grace has appeared, and bridged the unbridgable gap. Now we have access to God(Romans 5:1, 2; Hebrews 10:19-22). That at the moment of prayer we enter the kingdom of heaven. We, in the Spirit, leave this world of time and space and enter the eternal NOW where God is.

Hallowed Be Thy Name > Hallowed means Holy > The seraphim worshipped the Lord upon His throne, crying, "Holy, Holy, Holy"!!!(Isaiah 6:1-3)  We declare our Father is Holy and that His name is holy. Holy can be understood to mean "divine perfection", and each name of God reflects a perfectly divine attribute or characteristic of God's nature. God reveals Himself and His nature in the many names he gives to Himself. To know the name of God is to comprehend that attribute which that particular name of God
denotes, and to witness the manifestation of those attributes which the name denotes. By learning the many names of God you come to know God and what He is like. One name God revealed Himself as is El Shaddai which means "the self-existent One". To Moses He revealed Himself as "I AM THAT I AM...I AM has sent me unto you(Israel)"(Exodus 3:11-14). Interestingly Jesus called Himself I AM in John 8:58, and many times revealed his nature and work by saying "I am": the Way, the Truth, the Life...the door... the good
shepherd...the true vine...the light of the world...the bread of life...the alpha and the omega...the resurrection. In the Old Covenant God revealed Himself with seven covenant names: Jehovah Jireh - I am the Lord who provides, Jehovah Nissi - I am the Lord your victory, Jehovah Shalom - I am the Lord your peace, Jehovah Shammah - I am present with you, Jehovah Ra'ah - I am the Lord your shepherd, Jehovah Tsidkenu - I am the Lord your righteousness, Jehovah Rapha - I am the Lord your healer. In Psalm 91:14 David speaks of what God will do, "Because he has set his
love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name". All the names of God are wrapped up in the Savior Jesus. Every knee shall bow to His name(Philippians 2:9-11). There is no other name under heaven whereby a person can be saved(Acts 4:12). In the context of "the Lord's Prayer" we may simply magnify the Father as perfectly holy. We can simply acknowledge the Father as perfect in every way his name reveals Him. We can simply worship Him as the "I AM" who is the "all in all".

Thy Kingdom Come > Our desire is to experience God's kingdom here and now, first within us, for Christ said, "The kingdom of God is within you", and the double meaning of our prayer is, "Maranatha, The Lord Comes"(Luke 17:21; 1Corinthians 16:22). "We look for the resurrection and the life of the world to come". "We look for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ"(Titus 2:14). As we pray "Thy Kingdom Come" let us realize we are praying to "actually actualize" the very teachings of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of heaven that are found in the Sermon on the Mount just before he gives us "The Lord's Prayer".

Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven > Our heart's desire is to do the Father's will just as Jesus said it was his desire to do the Father's will. We pray, "Thy will be done" with the thought in mind that we desire to be "heavenly" while here on earth(Colossians 3:1-4).

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread > In this petition we are offering up a 3-layered prayer. 1) We are asking for the earthly nourishment necessary for our daily strength, 2) we are asking for the inner, invisible nourishment of the Word of God, the "bread of Life", 3) we are looking prophetically to the banquet of the heavenly kingdom at Christ's second coming as we eat our bread of today.

And Forgive Us Our Trespasses As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us > We acknowledge in this petition our daily need for repentance and forgiveness, and our desire for God to help us to forgive as he has forgiven us for Christ's sake(Ephesians 4:31, 32). Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect"(Matthew 5:48)

And Lead Us Not Into Temptation, but deliver us from evil > Jesus said, "Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak"(Matthew 26:41). This petition could be rendered, "Let us not be overcome by temptation, but deliver us from the evil one". We learn in James 1:13,14 "Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed". And we learn more from St Paul, "There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it"(1 Corinthians 10:13). We are praying then, for the Father to deliver us; from any test, trial, or temptation we may find ourselves experiencing in this corrupt and demon-filled world.