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Whenever the subject of prayer is brought up, questions about ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ almost seem to come standard. Today I am going to do a breakdown of that prayer. First things first, remember that the Lord’s Prayer was before the cross. The New Covenant only started after the cross so we have to look at the Lord ’s Prayer from a New Covenant perspective.

Matt 6:9-13 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (KJV)

“Our Father which art in Heaven”

At first glance there doesn’t seem to be anything amiss with this line. Except that to believers, God is not far away in Heaven. He lives in you now. You need to identify with Christ IN YOU the hope of glory (Col 1:27), and not externalize and distance yourself from God. You are one with the Father as He is one with Christ (John 17:20-12, 1 Cor 6:17). When Jesus died the divide that separated us from the Holy of Holies was torn open. God was no longer just in heaven but He tore open the divide and made His dwelling amongst us, in us. If you keep thinking God is only far away in heaven you keep externalizing the hope of glory, thinking He is somewhere else and not right by you.

“Hallowed be thy Name”

Personally I think this is probably the only line that wasn’t affected by the cross. But what is interesting is the worth of His Name. In Ps 138:2 we learn that God has exalted His Word above His Name. God has put the reputation of His own holy sacred Name on the line to uphold His Word. His Word, and the declarations it makes regarding you is held in exaltation above His Name. Since you are in Christ, The living Word, you are in the most sacred hallowed position any being can be in. “Be holy as I am holy” is not about doing holy things but about your seated position in Christ. He is Holy because He is God. You are holy as He is holy, not by your own doing, but by His being Holy always. You are one. You are holy as He is Holy.

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

The kingdom came but is also coming. The kingdom is near (Matt 10:7), but it doesn’t come with observation (Luke 17:20-21).  When you were unsaved, the kingdom was near. When you go saved the kingdom is put IN YOU (Luke 17:21). For the kingdom to come, it has to now come OUT of you. You don’t pray for it to come near to you, you pray for it to go forth from you. Streams of living water will flow FROM YOU (John 7:38). For one kingdom to be established another has to be vanquished. When you cast out devils exactly that happens (Luke 11:20). So bringing the kingdom is less about asking for it come and more about bringing it up and out of you by destroying the works of the devil. Also notice it doesn’t say “Your will be happen automatically because You are sovereign and what you want will happen anyway on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s will is to be DONE. That means you partner with Him (1 Cor 3:9) and then DO something (Mark 16:15-18). Since there is no sickness in heaven, you will always be doing God’s will healing the sick. You are doing God’s will whenever you change a person’s condition to closer reflect the reality of heaven. If you pray this line and then don’t go out and do something about situations that don’t represent heaven, all you did was make empty promises. God empowers you (Acts 1:8) to do His will. Go out and do it.

“Give us this day our daily bread”

Jesus’ body is represented by bread. His body was broken for your healing (1 Pet 2:24). The children’s bread refers to healing too (Matt 15:22&26). So this is not just talking about providing for us, it is also referring to healing, every day, no matter what. Daily bread means it is always available everyday. And notice this line is not a question but an expectant statement. You don’t ask for provision or for healing, you believe you have it and expectantly command it into existence.

“And forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors”

A requirement for forgiveness under law was to first forgive others (Deut 15:2). You couldn’t bring a sin offering if you have not forgiven your brother (Matt 5:23-24). This is conditional forgiveness. You have to do something before you are forgiven. This is no longer a requirement after the cross, after you are saved. Once you got saved, you were forgiven despite the fact that you didn’t deserve it. If you first have to forgive others, it means you had to deserve your forgiveness. Grace in UNDESERVED. Your forgiveness is based on Christ and Him alone. Not your ability to live morally, forgive others or anything as self-righteous as that. Col 3:13 actually says that we are to forgive AS WE HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN. We forgive because we are forgiven, not to become forgiven. It is good to forgive, but don’t do it to try and earn favour before God. That is not good, and earned favour is no longer grace.

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”

Many would say this is talking about the devil. In a way I agree, in another I don’t. Regarding the devil, Jesus did free you. He triumphed over the devil on the cross (Col 2:15). He accomplished this by nailing the record of debt (the law) to the cross. Anywhere the devil has a hold on you he is holding on illegally. Tell him to let go. It’s that simple. Another thing is that the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20). And sin seizes opportunity through the law to work ALL MANNERS OF CONCUPISCENCE (Rom 7:8). That means all manners of lust and desire, of temptation. By taking away the laws and the requirements, we have been led out of the temptations invoked by the law. The second part, deliver us from evil connects with this. The word ‘evil’ there means ‘full of labours and hard toils’. That sounds like works to me. We have been delivered from works unto salvation for now salvation comes by grace through faith alone (Eph 2:8-9).

I know this was a longer article, I trust it has blessed you and given you revelation!

Cornel

Read more about Cornel’s book “So You Think Your Mind Is Renewed?” here!

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