“The Lords Prayer.”

It is instruction on how to pray, but I believe that prayer can be given in sincerity as well - and will be heard by God. (As long as it's quoted in KJ English, of course.) But if it just becomes some ritual, I'm not sure about that!

 

I think it's fine to repeat it but I think it's mainly a model for how to pray:
Adoring and Praising God
Submitting to His will
Petitioning God
Asking for forgiveness for daily sins
Asking for protection and guidance

 

Jesus gave these instructions to his Jewish disciples telling them how they, as Jews, should pray. The entire Sermon on the Mount was addressed exclusively to Jews as a wake-up call. We need to be extremely careful in applying any of the Sermon on the Mount to Christians today.

Matthew 6

1. "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2. "Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
3. "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4. "that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
5. "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
6. "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7. "But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8. "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9. "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
10. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14. "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15. "But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16. "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
17. "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18. "so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
19. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20. "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
23. "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
25. "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
26. "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27. "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28. "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
29. "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30. "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31. "Therefore do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?'
32. "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
34. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(Matt. 6, NKJV)

 

Is it your position that he wouldn't teach us to do those same things? Or is it that the lesson wouldn't be exactly the same?

 

I generally pray it before or after my pettions asking that all my prayers be in line according to "Our Father.."

 

The Lord's prayer was the prayer in the Garden before Christ was arrested. The MODEL prayer is just that.... a suggested outline of the best way to approach the throne of God.

Master, teach us to pray

Jesus said, in this manner (not repeat after me)

 

It seems logical that this prayer (though not excluding it from the life of Jesus) is included in the gospels (Matthew and Luke) because it is used in the earliest churches. If this is true, then we are getting a little slice of (localized?)early church liturgy in these words (the same probably goes for 1 Corinthians 13, Philippians 2, and others), and we should at least think about using it in our liturgy.

Grace and Peace, Danny

 

We should also realize that these promises to take care of us were only made to his Jewish disciples. God says, that as a gentile, you are on your own. Do not, I repeat, do not expect Him to provide food or clothing for you.

 

Was Jesus telling his disciple how they should pray under their current circumstances, or how they should prayer two or three years later after they received the gift of the Holy Spirit?

 

Why not both?

You can recite it as part of Sunday worship if you so desire, but it's certainly not a requirment or detraction if you do or don't.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. I'm sure the sentiment is the same with uses of scripture in the course of a worship service.

The only scripture that may pertain to the topic is one the forbids vain repetition. So long as your recitation of scripture (any scripture) is from the heart, and not vain, it should not be of issue to the believer.

 

My apologies for not using scripture, so I submit this well known passage:

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. - Matthew 6:7

 

While not as clear of a template for prayer as the Lord's prayer, I find this passage helpful when evaluating the person giving the prayer. I have heard plenty of professional prayers that were empty and worthless.

I am prayer partners with a guy who is a fairly new christian, and to hear him pray is awesome. Since he doesn't have years of professional public prayer experience, he simply talks to God, very humbly and it is very moving.