“The Lord’s Prayer”

     “The Lord’s Prayer” is a bit of a misnomer, as applied to the following:

    “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).

    These words actually comprise our Lord’s “model prayer” for others, namely for those who trust and seek to walk with Him.  Our Savior could never pray such a prayer for Himself because He had no need to seek His Father’s pardon with words such as “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  “We have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

    The 17^th chapter of the Gospel of John actually contains that which could most accurately be termed “the Lord’s prayer.”  The Apostle records for us the intercession of the Lord Jesus for His disciples (and for us) offered just before He returned to Heaven by way of the cross, the resurrection and the ascension.

    “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine…  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word” (John 17:9; 20).

     Fewer more sublime thoughts can grace our minds than the truth that our Savior prayed for us many centuries before our conception in our mother’s womb.  One that perhaps equals such grace, however, involves the blessed truth that the Lord Jesus prays for us even now: “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

    Think of it – in this moment, our Savior prays for us.  He raises wounded hands to His Father and our Father, seeking provision, protection, and perhaps most of all, our awareness of God’s loving presence and involvement whereby we more and more walk in accordance with our high calling as His trusting sons and daughters.  I know of no greater encouragement than this, the “Lord’s prayer” offered even now by One whose intercessions are always heard and answered… 

“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”

(Hebrews 9:24)