Our Father in heaven

 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

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.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

 

- Matthew 6:7-15 

 

We are presently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).   "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.  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.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  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.  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. . . . ."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.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 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." 

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."  Jesus' words here are coupled with His teachings against hypocrisy, and how hypocrisy separates us from God and keeps us from the depth of relationship necessary for true prayer, which my study Bible says is an intimate communion with God, which leads to the vision of God's glory (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Vain repetitions also cannot establish such a communion; God does not need our "babble."  To participate in it, both silence and words are necessary.  Therefore, my study Bible says, we pray always (Luke 18:1) and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Christ does not condemn the use of many words per se, but rather teaches that words need to express the desire for communion with God.  In the following verses, Jesus gives us specific words to repeat.  Therefore, it is not repetition itself that is condemned, but vain repetition.  Many psalms, prayers, and hymns of the Church have been repeated for countless generations in the worship of God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).  True prayer, as we can see from the prayer Christ gives us, is not telling God what God already knows, and then telling God what to do about it, nor is it appearing to be pious in front of others.  My study Bible sums up Jesus' teachings on prayer by saying that true prayer is humble ("go into your room"), personal ("pray to your Father"), and sincere (do not use vain repetitions).

 

"In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  My study Bible comments that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity reveals our potential relationship with God.  Christ, the Son of God, grants to us the privilege to call God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God" (indicating an heir, regardless of gender), a Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God in the same way that Christ does the Father.  My study Bible explains further that we must note that God is not our Father just because God created us.  God is only Father to those who are in a saving and personal relationship with Him, a communion that comes only by the grace of adoption (see John 1:13, Romans 8:14-16).   When we pray that the Father's kingdom come, and God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven," so we are affirming our love, our loyalty, and service to the Father just as Christ loved the Father, for God is love (1 John 4:8).

 

 "Give us this day our daily bread."  Daily is a misleading translation of the Greek word ἐπιούσιον/epiousion, a word which apparently appears nowhere else in literature except here in the Gospel.  This word literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  The expression daily bread, according to my study Bible, indicates not simply bread for this day, for earthly nourishment.  It is, rather, the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  This living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  Therefore in this prayer given by Christ, we are not simply asking for material bread for physical health, but rather for the spiritual bread of eternal life (see John 6:27-58).  

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  My study Bible points out that the request to be forgiven is plural, which directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  Debts here refers to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).  

"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."  My study Bible comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  Temptations, it says, are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  It is the nature of temptation to come to us where we are vulnerable, even in ways that might seem to be "good."  No one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.  Therefore, whenever we pray the Lord's Prayer, we also pray for deliverance from all aspects of evil.

 

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."   My study Bible comments that Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  Those who do not forgive are not forgiven.  This is a teaching which is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35), which concludes with the same teaching.  My study Bible says that to not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves. 

Forgiveness can be a rather tricky concept.  Does it just mean going back to people who abuse us?  Does it mean that our relationships are restored to full reconciliation with those who might harm us?  I think the language Jesus uses about debt is very important here, and a key to what forgiveness is.  Certainly in popular common language "forgiveness of debt" is still used when a financial institution of some sort erases a debt from the books.  So this term "debt," used to indicate some kind of harm or need for restitution, indicates that we expect a kind of payback -- which leads us to conclude it is something reinforced by retribution or vengeance of some sort.  In Jewish law, restitution was key to the establishment of jsutice.  In the Old Testament, this problem of vengeance, of returning violence for violence, is at the heart of the problems of the world -- see Genesis 4, and the story of sin from Cain to Lamech, who promised vengeance "seventy-sevenfold."  St. Paul reminds us of God's teaching that vengeance belongs to God (see Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30, Deuteronomy 32:35).  Therefore, a "debt" that is incurred through another's bad action is something that we forgive by giving it up to God.  In keeping with the financial metaphor, God assumes the debt and responsibility for its repayment, for restitution.  This is a teaching, as St. Paul elaborates, against personal vengeance, and it is rather a part of our prayer in which we assert that we meet evil in our lives by seeking the will of God for ourselves as our way through this world, and for how to respond.  So much in this prayer is concerned with the evil of the world and how to live the will of God, as did Christ -- and forgiveness is stressed so that we emphasize our prayer that the Father's "will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  In this context, we can understand forgiveness not to be a justification for others' bad actions, and certainly not behavior that would reward or indulge harmful behaviors.  Forgiveness is rather affirming that we leave all things in God's hands, and pray for guidance for how to conduct our lives, despite the evil we encounter.  Just as we pray for deliverance from evil (or the "evil one" as the language also reads in Greek), so here we are praying God's way through evil circumstances, even admittedly bad acts by others.  In this way, forgiveness can begin for each of us through an understanding of Christ's language of "debt," and the understanding that it is God the Father who is the ultimate Judge.  Through releasing the debt to the Judge, we are freed from thoughts of vengeance to consider the best way to live with what may be bad circumstances.  We are not necessarily praying for reconciliation to a bad actor or ongoing abuse and suffering, but instead are set free to consider what healing means and the best way to pursue that.  Therefore, this prayer emphasizes a freedom from the pattern of retribution that leads down a long road of sin, and always goes from bad to worse.   How might we better spend our time?  What might give us a better outcome to our lives, our productivity, the things that are good in our lives?  Let us use the prayer as our guide for life, as our way to seek out our Father, and to find His way for us.