Do we love to be seen in
our prayers and alms? Do we love to impress people with what we do and how we serve the
Lord? Jesus said that our left hand should not even know what the right hand is doing. We
ought to serve the Lord like that, without seeking recompence, reward or even to be
thanked and recognised.
Firstly: Our Father - Not my Father, but our Father. Each and everyone
who is a true Christian can pray to the same God and Father - whether a Christian for 60
years or just converted. He is also Father, and not only God. It is like writing a letter
to a well-known friend's address. Our Father lives in heaven.
Hallowed be Thy name: Do we, when we wake up in the morning, seek God's face that we
would hallow and sanctify His name in everything we do? In what we speak?
Give us our daily bread: Here we see that we should pray for what we need and not what
we want. We remember how He commanded us to seek first the Kingdom of God and then the
other things will be added. But we need not to pray for those bonuses. They will be added
as we seek God's Kingdom first.
Now this not only refers to our daily physical bread, but also His Word, as He said - My
bread and food is to do the will of my Father. So we need to pray also for this daily
bread that we would do His will and that He would help us.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who sin against us:
Do we realize how indebted we are to God for forgiving us our sins? Do we realize how
lost we would have been, had He not forgiven our sins? But firstly, do we know this
forgiveness?
But here we see something more and frightning - Forgive us like as we forgive those who
sin against us? Do we really mean this? Eg. When someone really sins against us and does
us wrong and then comes and says sorry. And we grudgingly say, ok I'll forgive you, but we
think, I won't forget. And then we pray this prayer! We shouldn't be surprised if God
takes us seriously and forgives us just as we forgave that person who had sinned against
us.
This is true not only in forgiveness. The measure whereby we measure others, that is how
we will be measured. Of course we will also be measured against God's Word, but God would
also measure us with the measure we measure others with. Just think of all those you think
owe you something and remember your prayer that God would treat you likewise. Just see vs
14 and 15
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one: It is not God who lead us
into temptation or tempt us, but He can keep us from the tempter and warn us. But do we,
when we pray this, and He warns us, ignore His warning and go straight into the
temptation. And woe to you if you are a stumbling block to others through what you speak.
God says it is better that a millstone be hung around your neck and you be thrown into the
depths of the sea.
O that we would pray and live this prayer.
Finally: For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever. Amen.
This we need to remember always no matter in what situation we find ourselves. Do we
have this faith and trust in Him? That we can go into all the world and proclaim His Word
as he bade us, because all power belongs to Him.