SOTM 24—THE Prayer

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/som-24/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p>"Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven,   hallowed be your name.Your kingdom comes, 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 also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:9-13). <p>  </p><p> Introductory thoughts</p><ul><li>The Lord’s Prayer may be understood as a summary of the gospel itself.</li><li>Notice, there is no mention of doctrine or specific commandments.</li><li>The faith has been distilled to its essence: the relationship of child to father.</li><li> This prayer is the opposite of repetitious babbling.</li><li>It is not wrong to pray the prayer verbatim—Jesus seems to be encouraging us to do so. <i>Didache</i>: “Do not pray as the hypocrites. Rather, as the Lord commanded in His gospel… Pray in this manner three times daily during the day.” <i>Didache</i> 1.379</li></ul><p><strong>Observations</strong></p><ul><li>“Father”—we approach God as our Father, through the work of the Son, by the power of the Spirit. When this is our understanding, then we are praying “in Jesus’ name.” (Note: The original Christians did not “sign off” their prayers with the formula “in Jesus name,” since they understood that their prayer was <i>intrinsically</i> in Jesus’ name.</li><li>“Our” Father—Christianity was not intended to be individualistic.</li><li>“Hallowed be your name”: To hallow means to make holy, or to sanctify. Cyprian: “It is not that we wish for God to be hallowed by our prayers. Rather we beseech of Him that His name may be hallowed <i>in us</i>. For by whom could God be sanctified, since He Himself sanctifies? It is He who says, ‘Be holy, even as I am holy’ [1 Pet. 1:15]. So we ask and entreat that we who were sanctified in baptism may continue in that state in which we have begun. And we pray daily for this because we n