What is Your Favorite Line in the Lord’s
Prayer?
Barbara Henderson
I know some of you will immediately
either have a favorite line, or you will want to tell me that it isn’t really
the Lord’s prayer. It is the ‘Disciples
Prayer’, or the ‘Model Prayer’. For the
point of this article you can name the prayer whatever you feel is
correct. Regardless of what we call it,
it is an incredibly important passage of scripture. Matthew 6:9-13 gives us a wonderful marvelous
example of how we are to pray.
.
: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
in 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 lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory, for ever. Amen.
(Don’t you sometimes wonder how God
can say so much with such a small number of words?)
Whether you are reading these words or
have them memorized, I am sure you know what a wonderful gift this example
prayer is to all mankind. Every phrase
is precious and filled with comfort and hope.
It is marvelous that Christians can
call Almighty God ‘Our Father’. It is
proper to hallow His name.
To pray ‘they kingdom come’ is
exciting and peaceful at the same time.
‘They will be done in earth as it is
heaven’ reminds us that God knows what to do all the time.
‘Give us this day our daily bread’ is
probably the line most fervently prayed most of the time.
I love the ‘forgive us debts,’ but the
part that says ‘as we forgive our debtors’ is harder to love.
And then the last part, ‘lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil,’ covers everything regarding safety,
health, prosperity, and the welfare of our souls.
‘Thine is the kingdom, and the power
and the glory for ever. Amen.’ This reminds us that God has the power, the
authority, the resources, and everything else He needs to provide for us and
keep us from falling.
So, what is your favorite part? As it turns out ‘thy will be done’ is my
favorite line. I think people in general
are somewhat afraid of this line because it seems to bring thoughts of
suffering. Christ prayed ‘not my will
but thine’ before He went to the cross. And sometimes God’s will takes one of
His children through some horrific suffering, pain, and sorrow. On the other hand, God’s will often takes His
children to wonderful blessings.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, ‘For I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an
expected end.
12. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye
shall go and pray unto Me and I will hearken unto you.
13. And ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall
search for Me with all your heart.’
It is never God’s will that one of His
children is hurt or suffers simply for the sake of hurting them or causing them
to suffer. There is always a purpose and
a plan in what we are going through. I
will be the first to admit that in the midst of a trial I seldom see the
purpose, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a purpose.
God know how to give good gifts. Luke 11:9-13 says,
‘9. And I say unto you: ask, and it shall be given
you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he
that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11. “If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he
for a fish give him a serpent?
12. Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he offer
him a scorpion?
13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give
the holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”
2 Chronicles chapter 20 tells the
story of a mighty army advancing against Jerusalem. The king proclaimed a fast and begged God for
help. And he said, ‘neither know we what
to do, but our eyes on upon thee.’
That seems to be the state in which
many of us find ourselves on an almost constant basis. Yes, we do know to live within the boundaries
set by God, but we often don’t know exactly how to respond to particular
situations. We just don’t know what to
do. That is the time we look to God and
say, ‘Thy will be done.’
Bless the Lord; He does know what to
do all the time. There are many things
we don’t know how to do, but we trust others to know how to do them. We don’t worry about it. Most of the time we don’t even think about
it. Specialties include doctors,
dentists, plumbers, electricians, mechanics, bakers, carpenters, pilots,
programmers, and many other professions.
At some point we trust the professionals to do specific jobs for us and
to keep things running smoothly in general.
These people know what to do.
They know how to get the job done.
We don’t have to give them instructions.
In fact, if we do attempt to give them instructions we usually just slow
down progress. We also trust people who
may not be called a specific professional to get a job done. These are just people who get things
done. You simply delegate authority and
let them worry about the details. What a relief that can be! How much more should we be willing to turn
things over to God and let Him take care of the details?
When we pray ‘They will be done’ we
are acknowledging that God actually knows what to do in all situations and in
particular situations. Finally – Someone
knows what to do.
We are acknowledging that God knows
how to give good gifts to His children.
That means to each of His precious children. His will brings you to the best outcome with
the least amount of stress possible.
Obviously this doesn’t prevent trouble.
Job 14:1 “Man that is born of a woman
is of few days and full of trouble.
Psalm 90:10 ‘The days of our years are
threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away.’
When we pray ‘Thy will be done’ we are
taking the path of least resistance as we go through this life. We are also taking the best path. Our perfect world is not on this earth, so no
matter what we pray perfection is not going to be the outcome. However, there will be blessings and
joy. It makes very good sense to
surrender our lives to God’s will. He
loves us, and He doesn’t make mistakes.
Rejoice in the Lord – He makes no
mistakes (Ron Hamilton)
God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the LORD though your testing
seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.
I could not see through the shadows
ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
Then peace came and tears fled away.
Now I can see testing comes from
above;
God strengthens His children and purges in
love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear.
O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold.
