Thursday, May 2, 2013

What is Your Favorite Line in the Lord's Prayer?



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.

‘Soul Wars Trilogy’ books one and two are now available on Kindle.  I need six kind reviews.  Thank you.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.