The Lord's Prayer
Kim Bickford
Intro To Biblical Worldview
Dr. Sider
March 29, 2013
Theology Paper The Lord’s Prayer has been a strong structural reference in the Christian religion ever since Jesus Christ introduced it to his disciples and told them that this is how they should pray. Mostly everyone is familiar with the Lord’s Prayer, and most people would agree that it is used more by sports teams before a game than any other use outside of the church. People, Christian or non-Christian, use the Lord’s Prayer for many different reasons: protection, forgiveness, repentance. And that is fine. There are many different reasons that are referenced just within the prayer itself. For instance, the phrase “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is a reference towards one’s repentance of the world and all of the sins that come with the world. Another phrase that has a spiritual reference within it is the phrase “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”. This part of the Lord’s Prayer references forgiveness. We are asking forgiveness for ourselves because we have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of god. We are also asking forgiveness for those that have sinned against us. In Matthew 5:44 is reads, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. This is exactly what is referenced in the Lord’s Prayer when we ask for forgiveness of our sins as well as those whom have sinned against us.
There is another phrase in the Lord’s Prayer that is more significant to me and that phrase is “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”. This part of the prayer means that we are to start in worship when we pray, revering His name as hallowed or holy. But what is holiness? What does it mean that God is holy and how can we become holy? The basic way to put in terms of God being holy is absolute perfection. Passages like 1 Samuel 2:2 and Isaiah 6:3 are just two of many examples that talk about God’s
Intro To Biblical Worldview
Dr. Sider
March 29, 2013
Theology Paper The Lord’s Prayer has been a strong structural reference in the Christian religion ever since Jesus Christ introduced it to his disciples and told them that this is how they should pray. Mostly everyone is familiar with the Lord’s Prayer, and most people would agree that it is used more by sports teams before a game than any other use outside of the church. People, Christian or non-Christian, use the Lord’s Prayer for many different reasons: protection, forgiveness, repentance. And that is fine. There are many different reasons that are referenced just within the prayer itself. For instance, the phrase “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is a reference towards one’s repentance of the world and all of the sins that come with the world. Another phrase that has a spiritual reference within it is the phrase “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”. This part of the Lord’s Prayer references forgiveness. We are asking forgiveness for ourselves because we have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of god. We are also asking forgiveness for those that have sinned against us. In Matthew 5:44 is reads, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. This is exactly what is referenced in the Lord’s Prayer when we ask for forgiveness of our sins as well as those whom have sinned against us.
There is another phrase in the Lord’s Prayer that is more significant to me and that phrase is “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”. This part of the prayer means that we are to start in worship when we pray, revering His name as hallowed or holy. But what is holiness? What does it mean that God is holy and how can we become holy? The basic way to put in terms of God being holy is absolute perfection. Passages like 1 Samuel 2:2 and Isaiah 6:3 are just two of many examples that talk about God’s
Cited: Attridge, Harold W. (ed), ed. The Harper Collins Study Bible. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2006. Print.