And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]
– Matthew 6:7-13
This prayer, commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer, must be among the most familiar texts of Christianity. It is used as worship liturgy in many congregations across diverse denominations. On occasion you might encounter someone who will critique this use of the prayer, claiming that it is said by rote and therefore lacks meaning. I will grant that this is an unfortunate trap into which we can fall. Nevertheless, I also think there is something powerful when a group of worshipers pray with a unified voice. The prayer is a central part of our common faith life.
The prayer is found in two of the gospel accounts, here and in Luke’s writing. In Luke it is given as Jesus’ response to his disciples when they ask him to teach them to pray. In Matthew the setting is different, but still in the context of Jesus teaching. The two accounts have slight variations, none of which will I pursue here. Rather, I would like to reflect on this familiar prayer in light of how Jesus prefaces it here in Matthew’s account. It is in those few lines preceding the prayer that we see what Jesus was trying to address.
Consider how Jesus begins. “When you pray, don’t use meaningless repetition like the Gentiles do.” It makes me think of my time in seminary, when I regularly heard people using words and phrases that were unnecessarily complicated. (That was my opinion, anyway, and please don’t tell my seminary friends I said that!). I would think to myself, “I could show you a simpler way of saying that.” I guess in some settings, expensive words carry more weight. And though it might be that way in academia, it is not that way with our Heavenly Father. Hear how Eugene Peterson paraphrases verses 7-8 in The Message:
“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.”1
Jesus’ preface to the prayer prompts me to ask, for whom are we praying? In verses 5-6 Jesus has already exhorted his hearers not to pray to impress others. That is not why you pray. In the same way, Jesus tells us in verses 7-8 not to pray to impress God, for that also misses the mark. The very idea that we could impress God with our prayers strikes me as rather humorous. We could certainly move God with our prayers, but I doubt seriously that we could impress or cajole Him. Therefore, if we are not praying for others, and we are not praying for God, the obvious conclusion must be that prayer is for the one praying.
Allow me to try and clarify my point. Jesus likens prayer to a child asking a parent for help. We know what this is like. Many of us are parents, and ALL of us have been children. (And parents, isn’t it true that much of the time you already know what your child needs even before they ask?) If one of my children, even as adults, needs something of me, they will ask. And when they ask, they will not approach me with complicated language like a letter from an attorney or fancy words like a poet trying to inspire an audience. They can communicate that way in other aspects of life whenever it is appropriate. But when they come to Dad, none of that matters. Simple language does the trick.
When I reflect on the model that Jesus taught, I discover a list of crucial things I need every day. I need to maintain a healthy perspective on God’s holiness (“hallowed be Your name”), and to prioritize my life around God’s will rather than my own (“Your will be done”). I need to be reminded that my provision for life always comes from God (“give us our daily bread”), and that forgiveness and grace are nonnegotiable elements of living faithfully (“forgive us…as we forgive”). I need to face each day with the reminder that I am in a spiritual battle, and that the armor of God is my key to victory (“deliver us from evil”). And ultimately, I need to be reminded that the purpose of my life is for the glory of God (“Yours is the kingdom the power, and the glory”).
Jesus taught us a simple prayer that is rich in meaning. It is not meant to be impressive, but effective. It is a model that guides us into simple yet intimate fellowship with a Heavenly Father who loves us beyond measure and knows us completely. Do we have to recite it word for word? Probably not. I don’t think God gets hung up on whether or not we choose the right word or phrase. Still, the prayer’s simplicity gives us confidence to pray when we can’t think of what to say. God doesn’t need to be impressed; He just wants us to be children who come to Him in simplicity.
See you along the Winding Path.
- Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson ↩︎
The Winding Path 