The Lords Prayer

The Lords Prayer.

Life is a journey bound by time to a final eternal destination. For Christians, it is a sojourn to be reconciled and reunited and to ensure others are also redeem to God Almighty, our Creator.

The journey is however as important as the destination, because if we fail to accomplish the journey as we ought, in accordance to the roadmap of the One who orchestrated it all in Christ Jesus, we may after all is said and done, miss out on our final destination.

Now, one of the greatest tools God Almighty has equipt us with to ensure that we remain in tune with Him and His purpose for our individual lives, that we may finish well, is Prayer.

Prayer is supposed to be a two way communication between mankind and God Almighty, however with most people it is perpetually one way. If we will bring our petitions to Him we must also learn to listen to Him even more. The cycle must be complete.

In Matthew 6: 9 to 15, the command Jesus gave his disciples on how to pray is thus:

9. “This, then, is how you should pray: 
‘Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
10. your kingdom come, 
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 
11. Give us today our daily bread. 
12. And forgive us our debts, 
as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
13. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. 
14. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, 
your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 
15. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

The command Jesus Christ gave his disciples on how to pray is a blueprint of the manner in which Christians ought to commune with God beyond the fact that He is our creator, to the truth that He desires the Father-Son relationship with us that He has with Jesus Christ His son.

The prayer the Lord thought his followers, of which we are also, deals with our role and also Gods part in a covenant relationship he has called all mankind into, and it can be broken down thus:

1. It starts with the need for us to personally believe and therefore 
acknowledge that the God of heaven is "Our Father."
This is the most important characterization we need to see God as, in order for us to understand, believe and relate with Him as we ought, and therefore have all the perks of being His adopted children accrue to us as a result.

The need for His name to be "hallowed," that it should be highly respected, revered and praised is why we were created in the first place, to worship Him, for who He is and His wonderful deeds on our behalf.

2. It continues with the desire that the Great Commission, the spreading of the influence of His heavenly kingdom on earth be made manifest in the hearts and minds of mankind and the rest of His creation, so that His good, pleasing and perfect will will be accomplished as a result, on earth, just as it is being done in heaven.

God chose that His supreme will, that men not perish but be saved from the sway of this fallen world, and reconciled to Him through Christ, would be accomplished on earth as it exists in heaven by establishing His kingdom on earth in our hearts.

We are as in 2 Corinthians 5: 20, Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us that the rest of mankind be reconciled to Him just as He reconciled us to Christ.

It is indeed a privilege that God chose to allow us participate in the expansion of His Kingdom on earth and therefore in heaven, and it is not to be taken lightly.

3. Our call on God to "Give us today our daily bread," to meet our need for sustainance on a daily basis is a request for His mercy and grace towards us which are new every morning, that we may fulfill the great commission.

The call on God to "Give us today our daily bread," is all encompassing, as it's actually a request that God meet all our daily requirements for not only our day to day needs in life but also grace for us to live godly lives as in 2 Peter 1: 3.