Jesus Teaches Us the Perfect Prayer
Throughout the gospels, Jesus is constantly in prayer. His disciples eventually ask him to teach them how to pray and so Jesus teaches them what we call, “The Lord’s Prayer.”
After reading through the temptations of Jesus a few days ago, I saw some similarities between his temptations in the desert and the petitions in this prayer. This makes the Lord’s prayer all the more precious, because it comes from his very own experiences.
Your Kingdom Come
The prayer starts off with a praise towards the Father, proclaiming his holiness. “Our Father in heaven, holy is your name.”1 From the moment we begin saying this prayer, we worship God as holy, but also as our Father.
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”2 We are reminded of the temptation of power, when the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and told him he could have everything if he would just worship him.
Jesus responds, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”3 When we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we acknowledge the power of God and his kingdom. When we ask for his will to be done, we are also aligning our hearts in service to him. We desire to do his will.
Daily Bread
“Give us each day our daily bread.”4 This prayer of course connects back to the temptation of turning stones into bread. Jesus responds to the devil saying “Man shall not live by bread alone.” When we pray that God would give us daily bread, we ask not only that he supply our physical needs, but also our spiritual need for the living bread of his presence.
We then pray for forgiveness from God and with our neighbours when we say “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”5 This is a beautiful reminder of the reconciliation God offers us, but also the responsibility we have to reconcile with and forgive others who do wrong against us.
Deliver Us
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”6 Jesus’ third temptation was to throw himself down from the top of the temple. The devil quotes Scripture, saying that the angels would guard him. This is a temptation to be delivered from the tempter himself. Satan is offering a way of escape from his own temptations.
To this Jesus responds, “you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” He did not give in to false deliverance and was instead rewarded with true deliverance; the devil left him and he really did receive ministering help from God’s angels.7
Preparing Our Hearts
Just as I wrote a few days ago, prayer is the antidote to temptation8, and this prayer above all is the most perfect prayer, because it came from the mouth of Jesus himself and from his own direct experiences. We can pray with renewed confidence during this Lent season, because Jesus knows and understands.
Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2
Matthew 6:10, Luke 11:2
Luke 4:8
Matthew 6:11, Luke 11:3
Matthew 6:12, Luke 11:4
Matthew 6:13, Luke 11:4
Matthew 4:11
Matthew 26:41