Thread: Pray like a Reformer Part 2, the Lord�s Prayer
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Pray like a Reformer Part 2, the Lord�s Prayer
Posted : 27 Oct, 2010 07:52 PM
When the Disciples beseeched Him, �Lord, teach us to pray� (Luke 11: 1), Jesus taught them to pray what we now call the Lord�s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; also Luke 11:2-4). When we desire to learn to pray, we can do no better than to return to Christ�s model as set forth in Holy Scripture.
Concerning the Lord�s Prayer, Luther said, �It is the very best prayer�It is surely evident that a real master composed and taught it�. He not only made use of this prayer but he also taught its use in A Simple Way to Pray.
Before we turn to Luther�s use of the Lord�s Prayer, allow me to review the structure of the Lord�s Prayer. It consists of three parts: a preface, six petitions and a conclusion. The preface is an address, it tells us to whom we are speaking. A petition is a request, appeal or entreaty, it tells for what we are asking. The conclusion is the end of the prayer, it finishes our prayer and enforces our petitions.
Preface: Our Father in heaven,
1st Petition: hallowed be your name.
2nd Petition: Your kingdom come,
3rd Petition: your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
4th Petition: Give us this day our daily bread,
5th Petition: and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
6th Petition: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil [1]
Conclusion: For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen[2]
Now then, here is a summary of Luther�s use of the Lord�s Prayer.
First, pray the Lord�s Prayer. Then choose a section and repeat it. As an example, let us take the first petition �Hallowed be your name�. Think about that petition, consider what it means and pray for that, both for yourself and for others.
�Lord, you have made your Name holy; I pray that you would keep it holy in me and in the world� etc.�
Next, consider how God grants that request, as well as what things may hinder it, both in your self and others. Pray for those things.
�Lord, may your name be kept holy by the pure preaching of your word. Grant that my thoughts and actions would glorify your Name��
�May your people honor your Name��
�May your word go forth over all the earth and your Name be exalted above all else��
�May you convert or restrain your enemies, that they will either hallow your Name or be silent��
Now you can move on to another section and repeat the same process: (1) consider what it means and pray for that, both for yourself and for others, (2) consider how God grants that request, as well as what things may hinder it, both in yourself and others and pray for those things. You can proceed through the entire prayer this way, or, if you desire, you can remain in one section until you are content. The point is not rigid formality or empty words, but rather learning to pray as Christ taught, with sincerity and according to God�s revealed will. Luther�s words are extremely helpful here,
You should also know that I do not want you to recite all these words in your prayer. That would make it nothing but idle chatter and prattle... Rather do I want your heart to be stirred and guided concerning the thoughts, which ought to be comprehended in the Lord's Prayer. These thoughts may be expressed, if your heart is rightly warmed and inclined toward prayer, in many different ways and with more words or fewer. I do not bind myself to such words or syllables, but say my prayers in one fashion today, in another tomorrow, depending upon my mood and feeling. I stay however, as nearly as I can, with the same general thoughts and ideas. It may happen occasionally that I may get lost among so many ideas in one petition that I forego the other six. If such an abundance of good thoughts comes to us we ought to disregard the other petitions, make room for such thoughts�The Holy Spirit himself preaches here, and one word of his sermon is far better than a thousand of our prayers. Many times I have learned more from one prayer than I might have learned from much reading and speculation.
Finally, remember, when we pray the Lord's Prayer, we are praying the prayer that Christians have prayed for two millennia, all the way back to the Disciples and even the Lord Himself. May God grant you a fruitful time in prayer today.
-Brainiac
[1] Note: Luther divides the Lord�s Prayer into 7 petitions, seeing the conjunction �but� in v. 13 as introducing a new petition. I, however, following the Westminster Confession of Faith, have divided it into only six petitions. So, for Luther the 6th petition is �Lead us not into temptation� and the 7th petition is �but deliver us from evil�, whereas my division renders the 6th and final petition as �lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.� The difference is not essential and you can adopt whichever convention you prefer.
[2] Note: If you are using a version other than the King James, the conclusion of Mt. 6:13 will be �Amen� rather than �For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen�. Luther did not include the longer conclusion in his Catechism, but the Westminster Catechism does; therefore, I have chosen to include it. Here again, I leave it to the reader to decide which convention to adopt.
Hey MrRow�Thanxs for sharing the second part. Enjoyed reading this. Ima not sure who Brainiac is ( signed at bottom ) but all in all it�s a very nice read and explains a application and perspective into & out of the Lords Prayer�IMO this one statement Embodies the Totality�Jesus*� � Concerning the Lord�s Prayer, Luther said, �It is the very best prayer�It is surely evident that a real master composed and taught it�. He not only made use of this prayer but he also taught its use in A Simple Way to Pray.� �I will only add here�Not only is it A Simple Way to Pray�it is A Simple Way to Live Life in the Fullest�:yay:...Thanxs again and God�s Blessins to you and yours�xo
Row,you have made the classic mistake of calling the disciples prayer the Lords prayer.
Mat 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye:
Notice Yeshua says to His disciples "When you pray"
Luk 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
The disciples ask Yeshua to teach them (The disciples)to pray.
Here is the REAL LORDS PRAYER:Joh 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
John 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
John 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
