Editorial November 13, 1948 Issue

THOUGHTS ON THE LORD'S PRAYER

Robert Ellis Key

When Christ Jesus offered his great prayer known to us as the Lord's Prayer, it was in response to a request for instruction from one of his disciples. He did not ask the Master to give them a prayer that they might repeat it in a perfunctory way, for he said (Luke 11:1), "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." These words indicate a desire for specific instruction on prayer, a righteous desire to which the Master at once responded.

The Sermon on the Mount, in which the Lord's Prayer occurs, is a sermon or discourse of instruction, for we are told (Matt. 5:2), "He opened his mouth, and taught them." We may therefore regard the Lord's Prayer as instructive as well as devotional. It is a model, or pattern, for prayer; and this is borne out by the fact that Jesus did not insist on the use of his exact words, for he said to them (Matt. 6:9), "After this manner therefore pray ye."

Regarded as a model, or pattern, the Lord's Prayer assumes an added significance. It lifts the idea of prayer out of haphazard petition and points in an orderly way to essential truths which it is desirable to entertain and dwell upon. It is noticeable that the prayer begins with a reference to God, His realm, nature, and will. It goes on to establish man's relationship with God and emphasizes God's cancellation of sin in proportion as sin is forsaken. It refers to God's spiritual direction, provision, and protection and finally declares the kingdom, the power, and the glory to be God's. These basic truths indicate, the essential elements, or nucleus, of the healing prayer.

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