The Lord's Prayer ExplainedSample

The Lord’s Prayer Begins with God 

The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray with an attitude of faith in God’s power and goodness. It also teaches us how to properly prioritize our prayers. We should not start our prayers with ourselves. We should begin praying by worshiping God.

Jesus started the Lord’s Prayer by hallowing the name of His heavenly Father. By stating that God is our Father in heaven, Jesus showed us how we ought to relate to God. Calling God our Father in heaven reflects two truths: it communicates His nearness to us as a Father, as well as His transcendence as the one who is in heaven. Both the intimacy and the omnipotent splendor of God are expressed through the words “Our Father in heaven.” 

This beginning of the Lord’s Prayer also reflects the nature of God as holy because His name needs to be hallowed. In other words, we begin our prayers with the acknowledgment of God’s holy nature. We also remember that He is in heaven. Therefore, He holds the supreme place in the universe created by His very hands. We exalt Him as a worthy King over the entire world. 

Jesus continued by saying, “Let your Kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Not only are we to begin our prayers by acknowledging God’s holy dominion over the universe, our first request is that of submission. We are to ask for God’s Kingdom to be manifested in our lives and for His will to be accomplished in this world. In this, we also express our desire to do His will, our longing to see His glory displayed. From the beginning, our prayers are to be focused on God’s worth, not our self-worth. 

How many of our prayers begin with ourselves and our circumstances? Not so the Lord’s Prayer. We do well to adhere to Christ’s instructions to start our prayers with remembering who God is. Not only is this the proper thing to do, it will also affect our outlook on the circumstances that require our prayers. 

Jesus was not the only One who understood this truth. In the Psalms, we learn that King David asked for help in seeing the Lord’s greatness when his earthly circumstances intimidated him. David literally said to God, “When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.” God is the Rock of our salvation. We can start our prayers remembering how great He is.