The Lord's Prayer ExplainedSample

The Lord’s Prayer Reflects Our Spiritual Reality

Physical needs are not the only things we can ask God for in prayer. Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father about our spiritual needs. The Lord’s Prayer acknowledges our fallen nature. God knows that we are not able to reach His standards of holiness on our own. We are sinners who sin. That is why Christ instructed His disciples to ask for forgiveness of sins daily.

The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to admit that we are sinners who violate the will of God. At the same time, it makes provision for us. It says that as we repent, God will forgive us. The Lord’s Prayer goes further by commanding us to forgive others. As we ask God for forgiveness, we also have to forgive those who sinned against us. As our gracious heavenly Father forgives our debts, we forgive our debtors. Forgiveness is not an option. Christ was so serious about this truth that He told His disciples that if they did not forgive others, God would not forgive them. This is a principle Christians must follow.

The Lord’s Prayer acknowledges our spiritual dependence on God. We cannot walk without Him through this sin-filled world. We have an evil spiritual enemy. Therefore, we need to ask God to keep us from falling into temptation. We also plead that He protect us from the evil one.

When we study the Lord’s Prayer and pay attention to its individual elements, we see the truths concentrated in this short passage of Scripture. Studying the Lord’s Prayer in detail helps us to use it the way Jesus intended. It is not meant to be repeated verbatim; rather, it serves as a model for how to pray daily. We must start our prayers by praising God. We should remember to look to Him in everything. We can trust Him with our needs and desires. We also need to rely on Him in our spiritual walk. The Lord’s Prayer highlights our desperate dependence on God in every area of our life. This passage of Scripture is a treasure that Christ has given us. We can continue to explore it as we seek the face of our heavenly Father daily through prayer.

This devotional was inspired by an episode of the Straight Truth Podcast. You can listen to the episode at this link: https://straighttruth.net/the-lords-prayer-explained/