There are two mentions in the New Testament about Jesus giving us what to pray and in what manner we should pray.
Matthew 6:5-13
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the [b]hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you [c]openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
[d]For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Luke 11:1-4
1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
[d]But deliver us from the evil one.”
If we analyze Matthew 6:9 and Luke 11:2, the Holy Spirit is telling us that The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 9:1-13 and Luke 11: 2-4) is not just a model prayer, or not just how to pray but Jesus commanded his disciples to pray this prayer taught by the LORD.
Although Matthew 6:9 was translated “So then, this is how you should pray” or “Pray, then, in this way”, ASB, WNT, and NKJV has this translation: “ In this manner, therefore, pray”
Note that ‘In this manner here pertains to Matthew 6:5-8.
On the other hand, Luke 11:2 was translated to “When you pray, therefore, say” and had the same translation for all the leading Bible Translations.
But Luke 11:1 was translated the same in all translations which said “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
So what is the real issue here? The real issue is that Jesus’ disciples do not pray. Yet they want to pray. They said, “Lord, teach US TO pray,” and not “Lord, teach US HOW TO pray,
So Jesus said what is the right manner to pray. Do not just pray. He pointed out it clearly on Matthew 6:5,8:
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
This is the manner or how we are going to pray then. He said in Matthew 6:6-7:
6” But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.”
Obviously, the prayers they were reciting became vain repetitions because they honor GOD with their lips only, showing they glorified GOD to gain themselves righteousness by doing so.
Jesus Christ said in Matthew 15:8-9:
8 ‘These people [a]draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Many Christ’s believers are still doing the vain repetitions today. They collect many kinds of beautiful prayers from Old Scriptures but do not know the meaning of it in their lives.
Jesus wants to end those by giving us what to pray each day which directly places us in the Grace and Mercy of GOD.
Through this prayer (v.2), Jesus declared to us that GOD is our Father, and of course, as we are GOD’s children, we are heirs to His Kingdom. At the very moment we say this prayer, we declare that His Kingdom comes upon us.
Unlike the Psalms 100, 146 to 150 which are beautiful exaltations of GOD, these praises which the Jews constantly recite, they proclaim GOD who is in the Holy of Holies situated in Jerusalem.
By just uttering the Lord's Prayer, we are talking directly to GOD without the Veil that separated GOD from us, because Jesus Christ tore down the veil which separates us from the presence of GOD (Matthew 27:51).
By this Prayer, we are declaring our submissions to GOD on His Divine Will, thus assuring us to every blessing in all aspects of our lives specially the spiritual ones.
We also declare in v.3 that we are ready and can claim to be fed daily by our Father, not only for physical food but the food for our spirits which is the Word of GOD. This assures us that our spirits will not die. Matthew 4:4 says; ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Also John 6:63 says; “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
Many nowadays are experiencing famine on the true food, the words of GOD (Amos 8:11). But by reciting this prayer, Jesus assured the food supply that we really need.
In V.4, we declare that we believe that we entered and believed in the blood of Jesus Christ that has been poured out for the forgiveness of sins. We belong to the Covenant that enabled us to forgive sins because we are GOD’s children. Only GOD can forgive sins in the Old Testament. But through reciting the Lord’s Prayer, not only we are forgiven but we can also forgive sins. GOD shared His power in us.
Also, this prayer takes us away from the temptations, whether the current temptations and the final test that is about to come.
Revelations 20 :7- 8 says;
7 “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.”
That is why Jesus actually commanded us to say this His Prayer, for us to escape the coming huge temptations of Satan.
Mark 13:22-23 says;
22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the [g]elect. 23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.
So let’s drop off the weapons that we have and take this most powerful weapon that Jesus had provided us. AMEN
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