The Lord's Prayer

Many of us know this, have it memorized, but I wonder how many have done more than scratch the surface? To seek to plunder the depths of detail and understanding. Today, we attempt to remedy that. Because it’s how most of us over 25 have heard it, for this lesson we’ll be using the King’s English 😂. Playing, but using Geneva.

From Matthew 6, starting on 9:

⁃ Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

First part kinda self explanatory: addressing God - the Heavenly Father, the Devine, obviously not a deceased relative.

Hallowed - defined as “made holy, consecrated,” which gets us to ‘holy’, some definitions say “dedicated or consecrated to God”, others define holy as “set apart from.” Think of it like the phrase “hallowed ground.” The ground itself is in most every way very much like the ground around it, however, THIS particular ground has been separated or designated for a specific purpose. ‘Consecrated’ is defined almost identical to ‘holy’. Pin that for a second because there’s more.

“Thy name”, His (God’s) name. This is a lesson in itself, but trimming for time. Hebrew names had meaning. People weren’t named “Morris” simply because they liked how it sounded or wanted to remember a relative or celebrity. The WORD used for the name had definition. Such as

Adam - man or earth

Noah - rest or comfort

Moses - drawn out of the water

Issac - he will laugh

Make sense? Also remember that it referred little to the “name” in and of itself - as in the actual word used, but more in what or who the name or word represented and/or described. When it says “hallowed by thy name”, it’s meaning is more like “sacred is whom I’m addressing.” Moving on, as mentioned, this is a lesson in itself.

⁃ Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done even in earth as ‘it is’ in Heaven.

There is so much scripture on the “kingdom.” Old and New Testament. The short description is a plea for God to “bring about the things of God and heaven here to earth” - righteousness, honor, justice, peace, etc., but also the “kingdom” is described as a place “without pain, sorrow, suffering, sadness, or sin.” It’s a plea to bring these things about or to fruition in the present. For God Himself to rule here as He rules Heaven.

⁃ Give us this day our daily bread.

Multiple things in these few words. So for “this day,” kinda two levels. One, tomorrow isn’t promised. Yes, tomorrow exists, but there’s no guarantee that each and every one of us will see it. Two, scripture regularly tells us to focus on today, as mentioned, not only is tomorrow not promised, but as stated down in 27, paraphrasing, worrying about tomorrow won’t add a single day of existence, but also in 34” Care not for the morrow, for the morrow shall care for itself; the day hath enough with his own grief.” Meaning tomorrow will worry about itself, today has enough troubles.

“Daily bread.” A reinforcement of the previous. Remember in Exodus they were given manna - daily. Storing up for tomorrow brought rot. All this being said, it does NOT mean to have ZERO thought or concern for the future. There are supporting scriptures about such - this is a reminder to (a) seek out God, the Word, the Bread of Life - daily: not simply on Sabbath, not as a genie when you’ve strayed - daily. Also (b), if your focus is solely on tomorrow (the future), you’re not living in the present. This applies not only to simply living, but also to spiritual things. If you’re in sin, repent today. Harboring hatred, forgive today - tomorrow isn’t promised. Another lesson in a lesson, but moving on.

⁃ and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.

Some translations have it as “trespasses”, but think of it as anything owed, a line crossed, anything that puts you (or others) in the red (negative). Ties directly to the daily bread. Sinning against God or others - stop and ask forgiveness. Notice I didn’t say “ask forgiveness then stop when you feel like it,” or “get around to it when you will” - daily. Someone sinning against you? Forgive them. You don’t have to keep allowing it, but you do have to forgive. There is a passage in Matthew 18:21,22 - about forgiving someone 7 times 70. Also the “turn the other cheek” in Matt 5:39 - but you need to understand these are about not allowing yourself to fall into sin yourself.

Again, a lesson in and of itself, but the condensed version is to hold yourself in a position of righteousness. If whatever the situation is; be it chapter 18 or a slap from chapter 5 - if you cannot give it freely, not begrudgingly, without offense or fault - then remove yourself from the situation if possible. The scripture never says to simply let people walk all over you and take advantage endlessly. Those who say otherwise are taking those lines out of context. The true implication is for us to remove the aspect of offense. Someone can’t steal from you what you freely give. Someone can’t take advantage of your kindness if you don’t take offense. There’s definitely more but moving on for time.

⁃ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

I used to wonder, why is it worded like that? Why would we ask God to NOT lead us to temptation, as though He WOULD lead us to temptation? Remember your Shakespeare, certain words simply didn’t exist several hundred or a couple thousand years ago, like most if not all of our contractions and modern slang. Therefore sentence structure has also changed. “Lead me not into” has an opposite or oppositional implication. So “lead me not into” is more “lead me away from.”

Temptation definition: the desire to do something; especially something wrong or unwise.

“But deliver us from evil.” Deliver:

1, bring or hand over

2, provide

3, launch or aim

4, assist in the birth of

5, save, rescue, or set someone free from

Did you notice those definitions are at direct odds with the ideology of “just keep letting someone abuse you”? Which brings us to

Evil definition:

Morally wrong and/or bad; immoral; wicked. Evil deeds an evil life. Synonyms: nefarious, vile, base, corrupt, vicious, depraved, iniquitous, sinful.

Autonyms - righteous.

So obviously “righteous” is the exact opposite, mirror image. So when it says “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” it is a plea to steer us away from whatever may be bad, AND the desire to do so, and turn us toward righteousness.

⁃ For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.

There is some discrepancy as to whether this was added or original, and it’s not in every translation. If it isn’t original and was added, I can fully understand the “purist” skipping over, just for accuracy if nothing else. However, other than adding it in, it really doesn’t add any context or meaning that isn’t already there. It neither adds or removes any contextual meaning from the other verses. On a personal level, I can’t find any actual fault with it, so use your judgment. If you believe God wants you to skip it, then skip it.

Anywho, there we have it. Hopefully this will provide a better, more in-depth understanding without jumping into different languages. Notice that here, just like a majority of the Word, there are multiple threads that can be pulled - or rabbit holes as we like to say. So much of our society wants a simple: yes or no; right or wrong answer to questions that have far more meaning and depth than a simple answer provides explanation for. Oftentimes, simple answers create more questions, and/or confusion, than simple answers allow for.

As always,enjoy 😉