Matthew 6:9-15

I am thankful for the people who, when I was a child, led me to pray. The Lord’s Prayer was one I learned in elementary school when we began each day by praying this prayer and pledging allegiance to our nation’s flag.

At the time and for a considerable part of my life, the prayer was routine and came from my mind, not my heart. It was really not until adulthood that I studied the prayer and came to understand it is a perfect model that teaches us how to pray.

The prayer, given for our benefit by the Lord, consists of several parts and deserves careful attention. Christ Jesus said we should not pray using “vain repetitions, as the heathen do.” We must not be like them because our heavenly Father knows “what things ye have need of before ye ask him,” said Jesus.

“After this manner,” He tells us. He did not say use these same words, and we do not find the apostles using this exact prayer. The Lord, who knows everything we need before we ask, gives us a pattern by which we should pray.

“Our Father” is the one to whom we pray, and there is so much that deals with our relationship in these two words. Humble yourself in obedience to the command, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” We must never pray to angels or saints. Pray only to our Creator who reconciled us to Himself through His precious Son.

To hallow the name of God is the same as saying His name is holy, and to recognize the attributes we know about God. He is holy, just, merciful, gracious and so much more. Our purpose is always to glorify God.

We anticipate the Second Coming of Christ Jesus when He will set up His kingdom. Sin, sadness and even Satan will not be present in that kingdom. We understand that in the present our happiness comes through submission to His will. Our desire is for all believers to be more and more obedient to the Lord.

“Give us this day our daily bread,” He said. We ask our Father every day that in His mercy He will supply our necessities. The Jews called sins “debts.” Jesus said we ought to ask forgiveness of our sins, and we must be mindful to be as forgiving of other people as our Father is to us.

Ask, Jesus said, that we would be led away from temptations that would take us out of God’s will for our lives. God rules over everything and everybody in this world. It is well within His power to answer our prayers and grant our requests. May He always be honored and glorified.

Remember, Christ Jesus said, to have a heart for forgiveness. If we will not forgive other people, we cannot expect our Father to forgive us.

The Sunday school lesson is written by Ed Wilcox, pastor of Centerville Baptist Church. He can be reached at [email protected].