Should We Pray The Lord's Prayer?

thoughts by Charles P. Schmitt, founding pastor

I was recently loaned a book on prayer written by a contemporary, well-known minister. As I thumbed through the book I was positively impressed with many of the author’s thoughts on answered prayer. One thought, however, was jarring to me—the author’s insistence that we should not use the Lord’s Prayer as a prayer model. He writes, “I believe this prayer could not possibly work for us today, and that God the Father could not possibly honor this prayer….” His first reason was “that Jesus just ended the prayer with Amen rather than with the phrase ‘in the Name of Jesus.’ And for that reason ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ won’t work.”

The author’s second objection to the Lord’s Prayer was the phrase, “Your kingdom come.” Because the New Testament declares that we presently are the kingdom of God, we cannot be praying “Your kingdom come,”as if it were yet future. The author’s third objection to the Lord’s Prayer was Jesus’ statement: “deliver us from the evil one,” because in Christ we “have been delivered from the evil one.” Consequently, the author’s conclusion was that the Lord’s Prayer “is not a prayer for us today. Jesus gave the disciples this prayer to finish out the Old Covenant.”

My Response

First of all, Jesus introduced the Lord’s Prayer with these words: “This, then, is how you should pray…” (Matthew 6:9). So, it appears as if this prayer was intended by Jesus to be a template—a pattern, a model—for our praying. (But to me that doesn’t mean that additional understandings could not be added, such as “in the Name of Jesus!”)

Secondly, I personally make a very poor “dispensationalist” (believing God did something one way in one dispensation, and another entirely different way in another dispensation). I rather see a continuity in all that God has done in the past and all that He is presently doing now. I want to be more like “the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (Matthew 13:52). So I personally see value in the Lord’s Prayer for us today as I do in David’s penitential prayer in Psalm 51, and as I do in Isaiah’s prayer for revival recorded in Isaiah 64:1-4! But all in Jesus’ Name. Also, I bless our congregation quite frequently in the words of the Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6:22-27—“The Lord bless you and keep you….” And I invariably add the words: “And this I ask in Jesus’ wonderful Name. Amen.”

Paul in writing to Timothy is quite emphatic that “all Scripture—including the Old Testament (with David’s prayer and Isaiah’s prayer) and the Gospels (with the Lord’s Prayer)—is God-breathed (inspired) and is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly (perfectly) equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).

How then can we understand, “thy kingdom come” if God’s kingdom has already come? Well—both thoughts are true! While it is true that we presently are the kingdom of God on the earth, it is also true that we yet await a manifestation of that kingdom on the earth as it is presently being manifest in heaven. When I see a world filled with war and hate, I must conclude that “the best is yet to come.” So, though I believe the Church presently is the kingdom of God upon the earth, I also look forward to that prophesied day when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ! And so, in that light, I can pray “Thy kingdom come.”

And what about “deliver us from the evil one”? While it is true that “He has rescued [delivered] us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves…” (Colossians 1:13), it is also true that God must daily work in us that deliverance from the evil one. Thus, Paul prayed for the Thessalonians: “The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3). That’s what I am believing for when I pray: “Deliver us from the evil one!” Amen!

So, should we pray the Lord’s Prayer? Jesus said we should! Should we pray in His Name? Jesus said we should (see His wonderful statements in John 14:13-14)! Should we pray to be delivered from evil? Of course! Should we daily pray for His kingdom—of which we are presently a part—to be yet visibly expressed in all the earth, in every nation, in every human heart? Yes! Yes! Yes! And Amen!

 

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