The Lord's Prayer!

For Wednesday, May 14, 2025:

Luke 11:1 NLT, Disciples: “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John (the Baptist) taught his disciples.”

Jesus: “When you pray, this is what you should say.” He then spoke his version of what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”

Our Father is in heaven by definition. The rest of us have to achieve heaven. We get there through grace, forgiveness and faith. God is also holy or hallowed by definition. We pray that his Kingdom will come, and that his desires will be executed here on earth, as they are now in heaven.

We ask prayerfully for our daily sustenance, more than just food. We pray for Jesus’ eternal intervention in our forgiveness, using our forgiveness of others as an example. (We’d better get that part right!) And since we are forgiven, please don’t tempt us any further! Deliver us out of this evil planet. Father God, yours is the only Kingdom that matters. Knowing you have all power, we glorify your holy name! In the name of your Son Jesus, the Messiah, we pray. Amen.

Over the years, the spelling and language of The Lord’s Prayer have been updated, but the meaning hasn’t changed. The version we all know was published in the Book of Common Prayer (Anglican or Episcopal) in the late 1700’s. More modern versions have been penned, but no one seems keen on changing what we already have memorized!

I don’t believe Jesus was giving us an all-inclusive prayer that we should recite verbatim. I believe he was giving us bullet points, categories to be intentionally included as our prayers rise upward.

We should pray these things because Jesus did!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship