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

Thine is the Kingdom!

For Tuesday, January 31, 2023:

Matthew 6:13b NIV: “For thine (yours) is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

This ending for The Lord’s Prayer wasn’t included in many of the original texts. Some modern translations include it; others do not. The words were perhaps added by scribes, those who copied Bibles by hand. If you wanted to use Jesus’ prayer-example as a stand-alone prayer, there was no suitable ending. The prayer begins by praising the Lord, so it’s appropriate that we should also conclude in that manner.

There is evidence that these ending words are ancient and were used by Jewish Christians. Therefore it seems appropriate to include them as we recite The Lord’s Prayer. Confidence in praising the Lord reinforces the eternal hope we have through his Son Jesus!

As children attend Sunday School, one of the first things they memorize is The Lord’s Prayer, probably the traditional version we all know and love. Current translators have modernized the language, but we continue to use the older version we have already memorized. It’s difficult to retrain humans!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Thine is the Kingdom!

August 30, 2021 Monday Message:

Matthew 6:13b KJ21: “For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory for ever. Amen.”

Did you know that this conclusion to “The Lord’s Prayer” was not in the earliest manuscripts? That’s strong evidence that these words were added later, not spoken by Jesus. Does that matter? In this case, I don’t think so. We do find the words in 2^nd Century writings, so there’s some history to this being included in early Christian teachings.

Jesus was teaching his followers to how to pray, things to include, and that includes praise and worship. Think of this line as a kind of Doxology. If ‘Thine is the Kingdom,’ then God is the King of everything. He holds all the power, both as creator and rescuer of mankind. His glory shines from heaven onto all creation. Everything we count on has God’s fingerprint all over it!

‘Amen’ means ‘so be it,’ or ‘may it be so.’ Concluding a prayer with ‘Amen’ means that we agree with the content. In this case, we’re saying that we totally agree with our Savior, and with the words He spoke. We’re claiming that we have been given hope!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Our Father!

August 23, 2021 Monday Message:

Matthew 6:9 KJ21: “In this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.”

The disciples had been asking Jesus about prayer, about HOW to pray. Before Jesus, people would take their concerns to a Priest, and he would pray to God on their behalf. So most of Jesus’ followers had never prayed themselves – and they they needed to learn. We ALL need to learn!

Jesus began his dissertation with words like, “Pray then, in this way,” “Therefore, you should pray like this,” and, “This, then, is how you should pray.” Jesus never said you needed to pray the exact words that follow, which we now know as The Lord’s Prayer; but there’s nothing wrong with praying them either. Those words give us comfort and hope. Jesus is telling us to include thoughts like these in our prayers.

Pagan gods were thought to be mean, angry and ruthless. Jesus is showing his followers the true God, a God of lovingkindness, forgiveness and second chances. Think of him as your Father, a really GOOD Father! Holy is his name, consecrated, sacred and set apart with reverence and respect.

The words we all know and love were penned by Thomas Cranmer, probably the greatest English-language wordsmith next to Shakespeare. He was Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Henry the VIII and compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer. He wrote using ‘majestic’ language, which is why we don’t say, “You guys are married now.” We say, “I now pronounce you husband and wife!”

Majestic language gives our worship reverence and authority!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406