Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored
While on earth Jesus came in the name of the Father and thus brought great honor to him through the works he performed in that Name. (John 5:43) Toward the end of Jesus' ministry he requested that the Father "glorify" his name. A voice called down from Heaven saying, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." (John 12:28) In what way would he "glorify it again"? One way is that even after his death Jesus promised that he would continue to make the Father's Name known. (John 17:26) This was accomplished through the disciples that believed upon him.
When we do works in the name of Jesus and are recipients of his grace, we in turn bring glory and honor to our Father; just as when we honor the name of the Son we also honor the Name of the Father. (John 5:23) Jesus affirms, "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13) The apostle Paul thus writes, "And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thess 1:11,12)
May your kingdom come,
When John the Baptist began his ministry his message was of the impending coming of the Kingdom of God. In the wilderness he cried out, "Repent! The Kingdom Is Near!" (Matthew 3:2) John heralded the coming of Jesus who was the embodiment of God's Kingdom as its Messianic king. The chief message of Jesus' ministry was the "good news of the Kingdom" and those who heard that gospel message and believed in it received its benefits, including the deliverance from disease, sickness, and demons. (Matthew 9:35; Luke 8:11) Jesus made clear that his powerful works provided a witness that the Kingdom of God had arrived. To unbelievers he said, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you." (Matthew 12:28) Similarly when his disciples healed the sick they were to make clear that, "The Kingdom of God has come upon you!" (Luke 10:11)
In his passing Jesus transferred the "keys of the Kingdom" to his apostles. (Matthew 16:19) He granted to them the same kingdom that his Father had given him. (Luke 22:29) These apostles would bring many into that Kingdom. To such ones Paul wrote affirmatively, "[God] transferred us to the Kingdom of the Son he loves" (Col 1:13)
Just as Jesus represented the Kingdom of Heaven, we today as "ambassadors of Christ" do the same (2 Cor 5:20) Although the Kingdom is yet coming, it is already come in the lives of those who believe in Jesus Christ and enter right now into that Kingdom through faith. Wherever Jesus was on Earth the Kingdom was made manifest in the people's very midst. (Luke 17:21) If we receive Jesus into our hearts the Kingdom comes into our midst. This is particularly when two or three are gathered in his name as a congregation. (Matthew 18:20) When we exercise Jesus' power over the dominion of Satan's world and administer the blessings of the Kingdom, its domain and sphere of influence reaches out to "come upon" those around us.
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
As we have already considered, Jesus worked the will of his Father by administering the blessings of the Kingdom to God's covenant people. He said, "I do nothing of myself" (John 8:28) Though from Heaven, Jesus was obedient unto death so that he could fully submit to the will of God on earth. (Matthew 26:39) For it was for this very purpose that Jesus came into the world (John 12:27) And as he died he said, "It is finished" (John 19:30) It is through this that God's will was done on earth.
In his death Jesus brought atonement between man and God and today we have been given the responsibility of declaring this same message of reconciliation. (2 Cor 5:18) We speak not of what will be but what has already come to pass. Paul writes, "So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come!" (2 Cor 5:17) When we enter into this relationship as a new creation, a son or daughter of God made in his image, we allow God's will to be worked through us. Paul writes, "More than anything else . . . we want to please him, whether in our home here or there." (2 Corinthians 5:9) We seek to make manifest God’s will on Earth just as it is done in heaven.
The writer of Hebrews says, "For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘they will never enter my rest!’” And yet God’s works were accomplished from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4:3,4) Jesus, as the sacrificial Lamb of God, was "slain before the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8) The Sovereign God exists outside of time and from his perspective all these things have already been accomplished. When we believe in what God has already brought through Jesus we enter into that place of rest where we cease from our own labors and enjoy what God has already brought to pass on Earth for us his covenant people. We become participants in the unfolding purpose of God and in our lives on earth his will is done just as we have been chosen in connection with Jesus even before the "foundation of the world" (Eph 1:4)
Give us today our daily bread,
Taken from a natural point of view it is appropriate to pray that our daily physical needs be met. However, again when we view things spiritually we understand that we have already received our daily bread once and for all. How so? In the gospel of John, Jesus likens himself to living bread. Speaking of himself, Jesus said, "For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven to give life to the world." (John 6:33)
This peaked the interest of those that were listening so they made a similar request as is in the Lord's Prayer saying "Sir give us this bread every day of our lives." (John 6:34, NLT)
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35)
If we physically received a piece of bread that filled us up so that we would never be hungry again would be continue to pray for more? No, because our daily physical need for food would have been met and we would be eternally satisfied. When we come to Jesus we are given such bread. We receive him but once and as long as we keep hold on him he cannot be taken away. We receive this bread as children of our Heavenly Father. (Luke 11:11) And as Jesus says, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." (Matthew 15:26) The only way we lose this bread is by rejecting Jesus. Jesus fulfills all of our needs and when we walk in his Kingdom we will not lack. (Matthew 6:32) It is appropriate then to show our appreciation by continuing to give thanks that Jesus has been given to us once and for all time. (Hebrews 9:26)
And forgive us our debts, as we ourselves forgive others
Speaking in the past tense, Paul encourages the Colossians to "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (Col 3:13) This work of redemption has already been accomplished when Jesus' conquered sin at Calvary. Speaking of Jesus, Paul writes, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace." (Ephesians 1:7)
Jesus has already provided forgiveness; but in order to continue to be recipients of it we need to continue to forgive others. At another time Jesus emphatically states this saying, “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:15)
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
Again we turn to Paul's letter to the Colossians to find the fulfillment of this request. He writes, "[God] delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Col 1:13) In his calling Paul was given the commission by the Lord Jesus “to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God," (Acts 26:17,18) When we enter into his Kingdom we enter a realm of unending light and are delivered from the darkness. Paul testifies to this as he writes, “You were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” He encourages us, “Walk as children of the light.” (Eph 5:8)
That we have been delivered from the "evil one" is shown in that we have authority over all of his power. Jesus gave us this when he says, "Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you." (Luke 10:19) That authority has never been rescinded and it may be exercised today.
Even the “last enemy” death has no hold over us. To Timothy, Paul writes, “[Jesus] has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel!” (2 Timothy 1:10) He who believes that believes in Jesus, “has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24)
All of what we have discussed is just some of the many ways that the Lord’s Prayer has already been answered in the lives of believers bringing us rich blessings. May our hearts be overjoyed by what has been accomplished on our behalf! May we join in thanksgiving with our brother Paul when he says, “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ!” (Eph 1:3)
AMEN
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