† Reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer (Part 2) †
The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, reconciles us to God and thus makes it possible for us to come to God in prayer. Prayer is a marvelous privilege from the Lord. He not only commands us to pray, but He invites us to pray to Him. He wants our prayers. What a fantastic blessing prayer is! The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer above every other prayer because our Lord Jesus Christ personally gave this prayer to the church.
The Fourth Petition: Give us this day our daily bread.
We are asking God to lead us to recognize all the fantastic blessings He showers on us in this life, and so lead us to thank and praise Him for these blessings, which include all that we need or require in this life.
Our Father who art in heaven…Give us this day our daily bread…Thank You for all of those temporal blessings You daily pour out into my life, and which I can so easily forget. Amen.
The Fifth Petition: And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Here we ask our heavenly Father not to see our sins, or deny our prayer on account of them. We recognize and here confess that we are not worthy of any of the abundant gifts God gives us and that we surely do not deserve His blessing, but only His punishment, because we sin. Through Christ our Lord, who gave Himself for us, we are able to ask God to grant us His mercy, for the sin that daily we commit. Being forgiven so gracious-ly by God, we want to forgive and do good to people who sin against us.
Our Father who art in heaven…forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…Help me to be forgiving of others, even when this is difficult, always remembering how forgiving You have been of me. Amen.
The Sixth Petition: And lead us not into temptation.
Here we are asking that God would protect us from temptation and keep the devil from attacking us through the world and our own sinful flesh. We are asking that we not be led astray into false belief, or despair, or other shameful sins. We know we are attacked daily and tempted to live contrary to God’s will. We have the sure promise from God that Christ has overcome the world for us and will, in our final hour in this life, grant us final victory over them.
Our Father who art in heaven…And lead us not into temptation…Lord, help me to resist and overcome the temptations that assail me in this life. Amen.
The Seventh Petition: But deliver us from evil.
Deliver us from evil days, from every dark and trying maze; redeem us from eternal death, console us when we yield our breath. Give us at last a blessed end; receive our souls, O faithful friend.
We are praying here that the Lord would rescue us from every evil in this life, evils that have to do with our body, our soul, those things God has given us, our good name and so forth. We ask that when the time comes for us to be taken home to be with the Lord, God would extend His loving protection over us and take us from this valley of sorrow to be with Him forever in heaven.
Our Father who art in heaven…And deliver us from evil…Keep from me all those hurts and evils in life that would assail me, and ever give me the power always to resist the evil one. Amen.
The Conclusion: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
At the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, we express a confident hope in the truth that our Lord is the mighty One, whose kingdom and power and glory are for all eternity. With these words we are saying to the Lord, “You are a great and glorious God.”
With the word, “Amen” we are saying, “Yes, yes, it shall be so.” And thus, with the certainty that rests on the promise of God that He both invites and hears our prayer, we conclude the prayer He taught us. We say, “Amen” that is, “Yes, Lord, you have commanded me to pray to you and you promise to hear me.”
Amen, amen, may all these things we have prayed be so, for Jesus’ sake.
Dr. A.L. Barry’s “What About the Lord’s Prayer?”
Trinity Lutheran Church 
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