"pray as the Lord commanded in His Gospel: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for thine is the power and the glory unto ages of ages. Pray this way three times each day." Didache chapter 8:3-11
It may not be quite obvious but the early Christians believed that praying the Lord's prayer was a command from the Lord Himself. And in the Didache which is essentially the first Christian book of discipline, they were told to pray it three times during the day.
We need to make it clear that "praying" the Lord's prayer is NOT THE SAME as "reciting" the Lord's prayer. Praying the Lord's prayer is like praying the prayers of the psalmists in the book of the Psalms. Having said that, we must understand why it was important for them to pray such prayer three times in the day. The exact time of day was not specified but it most probably be when one wakes up, the middle of the day and before going to bed at night.
Based on the writings of the Apostolic church "fathers", this is what the Lord's prayer meant:
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN
"Our" not "My", we pray as a body of believers and for the body of believers. Most of the blessings in the New Testament are blessings we obtain ONLY in the context of the Church and not just individually. When we pray only for ourselves, we fail to get the blessings promised to the body of believers especially those promises in the epistles to the different churches.
The early Christians know that we should not call God our Father if we do not behave as true children of the Kingdom or true children of the light. The rest of the prayer is meaningless for those who live in sin OR behave as the world.
HOLY BE YOUR NAME
May your name be made holy in the church, in my life, and in the rest of the world. May we fear and love Your holy Name. May we NEVER carry your holy name in vain (The 3rd of the 10 commandments). If we carry the name, Christian, we should speak, behave and think Christlike., or "the name of God is blasphemed (insulted) among the heathen because of you (Romans 2:24)" bringing shame to the name of Christ.
YOUR KINGDOM COME
Let your kingdom in which Jesus rules come and be real in the church, especially in my life. May your kingship rule in my life so that sin cannot rule my life. Also "come Lord Jesus" (Maranatha, an appeal for the second coming of our Lord be hastened). Theme of Christ's early ministry was to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Luke 4:43)
YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN
May the laws of the kingdom of heaven be followed in my life, then in my church so that neither I nor my brothers do not follow the practices of the kingdom of the world. May I faithfully obey your will and your will ALONE and not the will of others or the world nor even my own will.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR NECESSARY BREAD
Give us ONLY what is necessary for today (or the next 24 hours). Lord's Prayer came from chapter 6 of the Matthew 5-7 Sermon on the Mount. This same chapter ended with the lesson to NOT be concerned about tomorrow, but seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness first so that God will take care of any future thing. The early Christians did not pray for material prosperity at all (Like the rich Roman Cyprian before he became a Christian, they sold everything they had and gave to the poor as the Lord commanded the rich young ruler). They confined their personal requests ONLY to those that would help expand the kingdom of God. When they prayed for themselves, it was in relation to the work of the kingdom or maintaining their salvation. They gave us totally SELFLESS examples.
Give "us" bread also means feeding on the flesh of Christ and drinking of the blood of Christ in the Eucharist, based on John 6:53-58. Tertullian declared that the Eucharist was the believer's "food for immortality", so we partake of Christ (first through the Eucharist, then through meditation on his Word and, by faith, uniting with his flesh and blood, his death and resurrection, his death to self and rise to resurrection power) DAILY.
AND FORGIVE US OUR SINS AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US
Christ emphasized the meaning of this in Matthew 6:14-15
"14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
That is why the early Christians LITERALLY turned the other cheek and loved their enemies. The moment you retaliate or strike back by word or by action, you have failed to forgive even if you repent later. No forgiveness, no eternal life. They were scared of this principle. Christ will forgive us ONLY according to the way we forgive others.
SAVE US FROM THE TIME OF TRIAL AND DELIVER US FROM EVIL OR FROM THE EVIL ONE
After asking for forgiveness for our past sins, we ask that God prevent us from committing future sins by inhibiting or reining in the devil's attempts to deceive and tempt us to sin like he deceived Eve in the garden. In humility, we accept that we are fallible and imperfect and that we desperately need God's help DAILY to remain pure in heart for we fail on our own efforts.
We also DAILY need protection from any harm or evil but it should be for the sole purpose of living for the Kingdom of God.
FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY
This doxology is not in the oldest manuscripts and was probably added later because of the Didache which has it. But it is a great conclusion to the Lord's prayer. First we acknowledge that it is God's kingdom that we pray for. Second, we acknowledge that God has all the power in his hands to answer our prayers and finally, the requests we petition is for his name's sake and his glory.
Pray this way three times each day." Didache chapter 8:11. Now we know why. If it worked for the martyrs making their lives Christlike and exemplary, it should work for us. Perhaps, the reason that we do not see this kind of Christianity today is because we have failed to pray (NOT recite) the Lord's prayer as the Lord himself commanded.
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