Our Father (The Lord’s Prayer)

Jun 19, 2016 By: Pastor Joseph LoSardo Series: Messiah in Matthew Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15
The Lord’s Prayer is the Christian’s daily companion and prayerbook. In it we have Jesus’ own priorities in prayer; through it we are assured that prayers circling these six petitions are prayers according to the will of God and so, surely are heard. It is a short prayer, but when chewed like a cud can fill several good minutes. It can be prayed word for word or thought by thought. After each day’s Scripture reading or church message the great terms of the Lord’s Prayer can be freshly defined by the themes of the day’s text; for example, the name, the kingdom and the will of God would be, respectively, the Lord, the doctrine, and the ethic of the biblical text. The bread for which we pray is the creaturely material in the text. The failures for which we pray forgiveness are the sins revealed in the text, and the temptations from which we pray deliverance are the dangers revealed in the text. We are able to contribute, even from afar, to the feeding of the billions. We are empowered to ask for and receive remission of sins for many and to pray even for common Christian forgiveness in everyday reconciliations. We are also able to pray for the rescue of Christiandom from its omnipresent dangers and its hereditary foe. These are major privileges. Our ancient church parents audaciously believed, we recall, that the world is held together by the petitioners of the Lord’s Prayer.