Luke 11:2

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Father, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread, And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation.

And when ye pray, say ... According to Geldenhuys, this means that prayer should be used "as nearly as possible in the form in which he taught it";[5] but the more accurate exegesis is that "Christ did not design that we should be tied up to these very words, for then there would have been no variation"[6] from the account given in Matthew.

Father ... Harrison commented that:

(Here) Jesus uses a child's word for Father, which appears also in Romans 8:15. It is used by modern Hebrews within the family circle, and implies familiarity based on love.[7]

Hallowed be thy name ... The first concern in every prayer should be the honor and glory of God. The third commandment in the Decalogue forbade taking God's name in vain (Exodus 20:7); and the Christian also is instructed to hold the name of God in highest reverence and awe.

Thy kingdom come ... Later in this same chapter, Jesus said, "Then is the kingdom of God come upon you" (Luke 11:20); and from this it is mandatory to see a double meaning in "come." There was a sense in which the kingdom had already "come upon" the people of that day; and yet this petition has respect to something future. Anthony Lee Ash noted that:

There is a sense in which the kingdom is to come in any age, since not all have owned the sovereignty of God ... Even after the kingdom came at Pentecost (Acts 1:5-8; 2:1-4), the prayer remained a valid one for Christians. If it were not, Luke would not have preserved it in a gospel written for post-Pentecost disciples. And if it were a valid prayer for them, it remains so for Christians of any age.[8]

In connection with this, the Greek word translated "kingdom" in this prayer is rendered "kingly power" or "royal sovereignty" by practically all recognized expositors of recent times, and not by "kingdom" in a spatial sense.[9] For further thoughts on praying for the kingdom to come, see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 6:9-13.

Our daily bread ... This indicates that basic necessities alone are proper objects of petition from the Father. This prayer shows that the Christian should be content with a simple life-style.

Forgive us our sins ... presupposes that all Christians shall be continually guilty of falling short of God's will, a fact which some find hard to admit. As an example of this, Childer's explained the popularity of Matthew's account of the Lord's prayer by the reference to his use of "debts" instead of "sins," saying, "We who believe strongly that Christians do not commit sins and remain Christians sometimes avoid this form of the prayer!"[10] The Lord's teaching here is to the effect that there are no Christians who do not need to pray for the forgiveness of their sins.

For we ourselves also forgive ... Geldenhuys has a profound comment on this, as follows: "FOR indicates here, not the ground upon which God grants forgiveness, but the condition with which we ourselves must comply if we are to enjoy forgiveness from God."[11] John Wesley confessed the same thing: "This does not note the meritorious cause of our pardon; but the removal of the hindrance which would otherwise render it impossible."[12] These comments, of course, are the most obvious and dogmatic truth; and this student has never been able to understand the reluctance of commentators like those just quoted (and including them) to admit the same obvious and dogmatic truth as applied to Christian baptism. Baptism is not the grounds for pardon, but it is an absolutely essential and necessary prerequisite to the pardon of alien sinners. Just as forgiveness is impossible for the unforgiving, salvation is impossible for those refusing to submit to a commandment which Christ himself made a precondition of it.

And bring us not into temptation ... This does not imply that God tempts any man, because "God tempts no man" (James 1:13); but this is a plea that the Christian may not encounter temptation that will cause him to fall (1 Corinthians 10:13).

LESSONS FROM THE PRAYER

1. Prayers should be short.

2. They should be concerned first with the honor and glory of God.

3. Human needs are basically three: (a) bread (with all related things included), (b) forgiveness, and (c) deliverance from temptation.

4. As indicated by the word "Father," this is a prayer to be prayed by members of God's family.

5. Long, bombastic prayers and vain repetitions are sinful.

6. This teaches that even Christians are presumed to be, in a sense, sinful, that is, not totally free of wrongdoing.

7. The very highest priority belongs to God's kingdom.

8. Temptation should be as much dreaded and as carefully avoided as sin itself.

9. If Christians hope to be forgiven, they must also forgive.

Before leaving this prayer, it should be observed that it is no more unreasonable that Christ should have given the Lord's prayer twice than that the Father should have given the Decalogue twice. Even the variations are instructive and subtly appropriate.

THE FRIEND AT MIDNIGHT

In this paragraph, Jesus gave extensive encouragements to his followers to pray, promising, in the most positive language, the certainty of their prayers being heard and answered. First, there is the example (a parable) of the friend at midnight, then the analogy and contrast between earthly fathers and the heavenly Father, and then the dogmatic promise that the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Thus, there is a progression in the words, friend, father, and heavenly Father, a leading from the lesser to the greater in each verse.

[5] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 319.

[6] Matthew Henry, op. cit., p. 692.

[7] Everett F. Harrison, Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 230.

[8] Anthony Lee Ash, The Gospel according to Luke (Austin, Texas: Sweet Publishing Company, 1972), Vol. II. p. 23.

[9] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 323.

[10] Charles L. Childers, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1964), p. 508.

[11] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 323.

[12] John Wesley, One Volume Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972), en loco.