The Bridge to Heaven

“Pray, then, in this way: (spoken by Jesus)

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
‘Give us this day our daily bread.
‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] Matthew 6:9–13

“The Lord’s Prayer has been called ‘a summary of the entire gospel.’ It reveals a heavenly Father whose name should be reverenced. This Father has a dream for the world where peace, love and justice reign. Each one of us is called to discover and do God’s will. We live with open hands knowing that God will provide for our daily needs. We pray to be forgiven to the degree that we forgive. We ask for protection against temptation and evil. Not only a gospel summary, this prayer also provides a model for living.” Albert Haase

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives this model for prayer as a kind of outline of the subjects to cover when seeking God through prayer. Though this is the most known prayer to recite word for word, it truly gives the pattern for how to communicate and posture one’s heart towards God through prayer. The last sentence, shown above in parenthesis, is not in the earliest manuscripts, but certainly is consistent with the truth of Scripture.

In the Book of Luke, Jesus’ disciples ask Him to teach them to pray and He gives them a shorter version of this prayer. He really made it quite simple to communicate with our Heavenly Father.

‘Father,
May your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come.

Give us each day the food we need.
Forgive us our sins, for we too forgive everyone who has wronged us.
And do not lead us to hard testing.’” Luke 11:1–4 CJB