‘And he said to them, “When you pray, say,
Father, Hallowed be your name. Your Kingly Rule come. Give us today Tomorrow's bread. And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive every one who is indebted to us. And bring us not into testing.”
This prayer is a little different from the one in Matthew. It is more basic and direct. It is meant for His innermost disciples. Here they can address God directly as ‘Father'. The version in Matthew is for wider use by those not quite so intimately involved with Jesus. It therefore slightly mellows down the directness to ‘our Father Who is in Heaven', which is more in line with Jewish prayers. It is open for use by more people right from the beginning.
So Jesus gives them a form of words on which to pattern their praying, and even for use as a prayer. But they were not, of course, just to repeat these words over and over again, for other examples of praying are also given (Luke 10:2; Luke 11:5-13; Luke 18:6). However, even then the emphasis on their prayers was to be on the expansion of the Kingly Rule of God. But here that is very explicit. It is a balanced prayer, listed three and three, and very simple, being devoid of all flowery elements. Most men loved, when they prayed, to be verbose. They ‘for a pretence make long prayers' (Matthew 23:14; Mark 12:40). Jesus kept it simple, as He regularly kept things simple. But every sentence was powerful. And it is probable that He sought by this means to prevent it becoming simply a recitation. Luke expounds it in the surrounding passages.
‘Do not lead us into testing.' This is the only negative aspect of the prayer, and it seems to ask something that is very unlikely, our Father leading us into testing and temptation. That should warn us to consider it carefully. Its significance is really found in taking it in terms of its opposite. Its opposite is expressed in Matthew's version by the next line, ‘but deliver us from evil'. What is the position of the one who is not led into testing? He is led into protection, and safety, and care and nurturing. He is watched over and looked after. He is like the sheep in Psalms 23. His life is greatly blessed. That is what we are praying for, to be one of those who are not led into testing, but are nurtured and sheltered by God.
Testing by other means will inevitably come. All good men face testing. This is a principle of Scripture. But we do not want God to be leading us into it. We want Him to be leading us in the right way and to watch over us as our Shepherd (Isaiah 40:10-11). We want Him especially to keep us out of the power of the Evil One
It will be noted that the emphasis in the first half of the prayer is all on the glory of God and the bringing about of His will. This demonstrates that that should be the focus of our praying. In the second half there is the provision for our spiritual need, which will enable the fulfilling of the first half. But none is devoted to pure self-interest. Self-interest and prayer do not go together (Matthew 6). Self-interest is for ‘Gentiles' (Matthew 6:7; Matthew 6:32), not for God's people.
We have already noted above how the contents of this prayer are reflected in the surrounding passages.
· Firstly how the Father's special concern for us and something of His nature is revealed, in Luke 10:21-22; Luke 11:11-13.
· Secondly how the dedicated disciples are called and the seventy are appointed in order to hallow God's name and establish the Kingly Rule of God, (see Luke 9:57 to Luke 10:20), so that as a result of that Kingly Rule the power of Satan will be broken (Luke 11:14-26).
· Thirdly how they rejoice over deliverance from the Enemy through being under His Kingly Rule (Luke 10:18-20), and instead enjoy the positive power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).
· Fourthly how the provision of ‘daily bread' is described in different ways, from Luke 10:25 to Luke 11:13, finally being revealed as related to the giving of the Holy Spirit.
· Fifthly how the Good Samaritan exemplifies the willingness to forgive others, (as well as the coming of the Kingly Rule of God and the provision of daily bread).
· Sixthly how Jesus is regularly ‘tested' (specifically stressed in Luke 10:25; Luke 11:16) so that we can be sure we will be too, although we must pray not to be led into it
· Seventhly how we are kept in the right road of not being brought by God into testing, by being protected from Satan (Luke 11:14-26; James 1:13), and by the light shining on us (Luke 11:33-35). The believer is not tested by God. He may be tested by life but he walks beneath the shelter of His shield. Rather than testing us He delivers us from the one who is behind the testing we may have to face, so that we are not overcome (see Ephesians 6:10-18).
Now we must all too briefly consider the contents of the prayer in more detail. We will note that there are two aspects to each statement, the present and the eschatological.
‘Father.' It is true that the Jews looked to God as their Father, but more as the Father of His whole people, the Father of Israel. Jesus, on the other hand, emphasised to His disciples that they could see Him as their personal Father (Luke 11:10-13). Indeed through Him they could come to know the Father (Luke 10:22). They could thus pray ‘abba, Father' (Romans 8:15-16; Galatians 4:6-7). The very simplicity of His words speaks volumes. It was not flowery or verbose, (in contrast with men's prayers), it was simple and childlike, as is fitting for disciples. ‘Abba' was the intimate way in which a Jewish child addressed his father. Here it is in the Greek simply ‘Father.'
Do we think sufficiently about this word when we say it? We should remember that we are thereby addressing the Creator of the world, Who made us ‘in His image' to have communion with Him. We are speaking to the One Who dwells in light that no man can possibly approach, a light which is unbearable, a trillion times brighter than the largest and most brilliant atomic fireball (1 Timothy 6:16). And yet a light to which we can come (1 John 1:7). We are talking to the One Who holds the whole world in His hand. And we are calling Him ‘Father'.
And it goes further than that, for the expression that Jesus used when speaking to God as Father was ‘abba'. Among the Jews it was the word that even the smallest child used when he was addressing a loving father. And we can thus address Him as ‘Abba, Father' (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6) because we have received the Holy Spirit through Whom we have been adopted by the Father as His sons and daughters.
There could be no more powerful word than ‘Father'. For where the child has a good father the word ‘father' indicates to a child the figure of supreme authority, the figure of the great provider, and a figure also of great love and compassion. Today, sadly, in many families that role has had to be taken on by the mother. And elsewhere God is likened to the perfect mother (Isaiah 49:15). But even then the picture might fail because of the inadequacy of the mother. But what our Father is to us is far better than any fatherhood or motherhood that we can imagine. He is the sum of all fatherhood, of all motherhood. For here the word is being used in the best sense.
But it is not a word to be used by the selfish. When we use it we should be concerned for the things of our Father, not for our own petty affairs. As we approach God as Father we should do so with the recognition that He is the Supreme authority, that He calls us to participate in and be concerned about His affairs, and yet that He is at the same time filled with the greatest love for us that the world has ever known. To use it for self-seeking is to degrade Him.
‘Hallowed be your Name.' Never were words less understood than the words, ‘Hallowed by Your name'. Usually people who pray them and who think about them see them as meaning, ‘Let people have a high opinion of Your Name. Let them worship You. Let Your Name be held in the highest honour.' And that is all good and right. And we should certainly desire it and we should certainly pray it. And it is certainly included in the prayer. This is true in the present.
But in fact the words go far beyond that. They are more positive. They are a prayer for God to reveal His special and unique nature by a powerful eschatological and continuing action. His name reveals what He is, and they thus asking Him to demonstrate what He is, to demonstrate His name. They have in mind the words of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36:23. ‘And I will hallow My great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be hallowed in you before their eyes.' And how will this happen? “I will take you from among the nations --- and I will sprinkle cleansed water (water cleansed by sacrifice) on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses --- a new heart I will give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you, I will take out of your flesh the stony heart, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in accordance with My commands and to be careful to walk in My ordinances ---” (Ezekiel 36:24-27). That is what we should have in mind when we pray, ‘Hallowed be your Name'. The eschatological work of the Holy Spirit as in the Upper Room, and at Pentecost and beyond (see also Luke 11:13).
So when we pray, ‘Hallowed be Your name', (‘sanctify Your Name'), we are praying, ‘let Your purposes be fulfilled that will bring about the hallowing of Your name, as what You are is revealed to men. Use your people so that great glory might be yours. Let the nations know the greatness of your name and of what You are. Let them know how holy You are, and let it come about because of what You do in us Your people.' We are praying that God will so revive us, His people, by His Holy Spirit, that we may have such an impact on the world that all the nations will see it. We are praying that what Jesus came to do will be accomplished through us. We are asking God to change us so much that through us the world will come to know Him. Do you really want this to happen? If you do not, do not pray the Lord's prayer.
‘Your Kingly Rule come.' This does not mean, ‘Father I am looking forward to all the good things I am going to receive, hurry it along,' (although sometimes that thought not quite expressed so selfishly might help us in times when we are depressed). Its concern, as with ‘hallowed be your Name', is rather for the glory of God and the continual extending of His Kingly Rule over the hearts of men. That is why the twelve were chosen. That is why the seventy were appointed. That is why individual disciples were called to follow Him. It was so that they could take part in this great work of extending His Kingly Rule. And it is what Luke and Acts is all about. It is reminding us that our greatest concern should be the spreading of His Kingly Rule over the hearts of men.
This is an expansion on the previous prayer. It is praying that God's rule over men's lives might become a reality, and that the world might see that He rules because of the obedience of His people. In Heaven He is undisputed King. Every knee bows to Him. Every tongue acknowledges the supremacy of God, of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even the highest angel races to do His bidding. There the Kingly Rule of God is constantly displayed. (What an incentive it would be to us if we appreciated that each day). And that is what we are praying for earth in the Lord's prayer. We are praying that what is true in Heaven might become true on earth. That men and women may be reached by the preaching of the word and might come under His Kingly Rule here and now. It is praying that God will so work that those whom He has chosen may surrender themselves to Him and own His sovereignty over their lives. It is praying that we, like the angels, may race around to do His bidding thinking of nothing else but how we can please Him. And on the other hand it is also praying that all that offends against His Kingly Rule will be removed, will be disposed of, so that His Kingly Rule might be universally established, and God might be all in all.
And yet it also has one eye on the eschatological future. For it is also praying for the final triumph of His Kingly Rule in glory when all things are put under His feet. That is the ultimate goal, and our hearts should be longing for that too.
‘Give us today Tomorrow's bread.' At this point in the prayer some people sigh with relief. Here at last, they think, is something practical. At last we can have something for ourselves. And then we can expand on it and make a list of all the things we would like for ourselves, and call them ‘our daily bread' and hope that we will get them too.
But does it not strike you that on the face of it this prayer is out of place here? It is like Martha, who was concerned about physical food, rather than like Mary, concerned about the food of the word of God. It is like the importunate friend asking for bread, when what He should be asking for is the food of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:5-13). It actually seems to be praying for what Jesus told us in another context that we do not need to pray for (Luke 12:29-30). Consider for this Matthew 6:32. There He said in the very context of the giving of the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), ‘do not be anxious about what you shall eat', and then criticises the Gentiles for being anxious about ‘these things', which refers to what they eat and drink. He tells us that our Father will provide them without our need to ask for them (Matthew 6:8; Matthew 6:31-32). Would He then in this prayer tell us to ask for food, contrary to all that He said there? Rather here in Luke 11:9-13 he will tell us that the food that we should be seeking is the Holy Spirit. Surely that then is what we are seeking here. Compare Luke 12:29-30 where He says, “And do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, neither be you of doubtful mind, for all these things do the nations of the world seek after, but your Father knows that you have need of these things. Yet you seek you his Kingly Rule, and these things will be added to you ” His instructions are quite clear.
Of course we can counter this by suggesting that what He allows is that we ask for our basic needs to be met. That we are saying that we can live without most things but we cannot live without food. Is Jesus not therefore saying, we may suggest, ‘This at least you may ask from your Father.' But it is strange then that later in Matthew 6 He says, ‘your Father knows that you need these things before you ask Him', and criticises the Gentiles for seeking ‘all these things' because it demonstrates that they do not trust God fully (Matthew 6:32), for ‘all these things' clearly refers back to the eating and drinking in Luke 11:31. And the fact is that in the whole of Matthew 6 He is taking our thoughts away from such earthly things. He is stressing heavenly provision, and warning against seeking earthly treasure (Matthew 6:19-21; Matthew 6:24). For the whole passage gives the impression that we do not need to pray for earthly things because (like any father would) our Father will provide them without our asking, and all we have to do is say ‘thank You'.
And some would then say, ‘Yes, that is what it is. In the Lord's Prayer we are saying, ‘Thank you' and expressing our dependence. And that is why they like to translate the Greek word ‘daily'. But that is not the impression gained from Matthew 6. The impression gained from the whole chapter is that it is concentrating on seeking ‘heavenly' things, such as heavenly treasure (Luke 6:20), God not mammon (Luke 6:24), and accepting our food and clothing as and when supplied by God (Luke 6:25-31). And while the matter is not fully settled a good amount of opinion favours the translation as ‘tomorrow', an opinion backed up by the only ancient version of the prayer that we have in Aramaic. That being so it would seem probable that we are to seek in this another meaning connected with heavenly things, just as Mary was commended for seeking heavenly things when Martha's mind was on food (Luke 10:38-42).
Much depends on the meaning of epiousios (‘tomorrow'). It occurs only here but would appear to be related to epiousa, ‘the next day'. Thus the translation ‘tomorrow'. The idea of ‘Tomorrow' unquestionably came to be connected with the great Tomorrow, the last days as connected with the Messiah. The Jews were constantly looking forward to the great ‘Tomorrow'. And it seems quite likely then that Jesus was teaching them to pray for the bread of the last days, for the bread of that time when the chosen of God would eat at Messiah's table, for He wanted them to know that it was imminent, and indeed some had already participated in it. He wanted them to think in terms of soon partaking in the great Tomorrow. But even more, that they could eat of that bread now. That is why He had come, in order to feed men with the Bread of the great Tomorrow, in order to give them His Holy Spirit now (Luke 11:13).
Bread is in fact very much connected with ‘the last days', a phrase which in the New Testament includes the life and ministry of Jesus, and this was what the feeding of the crowd had symbolised. And we must remember that to the disciples He had ‘brought in' these last days. And in the last days the belief was that the Messiah would give bread from Heaven, as Moses had (compare John 6:31-32 in the context of the feeding of the crowds with bread). And that is why Jesus referred to Himself as ‘the bread of life' (John 6:35). He said that He had come to bring God's bread to His people. He had come as God's Bread from Heaven, that men might eat of Him and not die.
Thus we may see here that Jesus' prayer, given for us to pray, should be seen as pointing to a prayer for the final fulfilment of God's purposes, a fulfilment to be achieved ‘each day' as we partake of His Holy Spirit. He is saying to His disciple, pray that the imminent approach of the Kingly Rule of God under the Christ, where you will eat of the bread of God, (which He later makes clear then refers to Himself), may not be delayed, but may be enjoyed now through the coming of His Holy Spirit. Pray that it will come ‘today'. It is essentially a prayer that they might almost immediately partake of the fullness of Christ and enjoy life with Him. It was an indication that the Kingly Rule of God was here in which they could daily partake. And they were to pray that they might have their share in it along with all His people. That they should not miss out on what God has given.
So we have ‘Tomorrow's bread' available to us today, while at the same time looking forward to the time when we will eat and drink with Him in His heavenly rule.
However, whichever way we take it the prayer is for daily sustenance, whether physical or spiritual, so that we can properly serve God. It is not a suggestion that we can ask for whatever we like.
‘And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive every one who is indebted to us.' Central to participation in the Kingly Rule of God is forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3; Luke 5:20; Luke 7:41-50). Without forgiveness we can have no place there. We are thus called on daily to walk in His light and seek the forgiveness of sins (1 John 1:7-10). And He points out that in doing so we must also be those who forgive others. ‘Debtors' is a very Jewish way of looking at sin. We must forgive those who are indebted to us because they have sinned against us. Then God will forgive us our debts in that we have sinned against Him (Luke 7:41-43). In both cases there is the assumption of repentance. God will forgive us when we repent. We are to forgive others when they repent (Luke 17:3-4). And just as God is willing to forgive many times, we must do the same.
The thought is not that we will be forgiven because we forgive. The thought rather is that as already His believing people, and having because of that forgiven others, we are coming as those who have done all the preparatory work necessary for our own daily forgiveness. We have repented and set our lives right, and this is especially revealed in our forgiveness of others. We are therefore ripe for God's mercy to be revealed in forgiveness to us. This is not the initial forgiveness at our first repentance. As God's men we are coming to Him as those who are obedient to His ways. We are praying like this because having once for all been forgiven in the past, we have learned to freely forgive, so that now we have the confidence to come for the daily forgiveness that we need as well. Our forgiving others is an evidence of the fact that we are already His and that our lives have been transformed and that our approach is genuine.
But this forgiveness of sins is itself an evidence of the last days. The last days will introduce a forgiveness of sins that will spread throughout the world (Luke 24:47; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22; Jeremiah 31:34). And it is noteworthy that in this prayer of Jesus there is no mention anywhere of God as in any way being restricted to Judaism. It is not a Jewish prayer, it is not a Greek prayer. It is a world prayer, for it is for His disciples who must have a world vision, and it is for all mankind.
‘And bring us not into testing.' We should notice immediately the implication of these words. It is that we are being ‘brought', we are being ‘led', in the way in which we go. They are words of personal care. The Lord is our Shepherd and we are His sheep. And what we are praying is that we will not have to face the tests that the world has to face, and especially the Scribes and Pharisees have to face, under the wrath of God (Luke 11:42-51) and away from the flock outside His protection.
But one thing we can be sure of, and that is that this is not a prayer that we will never be tested. For the Scriptures makes clear that testing is one thing that every believer can be certain of (Matthew 7:14; Matthew 10:28; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Acts 20:19; James 1:12-15). To pray not to be tested would be to ask the impossible, because it would be to ask that the Scriptures are not fulfilled. We will be tested by our own desires (James 1:13-14), we will be tested in ways that are common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13), we will be tested by the activities of God's enemies, sharing His reproach (1 Peter 4:12-13), we will be tested by the Evil One as Jesus was (Ephesians 10:13). And when we are we can be sure of this that God will provide a way of escape (if we are willing to take it) so that we will be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13), because He is leading us.
But what we are praying will not happen here is for God to bring us into His testing. For when God brings a man into testing he is naked and unprotected. He has no way of escape. He is laid bare in his sin. He is undone. To be led into testing is to be a lost soul. We do not want God to lead us there.
In other words what we are asking is that we may walk continually under God's protection, not having to face what His enemies have to face. This involves us therefore in walking where we know His protection is available. The sheep who deliberately goes out to face the wolf because he fancies a good scrap has lost his right to protection by the shepherd (and demonstrated that he is not a sheep).
So this is rather a prayer that we will be kept from the way of those who are tested by God, the way of the world, that God will walk with us and will never allow us to be tested in the way that cannot be overcome, that He will not bring us into a way in which we are without His protection. Note that the whole idea is that God is leading and bringing. God is here seen as a shepherd. It is spoken by those under His protection.
Of course the believer should certainly never seek for God to test him, for that would be to display arrogance. Those who sought martyrdom were often those who failed in the end. Rather, says Jesus, we should pray at all costs to avoid it. We should pray to be led safely in the ways where God does not test men, the protected way, safe from the trials and tests that God brings on the ungodly, and safe from His judgments.
We will be tested by sin (temptation), we will be tested by God's enemies and we will be tested by the Evil One. In those cases God is not leading us into them, He is bringing us through them (Isaiah 43:2). All these God will keep us in. But we do not want to be laid bare, we do not want to be tested by God, for those whom God tests are without hope. Nothing can protect them from it. They may build what shelters they may, but they will simply be blown away (Isaiah 28:17). And the command that we pray this is the guarantee that God will fulfil it. It is a prayer that we might walk under His umbrella, in the narrow way that leads us safely through all temptations as His own.
Those who pray this are praying to be delivered from evil and the Evil One, as Matthew 6:13 makes clear. Many manuscripts include the words here as well, but as other good manuscripts exclude the words (including p45, aleph, B and f1) it is likely that they have been added by copyists from Matthew. They are, however, quite Scriptural (they are there in Matthew).
For the idea of not being led into testing by God contains within it the opposite notion of being led in the way that is free from God's testing. Prayer for safety and deliverance is intrinsic within the desire not to be tested, for the only way in which we can be ‘not led into testing' is by our being protected from it, by our being led in the right way, in the way free from God's testing. Thus we are here asking to be led in the reverse of the God-tested way, in the God-protected way. We are asking God to drive us through the hail of His own missiles and bullets in a bullet-proof car. It goes without saying that we are also declaring by this that we ourselves will not walk into the way of testing. We will avoid all such ways. We will keep our eyes fixed on Him in the not-God-tested way. For the whole prayer is based on our being ‘led' and ‘brought'.
As we are constantly told elsewhere, testing is inevitable for believers (Matthew 7:14; Matthew 10:28; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; James 1:12-15), and sometimes it may seem to overwhelm us. (The bullet-proof car may be surrounded and put under huge pressure). But the believer knows that he will never be overwhelmed (Isaiah 43:2), for the Lord is his protector (Hebrews 13:5-6). Nevertheless there is in this the opposite lesson that testing must never be sought. That would be folly. But as Jesus makes clear in Luke 10:19-20; Luke 11:21-23, when we are tested we need not fear, for He has delivered from the Evil One.