Pastor's Blog

C. SPECIFIC PRINCIPLES (CONT’D.)
1. To what scene does the Lord’s Prayer proceed in 6:ll-13a? To an earthly scene with its material needs, sinful states, and spiritual conflicts. Its keynote is prayer for personal interests, those of others as well as our own
2. Why does prayer for “our daily bread” precede prayer for forgiveness? To show that God as our Father will be faithful to his obligations notwithstanding some unsettled accounts
3. Comment on the meaning of “bread” in 6:11: This word does not refer to literal bread, merely, but to all the necessities of life as evident from v. 25 and Isa. 55:2
4. “Give us this day,” 6:11, implies what? That the Lord’s Prayer is meant to be a “daily” prayer for “this day” whether it is prayed in its given form as a medium of expression, or whether it is prayed by employing its basic principles in any other mode of prayer

5. Point out the essential elements of prayer in this earthly scene from the following statements:
(1) “Give us,” v. 11 – Acknowledgment of our dependence upon God. This is the prayer of the needy child. Without any trace of independent self-sufficiency and self-assertive pride, the needy child is content to rely on the Father’s care with humble childlike simplicity
(2) “This day,” v. 11 – Acknowledgment of our confidence in God. This is the prayer of the trusting child. With unquestioning confidence in the continued faithfulness of the Father’s care, the petitioner is entirely content with sufficiency for the needs of the present without any anxiety about the needs of the future

Said the sparrow to the robin,
“I would really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”
Said the robin to the sparrow,
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.”
(Author not known)

(3) “Our daily bread,” v. 11 – Contentment with the necessities of life. This is the prayer of the modest child. There is no request for luxuries here. While we as children have a legitimate right to receive support, the Father is under no obligation to provide mere luxuries, although he might bestow even these, but out of kind generosity, not out of obligation, Psa. 68:19
(4) “Forgive us,” v. 12 – Acknowledgment of our sinfulness. This is the prayer of the sinful child. All sins are “debts” because of our unfulfilled obligations both to God and man, whether by omission or commission. As we have no assets to pay what we owe, forgiveness is the only means to liquidate this indebtedness when there is no unforgiving spirit on our part to form an obstacle to our being forgiven
(5) “Lead us not into temptation,” v. 13a – Acknowledgment of our moral weakness. This is the prayer of the weak child. Because of our inherent propensity to evil, (Matt. 26:41), and consequent susceptibility to sin, this is a petition for protection against exposure to Satan’s temptation beyond our ability to endure
(6) “But deliver us from evil,” v. 13a – Acknowledgment of our impotence. This is the prayer of the helpless child. Inasmuch as God solicits no man to sinful compliance, (Jas. 1:13), this is an entreaty to God for deliverance “from evil,” i.e., “the evil one,” (R.V.), from the overwhelming power and wiles of the devil,” Eph. 6:11