Yeshua had just finished praying at a certain place, when His admiring disciples asked, “Master, teach us how to pray” (Luke 11:1). He responded by giving them what came to be called ‘The Lord’s Prayer’. In Matthew’s  account (Matt. 6:9-13) Yeshua had already been teaching them principles on which to base their prayer life – that effective prayer is based on a lifestyle of God-honouring practices (verses 1-8). Then He continued after laying out the model, to add forgiveness to the prerequisites for effective prayer (verses 14-15).  In addition, Yeshua prefaced his model with the instruction, “Pray IN THIS WAY” (capitalization emphasis being mine, here and below).

For all the centuries since then, thinking believers have used The Lord’s Prayer not just as a recitation learnt by rote, but as basic guidance on how we should pray. Even today, in our 21st century circumstances, this divine guidance is still relevant and effective.

As Yeshua modeled and as previously taught (for example in Psalm 100) we should approach God as our omnipotent, loving progenitor (LORD, Father, Creator – “He who has made us” – Ps. 100:1-3). Jewish prayers also hail Him as “King of the Universe”. We should enter His presence with praise – blessing or hallowing His Name (Ps. 100:4, Matt. 6:9).

Then, before we launch into making personal requests of God, we should pray for the establishment of His kingdom and the accomplishment of His will, on earth. In so doing, we are PRAYING FOR THE PLANET, as the welfare of all its people is dependent on God’s good will being accomplished and His kingdom order – already operating in heaven – being brought to bear on the earth. This part of our prayer life is perhaps more essential today than at any previous time in history. Also, this prayer should remind us of OUR ROLE – that the Body of Yeshua must collaborate with God in bringing His kingdom rule to earth, through faithful obedience to His written words and by following the lead of His Spirit. This part of our prayer involves praying for the peace of Jerusalem and the benefit of that peace on others (Psalm 122:6-9). It also involves praying for governments, leaders and the benefit of those under their authority (1 Timothy 2:2) as well as praying for the cities in which we live (Jeremiah 29:7).

Having prayed for these broad concerns (which to our Creator and creation-loving Father are very personal) we may then lift up our own personal requests. Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying – and neither was Yeshua or the psalmist saying – that whenever we want to talk to God, we must go through these steps before mentioning our specific, sometimes urgent requests. However, we all start our day at some point. We wake up from sleep and prepare to enter the next period of activity. That is when we should consciously enter God’s presence, consciously bringing ourselves before Him, re-affirming our relationship with Him, offering Him our thanksgiving, praise and honour, and praying for His will to be done all over the earth as it is in Heaven. Yeshua made His model prayer applicable to “this day” (Matt. 6:11) so re-entering God’s presence is a daily privilege. Having consciously entered, we can remain there all day, “practising the presence of God” as Brother Lawrence put it centuries ago. This is not hard to do as we go through our routines, because God is everywhere. He is omnipresent and His ear is open to our impromptu whispers, cries or ‘small talk’ that we direct toward Him during the day.

With regard to our personal requests, which basic ones did Yeshua recommend that we regard as top priority? Verses 11 to 13 of Matthew 6 answer this question. First, as long as we live on earth we need daily ‘bread’ (sustenance for body, soul and spirit), and God is our Provider. Although He knows what we need before we ask, He also knows it is best for us to be kept mindful of His role as Provider. So that we won’t be tempted to rely on other sources or our own ‘arm of flesh’ – which have no power to provide without God’s provision – Yeshua taught us to petition the Father, “Give us THIS DAY our daily bread.”

Secondly, He reminds us to ask forgiveness for our sins (our trespasses / ‘debts’ / wrong-doing / offenses). The Complete Jewish Bible says it most clearly: “Forgive us for what we have done wrong.” In keeping with Yeshua’s other teaching, this would include sins committed in thought (Matt 5:28) as well as in word (Matt. 5:22) or other actions. And what is sin, really? Sin is transgression of  God’s instructions (1 John 3:4)  either because we don’t know them (we are ‘lawless’) or because we have disobeyed them.  In the same breath as teaching us to ask God’s forgiveness of our offenses, Yeshua reinforced the prerequisite, “as we also HAVE FORGIVEN those who have offended us.”

Thirdly, He taught us to prioritize the two-pronged request, “Lead us not into temptation (testing), but deliver us from the evil one.” These are the areas of prayer where 21st century life demands we broaden our application to cover the range of temptations and evils that constitute prevalent threats. We are living in the most perilous times ever, in recorded history, with temptations (harassing tests) that jump out at innocent people dutifully going about their daily business – as long as that business involves Internet, radio or television usage, or simply walking past stores in a mall. The devil has become an even more vicious hunter than he was when Peter described him as a “roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He is employing more pervasive ways and means now, setting more traps “with great rage, knowing that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12). So in praying “Deliver us from evil” today, we must pray for protection against such evils as terrorism, cyber-crime, identity theft, misappropriation and evil use of our personal information, abuse of our children by ungodly educators and public school systems, luring of our children toward sexual perversion and drug usage, profiteering pollution of the food available for us to buy, wicked profiteering manipulation of pharmaceutical supplies, and the list goes on…

BUT GOD… God is still our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble – even the troubles of these perilous days. We have not yet gotten to the prophesied time when faithful believers will not be able to do any business, but the current challenges are preparing us for that time. Then our prayers for daily bread will be answered by provision of ‘manna’ that doesn’t require purchase.  Until then and even then, let us continue to submit our prayers to God with the confident doxology, “For Yours is the kingdom, and the POWER and the glory, FOREVER. Amen!”