Sanctification Lesson 4 Part I Lords Prayer Study Notes
The Lord’s Prayer teaches believers what to desire as well as what to say. Within the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus directs prayer toward the Father rather than toward public approval or impressive speech. Its opening and first two petitions train love for God above all things and desire for the coming of his kingdom. (Matthew 5:20, 48; 6:1–13; Westminster Larger Catechism [WLC] Q. 186–191.)
The lesson in one minute
Christian formation reaches belief, desire, and conduct. The creed helps summarize what Christians believe, the Lord’s Prayer orders what they hope for, and the Ten Commandments summarize the shape of obedience. The prayer may be spoken in its given words and used as a pattern for other prayers. Its preface teaches reverent confidence in the Father; the first petition asks that his name be honored; the second asks for his reign to advance. (1 Corinthians 13:13; Matthew 6:9–10; WLC Q. 186–191.)
Faith hope and love as a map of formation
Faith concerns what we trust and believe; hope concerns what we seek and desire; love reaches how we act toward God and neighbor. These belong together in a whole life, rather than in isolated parts of a person. The Apostles’ Creed, the Decalogue, and the Lord’s Prayer have long served as compact guides to these dimensions of discipleship. (1 Corinthians 13:13; Exodus 20:1–17; Matthew 6:9–13.)
The Lord’s Prayer has accordingly received sustained attention across the Christian tradition. Early treatments include Tertullian, On Prayer; Cyprian, On the Lord’s Prayer; and Origen, On Prayer. Thomas Watson’s The Lord’s Prayer is a Reformed exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and belongs alongside his A Body of Divinity and The Ten Commandments.
The Sermon on the Mount calls for a whole life
Jesus says that his disciples’ righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, and he concludes Matthew 5 with the command to be “perfect” as the heavenly Father is perfect. In context, the point concerns an undivided and comprehensive obedience: love must reach even enemies, and faithfulness reaches thoughts and desires as well as outward behavior. The Greek term teleios can convey completeness or maturity. (Matthew 5:20, 27–30, 43–48.)
The Good Samaritan similarly refuses a narrow definition of “neighbor”: the neighbor is the person who shows mercy across a social boundary. This is an illustration from Luke’s Gospel, not one of the six contrasts in Matthew 5. (Luke 10:25–37; compare Matthew 5:43–48.)
Completeness here should not be confused with a claim that believers never sin. The prayer at the center of the Sermon itself directs disciples to ask repeatedly for forgiveness. The New Testament can also use “made perfect” for Christ’s completed vocation through suffering, though he was without sin. (Matthew 6:12; Hebrews 2:10; 4:15; 5:8–9.)
Prayer before the Father rather than an audience
Matthew 6:1–18 treats giving, prayer, and fasting as practices vulnerable to display. The issue is the goal of being seen and praised by others. Prayer for applause has already received its chosen reward; prayer to the Father seeks the one who sees in secret. The private room exposes the motive. It does not make all public prayer improper. (Matthew 6:1–6; compare WLC Q. 185.)
Jesus also rejects empty repetition that treats many words as a way to secure a hearing. The Father already knows what his children need. Length or polished language does not persuade an unwilling God; prayer approaches a Father who knows and cares. (Matthew 6:7–8.)
A prayer to repeat and a pattern to follow
The phrase “pray then like this” gives a model for other prayers, while the actual words are also worth praying regularly. Repetition can teach the order and substance of the prayer so that, in new situations, believers learn to ask for things in a fitting way. Recitation without attention misses the point, but improvisation benefits from a learned pattern. (Matthew 6:9–13; WLC Q. 186–187; W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, vol. 1.)
WLC Q. 188 divides the Lord’s Prayer into a preface, petitions, and a conclusion. This arrangement helps keep the opening address, the six requests, and the traditional ending distinct while seeing their relationship.
The preface Our Father in heaven
“Father” begins with God’s relation to his eternal Son. Believers address him as Father by grace because they belong to Christ and have been adopted, not because they possess the Son’s divine identity. In Christ they may approach God with the privilege and confidence of children. (Matthew 6:9; John 17:20–23; Romans 8:15–17; WLC Q. 189.)
“Our” makes prayer communal even when it is spoken privately. The disciple prays with and for others, rather than treating access to God as a private possession. “In heaven” calls for reverence before the Father’s majesty and confidence in his power. Both intimacy and awe belong in the same address. (Matthew 6:9; WLC Q. 189.)
Prayer is an exercise of faith because its efficacy depends on the living Father who hears and acts; spoken words have no independent power to make events happen. John Calvin calls prayer the chief exercise of faith in Institutes of the Christian Religion, III.20. This is why “Our Father in heaven” matters before any request is voiced. (Matthew 6:8–9; WLC Q. 189.)
First petition Hallowed be your name
To hallow God’s name is to regard, display, and honor him as holy. God does not become holy because people improve his reputation. The request is that God would enable us and others to know and esteem him, remove idolatry and dishonor, and direct all things to his glory. (Matthew 6:9; WLC Q. 190.)
This petition reorders desire. Created goods such as family, security, or a thriving church may be genuinely good, yet none should occupy God’s place. The first commandment forbids rival gods; Jesus later insists that one cannot serve both God and money and calls disciples to seek first his kingdom. Asking God to hallow his name is asking him to reshape what we love most. (Exodus 20:3; Matthew 6:24–33; WLC Q. 190.)
The request comes before bread, forgiveness, and protection. Those later gifts are real goods, but they serve the greater end of communion with God. A forgiven debt makes way for restored fellowship, not mere moral neutrality. (Matthew 6:9–13; WLC Q. 190.)
Second petition Your kingdom come
The kingdom belongs to God and is defined by his rule. WLC Q. 191 expands this petition into prayer for the defeat of sin and Satan, the spread of the gospel, the church’s purity and growth, Christ’s rule in hearts, and the completion of his reign at his return. “Kingdom” includes people and places under God’s gracious government. (Matthew 6:10; WLC Q. 191.)
The first petition does not forbid desire for created goods. It puts every further desire under God’s priority. One may ask for justice, provision, comfort, and the church’s growth while also asking God to define and apportion those goods wisely. David’s “one thing” expresses a supreme desire for the Lord’s presence amid many other requests; the prayer for neither poverty nor riches asks for provision that preserves trust. (Psalm 27:4; Proverbs 30:7–9.)
Because human desires need instruction, asking for the kingdom also means asking God to teach us what to seek. Augustine’s prayer for God to give what he commands expresses that dependence on grace. (Augustine, Confessions 10.29.40; WLC Q. 191.)