马太福音 6:9

9. After this manner Our Lord now proceeds to give an outline model of prayer, in which is not one word of irrational babble or cant repetition; but in which human wants are condensed and expressed, and human devotions shaped in terms so direct, so simple, so pure, that sinner or saint, philosopher or child, may understand and use them.

There is no ground for saying that this formula, called our Lord’s Prayer, was selected by him from Jewish forms. No doubt it embodies petitions used in essence by the Old Testament saints of all ages. But it was cast fully and truly in the mould of his own divine mind. It has a heaven-born originality.

In Luke 11:2, Jesus says: “When ye pray, say, Our Father,” etc. Hence there can be no doubt that this was intended as a fixed form of prayer. As such it formed a model for our prayer in general. It is a recorded summary for the Church in all ages of the permanent objects of prayer. It is the condensation and nucleus of all Christian supplication. It has ever served to limit the range of Christian devotion. It is proper, therefore, to be usually repeated in our public service, though not to the exclusion of all other prayer. And it is delightful to feel that it has served to establish a harmony of prayer among true saints through all the world.

Hence, with propriety our Church does use a ritual of forms of prayers, inasmuch as the essential identity of prayers should be traditionally preserved from generation to generation; but not to the suppression of extemporaneous prayers, lest the free action of the soul in prayer should be hampered and gradually suppressed.

The structure of our Lord’s Prayer may be best presented by the following form:

Our Father which art in heaven,

I.

a. Hallowed be thy name.

b. Thy kingdom come.

c. Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

II.

a. Give us this day our daily bread.

b. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

c. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.

On which we may remark,

1. It begins with an address, and ends with an ascription.

2 . Between these are included two sets of threes. The first set is three celestial, and the second three terrestrial petitions. The three celestial petitions pray for the sanctification of God’s name, the coming of his kingdom, and a universal submission to it.

The terrestrial petitions pray for livelihood, pardon of past sin, and deliverance from committing future sin.

3 . The ascription attributes to God three excellencies in kingdom, power, and glory. But we are bound to add that the genuineness of this ascription, as a part of the sacred text, is, in the judgment of critics, more than doubtful.

4 . It may also be said that the address implies three subjects: God, his abode, and us, his children.

The first three petitions embrace, or imply, all we need pray for apart from ourselves; the last three all that we need pray for ourselves individually and collectively.

The following comparison will show that all its doctrines are contained in the Old Testament.

Our Father which art in heaven: Isaiah 64:8: “O Lord, thou art our Father.” Ecclesiastes 5:2: “God is in heaven.”

Hallowed be thy name: Psalms 48:10: “According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth.”

Thy kingdom come: Psalms 22:28: “For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he is the governor among the nations.” Daniel 2:44: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.”

Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven: Psalms 40:8: “I delight to do thy will, O my God.” Psalms 103:20: “Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.”

Give us this day our daily bread: Proverbs 30:8: “Feed me with food convenient for me.”

And forgive us our debts: Exodus 34:9: “Pardon our iniquity and our sin.”

As we forgive our debtors: Leviticus 19:18: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.”

And lead us not into temptation: Genesis 22:1: “And it came to pass. after these things, that God did tempt Abraham.”

But deliver us from evil: Psalms 50:15. “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen: 1 Chronicles 29:11: “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.”

Our Father Against Atheism, which teaches that there is no God; against Pantheism, that teaches that God is not a person, but identical with nature; against Epicurism, which teaches that God cares nothing for his creation; against Polytheism, which teaches that there are many gods, our Saviour teaches that our one God is a tender and gracious parent, who knows our wants and listens to our prayers.

Which art in heaven And so infinitely superior to any father we have on earth. God, though omnipresent, is said to be in heaven. Whether there be a locality in the universe where God is specially and peculiarly resident, is more than we can say. Astronomers do conceive there to be a centre of the system of astronomic worlds: and that centre may be the capitol of the universe, “the third heaven, where God resides.” But at any rate, all human language, and human conception, contemplate God as above and man below. That is, we look from the earth for the Divine; to the earth for the human. Hallowed Held sacred. Thy very name, and so thy self be most profoundly revered.