The Meaning Of The Lord’s Prayer Verse By Verse

Last Updated on July 31, 2021 by Pastor Ikechukwu Chinedum

Matthew 6:9-13:
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

In the book of Luke 11:1-4, in verse one the bible said, after the disciples of Jesus watched Him pray, they came to Him and asked Him to teach them how to pray. Jesus immediately went ahead to teach them how to pray. The prayer model Jesus gave His disciples have since been known as the Lord’s prayer or our father prayer. Its important for us to note that the lords prayer is not to be chanted verbatim, rather it should be used as a guide to prayer. That is it should be used as a model for our prayers. When we pray we are expected to follow the pattern of the Lord’s prayer.

In order to pray effectively, we must understand the meaning of the lords prayer which was given to us by Jesus Christ. We must under stand the patterns of the prayer verse by verse. A good understanding of the Lord’s prayer will help establish our foundation in prayer. When you pray, following the laid down pattern of the lords prayer, you are praying a prayer that must be answered. Now let’s look at the meaning of the Lord’s prayer verse by verse.

Meaning Of The Lord’s Prayer

For scriptural reference purposes, we are going to be using Matthew 6:9-13 as our anchor scripture for the Lord’s prayer. Now let’s take it verse by verse.

1). Verse 9: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name: Psalms 100:4, tells us that we must enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His Courts with Praise. Every prayer should start with thanksgiving and praise. Jesus demonstrated that at the tomb of Lazarus, John 11:41, and when he was about to feed thousands in the wilderness, Luke 9:16. For our prayers to be effective, we should learn to enter the presence of God with a grateful heart, irrespective of what we are going through in life, we should learn to appreciate God for who He is to us and for what he has done for us. This will make our prayers get to the heart of God fast. However we must be careful not to use this as a formula to get to God, we must know that we cannot deceive God, we must thank Him because we love Him and because of His unconditional love for us, not just because we want Him to answer our prayers. The truth is this God will answer us whether we thank Him or not,but it is wise for us to appreciate His goodness in our lives that money cannot buy.

2). Verse 10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven : Secondly, as christians we must learn to pray for the kingdom of God. Praying for the advancement of the kingdom should be of paramount importance to us. Praying for the kingdom includes prayers for the salvation of souls, prayers for Christians going through challenges, prayers for the gospel of Jesus Christ to take over the world, prayer for the protection and preservation of Christians all over the world, this and many more are kingdom focused prayers.

3). Verse 11. Give us this day our daily bread: After you have given God thanks, and prayed for the kingdom, now you can ask for your personal needs, God is committed to providing for His children daily. This is where you start to mention the purpose of your prayers to the lord, your personal supplications to Him. Its important to note that all your prayer requests before God must be backed up by His word. The word of God is our strong reason in prayers. When we remind Him of what His word says in our prayers, He rises up and honors His word in our lives.

4). Verse 12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors: We must learn to acknowledge and receive the mercies of God, Lamentations 3:22, tells us that it is the mercies of God that keeps us alive. We must learn to receive Gods mercies on the altar of prayers. A lot of believers believers misunderstand this verse a lot, they interpret it wrongly making it look like Jesus was giving us a condition here. They believe that Jesus was saying, that when you don’t forgive others, God will not forgive you. The truth is simple, Jesus was talking to his disciples who where under the law, and he was using the standards of the law to teach them. Now the Law has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus. We don’t forgive in order to be forgiven,rather we forgive because the Lord forgave us already, Colossians 3:13. While we were yet sinners God showed us his unconditional love and forgave all our sins through Christ. That is why we forgive others today. We find the strength to forgive others because Christ forgave us. Also under the New covenant of grace, we don’t ask for mercy, we receive mercy and grace on the throne of prayers, Hebrews 4:16. Therefore when we fall short, we go boldly to His throne to receive mercies and grace to enable us overcome. Glory to God!!!

5). Verse 13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: This section we pray for divine protection, Jesus admonished us to pray so that we don’t fall into temptations, Matthew 26:41. We must cover ourselves with the blood of Jesus. Prayer is the key to spiritual and physical protection. We must always ask the Holy spirit to guide us in our day to day affairs and save us from the traps and temptations of the devil.

6). Verse 13, Conclusion. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen: Round up your prayers with thanksgiving again, begin to thank Him for answering your prayers, give Him praise and believe that all you have asked He has answered. Then finally end your prayers in the name of Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus Christ is the seal that makes your prayers answerable. I believe that this guide will help in the improvement of your prayer life. Remember this should not be treated as a formula,but as a guide to praying to the God that loves you unconditionally. As you follow this guide from the lords prayer, I see your prayer life being super effective in Jesus name. Amen.