The Lord’s Prayer: The Rule of Prayer

99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer? A. The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.

Using the Bible to Help Us Pray

“For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought” (Rom. 8:26). Because of our sin, our hearts and minds have become so corrupted that we are unable to pray properly without God’s help;¹ this is true, even of the regenerate.² Therefore, we are totally reliant on God to instruct us in how we are to pray. He does this inwardly, by the Holy Spirit, and outwardly by the Word.³ Addressing the latter, the inspired Word of God is the only reliable way for us to know God’s will (cf. 1 Jn. 5:14). The light of nature, in contrast, is insufficient to guide us in prayer and those who try to pray apart from the light of Scripture do so ignorantly.⁴

There are three major ways that the Bible helps us to pray: (1) all the teachings of the Bible, in general, are of use to us in prayer because these concern our relationship to God; (2) what the Bible gives in terms of instruction about prayer are useful for us to follow; (3) and, the biblical example that Jesus taught His disciples, commonly called the “Lord’s prayer” is of special importance to us (Mt. 6:9-13; Lk. 11:2-4).⁵ In it, the Lord summarizes what the Bible, as a whole, teaches about prayer.⁶ For this reason, it is called a “rule” or “standard” for prayer. We will focus on the last point for the remainder of this class.

How to Use the Lord’s Prayer

We can use the Lord’s prayer both as a pattern (or model) for our own prayers, as well as an actual proper prayer by itself (that we can repeat verbatim).⁷

WLC Q187: How is the Lord’s prayer to be used? A: The Lord’s prayer is not only for direction, as a pattern, according to which we are to make other prayers; but may also be used as a prayer, so that it be done with understanding, faith, reverence, and other graces necessary to the right performance of the duty of prayer.

The Lord’s prayer is instructive as a pattern (or model) for our prayers:⁸ first, the prayer addresses God with reverence. While God is addressed as “Father,” He is also immediately acknowledged to be “in heaven,” thus stressing His utmost majesty. Second, the prayer is simple, brief, and direct. There is no flowery language, and no showing-off with long oratory. God knows our hearts and our needs. Third, the prayer places God first. It begins with God’s interests (i.e., His name, kingdom, and will), not our own. Finally, the prayer includes both our material and spiritual needs. It serves as a reminder that we should present not only our temporal and earthly concerns to God, but also the things pertaining to our eternal and heavenly good (i.e., asking God to forgive our sins).

Moreover, the Lord’s prayer can also be used as a proper prayer on its own,⁹ or in connection with a prayer that we already have, provided that it is “done with understanding, faith, reverence, and other graces necessary to the right performance of the duty of prayer.” In other words, when we employ the Lord’s prayer, we need to avoid the danger of merely reciting it mechanically by rote. The Lord’s prayer is misused if we ascribe some sort of superstitious benefit to it, say it irreverently, or use it without thinking upon its meaning.

It is a matter of Christian liberty how often we should use this prayer. “Individuals and communities are at liberty to pray to God in any way, not forbidden in His word, which they find to be most conducive to their edification and comfort.”¹⁰

Guarding Against Superstition

Superstition has sometimes prevented God’s people from using the Lord’s prayer rightly: (1) some people recite the prayer as a matter of mechanistic repetition or formalism, thinking that there is some inherent power that derives from its use, de facto; and, (2) others avoid the Lord’s prayer altogether, fearing that it could be abused.

The first trap is rooted in the wrong belief that the Lord’s prayer works simply by reciting the words.¹¹ The Lord’s prayer, if spoken carelessly, is not superior to other prayers that we may present to God from our hearts.¹² We should be reminded that prayer, like all the other means of grace (i.e., Word and sacraments), does not automatically confer grace, but only by faith according to the blessing of the Holy Spirit. We must have a “deep and serious conviction that an [insincere] muttering of any words [whatsoever] to the Supreme being is absolute ungodliness—that there is no value in their sound.”¹³ Therefore, as with the other elements of worship, we need to be attentive to all forms of prayer, including the Lord’s prayer, such that it produces its intended effect upon our hearts and minds.¹⁴

As to the second error, it is a prevailing sentiment among many Christians nowadays (especially Evangelicals) that spontaneity is “authentic,” but traditional forms stifle worship.¹⁵ In response, we need to acknowledge that God has in fact divinely authorized the use of forms for worship, prayer, and praise—to express blessing, confession, and thanksgiving—throughout history (e.g., by Aaron and his sons in Deut. 26:5, 13-15; by the priests in Joel 2:17; by the Levites in 2 Chr. 29:30; by God’s people in the title of Psalm 92; etc.).¹⁶ Therefore, we should feel at liberty to use the Lord’s prayer in worship, provided that it is used with sincerity and reverence. Accordingly, “the use of settled forms of prayer, which was so becoming a practice in the ancient church, ought not to be reckoned unbecoming in a modern church.”¹⁷

Outline of the Lord’s Prayer

It is the duty of every Christian to cherish prayer. We need to address God from the heart in a manner that is honoring to Him. In this way, the Lord’s prayer is especially helpful—noting the “excellence of the matter [content], the richness of the petitions, the clearness of the method, and the sententious [critical] brevity of the expressions.”¹⁸There is nothing equal to it.

The Lord’s prayer consists of a preface (“Our Father which art in heaven”), followed by six petitions, and a conclusion (“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen”).¹⁹ Our prayers should be similarly structured.²⁰ Namely, we should begin our prayers by acknowledging God’s greatness and holy majestywith utmost reverence. By so doing, we cultivate religious affections, of faith, hope, and love for heavenly things. Second, we should present to God the things that concern Him the most (i.e., His kingdom, honor, and glory) before rushing to present our personal desires or the needs of others. The highest end (i.e., the hallowing of God’s name) comes first, then the means appointed for attaining this end (i.e., that God to be glorified above all; our fervent desire to receive spiritual and temporal benefits for our salvation; and that we may be granted victory over sin—past, present, and future). Finally, our prayers should conclude with doxology—expressing our confidence in God because He is able and willing to able to help us. In a nutshell, in the Lord’s prayer, we have an “abridgment,” as Tertullian said, “of the whole gospel.”²¹

Footnotes

1
This is the doctrine of total depravity. “As extensive as original sin is in humanity as a whole, so it is also in the individual person. It holds sway over the whole person, over mind and will, heart and conscience, soul and body, over all one’s capacities and powers. A person’s heart is evil from his or her youth and a source of all sorts of evils (Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Ps. 51:5; Jer. 17:9; Ezek. 36:26; Mark 7:21). One cannot renew one’s self (Jer. 13:23; Ezek. 16:6), understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14), or submit to the law of God (John 8:34, 36; Rom. 6:17, 20; 8:7), and one is dead through trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).” Total depravity means that “the deepest inclination, the innermost disposition, the fundamental directedness of human nature… is not turned toward God but away from him.” Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 3: Sin and Salvation in Christ. Baker Academic, 2006, pp. 119-120.
2
Romans 7:7-25 is one of strongest passages in the Bible that teaches this. “Nothing can more clearly demonstrate the fallen state of man and the entire corruption of his nature, then the perpetual and irreconcilable warfare which corruption maintains in the hearts of all believers against the divine nature of which they are made partakers.” Haldane, Robert. Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. New York: R. Carter, 1847, p. 305.
3
As we have already covered in preceding lessons, the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers by interceding for us; He reveals to us our wretchedness, and gives us a desire to call out to God for His blessings. Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 122-123.
4
The Reformed have often used the metaphor of “two books” to describe how God reveals Himself to us; one is general revelation (nature) and the other special revelation (Scripture). General revelation tells us about God through created things, and special revelation through words. The first is given to all men through nature and the second is given by grace to God’s people through the Scriptures. The distinction is important because it explains why God uses special revelation as the primary means to reveal Christ, the incarnate Word. It is also the reason why the Bible is the only reliable source where we can learn about who God is, who we are, and how we can be reconciled to God. This concept is found in the Belgic Confession, article 2. Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 2: God and Creation. Baker Academic, 2004, p. 496; and Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 538.
5
This is not strictly speaking, the Lord’s own prayer. Rather, it was given to us as an example for our instruction. “Jesus Christ could not have used this form of prayer as his own personal prayer, for it contains a petition for forgiveness, which implies a consciousness of guilt and sinfulness which he did not have. The New Testament records certain prayers that Jesus actually prayed. The longest is in John 17… The prayer commonly called ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ has been called by this name so long that it would be very difficult to change its name now. We continue to call it by that name, but at the same time we should realize that Jesus himself never prayed this prayer.” Ibid, p. 539.
6
The Lord’s prayer is largely based on the Scripture of the Old Testament and prayers derived from Jewish tradition. “While [this prayer] is enjoyed by our Lord’s authority, the words, the phrases, and nearly all the petitions have been taken from forms of prayer employed by the ancient Hebrews.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 146; see also pp. 147-151 for details.
7
It is significant that Jesus taught the Lord’s prayer on more than one occasion. This is accounting for the differences between the records given in the gospels according to Matthew and Luke. There are differences in terms of time and place. Additionally, the conclusion of the prayer is different as well. Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 539.
8
This is as Jesus Christ taught, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father…” (Mt. 6:9). Ibid, p. 540.
9
This is in accordance with Jesus Christ’s instruction, “When ye pray, say, Our Father…” (Lk. 11:2).
10
“Nothing is less safe than to take our experience as the sole standard for estimating the religious exercises of those whose habits and associations, from their earliest years, may have been widely different than our own.” Rev. William Pringle’s notes from Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 140-142, fn. 1.
11
“This is done by those persons who imagine that the words themselves, because Christ is their author, possess much worth and efficacy with the Father, that the bare repetition of them, unaccompanied by the attentive exercise of the mind, is sufficient for obtaining blessings from heaven.” Ibid, p. 136. This is akin to the Roman Catholic error about the operation of the sacraments where they are believed to confer grace simply by their physical performance (ex opere operato), even apart from faith. See: Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge. The Plan of Salvation. Boonton, NJ: Simpson Pub., 1989. pp. 49-50, 64. See also: Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 4: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation. Baker Academic, 2008, pp. 443-444, 468.
12
“While we consider it to be the privilege and duty of Christians to make use of the Lord’s prayer, it must not be concluded that the mere repetition of it is enough, and [or] that all other prayers are nearly useless.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 142. It appears that in the history of the church, around the fourth century, the Lord’s prayer rose to prominence within church liturgy to combat errors—both in doctrine and practice. “When piety declined and sloth increased, when heresy and ignorance grew to a shameful height, the first steps began to be taken towards a fixed liturgy. The earliest traces of it, so far as we can perceive, appear in the council held at Laodicea, A.D. 364, the eighteenth canon of which contains a decree, On the necessity of employing the same liturgy of prayers on all occasions, both in the afternoon and evening prayers. Shortly afterwards, private Christians were forbidden to use their own prayers till they had take advice from the better informed.” Ibid, p. 145. By the Council of Mela in 416, it was decided that “no prayers, which have not been authorized by well informed persons, or approved by the Synods, shall be used in the church, lest, through ignorance or carelessness, anything contrary to the faith should be received into such compositions.” While these were historical facts, Witsius expressed disapproval for such rules, recommending instead that ministers guide their flock on how to pray properly, rather than to forbid the use of their own prayers. Ibid, p. 146.
13
Ibid, pp. 136-137.
14
God is not pleased by vain repetition or the use of thoughtless words (Mt. 6:7). Keep in mind, however, that “the daily, attentive, and devout repetition of this prayer, has nothing to do with that vain repetition, unless we shall dare to charge our Lord himself with having committed this fault, when he prayed most fervently, repeating three time the same words” [cf. Mt. 26:36-44]. Ibid, p. 137.
15
Contrary to common belief, however, the work of the Holy Spirit is not limited to spontaneous activity. As we learned in a previous lesson, most of the elements of Christian worship are regularly scheduled and performed (e.g., public reading of Scriptures, preaching of the Word, Psalm singing, observance of the Lord’s supper, etc.) and blessed by the Spirit. Using Psalm singing as an example of repeating the words of Scripture for purposes of worship, Witsius points out the following: “if the frequent singing of those Psalms contribute, as it undoubtedly does contribute, to edify and excite our minds, how comes our edification to be prevented, and the excitement of our minds to be hindered by the repetition of the Lord’s prayer?” Ibid, p. 135.
16
In fact, we should be cautious about overly emphasizing spontaneity. “Do we expect that our imperfect attempts at finding appropriate language will be more acceptable to [God] than His own words full of inexpressible wisdom? We must hearken diligently with much heed [cf. Isa. 21:7] that the Divine wisdom appearing in them [i.e., the forms given in Scripture] may excite in us a higher degree of holy astonishment.” Ibid, p. 136.
17
Ibid, p. 128.
18
Ibid, p. 152.
19
WLC Q188: Of how many parts doth the Lord’s prayer consist? A: The Lord’s prayer consists of three parts; a preface, petitions, and a conclusion.
20
Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 544; and Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 152-153.
21
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 153.

Footnotes

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