Thoughts of the Lord's Prayer

by W. W. Fereday

Paper 1

No devout mind will ever question the absolute perfection of the prayer itself, seeing that it came from One with whom neither error nor flaw are possible. But we may legitimately question whether it was intended for the perpetual use of His people, and under all circumstances. Even that which is divinely excellent may prove injurious to the soul if wrongly applied. Spiritual intelligence in the ways of God is of the greatest possible importance to us all.

The Lord’s prayer was admirably suited to the disciples in the position in which they found themselves as favoured with the personal presence of the promised Christ. He Himself emphasised the privileges of their position in Matt.8.16-17: “Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” Others had looked and yearned for His coming; the disciples had Him before their eyes from day to day.

This being so, their experience went beyond anything known by Psalmists and Prophets, and this must needs be reflected in their prayers. But Christ not having yet died and risen again, and redemption being yet unaccomplished, the disciples were not in the marvellous position of blessing in which Christians now stand. Hence, while they could speak to God in a way that saints of earlier ages could not, they were quite unable to speak to Him as we can who are in the full grace and blessing of a perfect Christianity.

The prayer was thus suited to the intermediate or transitional condition of things then prevailing, and it will probably be found truly suitable again when Israel’s believing remnant steps into our place of testimony after the Christian era is closed.

It is a fact to be noted that (leaving aside the Lord’s prayer for the moment) no forms for use in approach to God, whether in prayer or worship, are ever suggested in the New Testament Epistles. Moreover, there is no reference whatever to the Lord’s prayer after Pentecost. The Acts and the Epistles are alike silent as to its ever being used in the early Church. Why is this? The answer is very simple. This is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. He is personally present upon the earth while Christ is away. By His power the Church has been formed, and in it He dwells, for it is God’s habitation in the Spirit, Eph.2.22. The living presence of the Spirit suffices for every need. He is perfectly able to furnish the suited language for every occasion. All that is needed is simple-hearted subjection on the part of those who are born of God. To no others could it apply.

Was the Lord’s prayer meant to be a model or a form? Scarcely the latter, for then we should be obliged to ask which form we should use, seeing that in Lk.11, the prayer is given more briefly than in Matt.6 (see Revised Version).* Moreover, the fact that the Lord has left the prayer in what some would consider an unfinished state has led to the unauthorised addition of the words “for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen,” in order to render it suitable for congregational use. We suggest therefore that the Lord intended no more than a model of prayer for His disciples.

True Christian prayer is in the name of the Son, Jn.16.23-24, and obviously the Lord’s prayer is not that. Prayer in the name of the Son is not the mere tacking His name to the end of our petitions; it is prayer in the consciousness that Christ by His death and resurrection has brought us into His own standing before God, accepted in His acceptance, blessed as He is blessed, and loved as He is loved. Praying in this happy consciousness, we expect the Father to respond to our requests according to His delight in His Son, with whom we are eternally identified. Several years after the Lord’s prayer was given, the Lord said to His disciples: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full,” Jn.16.24. The whole context in Jn.16 shows that He was now leading them into a deeper privilege in connection with prayer than they had ever known before.

*Taking into account the context in both cases, it is possible that Luke’s shorter form was given at an earlier date than Matthew’s longer form.

—to be continued (D.V.)