After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Prayer begins by coming directly to God as a loving Father in heaven with reverent confidence, belonging to His family with all others as brothers and sisters. To hallow His name is to honor Him as holy in word and in life, reverencing His presence and representing His character instead of seeking self. These opening words give the manner and pattern for all prayer, short and simple yet covering every real need, not a form to be repeated word for word. The prayer is acceptable only when offered with understanding, sincerity, humility and faith, and it must be lived out in obedience, forgiveness and service that answer its petitions.
Setting in Sermon Teaching
The verse belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, spoken especially to the disciples within hearing of the gathered multitude. It was taught from a mountain-side gathering place after the ordination of the apostles, with the disciples gathered close and the curious crowd pressing near. The truths were spoken in plain simple language that even the poor and unlearned could understand, and simple enough for a child to study without being misled. They were spoken with authority as words of eternal life and carrying God's authority showing the way to heaven. The sermon taught the principles and conditions of God's kingdom rather than the worldly greatness the hearers expected. Its far-reaching principles teach that God's law must be received in the heart, where the condition of the heart shapes life and character.
It was given as instruction about prayer when the disciples asked to be taught to pray as John taught his disciples. It was first given to the crowds in the Sermon on the Mount and later repeated to the disciples. The later repeating came after they found Christ absorbed in aloud supplication following a short absence, and were deeply moved by His prayers and habit of communion with God. Its lesson was then illustrated by the parable of the friend at midnight. It has a depth of meaning not yet understood and worth further understanding, with every word possessing deep meaning. Christ's own hours of communion with His Father showed prayer as peace and refreshment amid demanding work, and the prayer prepares receivers to give spiritual nourishment to others.
It was given after cautioning against vain repetitions and against imitating the prayers of the Pharisees. Those prayers were hypocritical and self-exalting, offered to be seen by others for human praise, whose only reward is human praise. Prayer should instead exalt God and acknowledge human dependence and weakness rather than recounting good deeds to exalt self. The rebuke concerns showy prayer for display, not a prohibition of public prayer.
The sermon to which the verse belongs gives lessons to be exemplified in life. Living those lessons makes a deeper and more lasting impression than sermons spoken from the pulpit.
Form of Model Prayer
The opening line introduces a short, brief, simple and direct sample and model prayer, given in simple form and simple words rather than high-flown language, without needless words or useless words, yet comprehensive and embracing everything needed in prayer. It covers actual needs, daily needs and the necessities of the soul, temporal and spiritual blessings, the substance of requests and gratitude for them, and all that is essential. Offered simply and with genuine faith, humbly asking for what it contains brings blessing, sweet peace and rest, even in physical weakness or troubled thoughts, while many long and spiritless, faithless prayers are a burden rather than a joy. Right use of it calls for clean, converted hearts and strengthened faith that trusts the promise to answer, bringing light and grace into all works until transforming power is manifested and the divine character reflected.
It gives the manner, pattern and ideal for prayer, not words to be repeated merely as a form or exactly, and its words are a guide and not a limit, so petitions are not confined to repeating its special words. It shows how to avoid vain, showy prayer, and even when no more words than those given are spoken, it is heart-service if offered sincerely, more acceptable than long tedious prayers that seek praise and exalt supposed human goodness. It is to be presented with understanding, teaching simplicity, earnestness and comprehensiveness, so that in family worship a brief petition can express needs and gratitude for mercies.
Every word possesses deep meaning, and the prayer is a perfect petition simple enough for a child to use yet too full for even the greatest minds to grasp completely. When understood it holds all that is essential for salvation, mentions all that is needed, embraces everything needed and everything for the inhabitants of the earth, and is full of meaning. Its principles are to be studied carefully, taught to children, repeated daily in the family circle as a blessing preserving unity, and kept before the people not only to be repeated but to be obeyed implicitly. It is a whole sermon to those who live by it, given for calling upon God for help in trouble and suffering, bringing thankfulness, dependence and trust when relief is given, and after teaching it forgiveness was pressed forcibly upon the disciples' minds.
It is the model for public prayer, social meetings, family worship and gathered assembly: prayer should be simple, clear, earnest, comprehensive and right to the point, asking God's blessing on those present so that all may be edified and can understand. It stands against long, spiritless, wandering prayers, oratorical speeches or sermons and lectures that range over the world and preach to God, and against ranging over every concern instead of praying directly and suitably for those assembled. Long prayers that lay out all the burden of the heart belong in private prayer alone in the closet, approaching God in soul need, telling Him what is wanted and trusting Him as a heavenly Father just as a child trusts an earthly parent.
Its substance teaches thanking God, telling Him needs, confessing sins and claiming mercy according to promise, bringing daily needs before God and entrusting all care to Him with assurance of being heard. Its request for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven outlines the work of followers, binds them to infinite love, teaches asking with faith that requests will be fulfilled, and calls them to consecrate themselves to service and work to answer it, rejecting selfishness, laziness and indifference. Asking for daily bread does not excuse idleness, for work is given so that people cooperate in meeting needs, and asking forgiveness calls for forgiving others, since an unforgiving person cuts off the channel through which mercy is received. The rule is that if men forgive others the heavenly Father will also forgive them, but if they do not forgive neither will He forgive, so a brother who gives offense and then confesses is to be freely and fully forgiven and treated as if the wrong had never been done, taken back with rejoicing and never met with indifference or united discouragement, for no man has been placed as judge.
Our Father in Heaven
Prayer is directed to God as Our Father in heaven, and those needing help may come directly to Him with confidence and reverence, with no human being standing between God and those Christ redeemed. It is God, not saints or angels, to whom prayer is directed, and access to the Father is through Christ who intercedes, so that people come to the Father in the Son's name. That approach is to be a daily coming to the loving, gracious Father for oneself and for others, with humility and repentance rather than self-justification, and with sincere, sanctified desire. The prayer is to be offered by every believer and answered in their lives, for it would not have been taught as asking for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven if this were not possible.
Calling Him Our Father assures believers that they belong to God's family as His adopted children, whom Jesus calls His brethren and welcomes into that family. It recognizes all His children as brothers and sisters in one human family, sharing one name as children of the heavenly King with equal value regardless of wealth, social rank, or race. Therefore prayer should include neighbors as well as self, and is not right when it seeks blessing for self alone. This name expresses affection for Him and pledges His tender regard and relationship to them, in which He pities their weakness and strengthens them. The title joins parental love, tenderness, and mercy with holiness, justice, and power, beautifully revealed at the cross, and beholding His majesty makes the meaning of calling Him Father clearer.
The name expresses God's true relation to humanity and His paternal love, tenderness, mercy, pity, compassion, and loving care. All the pity, compassion, and love manifested on earth have emanated from His throne as the fountain of paternal affection and source of the love flowing through the human heart, as a fountain to an ocean, perpetually flowing forth to make the weak strong, to make the faint-hearted firm, and to give moral courage to the wavering. Christ presented this view to correct the false picture of a stern, unfeeling, avenging judge without compassion, mercy, or love, and to restore confidence in God's love. Spoken sincerely it is pleasing to God, and Christ leads people to Him and to His throne through a new and living way. Believers may therefore approach with childlike confidence and trust without fear, coldness, or distance even in severe affliction, trials, and temptations, knowing His distress for them and relying on His strength and support.
The Father in heaven is sovereign and does whatever He pleases, the source of every gift and of Christ's power, to whom Jesus directed attention away from Himself. Jesus exalted the Father in His healing work so that witnesses glorified the God of Israel, declared He had glorified the Father on earth, asked to be glorified so He could glorify the Father, and declared the Father's name to the disciples so the Father's love might be in them. Those who pray to Him can rest safely in His care and trust Him when afraid, and recognizing His goodness with gratitude fills the heart and surrounds the soul with a heavenly atmosphere. The address puts His name and interests first before asking for personal needs, making His service the first concern, and those who give themselves to Christ belong to His family and may trust Him to provide day by day. When their characters are transformed and their good works shine, others glorify their heavenly Father.
As His children believers are to be guided by His wisdom and obedient in all things because His love is changeless, accepting His plan and making His honor, character, family, and work their highest interests with joy in relationship to Him and to every member of His family. They are loyal and entitled to ask for their needs, and Christ taught His disciples this paternal character of God. Children should learn from earliest understanding that God is their Father, becoming familiar with Jesus' name and life, with first training leading to loving obedience. As heavenly Father He requires His people to walk in the light He gives, which is always reasonable and just and claims perfect obedience to His commandments, while failure to walk in that light separates them from Him and brings darkness in proportion to light shone on their pathway.
Hallowed Be Thy Name
To hallow God's name is to treat Him as holy, honoring Him with reverence and recognizing His presence first in prayer. His name is always to be spoken with thoughtful reverence and love.
God's name is hallowed when His children honor Him rather than themselves. Prayer must not become self-praise or a display of personal righteousness, as it had become among the scribes and Pharisees. His name is honored when believers seek His grace and spiritual blessings and represent Christ's character in their lives. To ask that His name be hallowed is to ask that it be honored both in the world and in the one who prays. Those who bear His name as His children are to represent Him in every act of life and do no dishonor to that worthy name. Hallowing His name requires a life and character that show God's own character, made possible only through accepting Christ's grace and righteousness. It means giving Him honor and glory and directing glory to the Father in heaven, as Jesus directed attention away from Himself to the Father as the source of His power. His healing work led witnesses to glorify the God of Israel, and in His prayer before the crucifixion He declared that He had glorified the Father on earth and declared the Father's name to His disciples so that the Father's love might be in them.
Hallowing God's name belongs to the prayer of a converted person who loves God supremely and loves neighbor as self. It belongs to the pure gospel given upon the mount that explains God's holy law and sets the holy standard of character. That standard forbids diverting means from God's true object for ambitious designs, mingling human wisdom with the divine, and unjustly acquiring means at another's expense to please the lust for gain and power. Those who do such things show they have not learned this prayer, and they need a cleansing and purging of the soul temple to meet its standard.
The petition honors God's name and asks for His name to be honored, and for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven. It puts God's name and interests first, with His name to be honored and His kingdom and will to be established and carried out, before asking for personal needs. Praying in this way means yielding to God's will rather than following one's own desires, expressing submission that God's will and not human wishes should guide what is done. It expresses the desire that God's purposes be carried out on earth. It is a prayer safe to offer at all times and in all places, and would place one on spiritually sound ground.
Praying and Living It
The prayer remains valuable in the last days because God gave these words in kindness and mercy to help human infirmity when people do not know what they ought to ask, framing into words what comprehends every human need. It is not acceptable as a mere form but must be prayed with understanding of its meaning and awareness of need, with sincerity of heart and mind and soul, humility, reverence and genuine faith. Even when no more words than this prayer are spoken, every such prayer offered in sincerity is heart-service to God. Its words are a guide and not a limit, and it is more acceptable than long tedious repetitions offered to be seen and praised by men that exalt supposed human goodness.
It is to be repeated daily with hearts open to Christ's grace and power by those who feel their need, with assurance that the One who gave it hears. It should be added to every prayer and studied throughout the day, spoken even while walking or working as talking with God before His throne. It is the privilege and safeguard for morning devotion, to be offered in sincerity after special private prayer to close the petition, and its few words comprehend all personal needs. Praying it in this way brings special evidence that Jesus is Helper with rich grace for the day, assurance of not asking amiss, blessing, sweet peace and rest even in physical weakness or troubled thoughts, and peace to go forth to work. It is fitting for both private use and public preaching, to be repeated word for word as morning praise, especially at the beginning of a new year, followed by earnest personal prayer for an approved experience that blesses self and others.
Parents should teach children what it means, teaching them to pray clearly and reverently in understandable family worship where they can repeat it together. Every true Christian uses this short prayer full of meaning to preserve unity, repeating it daily in the family circle as a blessing. It is to be prayed each day by those who know the truth as they impart knowledge, enlarge their labors and send help to unpromising fields and regions beyond where the standard of truth has never been lifted.
Praying it binds people to the heart of infinite love and encourages faith that what is asked will be received, for its petitions are attainable and will be fulfilled. Humbly, reverently and faithfully asking for what it contains brings blessing, sweet peace, and rest and relief that produce thankfulness, dependence and trust. It is given for calling upon God for help in trouble and suffering.
It is to be not only repeated and kept before the people but obeyed implicitly, prayed, studied and lived by all churches as the pattern all are to pray, study and live. To offer it daily and live it out during the day is the whole duty of man whose principles lie at the foundation of all right action, making those who carry out every phase sensible men whose minds God Himself can control and guide. Living it cleanses the defiled rooms of the soul temple, refreshes memory with Bible principles, keeps the mind clear to distinguish good and evil, lets the Sun of Righteousness in as the soul opens heavenward, and renews mind and heart by the Holy Spirit with strength for high and holy purposes. It brings into close contact with Christ where at every step His living power is touched and heaven's agencies work on behalf, makes the church the light of the world and turns from form and ceremony to sanctifying principles with an influence that can move the world, and wins a crown of life everlasting. Its prayer is to be offered by every believer and answered in their lives, and its true character should be taught in families and churches and answered through good works.
Living it requires forgiving as one hopes to be forgiven, for if men forgive others the heavenly Father will forgive them but if not neither will He forgive. A brother who gives offense and then confesses is to be freely and fully forgiven and treated as if the wrong had never been done, taken back with rejoicing and never met with indifference or united discouragement, for God has placed no man as judge. Asking forgiveness also calls for forgiving others, since an unforgiving person cuts off the channel of mercy, and after teaching the prayer Christ pressed forgiveness forcibly on the disciples' minds.
Living it requires consecration to Christ's service to do what can be done to answer its petitions, rejecting selfishness, laziness and indifference. Right use calls for clean converted hearts and strengthened faith that trusts Christ's promise to answer, bringing Christ's light and grace into all works until transforming power manifests the divine character. It teaches contentment and surrender of the will to the Holy Spirit, seeking God's approval rather than pursuing wealth, pushing fellow workers aside or making room for own plans, willingly serving where placed. Envy and strife over place and honor are to be taken to the Father for His Spirit's impress, putting away ambition for recognition, exalting God and depending on Him in weakness rather than recounting good deeds since He is presented as all, the beginning and the end. Life is to be ordered by truth found in His word through diligent study of Scripture as truth of the living God and foundation of faith and assurance of eternal life, not as a make-believe story.
Prayer begins by coming directly to God as a loving Father in heaven with reverent confidence, belonging to His family with all others as brothers and sisters.
To hallow His name is to honor Him as holy in word and in life, reverencing His presence and representing His character instead of seeking self.
These opening words give the manner and pattern for all prayer, short and simple yet covering every real need, not a form to be repeated word for word.
The prayer is acceptable only when offered with understanding, sincerity, humility and faith, and it must be lived out in obedience, forgiveness and service that answer its petitions.
Setting in Sermon Teaching
The verse belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, spoken especially to the disciples within hearing of the gathered multitude. It was taught from a mountain-side gathering place after the ordination of the apostles, with the disciples gathered close and the curious crowd pressing near. The truths were spoken in plain simple language that even the poor and unlearned could understand, and simple enough for a child to study without being misled. They were spoken with authority as words of eternal life and carrying God's authority showing the way to heaven. The sermon taught the principles and conditions of God's kingdom rather than the worldly greatness the hearers expected. Its far-reaching principles teach that God's law must be received in the heart, where the condition of the heart shapes life and character.
It was given as instruction about prayer when the disciples asked to be taught to pray as John taught his disciples. It was first given to the crowds in the Sermon on the Mount and later repeated to the disciples. The later repeating came after they found Christ absorbed in aloud supplication following a short absence, and were deeply moved by His prayers and habit of communion with God. Its lesson was then illustrated by the parable of the friend at midnight. It has a depth of meaning not yet understood and worth further understanding, with every word possessing deep meaning. Christ's own hours of communion with His Father showed prayer as peace and refreshment amid demanding work, and the prayer prepares receivers to give spiritual nourishment to others.
It was given after cautioning against vain repetitions and against imitating the prayers of the Pharisees. Those prayers were hypocritical and self-exalting, offered to be seen by others for human praise, whose only reward is human praise. Prayer should instead exalt God and acknowledge human dependence and weakness rather than recounting good deeds to exalt self. The rebuke concerns showy prayer for display, not a prohibition of public prayer.
The sermon to which the verse belongs gives lessons to be exemplified in life. Living those lessons makes a deeper and more lasting impression than sermons spoken from the pulpit.
Form of Model Prayer
The opening line introduces a short, brief, simple and direct sample and model prayer, given in simple form and simple words rather than high-flown language, without needless words or useless words, yet comprehensive and embracing everything needed in prayer. It covers actual needs, daily needs and the necessities of the soul, temporal and spiritual blessings, the substance of requests and gratitude for them, and all that is essential. Offered simply and with genuine faith, humbly asking for what it contains brings blessing, sweet peace and rest, even in physical weakness or troubled thoughts, while many long and spiritless, faithless prayers are a burden rather than a joy. Right use of it calls for clean, converted hearts and strengthened faith that trusts the promise to answer, bringing light and grace into all works until transforming power is manifested and the divine character reflected.
It gives the manner, pattern and ideal for prayer, not words to be repeated merely as a form or exactly, and its words are a guide and not a limit, so petitions are not confined to repeating its special words. It shows how to avoid vain, showy prayer, and even when no more words than those given are spoken, it is heart-service if offered sincerely, more acceptable than long tedious prayers that seek praise and exalt supposed human goodness. It is to be presented with understanding, teaching simplicity, earnestness and comprehensiveness, so that in family worship a brief petition can express needs and gratitude for mercies.
Every word possesses deep meaning, and the prayer is a perfect petition simple enough for a child to use yet too full for even the greatest minds to grasp completely. When understood it holds all that is essential for salvation, mentions all that is needed, embraces everything needed and everything for the inhabitants of the earth, and is full of meaning. Its principles are to be studied carefully, taught to children, repeated daily in the family circle as a blessing preserving unity, and kept before the people not only to be repeated but to be obeyed implicitly. It is a whole sermon to those who live by it, given for calling upon God for help in trouble and suffering, bringing thankfulness, dependence and trust when relief is given, and after teaching it forgiveness was pressed forcibly upon the disciples' minds.
It is the model for public prayer, social meetings, family worship and gathered assembly: prayer should be simple, clear, earnest, comprehensive and right to the point, asking God's blessing on those present so that all may be edified and can understand. It stands against long, spiritless, wandering prayers, oratorical speeches or sermons and lectures that range over the world and preach to God, and against ranging over every concern instead of praying directly and suitably for those assembled. Long prayers that lay out all the burden of the heart belong in private prayer alone in the closet, approaching God in soul need, telling Him what is wanted and trusting Him as a heavenly Father just as a child trusts an earthly parent.
Its substance teaches thanking God, telling Him needs, confessing sins and claiming mercy according to promise, bringing daily needs before God and entrusting all care to Him with assurance of being heard. Its request for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven outlines the work of followers, binds them to infinite love, teaches asking with faith that requests will be fulfilled, and calls them to consecrate themselves to service and work to answer it, rejecting selfishness, laziness and indifference. Asking for daily bread does not excuse idleness, for work is given so that people cooperate in meeting needs, and asking forgiveness calls for forgiving others, since an unforgiving person cuts off the channel through which mercy is received. The rule is that if men forgive others the heavenly Father will also forgive them, but if they do not forgive neither will He forgive, so a brother who gives offense and then confesses is to be freely and fully forgiven and treated as if the wrong had never been done, taken back with rejoicing and never met with indifference or united discouragement, for no man has been placed as judge.
Our Father in Heaven
Prayer is directed to God as Our Father in heaven, and those needing help may come directly to Him with confidence and reverence, with no human being standing between God and those Christ redeemed. It is God, not saints or angels, to whom prayer is directed, and access to the Father is through Christ who intercedes, so that people come to the Father in the Son's name. That approach is to be a daily coming to the loving, gracious Father for oneself and for others, with humility and repentance rather than self-justification, and with sincere, sanctified desire. The prayer is to be offered by every believer and answered in their lives, for it would not have been taught as asking for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven if this were not possible.
Calling Him Our Father assures believers that they belong to God's family as His adopted children, whom Jesus calls His brethren and welcomes into that family. It recognizes all His children as brothers and sisters in one human family, sharing one name as children of the heavenly King with equal value regardless of wealth, social rank, or race. Therefore prayer should include neighbors as well as self, and is not right when it seeks blessing for self alone. This name expresses affection for Him and pledges His tender regard and relationship to them, in which He pities their weakness and strengthens them. The title joins parental love, tenderness, and mercy with holiness, justice, and power, beautifully revealed at the cross, and beholding His majesty makes the meaning of calling Him Father clearer.
The name expresses God's true relation to humanity and His paternal love, tenderness, mercy, pity, compassion, and loving care. All the pity, compassion, and love manifested on earth have emanated from His throne as the fountain of paternal affection and source of the love flowing through the human heart, as a fountain to an ocean, perpetually flowing forth to make the weak strong, to make the faint-hearted firm, and to give moral courage to the wavering. Christ presented this view to correct the false picture of a stern, unfeeling, avenging judge without compassion, mercy, or love, and to restore confidence in God's love. Spoken sincerely it is pleasing to God, and Christ leads people to Him and to His throne through a new and living way. Believers may therefore approach with childlike confidence and trust without fear, coldness, or distance even in severe affliction, trials, and temptations, knowing His distress for them and relying on His strength and support.
The Father in heaven is sovereign and does whatever He pleases, the source of every gift and of Christ's power, to whom Jesus directed attention away from Himself. Jesus exalted the Father in His healing work so that witnesses glorified the God of Israel, declared He had glorified the Father on earth, asked to be glorified so He could glorify the Father, and declared the Father's name to the disciples so the Father's love might be in them. Those who pray to Him can rest safely in His care and trust Him when afraid, and recognizing His goodness with gratitude fills the heart and surrounds the soul with a heavenly atmosphere. The address puts His name and interests first before asking for personal needs, making His service the first concern, and those who give themselves to Christ belong to His family and may trust Him to provide day by day. When their characters are transformed and their good works shine, others glorify their heavenly Father.
As His children believers are to be guided by His wisdom and obedient in all things because His love is changeless, accepting His plan and making His honor, character, family, and work their highest interests with joy in relationship to Him and to every member of His family. They are loyal and entitled to ask for their needs, and Christ taught His disciples this paternal character of God. Children should learn from earliest understanding that God is their Father, becoming familiar with Jesus' name and life, with first training leading to loving obedience. As heavenly Father He requires His people to walk in the light He gives, which is always reasonable and just and claims perfect obedience to His commandments, while failure to walk in that light separates them from Him and brings darkness in proportion to light shone on their pathway.
Hallowed Be Thy Name
To hallow God's name is to treat Him as holy, honoring Him with reverence and recognizing His presence first in prayer. His name is always to be spoken with thoughtful reverence and love.
God's name is hallowed when His children honor Him rather than themselves. Prayer must not become self-praise or a display of personal righteousness, as it had become among the scribes and Pharisees. His name is honored when believers seek His grace and spiritual blessings and represent Christ's character in their lives. To ask that His name be hallowed is to ask that it be honored both in the world and in the one who prays. Those who bear His name as His children are to represent Him in every act of life and do no dishonor to that worthy name. Hallowing His name requires a life and character that show God's own character, made possible only through accepting Christ's grace and righteousness. It means giving Him honor and glory and directing glory to the Father in heaven, as Jesus directed attention away from Himself to the Father as the source of His power. His healing work led witnesses to glorify the God of Israel, and in His prayer before the crucifixion He declared that He had glorified the Father on earth and declared the Father's name to His disciples so that the Father's love might be in them.
Hallowing God's name belongs to the prayer of a converted person who loves God supremely and loves neighbor as self. It belongs to the pure gospel given upon the mount that explains God's holy law and sets the holy standard of character. That standard forbids diverting means from God's true object for ambitious designs, mingling human wisdom with the divine, and unjustly acquiring means at another's expense to please the lust for gain and power. Those who do such things show they have not learned this prayer, and they need a cleansing and purging of the soul temple to meet its standard.
The petition honors God's name and asks for His name to be honored, and for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven. It puts God's name and interests first, with His name to be honored and His kingdom and will to be established and carried out, before asking for personal needs. Praying in this way means yielding to God's will rather than following one's own desires, expressing submission that God's will and not human wishes should guide what is done. It expresses the desire that God's purposes be carried out on earth. It is a prayer safe to offer at all times and in all places, and would place one on spiritually sound ground.
Praying and Living It
The prayer remains valuable in the last days because God gave these words in kindness and mercy to help human infirmity when people do not know what they ought to ask, framing into words what comprehends every human need. It is not acceptable as a mere form but must be prayed with understanding of its meaning and awareness of need, with sincerity of heart and mind and soul, humility, reverence and genuine faith. Even when no more words than this prayer are spoken, every such prayer offered in sincerity is heart-service to God. Its words are a guide and not a limit, and it is more acceptable than long tedious repetitions offered to be seen and praised by men that exalt supposed human goodness.
It is to be repeated daily with hearts open to Christ's grace and power by those who feel their need, with assurance that the One who gave it hears. It should be added to every prayer and studied throughout the day, spoken even while walking or working as talking with God before His throne. It is the privilege and safeguard for morning devotion, to be offered in sincerity after special private prayer to close the petition, and its few words comprehend all personal needs. Praying it in this way brings special evidence that Jesus is Helper with rich grace for the day, assurance of not asking amiss, blessing, sweet peace and rest even in physical weakness or troubled thoughts, and peace to go forth to work. It is fitting for both private use and public preaching, to be repeated word for word as morning praise, especially at the beginning of a new year, followed by earnest personal prayer for an approved experience that blesses self and others.
Parents should teach children what it means, teaching them to pray clearly and reverently in understandable family worship where they can repeat it together. Every true Christian uses this short prayer full of meaning to preserve unity, repeating it daily in the family circle as a blessing. It is to be prayed each day by those who know the truth as they impart knowledge, enlarge their labors and send help to unpromising fields and regions beyond where the standard of truth has never been lifted.
Praying it binds people to the heart of infinite love and encourages faith that what is asked will be received, for its petitions are attainable and will be fulfilled. Humbly, reverently and faithfully asking for what it contains brings blessing, sweet peace, and rest and relief that produce thankfulness, dependence and trust. It is given for calling upon God for help in trouble and suffering.
It is to be not only repeated and kept before the people but obeyed implicitly, prayed, studied and lived by all churches as the pattern all are to pray, study and live. To offer it daily and live it out during the day is the whole duty of man whose principles lie at the foundation of all right action, making those who carry out every phase sensible men whose minds God Himself can control and guide. Living it cleanses the defiled rooms of the soul temple, refreshes memory with Bible principles, keeps the mind clear to distinguish good and evil, lets the Sun of Righteousness in as the soul opens heavenward, and renews mind and heart by the Holy Spirit with strength for high and holy purposes. It brings into close contact with Christ where at every step His living power is touched and heaven's agencies work on behalf, makes the church the light of the world and turns from form and ceremony to sanctifying principles with an influence that can move the world, and wins a crown of life everlasting. Its prayer is to be offered by every believer and answered in their lives, and its true character should be taught in families and churches and answered through good works.
Living it requires forgiving as one hopes to be forgiven, for if men forgive others the heavenly Father will forgive them but if not neither will He forgive. A brother who gives offense and then confesses is to be freely and fully forgiven and treated as if the wrong had never been done, taken back with rejoicing and never met with indifference or united discouragement, for God has placed no man as judge. Asking forgiveness also calls for forgiving others, since an unforgiving person cuts off the channel of mercy, and after teaching the prayer Christ pressed forgiveness forcibly on the disciples' minds.
Living it requires consecration to Christ's service to do what can be done to answer its petitions, rejecting selfishness, laziness and indifference. Right use calls for clean converted hearts and strengthened faith that trusts Christ's promise to answer, bringing Christ's light and grace into all works until transforming power manifests the divine character. It teaches contentment and surrender of the will to the Holy Spirit, seeking God's approval rather than pursuing wealth, pushing fellow workers aside or making room for own plans, willingly serving where placed. Envy and strife over place and honor are to be taken to the Father for His Spirit's impress, putting away ambition for recognition, exalting God and depending on Him in weakness rather than recounting good deeds since He is presented as all, the beginning and the end. Life is to be ordered by truth found in His word through diligent study of Scripture as truth of the living God and foundation of faith and assurance of eternal life, not as a make-believe story.