... WITH CONFIDENCE.
God has given us body and soul. He has even given us His own Son. Because God has given us such great things, we can have courage and confidence when we ask Him for lesser things.
JOHANN GERHARDOur Father, who art in heaven:
We can approach our heavenly Father with the bold confidence that He will hear us, because His heartfelt desire is for us to know that He is truly our loving Father and that we are truly His beloved child.
Hallowed be Thy name.
God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray that it may also be kept holy in our life. God’s name is kept holy when His Word is taught in all its truth & purity and when we as children of God lead holy lives according to His Word.
Thy kingdom come.
The kingdom of God comes without our asking, but we pray that it also come to us—that our heavenly Father graciously gives us His Holy Spirit to both believe His holy Word and to lead a God-pleasing life, now and forever.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
God’s will is done without our prayer, but we pray that it also be done in our life. His good and gracious will is to strengthen and keep us steadfast in His Word and in faith until we die, and to hinder every evil plan and desire of the devil, the world, and our flesh (for they do not want us to keep God’s name holy or allow His kingdom to come).
Give us this day our daily bread.
Our daily bread consists of whatever we need for the support of our body and life. This includes food and clothing, house, property and income. It also includes a believing family & friends, faithful workers, good government, seasonable weather, health, peace, order, and reputation. Although God gives these things without us asking, even to those who do evil, we pray that He would lead us to recognize and give Him thanks for it.
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Although we all sin much, every day, and are not worthy of anything we ask but deserve only punishment, we pray that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins nor deny our prayers on account of them, but grant us our prayers simply by His grace. In this same grace we then forgive those who sin against us, and we seek their good.
Lead us not into temptation.
Although God tempts no one, we pray that He would guard and keep us from unbelief, despair, and other shame and evil—whatever the devil, the world, and our flesh will attempt to lead us into. We pray that we can finally overcome these things and gain the victory which is already ours.
Deliver us from evil.
We pray that our heavenly Father would deliver our body & soul from all evil, and that when our last hour comes, He will grant us a blessed death and graciously take us to Himself into heaven.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
“Amen” means “Yes—it shall be so!” Therefore, we can be certain that these prayers are pleasing to God and that He hears them, because Christ Himself has taught us to pray this way and has promised that the heavenly Father will hear us.