March 31 : Matthew 6

The Lord's Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

The title of this passage is most commonly referred to as the the Lord's Prayer. This is kind of a misnomer because it is not a prayer that Jesus would pray or have to pray since he does not need to be forgiven of sins. Instead this is prayer outline given to us by Jesus. Albeit this is not a prayer he probably prayed, it is probably similar to what he prayed. So I wanted to break it down a little. Firstly, Jesus acknowledges God as father. He begins with praise. To say hallowed be your name means that there is no one else like our God. He continues to praise the Father by saying that whatever God wills it will be done on earth. Jesus takes up a big chunk of the prayer by acknowledging first who God is. Then Jesus tells us to ask for forgiveness, but also just as important is our forgiveness of others. Then Jesus basically ends with, "let us stay out of trouble for His glory." We too need to pray like this!