“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.” Matt 6:9-13 (Read full chapter)

The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 …

In Matthew 6:9-13, the multitudes were gathered around Jesus and He taught them how to pray to our Heavenly Father. Personalizing this powerful prayer has been life changing for me. It’s easy to remember and just beams with life.

A while back, I read about the Lord’s prayer in Dr. David Jeremiah’s book: Prayer, The Great Adventure. I’ve been personalizing this prayer ever since. Knowing that God is a very personal God makes it so much easier to have a relationship of openness with Him.

Jesus teaches us …

In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV

Here’s an example of how I might break down and personalize this powerful prayer …

I begin The Lord’s Prayer like this:

My Father, God and King in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name …

Then I begin praising Him by using several of the many names of God. I might say:

You are my Holy and Righteous Judge. Praise You, El Elyon, the God most high. Praise You, Jehovah Nissi, the banner over me. Praise You, El Roi, the God who sees me. Praise You, Jesus, the Bread of Life, who sustains me in every way. Praise You, Jesus, The Good Shepherd, for laying Your life down for me.

I continue on in this manner for awhile, allowing the Holy Spirit to wash over me, reminding me of who God truly is. My prayer is not written in stone and greatly varies, but each time is a special moment between me and God.

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven …

This is where I ask God to check my heart, showing me places where I’m not obedient to Him. I understand the angels in heaven are 100% obedient to God and, without hesitation, they do whatever is asked of them. I know I fall short in this area all too often. Many times because I’m exhausted from fighting battles in my own strength instead of in God’s.

But God is good and He helps me to move forward. As I pray this part of the prayer and these things come to mind, I can’t help but praise God once again, thanking Him for his faithfulness to me.

Give us this day our daily bread …

This always strums the chords of my heart in a tender, soft kind of way. I understand Jesus Christ and the Word of God are my ultimate daily bread and I can not live without either one. So I automatically praise Jesus even more. Then I thank God for meeting my needs … like my job, my car, shelter, food, clean water, ways to get warm when I’m cold and ways to cool off when I’m hot.

Also, knowing there are people without these necessities, I thank God for my blankets and pillows. It’s too easy to take the simple things for granted. Homeless people often come to mind while I’m praying here, so I lift them up to God as well.

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors …  

Because it’s not always easy, this verse can often feel like betrayal. I had an extremely difficult time forgiving a couple of people in different stages of my life.

In one instance, I remember saying to God:

“It’s absolutely impossible for me to forgive this person. I know You want me to and for that reason only, I want to as well. But, I CANNOT do it without You. Please help me!”

I prayed this prayer repeatedly for months before I was set free. God did eventually help me, though. The turning point in forgiving her came when, in great heartache and despair, I cried out to God, saying, “She has all the power, God! Why DOES she get all the power? It’s killing me!!”

Immediately, and I mean immediately, God reminded me of the time Jesus stood before Pilate and Pilate said to Jesus: “Don’t you realize I have power either to set you free or crucify you?”

Listen to how Jesus replied! He said: “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above.”

Is that not powerful, or what? NO POWER! Absolutely, no power!

I will never forget that moment! The moment I completely understood that the only power this lady had over me came through God first. Knowing this, too, would pass, I felt the pressure lift as I wept at God’s feet. As I mentioned previously, it was a huge turning point for me with forgiving others.

The freedom is unexplainable! Even though neither one of these people are in my inner circle of friends (boundaries are a good thing), I can honestly say I don’t despise them anymore and their names no longer invoke negative feelings within me.

Thank you, Jesus!!

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one …

This prompted me to thank the Lord because He never leads me into temptation. I am led into temptation by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, not by God (1 John 2:16) and Jesus died on the cross and shed his blood for my sins. Most of the time, I spend time here thanking Jesus for this priceless gift.

Sometimes I ask God to reveal any hidden sins in my heart as well. This just flows right into thanking God because He does indeed deliver me from the evil one every single day. He is faithful to always provide a way out when I’m tempted. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Our God truly is a God of love …

I don’t know about you, but I love the frosting on a cake the most. Every time I eat a cupcake, I think to myself: there’s got to be a way to make cupcakes in layers, adding frosting in between each layer, isn’t there? lol

I feel the same way about the ending of this prayer. I love it!!

For Yours is the Kingdom and the Glory and the Power forever. Amen …

This is phenomenal and leaves me feeling spirituality complete and full. And for that, I’m grateful. There are many newer books on the Lord’s Prayer and I’d like to purchase another one. If you have suggestions, I’d appreciate it if you could leave it in the comments below. Thank you!

Also, if you feel comfortable, please share how you pray the Lord’s Prayer. I love individuality! It’s such a wonderful gift of God. Have a blessed day and know that God loves you. ❤

The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 @ freshgracefortoday

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