The Lord’s Prayer Diagnosis

The Lord’s Prayer Diagnosis

Today we will be going over the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15) and gathering the key insights and concepts to note. I want to state, I am just a human – I am not God so this is a humans opinion rather than full fact. I wanted to do this as I have noticed the prayers I have seen in my life are very flawed. Unfortunately I have great understanding to why people either never follow God or walk away from God – the main issue is humans. People tend to listen to other Human’s as if they were God then to put in the work and read the Bible and that is a short summary of where everything goes wrong – I noted that people have the same issue with AI – they talk to AI as if it was God. We need to understand that specifically the Gospels of Jesus’s own word’s is God’s words, and this is far beyond our scope of mind. IN Matthew 6:5-15, Jesus is telling us the Godly way to pray. Now after reflection, remember this is the human talking, God is graceful and speaks much more eloquently then this, he does not condemn, he is loving and accepting and wants you to love him as he loves you. John 3:16


[Mat 6:5 NASB95] 5 "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

You see this all over today. So many people simply pray when their not 1 to 1 with God, their heart motive is not set on developing a relationship with God, rather it is focused on their relationship with other Men and their prideful self. When God say’s “they have their reward in full” he is saying that the reward they are looking for, ego gain, is complete – however their reward in Heaven is not.


[Mat 6:6 NASB95] 6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

Exactly as said before – God wants your prayers to be directed to him, when you call your Mom or Father you talk to them directly – same as God. What helps me is to remember God is your Father. This is a 1 to 1 relationship, prayer is not for man to man. It is for you to talk to God directly. I will not say what God’s reward is but it is implied throughout scripture it is to know God and be with God. The word “blessed” (Markarios) means to be set apart by God’s favor. Remember, to be blessed by God is typically not material things although there is many stories where it is – being blessed is to experience the full impact of God’s presence. 


[Mat 6:7 NASB95] 7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

Your prayers are measured by weight, not by length. A heartfelt short prayer is greater than any lenghty prayer as so many do. The NIV translates the phrase vain repetitions as “keep on babbling.” That may be an accurate sense of the ancient Greek word battalogeo, which may be a word that sounds like “babbling” and has the sense of “blah-blah-blah.” 


[Mat 6:8 NASB95] 8 "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Remember my fellow human, you are a human! Our depth of wisdom, knowledge, literally everything is the equivalent to how we view a goldfish compared to God. Read Job 38 if you want to know what I am talking about – as God said “[Job 38:36 NASB95] 36 "Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind?”

The following verses is what is considered the “model prayer” – we are going to go over the key concepts of this prayer to understand when we pray, where our main focuses should be.


[Mat 6:9 NASB95] 9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Start with recognition, we are talking to God who is not on earth, this recognizes that God is indeed God. It recognizes the Christian/Hebrew God rather than a other God such as the Caananite God – I may need to fact check myself but I believe the idea of Heaven of being a place to have eternal life with God is a Hebrew/Christian God only – if that is such a case, it affirms your belief in such a place to begin with which is cornerstone of faith.


[Mat 6:10 NASB95] 10 'Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

Our society today is lacking gratitude for what we have, many prayers involve material items that are beyond human’s for example wealth, items, material, etc. My favorite prayer to God is “God, please give me what you believe I need.” – that is it. I do not know what I need, but God certainly does (and we are blessed that he is a good God.) – stop trying to be God! That is the moral of the story. 


[Mat 6:11 NASB95] 11 'Give us this day our daily bread.

This is a complicated topic – many times throughout the Bible – bread meant the Word of God. The only time God fed people on a daily basis was in the wilderness in Exodus for the Jew’s. In my opinion, I believe there is no wrong answer – some days it may be literal bread, yes a very simple food item that is used to keep you alive, you must remember God cares about everyday things – he is the creator. On other days, you may need the Word of God more. 


[Mat 6:12 NASB95] 12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

“The prayer is for our needs, not our greeds. It is for one day at a time, reflecting the precarious lifestyle of many first-century workers who were paid one day at a time and for whom a few days’ illness could spell tragedy.” (Carson) 
“Sin is represented here under the notion of a debt, and as our sins are many, they are called here debts. God made man that he might live to his glory, and gave him a law to walk by; and if, when he does any thing that tends not to glorify God, he contracts a debt with Divine Justice.” (Clarke) 
Sin takes all forms, but 1 John 1:9 [1Jo 1:9 NASB95] 9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – God simply wants us to believe in him and repent of our sins. That is the requirement to go into Heaven. Repenting means to turn away from your sins, it does not mean you are going to be perfect – we are all sinners. We are all sinners. Matthew 22:36-40 covers the “we also have forgiven our debtors” – Love your neighbor as yourself – forgive as you will be forgive! Read Luke 6:37, Matthew 18:21-22

[Mat 6:13 NASB95] 13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.']

If we truly pray, lead us not into temptation, it will be lived out in several ways. It will mean: 
    • Never boast in your own strength. 
    • Never desire trials. 
    • Never go into temptation. 
    • Never lead others into temptation. 
We are always being tempted to do wrong (according to God’s moral standards) – however with God’s will (the God that made you) you can defeat your sin and come to be closer to him. The more you learn of God through the Bible – the more you can defeat sin. I want you to read the bible on you own, no more of listening to man or using AI for these answers, read and pray to God. Do not be led astray by humanistic ideas of God and spiritual life, works, ritual, human approbation, etc. I encourage you to encounter God directly through His Word - not because human teachers are useless, but because nothing compares to hearing His voice yourself. The Holy Spirit is an incredible teacher, and Scripture becomes alive when you engage it prayerfully. Start small if needed - even five minutes with God can transform your day.



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