Matthew 6:11-13 11Give us this day our daily bread, 12and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours in the kingdom and power and glory forever. Amen.
The next line of the prayer asks for the protection of the Father. Daily bread could be considered the most basic necessity for survival. God wants us to bring to him our physical needs. The reality is that this world is a difficult place to live. Much of the human population lives day by day, scrambling for basic necessities in the effort to survive. God promises his children that he will never leave them nor forsake them. God is the giver of life and the source for all we need. As Jesus will explain later in this chapter, God provides what we need when we seek first his kingdom and righteousness.
The next line asks for the pardon of the Father. A debt is a financial term of what is owed another. In verse 12, it has a moral sense because we owe God our lives because of sin. That may be why Luke’s version of this prayer asks for forgiveness of sins (Luke 11:4). Jesus teaches in the following verses that God’s forgiveness of us is directly linked to our forgiveness of others. Unforgiveness is a wall between us and God. We hold grudges and harbor bitterness when we should let go of these pains of the past. God’s compassionate mercy is new every morning and never ending (Lamentations 3:22-23), and so should ours be. An unforgiving heart will eventually destroy us. Unforgiveness rips our heart apart, stops us from growing spiritually, and destroys relationships with others. Unforgiveness leads to bitterness and makes it difficult for us to love other people. We are not being Jesus’ followers if we do not forgive those who owe us or do something wrong against us.
If we find it difficult to forgive, we must confess our sin to God and seek his help. Our thinking must change, from the wrong that was done to us, to the love we can give to the other person. Forgiveness brings release from the past and opens our hearts to love like Jesus.
The next line seeks to follow the path of the Father. Everyone is tempted, even Jesus (4:1-11). Like Jesus, we can rely on the help of God to help us overcome our temptations. Evil has the article in the Greek and could be translated as “the evil one,” referring to Satan. We can have victory over temptations, Satan, the evil spirit world, and the obstacles that try to ruin our faith or raise doubts. The the path to the cross is the way to victory. The cross represents submission to God’s will by putting him first in our lives in total submission and consecration. The only way to pray in Jesus’ name is to commit ourselves completely to Jesus’ lordship. Prayer involves stretching out our hands palms up in expectation that our Father will give his Spirit to us as our guide, companion, and counselor.
The last line of the prayer is a form of simple benediction that acknowledges God’s sovereignty. This lines is not found in the earliest manuscripts but was a common closing for prayer and was added at some point by a scribe. It has become traditional to say this line in closing the prayer. As the prayer starts with praise to the Father, so it ends by acknowledging that the Father is able answer all our requests. It is amazing that we can have an intimate relationship with the almighty, holy, and transcendent King of the universe God as Abba, Father.
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