Inter-Varsity Press

Contents

Preface

1. ‘This, then, is how you should pray . . . ’

Why we so urgently need the Lord’s Prayer

2. ‘Our Father in heaven . . . ’

Being children of God

3. ‘Hallowed be your name . . . ’

Caring about our Father’s reputation

4. ‘Your kingdom come . . . ’

Caring about our Father’s rule

5. ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven . . . ’

Caring about our Father’s plans

6. ‘Give us today our daily bread . . . ’

Needing our Father’s provision

7. ‘Forgive us our debts . . . ’

Needing our Father’s pardon

8. ‘Lead us . . . and deliver us . . . ’

Needing our Father’s protection

9. ‘The kingdom, the power and the glory . . . ’

A fitting conclusion

Appendix – What is prayer . . . and why should we pray?

Some help from two giants of Christian history

Preface

When Jesus’ disciples asked him for help with prayer, he gave them a beautifully simple but spiritually stunning outline known as ‘the Lord’s Prayer’. This extraordinary prayer has been cherished by Christians everywhere and always. In it, our Saviour has brilliantly summarized for us the kinds of request that God most delights to answer.

This book about the Lord’s Prayer is called Our Father because, in his opening phrase, ‘Our Father in heaven’, Jesus spotlights the intimate relationship with God that motivates and shapes all prayer.

The subtitle of this book is ‘Enjoying God in prayer’. Jesus knew that, when we struggle to pray, we need a fresh appreciation of God. More than techniques and rebukes, we need to explore his magnificent character and amazing plans. As we glimpse the Father described in Jesus’ prayer, we find ourselves lifted in wonder to delight in him. Our cold hearts become warmed and our stifled tongues released to pray. The Lord’s Prayer, and so this book, is all about enjoying God.

I am personally very excited about the Lord’s Prayer. Being both sinful and an activist, I’ve never found the disciplines of prayer easy. But I do find the Lord’s Prayer exhilarating. It has become a lifeline from God, constantly dragging my rebellious heart back to him. I couldn’t survive without it now. As I’ve studied the biblical background to each phrase, I’ve discovered marvellous and sometimes terrifying things that propel us toward God. I’m convinced that these could be of immense help to Christians who struggle to pray. When our spirits boil up and our hearts cry out in frustration, ‘Why bother – nothing happens when I pray!’ the inspiration we need is supplied by Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer.

Our Father is a fresh exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for ordinary Christians. It’s meant to be thoughtful, digging up the biblical background to Jesus’ words, so that we better understand what he means. It’s meant to be practical, with applied scenarios after each chapter, to help us think through various ways in which we might use the Lord’s Prayer. Above all, it’s meant to be about our Father, for, as we learn to enjoy him, we’ll begin to enjoy praying to him.

I pray that this book may reveal something of the sparkling genius of the Lord’s Prayer. May it renew in us the delights of praying to our Father, in the name of his Son, in the power of his Holy Spirit, in joyful confidence that this is a prayer he absolutely loves to answer. And to him be all glory for this dazzling gift.

Richard Coekin

January 2009