W. Phillip Keller - A Layman Looks at the Lords Prayer

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Walking with God

1976 BY
THE MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NEB are taken from the New English Bible, copyright 1961 Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, 1961, 1970. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KNOX are taken from the Holy Bible: A Translation from the Latin Vulgate in Light of the Hebrew and Greek Original. Copyright 1945, 1949. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked PHILLIPS are taken from The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips HarperCollins and J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972.

Scripture quotations marked AMPLIFIED are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked WNT are taken from the Weymouth New Testament. The Weymouth New Testament is a literal translation into 19th century contemporary English by Richard Francis Weymouth from The Resultant Greek Testament, which is his own text.

The use of selected references from various versions of the Bible in this publication does not necessarily imply publisher endorsement of the versions in their entirety.

Interior and Cover design by Erik M. Peterson
Cover illustration of wheat copyright 2017 by blue67sign/Shutterstock (66944593).
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Keller, Weldon Philip

A layman looks at the Lords prayer.

1. Lords prayer. I. Title

ISBN-13: 978-0-8024-4644-2

BV230.K36 226.96077 75-31635

ISBN: 978-0-8024-1566-0

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In honor of my father, a humble layman who walked with God.

Friend,

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A word of gratitude is due those many men and women who, across the years, have sat in my Bible studies, absorbing truths contained in this work. Had it not been for those willing to study Gods Word with me, there would not have been the delightful incentive to search deeply for the great meanings implied in the Lords Prayer. Also, my genuine appreciation is extended to my wife, who, with great care and affection, typed and prepared the final manuscript for publication. Often we have prayed together, that this book be used widely by God our Father to inspire and encourage His children the world over.

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

MATTHEW 6:913

N ext to Psalm 23, perhaps the most beloved and certainly the best-known passage in Scripture is the Lords Prayer. It has been repeated millions upon millions of times by countless numbers of human beings for nearly twenty centuries. Yet, in spite of so much use, in spite of so much repetition, in spite of so much worldwide familiarity, it has never lost its luster.

The profound, eternal concepts compressed into its few, concise phrases shine with enduring brilliance. These truths radiated from the very heart of our Lord as He moved among men. They embrace the deepest secrets of God, quietly stated in human language of disarming simplicity. Some of the petitions included in this prayer by Christ were utterly revolutionary. If fully grasped by us, they can overturn much of our own wrong thinking about God.

The Lords Prayer, in the King James Version, contains only sixty-six words. It can be repeated in less than a minute. Despite its brevity, it has been an enormous benefit to multitudes of men and women. Many of them knew little or nothing else about the Scriptures. Yet there is inherent in this prayer all the strength and compassion of our Father in heaven. There moves through it a beauty and serenity which no mortal man can fully explain. It reassures our hearts, strengthens our resolve, and leads us into personal contact with God, our Father.

Much that is deep and profound has already been written about this prayer. Still, that does not dissuade me from writing about it as a layman. To me it is a most precious passage. And here, as in my previous book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, I dare to share with the reader what these Scriptures mean to mean ordinary man and a child of God.