Thomas Watson - The Lords Prayer

The Preface to the Lords Prayer

Our Father which art in Heaven

The First Petition in the Lords Prayer

Hallowed be thy name. Matt 6: 9

The Second Petition in the Lords Prayer

Thy kingdom come. Matt 6: 10

The Third Petition in the Lords Prayer

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matt 6: 10

The Fourth Petition in the Lords Prayer

Give us this day our daily bread. Matt 6: 11

The Fifth Petition in the Lords Prayer

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Matt 6: 12

The Sixth Petition in the Lords Prayer

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matt 6: 13

Our Father which art in Heaven

Having gone over the chief grounds and fundamentals of religion, and enlarged upon the decalogue, or ten commandments, I shall speak now upon the Lords prayer.

After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven hallowed, &100:. Matt. 6: 9.

In this Scripture are two things observable: the introduction to the prayer, and the prayer itself

The introduction to the Lords prayer is, After this manner pray ye. Our Lord Jesus, in these words, gave to his disciples and to us a directory for prayer. The ten commandments are the rule of our life, the creed is the sum of our faith, and the Lords prayer is the pattern of our prayer. As God prescribed Moses a pattern of the tabernacle (Exod 25: 9), so Christ has here prescribed us a pattern of prayer. After this manner pray ye, &c. The meaning is, let this be the rule and model according to which you frame your prayers. Ad hanc regulam preces nostras exigere necesse est [We ought to examine our prayers by this rule]. Calvin. Not that we are tied to the words of the Lords prayer. Christ says not, After these words, pray ye; but After this manner: that is, let all your petitions agree and symbolise with the things contained in the Lords prayer; and well may we make all our prayers consonant and agreeable to this prayer. Tertullian calls it, Breviarium totius evangelii , a breviary and compendium of the gospel, it is like a heap of massive gold. The exactness of this prayer appears in the dignity of the Author. A piece of work has commendation from its artifices, and this prayer has commendation from its Author; it is the Lords prayer. As the moral law was written with the finger of God, so this prayer was dropped from the lips of the Son of God. Non vox hominem sonat, est Deus [The voice is not that of a man, but that of God]. The exactness of the prayer appears in the excellence of the matter. It is as silver tried in a furnace, purified seven times. Psa 12: 6. Never was prayer so admirably and curiously composed as this. As Solomons Song, for its excellence is called the Song of songs, so may this be well called the Prayer of prayers. The matter of it is admirable, 1. For its comprehensiveness. It is short and pithy, Multum in parvo , a great deal said in a few words. It requires most art to draw the two globes curiously in a little map. This short prayer is a system or body of divinity. 2. For its clearness. It is plain and intelligible to every capacity. Clearness is the grace of speech. 3. For its completeness. It contains the chief things that we have to ask, or God has to bestow.

Use. Let us have a great esteem of the Lords prayer; let it be the model and pattern of all our prayers. There is a double benefit arising from framing our petitions suitably to this prayer. Hereby error in prayer is prevented. It is not easy to write wrong after this copy; we cannot easily err when we have our pattern before us. Hereby mercies requested are obtained; for the apostle assures us that God will hear us when we pray according to his will. 1 John 5: 14. And sure we pray according to his will when we pray according to the pattern he has set us. So much for the introduction to the Lords prayer, After this manner pray ye.

The prayer itself consists of three parts. 1. A Preface. 2. Petitions. 3. The Conclusion. The preface to the prayer includes, Our Father; and, Which art in heaven.

I. The first part of the preface is Our Father. Father is sometimes taken personally, My Father is greater than I (John 14: 28); but Father in the text is taken essentially for the whole Deity. This title, Father, teaches us that we must address ourselves in prayer to God alone. There is no such thing in the Lords prayer, as, O ye saints or angels that are in heaven, hear us; but, Our Father which art in heaven.

In what order must we direct our prayers to God? Here the Father only is named. May we not direct our prayers to the Son and Holy Ghost also?

Though the Father only be named in the Lords prayer, yet the other two Persons are not excluded. The Father is mentioned because he is first in order; but the Son and Holy Ghost are included because they are the same in essence. As all the three Persons subsist in one Godhead, so, in our prayers, though we name but one Person, we must pray to all. To come more closely to the first words of the preface, Our Father. Princes on earth give themselves titles expressing their greatness, as High and Mighty. God might have done so, and expressed himself thus, Our King of glory, our Judge: but he gives himself another title, Our Father, an expression of love and condescension. That he might encourage us to pray to him, he represents himself under the sweet notion of a Father. Our Father. Dulce nomen Patris [Sweet is the name of Father]. The name Jehovah carries majesty in it: the name Father carries mercy in it.

In what sense is God a Father?

(1) By creation; it is he that has made us: We are also his offspring. Acts 17: 28. Have we not all one Father? Mal 2: 10. Has not one God created us? But there is little comfort in this; for God is Father in the same way to the devils by creation; but he that made them will not save them.

(2) God is a Father by election, having chosen a certain number to be his children, upon whom he will entail heaven. He has chosen us in him. Eph 1: 4.

(3) God is a Father by special grace. He consecrates the elect by his Spirit, and infuses a supernatural principle of holiness, therefore they are said to be born of God. 1 John 3: 9. Such only as are sanctified can say, Our Father which art in heaven.

What is the difference between God being the Father of Christ, and the Father of the elect?

He is the Father of Christ in a more glorious and transcendent manner. Christ has the primogeniture; he is the eldest Son, a Son by eternal generation; I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. Prov 8: 23. Who shall declare his generation? Isa 53: 8. Christ is a Son to the Father, as he is of the same nature with the Father, having all the incommunicable properties of the Godhead belonging to him; but we are sons of God by adoption and grace, That we might receive the adoption of sons. Gal 4: 5.

What is that which makes God our Father?

Faith. Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Gal 3: 26. An unbeliever may call God his Creator, and his Judge, but not his Father. Faith legitimises us, and makes us of the blood-royal of heaven. Ye are the children of God by faith. Baptism makes us church members, but faith makes us children. Without faith the devil can show as good a coat of arms as we can.