The Our Father Prayer has been described as a list of petitions to God, but it can also be viewed as a prayer that establishes a Kingdom Covenant between Christians and God.
The covenants follow this pattern: if we do x, y and z, God will grant us x, y and z.
The following five covenants can be found in the prayer:
1. A familial covenant
2. An evangelical covenant
3. An obedience covenant
4. A covenant of peace
5. A Kingdom covenant
Addressing God as "Our Father" affirms a spiritual familial covenant, positioning Him as the creator, and us, the believers, as part of His Kingdom.
Hallowed be thy name; Thy kingdom come;
Through this evangelical covenant we can access God’s Kingdom if we proclaim and honour the name of the Lord.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread;
This obedience covenant allows us to stay in the Kingdom. Your will be done, not ours. We place Your will above our selfish personal interests. But we need Your help, Your power, Your grace, so we can remain faithful to You.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation,
In this covenant of peace, only if we lovingly forgive those who hurt us can we be forgiven by God and enter His Kingdom. But we need God’s help to avoid falling into the temptation of hating and resenting others.
But deliver us from evil.
We close the prayer by reasserting that we want God’s Kingdom, not this broken world of ours. We choose God’s will over our fallen nature, which is guided by the Evil One. This is our covenantal prayer to Him: Your will, not ours; Your Kingdom, not this broken world of ours.
No comments:
Post a Comment