Understanding the Lord’s Prayer (8): Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

This is a petition to not be overcome when we are faced with temptations. James told us that God does not temp us (James 1:13). Saint Paul tells us to not allow us to be tried by the devil  “beyond our capacity, but with the trial also provide a way out, so that we may be able to endure.” (1Cor 10:13)

We are asking Him to free us from our attachments of this world. Free us from our passions and desires,  Saint John tells us “the whole world is in the power of the Evil One" (I jn 5:19). We need to be led by God to move away from everything that causes us difficulty in doing only His will.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa puts it this way,

But let us stand and say to God: "Lead us not into temptation," that is, into the evils of daily life, but deliver us from the Evil One" who possesses power over this world. May we then be delivered from the evil one by the grace of Christ, to whom belongs the power and the glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and to the ages of ages.

Understanding the Lord’s Prayer (7): Forgive Us Our Trespasses As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us

We ask for this because we have the tendency to sin. Even though we have been baptized we still can sin. We need His forgiveness . But The Lord made this request conditional. If we expect God to forgive us we must be willing to forgive others. So we are only asking to be forgiven as we are able to forgive others.

Jesus told us 

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you. But if you do not forgive  men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." [Matt. 6:14-15]

Jesus also tells us that “whoever is angry with his brother without good cause shall be liable for judgment” Mat 5:22.

Jesus gives us this message again in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Mat 18:23-35). It’s very clear that our failure to forgive others is to willfully alienate ourselves from God.

Our petition for mercy is contingent on the mercy we are able to show others. Here we are not asking for any more than what He has told us He is willing to give. We can also think that this request means to help us in our ability to forgive those who trespass against us. We need this help to receive the full mercy of God.

Saint John Cassian writes

Whoever, then, does not from his heart forgive the brother who has offended him, will, by this entreaty, be asking not for pardon but for condemnation for himself, and by his own say-so he will be requesting a harsher judgment for himself when he says: Forgive me as I also have forgiven....If we wish to be judged mercifully, we must ourselves be merciful towards those who have offended us. For we shall be forgiven to the degree that we have forgiven those who have injured us by any wrongdoing whatsoever.9th Conference p344

We are asking to become like God who is all merciful, ever ready to forgive us. We want to imitate Him and follow how He taught His disciples.

Saint Cyril says,

He requires, therefore, His disciples to be gentle (2 Tim. 2: 24) and slow to anger (Jam. 1: 9), so that they may be able to say blamelessly in their prayers, "Forgive us our sins: for we also forgive everyone that is indebted unto us."

God’s mercy is given to all those who are humble. It is given to those who accept God as their Lord, who seek to do .his will, and who search in themselves all the ways they fail to live up to His commandments. The know themselves. But, they are not arrogant thinking themselves superior to others, standing ready to condem others for their sinfulness or refusinfpg to forgive those who have trespassed against them.

Saint Cyril,

For God readily accepts, and has mercy on those who do not forget their offenses, but fall down before Him, and ask of Him forgiveness: but He is severe, and very justly so, upon the stubborn and the proud, and on him who in his great ignorance acquits himself of blame. For He said to one thus disposed, "Behold, I have a suit against you, because you say, I have not sinned" (Jer. 2: 35).

The road then to salvation, and which delivers those who earnestly walk thereon from the wrath of God, is the confession of offenses, and to say in our prayers to Him Who purifies the wicked, "Forgive us our sins."

In addition we can not forget the judgement of God. Those who acknowledge their sins and are merciful to others we be shown mercy at the time of judgment. If we are not willing to face all the ways we miss the mark, and satisfied to continue in our sinful ways, are not worth of His kingdom. Such a person can’t recite this petition..

Saint Cyril,

it is not fitting for those who still continue in wickedness, and wish to do so to the last, to say, "Forgive us our sins," but for those, rather, who have abandoned their former wicked deeds, and now earnestly desire to live fitting of saints.....this is fitting only for those to say, who have chosen a virtuous life, and are practicing without remissness that will of God, which, as Scripture says, is "good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12: 2).....
by thus forgiving the brethren what they do to us, we shall then certainly find Christ, the Savior of all, gentle and ready to show us mercy:

Understanding the Lord’s Prayer (6): Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

When we ask the tho Lord for daily bread we are asking for the necessities for a spiritual life. The Greek word for the kind of bread is “επιουσιον” which implies more than simple bread but that which is necessary to sanctify, it is literally “above the essence” or “supersubstantial.”

The Orthodox Study Bible gives us this explanation.

The expression daily bread indicates not merely bread for this day, taken for sustenance of life; it is bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for sustenance of our immortal life. It is living, “superessential” bread. This bread prepared by God in the beginning of immortality of our nature, is the Bread of Life which will triumph over death brought about by sin.

We earlier have asked that His kingdom come. Jesus commands us to seek first the Kingdom of God Mat 6:33. Now we are asking for more than physical bread for our physical health, for spiritual bread which gives us eternal life. This can be see as the Living Bread, Christ Himself, that we receive in the sacrament of Holy Communion 

Saint Gregory of Nyssa interprets this as what is necessary for “moderate conduct.” He says it is “being content with little by being free from evil passions, on the same plane as the angelic attribute of lacking nothing.”

He says further,

Your obligation to human nature is only a small thing. To your flesh you owe food, a modest and easily accessible thing, if your purpose is to meet only a need, ask for bread to meet life's needs. You are obligated by nature to the body only in this regard. Bread is for our needs today. The Kingdom is for our blessedness in the future.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria says,

Let us ask of Him what suffices for life — food, that is to say, and clothing, and whatever is sufficient for us -avoiding all wish to be rich, as that which threatens us with destruction. For if this is our will, Christ will accept and bless us;

The idea of daily shows us that our spiritual needs are needed every day. The spiritual life is ongoing day by day. It is not attainable in a single day but necessary every day.

Saint Cassian says,

It warns us that we should pour out this prayer constantly, because there is no day on which it is not necessary for us to strengthen the heart of our inner man by eating this.9th Conference p 343

Saint John Chrysostom says that it says daily so we will not worry about tomorrow. 

Saint Theophylact says,

By the word daily He means what is sufficient for our essence, and our sustenance. He teaches us not to worry about tomorrow. Bread for our essence is also the Body of Christ, of Which we pray we may partake without condemnation.Theophylact on Matthew p 58

Understanding the Lord’s Prayer (5): Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Based on what we have understood from what precedes this this petition is quite clear. He wants us to become like our Father, to be with him in His kingdom. To do so we ask that we be able to do what He wills for us, to be like the angels in heaven.

Saint Cassian writes,

Human beings should be like angels and that, just as God’s will is fulfilled by them in heaven, so also all those who are on earth should do not their own will but His will.P 342

Saint Cyril says,

We supplicate, that power may be given to the dwellers upon earth to do the will of God, and imitate the conduct practiced above in heaven by the holy angels. 

Saint Theophylact reminds us that we are asking to be as obedient as the angels. He says,

Just as the angels do Thy will, the Lord says, also grant us to do the same.

Theophylact on Matthew p 58

What is necessary for us to be able to do this? What kind of help are we asking for? First, we need His help to know ourselves more deeply, to help us see what we do that is not according to His will. Then we want to have the strength to condemn this aspect of our life and to make changes, to overcome old habits and establish new ones that conform to His will.

Gregory of Nyssa says,

To say to God, "Thy Will be done also in me," it is entirely necessary first to condemn that manner of conduct which is lived outside the divine will and to fully own up to it in confession.

Saint John Chrysostom tells us that we are to make our life here on earth as in heaven, he says,

He hath bidden us make the earth a heaven and do and say all things, even while we are continuing in it, as having our conversation there; insomuch that these too should be objects of our prayer to the Lord. 

Saint Cyril writes

Those, therefore, who in their prayers ask that the will of God may be done also on earth, should "cleanse [them] selves from every defilement," leap out of the pitfalls of iniquity, and make "perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7: 1), that as Paul also says, even while walking upon earth, their citizenship may be in heaven (cf. Phil. 3: 20).

....

Therefore, the will of God which we pray may be done upon earth, is not that we should conform to the law, and live according to the grossness of its letter, but that we should endeavor to live by the gospel. And this is effected by a faith correct and free from error, and by a holy life, possessed of the sweet savor of every virtue, and proved by the testimony of good and noble conduct in every thing that is excellent.

Understanding the Lord’s Prayer (4): Thy Kingdom Come

Thy kingdom come.

When we ask for His kingdom to come we are showing our eagerness for our unity with our father and the desire to be with Him eternally in His kingdom. We are desirous now for what Christ has promised. “Come, blessed of my father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Mt 25:34

Asking for His kingdom to come we are acknowledging God as an all powerful ruler of creation, one who reigns over all. That His kingdom is eternal. 

We pray that we be granted a life that we can see in holy persons. We are asking for a daily life that is united with our Father in heaven with the purity of heart, freed from passions, with His grace enabling us to do His will. In this way we will have a life in His kingdom.

Gregory of Nyssa says,

We pray "Let Your Kingdom come upon us" in order that the evil passions which rule and lord it over us may depart from us, and indeed vanish into nothingness.

Saint Gregory also reminds us of the way Saint Luke expressed this. He told us that he who prays for the coming of the Kingdom is calling on the Holy Spirit. Luke writes instead of "Thy Kingdom come," it is written, "Thy Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us."

Gregory of Nyssa,

Truly, let the Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us. May He make us receptive of noble thoughts worthy of God. Such thoughts are taught to us by the Lord's Prayer coming from the voice of the Savior, to whom belongs the glory forever and ever. 

Saint Theophylact suggests that this refers to the second coming, this is also the view of Saint Cyril of Alexandria.

He says,

To desire to behold Christ the Savior of all rising again upon the world. For He will come, He will come and descend as Judge, no longer in low estate like unto us, nor in the simplicity of human nature; but in glory such as befitting of God, for He dwells in unapproachable light (cf. 1 Tim. 6: 16),

Since this seems like a frightening time why would He want us to pray that this time of judgment come now? He asks us to do this so we can be prepared and motivated to live a life that will yield for us favorable judgement.

Saint Cyril says,

For He commanded them to ask in prayer that this fearful time may come, to make them know that they must live, not carelessly, nor dissolutely, nor moreover as beguiled into laxity and the love of pleasure; but, on the contrary, as becomes saints, and according to God's will: that so that this fearful time may prove the bestower upon them of crowns, and not of fire and condemnation. For it was not at all proper for the wicked and impure, who lead base and lascivious lives, guilty of every vice, in their prayers to say, "Thy kingdom come."

At the second coming we will be resurrected and become a new creation, reunited with our bodies in a life eternal where there is no suffering or death. This is what we hope for. All this is what is part of asking for His kingdom to come. We are asking to be accepted, to be purified, to be rid of sin and passions so we will be in His eternal kingdom.

References: On the Lord's Prayer Homilies on the Lord's Prayer by St. Cyril of Alexandria Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii Saint Paul Brotherhood, Saint Theophylact’s commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Saint Gregory of Nyssa discourse on the Lord’s Prayer.

Understanding the Lord’s Prayer (3) - Hallowed Be Thy Name

To be hallowed means to be holy. Saint John Chrysostom says the prayer “commands him who prays to seek that He [God] may be glorified also by our life.” We as God’s children, those who dare to call Him Father, to Hallow Him we too must become holy. In this way He is glorified through us. 

God is perfect, all holy. The meaning therefore cannot be to make God more holy. Saint Cyril says, “We say then, that men do not supplicate for any addition of holiness to accrue unto God over all: for who is greater than He, and able to give Him any increase?” It is we who must become like God. God must be glorified through our way of life.

Saint Theophylact says similarly,

This means, make us Holy, so that Thou mightiest be glorified through us. For just as God is blasphemed through me, so also He is hallowed through me, He is glorified as the Holy One.Theophylact on Matthew p 58

Saint Cyril of Alexandria puts it this way,

For when it is our settled conviction and belief, that He Who by nature is God over all, is Holy of the Holies, then we confess His glory and supreme majesty; then we receive His fear into our mind, and lead upright and blameless lives, that by thus becoming ourselves holy, we may be able to be near unto the holy God.

The prayer, therefore, is "May Thy Name be kept holy in us, in our minds and wills." For this is the signification of the word, "hallowed."

Again we are reminded and committing ourselves to perfecting ourselves in God’s image and likeness. We are asking for help to understand all He has commanded of us and to guide us in our daily life so we can glorify Him by the way we live. God is not requesting any addition be made to His holiness. He wants us to pray that we posses a holy mind, true faith, and develop the feeling that His name is most holy.

Saint John Cassian says,

The hallowing of God is our perfection.... We are saying in other words: Make us such, Father that we may deserve to understand and grasp how great your hallowing is and, of course, that you may appear as hallowed in our spiritual life... when people see in us our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.Cassian 9th Conference, p 342

Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes,

I think, we should pray and regard it as the sum of prayer, that the Name of God should not be blasphemed but rather be glorified and be hallowed through our way of life.

We say this prayer with the understanding that our aim in our life here on earth is to actualize in all our actions His perfection, His love, His humility. We are paying that we will in fact glorify Him by our actions. When we believe He is holy then we will have fear for Him and we will accept that His will is our means to holiness.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa puts it this way,

the meaning of these words apply to me actualizing God's blessings. Lord, through the cooperation of Your help, may I become blameless, just and pious. Abstaining from every evil, may I speak the truth, practicing righteousness and walking on the straight path. May I shine with prudence, be adorned with incorruption, and be beautified with wisdom and discernment.

One way we hallow His name is to pray for the whole world. We must pray for the believers and non-believers, for those with strong faith and those with weak faith. 

Saint Cyril writes,

Following the footsteps of Christ, Who according to the words of John is the "Advocate with the Father... for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" (1 Jn. 2: 1). Therefore He Who is the Intercessor for the saints, and for the whole world, wills that His disciples be like Himself.

It is as Saint Cassian so simply says,

We testify that our desire and our joy is the glory of our Father, since we have become imitators of him who said: “The one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is no righteousness in him.   Cassian 9th Conference p 341

References: Saint Cyril of Alexandria’s Homilies on the Lord’s Prayer, Saint Theophylact’s commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Saint Gregory of Nyssa discourse on the Lord’s Prayer.

Understanding the Lord’s Prayer (2): Who art in heaven

When we choose to call God our Father and add, “Who art in heaven,” we acknowledge that God’s homeland is in heaven. What does this imply for us? That being His Children, we too see our homeland in heaven.

Saint Theophylact says,

By saying  “in the heavens” He has revealed to you your fatherland and your paternal home. For if you desire to have God as your father, then look toward heaven and not toward earth. Theophylact on Matthew p 58

We now live on earth and it seems far removed from heaven. We may feel like our Father is a long way away. Honoring His abode in Heaven we must have a great desire to be united with Him. Our aim becomes having a place in Heaven. Wanting to be good children of His, we want to do what is necessary to be worthy of a life in His homeland.

Saint Cassian says,

We sojourn on this earth as on a journey and are kept at a far distance from our Father, we may instead hasten with great desire to that region in which we say that our Father dwells and do nothing that would make us unworthy of this profession of ours and of the nobility of so great an adoption... Cassian 9th Conference p341

This prayer reminds us where we as humans have fallen from. When God created man and women they were in Paradise, But, unable to follow his direction, they were cast out to toil and suffer a mortal life on earth. We also know that we were created in His image and likeness and belong with Him there. We have no choice when we choose to recite this prayer to commit ourselves to a way of life that is like heaven.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes,

They remind us of the homeland from which we have fallen and of the noble status from which we have been exiled... by directing you to address God as your own Father in prayer, commands nothing less than that you become like the heavenly.

References: Saint Cyril of Alexandria’s Homilies on the Lord’s Prayer, Saint Theophylact’s commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Saint Gregory of Nyssa discourse on the Lord’s Prayer.

Understanding the Lord’s Prayer (1): Our Father

Most of us memorized the Lord’s Prayer when we were very young. We continue to repeat it, often without much feeling. For many, we recite it out of habit. We should not be lulled to sleep in this way. This is a prayer given to us by God Himself. It has great meaning and teaches us how we are to pray.

Most Church Fathers commenting on this prayer begin with an exclamation and question, “How can we dare call God our father?” When the priest calls us to pray the Lord’s Prayer in the Divine Liturgy as we prepare to receive Holy Communion he says,  “And grant us, Master, with boldness and without condemnation, to dare call You, the heavenly God, Father, and to say...” Why does he say it takes boldness that we would dare to say this prayer?

Have you thought about why you are willing to call God, “Our Father”? 

This prayer was taught to His disciples. It wasn’t a general prayer given to all mankind. It is a prayer for Christians who have a devotion to Christ and consider themselves a disciple. The first phrase of the prayer, “Our Father”, is a bold assertion because it means we assume we are like him. We have many traits that are like our biological father, so using the same word, it must mean that we think we are God’s children and also share in His attributes. So from the first two words of this prayer we are affirming that we are children of the Triune God, accept that we are created in His image, desire to become like Him, and are willing to be instructed by Him. How can we dare call Him “Our Father”?

Saint Gregory of Nyssa says;

One thing is very clear. If we had any sense, we would not dare address God with such a name and say "Father," unless we perceived a reflection of the same attributes in ourselves. For it is impossible that God who is good in His very essence should be the Father of anyone engaged in evil activities. 

God sent His only begotten Son to take on flesh and become fully human while remaining fully God. He came to rescue us from the slavery to sin. In Scripture it reads, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (Jn. 1: 11-13). Giving to us the destiny to become like Him, one of His children, he commands us to call Him Father.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria says;

He commands us, therefore, to take boldness and say in our prayers, "Our Father." We children of earth and slaves, and subject by the law of nature to Him Who created us, call Him Who is in heaven "Father."

Saint Theophylact says;

By saying “Father”, the Lord shows you of what good things you have been deemed worthy, having become son of God.

Theophylact on Matthew p 57

Saint Gregory of Nyssa says that when we dare to call God our father we must demonstrate our kinship with Him. How? By our way of life. Knowing the perfect nature of God we are attesting to the fact that we too can become perfect. We also know that He loves us and will help us grow into this perfection as good children. We have committed ourselves to be like Him. We do this because we love him dearly. He is the one who gave us life.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria says;

if we call God "Father," and have been counted worthy of so distinguished an honor, must we now necessarily lead holy and thoroughly blameless lives, and so behave as is pleasing to our Father, and neither think nor say anything unworthy or unfit for the freedom that has been bestowed upon us?

What is a primary attribute of God? He is unchangeable and eternal. This implies that if we are so bold to call him Father, then we acknowledge that we have a soul that is eternal and desires to be unchangeable. But we know that at present we are filled with worldly passions, desires, happiness and sadness. It seems to be ever changing. How can we be a child of Him who is perfect and unchangeable? The recitation of this prayer commits ourselves to a path of perfection, to rid ourselves of these passions so our soul can become unchangeable and always filled with love just like our father.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa puts it this way;

I would have to remove my mind far from all things that change and are in flux. By attaining to an unchanging and unwavering disposition of the soul, I would first earnestly make Him my friend who is eternal and unchangeable. Only then would I invoke that most intimate Name and say, "Father!"

Next time you recite this prayer try and remember what you are committing yourself too when you call God your father.

Saint Cyril says;

You call God "Father"; honor Him with ready obedience; yield submission as that which is His due; live so as He pleases; show not yourself harsh or proud, but, on the contrary, yielding and submissive, and ready without delay to follow His directions, so that He may honor you in return and appoint you fellow-heir with Him Who is the Son by nature. 

References: Saint Cyril of Alexandria’s Homilies on the Lord’s Prayer, Saint Theophylact’s commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Saint Gregory of Nyssa discourse on the Lord’s Prayer.