The inauguration of President Barack Obama included a number of prayers during the various events, yet it was Rick Warren’s invocation that may be the most remembered. A prayer highlighting unity, it ended, significantly, with the “Lord’s Prayer” or “Our Father,” perhaps the most well known and often recited prayer in Christendom. Taken from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 6, and in an abbreviated form from Luke’s Gospel in chapter 11, the prayer is both a blueprint as well as an answer to the question asked by Jesus’ disciples: “teach us to pray.”
The Prayer of Jesus
The prayer begins with a form of salutation as well as an acknowledgment: “Our Father who art in heaven.” The word heaven literally refers to the “heavens.” Neil Douglas-Klotz, commenting on the Aramaic meaning of this phrase, states that the original term relates to the totality of the universe and that the term Abwoon from which the term “Father” is taken, is a derivation of the word abba, referring to a “personal father.” (Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus, Harper & Row, 1990)
According to the prayer, God is the “Father” of all creation. And so his name is to be “hallowed.” The term “hallowed” refers to the act of making holy, venerating, or consecrating. The term derives from old English and can also mean to “honor as holy.” After focusing on the personal nature of God as Father, Jesus turns to the practical, everyday experience of hallowing God’s name.
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Throughout the Gospels Jesus describes what the kingdom of God is, often through parables. Disciples are to seek first the kingdom of God… (Matthew 6.33). In Luke 18.16, Jesus called the children to him and said that God’s kingdom belongs to them. The kingdom of God is a mindset that prioritizes the sovereignty of God over all creation and every action. The poor in spirit are blessed "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5.3)
God’s “will” is to be done “on earth as…in heaven.” If God’s will in “heaven,” or the total cosmos, is in perfect alignment, so too must it be on earth. This implies social justice for everyone, righteous living, and seeing everyone as one’s “neighbor” (the true meaning of the “Good Samaritan”).
“Give us our daily bread” highlights God’s care for his creation. Daily bread refers to physical nourishment. This is not a lavish feast but the daily manna that sustains life’s journey. Often, Jesus referred to the rich as with the story of Lazarus and the rich man. (Luke 16.19ff). The rich man wore “purple,” a color associated with royalty. His daily fare was far more than daily bread. Perhaps one of the points Jesus attempted to make was that God provides for basic needs, but those who are given more are expected to share those blessings through generosity and hospitality.
“Forgive us our debts…” or trespasses, or sins, depending upon the translation, is linked to the charge to forgive on a daily basis. Human forgiveness is concurrent with God’s forgiveness. “Leading us not into temptation” might better be read as “do not let us be subjected to temptation.” The connecting word is “but.” “But deliver us from evil.” Some scholars have translated this as delivery from the “evil one.” (Charles B. Williams, The New Testament in the Language of the People, Moody Press, 1963) The New American Standard Bible also provides a margin note referring to the “evil one.”
“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” According to some Bible translations, this final clause was not part of the earliest manuscripts. Neither Williams not Beck include it. (The New Testament in the Language of Today, Concordia, 1964) Nevertheless, it is traditional to end the prayer with this clause. Whether part of the original prayer or not, it is a fitting way to end a prayer that has become part of every liturgy.
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