The Lord's Prayer is Offensive

 

 The Lord’s Prayer is offensive.  Yup.  It is.  Maybe that is why we don’t recite it anymore in churches, in schools at weddings, funerals etc.  The Lord’s prayer comes straight out of scriptures, spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself as an example how we should pray.  So, why don’t I ever hear it anymore?  I was thinking about this as I was preparing a devotional on the Lord’s prayer from Matthew 6:9-13.   

We pray to Our Father…We aren’t praying to the God of your choosing, but to Abba, “daddy”….the loving, caring, patient God of the Universe, whose name is Hallowed, or Holy and deserves to be worshipped above all other gods. 

Everything is about building God’s Kingdom, not your little kingdom. 

God wants His will, His plan, His heart’s desire for your life. Sorry, but life is not all about you.

This is God’s earth and His heaven.  He created it.  We are just passing through.

God provides our daily needs, our daily bread….The kingdom you think you’re building on your own efforts and intelligence…Think again.

Don’t forget, we are to forgive others since God first forgave us.  Yes, that means you forgive the guy who cut you off in traffic and the hacker who stole your credit card number.

Believe it or not, we are all sinners who are prone to evil.  We all are lead into temptation every now and then.  Fez up.  Admit you made the wrong choice and ask God to give you wisdom next time. 

The Lord Jesus is coming back.  Those who find His prayer offensive could care less.  When He returns, the Lord Jesus will restore God’s kingdom after He judges ALL the earth.  Do you want to be delivered from evil? Then you better start believing in the message of the Gospel spoken by the Lord Jesus in His prayer.  Only the Lord Jesus has the power to deliver you from evil.  He paid the debt owed to God for your sin.  It was paid in full when He sacrificed His own life for yours.  When you appreciate this gift of forgiveness offered to you, then you will be able to forgive others with a grateful heart. 

The Lord’s prayer is not offensive to God’s children.  A Christian should know they are weak, prone to wander and in need of a Savior, His truth and His Kingdom.   God's prayer is offensive to a world that doesn’t believe in God and rejects His truth and His Kingdom in favor for their own.  Imagine the world if it embraced the Lord’s prayer and lived it out?  Evil wouldn’t stand a chance.  It may be my fight, but it for His glory!

Matthew 6:9-15

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.