Becoming One with God
Why We Should Pray - as Shown in the Lord's Prayer
Prayer is a ritual that has existed in every religion since the dawn of civilization. The most common reason to pray is to ask the divine power to give us things. Either what we cannot get ourselves or are uncertain if we can get: protection from enemies, rain for crops, safety on a journey, finding the right marriage partner, success in a negotiation or so many other things.
Another reason to pray is to seek divine will and revelation for specific life situations.
When Jesus teaches us how to pray, he reveals the most important reason why we should pray. When he said, this is how you should pray, he is not simply giving us a formula on prayer, or a standard text to recite. No, Jesus is so much more than that.
Within these few Bible verses, Jesus takes us behind the scenes and gives us a glimpse of the epic battle between heaven and earth and good and evil. It is out of the urgency to win these battles for Mankind that we should pray. The fight is not won in fulfilling the daily concerns of the flesh. Rather, God's people's hearts and will hold the key to the ultimate victory. When we willingly surrender our wills to God and align our will with God’s, we unleash celestial power in heaven – which not only fulfills our daily concerns, but also secures victory for good over evil, and brings us peace, joy, and love for our souls.
Chiasm, a literary device vice commonly used in the Bible, arranges ideas in a symmetrical structure (ABC-C’B’A’). Often a ‘hidden treasure’, or the most important concept, is nestled in the center of a chiasm (ABC-X- C’B’A’). Applying this interpretation to the Lord’s prayer, we find the main point in the 4th sentence as illustrated below:
Our Father in Heaven. A
Hollow is your name. B
Your Kingdom come. C
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. X
Give us today our daily bread. C'
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. B'
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. A'
In this chiasm, each idea that mirrors the other (AA’, BB’ and CC’) reveals the stark contrast between God and the Evil One (AA’), between God's holiness and our unrighteousness (BB’), and between his kingdom’s plan and our earthly agenda (CC’). Ultimately, prayer aligns us to fight for God’s perfection to be fulfilled on earth.
A: Our Father in Heaven vs. the Evil One in Darkness
Our Father in Heaven // Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one
a. God vs. the Evil One. The God in heaven wants to give us heavenly joy and peace, while the intention of the evil one, is to lead us into sin and darkness.
b. Love vs. Power. God is the loving father who created us and wants a relationship with his children. The Evil One is obsessed with exercising his power and control to destroy.
We should pray to acknowledge God’s power and love that we need to overcome the temptations of the Evil One and the sins that lead us away from our heavenly father.
B: God’s holiness vs. our unrighteousness
Hallow be your name//Forgive us our debt, as we forgive our debtors
God is holy and he calls us to live a life of holiness. Our sins made us unholy, therefore we should pray for God to make us holy like him by asking for forgiveness of our sins.
C: God’s Kingdom vs our Kingdom
Your kingdom come// Give us today our daily bread
God’s kingdom is perfection. Our earthly kingdom is imperfect, mired with strife and struggles for our survival. Jesus promises that when we seek his kingdom first he will take care of our daily needs. (Matthew 6:33)
We should pray to do God's will, while we depend on him to provide for our daily needs.
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
God gives Mankind sovereignty to rule the earth, just like God is sovereign to rule the universe. In his perfect plan, we would rule together on earth with him. In our ego, however, we reject God, we prefer to take full control of our sovereignty. We believe that we can rule without him.
Because God respects our sovereignty, he would not force his will onto us. Only when we willingly surrender our egos and choose to do his will over ours, can God’s will be done in our lives.
And victory in the battle of heaven and earth and good and evil hinges on our decision to align our will with God's.
This is why we should pray.
A 2-minute video tutorial by Dr. Steven R. Cook
Chiasmus in the Scriptures on Chiasmusxchange.com
Bible Chiasms: Explanation and Examples on Deeperchristian.com
