Before Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray, he tells them what to skip. Prayer in the surrounding world often worked like a contract: pile up enough of a god's titles, remind him of favors paid for in sacrifice, and the right words might compel a response. 7"Do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." Then the reason: 8"Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." If God already knows, why ask? The prayer that follows answers by existing. Prayer is a child bringing needs to a Father who delights to be asked.
The prayer is short, nothing like the babbling Jesus just warned against. Its pronouns are plural from the first word to the last: our Father, give us, forgive us our debts, lead us, deliver us. Even the prayer prayed behind a closed door belongs to a family. It opens with three requests about God: 9"hallowed be your name," 10"your kingdom come, your will be done." Only after those three does it turn to human need, and even there the order is specific: bread, forgiveness, rescue.
11"Give us this day our daily bread." The Greek word for "daily" is so rare that no earlier use is known. The likeliest sense is simple and urgent: give us today the bread we will need, the request of people paid a day at a time, for whom one missed wage could mean hunger. It is the trust Jesus himself showed in the wilderness, refusing to make bread on his own initiative. Now he teaches everyone else to ask for it.
Forgiveness comes next, and it is the only request Jesus explains. 12"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Afterward he adds, 14"if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." A heart that has received mercy cannot keep its fists clenched against those who owe it something. Bread and pardon meet the same kind of need, one for the body and one for the soul, and God supplies both daily to people who keep asking.
The last request, 13"lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," uses the word Matthew used for what happened to Jesus in the wilderness. The disciples are taught to ask to be spared the test their Teacher has just walked through. It is a plea for rescue, and for someone to walk through it beside you.
Jesus had no debt of his own to bring to the Father, and he gave this prayer to people who do.
Pray it slowly this week, one line a day, and see where it snags. The line that snags is usually the one you most need. Jesus gave it as a pattern for anyone, at any hour. Ordinary days are where it will get worn in.
Prayer
Our Father in heaven, you know what we need before we say a word. Let your name be honored in how we live today, your kingdom come and your will be done in us before we ask for anything else. Give us what we need today, and forgive us as we forgive. Do not leave us to face testing alone; deliver us from evil. In Jesus' name, amen.