Acclamation, or Petition, Which is It?
“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:1-4 ESV)
I love the Lord’s prayer. I love it because it came directly from the mouth of our Savior. He told us how to pray, too, so there is no doubt how and where we pray. But are we really clear?
I used to think the Lord’s prayer was an acclamation. A shortened biblical definition of acclamation is “A shout of approbation, favor, or assent; eager expression of approval; loud applause.” 1 “God, your name is hallowed!!! Later I realized it is not an acclamation but a petition. A biblical definition of a petition is, “A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer.” 2 Every line of the Lord’s prayer is a petition. We are exclaiming nothing.
When I pray this prayer, I reflect on and ask for the depth of what the words mean to me. After each line I have written how I am petitioning God and for what I am actually praying.
Father, hallowed be your name: Father, I pray that your name be hallowed, holy, sanctified, consecrated. That your name remains hallowed in creation. I pray that those who do not know you come to know the glory and power that is yours and hold you above all things.
Your kingdom come: Father, I pray for the second coming of your Son my Savior. The manifestation of your kingdom, the new Jerusalem on Earth. I pray that your saints in creation will see your kingdom in its glory. May your kingdom be revealed to others through us by our actions.
Give us today our daily bread: Father, provide for your children as you have told us you will. You know what we need before we need it. As we are faithful, I pray you will continue to provide all we need. Edify us in your Word on which we feed, the bread of life, our Savior Christ.
Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us: Father, we are sinners, and yet you forgive our sins. Help us to be more like you and forgive those who hurt us, owe us, or persecute us.
And lead us not into temptation: Father, we are weak. I pray that the Spirit strengthens us and helps to lead us away from Satan’s temptations. Help us to walk as You desire, to walk with You so that we may not be led into temptation.
I do not add these words to the Lord's prayer, but in my heart, it is my groaning to the Lord, my desires, and my implorations. Please, Lord will these things to happen for me and for your children.
The Lord asked us to do certain things in His remembrance, but in the Lord’s prayer, He instructed us how to pray, giving us the words we should use. We do not pray lofty prayers, prayers full of big words meant to impress people. On the contrary, Christ told us to pray in private and that in doing so, God would see our deep, true devotion. Prayer is not something we do mechanically. You can program a computer to repeat the words of the Lord's prayer, and it means nothing. We do not just repeat words, thinking that is what God wants to hear. God wants to hear our hopes, our needs, our worship, and our glorification, as Paul put it, our inward groaning.
Have you been making acclamations to God, or have you really been focusing on the meaning of the petitions within the Lord’s Prayer? Are you just repeating words because that is what you were taught to do, or are you really making a heartfelt petition to God? They are not just words; they are requests for all the things we hope and need from God. Reflect on where you are mentally when you pray and see if the depth of this prayer grows in your heart.
Peace and Grace!
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