The Lord's Prayer...

Jesus shows us how much He loves us and how much He wants us to be relationship with God just as He is in these words:

Matthew 6: 9-13 (NKJV)  ^9" In this manner, therefore, 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 this day our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
¹³ And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

As I was  driving the other day I started meditating on this prayer and it hit me that Jesus did not present this prayer as an instructor to his students.  He included himself in the prayer which reveals how He relates to God, His Father, in His humanity.  Here is Jesus Christ, One with God, praying to our Father...(not your Father); asking for our daily bread and asking for forgiveness for our debts (sins).  He even continues to the point of asking God to protect us from temptation.  He included Himself in this prayer which shows how much He loves us.  He gave up His glory in Heaven to walk with us as totally human and in this prayer He shows us the relationship that He has with His Father and invites us to have that same relationship.

Jesus reveals His love for God and His awe of Him.  He shares God's own heart when He prays for God's kingdom to be here on earth as it is in heaven.  Jesus' faith and trust in God is shown in the words asking for our daily bread...our sustenance...and most surpising is He asks for foregiveness and protection from temptation.  Jesus who was sinless asks for deliverance from sin and temptation.  He embraces us in His humanity, taking our sins, the sins of the world as His own.  He knew that He had to rely on the love and power of God to overcome these sins which would separate Him from His Father.  He shows us and makes available to us the relationship that God wants to have with us...in our weakness...in our sin..in our humanity.   

Through Jesus' death and resurrection we are delivered from sin.  By believing in Jesus, we recieve the Holy Spirit who will help us to repent from sin and find rest and peace in salvation as we joyfully experience God's kingdom on earth and in Heaven for eternity.