The Lord's Prayer for 3-8 Year Olds

Categories: Sermon on the Mount, Sermon on the Mount (Bible Study)

• The Lord’s Prayer is such a well-loved prayer.
• It begins with Our Father. God belongs to us; we belong to God.
• Jesus spoke in a language called Aramaic, and the Aramaic word for “Father” is Abba. Saying Abba is like saying daddy—the way a small child would call for his or her daddy.
• Abba speaks of the care and tenderness that is part of a father-child relationship. These are qualities of love, intimacy, trust, responsibility, and strength.
• The next phrase is in the heavens. That could also be translated, “In the sky.” If the Father is in or over everybody’s sky, the Father is the God of the world.
• This gets us in the right mood or attitude to pray.
• Then, we have the first of six petitions. A petition is a request, asking God something. The first three center on God; the last three on us humans.
• Hallowed be thy name. Hallowed usually means holy, set aside, central.
• In this case, God is the doer. God makes Himself holy and puts Himself at the center of our lives.
• God makes Himself known. Only God can reveal God.
• Thy kingdom come. Some people see God’s kingdom coming in the future. Others see God’s kingdom as present now: Thy kingdom is come; it’s already here.
• The kingdom is where the will of God is done perfectly. Being in the kingdom and doing the will of God is the same thing.
• Thy will be done. God’s will must be like God, must reflect His exact nature.
• Since God is good, His will has to be infinitely spiritual, wholly good, all-loving, and ever-present. And it is expressed on earth.
• To pray that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven invites activity.
• On earth as it is in heaven: earth and heaven are immense. Think of the entire universe! God is infinite; He is bigger than we can possibly imagine. So our prayers can be bigger, wider, more inclusive.
• The heavens are a clear reminder that there is more than just earth.
• Give us our daily bread is a petition that concerns us; it’s for daily bread, for the simple and ordinary things of life. God isn’t just for the big moments, but also for all the little things in our everyday life.
• The words “us” and “our” show that this is for everyone: my wants can’t take away from another; and their wants can’t take away from me.
• Daily bread focuses on the present. Take one day at a time. Take this moment and rest it in the goodness of God.
• Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. We want to make sure we forgive others if they have hurt us; and we forgive ourselves if we have done something wrong to others.
• We don’t want to have an unforgiving heart.
• We want to forgive because we are asking to be treated as we have treated others.
• If we’ve done something wrong, we want to be forgiven. And after we’ve been forgiven, we want very much to be better.
• Lead us not into temptation. Temptation suggests an enticement (or something that looks pleasing or fun for us to do) to do something bad or wrong. God has no part of that.
• The word temptation can also mean a testing. A testing is an event or a situation that tries or challenges a person. A testing can be very positive, especially if we meet and overcome the test or challenge. It makes us stronger.
• The rest of the sentence ends with deliver us from evil.
• The aim of evil is to separate us from God. The word for deliver is a very strong word. It means “rescue, snatch away.” So God rescues us from evil; God keeps us with Him. Evil can’t separate us from our Father.
• The King James Version of the Bible has another line. It says: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. It’s not in the older manuscripts (or Bible writings), so some people think it’s not part of Jesus’ prayer, while others do.
• God is king. God actively reigns in His kingdom. He is power. God not only listens but He also has the power to act. The glory is His.
• In a way, this is somewhat like the first statement—Our Father. Just as that one put us in the right mood in order to begin praying, this one gets us in the right mood at the end.
• This is how we should pray.