The last chord of this model prayer brings us to the very mountain peak of praise

It’s amazing, when we look at the Lord’s Prayer we see how the Lord Jesus led by example; in his master-class, he shows us how best to do it – and if we follow his advice, by the time we come to the last few words, we will have gone full circle. The prayer ends as it began.

We started with ‘hallowed be your name’ and we end with ‘yours is the glory’; we began with ‘your kingdom come’ and we finish with ‘yours is the kingdom’; we commenced with ‘your will be done’ and we conclude with ‘yours is the power’; we began with ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ and we end with ‘for ever’.

The last chord of this model prayer brings us to the very mountain peak of praise – this is the Everest of intercession; the pattern Jesus has set for us focuses our hearts and minds on the greatness and awesome majesty of God. If we fail to end here, we’ll be left with more of a sense of our problems than with a hope to their solution. That’s why this superb benediction is so important.

In order to prevent us from getting stuck in the mud of life, Jesus taught us a kind of ‘psychology of prayer’: he shows us the right place to begin – by honouring the name of God; he also showed us the proper way to end – by praising God for his sovereignty and glory. That means God is central in the prayer sandwich.

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Sam Gordon has authored a number of books with Ambassador. Originally from Bangor, he and his wife Lois make their home in the heart of England. He is the Bible teacher on TWR-United Kingdom’s daily programme, Truth for Today, heard online at www.twr.org.uk.

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