Seventh Sunday after Pentecost – July 27, 2025
“11 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.’ 2 And he said to them, ‘When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 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 -
If we translate Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer into kingdom language, we see that all our prayer should be kingdom focused in every area of our lives. This kingdom focus helps us to make sense of Jesus’ further instructions on prayer in verses 5-13.
Father	The Father is the King.	
Hallowed be your name.	Hallowed be the name of the King.	
Your kingdom come.	Let the King’s rule come.	
Give us each day our daily bread	Feed us that we may advance your Kingdom.	
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.	Forgive our transgressions against your Kingdom law as we forgive transgressions against us.	
And lead us not into temptation.	Keep us from transgressing your Kingdom law and from denying the gospel of your Kingdom.	
Since we were created to serve God, our well-being consists in serving His kingdom. Hence, God gives us those good things that help us serve His kingdom, especially the Holy Spirit. Such things are good for God’s kingdom and are therefore good for us as we align with His kingdom.
Note that the Lord’s Prayer includes both law and gospel. We ask God to uphold His kingdom law for His own name’s sake. We ask God for the strength to uphold His kingdom law and avoid temptations to break it. But we also ask God to forgive our violations of His kingdom law as we forgive others. And we do so on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection. This is pure gospel.
Jesus gave His disciples the Lord’s Prayer because they asked Him how to pray. In grace and mercy, He condescended to give them (and us) a pattern for prayer so that we might commune with God, advance His kingdom, and receive forgiveness for our sins.
Finally, notice the Trinitarian pattern here. The Lord’s Prayer is directed to the Father. It is given and modeled (and thus mediated) by the Son. And it is prayed in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost – July 27, 2025
“11 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.’ 2 And he said to them, ‘When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 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 -
If we translate Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer into kingdom language, we see that all our prayer should be kingdom focused in every area of our lives. This kingdom focus helps us to make sense of Jesus’ further instructions on prayer in verses 5-13.
Father	The Father is the King.	
Hallowed be your name.	Hallowed be the name of the King.	
Your kingdom come.	Let the King’s rule come.	
Give us each day our daily bread	Feed us that we may advance your Kingdom.	
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.	Forgive our transgressions against your Kingdom law as we forgive transgressions against us.	
And lead us not into temptation.	Keep us from transgressing your Kingdom law and from denying the gospel of your Kingdom.	
Since we were created to serve God, our well-being consists in serving His kingdom. Hence, God gives us those good things that help us serve His kingdom, especially the Holy Spirit. Such things are good for God’s kingdom and are therefore good for us as we align with His kingdom.
Note that the Lord’s Prayer includes both law and gospel. We ask God to uphold His kingdom law for His own name’s sake. We ask God for the strength to uphold His kingdom law and avoid temptations to break it. But we also ask God to forgive our violations of His kingdom law as we forgive others. And we do so on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection. This is pure gospel.
Jesus gave His disciples the Lord’s Prayer because they asked Him how to pray. In grace and mercy, He condescended to give them (and us) a pattern for prayer so that we might commune with God, advance His kingdom, and receive forgiveness for our sins.
Finally, notice the Trinitarian pattern here. The Lord’s Prayer is directed to the Father. It is given and modeled (and thus mediated) by the Son. And it is prayed in the power of the Holy Spirit.