The Lord\u2019s Prayer (Matt 6:9-13) is one of the best known portions of the Sermon on the Mount. Many of us first learned it at our mothers’ knees, and prayed it every evening before we went to sleep. The Didache, a guide to early church practice, instructs believers to pray it three times a day. Faithful Catholics repeat it many times a day as a component of the Rosary.<\/p>\n
In light of this widespread personal use of the prayer, I was surprised, when studying the prayer in its context, to realize that our Lord intends it first of all, not for private devotion, but for believers gathered together in corporate prayer. This insight warns us against two unhealthy tendencies in modern evangelical circles. One is a neglect to use the prayer at all. The other is an increasing neglect of gathering for corporate prayer.
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The evidence for the corporate nature of the prayer takes three forms: the wording of the prayer itself, its relation to the broader context of Matt 6:2-18, and the internal structure of the prayer.<\/p>\n
The first clue that this is a prayer to be prayed by groups of believers is in its pronouns. Over and over those who pray describe themselves in the plural. \u201cGive us \u2026 our daily bread.\u201d \u201cForgive us \u2026 as we forgive our debtors.\u201d \u201cLead us not into temptation.\u201d \u201cDeliver us from evil.\u201d There\u2019s nothing wrong with each of us individually asking for these various facets of the Lord\u2019s care, but the prayer that the Lord has given us encourages us to seek them together, and it\u2019s a profitable meditation (though one that cannot detain us here) to contemplate the special implications of praying each of these as a group.<\/p>\n
The second clue lies in the context of the prayer. Matt 6:2-18 has three main paragraphs: vv. 2-4 deal with charitable giving, vv. 5-15 with prayer, and vv. 16-18 with fasting. The first and last of these, and the first part of the prayer paragraph (vv. 5-6), have two characteristics that vv. 7-15, the Lord\u2019s Prayer and its immediate context, do not share.<\/p>\n
One shared characteristic is a very strong parallelism in structure. In each of these three short sections, we have an exhortation not to behave as the hypocrites do, a description of their behavior (which is always very public), the statement that they have their reward, an instruction about how we are to do the devotion in question (emphasizing that it should be \u201cin secret\u201d), and the promise that \u201cthy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.\u201d The Lord\u2019s Prayer does not participate in this parallelism. The closest similarity is the contrast of our behavior with that of another group, but in vv. 7-15, this contrast is with \u201cthe heathen\u201d rather than with \u201cthe hypocrites.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other shared characteristic of the three main paragraphs is the private, individual nature of the devotion. Throughout these paragraphs, the pronouns are all singular, marked in the KJV by the use of \u201cthee\u201d or \u201cthou. The one exception is v. 16, \u201cWhen ye fast \u2026.\u201d This section begins with one plural, but quickly shifts back to the singular, a transitional technique that is well documented elsewhere in Scripture [1]. In contrast with this pervasive emphasis on the privacy of our devotions in the three main paragraphs, vv. 7-15 consistently use plural pronouns, \u201cye\u201d and \u201cyou.\u201d<\/p>\n
This second contrast reinforces the evidence from the pronouns in the Prayer itself. The overall theme of vv. 1-18 is that believers should conduct their devotional practices privately, individually, in secret. The hypocrites do them openly, seeking approval from other people, but God intends that each disciple should give, pray, and fast as a private transaction with him. Into the midst of this exhortation to individual, private devotion, the Lord inserts vv. 7-15, which insists that believers should also pray together. We might paraphrase the effect of this setting:<\/p>\n
\nYou must not give, pray, or fast publicly, seeking the praise of men. Instead, do these things privately, seeking only the attention of your heavenly Father. However, do not misunderstand this instruction. In the matter of prayer, you should also gather together with other disciples.<\/p>\n
A later passage in Matthew, chapter 18, amplifies the Lord\u2019s instruction on corporate prayer, promising special attention to the prayers of \u201ctwo or three\u201d who are \u201cgathered together in my name\u201d (Matt 18:19, 20). The context of the Lord\u2019s Prayer prepares for that teaching by qualifying the Lord\u2019s emphasis on private devotions with a specific exception and instruction for prayer. The point of vv. 5-6 remains: the Lord is not pleased with ostentatious prayer on the street corner, or even \u201cin the synagogues.\u201d But he very much wants his followers to gather together and come in agreement to \u201cOur Father.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third clue to the corporate nature of the prayer lies in its internal structure, which turns on the linguistic distinction between statements and requests. The prayer begins with a statement, asserting that \u201cour Father\u201d is in heaven. It ends with another statement, declaring that \u201cthe kingdom, and the power, and the glory\u201d belong to him. In between are seven requests, three seeking God\u2019s glory, and four addressing the needs of his followers.<\/p>\n