Looking once more at this most perfect prayer, to
contemplate its perfection, we notice that the prayer presupposes a certain subject and a certain standpoint of that subject. The subject of this prayer is the Christian. And it is the Christian as he stands in the midst of this present world.
This prayer is frequently uttered in public gatherings, and before mixed audiences in the world. These seems to be a notion that it is especially adapted for this purpose. Nothing, however, could be farther from the truth. It is not the world of the ungodly, who cannot pray, nor mere man as such that is the subject of the Lord's Prayer. But very definitely it is the redeemed and regenerated and sanctified child of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. From the address of this prayer to the doxology there is not a petition that fits the mouth of the natural man, - not even the prayer for daily bread. It is the believer that is able to address God as his Father in heaven, that is concerned about the name and the kingdom and the will of God, that is in need of the forgiveness of sins, and that longs for the deliverance from evil, that is the subject of this prayer. It is the Christian that truly acknowledges that God's only is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever that speaks in this prayer. But it is the Christian as he is in this world. In heaven, in the new creation, wherein righteousness shall dwell, we shall certainly also pray. But we shall then be able to pray the Lord's Prayer in this form no longer. Then God's name shall be forever hallowed in perfection. Then His kingdom shall have come in its final glory, and therefore His will shall be done in earth and in heaven without a fault. Then we shall no longer need bread; and we shall not be in daily need of forgiveness; nor shall there be any more evil or danger of temptation. It is in this world only that we need bread, and that we need it for just one day, no more. And it is in this world too that we need the grace of forgiveness and of deliverance from the evil one. The standpoint of him that utters this prayer, therefore, is that of the believer in this present world and in the state of the present imperfection and battle. Let no one deceive himself into imagining that this prayer is especially adapted to be prayed in public gatherings of mixed audiences. On the other hand, let no one assume the position that it requires ultimate perfection to pray after the manner of the Lord's Prayer.
Herman Hoeksema
The Triple Knowledge, III: 476-477
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