To say “pray like this” does not mean “pray this exact prayer in these exact words. What Jesus meant was that these words were exemplary of the heart attitude that God wants to be established in the hearts of New Covenant disciples . See The Place Where God Will Place His Name for more about heart attitude.

Old/First Covenant religionists take Jesus’ words literally and pray those exact words with their natural voices using their natural minds at particular times in a particular locations. Such prayers are all flesh. They are fake faith. They are religious traditions.

New Covenant disciples, on the other hand, would hold the spiritual intent of Jesus words in their hearts at all times — not just at prayer time. When this happens, they satisfy the commands to pray without ceasing and pray in the spirit at all times. The religious concept of prayer that happens only while awake and verbally and consciously praying violates Jesus’ teaching. Religious prayers that happen only at certain times in certain locations are fake faith.

Some people like to pray with their eyes shut, and perhaps with their hands lifted up to the sky as though they are praying to a God who lives in the sky which is literally interpreted as heaven. Only New Covenant disciples understand that the Kingdom of God/Heaven is within them — not up in the natural sky/heaven.

New Covenant disciples understand that prayer is a spirit-to-spirit, mouth-to-mouth, face-to-face communication with God that happens exclusively in the spirit (i.e. heart) of the one praying — all without using human words. They understand and believe that, because God knows their heart, actual words formed with the natural mouth or in their minds are unnecessary to communicate with God. It is a matter of faith for them that God knows their needs and the needs of others and will do for them what he wills without any requests for help, deliverance or healing made in prayer.

Whether they actually look up into the sky or not, religious people who pray the Lord’s Prayer repetitiously and verbatim do not understand that the Kingdom of God/Heaven is within them (i.e. in their heart/spirit). They do not understand that their verbal prayers are nothing more than religious form with no spiritual value. They pray because they have been told by religious people that they should pray with their mouths and minds if they want God to hear them and if they want their prayers to be answered. They are under a religious law that says good, religious people pray. And because they like to believe that they are good, religious people, they pray.

• This phrase confirms the awareness of New Covenant disciples that they do not follow an earthly father (i.e. religious leader). This awareness agrees with another teaching by Jesus that says that his disciples should not call any person father because they already have spiritual father. 
• This phrase also confirms the awareness of New Covenant disciples that God’s home and his laws are in their hearts (i.e. heaven). It could be restated as: My Father who has made his home in my heart.
• It is worth noting that neither here, nor anywhere else, does Jesus instruct his disciples to pray to him. This is because Jesus always defers to his heavenly father. People who verbally pray to Jesus, therefore, do not love Jesus because they do not obey his commandments.

• Here Jesus acknowledges that only God’s name (i.e. his character) is holy/set-apart/sacred.
• See Third Commandment for understanding of God’s name.
• It is worth noting here that neither here nor anywhere else in the Bible does Jesus hint that he himself is holy. This is because he is always mindful of the fact that he was not God. This is also consistent with Jesus’ practice of not testifying about himself.
• Jews and Christians believe that God’s literal name is holy. They do not understand that in the Bible a person’s name refers to his/her character. We have discussed this issue in Third Commandment. By saying that God’s name is holy, they are in effect saying that his character is different and set apart from the character of men. See this link for understanding of holiness.Lacking understanding of the truth about what God means by his name and holiness, Jews and Christians make up religious rules that about not speaking God’s literal name or Jesus literal name in ways that will be offensive to other religionists who follow the same rules. They also make up religious songs that refer to the literal names of God and Jesus and believe that if they sing these songs with these names over and over again they are honoring both God and Jesus. They do not realize that these songs are only meaningless  repetitions that have no spiritual value in God’s eyes even though they are highly valued by the religious people who sing them. See Music, Singing and Dancing for more about these issues.Lacking understanding of spiritual matters, religious people attempt to keep God’s name holy or hallowed by being careful of how they use his name in public settings with nary a thought to how they wrongly represent his character through their religious activities and personal lives. They don’t understand the Third Commandment.
• Jews and Christians also believe that, when they say with their mouths that God is holy, he is convinced of their sincerity. God is not unconcerned with what people say, but he makes his judgments about them by looking at their hearts.

• This verse acknowledges that there are two kingdoms: Kingdom of the World (i.e. religion), and the Kingdom of God/Heaven.
• The essence of the prayer is that the kingdom of God would come to replace the kingdom of the world in the hearts of Old/First Covenant religionists.
• Before God’s kingdom is established in their hearts, religious people obey religious laws. After God’s kingdom is established (i.e. he writes his laws) in the hearts of New Covenant disciples, they will obey God’s spiritual laws.
• Before God’s kingdom is established in the heart, the heart is evil and impure, like dirt or earth.
• After God’s kingdom is established in the heart, the heart is clean and pure like heaven.

STUDY TIP: See Religion is the Enemy, Gods at War and Sibling Conflict for more understanding of kingdoms. Also see Land, Earth and the Promised Land.

This short statement is loaded with meaning. There is almost as much meaning in what it does not say as what it does say.

What it does say about God’s kingdom coming cannot be understood without understanding what the Bible means by “kingdom.” See Kingdom of God/Heaven for an in depth discussion of kingdoms. More understanding is found in Cities, Kingdoms and Nations, gods, idols and idolatry and Kings, Queens, Princes and Other Rulers.

What this statement does not say is that for God’s kingdom to come (i.e. be established), all earthly kingdoms which are ruled by religious leaders (i.e. Devils, Satans, Adversaries, Demons, Evil Spirits and Anti-Christs) must be replaced with God’s kingdom in the hearts of New Covenant disciples . This is the essence of events called the End Times, End of the Age, and Day of the Lord. This transition of authority  is God’s ultimate ideal for evangelism and discipling.

God’s view of evangelism is to tell people religious people that they must come out of religion. This is, of course, the exact opposite of the Christian idea of evangelism which is to convince people that they should become religious. Another way the Bible presents evangelism is in appeals to die to religion and be resurrected to new life. These appeals cannot be understood, however, without understanding what life means. See Your Life for more understanding.

Making true disciples is what  true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses, and warriors do when they teach religious people how to hear God’s spoken voice. Disciples are people who stop listening to false prophets and learn how to listen to God’s voice. This is the process by which religious people transition from practicing Old/First Covenant RELIGION and becomes a New Covenant disciple. It is the process by which people are born again. This process is the opposite of how Old/First Covenant religionists interpret the command to make disciples: They encourage and entice people to become fake disciples.

Full appreciation of the personal application of “thy kingdom come” cannot be accomplished until and unless the traditional, global, apocalyptic interpretation of the end of the world is rejected. This literal interpretation is based on a wrong understanding of what God means by “world” which is discussed in detail in The World. The real meaning of the end of the world is discussed in End Times, Rapture and Tribulation.

The world of religion has both a corporate and personal aspect. The corporate world of religion is found in corporate, organized, institutional religions that practice Commercial Religion and follow religious rituals and tradition which God hates.

In God’s view, corporate practices of  world of religion are all Defiled Religion that are always led by Religious Leaders with Reputations and Titles. The personal aspect of religion exists for people who willingly participate in corporate religion and observe the various Religious Traditions that their religious leaders preach and enforce.

The problem with corporate religion is that individuals give to religious leaders the authority to inform and direct their personal religious lives. These religious leaders effectively function as gods and idols for individuals who seek out and follow their teachings — all in violation of the First Commandment. This is how religion becomes personal.

In God’s view, these religious leaders are like Judas, Pharaoh, False Prophets, Pharisees and Wolves dressed like sheep. For God’s kingdom to come, these religious leaders must be displaced from the hearts of their followers. This only happens, however, when the individuals who follow them repent for putting other gods before God.

From God’s point of view, this is a condition which must be corrected. For God, this condition is a matter of injustice. The injustice of this condition is corrected when God’s kingdom comes in the heart of each individual so that God’s will, as represented by his laws, (i.e. his commands, ordinances and decrees)  are written on the hearts of people according to the terms of the New Covenant. We have discussed this in detail in New Covenant.

The main point here is that the laws that God wants his people to obey are the laws written on the heart by God’s spirit — not laws, rules, traditions, rituals, doctrines, sacraments, liturgies, or any other kind of law that has been codified by men. Since all religious institutions (e.g.. churches, synagogues, denominations, ministries, etc.) have written plans and procedures that guide them, they take their direction from these rules that they and others have written down. People who follow such rules are following the rules of men and are not being led by God’s spirit. This condition is at odds with God’s Perfect Law which is found only in the hearts of New Covenant disciples.

See The Law and its subordinate pages for more about God’s laws . Also see Commandments, Charges, Precepts, Statutes, Ordinances and Other Laws for more understanding of God’s spiritual law.

STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of earth and this link for understanding of heaven.

Earth and heaven symbolize two very different heart conditions: Heaven is a clean, pure heart, and earth is an evil, impure heart.

The prayer, therefore, is for God’s kingdom to be established and his will to be done in evil, impure hearts just like his kingdom is  established and is his will done in clean, pure hearts.

Another way explain the prayer is to say that God wants Old/First Covenant religionists to become New Covenant disciples.

And another way to explain the prayer is that God wants his people to stop listening to false prophets, and start listening to his spoken word.

• This phrase acknowledges that God’s spoken word is the bread of life. It declares that spiritual life is dependent on the ability to hear God’s spoken voice.
• The bread that God gives is good, spiritual food. God gives this food directly from his voice or through true prophets (i.e. angels, messiahs, high priests, warriors) whom he sends to speak for him to people who cannot hear his voice.
• God’s spoken word is also available to people who listen for his voice while reading the Bible.

• We create a debt with God when we listen to the voices of false prophets. Justice exists only when God’s people listen to his spoken voice.
• People who listen to the voices of false prophets deny to God his desire to enjoy intimacy with his people. God sees this situation as idolatry, harlotry, adultery and prostitution.
• The debt is repaid when people return to God what is rightfully his: People who listen to his spoken voice. This is what God has in mind when he talks about robbing him of what is rightfully his.
• Our debt to God is forgiven when three things happen:
• We repent for robbing him of his right to enjoy intimacy with us and others whom we have evangelized to be religious.
• We stop engaging in adultery with religious leaders when we no longer listen to their teachings.
• We love our neighbor as ourselves by telling them that they need to quit being religious and start listening to God’s spoken voice.

• See this link for understanding of temptation.
• The request for deliverance from evil may seem odd and unnecessary. When religious people understand, however, that they are addicted to religion and that pride obstructs them from leaving religion, this request makes sense. The request acknowledges that religious people do not have the will or strength to leave religion. They ask, therefore, that God will do for them what they are unable to do for themselves: Change their hearts from evil and impure to clean and pure. This is a miracle that only God can perform.

AUTHORS’ NOTE: The NASB, KJV, and only a few other versions of the Bible, include verse 13 b.

The phrase “yours is the kingdom, power and glory seems unnecessary and redundant to religious people. It takes on great meaning and power, however, for people who have been delivered from the kingdoms of Kings, Queens and Princes whom they obeyed.

“Readers who might wonder why this phrase exists in some Bible versions and not in others may find this link instructive.

15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

1. 1. 1. 1. Our need to forgive others for their transgressions against us.
         2. Our desire to have God’s forgiveness for our transgressions against him.
         3. God’s willingness to forgive us.

In every example, the transgressions are with respect to the Injustice, Slavery, Oppression and Affliction conducted by religion. ***

• Regarding forgiving others, the people we need to forgive are the religious leaders who deceived us about religion by preaching/sharing a false gospel.. Jesus was tempted by religious leaders but did not sin. If we listen to religious leaders and choose to follow the gospel they share, we yield to temptation. That is our sin and we need to repent for it.

Religious leaders are guilty of injustice, and we are the victims of injustice if we follow their teachings. They sinned by deceiving us, and they need to repent for  that sin.

The overriding feature of religion that makes it a sin (i.e. transgression) is that it involves involves listening to false prophets for religious instruction.

• Regarding our transgressions against God, we incur debt to God in several ways. Here are a few examples of the way we incur debt:

• Regarding God’s willingness to forgive us, we must acknowledge that we have offended others in the following ways:

God considers our debt to him satisfied when we do the following:

Debtors are religious people who had some role in leading us into temptation to sin by practicing religion. When we learn that we have been deceived and enslaved and oppressed by their religious laws, and that we have been robbed financially by their teachings about tithes and offerings, our initial response is to be angry with people who taught and encouraged us to practice religion. Our attitude toward them should be the same as Jesus attitude: Forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing.

• The transgressions in view here are the deception,  injustice, slavery and oppression that religious people have committed by preaching a false gospel and by encouraging others to be obedient to religious laws.
• Religious people are both victims and perpetrators of these transgressions. They are victims when false prophets preach a false gospel to them and they believe the teaching. They are perpetrators when they themselves preach a false gospel and someone believes them.
• People are not totally set free from religion until they forgive the people who led them into religion.
• Religious people are not able to forgive other religious people for leading them into religion until they are able to acknowledge that they are both victim and perpetrators of injustice.
• God’s willingness to forgive us is directly linked to our willingness to forgive others for their injustice against us.
• Our willingness to forgive others is directly linked to our understanding of our personal need to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins against him.
• If we do not see ourselves as perpetrators of sin against others, God will not forgive us. If we see ourselves only as victims of the sins of others, we are blind to our own sin. This is the principle of specks and logs in the eye.
• Inability to forgive for any kind of offense is a characteristic of an evil, impure heart, and the ability to forgive like Jesus forgave, is the characteristic of a clean, pure heart.
• We created a debt to God when we practice religion and encourage others to practice religion. We robbed him of the intimate relationship that is rightly his when we listened to false prophets and tempted other people to interpret the Bible literally and listen to false prophets. We also rob God when we do not bring God’s words (i.e. tithes) to people who do not listen to his voice.
• The only way to repay that debt is to give to God what is rightly his and what he hopes to restore in his relationship with all people: heart-to-heart intimacy. We do or part in restoring our relationship with God when we choose to do the following:

1. 1. 1. Stop listening to false prophets.
      2. Start listen to his spoken voice.
      3. Serve him as true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses, warriors and apostles who share the true gospel, call people out of religion, and tear down idols and high places.
         

The people that need to be forgiven are religious people who schemed to draw us into religion and keep us in religion by doing the following:

For all these reasons and more we need to forgive people who led us into religion. They made religion attractive and legitimate and enticed us with friendship and acceptance if we would join their religious community.

If we do not see a need to forgive others for their role in tempting us to be religious and encouraging us to be zealous in our religious habits, we will not understand that we also need forgiveness for doing to others what has been done to us: Entrap and enslave them to join us in captivity to religion.

If we do not see ourselves as willing  accomplices in evangelistic efforts to draw people to listening to false prophets, and never encourage them to listen to God’s spoken voice, we do not see religion the same way God sees it: Evil. Moreover, we do not see ours heart as God sees it. Evil and impure.***

If we do not see religion as evil, we do not yet have a heart like God’s heart but we still have a heart that is, at least in part, evil and impure.

Maybe we don’t actively participate in religion like we once did, and maybe we don’t pay financial tithes anymore, and maybe we do try to interpret the Bible symbolically instead of literally, and maybe we do try to listen to God’s voice while reading the Bible, but, if we don’t see that we are as guilty of evil as other religious people are, and if we don’t see a personal responsibility to repay the debt we have incurred with God and others, and if we do not see it as our job as God’s servants to  repay our debt to our neighbors by loving them as we love ourselves, and by calling them out of religion so they too can hear God’s voice, and do not yet exhibit Jesus’ personal character and perform his ministry functions in our own lives, we do not yet have a heart like God’s heart.

God will not forgive us for our participation in the sin of religion unless we see it as our responsibility to repay the debts we have incurred.

Yes, we were victims of religious injustice when false prophets preached false gospels to us. But we are also perpetrators of religious injustice when we participated  whether directly or indirectly, in evangelistic religious efforts designed to enslave others to religion. We must repay the debts we have incurred before we can expect to be forgiven for our own debts. And we must confess our sins of perpetrating injustice before we can expect to receive God’s forgiveness.