Bonhoeffer on Prayer, Part Two

In "Bonhoeffer on Prayer, Part One," the focus was on how to pray. Following are some of Bonhoeffer's thoughts on what to pray. (The following words are directly quoted from The Cost of Discipleship.)

The Lord's Prayer is not merely the pattern prayer, it is the way Christians must pray. If they pray this prayer, God will certainly hear them. The Lord's Prayer is the quintessence of prayer. A disciple's prayer is founded on and circumscribed by it. Once again Jesus does not leave his disciples in ignorance; he teaches them the Lord's Prayer and so leads them to a clear understanding of prayer.

"Our Father which art in heaven." ...they call upon a Father who already knows his children's needs. ... In the name of the Son of God they are privileged to call God Father.

"Hallowed be they name." God's name as Father...shall be kept holy among them.

"Thy kingdom come." God grant that the kingdom of Jesus Christ may grow in his Church on earth. God hasten the end of the kingdoms of this world, and establish his own kingdom in power and glory!

"Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth." In fellowship with Jesus his followers have surrendered their own wills completely to God's, and so they pray that God's will may be done throughout the world. ...the evil will is still alive even in the followers of Christ, it still seeks to cut them off from fellowship with him; and that is why they must also pray that the will of God may prevail more and more in their hearts every day and break down all defiance.

God's name, God's kingdom, God's will must be the primary object of Christian prayer. Of course, it is not as if God needed our prayers, but they are the means by which the disciples become partakers in the heavenly treasure for which they pray. Furthermore, God uses their prayers to hasten the coming of the End.

"Give us this day our daily bread." As long as the disciples are on earth, they should not be ashamed to pray for their bodily needs. ...bread really comes down from above as the gift of God alone.

"Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors." Every day Christ's followers must acknowledge and bewail their guilt.

"Lead us not into temptation." ...the disciple is conscious of his weakness, and does not expose himself unnecessarily to temptation in order to test the strength of his faith. Christians ask God not to put their puny faith to the test, but to preserve them in the hour of temptation.

"But deliver us from evil." It is a prayer for a holy death and for the deliverance of the Church in the day of judgment.

"For thine is the kingdom..." The disciples are renewed in their assurance that the kingdom is God's by their fellowship in Jesus Christ, on whom depends the fulfillment of all their prayers. In him God's name is hallowed, his kingdom comes and his will is done.