The Lords Prayer Q. WHAT is the Pater Noster? A. It is the most holy prayer, that ever was. Q. Who made it? A. Christ our Lord, the eternal wisdom of his Father, Matt. vi. 9. Q. Why did he make it? A. To teach us a set form of prayer, and how we ought to pray. Q. Why did he make it in so short and plain a manner? A. That all persons might be able to understand and practise it. Q. What doth it contain? A. All those chief things which we can ask or hope for of God. Q. How many petitions does it contain? A. Seven. Q. What understand you by these words, which are prefixed to the petition, Our Father who art in Heaven? A. I understand that God is our Father, both by creation and by adoption: and if we be in the state of grace, we may confidently come to him, and beg all blessings of him. Q. How prove you that? A. Out of 1 John iii. 1. See what manner of charity the Father hath given us, that we should be named, and be the sons of God. Q. Why do you say, our Father, and not my Father? A. Because God is the common Father of all, and all good Christians must pray for one another, according to the article in the Creed. I believe in the communion of saints. Q. What understand you by the words, Who art in heaven? A. I understand that God who fills heaven and earth, and is in all things, times, and places, is in heaven in a peculiar manner, declaring and manifesting his glory to the blessed; and therefore when we pray, we must lift up our minds to him, and keep them fixed upon heavenly things. Q. How prove you that? A. Out of Jer. xlviii. 10. Cursed be he that doth the word of God negligently. The First Petition. Q. WHAT is the first petition? A. Hallowed be thy name. Q. What do we beg by this? A. That God may be known by the whole world, and that he may be worthily praised, served, and honoured by all his creatures, which cannot be effected but by his grace. Q. Who are these that say this petition ill? A. Such as dishonour the name of God by blaspheming, swearing, lying, cursing, and scurrilous disclosures. The Second Petition. Q. WHAT is the second petition? A. Thy kingdom come. Q. What do we beg of God by this petition? A. We beg, that our miseries and afflictions in this life may be such, as that we may be made partakers of his joyful and heavenly kingdom hereafter. Q. What else do we beg? A. That Christ may reign in us in this life by grace, and in the next by glory, presenting us a kingdom to his Father. Q. Who say this petition ill? A. Such as are willing slaves to sin, and to the devil. The Third Petition. Q. WHAT is the third petition? A. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Q. What do we beg by this? A. That God would enable us by his holy grace to keep his commandments, and obey his will in all things. Q. What mean you by the words, on earth as it is in heaven? A. We beg by those, that we may be as ready and willing to do the will of God on earth, as the blessed saints and angels are in heaven. The Fourth Petition. Q. WHAT is the fourth petition? A. Give us this day our daily bread. Q. What do we beg by this? A. All food and nourishment for our souls and bodies. Q. What is the food of the soul? A. The word of God, the holy sacraments, especially the blessed Eucharist, and divine grace. Q. How prove you, that by this petition Christ intended the blessed bread of the Eucharist? A. Because in Matt. vi. 11, we read our supersubstantial bread. Q. Why is the Eucharist called our daily bread? A. Because it is daily offered for our sins on the altar, and we ought daily to receive it, at least in spirit and desire. Q. Who say this petition ill? A. Such as are cold and careless in coming to the sacraments, and in hearing divine service, or exhortations; and such as ascribe their temporal goods and blessings to their own industry and providence, and not to any special bounty or gift of God. The Fifth Petition. Q. WHAT is the fifth petition? A. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Q. What do we beg by this petition? A. That God would pardon us the sins of our life past, as also the punishments which are due unto them. Q. Why are sins, and the penalties of sin, called debts? A. Because they make us debtors to the justice of God, whom by sin we rob of his due honour. Q. Why is it added, As we forgive our debtors? A. To signify that God will not forgive us, unless we also forgive our brethren; If you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences. Matt. vi. 15. Q. Who say this petition ill? A. Such as bear malice against their neighbour, and seek revenge. The Sixth Petition. Q. WHAT is the sixth petition? A. And lead us not into temptation. Q. What do we beg by this? A. That God would not permit us to be tempted above our strength. Q. Doth God tempt any man to sin? A. No, God is not a tempter of evils, he tempts no man. James i. 13. Q. What other proof have you? A. Out of Ps. v. 7 Thou art not a God willing iniquity. And out of Rom. ix. 14. Is there iniquity with God? No, God forbid. Q. By whom then are we tempted? A. By the devil, and our own concupiscence. Q. Can a man live in this world, and be free from all temptations? A. Morally speaking he cannot: for the whole life of man on earth is a warfare. Job vii. 1. Q. Why then do we pray to be delivered from temptation? A. That we may not be overcome, or vanquished by them. Q. Is temptation of itself a sin? A. No, not without consent on our part; nay, it is a great occasion of merit, if we resist it as we ought. Q. How prove you that? A. First, out of Apoc. ii. 10, 11. Be thou faithful unto death (saith our Lord) and I will give thee the crown of life: he that overcometh, shall not be hurt by the second death. Secondly, because Christ himself, who never sinned, would be tempted, and the tempter came unto him. &c. Matt. iv. 3. Q. Are we never overcome by by our own default? A. Never, according to that answer which was given to St. Paul, desiring to be freed from a temptation My grace is sufficient for thee. Q. What other proof have you? A. Out of James iv. 7. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Q. Who are they that say this petition ill? A. Such as seek after occasion of sin, and wilfully expose themselves unto temptations. Q. What are the best remedies against temptations? A. To have recourse by humble prayer to God and to his saints, and to such especially as have undergone temptations of the same kind; to resist them valiantly at the first entrance, and to remember often the four last things, death, judgment, hell, and heaven. The Seventh Petition. Q. WHAT is the seventh petition? A. But deliver us from evil. Q. What do we beg by this petition? A. That God would deliver us from all our evils both spiritual and temporal, especially from the evils of sin past, present, and to come. Q. Who is the author of the evil sin? A. The devil; for Sin in God there is none. 1 John iii. 5. Q. What other proof have you? A. Out of Wisdom xiv. 9. Hateful to God is the impious man and his impiety. Q. Who say this petition ill? A. They who commit their evils before God, and multiply their sins without remorse.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 01:37:19 +0000
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