Explanation of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)

Matthew 6:9. Our Father who art in heaven! Do you call God father, man? Fair enough: of course, He is the Father of all. But in this case, try to ensure that your deeds are pleasing to your Father. If your deeds are evil, then, of course, your father is the devil: he is the source of all evil. Therefore, try to move away from him and please your good Father and Creator. What is this? Isn't God holy? No, He is holy, and these words of yours mean: hallowed be Your name in me, so that people may see my good deeds and glorify my Father and Creator. Matthew 6:10. Thy kingdom come; What is this? Is not God now reigning, that His kingdom is yet to come? Of course He is a king. But just as a city besieged by enemies asks for the royal army to come and liberate it, so we, being surrounded by opposing forces and our own sins and evil thoughts, ask for the kingdom of God to come and bring us deliverance. It can be explained in another way. The prophet says: “God reigns over the nations” (Ps. 47:9), using the past tense instead of the future; like him, we exclaim: “Thy kingdom come,” Lord! - that is: may Thy mercies come upon us. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; This means: Lord! just as Your will is done in heaven, where all the angels are in the world and among them there are no oppressors, no oppressed, no offenders, no offended, but complete peace reigns among them, so among us, the inhabitants of the earth, “Thy will be done,” so that all nations with one mouth and one heart, we all glorify our Creator and Savior. Matthew 6:11. Give us this day our daily bread; We ask for our daily bread. Bread for the soul is the word of God, as one of the saints said: “Open your mouth for the words of God” (Prov. 31:8). Therefore, it is good to remember God more often than to breathe. Matthew 6:12. and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; The meaning is this: forgive us our debts, that is, our sins and misdeeds, just as we forgive all our brothers who sin against us, both free and slaves and everyone who depends on us. Saying this, man, see to it that your actions correspond to your words; and if this is not the case, remember how terrible it is for us to fall into the hands of the living God, and having corrected yourself, turn to the Creator and Lord. Matthew 6:13. but deliver us from evil. If Satan asked to sow us like wheat, as he already asked the apostles, but rightly received a refusal to his request, and if it happened as it happened with the ancient Job, do not give him power over us; even if the evil man wanted to tempt us or offend us, do not give him free reign over us, but protect us with the shelter of Your wings. For Thine is the kingdom and the power. God! since Thine is the kingdom, do not allow us to be frightened by another kingdom or another dominion, even if we were worthy of punishment for our sins. You yourself punish us as You please, just do not hand us over into the hands of people: let us fall into Your hands, because as is Your greatness, such is Your mercy, Father Almighty, forever. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.