GUIDANCE - Matthew 6:7-13

When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  Pray then in this way:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. - Matthew 6:7-13

Words we all know, with a preamble that tells us why we should know them.

Whenever I don't know what to pray, I turn to the Lord's prayer.  It is an old standby, covering everything: praise, promise, providence, forgiveness, salvation.

But Jesus gives us even more reason to pray this way, and he is blunt about it.  It is our nature to "heap up empty phrases," to think that the more we say, the more God will hear us, but Jesus says it is quite the opposite: God hears us before we open our mouths and knows what we need before we ask him.  But we should still pray, and Jesus says pray this way:  Turn to God and praise God's holiness.  Look to heaven and see God's promise for us.  Remember all that God provides.  Ask for forgiveness and learn to be forgiving.  And call on God to save us from everything evil.

I cannot say it better.  God is there before I turn to him, and holy without my saying it.  Heaven is there before I look for it, and God's will for me precedes my own.  God gives me everything, everyday, before I ask for it, and God forgives before I know how to be forgiving.  And God saves me from all the evil within me and around me.

I cannot say it better, so I repeat these words, and the repetition is wholesome: how good it is to end our prayers with this, how rich to say these words in community, how sweet it is to rest in God's words and how blessed we are to be taught the Lord's prayer and invited to repeat it.

And in my private prayers, even though I cannot say it better, I say it in as many ways as I can, pondering the fullness of each phrase and knowing that God hears me, even before I ponder.

---
Our (collective) Father (familiar)
who art in heaven, hallowed (praise)
be thy name (Yahweh hear us calling).
Thy kingdom come (show us your place),
Thy will be done (the peace that passes)
on earth (to mortals: Jesus born)
as it is in heaven (Jesus risen
everlasting, every morning).

Give us this day our daily bread
(the daily gift of life revealed)
and forgive us our trespasses (faithless fears)
as we forgive (and learn to heal)
those who trespass (the uninvited)
against us (us and them the same).
Lead us (let us ever follow
on thy path and in thy name)

not into temptation (our otherwise
of empty prayers and private hells),
but deliver us (when we do not follow)
from evil (save us from ourselves).

For thine is the kingdom (heaven and earth)
and the power (every strength we know)
and the glory (Jesus lives!), forever
and ever. Amen (let it be so). 

--- Journal archives, 2009

---

He was praying in  a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray..." Luke 11:1

---

Thank you Lord...Amen!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PEACE - Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice.  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guide your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:4-7 A three step program, leading us once again to the Trinity. First, here is what you should not do:  Don't worry.  Don't worry about anything. Second, what you should do: Give it to God.  Everything. Third, what the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will do for you: The Trinity - God's peace in Christ! - will guard your hearts from worry and change your  misunderstanding minds. How can we be so changed?  As before, with persistent prayer, thanksgiving and joy.  "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say rejoice."  Paul repeats to the Philippians what he told the Thessalonians, but he a
Read more

ANSWER - Exodus 3:13-14

But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you," and they ask me "What is his name?" what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, "I am who I am." - Exodus 3:13-14 An answer to everything: what to call God, but also, to questions being asked, how to pray constantly, rejoice always and be grateful for all that we are given. Here again is the challenge, from  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances."   To this, and to everything, God says "I am." This, I believe, is how we learn to rejoice always, by letting God be the open ended story, the rest of the sentence and the unspoken truth of "I am." This is also how we learn to pray constantly, by staying in the presence, the present tense of God, the timeless and always "I am." And this is how we learn to thank God at every turn, appr
Read more

BOLDNESS - 1 John 5:14

And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. - 1 John 5:14. An amazing assurance (if we ask, he hears us) and an invitation to boldness (ask anything), qualified by a necessary awareness (ask according to his will). It may seem like a dichotomy to pray boldly yet with an awareness of what God wants of us, but perhaps it will become easier to understand if we look at some related verses. First, we can rejoice in  Matthew 7:7: "Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you."   We truly can give it all to God and find God wherever we look. But we should also remember how Jesus prayed, at  Luke 22:42: "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup form me; yet not my will but yours be done."   We truly can ask boldly for anything, but we have to keep it an "ask," not a tell. And we can, and should, turn to Jesus in the same way; see  John 14:
Read more