Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name.Since I sing the prayer as I learned it at school, I use the old language. I like this opening - it reminds me that God is sovereign, and it is in Him that I place my trust and obedience. How awesome, to come into the very presence of God! The one who made the heavens and the earth, the one who knows me and cares for little old me.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.More obedience - I feel like this is a theme for me at the moment. God's kingdom to come on earth - actually I find that hard to imagine. I was thinking this morning that God might be the ultimate communist: from each according to ability, to each according to need. It doesn't work in this fallen world because of human nature, which is to do as little as possible to get as much as possible. But God, who sees into the heart, could make it work. God can be fair without being equal, though it doesn't work very well for humans.
Give us this day our daily bread.Interesting that we are instructed to ask for something as ordinary and prosaic as bread. One translation has "give us all we need for living" but I prefer the more concrete version. I find it also interesting that we get to ask for bread. Not meat and beer or cakes and wine. Just what we need to survive. Extras can be applied for, and will be granted on their merits!
That's not to say that God is not generous. He is, and I have been showered with miracles, visions, answers to prayer greater than I could ever expected. But these were all very much "extras" and gifts, not basic needs. They were also to serve very definite purposes. God's guidance, equipping and encouragement when I needed them. They were not "luxuries" for personal enjoyment, just as St James predicted!
Funny - I have known the Lord's Prayer for most of my life, but there is still more in it to think about and discover. More later...
1 comment:
I recommend a book my priest gave me, The Prayer of Fire: Experiencing the Lord's Prayer. It's a slim book with the Lord's Prayer broken down into lines, one chapter per line. Each essay draws on wisdom from many sources: Orthodox, Anglican, Catholic, Protestant. I'm at "on earth as it is in heaven" and really loving the insights, both meditative and intellectual, the book offers.
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