Jesus said, “This,
then, is how you are to pray:
Our Father, who is
in the heavens,
may your Name be
held in reverence;
may your kingdom
come;
may your wishes
come about on earth,
just as they do in
heaven.
Give us this day
the food we need to live on.
And forgive us the
debts we owe,
just as we also
forgive the debts others owe us.
And don’t bring us
into testing,
but rather rescue
us from the Evil One.”
—
Matthew 6:9-13 (USC)
What do
we make of this; our Lord’s prayer?
Of this prayer is
our personal relationship with God, the world, and all things. It’s a prayer we
can pray privately and publically. It’s so readily recognised everywhere, even
with those who were never taught to pray it.
Not only is it our
privilege to pray this prayer, it’s also our safety, comfort, and assurance. No
other prayer quite has the same endorsement as this one; the Lord’s endorsement.
If we will commit to
not only praying this prayer, but meditating over it, as God’s living Word that
may penetrate us viscerally – dividing our spiritual bone from marrow – the Lord,
himself, will speak through it to us.
When we take this
prayer into our inner selves, contemplatively, God changes us from the inside
out. Our hearts are challenged almost, as it were, unconsciously. Our minds are
infiltrated by the same mechanism as the subliminal messages of the world. By
this prayer, it’s not the world that attacks – it’s the Lord’s counter attack
on the world’s influence that might otherwise distract us from the Kingdom
agenda in our lives.
As we focus on what
God wants for us and from us, through prayer, we are made new without any legalistic
effort on our parts.
The more we muse on
the earth becoming a place for the manifestation of heaven the more we are
ready to do the little we can to make it so.
When we are oriented
toward God’s nutritional provision – among all other types of ‘bread’ – we become
more attuned to the needs of others in our world. We are also more likely to
appreciate the food we have access to and to waste less of it.
Our relationships
ought to bear fruit, but they can only do this when we are giving as much, if
not more, than we are in receiving from them. The obligation of forgiveness is
prime.
The more time we
spend with God focused on spiritual warfare – God’s protection from testing –
the more awakened are we as to its potential presence and the more equipped we
are in calling it down.
***
The Lord’s Prayer
teaches us much about Jesus’ priorities for prayer: Hallow the Father’s name. Seek
God’s will. Build God’s Kingdom. Entreat God’s provision. Enjoy and employ God’s
forgiveness. Shelter in God’s protection.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. What is your Lord teaching you
about prayer in this current season?
2. Have you ever thought of
meditating prayerfully on the Lord’s Prayer? (To meditate is simply to reflect
on.)
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
Note: USC version is Under the Southern Cross, The New Testament in Australian English
(2014). This translation was painstakingly developed by Dr. Richard Moore, a NT
Greek scholar, over nearly thirty years.
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