Lord's Prayer Part Two

Before we rush on to the next line of the Lord's Prayer, I want to invite you to dwell with the very first word, "Our".  

Usually, we see and practice prayer as individuals.  And there is wisdom in that.  Connecting with God in our own unique ways is good.  Yet, if all we ever do is practice prayer as isolated individuals on an island of one, it can get pretty lonely.  It can also get pretty self-centered.  I need the voices of others to care for me, expand me, and challenge me.  

Care for me in ways that I realize that someone else in this world who I can see, receive a hug from, and respond to what I am saying can help me hear the still speaking voice of God in new and amazing way.  That is why Jesus came in the flesh...and we offer that Christ like present to each other in prayer.

Expand me in ways that I realize that I don't have God all figured out.  I see in a mirror dimly as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13.  I need to realize my own limitations and that others offer me new insights that I would not be able to come to on my own.  That is why Jesus came in the flesh...to push our faith in new directions while still tethered to something that felt familiar. 

Challenge me to hear ideas and images I don't agree with.  If I only listen to people like me either in prayer or in life, it gets pretty boring.  That is why Jesus came in the flesh...to bring new understandings of God who was a close as our next breath with a love that could change the world and change us today.

I think it was intentional that Jesus began with "our"...not just "my".  To be sure, the disciples came to Jesus looking for wisdom in prayer.  He could have said to them, "Bow your heads and fold your hands."  He could have said, "Well one day you may become the prayer Jedi master I am...but you must start off slow."   He could have said...well he really would not have said any of that because it is not really Jesus.  

Jesus began "Our"...as in all of our God.  No one has an exclusive corner on truth about God.  We need each other, just as Jesus needed the disciples and the disciples needed Jesus.  They offered each other the care, expansion, and challenge faith needs to be vital...and our prayer life needs.  I invite you to ponder that word, "our".

Who are you presently praying with?  Your partner?  Your family?  Your church?  Does it feel like you are praying together or just in the general vicinity of each other?  

Keep me in your prayers...and I will do the same for you...and together we can live the "our" that begins this sacred prayer.

May the traces of God's grace be seen in your connections with others in prayerful moments.

Peace

The Lord's Prayer

Over the next couple of posts about prayer, I want to look at the Lord's Prayer.  Many have already commented about, preached about, written books about, and every Sunday in almost every Christian Church this prayer is part of the worship service, so I am trudging into well-known territory.  In some ways stepping into such conversation is difficult.  Do I really have anything fresh to add to the dialogue?  Or I am heaping more words upon a prayer that is relatively short and straight-forward?  

My prayer is in these posts you might find something that feels like a breath of fresh air.  Maybe at the bare minimum, these posts might cause you to ponder the Lord's Prayer as you said it Sunday after Sunday to think about the words falling from your lips rather than reciting on autopilot.  I promise to join you in that and also be open as the church I serve this Sunday says this prayer in our worship service.

The Lord's Prayer is found in two of the four Gospels:

Matthew 6:9-15

Luke 11:1-4

Neither Mark nor John include this prayer.  There are some similarities and differences between Matthew and Luke's versions.  Luke is very clear that the disciples prompt the prayer by requesting Jesus to 'teach them to pray.'  This comes as Jesus himself was in the midst of prayer.  You can almost picture the disciples hovering around, trying to eavesdrop as Jesus whispered words to God, and learn by osmosis.  I take heart that the disciples, Jesus' closest friends had to ask for wisdom about how to pray.  Maybe I can learn from that.  Prayer may not come as naturally as everyone likes to assume it should.  It can be difficult, even for those who were willing to give up their lives to follow Jesus.  Why in the world would we assume that we should know how to pray?  Maybe the disciples request could become ours and we might say, "Lord, teach me to pray!"

Matthew's version also is a teachable moment for Jesus.  Jesus clearly says, when you pray to God, pray like this... In Chapter 6, Jesus had just been to the temple and seen the way people were praying.  I have to admit it is always tempting to glance out of the corner of my eye when praying in public.  Is my wife's head bowed?  What about the person in front of me?  Once your eyes are open, you look at the person praying.  Are her eyes open or closed?  Is she reading from a printed prayer?  

So, let's start by affirming two things: 1).  We all need help with prayer and 2). We are curious about how other's pray too.

Both Matthew and Luke start off the Lord's Prayer with the same two words, "Our Father".  Perhaps you have already heard before that the word here in the original language is "Abba" and is really more appropriately translated, "Daddy", not that I think people are going to start saying, "Our Daddy".  Maybe one day.  Daddy is the more informal and initiate word for a relationship.  My kids never say, "Father, I would like some ice cream."  It is always, "Daaaaaaadddddy...could we please have ice cream," with each word, especially the first, coated in all the love they have.  Daddy is about a close connection.  

To be sure, not everyone reading this blog has had a great relationship with their biological father.  Maybe several reading this have had just God-awful relationships with males in their lives.  Assigning a gender to God will do that.  When you use intimate words, you awake intimate memories from our experiences.    

To say God was close and in a loving relationship with us, Jesus is drawing on the second creation narrative, Genesis 2, we God kneels in the dirt and crafts the first human out of the dust.  That is the kind of Creator Jesus points to in saying, "Our Father."

I know there is still tension around how we refer to God.  And so, I want you to think about that image.  Would it be better for you to say, "Our Father-Mother" so you can get beyond gender?  Would it be better for you to say, "Our God" to take gender out of it?  Would it be better for you if we took tradition another way?  For me, words matter and make a difference.  And it is good for me to ponder right now how is my relationship with God?  Do I feel the love of a parent intimate and close when I start the Lord's Prayer?  Or are the words tripping me up?

May the traces of God's grace be found in your life today as we open ourselves to the One whose love cares for us and sustains us.

Blessings.