How We Experience the Lord’s Prayer

As a seminarian, I concentrated my studies on Christian education and Christian spirituality. Coming from a fundamental, evangelical background, I was still working to navigate the sentence structure that moved God to the acting verb instead of me. I grew up hearing that to be saved, “I must.” The truth that [Christ died] on the cross was glossed over in an attempt to do those things that would help me “get right with God.” More emphasis was placed on my behavior and actions than what God had done, was doing, and promised to still do. So, it stands to reason that as I entered my seminary program, I would instinctively apply those same foundational building blocks to my education.

I went into the study of Christian education thinking, as is implied in the title itself, that it was “my work” of learning what it means to be Christian. I believed the Christian spirituality part of my education would teach me how to “be” the right kind of devoted Christian and in turn, I could teach others.

While I have clear moments, readings, and conversations that helped me begin to pivot my thinking, for me, I didn’t just wake up one day making God the subject of the verb in every way. Instead, in the midst of quantity time reading, praying, and listening, the quality time revealed the different sentence structure – God is the subject of the verb. Now, if you aren’t one who remembers sentence structure lingo from 8th grade English class – that means that when we talk about salvation – God is the one doing the work…not us.

In my previous way of thinking, hearing this scripture from Luke, and saying the Lord’s prayer each Sunday in worship as a child and young adult, I heard the words through the lens of my childhood theology. What I heard was a list of things that I wanted and needed God to do for me – feed me, forgive me, deliver me, keep me away from those people who hurt me. The structure of the prayer was broken down into categories of prayer petitions that provided a model for how all of my prayers should be spoken. And doesn’t it stand to reason, that when a model is provided, our human nature is to deviate from the model as rebels and then feel guilty? Alternatively, when a model is provided, we feel bringing creativity into our prayers is frowned upon. Perhaps you aren’t in danger of thinking that way – but I was – I was taught to follow the Biblical “rules.” So, at night, I would lay in bed going down the line of petitions in the appropriate order. And surely if I prayed the “right way,” God would grant me my wishes. Yes, wishes – desires, needs, wants.

It occurs to me now, that how I understood the Lord’s prayer, and the way in which I believed I should pray, were in line with what I believed about God – the nature of God. As a sinful human, I certainly have moments of great blunders and revert back to those foundational building blocks I learned, it is indeed a constant journey – but now, after all the “quantity” time in prayer and study, I can see it differently…

In our lesson today, we hear that Jesus is praying…Jesus is spending time with God…the disciples, along for the journey, are there with Jesus. One of them turns to Jesus, having just seen him praying as says, “Jesus, teach us to pray…” While Jesus gives the disciples “words” to pray, words we know now as the Lord’s Prayer, he continues with a parable to preserver. Keep at it. Again, as a child, this was seen as a way to “get what you want from God,” but rather, the longer we spend time with God, we realize that what this perseverance reveals is that God knows what we need – love, grace, belonging – and God gives this to us freely. This is also revealed in what Jesus prays to the Father. In Jesus’ prayer, he reveals a God who provides and forgives. He reveals a God who protects and gives generously.

Perseverance in prayer – in the belief that we serve a God who provides, forgives, protects, and gives generously – friends this changes us. It changed me. It is the very thing that helped me go from writing myself in as the subject of the verb to seeing the work that God is already doing. As we persevere, we spend quantity time with God, and in the midst of quantity time, quality time – moments of clarity – will come. God will shape our way of thinking and seeing. God will nurture our ability to feel and share love and grace – and belonging. In teaching us to pray, Jesus gave us a gift of seeing God and how God breaks into our lives each and every moment of each and every day.

If we think about the Lord’s Prayer as it appears in our hymnals and as we learn to recite, it is easy to see it as wishes, but rather what if we thought of it as follows:

God in Heaven,

Your name has power.

May your Kingdom break into this world. May your call for us to follow you be our passion. May we see glimpses of your Kingdom here.

You give us bread for life. You forgive us so we can forgive others.

You call us to turn back toward your love – the cross. You deliver us from ourselves.

Your Kingdom reigns. You are holy – the beginning and the end. May the glory of your love and grace be felt in the world forever and ever.

Amen

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

Perseverance in Prayer

And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Additional Scripture from Matthew 6

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

10 Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,

but rescue us from the evil one.

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.