9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, (Matthew 6:9)
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Lk. 11:1)
Thoughts: In Luke the disciples ask Jesus to teach them a pattern of prayer as John the Baptist followers were taught a prayer (11:1). Apparently each rabbi had a special prayer that contained the gist of their teachings.
In Matthew the Lord's Prayer is included in the basic teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, early in his ministry. It is an amazing prayer that has an introduction, conclusion, and petitions in the middle. The part in the middle may be broken into two parts- a part that focuses on God and a part that focuses on humans- as as one person said the love of God and the love of neighbor. Each of these two parts has three petitions: (1. Hallowed be thy name; 2. Thy Kingdom come, 3. Thy will be done); and (2. Daily bread; 3. Forgiveness; 4) Deliverance from temptation and evil). We do not need to be dogmatic about how it is broken down. But anyone can see the beauty of the pattern, but also the depth of the wisdom of Jesus, His care, and His belief in the personal care of a loving God.
In Matthew the Lord's Prayer is included in the basic teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, early in his ministry. It is an amazing prayer that has an introduction, conclusion, and petitions in the middle. The part in the middle may be broken into two parts- a part that focuses on God and a part that focuses on humans- as as one person said the love of God and the love of neighbor. Each of these two parts has three petitions: (1. Hallowed be thy name; 2. Thy Kingdom come, 3. Thy will be done); and (2. Daily bread; 3. Forgiveness; 4) Deliverance from temptation and evil). We do not need to be dogmatic about how it is broken down. But anyone can see the beauty of the pattern, but also the depth of the wisdom of Jesus, His care, and His belief in the personal care of a loving God.
Jesus was not concerned about our position (standing, sitting, kneeling, prostrate) or whether our eyes were opened or closed or whether we had our hands folded, legs crossed, etc. The focus for Jesus is on the heart of prayer- the content- to whom we are praying, and what we are praying about. The other things of prayer are secondary to the content. In our world we tend to focus on the secondary fluffy things than the heart- but let us not forget the heart.
From its very nature- as a rabbonic prayer- it is taught to be memorized (remmeber this was a predominantly oral culture), easily taught, and easily prayed. Yet we must always struggle to not pray this prayer woodenly or with such rote that we cannot put our heart and soul into it. That is always the struggle in life- to not "can" beauty so much that it loses its heart. But when we personalize this prayer- by really praying it- lifting up our souls to God in it and through it- it is a real, beautiful, wonderful gift to us. This prayer helps us to pray, teaches us about God, teaches us about what we really need, and strengthens us.
From its very nature- as a rabbonic prayer- it is taught to be memorized (remmeber this was a predominantly oral culture), easily taught, and easily prayed. Yet we must always struggle to not pray this prayer woodenly or with such rote that we cannot put our heart and soul into it. That is always the struggle in life- to not "can" beauty so much that it loses its heart. But when we personalize this prayer- by really praying it- lifting up our souls to God in it and through it- it is a real, beautiful, wonderful gift to us. This prayer helps us to pray, teaches us about God, teaches us about what we really need, and strengthens us.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you have given us prayer as a gift. Than you for the Lord's Prayer that teaches us how we might properly speak to you.
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