Into the Lord’s Prayer: Introduction

by    15th October 2008    1 response
Part of the series

lords-prayer

Image: jessamyn @ Flickr

Several years ago I attended a Chaplaincy Assistants’ Conference, hosted by a university chaplaincy that shall remain anonymous, and which was attended by a handful of Chaplaincy Assistants from across the country.  My initial enthusiasm for the day was soon diminished as I realised how little God seemed to feature in the lives of the other people there (again, naming no names).  The conversations revolved around what they DID, not what God was leading them to do.  Right at the end of the day, the person leading the day said “I suppose we ought to finish with a prayer”.  Finally, I thought, God does get a look-in after all.  “Let’s do an ‘Our Father’”, they continued, “an ‘Our Father’ is always good.”  My stomach churned.

In fact, that actually sums up the ignorance of a lot of people both inside and outside the church.  Many think of the Lord’s Prayer as some magical prayer that ticks all the boxes; after all, they think, Jesus prayed it so it must be good.  It’s crammed into almost every liturgy you’ll find in the Anglican Church, and is used widely elsewhere too.  It’s a prayer children are taught to recite off by heart.  It’s recognisable, memorable, traditional.  And, for the most part, misunderstood.

The crux of my argument stems from the very beginning of verse 9 of Matthew chapter 6: “This, then, is how you should pray”.  Note that Jesus says “how”, not “what”.  The intention, I believe, is not that the prayer should be recited exactly as it is written, but that it should be used as a framework for prayer, a barebones structure for us to fill in the blanks.  Let’s face it, how much of the Lord’s Prayer in its traditional form is directly applicable to us on a personal level?  Not very much, most of the time.

This is not a new idea by any means.  I’m sure many people will agree with me on the above point (indeed, I know someone who is in the process of writing a book all about the topic).  But I feel it is a point worth stressing, nonetheless; every time I join in the Lord’s Prayer at church I feel God challenging me to think deeper and share my thoughts for the edification of the Church.

What I hope to present in forthcoming sections is a breakdown of the Lord’s Prayer, taking it often a line at a time, exploring what is meant by each bit and how it might relate to us personally.  By the end I hope you (and I) will have a better understanding of the prayer, and be able to pray it with confidence and meaning, seeing beyond the mere words and using the prayer rather than simply saying it.  You may also find it helpful to pray a complete prayer for each line, exploring the meaning for yourself.

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Matthew has long had a strong involvement with Christian websites. He was a keen contributor to the original Crossring site, and subsequently launched his own website, Focus On Faith. Focus On Faith was incorporated into Crossring in September 2009, and Matthew took on the role of lead writer for the site. Matthew works as a web designer, and lives in the West Country with his wife, Ellie.

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