Teach Us to Pray

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 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.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

3        Give us each day our daily bread.

4        Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.’” 

5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

 

9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

 

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:1-13, NIV)

 

 

REFLECTIONS:

“How long do I have to go on praying about this?” I frustratingly asked my friend and mentor. Although I had been injured for a few years, I still felt a tremendous amount of emotional and physical pain due to my lack of physical healing. I had repeatedly prayed about it for quite some time, and there seemed to be no change.

 

“You can never tell,” he replied. “Perhaps every day for a month or two. Or it might be up to a year or two. Or it might be the remainder of your life. The timing isn't our business; that's up to God. Our task is to go on praying and to trust that God will do what he will do in his own time.”

 

That was really frustrating advice, but it turned out to be right. It was several months before anything happened, but when it did it was like a dam bursting. God began to heal the emotional wounds created from my injury (loss of dreams, loneliness, despair), while almost simultaneously restoring the strength and movement in my upper body.

 

I have no idea why God answers on the 1000th time prayer he seems to have ignored the previous 999 times. One might imagine that it would work more steadily and gradually. But no: from our point of view at least, prayer is like chopping at a tree. For 99 strokes of the axe, the main trunk seems to stand firm. Then, on the 100th stroke, suddenly it keels over.

 

Of course, we know that the previous strokes of the axe were weakening the trunk, even though we couldn't see it. And that's what prayer is like—not that God needs “weakening” but that, for all sorts of other reasons that we can't see, things have to take the time they have to take. And that leads us to the shape of the prayer Jesus gave his disciples. However, he prayer, the Lord's Prayer starts precisely with a note that says, “God’s way and God’s time is best.”

 

To say the Lord's Prayer demands that you pay primary attention to God himself. It is his name and his kingdom that we care about above all, not our particular problems. But, having said that, the three requests that follow—today’s bread, forgiveness, and safety from being tested to destruction—all place our concerns within that name and kingdom. That's the clue.

 

To pray the Lord's Prayer, then, requires an odd combination: complete humility and complete boldness. Once we get the first right, the second can follow cheerfully. Once God's name and kingdom are the framework of all we do and think, we are free to knock on his door as late at night as we want.

 

 

POINT OF PONDER:

A few years ago I began seeking to pray the Lord's Prayer at specific points throughout the day (early morning, midday, evening). When I first began this practice, I slowly, deliberately, meditatively prayed Jesus’ words. As time went on, I began to “personalize” the prayer by creatively altering the wording to fit what was going on inside of my heart and mind. Slowly but surely, the practice began to radically alter the way I saw the world. I began to notice God's presence and activity in the world around me, and I found that I began to think and live in a whole new manner. It became a much easier and more natural thing for me to deny myself or give myself away in loving service to others. Oftentimes, I didn't even have to try. It was just something that came out of me freely.

 

I have to admit that it's been a while since I've faithfully practice this habit with any real consistency. I grieve at the way my thinking and behavior has drifted away from God and more toward the cravings of my flesh. In this Lenten season, I've been crying out for grace while attempting to renew my practice of this habit. Within my heart there is an intense craving to experience the renewed mind and the transformed life that comes through connecting with God in prayer.

 

I encourage you to try to find some occasions to pray the Lord's Prayer very slowly, as if you were praying it for the first time. Think particularly about the words, “Hallowed be your name; your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Imagine what it will be like when God's kingdom is here on earth as it is in heaven. Does that help you to see Jesus’ prayer in a new way? 

 

 

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and I experienced a total transformation of my understanding of the Lord's Prayer after reading (and re-reading) Dallas Willard's masterful exposition in The Divine Conspiracy. In a sub-section entitled “The Grandest Prayer of All” (pages 253-269) he walks through the Lord's Prayer, offering incredibly deep insights into the various parts of Jesus’ model prayer. 

 

Here's how he concludes this section of his book: 

[The Lord's Prayer] is the foundation of the praying life: its introduction and its continuing basis. It is an enduring framework for all praying. You only move beyond it provided you stay within it. It is the necessary bass in the great symphony of prayer. It is a powerful lens through which one constantly sees the world as God himself sees it.

 

The English working long familiar from the King James Version is a treasure now interwoven with Western consciousness. It may be of some use in practice, however, to reword the prayer to capture better the fullness of its meaning and its place in the gospel of the kingdom: 

Dear Father always near us,

may your name be treasured and loved,

may your rule be completed in us—

may your will be done here on earth

in just the way it is done in heaven.

Give us today the things we need today,

and forgive us our sins and impositions on you

as we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.

Please don't put us through trials,

but deliver us from everything bad.

Because you are the one in charge,

and you have all the power,

and the glory too is all yours—forever—

which is just the way we want it! 

“Just the way we want it” is not a bad paraphrase for “amen.” What is needed at the end of this great prayer is a ringing affirmation of the goodness of God and God's world. If your nerves can take it, you might (occasionally?) try “Whoopee!” I imagine God himself will not mind. 

As I've done before, I highly recommend you read anything written by Dallas Willard.