"The Prayer That Jesus Taught"

Picture from The Brick Testament

The Sign of the cross, The Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary were the first prayers I memorized as a child. As a little girl attending a Catholic school these were the staples of my education. I am sure those of you who grew up in the church have gone through similar memorization although with different prayers. But the one thing we do hold in common is the Lord’s Prayer. In every Christian church this morning some form of this prayer is being said, sung and meditated upon because it is the one prayer that Jesus taught his disciples in the bible.

Regrettably for many years I knew the words to the Lord’s Prayer by heart but they were not inscribed in my heart. I could mumble them along with everyone else in the room but I didn’t truly understand what these words meant. Then I left the church for several years and found that when I returned I had forgotten how to say the prayer verbatim.  It wasn’t a problem until I began my internship as a chaplain at a hospital where I had to be able to pray on demand. While the families appreciated the prayers that I would say off the top of my head at the bedside, the prayers that gave them most comfort were the ones that they already knew, the Lord’s Prayer being one of the most comforting.

For a long time I had resisted memorizing this prayer because I didn’t want it to become senseless to me to the point where I would go back to merely mumbling it with the crowd. However there was one night at the hospital where a bit of memorization would have been most helpful in my ministry.  In the middle of the night I was called in to attend to a dying person in the intensive care unit of the hospital. While I have trouble recalling the circumstances of the situation I do remember that this person was Lutheran and that there was large of family holding vigil around the bedside of this person.

I remember that I was exhausted as I joined them in at the bedside and I asked them what I could do for them and they asked me to pray the Lord’s Prayer. I said I’d be happy to as I looked for my prayer book and then I realized that I had left at home.

Imagine my panic.

I took a deep breath and I asked that we hold hands,

I began to pray

“Our Father who art in heaven” and they began to pray with me.

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

So far so good, but the prayer is starting to become foggy.

“Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our...”

Oh golly, is this trespasses, sins or debts kind of crowd.

I am quiet as all the family blurted out all three words in unison.

“and lead us not into temptation”

Now I’m starting get the part of the prayer that I couldn’t remember

I began to say it quieter and quieter

“but deliver us from evil”

Now I don’t know the words so I became silent hoping that the family would continue on…unfortunately they became silent too. I don’t know if they suffered the same kind of amnesia I did on this prayer or if they were waiting for my lead.

So I panicked and continued on with a prayer, but not the prayer I started with. Unfortunately the prayer that came out of my mouth was the only other prayer I memorized as a child, the Hail Mary,

“Holy Mary mother of God pray for us sinners…now until the hour of our death. Amen.”

Thank goodness this Lutheran family was gracious in the midst of my denominational faux paux.

Embarrassing moments aside, this incident made me realize the importance of knowing by heart and taking to heart this familiar prayer. As I recommitted to memory the Lord’s Prayer I also dug deeper into the text to understand what Jesus was teaching his followers with this prayer.

“Our Father hallowed be your name.”

Jesus is tells us that we can address God in the same way he does, as a nurturing parent who has the power to help and the desire to help. A wise woman once told me that when we pray in the name of God or in the name of Jesus what we are really doing is calling out their very nature, the essence of who they are. We are honoring the nature of grace and mercy of God, the nature of inclusiveness and justice making of Jesus.
For those who are leading the struggle for peace and justice this means “That in God’s name there be no abuse, no oppression and no manipulation of the conscience and liberty of God’s children.” (1)

“Your kingdom come.”

This phrase sounds forceful because it is meant to be forceful. What we are saying to God is “Bring on you Kingdom NOW!” Make things as they are supposed to be, not as they are now. End all war, house the homeless, feed the hungry, cease all forms of oppression. Help all of creation to live together in the spirit of shalom which means living in right relationship with each other.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

This is about praying for just what we need rather than praying for what we want. Note that the phrase here is plural, “our daily bread” not “my daily bread.”

“And forgive us our sins.”

This recognizes the fact that we are not perfect, we make mistakes, and we sometimes let our own needs override the needs of others. However the good news is that God is merciful and God forgives us always.

“For we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.”

The phrasing of this line is present tense, “we forgive those who have sinned against us.” Some note that “the mutual forgiveness of sins is expected to be a regular practice of the community even if it requires great faith.” (2)  This is not a remark of justification, “you have to forgive me because I forgave so and so.” It is a given that as people of God we forgive each other with the same grace that God forgives us.

“And do not bring us to this time of trial.”

It would seem that this petition is asking God to help us avoid temptation. However some note that taken in the context of the gospel this petition is really plea to have the strength to endure what is happening and to recover. (3)

It has been said that every time that we pray the Lord’s Prayer “we are staking our very lives on the belief that prayers are answered and that God does respond to human need and suffering.” (4) To stake our lives on this claim means letting God have access to our hands and feet when they are needed, to speak through our voices to proclaim God’s reign on earth.

Since that embarrassing night in the hospital, I have taken the time I needed to learn the Lord’s Prayer by heart. To take it into my heart and make it part of my being. In this practice I realized that I used to pray to God give me things, to do things for me. That I used to be continually disappointed in God for not being like Santa Claus. But in praying as Jesus taught us to pray, instead of asking God to give me things, I ask for God to give me guidance.  Rather than expecting God to bend to my will, I ask God for the strength and endurance to follow God’s will whatever it may be.

May it be So.

Amen.

(1) Composed by the Salvadoran Refugees in Mesa Grande, Honduras “Our Father for Today. A Contemporary ‘Our Father’” http://www.respondtothecall.org/prayer_contemporary_our_father.htm


(2) David L. Tiede, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Luke. (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1988), 213.

(3) Robert C. Tannehill, Luke. (Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1996), 189.

(4) Joy Douglas Strom, “Living by the Word” The Christian Century, 10 July, 2007, 19.