Matthew 6:7- 15 (NRSV)
7 "When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 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."
Prayer for each individual is something very personal. Over the years the Christian Church has been teaching that prayer is a two way conversation. When many of us were growing up we may have learned from our parents or Sunday School teachers to pray the Lord's Prayer or to ask God for what we wanted. Over the years, we have learned that God does not always give us what we want in prayer. It is very difficult when we have put all the hard work into praying for something, only to not receive it. Until we learn that God is not really a vending machine. God does not work like we put in the request and out comes what we asked for.
Over the years many of us including myself have learned that prayer is a time for letting God know how we feel about our relationship with God, others and ourselves. Sometimes when life really stinks, when we feel like we just cannot take anymore, spending some time with God and literally crying out what we feel in our hearts is a very noble and powerful experience. It is in times like those that God who is so mysterious becomes very close and powerful.
The Psalms are one of the Christian's most powerful prayer books. That is why in the Book of Common Prayer is the entire Coverdale Psalter which has been revised and edited up to 1979 is included and highly recommended. In each Daily Office, we pray anywhere from one to sometimes three Psalms. It has happened on more than one occasion when I will be praying the Psalms in the Daily Office and the Psalm I happen to be praying will speak to something I am experiencing in my life.
In Benedictine and Trappist Monasteries the Psalms are prayed anywhere from three to seven times a day, as the Psalms help members of religious communities center themselves on God, by praying what is in the Bible as their personal prayer. The Liturgy of the Hours that the Benedictines helped construct over the years, has come down to the present time and through that powerful prayer, we have the opportunity to approach God at the various times of the day to talk with God and have God speak with us.
Today, Jesus gives us a model for prayer. It is by far the Prayer of all prayers. Because of Jesus we are instructed to refer to God as "Our Father". There are those who might prefer to call God "Our Mother" or "Our Creator". All of those are perfectly fine. The point is, Jesus unites his prayer with ours and through Jesus we are adopted as God's children. (See Ephesians 1:3-14). Through Jesus who is God's perfect revelation, we are given the honor and privilege of relating to God as "Our Father, Mother and/or Creator". And Jesus gives us that model of prayer by which we can approach God and ask for what God knows is in our hearts.
So many times in my own life when it really does stink and there are so many things I could pray, and I will just pray the Lord's Prayer and keep praying it until my mind moves on. When severe weather occurs and I get really scared I will pray the Lord's Prayer that myself and so many others will be kept safe.
I am going to offer my own opinion about "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." So many of us, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people have a lot of people specifically within the Church to forgive. Sometimes the theological argument that we must forgive to be forgiven which I agree to be true, is really harsh for LGBT people, and it can cause a lot of us to say the hell with it all. However, I would like to suggest that there is another meaning to "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." That part of the Lord's prayer can also serve as a prayer in and of itself to ask God to forgive us and to help us to forgive. By making the prayer to "forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us" our own prayer, we can also ask God for the grace to forgive, and believe that God will give us not only the grace to forgive, but the grace to want to forgive. I believe that part of the Lord's Prayer is a request and a desire as much as it is a resolve to forgive.
In these days when we are seeing the terrible disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the anti-immigration reform bill in Arizona and the marches to over turn Don't Ask, Don't Tell and so many other crimes against LGBT equality, being in prayer with God to help keep ourselves sane is so very important. It is crucial for all of us to live in honesty in our relationship with God and understand that God is merciful and will help us and love us no matter what we are facing.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, Page 364)
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