In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the disciples to “pray like this,” before he offers the most well-known prayer in the world – the Lord’s Prayer. This summer, on Wednesday nights, we looked at this prayer in depth and considered it line by line. Once we were done, we returned to these three preceding words.
One way to read these words is that we are to pray the words of Jesus (translated into a language we understand). Congregations and individuals pray like this every day. Another way to read these words is that we should use our own words to pray in a similar manner to the one which Jesus taught.
This summer, after several weeks of studying Jesus’ prayer, we took a few weeks to consider, converse, and compile the following words as one expression of what it might mean to “pray like this.”
Our omnipresent ideal parent, heavenly father, in your holy place – more vast than we can conceive – may we see you as holy, so holy that we are in awe of even speaking your name.
May your purpose and intention (which we know to be justice, mercy, and humility) and not our own (and not that of any culture or government) be done on earth and match the ideal of heaven.
Help us to depend on you for the sustenance to get through the day, ensuring that everyone has what they need to get through the day, sharing your abundance and remembering that all sustenance is a gift.
May we forgive as we have been forgiven, for it is in our offering of forgiveness that we find your grace.
Grant that we may not fail in times of testing. Open our eyes to and protect us from the evil one, who would lure us away from you toward a way that is not yours – a way of destruction and havoc.
Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
When you pray, how do you make the Lord’s Prayer your prayer?